Heavenly Dao Merit

"Dao follows Nature; its pivotal mechanism lies in Yin-Yang.

The circulation of Yin and Yang is the supreme path leading to the realm of Great Luo.

If Yin's vitality remains hidden, all things perish in silence; if Yang's active force does not expand, heaven and earth wither away.

Those who attain the supreme realm of Mahayana have no fixed form to their Dao. Only by finding great freedom amid Yin-Yang Qi can they comprehend true freedom."

As the final Dao Sound faded, the immense Yin-Yang Dao diagram that had enveloped heaven and earth slowly dissipated. The purple qi filling the sky and the rising Profound Yin Qi also returned to Qing Huan's body like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea.

This sermon had not only bestowed grace upon its listeners; it had also been a precious opportunity for him to review the old and gain new insights. Every explanation deepened his understanding of the Yin-Yang Great Dao, as though he had touched upon even subtler mysteries.

After a long while, Jieyin slowly opened his eyes. With his palms pressed together, his solemn expression carried deep admiration.

"Excellent! My junior brother and I have truly received your instruction today.

Fellow Daoist Qing Huan's exposition of the Yin-Yang Dao has exhausted the wonders of Creation. It is unfathomably profound and boundlessly mysterious.

It is only a pity that my junior brother and I are dull of talent. What we have understood is merely a drop in the ocean, not even one part in ten."

Jieyin's tone was sincere and humble.

Zhunti also bowed, strange light flickering in his eyes, mixed with a trace of complexity and longing he could not conceal.

Qing Huan smiled calmly, his gaze seeming capable of piercing straight through the heart.

"You two are too modest. Though the ultimate principles of the Great Dao may follow different paths and not necessarily lead to the same destination, understanding one method can allow one to infer others, and all methods leave traces to follow.

Even if you cannot fully glimpse the entirety of my Dao, with your exceptional talents, how could you possibly gain nothing?"

Qing Huan knew perfectly well that Jieyin's innate foundation and comprehension were in no way inferior to Taiqing Laozi's. That talk of being dull of talent was merely the usual self-concealment of these two Westerners.

That fleeting, burning gaze the pair had cast at the Innate Supreme Treasure had not escaped his perception.

But so long as these two dared to make a move, he could let the West learn today just how powerful the Heaven-Opening Blade's attacks were...

The Dao aura atop the peak had yet to disperse, and the lingering fragrance of the Golden Lotus remained. The aftertaste of that discussion of the Dao, filled with supreme wisdom and hidden undercurrents, seemed to still echo softly through heaven and earth.

"Excellent!"

Fellow Daoist Qing Huan had expounded upon the mysteries of Yin and Yang.

A smile hung on Zhunti's face as the Bodhi prayer beads in his palm spun ever faster. He said slowly,

"Since that is so, I should also discuss the Dao of Karma."

"Karma?"

Qing Huan's eyes abruptly brightened, and his spirit stirred.

The Three Thousand Laws of Chaos.

When Time does not emerge, Space reigns supreme.

When Fate hides away, Karma becomes emperor!

Creation is peerless; Destruction is immeasurable.

The Five Elements are the foundation; Yin-Yang stands above.

Power is supreme; Reincarnation controls the field.

This Law of Karma ranked fourth among the laws of Chaos, far above the Yin-Yang Great Dao he had comprehended, which ranked eighth.

Even if Zhunti did not possess a complete Law of Karma, Qing Huan's understanding of this Dao was nowhere close to being far inferior to his.

"Great Luo is not Luo; Karma is not cause."

Zhunti's voice rang like a great bell, yet also like the low chant of Buddhist scripture, every word striking at the Dao heart.

"Transcend the boundaries of the Three Realms, leaving no trace within the Five Elements.

See the causes of the past, and they are the fruits of the future; without beginning or end, this is the gate of the Dao."

The halo around the prayer beads flowed, reflecting a phantom of the river of time and space.

"Great Luo is neither form nor name; Karma is neither thread nor rope.

Transcend the Three Realms without being tainted by worldly dust; pass through countless Tribulations while one's true nature endures.

Thus, to see the past is to see the future; to comprehend the end is instead to see the initial cause."

Qing Huan's mind shook violently, and he instantly sank into contemplation of Karma's mysteries.

So that was it!

No wonder Buddhism in the future could sever the three lives. It was all related to Zhunti's Dao of Karma. Everything flowed through Karma, and at the end lay the original cause...

As Zhunti's Dao Sound continued unceasingly, Dao aura circulated around Qing Huan as he immersed himself in the vast and unfathomable Great Dao of Karma.

"One cycle begins anew, myriad Tribulations return to stillness; Karma transforms into the beginning, and the Dao gives birth to Di Yi."

Zhunti's Dao Sound grew ever more magnificent, stirring resonance in the laws of heaven and earth. In the void, divine chains of the Three Thousand Laws seemed to emerge and intertwine.

"Black is emptiness, emptiness is form. The Three Thousand Laws are locks; one Karma severs them all!"

He took a step forward, and invisible threads seemed to crisscross beneath his feet. They were the obsessions of countless living beings and the paths traced by Tribulations.

"Obsessions are like threads, Tribulations like shuttles."

Zhunti's figure was ethereal as he stepped across the threads, his voice shaking the universe.

"To unite with the Dao is not to unite with the Dao; not uniting with the Dao is also union. One thought births ten thousand worlds; one emptiness grinds down ten thousand worlds."

The Dao Sound gradually deepened, pointing directly toward the origin of the Great Dao.

"Ask not where Karma begins. Can Great Luo fall? Falling is rebirth. Can Karma be severed? Can it be cut? When cut, it has already become entangled.

Can Great Luo be extinguished? Where extinction lies, rebirth arises. Where it is severed, flowers bloom..."

The lingering sound drifted on, finally turning into a distant sigh.

"I am myself, yet not myself. The realm of the past, the river of the future."

The Dao Sound ceased, but its echoes remained.

Qing Huan and the other two seemed to have experienced a cycle of time and space. They slowly opened their eyes, Karma runes flickering in and out of existence in their depths, their Dao Cultivation faintly improved.

At that moment, upon the Primordial Earth below, the billions of living beings who had listened intently yet struggled to understand the profound mysteries of the Great Dao saw the Dao aura atop the peak receding and feared that their opportunity would end there.

Countless gazes filled with pleas, longing, and reverence converged at once, surging like a tide toward the three figures atop the mountain.

That silent supplication gathered into a torrent of will that shook the heart.

Seeing this, compassion arose in Zhunti's heart, and he was just about to speak and offer further enlightenment to the living beings.

"Bzzzt—!"

A sudden change erupted in the heavens!

Endless auspicious clouds emerged from the void, with a thousand streams of Auspicious Qi and ten thousand rays of rosy light, illuminating the entire sky in radiant sanctity!

A vast and majestic pressure from heaven and earth spread out, making all living beings bow their heads and all things hold their breath.

Then, a brilliant and immense golden river of Merit, filled with profound Dao aura, came crashing down from Above the Nine Heavens!

The golden river divided into four streams. Three of them, each more than three hundred li wide and irresistible in force, poured with perfect precision into Qing Huan, Jieyin, and Zhunti.

The final stream was somewhat thinner, accounting for roughly one-tenth of the whole. It merged like sweet rain into the auspicious clouds beneath the three men, instantly transforming the mist into Meritorious Auspicious Clouds, overflowing with brilliant colors.

"Senior... Senior Brother! This... this is?!"

Feeling the immense, incomparably pure power of Merit instantly fill his body, along with that vast will resonating with the Heavenly Dao, Zhunti's voice trembled despite the steadfastness of his Dao heart. He looked at Jieyin with ecstatic disbelief.

Jieyin's mind also shook violently, and a stunned expression appeared on his face. Yet in the next instant, enlightenment came to him. He calculated with his fingers and immediately understood the cause and effect.

He clapped his hands and laughed heartily, his voice like a great bell that shook Yunxiao.

"Hahahaha! Junior Brother, indeed! This is Heavenly Dao Merit! You and I, along with Fellow Daoist Qing Huan, have discussed the Dao here for nine thousand years, explaining the Great Dao, delivering countless beings of the Primordial Wilderness, guiding them toward goodness, and blessing all living things!

The Heavenly Dao is supremely impartial. It sensed that our actions accorded with the great trend of the Primordial Wilderness's evolution and perfected the laws of heaven and earth, and thus bestowed Merit to honor this virtue! This is truly a great opportunity gained without intention!"

Though Qing Huan was likewise receiving the infusion of Merit, his heart remained clear as a mirror.

Heavenly Dao Merit could only be gained through unintended actions that accorded with the Heavenly Dao's evolution and benefited the laws. If one deliberately sought it, then even if something was gained, its foundation would still be hollow.