The Contest of Heaven
The Perfected Person, who had been completely resurrected from the Dao, opened his eyes.
But what came into view was the perfect Heavenly Dao surrounding him.
"Harmony with the Dao?!" he exclaimed immediately, then formed hand seals.
The heavens display signs, and sages follow them. The heavens do not change their seasons over time, meaning that the way of Heavenly Dao rarely changes its ways, and they treat all things equally.
Therefore, he has a way to solve the problem of aligning with the Dao.
But... what he didn't expect was—
The seemingly perfect Heavenly Dao has been altered.
This left him completely dumbfounded.
Has the Heavenly Dao changed?
Are you kidding me!
What a selfish Heavenly Dao this is!
This doesn't make sense!
However, no matter how surprised you are, it's useless, because the Celestial Realm is completely different from the Heavenly Realm.
The heavens do not change the seasons based on time, and have treated all beings equally for countless years without fail. But the celestial realms are different.
Everything in the Immortal Realm is for their own benefit.
In a sense, this is also the unique 'equality' of Shinto.
It disdains all living beings equally, and all things are to be contained within the heavens.
Behind every act of double standards lies a hidden, singular standard.
People don't have double standards; they just make different choices when faced with different situations, and the immortals are no exception.
His only standard is that everything revolves around himself.
To this end, he stifled the civilizations within his world, manipulated them as nourishment, and allowed them to use their advanced intelligence to explore numerous 'possibilities,' before devouring them.
The Celestial Realm is a gluttonous beast that devours civilization.
He cultivated one civilization after another within his body, and then devoured them to compensate for his own shortcomings.
These civilizations are generally deformed, just like the mortal world and the True World today, because their existence is merely as 'inspiration' for the celestial realm.
This third-rank Perfected Person immediately realized his current predicament.
Even if Heavenly Dao changes itself, it can't just sit and wait to die. It still has many tricks up its sleeve. The other party is only passively devouring it without actively showing any malice. If that's all, it's impossible to eat it up so easily!
The next moment, his Dharma form expanded, and his own Law Treasure appeared in his hand.
Unlike the Shaman Path, the Human Path is extremely adept at using Law Treasure.
His Law Treasure was a piece of blue bamboo slip.
The two-foot-four-inch rule remains unchanged throughout history, yet it can be used to govern or to create chaos.
In ancient times, all legal documents were written on bamboo slips measuring two feet and four inches in length, with the larger number referred to as three feet.
Holding this law in hand, one can have the trust of the world.
This is a matter of common concern to all; if there is any wavering, people will be at a loss.
In other words, the bamboo slip in his hand is the embodiment of the law.
His image unfolds the bamboo slips, and characters fly out from the slips, standing around them.
"By order of the Supreme One, I am Xing Guanqing, Tang Ministry of Justice Assistant Minister, and hereby establish the system of criminal law." With a flourish, the words that flew out were like a torrent of sparks, sweeping out and actually forcing back the laws of the Immortal Heaven!
"Humans are the most intelligent of all living beings. Yet, their claws and teeth are insufficient to satisfy their desires, their running is insufficient to avoid harm, and they have no feathers to protect them from the cold and heat. They must rely on animals for sustenance, and they depend on their wisdom rather than their strength. Therefore, without benevolence, they cannot form groups, and without groups, they cannot overcome other things. Since humans live in groups, they cannot be without emotions of joy, anger, and conflict, and thus there is the principle of varying degrees of punishment!"
Then he continued reciting, "The sage established the Five Punishments in response to Heaven's wrath. The severe punishments used armor and weapons, the next used axes and halberds; the moderate punishments used knives and saws, the next used drills and chisels; and the minor punishments used whips and lashes."
As he spoke, his long robe was covered by armored soldiers, and then axes, saws, drills, and whips appeared behind him.
These are called the Five Punishments.
Punishment is a matter of great importance in the king's administration.
Then, he raised the bamboo slip in his hand and solemnly said, "By order of the Supreme One, I am now in charge of punishments for the Supreme One. Here, I am in charge of punishments."
These words brought forth a heavy sense of resolve!
Human Emperor!
In the entire universe, in the entire world, only one person is qualified to hold the title of 'Supreme'.
As Vice Minister, whose duty was to administer punishments, he used his official position as a pretext to invoke the power of the supreme ruler at this moment, drawing the emperor's attention to this place!
Everywhere you look is Tang land!
The nature of this place immediately changed, even though it was inside the celestial realm.
And so, in that instant, Li Qi, who had been in a daze, suddenly came to his senses.
The first thing he realized when he opened his eyes was that his plan had succeeded.
A third-rank expert, indeed quite capable!
Li Qi looked up again.
Before them stood a magnificent third-grade Dharma form, along with a Celestial being undergoing a transformation.
Li Qi immediately realized that this was an opportunity!
Having reincarnated more than a billion times, the nature of the immortal realm has never changed; it remains perfect.
But at this moment... Xian Tian took the initiative to change the nature of the situation.
Why?
Li Qi was puzzled for a moment, but he was a smart man after all. When he saw the almost endless power behind the third-rank expert and the feeling of being bound by rules on his body, he immediately understood Xian Tian's reaction.
The Emperor's gaze fell upon this place.
Thus, the nature of the Immortal Heaven was forcibly changed, and its interior became the territory of the Tang Kingdom. The third-rank Perfected Person before them was carrying out a major execution on the land of the Tang Kingdom.
Behind him were five instruments of Five Punishments, each possessing a power that Li Qi could not comprehend; they seemed to have the power to discipline and bind all things.
He was well-versed in the Five Punishments, thus assisting the five teachings. His aim was to govern the country effectively. "Assist" means to support, and "aiming" means appropriate. This praises his ability to use punishments to assist teachings, ensuring the proper functioning of governance.
These Five Punishments were originally used to govern the state. This place is now the territory of the Tang Kingdom, so the Five Punishments are stationed in the five directions, forming an insurmountable high wall!
If the immortals were to invade, they would need to invade the territory of the Tang Kingdom, bypass the protection of the principles of Human Path, and even confront the Human Emperor directly.
Clearly, Xian Tian has the ability, but he needs to prepare a bit, since he only needs to face the slightest hint of the Human Emperor's gaze, not actually fight the Human Emperor.
In a matter of seconds, this land will be breached.
But within those few seconds, Li Qi had already woken up and witnessed the scene of Xian Tian transforming his form.
This is what he wanted.
This is the 'flaw' of the Celestial Realm!
Perfect things cannot be changed.
Just like a demon.
The Heavenly Demon can transform into anything, and can create the sum of all things in the real world, hence it is called the 'Mara of Self-Transformation'.
The sum of everything in the real world can be called 'perfect'.
This has led to the current predicament of the Heavenly Demon.
As a being capable of endless transformations, the Heavenly Demon achieved perfection, but... this also meant that he had completely lost the ability to change, because all things cannot change; once they change, they are no longer perfect.
Therefore, the Heavenly Demon tries every means to find his own weakness, to find things that he cannot change or understand, so that his transformation will have room to maneuver and he can get out of this awkward situation.
The reason why Xiantian was forced to change his nature was because he was not perfect.
He simply hid his imperfections, rather than truly achieving perfection like the Heavenly Demon.
The moment he changes is the moment his weakness is revealed!
True Knowledge Dao Charm, all your senses are maximized!
No sooner said than done, only a few seconds had passed since the third-rank Perfected Person awoke.
Yes, from beginning to end, it takes no more than ten seconds.
Yao Ji, who was fighting alone, now realized this as well.
Yao Ji was unaware of the existence of the time reversal, but she immediately realized that Li Qi had done something.
She frowned slightly.
This mortal...
Have a finger in the pie.
However, it did force out the opponent's weakness; Yao Ji hadn't expected that he would carry a third-rank item with him when he went out.
However, the flaws of the Celestial Realm had already been revealed under the Human Emperor's gaze.
Since that's the case... she doesn't want to let this opportunity slip by.
Yao Ji closed her eyes, letting her true nature expand outwards.
Her essence is naturally a part of 'Haotian'. As Haotian's daughter, she is the Primal Gods born directly from Haotian's body.
However, Yao Ji disliked this notion, so she chose to isolate herself from Haotian, weakened and died, and entered the cycle of reincarnation.
After reincarnation, it transformed into the essence of a spiritual herb and was reborn, only to find that... nothing had changed at all.
She was confused and resigned to her fate, but people eventually grow. In the end, she understood Haotian and chose to join Wushen Mountain, becoming a Shaman of the Heavenly God lineage.
She chose this Dao Lineage because she wanted to understand her father more deeply and to communicate with the great 'Haotian'.
She had many questions for Haotian, such as why he chose to give birth to her.
As a person born with a first-class status, Haotian did not need to have children, and he had no spouse. Why then did he have a child named Yao Ji?
She came to the Immortal Heaven for this purpose, so from the very beginning, she ignored Li Qi and went to the top of the Immortal Heaven herself.
Through the Celestial Realm, one may gain a deeper understanding of Haotian.
And now, she suddenly realizes...
Perhaps Li Qi can sense the answer?
Interesting.
Now, let's help him get the answer.
So Yao Ji revealed her true nature, allowing the Vast Heaven Dao Charm within her to expand outwards.
Yes, that's Yao Ji's true essence.
The Daoist aura emanates from the Lord of Heaven, the Vast Heaven Emperor.
Haotian refers to the primordial energy, which is vast and boundless, hence the name "Haotian".
The Heavenly Dao operates in accordance with the four seasons, and thus all things are born. This is nothing but the ultimate teaching and the ultimate virtue. There is no greater virtue than this.
Nothing in the heavens is overlooked, just as nothing in the body of benevolence is omnipresent.
Heaven takes the vast emptiness as its body, and the great harmony fills it, so nothing is not embodied in it as its nature and life.
Since nothing is without its own form, nothing can go against the will of Heaven.
The heavens, though silent, are believed; they are abundant in the vast emptiness, yet their energy remains undisturbed, possessing their ultimate constancy.
If the characteristic of 'Xiantian' is perfect goodness, then the characteristic of 'Haotian' is perfect constancy.
Nothing can go against Heaven, therefore it is believed without being spoken of.
Everything in the world is contained within Haotian's body.
Before heaven and earth existed, chaos was like a chicken egg, its first teeth emerging from the darkness, nurturing all things. In the year of Sheti, Primal Qi began to rise, the heavens were born, and all things flourished.
The sky has no substance; we look up at it. It is high and boundless, and even our eyes are blurred by its vastness; it is all blue and white.
The four seasons are the officials of Heaven, the sun and moon are the messengers of Heaven, and the stars are the seasons of Heaven. All things manifest under Heaven, and with the help of the power of 'Heaven,' the expanding Daoist aura exudes a peaceful and gentle power.
This is the gentleness of 'heaven'.
It granted peace to all living beings and provided a stable environment for all worlds at the beginning of all civilizations.
The Primal Gods, led by Haotian, quelled the raging chaos, and then they began to forge heaven and earth, restoring the disordered order of the heavens.
The Star Officials created the stars, Primal Gods became the sun and moon.
The sun and moon revolve, separating day from night.
The movement of the stars reveals the solar terms.
Thus, based on the sun, moon, and stars, the earliest civilizations in the world had a stable four-season order, and did not have to face the sudden onslaught of violent primordial Primal Qi, allowing civilization to begin its initial cultivation.
Even now, with countless first-rank beings already born in the world, there are still countless... no, probably more like capital cities, worlds that still depend on the order forged by Haotian for survival.
They still revered Haotian, and might even use their own incomprehensible rituals to express their gratitude to Haotian; this was the primitive form of 'sacrifice'.
Many of them still regard Haotian as their parents and worship him, but many others are completely unaware of Haotian's existence and simply enjoy the stable environment that Haotian provides.
Haotian felt nothing for this worship; he didn't care at all. Whether or not there was worship, he continued to nurture all mortals as always, just as he had cared for the earliest civilizations when the world was first created.
This is the gentleness of the gods towards all mortals.
Heavenly Dao's way is impartial and never selfish.
This is the biggest difference between the Celestial Realm and the Heavenly Realm.
On the other side, Li Qi simultaneously sensed the auras of two First-Rank Heavenly Dao cultivators within those few seconds.
These auras were very faint because they hadn't invested much power. The Immortal Heaven was merely instinctively absorbing and merging with the Dao, while the Heavenly Emperor only had a wisp of Dao essence here.
But this is just right, as Li Qi is able to process two messages at the same time.
The Celestial Realm is undergoing a transformation, while the eternally unchanging Heaven remains unchanged.
Sensing these two pieces of information... Li Qi pondered the Vast Heaven Dao Charm.
Li Qi suddenly had a feeling.
The existence of 'Heaven' is truly strange.
Everyone knows that there is a 'heaven' behind everything, and everything we are familiar with was forged by the Primal Gods.
However, no one could detect their movements at all, just like a highly skilled magician tricking the audience in full view of everyone. You know he is performing magic, but no one can recognize his technique or even see his movements.
Is this how the celestial beings and the Jade Emperor influence the world?
As I was thinking this, a few seconds passed.
The land of Tang is crumbling.
Li Qi trembled.
The Human Emperor's gaze, coupled with Haotian's aura, truly attracted the attention of the Celestial Realm.
This first-rank official is no longer slacking off; he has focused his attention on this area.
Time is running out for Li Qi.
Meanwhile, the third-rank Perfected Person nearby also noticed this.
He gave a wry smile, shook his head slightly, and sighed.
It's hopeless.
With a first-rank official watching him, he probably won't be able to leave.
Well... before that, let's kill the two young masters of Wushen Mountain next to us.