Ever since Li Cha had gone up Spirit Mountain and engaged Jieyin and Zhunti in a "friendly exchange," the Western Teachings had become far more restrained. Jieyin and Zhunti knew full well what Li Cha was capable of. He seemed mild-mannered in his dealings, but in truth, he had no taboos. They no longer dared provoke him, fearing another brutal beating. Though unwilling to accept it, they still sent disciples to cause minor trouble along the fringes of the Tea Dao's spread and spread rumors, but they could no longer amount to much and found it difficult to shake the Tea Dao's increasingly deep foundations in the West.
Li Cha was well aware of this and could not be bothered to argue with such juniors. This journey westward was not only to spread the Tea Dao, but also to temper the hearts of his disciples. Over those thousand years of preaching, he deliberately allowed Shi Qing, Wu Zhiqi, and Forget Worry to handle matters independently, explain the Dao, and even debate disciples of the Western Teachings. He had never demanded that his disciples strictly follow the path of the Tea Dao, especially Shi Qing and Wu Zhiqi. These two disciples cultivated Great God Pangu's fundamental supreme art, the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique, following the path of Proving the Dao through Strength, tempering their bodies and mastering laws. This was somewhat different from the Tea Dao's tranquil pursuit of harmony between body and mind. Li Cha often admonished them, "There are countless Dao paths, yet all lead to the same destination. The Tea Dao is a Dao, and the Great Dao of Strength is likewise a Dao. You need only hold fast to your true hearts, distinguish right from wrong, and act without shame before Heaven and Earth or your own hearts. You need not cling to the Dao taught by your master. If you can carve out a path that belongs to yourselves, that will be your true achievement."
Wu Zhiqi was lively and combative, while Shi Qing was steady and resolute. Though their progress in the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique differed according to their temperaments, both had built exceedingly solid foundations. With Li Cha's encouragement, they became even more uninhibited, using the method of "calming the heart and focusing the mind" they had comprehended from the Tea Dao to temper their wills while cultivating the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Technique. The two paths complemented each other, and their cultivation advanced rapidly.
Before they knew it, Li Cha and his group had been preaching in the Western Realm for a thousand years. The monastery on Withering Prosperity Mountain had become firmly established, flourishing in every respect. To its west, vibrant tea gardens, scripture platforms, Dao-comprehension rocks, and other structures blended into one, becoming a sacred place in the hearts of Western living beings. Seeing that the time was right, Li Cha entrusted the monastery to Xuan Tu, a nominal disciple he had enlightened and accepted in the West.
Xuan Tu's true form was a low-grade Innate Spiritual Root—the Xuantian Vine. Born at the foot of Withering Prosperity Mountain, he had gained intelligence through the lingering benefits of Li Cha's work in sorting out the Earth Veins and the nourishment of the Tea Dao's aura. His nature was steadfast, and his comprehension of the Tea Dao was quite deep. After receiving Li Cha's guidance, his cultivation broke through from Peak Golden Immortal to Early Da Luo in one stroke. Among the Three Flowers Above his head, the Human Flower representing the foundation of "essence" bloomed to eight petals. His foundation was far deeper than that of ordinary Da Luo cultivators, enough for him to guard one region. To help him better manage the monastery, Li Cha bestowed two spirit treasures upon him. The first was the Soul Scattering Whip, a Postnatal High-Grade Spirit Treasure forged by Li Cha from Western Geng Metal Qi mixed with a trace of Chaos Qi, imitating the God-Beating Whip. It injured the soul even more than the body, each strike fiercer than the last, its pain piercing directly into one's true spirit. It was meant to punish troublemakers and carried formidable deterrence. The second was the Calming Cushion. Its origins were extraordinary: it had originally been one of the cushions used by the three thousand guests listening to the Dao in Purple Cloud Palace. When Li Cha left Purple Cloud Palace, he quietly took one with him, then reforged it with his own Great Dao Merit and the origin of the Tea Dao, elevating it into a Postnatal Supreme Spirit Treasure. Not only could it aid cultivation, calm the mind, repel inner demons, and ward off external evils, it also contained a trace of Purple Cloud Palace's Dao charm and Li Cha's Tea Dao destiny. It possessed the remarkable effect of suppressing the fortune of an entire region. Li Cha gave it to Xuan Tu as the foundational treasure for suppressing the fortune of Withering Prosperity Monastery.
After making all the arrangements, Li Cha did not linger. Riding atop Mo Ran, he took Shi Qing, Wu Zhiqi, and Forget Worry toward the Southern Realm, intending to sow the seeds of the Tea Dao throughout the southern lands.
One day, as they traveled through a valley at the border between the West and the South, a surge of dark-red bloodwater suddenly erupted from underground. It carried a thick, nauseating stench of blood, and the entire valley filled with Blood Fiend Energy. The bloodwater then transformed into a Daoist in blood-red robes, blocking Mo Ran's path.
From the man's attire and the dense Blood Fiend Energy that had become almost tangible, Li Cha immediately knew that the newcomer was Minghe, the Innate God-Demon formed from the filthy blood of Pangu's navel and master of the Netherworld Blood Sea.
Mo Ran stopped, watching ahead warily. The other disciples also drew their weapons and quietly went on guard.
Seated upon Mo Ran's back, Li Cha's expression did not change as he calmly said, "Fellow Daoist Minghe, why are you not enjoying your blessings in the Netherworld Blood Sea? Why have you blocked my path here?"
"Senior Yun Hua, Minghe has been discourteous!" Minghe solemnly cupped his hands in salute. His voice was hoarse and icy, like waves churning in a sea of blood. "This junior presumptuously blocked your path because I have a question that has weighed on my heart for a long time, lodged in my throat like a thorn. Looking across the Primordial Wilderness, perhaps only you can resolve this confusion. I hope you will not begrudge me your guidance."
A trace of understanding flashed through Li Cha's eyes, and he nodded slightly. "Speak freely, Fellow Daoist."
Minghe took a deep breath and asked in a low voice, "When you preached the Dao, Senior, you mentioned that apart from the Heavenly Dao, the Primordial World also possesses the hidden and yet-unmanifested 'Earthly Dao' and 'Human Dao.' This junior is dull-witted and has pondered it without finding the way. Today, I boldly ask for your guidance... Where exactly is this 'Earthly Dao'? How can it manifest?"
Li Cha did not answer immediately. He first raised his eyes toward the heavens, his gaze seeming to pierce through the nine layers of heaven and behold the Heavenly Dao laws that silently watched over Heaven and Earth. Then he lightly waved his sleeve, and an unfathomable aura that obscured heavenly secrets spread outward, quietly veiling the space within a hundred miles and cutting off all perception from within and without. Only after confirming that the heavenly secrets had been concealed and that there was no anomaly in the skies did he look back at Minghe, his gaze carrying a trace of complexity.
"Fellow Daoist Minghe," Li Cha slowly said, his voice low and clear, "the matter of the Earthly Dao concerns the very foundation of the Primordial Wilderness. Before the heavenly timing arrives, it cannot be spoken of lightly. The opportunity for its manifestation still requires waiting; it is not something human effort can force." He paused, looking at the expectation that Minghe could not conceal beneath his Blood Fiend Energy, and ultimately revealed a sliver of heavenly secret. "However, I can tell you this: the ultimate destination of your Dao path truly lies within this Earthly Dao. Only when the Earthly Dao appears and its laws are completed will you have a thread of opportunity to rely upon it and achieve the Saintly Dao Fruit that remains indestructible through countless calamities. This is your destiny, and you are also an indispensable part of the Earthly Dao."
Minghe's body suddenly shook, and the Blood Fiend Energy around him churned violently! He had painstakingly pursued the Saintly Dao Fruit, yet had never found the method. Only one Heavenly Dao Saint position remained. It seemed there was still an opportunity, but he had no way to seek it. As for Proving the Dao through Strength, it was even more illusory and remote. Now that Li Cha had personally confirmed that his path lay in the Earthly Dao and that he had a chance to become a Saint, how could he not be excited?
"So it is... so it is!" Minghe muttered. An unprecedented brilliance erupted from his cold eyes. He deeply bowed to Li Cha once more, his tone more respectful than ever. "Thank you, Senior, for clearing away my confusion! Minghe will remember this favor in his heart!"
With that, he did not remain any longer. His figure flickered and merged into the earth like a drop of water, vanishing without a trace. The overwhelming Blood Fiend Energy also dissipated, as though it had never appeared. This was Minghe's unique escape art, allowing him to travel through the earth's veins directly to the Netherworld Blood Sea at the deepest level beneath Buzhou Mountain.
The Netherworld Blood Sea had formed from the filthy blood of Great God Pangu's navel after World Creation. It gathered the resentment, malice, and filth of Heaven and Earth, making it the most yin, evil, and polluted place in the Primordial Wilderness. The sea of blood stretched boundlessly, its rolling waves made entirely of thick crimson fluid that gave off a terrifying aura capable of corroding souls and defiling treasures. Apart from Ancestor Minghe, the Innate God-Demon born from the blood sea, almost no living being could survive there. (At this time, the Blood-Winged Black Mosquito was still being nurtured in some hidden place within the blood sea. It had yet to be born, and no one had noticed it.)
Minghe's figure slowly condensed in the depths of the blood sea. He sat cross-legged atop the Twelve-Petal Karma Fire Red Lotus, with the two killing swords, Yuan Tu and Abi, floating at his side. Recalling the three sessions of listening to the Dao at Purple Cloud Palace, nearly all the Heavenly Dao Saint positions had been divided up, while the final strand of Primordial Violet Qi had gone to Hong Yun. He understood that he had no affinity with becoming a Heavenly Dao Saint. And Proving the Dao through Strength required a supreme foundation, immense fortune, and great perseverance. With his blood sea origin, burdened from birth with endless fiendish aura and karma, it was almost a dead end.
He had set his sights on the Earthly Dao and Human Dao that Li Cha had once mentioned vaguely. He pondered in secret: the Netherworld Blood Sea lay at the bottom of Buzhou Mountain, the lowest terrain in the Primordial Wilderness and the place closest to the Nine Nethers. It was also where all filth gathered, utterly incompatible with the Human Dao, which represented the propagation of life and the flourishing of civilization. Yet the Dao of "earth" possessed the virtue of bearing all things and embracing all phenomena. It held both flourishing life and the stillness of death. Was not the Netherworld Blood Sea precisely a component that the Earthly Dao ought to possess? With Li Cha's personal confirmation today, the great weight in his heart finally fell away. His determination to manage the blood sea, await the emergence of the Earthly Dao, and seek a Saint position from it only grew firmer.
Li Cha watched Minghe depart, withdrew the concealment over the heavenly secrets, and cast a distant glance in the direction of Buzhou Mountain. He thought to himself, The Earthly Dao is about to emerge. The time for Houtu Transforms into Reincarnation is not far off. Minghe... I hope you take care not to step onto the wrong path. Otherwise, even if you have a chance at a Saint position, you will still be unable to escape calamity. He gently patted Mo Ran, signaling him to continue onward. The mountains and rivers of the South still awaited him to sow the seeds of the Tea Dao.
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