The Law Is Not Passed to Six Ears

In the Purple Cloud Palace, three thousand cultivators sat in solemn silence.

On the high platform, Ancestor Hongjun's figure was plain and unadorned, yet seemed to merge seamlessly with the entire chaos itself.

He did not deliberately release any pressure.

He merely sat there quietly, and everyone present felt a reverence that stemmed from the depths of their souls.

These three thousand cultivators had cultivation bases at least at the early Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal stage.

A Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, having leaped beyond the Three Realms and escaped the Five Elements, had begun to touch the laws of time and space—already a pinnacle existence in the Primordial Wilderness.

Those who could reach this step were all beings of great opportunity, great perseverance, and great wisdom.

As for cultivators who were not even Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, they simply lacked the power to traverse the vast chaos and find this Purple Cloud Palace hidden deep within it.

"This sermon will last three thousand years."

Hongjun's voice was not loud, yet it reached every ear with perfect clarity.

"Beginning from the Heavenly Immortal realm, advancing step by step. Let those with affinity listen."

The great hall was utterly silent. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the first sermon by a sage since the Creation of Heaven and Earth.

Hongjun slowly began to speak.

"The Way of the Heavenly Immortal..."

His voice was calm, without deliberate cadence, yet every word seemed to contain infinite Dao resonance.

He did not speak of profound or abstruse principles. He simply started from the Heavenly Immortal realm, dissecting the essence of the cultivation path bit by bit.

The Way of the Heavenly Immortal lay in foundation-building, in clarifying the mind and seeing one's true nature, in establishing the first connection with Heaven and Earth.

Those great beings who were already Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals should have found these introductory teachings dull.

But strangely, when Hongjun spoke of these most basic matters, they too listened as if entranced.

The principles they thought they had long understood seemed to reveal new dimensions when spoken by Hongjun.

Laozi nodded slightly, his gaze profound.

Yuanshi's expression was solemn, lost in thought. Tongtian's brow alternately relaxed and furrowed, clearly immersed in the experience.

Jieyin and Zhunti sat on their cushions, their expressions calm, faint traces of Dao resonance flowing around them.

Nuwa listened quietly, flashes of enlightenment occasionally flickering in her eyes.

Behind them, Xuande sat cross-legged among the crowd, listening as Hongjun began from the Heavenly Immortal realm, nodding inwardly.

He understood that Hongjun was laying a foundation for everyone.

No matter one's cultivation level, the firmer the foundation, the farther the path one could walk in the future.

After finishing the Heavenly Immortal realm, Hongjun did not pause but continued to the Mysterious Immortal realm.

The Way of the Mysterious Immortal lay in refining Qi and transforming spirit, in uniting spirit with Qi, in bridging the connection between Heaven and Earth.

Still the same calm tone, still the same simple language, but the Dao resonance that penetrated to the bone made every listener drunk with ecstasy.

Many Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal cultivators among the scattered practitioners could no longer hold back their tears.

They had cultivated for countless ages, yet only today did they realize how many wrong paths they had taken, how many detours they had made.

After finishing the Mysterious Immortal realm, Hongjun continued to the Golden Immortal realm.

The Way of the Golden Immortal lay in uniting spirit with the Dao, in condensing the Five Qi within the chest, in glimpsing one's own destined path.

In the great hall, someone began to sob quietly.

It was an unknown scattered cultivator, his face aged, his cultivation base merely at the early Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal stage.

He had cultivated for millions of years, advancing step by step to where he was today, enduring countless hardships and taking countless wrong turns.

Listening to Hongjun's sermon today, he finally understood what he had missed all those years.

After finishing the Golden Immortal realm, Hongjun continued to the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

The Way of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal lay in the Three Flowers gathering atop the head, in the Five Qi facing the origin, in condensing one's own path into a flower—the flower blooming to reveal one's nature, and nature being seen, the path was achieved.

Hongjun's voice remained calm, but the Dao resonance grew ever deeper.

The entire Purple Cloud Palace was shrouded in an indescribably mysterious aura. The three thousand cultivators were drunk with rapture, immersed in that supreme Great Dao.

However, just as Hongjun finished explaining the Way of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal and was about to continue to the next stage, he suddenly stopped.

That voice, smooth as a flowing stream, came to an abrupt halt.

The three thousand cultivators all started, jolted awake from that mysterious state of enlightenment.

They looked blankly toward the high platform, not understanding what had happened.

Hongjun's gaze turned toward a certain point in the void.

That gaze was calm, without any emotional fluctuation.

But the moment he looked in that direction, a flat voice, seemingly containing infinite majesty, resounded throughout the entire Purple Cloud Palace.

"Dharma does not pass to the Six-Eared."

Five simple words.

No anger, no reprimand, not even a trace of emotion.

Yet these five words made everyone present feel a tremor that came from the depths of their souls.

This was the speech of a sage.

Words spoken, law followed.

At the same time, somewhere in the Primordial Wilderness.

It was an unremarkable mountain peak, located in a remote area of the eastern Primordial Wilderness.

Within the mountain lay a hidden cave dwelling, and deep inside that cave, a furry monkey sat cross-legged.

This monkey was born quite peculiar.

Its entire body was covered in fine golden fur, its eyes were bright and piercing, and the aura flowing around it unmistakably indicated the cultivation of a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

But the strangest thing was its ears—those ears were much larger than those of an ordinary monkey.

Within the ear cavities, six small ear whorls were faintly visible, layered one upon another, like six blooming fleshy flowers.

Six-eared Macaque.

One of the four great spiritual monkeys of heaven and earth, skilled in hearing sounds, capable of discerning principles, knowing past and future, understanding all things.

At this moment, Six-eared Macaque had his eyes tightly shut, his six ears gently trembling as if listening to something.

His face bore an uncontrollable excitement and greed.

He was eavesdropping, stealing a listen to the sermon at Purple Cloud Palace.

He had no qualification to go to the Chaos.

Though he possessed the cultivation of a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal and was considered a strong figure in the Primordial Wilderness, he lacked both the ability and the courage to venture into the depths of Chaos to seek Purple Cloud Palace.

He had been to the edge of Chaos before—the boundless void made his heart tremble with fear.

He knew that if he rashly entered, only one path awaited him: getting lost.

Moreover, he knew that even the lowest cultivation among those who could attend the sermon at Purple Cloud Palace was the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

As a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, he simply had no qualification.

But he refused to accept it.

A sage preaching the Dao—the first time since the Creation of Heaven and Earth.

If he could hear even a fragment, a single scale or claw, it would be enough to benefit him endlessly.

So he thought of his innate divine ability.

Six-eared Macaque, skilled in hearing sounds, capable of discerning principles.

His ears could hear countless sounds from the three realms and six paths.

They could pierce through prohibitions, cross barriers, and capture those heavenly secrets that ordinary cultivators could never touch.

He hid in a remote corner of the Primordial Wilderness.

Activating his innate divine ability, he aimed his six ears toward the depths of Chaos, toward that Purple Cloud Palace.

He heard it.

At first, only vague sounds, but gradually, they grew clearer and clearer.

Those sounds were like celestial music, each word containing infinite Dao resonance.

The Dao of Heavenly Immortal, the Dao of Mysterious Immortal, the Dao of Golden Immortal, the Dao of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal...

He trembled all over with excitement.

He heard it! He truly heard it!

He listened greedily, engraving every word into the depths of his heart.

He thought, after finishing this sermon, he would surely break through, become a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, or even... even higher!

Yet, just as he was listening with rapt intoxication, the sound suddenly stopped.

Then, a flat voice, as if crossing endless time and space, directly resounded in the depths of his Primordial Spirit—

"Dharma does not pass to the Six-Eared."

Boom!!!

Six-eared Macaque felt as if a thunderous explosion had struck within his mind!

Those five words, like five great mountains, slammed heavily onto his Primordial Spirit!

All six of his ears ached violently, as if countless steel needles had pierced them at once!

"Ahhh—!"

It let out a miserable shriek, clamped its hands over its ears, and tumbled off the cushion, rolling wildly across the ground.

Blood gushed from its ear holes, staining its fur and soaking the floor.

Pain.

As those five words landed, blood surged from all six of its ears, and its path of the Dao was severed forever.

Countless eons later, during the Journey to the West, it would die at Sun Wukong's hands, becoming one of the trials along the pilgrimage.

Greedily seeking fate, it instead found none.