Chan Teachings

Biodata

History

Conflict at the Heavenly Court

A seating dispute between Chan and Jie Teachings cultivators disrupts Haotian's banquet. Chan disciple Guangchengzi challenges the newly appointed Heavenly Emperor, and Primordial Heavenly Venerate intervenes when the confrontation threatens his prestige. Haotian refuses to defer to him and tells him to teach his disciples virtue 1.

The Human Emperor campaign

Primordial Heavenly Venerate sends his disciples to assist in the Human Emperor's affairs and compete for Merit 76. During Gongsun Xuanyuan's rise, Guangchengzi leads Chan cultivators to the You Xiong Tribe. Rather than share Merit with rogue cultivators, they plan to secure the dominant position by making Guangchengzi the Human Emperor's teacher 87. They urge Xuanyuan to relocate his capital, intensifying conflict with Chen Du and drawing opposition from rogue cultivators 90 94 95 97.

The Chan cultivators fight alongside the You Xiong forces against Chiyou's Jiu Li army 104 105. After Xuanyuan's victory, their expected Merit dissipates on contact, leaving most of them with Karmic Debt; Randeng alone receives a small share of Merit. Primordial Heavenly Venerate cleanses his disciples' Karmic Debt but cannot remove their entangled Karma 106.

The Measure Calamity

Haotian refuses to admit Chan disciples into the Heavenly Court, denying them that means of avoiding the slaughter tribulation 130. Primordial Heavenly Venerate advises them to take promising human disciples who can bear the tribulation in their place 134 135. Meanwhile, rogue cultivators retain grievances over the Chan Teachings' earlier attempts to exclude them from Merit 133 150.

During the calamity, the Chan disciples fight Jie cultivators, including Zhao Gongming 143 144. Primordial Heavenly Venerate joins other Sages in breaking the Immortal Slaying Sword Formation so his disciples can seize its four swords. Chan disciples then kill several Jie cultivators, deepening Master Tongtian's enmity 152 153. The calamity clears some old debt, but Chan disciples also acquire new Karma through their actions 149 161.

Judgment by Haotian

After Master Tongtian's Evil Corpse gives Haotian the formation diagram, Haotian moves to retrieve the four swords from the Chan disciples. He arrests the second-generation disciples and takes the swords 170. He sentences them to five Measure Calamities in the Heavenly Prison and later orders them lashed with the Thunder Whip every five hundred years as a public warning 174 184.

Relationships

• Primordial Heavenly Venerate — Sage and leader of the Chan Teachings; repeatedly tries to protect his disciples from the consequences of their Karma 106 152 170.
• Guangchengzi — senior second-generation disciple who directs the sect's Human Emperor campaign 87 95.
• Randeng — Chan cultivator who avoids taking charge of that campaign and later secretly agrees to join the Western Teachings when the time is right 87 117.
• Jie Teachings — rival sect; their conflict escalates into lethal fighting during the Measure Calamity 1 143 152.
• Rogue cultivators — opponents in the contest for Human Emperor Merit who later confront the Chan Teachings over their exclusion 94 95 150.
• Haotian — Heavenly Emperor who refuses the disciples refuge in his court and ultimately imprisons them 130 174.