Above the Eastern Sea of Nine Luminaries Heaven, Zheng Fa raised his true dragon head, and waves rippled around the small island, surrounding it and kneeling in worship.
Now, being in this ocean feels like being home, and he can finally experience the joy of being the Dragon Lord Shuyu.
Zheng Fa's playful spirit remained undiminished. With a flick of his dragon body, he transformed into a magnificent phoenix, trailing long tail feathers as he soared through the air, with two streaks of golden and red flames blooming behind him.
One by one, white seabirds flew in from all directions, fluttering and dancing around him.
The most noble bloodline among the Demon Race, the divine beings born of Creation, and the great shamans who can shatter mountains and Yunxiao, appear in rotation on the island.
Nuwa was extremely discerning, and since the creation of humans was related to her own Dao Path, the species she chose were all incredibly powerful beings in this world, which now benefited Zheng Fa.
Limited by his cultivation level, the beings that Zheng Fa transformed into were not yet at the Dao Fruit, but he could still sense the great power in their bloodline—this innate extraordinary talent was something that Human Race could not contend with.
He was completely absorbed when the sky became Chaos again, and a voice came:
"I am Hongjun..."
The second sermon began.
A beam of purple light pierced through the Chaos and landed in front of Zheng Fa.
Zheng Fa transformed back into his original form, stepped into the pillar of light, and was lifted up rapidly. In a short while, he arrived at the Purple Cloud Palace again.
Just like last time, the Three Thousand Guests of Purple Cloud were already seated in the hall, while Zheng Fa stood at the hall entrance. Suddenly, he heard a few noises behind him.
He turned his head and saw that the Creation Daoist and the others had also arrived.
The first to arrive was the Creation Daoist, who nodded kindly to Zheng Fa.
The Gu God and the White Bone still formed a small group and arrived together.
The Golden-Winged Great Peng was alone; White Lotus, with whom he had a good relationship, had not yet arrived.
That makes sense. Now that the Golden-Winged Great Peng has entered the Demon Race Heavenly Court and obtained a formal position, it's naturally difficult for him to stay with the White Lotus forever.
There was someone else following White Lotus.
"Ancestor Bai Lian will surely achieve great success upon hearing this teaching." The voice of the Lu Clan's Grand Elder rang out, and everyone looked closely to see eight Nascent Soul cultivators from the Lu Clan following behind Bai Lian.
White Lotus's expression remained calm; she simply smiled faintly and said, "The sermon hasn't even begun, how dare I speak of certainty?"
In my opinion, there is no one else!
Zheng Fa was surprised and couldn't help but glance at the Gu God, noticing her dark expression— the Lu Clan hadn't been so obsequious to Gu God before!
The crowd then heard the Lu Clan's Grand Elder say, "Thanks to the grace of Patriarch White Lotus, we have been able to hear the teachings of the two Patriarchs and have gained much from them."
"We are of such meager talent, so I'm sure Ancestor White Lotus has gained much more." The Lu Clan's Grand Elder's tone held a hint of sincerity. "Who else but Ancestor White Lotus possesses this Primordial Purple Qi?"
Now Zheng Fa understood; it seemed that the White Lotus had given these Lu Clan quite a few benefits.
If you lick it until the very end, you'll find everything you could want?
But he couldn't understand why White Lotus was trying to win over the Lu Clan. He looked at the Gu God and saw that his expression was extremely livid, ten times angrier than before.
It's clear that the alliance between the White Lotus and the Lu Clan has greatly displeased the Gu God.
Lu Clan...
Zheng Fa suddenly realized why White Lotus wanted to win over the Lu Clan. Compared to all the Dao Fruit here, the Lu Clan's strength was insignificant, but they controlled the gateway to the Nine Luminaries Heaven. If the Lu Clan didn't open the gate, Zheng Fa and the others would probably be trapped in the Nine Luminaries Heaven and unable to escape.
This is also the Lu Clan's biggest trump card in the Nine Luminaries Heaven.
For White Lotus... and for any cultivator aspiring to master the Primordial Purple Qi, the Lu Clan is of great importance:
For example, if you obtain the Primordial Purple Qi, you would naturally want to run away. Whether you can run away or not depends on the attitude of the Lu Clan.
For example, if someone else obtains the Primordial Purple Qi and you want to steal it, whether you can succeed in stealing it and whether the Lu Clan opens the gate are also very important.
"This humble monk will naturally do his best. If any of you fellow Daoists are able to sit on that futon," White Lotus said softly, "It would be our great fortune."
Zheng Fa looked at White Lotus, who had a humble and bright smile on her face.
But his painstaking efforts to win over the Lu Clan made his smile seem somewhat insincere.
Fourteen people waited at the entrance of the hall for about half a cup of tea when Zheng Fa felt a force gently pulling him from the front. Following this force, Zheng Fa landed on a futon.
The seating arrangement for everyone on the prayer mats was the same as the arrangement for the last sermon.
White Lotus and Creation were in the first row behind the seven futons. In this Purple Cloud Hall, apart from the first row, each subsequent row had one hundred futons.
The Creation Daoist is positioned slightly to the left, while the one seated on the White Lotus is slightly to the right.
Judging from the last change in Zheng Fa's prayer mat, this prayer mat was arranged from left to right. In other words, although White Lotus is very powerful now, the Creation Daoist was ranked slightly higher than White Lotus last time.
To the left of the Creation Daoist, there were more than thirty futons.
Zheng Fa sat in the fourth row, on the far left, about two hundred seats away from the two of them.
There were over nine hundred Golden-Winged Great Peng, with the Gu God and the White Bone Devil Ancestor both in the fifteenth or sixteenth row, and the Lu Clan and others distributed in the last three rows.
As soon as everyone was seated, Daoist Hongjun on the high platform began his second sermon.
Zheng Fa listened carefully and immediately noticed the difference:
In his first sermon, Daoist Hongjun mainly talked about the realms of cultivation and some general methods of cultivation.
To put it simply, it's the principle, the general outline of cultivation.
For any monk of this era, the content of the last sermon was useful, serving as a concise outline.
But this time was different. At the very beginning of this sermon, Zheng Fa heard Daoist Hongjun say, "In this sermon, I will expound on the three thousand Great Daos. First, I will begin with the path of cultivation of the Precelestial Divine."
Zheng Fa listened with a sense of doubt in his heart. "The Great Dao has three thousand paths—is this how it's understood?"
But as he listened, he gradually realized that the meaning of the Three Thousand Great Daos was different in this era and in the Xuanwei of the future.
In later generations, the Human Race was revered, and the "Three Thousand Great Daos" actually referred to the differences between the various Daoist methods.
However, in this era, the Daoist arts were just beginning to emerge, and it could only be said that they were created by Daoist Hongjun alone. The so-called "Three Thousand Great Daos" did not simply refer to the Daoist arts, but rather to the different cultivation methods for different races.
As Daoist Hongjun said, dragons ride the clouds and rain, and phoenixes perch on divine fire. Although their cultivation realms are roughly the same, due to their different endowments, the cultivation methods of each race are extremely different.
To put it simply, Daoist Hongjun combined his own established Daoist philosophy with the inherent talents of each race.
In his first sermon, Daoist Hongjun spoke of principles, which were more abstract generalizations.
In his second sermon, he categorized and refined the details for various races, making them even applicable to practical cultivation.
Having figured all this out, Zheng Fa looked at Daoist Hongjun with even greater admiration.
If Daoist Hongjun hadn't created a cultivation method that all races could follow, how could he be called the Dao Ancestor?
To put it bluntly, were there no cultivation methods before Daoist Hongjun?
On the other hand, did Daoist Hongjun's previous cultivation methods deviate from the realm of the Dao?
That's definitely not the case. If a cultivation method isn't within the Dao, it means the Dao can't explain all the rules, so how can it be qualified to be called the Dao?
The Daoist arts did not arise because of Daoist Hongjun, nor did the Dao itself.
Judging from Zheng Fa's current observations, Daoist Hongjun's contribution is probably that he is the first person in this era to synthesize the cultivation methods. He not only understands the talents and cultivation points of almost all races, but also extracts a common theory from them, and then uses this theory to improve these cultivation methods.
The three thousand guests in the Purple Cloud Palace are not actually three thousand individuals. Behind each of them is a vast race. It is for this reason that Daoist Hongjun even modified their cultivation methods according to each person's characteristics. It is because there are three thousand people listening to the Dao that there is the saying of the three thousand Great Daos.
It is precisely because Daoist Hongjun's Daoist teachings encompass all races and can benefit almost every race that his title as Dao Ancestor is universally recognized in this era.
Zheng Fa was admiring the magnificent and powerful spirit of Daoist Hongjun's sermon.
Those who came from the Five Organs Temple were very uncomfortable.
Daoist Hongjun was refining cultivation methods for each race, and the Grand Elder of the Lu Clan felt... he was being targeted!
He sat on the futon, watching Hongjun's mouth open and close, his mind echoing "Aba Aba" in his mind.
When they couldn't understand what the Daoist was saying, they became extremely anxious, feeling they had missed a great fortuitous opportunity.
After years of painstakingly learning the language, starting with haphazard gestures, they were no longer in a hurry; instead, they felt... despair.
I thought I would gain a lot from this, but I didn't expect that this Daoist Hongjun would not play by the rules!
What he said was useless to them—because he was Human Race!
Even the Devil Ancestor like the Gu God were originally from the Human Race, but at this moment, there are no Human Race at all, so Daoist Hongjun naturally wouldn't specifically explain their cultivation methods to Human Race.
He was naturally unwilling to accept this and had been listening attentively, trying to make connections between different concepts. However, every single one of the beings in the Purple Cloud Palace had an extraordinary background and their talents far surpassed those of Human Race. Forget about using external examples to improve one's own abilities; he even had difficulty understanding what they were saying.
After a long while, the Lu Clan's Grand Elder, whose mind was completely muddled, finally couldn't contain his anxiety and looked at the others.
He first looked around at the Spirit Transformation of the Lu Clan and saw that their expressions were the same as his own, full of despair, almost to the point of Qi Deviation. Last time when they heard the Dao, they couldn't understand the language, so they only thought they were unlucky. This time, they understood, but instead, they began to doubt their own minds.
The Lu Clan's Grand Elder pursed his lips and looked ahead again.
He couldn't see the expressions on the faces of the Gu God and the White Bone Devil Ancestor, but he could tell from the few golden flowers around them that the two of them were probably suffering greatly.
The Grand Elder of the Lu Clan felt a little better, but when he saw the Golden-Winged Great Peng, he felt a surge of rage again— the Golden-Winged Great Peng seemed to have gained something, and at this moment it had transformed back into its original form, standing on the futon with its two claws, and the golden flowers around it were constantly surging towards it.
Yes!
In terms of bloodline, the Golden-Winged Great Peng is indeed the closest to these High Antiquity beings; otherwise, how could it have joined the Demon Race Heavenly Court?
These people won't benefit, but the Golden-Winged Great Peng will!
The Grand Elder of the Lu Clan turned his gaze, first carefully examining Zheng Fa. Seeing that there weren't many golden flowers around Zheng Fa, he breathed a sigh of relief—at least Shi Nandang was about the same as them. Yes, Shi Nandang was also Human Race; how different could he be from them?
Thinking of this, the Grand Elder of the Lu Clan calmed down and turned his hopeful gaze to White Lotus in the first row.
White Lotus sat cross-legged on the futon, her eyes closed, her expression extremely serious, as if she were trying her best to comprehend something.
Behind him appeared a Buddha with an ancient and simple face, and between the Buddha's eyebrows was a Bodhi Seed.
Golden flowers rained down around the Buddha, eight or nine times more than those around the Golden-Winged Great Peng, clearly indicating that the White Lotus had gained much from listening to the sermon.
The Lu Clan's Grand Elder watched with envy. Although White Lotus had told him some of the content of her first lecture, he understood that she couldn't possibly have taught him everything; she probably only scratched the surface.
This White Lotus has Bodhi Seed, and is further instructed by two Buddhist School Founder. Compared to these people, it truly has every advantage.
Now, he has actually gained far more than the Golden-Winged Great Peng.
Suddenly, a thought struck him. He noticed that the Creation Daoist was unassuming, yet the golden flowers beside him were no less numerous than the White Lotus.
The Lu Clan's Grand Elder was slightly taken aback, feeling wary. He was naturally somewhat jealous of White Lotus, but the two were now in the same boat. If they couldn't obtain the Primordial Purple Qi, then it would be best if White Lotus did.
He used to be most hostile to Shi Nandang, but now he feels that although Shi Nandang has taken the lead, he is no longer a threat.
This Creation Daoist was truly unfathomable, making it impossible to fathom his thoughts, but he also had a feeling that this person was definitely not a good person.
The Grand Elder of the Lu Clan observed White Lotus and the Creation Daoist and saw that their prayer mats were slowly moving to the left.
White Lotus's futon moved faster, but the Creation Daoist, who had been in the lead, was now moving at a considerable pace. Although the distance between the two was slowly closing, White Lotus was unable to overtake the Creation Daoist for a long time.
The Lu Clan's Grand Elder was secretly encouraging White Lotus, keeping a close eye on the distance between the two. Gradually, White Lotus seemed to be comprehending the Dao more quickly during this lecture, and was about to surpass the Creation Daoist.
The Lu Clan's Grand Elder clenched his fist, his heart pounding with excitement. Just as the two figures passed each other, a blinding light suddenly shone before his eyes.
The light was so bright that it blinded him, forcing him to close his eyes and curse inwardly.
When he opened his eyes and looked in the direction of the light, his expression immediately changed. He stared in disbelief at the spot where Zheng Fa had just been standing, where a colorful phoenix was now erecting.
Just as Daoist Hongjun was explaining the cultivation methods of the Phoenix Clan, the golden flowers surrounding the colorful phoenix seemed to engulf it like a mudslide. There were so many golden flowers that it emitted that blinding white light.
Shi Nandang... is its true form a phoenix?
The Grand Elder of the Lu Clan stared wide-eyed, racking his brains. He had never heard of such a thing before.
He looked at the other Lu Clan and saw them with their mouths agape, looking completely ignorant.
Just as everyone was wondering, Daoist Hongjun changed the subject and began to talk about another cultivation method. This method was no longer applicable to the phoenix, but to a divine beast called Bai Ze.
Everyone watched in disbelief as the colorful phoenix flashed with light and transformed into a strange, ancient-looking beast.
It was Bai Ze.
(End of this chapter)