Immortals Discuss the Dao and Exchange Ideas

"This cup of clear tea is offered to the two Daoist friends."

Fuxi looked at the golden cup before him, its spiritual light flowing, and at the amber jade nectar within. A faint warning rose in his heart; he sensed that this tea likely carried profound implications.

But given the circumstances, with a Saint before them, how could they refuse?

He could only exchange a glance with Nuwa. The two rose together and solemnly returned the courtesy. "Many thanks, Daoist friend." Then they accepted the jade cups.

Daoist Haotian smiled and nodded, calmly returning to his seat.

He handed the remaining four jade cups—one gold and three black—to Jieyin, Zhunti, Zhenyuanzi, and Hongyun in turn.

Seeing that all nine cups had been distributed, while nothing stood before Daoist Haotian and Yaochi, Zhunti held his black cup and could not help asking, "Daoist friend, you and Daoist Friend Yaochi..."

Daoist Haotian waved a hand with a gentle smile. "The two of us attend upon the Saint. We occasionally receive such spiritual treasures, and today they have been specially prepared as an offering to you Dao Brothers."

"My sister and I need only keep you company."

Hearing this, Zhunti, Jieyin, Zhenyuanzi, and Hongyun said no more. They raised their jade cups toward one another from afar and, after exchanging courtesies, took a light sip.

As the tea entered their throats, a clear and ethereal Dao resonance seemed to pierce straight into their Primordial Spirits, cleansing their Divine Souls and nourishing their Dao Foundations. Their eyes all brightened slightly as they inwardly praised it without end.

Elsewhere, after the Three Pure Ones, Fuxi, and Nuwa drank, admiration also rose in their hearts. They silently thought that those beneath a Saint's tutelage truly were extraordinary.

When the tea in the cups was finished, the Pure Glazed Bottle moved of its own spiritual accord. Without anyone needing to direct it, it tilted once more, precisely pouring amber jade nectar into the nine jade cups without spilling a single drop.

This display made the Great Powers secretly watching turn solemn again.

One had to know that spatial barriers now separated the various circles discussing the Dao. Yet this bottle could ignore those barriers and operate freely, revealing a glimpse of the profundity of its power.

"Since we are discussing the Dao, there ought to be an opening," Zhunti said, setting down his jade cup and cupping his hands again with an earnest expression.

"Daoist Haotian is a disciple of the Saint, and his Dao resonance is pure and upright. Why not have Daoist friend speak first and lead us with mysterious words?"

Zhenyuanzi, Hongyun, and Jieyin also nodded in agreement, their demeanor humble.

Yaochi's expression remained calm at the side, yet faint ripples stirred in her heart.

The four before her were all newly advanced Da Luo, Great Powers of the Primordial World with profound origins and lofty cultivation.

Yet at this moment, they vaguely regarded her elder brother—whose cultivation was still only at the Golden Immortal realm—as their lead, willing to hear him expound on the Dao first.

Had they not been in public, she would nearly have cast another worshipful look at her elder brother.

Daoist Haotian pondered for a moment before breaking into a smile. "Since I have received the esteem of you Dao Brothers, this Daoist shall throw out a brick to attract jade and speak a few rash words."

"If there are any shallow points or omissions, I hope you Dao Brothers will forgive them and generously offer correction."

The four of Hongyun repeatedly said that would not be the case.

Daoist Haotian said, "My cultivation is shallow and my Dao practice insignificant. I would not dare speak recklessly of the essence of cultivation before you Dao Brothers."

"I shall merely offer a brief discussion of 'the momentum of the Primordial World.'"

"Momentum?" Zhunti's eyes revealed contemplation.

"Precisely." Daoist Haotian nodded. "Mountains have the momentum of mountains, waters have the momentum of waters; wind, thunder, fire, and marshes all possess their own momentum."

"This momentum of heaven and earth is formless and immaterial, pervading all beneath heaven, and seldom acts directly upon Living Beings."

"However, what this Daoist contemplates today is the 'momentum of Living Beings.'"

"It is an invisible great force formed when myriad beings gather and their intentions intertwine—a force capable of driving the tides of fortune and stirring heaven and earth."

Afterward, Daoist Haotian used the rise and fall of the Three Clans during the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, as well as the shifting calamity-fortunes of the Dao-Demon Conflict, as examples.

He laid everything out in clear, detailed order, explaining how the gathering of Living Beings formed "momentum," how that momentum in turn nourished clans, influenced heaven and earth, and even drew forth tribulations to determine rise and ruin.

His words were profound yet accessible, his perspective vast and sweeping, as though he stood above the River of Time and gazed down upon the ages. Hongyun, Zhenyuanzi, Jieyin, Zhunti, and even Yaochi listened until their hearts and minds swayed, as if hearing the great Dao's sacred utterance.

Even in the depths of Hongjun Dao Ancestor's indifferent eyes, as he silently observed from the High Platform, a nearly imperceptible ripple passed.

"Marvelous! Marvelous!" When Daoist Haotian finished, Zhunti was the first to clap his hands in amazement, light gleaming in his eyes.

"Daoist friend's lofty discourse is detached in scope and unique in perspective. It truly opens one's eyes and brings sudden enlightenment!"

Even the ever-steady and weighty Zhenyuanzi could not help but praise him. "Daoist Friend Zhunti speaks most truly."

"This Daoist has cultivated through endless years, studied the Earth Veins, and comprehended the breath of life. I have considered myself to possess some insight into the workings of heaven and earth."

"But to unravel the gathering, flourishing, and decline of vast Living Beings as Daoist friend has done, directly pointing to the root and flow of their momentum—this is truly the first time I have heard such a thing."

"I am impressed!"

Hongyun's face was even more radiant with smiles as he declared, "Daoist friend's knowledge is outstanding, and your discerning eye blazes like a torch."

"When your Cultivation Advancement comes, with this insight in hand, you will surely accomplish a heaven-shaking great undertaking in the Primordial World!"

Faced with this praise, Daoist Haotian remained as composed as ever.

He knew well that what he possessed was a "historical perspective" built from the accumulated wisdom of hundreds of millions of years in later generations. He stood, as it were, upon the far shore of time looking back, so the threads of events naturally appeared clear.

Though the Great Powers before him possessed vast Supernatural Powers, they were ultimately still within the mountain and inevitably constrained by their era.

It was only natural that, upon hearing this forward-looking theory of "momentum," they would be astonished as though encountering a celestial being.

"This Daoist's shallow views are finished. Next, let us invite Fellow Daoist Zhenyuanzi to expound his true words." Daoist Haotian cupped his hands and guided the topic toward Zhenyuanzi.

Zhenyuanzi did not decline. After a brief moment of thought, he said slowly, "Then This Daoist will make a fool of himself."

"My Dao is rooted in 'earth'..."

His voice was steady and resonant, and Dao essence spread with it. There was not the slightest edge on display, yet it naturally exuded the vast bearing of carrying all things and nurturing all living beings.

The Dao of Earth expounded by Zhenyuanzi was heavy, all-embracing, and endlessly vital, unlike the Imperial Great Dao cultivated by Haotian.

Yet the Imperial Great Dao encompassed all phenomena, containing the warp and weft of heaven and earth.

Thus, as Haotian quietly listened to Zhenyuanzi's exposition, he discovered that the portions of Dao essence within his Imperial Dao Fruit relating to "bearing," "stability," and "generation" were faintly growing stronger and purer. He benefited greatly.

After Zhenyuanzi, Jieyin began to speak.

The core of his Dao lay in "dreams" and "illusions."

Using dreams as a vessel and illusions as a sea, he constructed boundless wondrous realms between reality and illusion, then refined the false into the true, proving the principles of stillness, extinction, and transcendence.

This Dao brimmed with strange and fantastical imagination, profound and unfathomable, yet it was also exceedingly perilous.

Those who cultivated this Dao had to send their true spirits and Divine Sense deep into the endless sea of dreams and illusions. With the slightest loss of direction, they might fall into eternal ruin, their true spirits scattering apart.

As Haotian listened, his spiritual platform maintained a thread of clarity and vigilance at all times, guarding against being inadvertently drawn in by the Dao essence of dreams and illusions.

At the same time, his Imperial Great Dao hungrily absorbed the profound nourishment within it concerning "command over the mind and spirit" and "the transformation of reality and illusion."

Afterward, Zhunti expounded his Dao of wisdom and bodhi, while Hongyun spoke freely of the wonders of carefree clouds and rosy mists.

Even Yaochi, encouraged by the others, briefly described the cold, secluded, and mysterious essence of the Innate Pure Yin Great Dao.

However, unlike Haotian's discussion of the "theory of momentum," from which all four Da Luo had gained something, when Yaochi spoke of the Dao, aside from Haotian, who was stirred because the Imperial Great Dao encompassed all things, Zhunti and the others gained almost nothing.

Instead, after hearing her out, the four offered a few pointers on Yaochi's Dao out of goodwill, helping her clarify its crucial intricacies.