He bit his tongue.
The dignified Dao Ancestor, the supreme being who had merged with the Heavenly Dao, was in the middle of the solemn task of teaching all living beings when a bizarrely pitched snore made him bite down hard on the tip of his tongue.
The pain was sharp and piercing, though for a Saint whose body had long since become impervious to countless tribulations, it should have been nothing.
But the humiliation was beyond the pale.
Hongjun's face twitched slightly. He forced down the mouthful of Saintly Might-infused blood essence and continued without pause. Yet his usually placid tone now sounded as if he were gritting his teeth.
He did not punish them.
Karma was already in disarray. If he struck now, it would only make him seem petty for a Saint.
Besides, even he, the Heavenly Dao's spokesperson, found the Dao resonance contained in those snores a little... outrageous.
His gaze shifted to the back of the hall.
Jieyin and Zhunti had tried to stay awake and listen for a while.
After all, this was a Saint's sermon. Even if they couldn't understand it, memorizing it by rote would still be worthwhile. They had agreed on that before coming.
But...
The Chaos Spirit Jade Carefree Chair beneath them was simply too bewitching.
Its warmth seemed to wrap around them as if they had returned to the primordial chaos of the womb, soothing their tense nerves. The calming Dao resonance wafting from the supreme incense burner beside them was like a pair of gentle hands, endlessly caressing their primordial spirits.
And then there was their Elder Brother Taiyuan's snore, with its irresistibly devilish rhythm. It was the most powerful lullaby in the world.
"Second Brother, my eyelids..." Zhunti trailed off, his head tipping sideways.
"Third Brother, you mustn't... snore..." Jieyin's eyelids drooped.
The two brothers gave up resisting almost at the same time. Their bodies slumped in utter comfort, and they instantly joined their Elder Brother's ranks of sleepers.
For a moment,
Three layers of snoring rose and fell in a corner of Purple Skies Palace. Incredibly, they formed a perfect Three Talents Formation. Rather than sounding chaotic, they gave rise to an inexplicable harmony with the Great Dao.
Then came a sight that nearly made everyone's jaws hit the floor.
As the three sank into deep sleep,
a patch of Auspicious Cloud appeared above each of their heads.
Brilliant golden light shone above Jieyin's head, revealing an aura of sorrow and perseverance.
A Bodhi tree's phantom swayed above Zhunti, its light of wisdom flowing.
But the most outrageous was Taiyuan.
The Auspicious Cloud above his head wasn't the usual vision of three flowers atop the crown. Instead, it unfolded into a vast and boundless, wondrous world.
There, no calamities or tribulations existed, nor pain or suffering.
The ground was paved with gold, the trees were made of seven treasures and colored glaze, and the rivers flowed not with water but with the ambrosia of eight virtues.
Most outrageous of all,
there was none of the tedium of expounding scriptures and preaching the Dao. Celestial maidens danced and sang everywhere, and tables overflowed with endless delicacies. Every living being there had but one thing to do—to indulge in pleasure and enjoy carefree bliss to the fullest.
This was the [Primordial Form of the Pure Land].
Compared with the Pure Land of later Buddhism, which required one to cultivate for a future life, the one in Taiyuan's dream was far more straightforward, brimming with the temptations of the present and the fulfillment of worldly desires.
On the front row's meditation cushions,
Nuwa had already been struggling to make sense of the obscure, tedious Dao of Severing the Three Corpses.
She was the master of the Dao of Creation, spirited by nature, and most disliked rigid, formulaic cultivation.
Bored out of her mind, she couldn't help turning around again, wanting to see what that "bad student" Taiyuan was doing.
Once she looked, she couldn't tear her gaze away.
She stared fixedly at the dream world manifesting above Taiyuan's head.
She watched the beings frolicking beneath the dazzling, colored-glass trees, the exquisite delicacies on the tables—foods she had never seen before—and the free, unrestrained atmosphere, devoid of oppression and constraint.
A strange, dreamy glimmer gradually appeared in Nuwa's beautiful eyes.
"The Dao... can actually be this joyful?"
"Cultivation need not be nothing but suffering, nor does one have to sever all feelings and desires."
"Follow the heart and attain great freedom. As long as there is bliss in one's heart, what place cannot be a Daoist sanctuary?"
In that instant,
Nuwa felt as if she had grasped a crucial insight. The bottleneck that had stalled her because she couldn't understand Hongjun's lecture began to loosen!
The Law of Creation surged within her, resonating wondrously with the joyful mood in Taiyuan's dream.
Boom!
Her aura soared!
Though she didn't break through a realm like Taiyuan, the clarity that came from understanding her Dao Heart was far more precious than memorizing ten thousand lines of scripture by rote.
Even Hongjun on the high platform couldn't help glancing her way.
What was going on?
I'm here, earnestly preaching the Great Dao, and you can't take in a single word.
But then you glance at someone's dream while he's asleep, and suddenly you understand?
These students are impossible to teach!
He looked at the others.
Kunpeng, seated at the back, had bloodshot eyes. The corners of his eyes had even split, and two trails of bloody tears ran down his cheeks. Clearly, trying to comprehend a Saint's Dao had damaged his source, yet he gritted his teeth and refused to give up.
Di Jun and Tai Yi were in a similar state, their auras in disarray, as if they might go mad and fall into demonic deviation at any moment.
Apart from a handful of people like the Three Pure Ones, most of those in Purple Skies Palace were enduring an excruciating ordeal.
It was like undergoing brain surgery without any anesthetic.
By contrast, the three in the corner...
Taiyuan was sleeping soundly. He even rolled over and mumbled a dream sentence that rang throughout the hall:
"What do they mean, 'the Great Dao is simple'? I say it's the Great Dao of sleep... If you don't sleep enough, where'll you get the strength to cultivate... Mm, this braised pork is cooked just right..."
As soon as those words fell,
Taiyuan's aura shot up again like a rocket. The dream world above his head grew increasingly solid, and he advanced from the late stage of the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm to Perfected Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal with the ease of taking a drink of water!
Jieyin and Zhunti were then drawn along by that surge of energy. Their cultivation rose with the tide. Though they didn't reach perfection, they still made considerable progress.
No pain, no bottleneck, and no risk of falling into demonic deviation.
They had simply taken a nap and, in the process, leveled up.
"Pfft—"
A Grand Luo Golden Immortal who had been struggling to hold on heard those words and saw the three break through with such ease. His Dao Heart instantly crumbled. He spat a mouthful of heart's blood three yards away and fainted on the spot.
Comparing people could make you sick with envy.
Some goods were better off being thrown away when compared.
Had they come here to listen to the Dao? This was clearly a vacation, with the added bonus of humiliating everyone else!
Three hours later,
Taiyuan was still wrestling with a whole roast lamb in his dream.
A system notification sounded quietly in his mind, yet didn't disturb his sweet dreams in the least.
[Ding! Detected that during the Saint's sermon, the host not only fell asleep successfully but enjoyed exceptionally high-quality sleep, and used his dream to enlighten Nuwa, who would also become a Saint in the future, severely damaging the confidence of the other listeners.] [Congratulations, host, on achieving the "Strongest Sleep God" title.] [Reward: Divine Ability—Words Follow Law, Budget Version.] [Note: Though this budget version cannot alter the rules, as long as the host is willing to spend merit or spiritual power—or offers a sufficient "price"—the effects of this magically blessed tongue will still be excellent. Whoever you curse will have bad luck; whatever you say will come true.]
Taiyuan grinned in his dream.
This divine ability was great.
From now on, whenever someone got on his nerves, he wouldn't even have to lift a finger. He could just draw a little circle and curse them. How delightful!
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