Preaching [Seeking Follow-up]

Qingfeng and Mingyue, the two young Daoist children, bustled happily on the platform, their small figures darting among the massive stone seats.

They carefully wiped down the naturally formed stone seats with clean cloud cloths, ensuring not a speck of dust remained, then sorted the low-grade spirit fruits cultivated in the temple's herb garden—such as Cinnabar Fruits and Jade Marrow Pears—and neatly arranged them on jade plates beside the seats.

Though it was the simplest of preparations, their faces glowed with pure joy and shared pride, their rosy cheeks etched with earnestness. Being able to contribute to their master's grand gathering filled them with immense pride and excitement.

Inside and outside Wuzhuang Temple, everything proceeded under an invisible order, final preparations carried out with quiet precision as they waited for guests from all directions, presenting a strange tranquility amidst the bustle.

As time passed, the first listeners had already traversed layer upon layer of forests and overcome the perils of the road, arriving at the foot of Longevity Mountain and ascending the platform along the cleared paths.

The first to arrive were a group of White Apes, highly intelligent and well-mannered, about twenty or thirty in number. The leading Old Ape had fur as white as snow, an aged face but piercing eyes, and carried a gnarled wooden staff that meandered like a Qiu Long. His cultivation had reached the early stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

He led the monkey troop in a deeply respectful ancient bow toward the Mountain Gate—or rather, toward Zhenyuanzi, who stood quietly there—before silently finding seats near the front and sitting down. Their eyes were clear, filled with longing and reverence for the knowledge of the Dao, displaying excellent discipline.

Next came several Immortal Cranes, their wings spotless white, wreathed in Immortal Qi, their postures graceful. They arrived with a flutter, curving their long necks slightly as if in salute, then lightly landed on stone platforms specially prepared for avian beings. Their Dao resonance was unique and refined, clearly indicating extraordinary origins and inherited traditions.

Then, as if a floodgate had opened, all manner of living beings arrived like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea. Longevity Mountain buzzed with unprecedented liveliness:

A Wolf Demon rode a black demonic wind, kicking up clouds of sand, his eyes sharp as blades. He landed and transformed into a wiry man, warily scanning his surroundings.

A Carp Spirit rode waves and water escape arts, her scales shimmering with rainbow colors under the sun. She transformed into a girl in colorful robes, curiously looking left and right.

A Stone Monster directly burrowed up from the edge of the platform, his form towering like a mountain, his skin showing a stony luster. He silently walked to a corner and sat down.

A Flower Demon, strikingly beautiful, exuded a refreshing, intoxicating fragrance as she swayed gracefully... All shapes and sizes, strange and wondrous, encompassing most of the common racial forms of the Western Primordial.

In fact, Zhenyuanzi's powerful divine sense also noted that among the surging tide of beings, a few figures bore extremely faint yet inherently extraordinary traces of dragon qi, phoenix breath, or qilin patterns.

They often came alone, their auras slightly alienated from the others, seeming out of place. They appeared to be members of the Three Tribes who, due to impure bloodlines, violations of clan rules, or divergent pursuits, were marginalized and neglected by their tribes, seeking opportunities for breakthroughs or different paths here.

All the beings who arrived, regardless of cultivation level, race, or temperament—whether irritable or gentle—were guided by an invisible yet gentle force of the earth, arranged into corresponding positions on the platform.

Those with profound cultivation, dense Dao resonance, and steady minds naturally sat in front, able to perceive the Dao sound more clearly; those with shallow cultivation and restless auras sat in the back, to avoid being harmed by the Dao resonance.

The entire process was orderly, without any contention, as if rules existed in the darkness themselves, revealing Zhenyuanzi's precise control over the earth veins and this venue. This secretly alarmed some who had come to test the waters, causing them to rein in their schemes.

Though the races differed, their habits varied, and some might even have predator-prey or competitive relationships among themselves.

Yet at this moment, on the preaching platform of Longevity Mountain, under the invisible gaze of that Great Luo Peak existence, which all beings could clearly sense, and under the dual influence of the calming formation and the Wood Qi, all beings maintained rare silence, not daring to make noise, retracting their Claws and Fangs. Most eyes revealed reverence for the preacher and pure longing for the knowledge of the Dao.

A peculiar atmosphere of harmony Spread Out across the platform.

Zhenyuanzi's Gaze was calm as water as he slowly swept it over the ever-growing crowd below, already numbering over ten thousand, with more latecomers still arriving. He had a clear picture in his mind.

Though these beings were a mixed bag, with varying mindsets and indistinguishable good and evil, they almost represented the cream of the current Western continent's living beings. Among them were not a few with solid foundations, enduring luck, and decent temperaments who merely lacked guidance. With a little direction, they could become promising talents, and also important forces that might sustain the West or even influence the Primordial in the future.

He seemed to see countless seeds that would draw nourishment here today.

The time had come. The sun reached its zenith, the moment when heaven and earth's yang energy was most abundant and balanced.

Zhenyuanzi waited no longer. He walked slowly to the slightly higher stone platform at the center, which seemed naturally formed, and sat down with composed ease.

Hongyun and Lord Wanshouyuan sat on either side of him at slightly lower positions, serving both as protectors and to signify their status.

Qingfeng and Mingyue reined in their excitement, their small faces taut with seriousness, respectfully standing behind the stone platform, trying their best to look solemn.

Zhenyuanzi swept his gaze across the entire assembly. Where his eyes fell, all noise ceased completely, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard.

He did not engage in Pleasantries but directly began to preach the Dao.

His voice was not loud, but calm and weighty, as if it did not issue from his mouth but originated from the earth beneath their feet—the earth's own whisper—clearly and without distance, penetrating the depths of every listener's mind, whether they sat in the very front or the very back.

What he taught was not, at the start, any World-Shaking divine powers, Secret Methods, or profound techniques. Instead, beginning with the most basic refinement of qi to transform the spirit and condense the Dao foundation, he systematically expounded the key points of cultivation in the Earth Immortal realm, the bottlenecks and barriers (since the beings who could come here were at least at the Earth Immortal level), then moved on to how to condense the Golden Immortal Dao fruit, how to initially perceive and draw upon the Heaven and Earth Law, and then explained in detail the mysteries of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal's Five Qi Facing the Origin and Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown. Finally, he even vaguely touched upon the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal's transcendence over time and space and the initial mastery of laws.

The entire process went from shallow to deep, step by step. Every word and phrase contained the True Meaning of the Great Dao, directly pointing to the root of cultivation, discarding flashy but impractical divine abilities, and focusing on expounding and solidifying the foundation of the Dao.

When he reached the Crucial Period of exquisite subtlety, heaven and earth resonated. In the void, countless heavenly flowers formed from pure spiritual energy naturally condensed, crystal clear and emitting Dao resonance, drifting down in profusion. When they fell on the listeners, they transformed into pure spiritual energy and merged into their bodies.

On the platform, golden Lotus Flowers also emerged from the depths of the earth veins, their petals swaying, glowing with light, emitting a calming, mind-settling fragrance.

The Dao sound and the visions intertwined, making the entire Longevity Mountain seem like the source of the Great Dao, sacred and extraordinary. The Four Symbols Phantom around the platform also raised their heads in Long Chant, roar, Clear Chirp, and Low Growl, harmonizing with the Dao sound.

Below The Stage, the myriad beings reacted differently, displaying the full spectrum of living creatures.

Some, hearing what matched their own cultivation difficulties or the characteristics of their techniques, had sudden insights and epiphanies, unable to suppress their joy, waving their hands and dancing.

Others, encountering abstruse and hard-to-understand Ultimate Truth of the Great Dao beyond their current comprehension, scratched their heads, furrowed their brows, and pondered deeply, not letting a single spark of inspiration slip away.

Some, touched to the heart by the Dao sound, recalled the countless hardships and lonely struggles on their cultivation path, and could not help but weep with sorrow, as if they had found a kindred spirit.

Still others, blessed by fortune, directly fell into a deep state of enlightenment, their Whole Body Aura fluctuating, rising and falling, clearly reaping great gains, even showing signs of breakthroughs.

Those with profound cultivation pondered thoughtfully, silently cross-referencing the Dao teachings they heard with their own knowledge, checking for gaps and filling omissions.

Those with shallow cultivation also listened with rapt fascination. Though they could not fully grasp the meaning, many parts seeming like looking at flowers through a mist, they still felt as if a Brand New door had been opened before their eyes, revealing a broader world and clarifying the path ahead, benefiting greatly.

Even Hongyun and Lord Wanshouyuan, who had long reached the Great Luo Realm, were immersed in this systematic, comprehensive, and profound preaching.

Though the Dao they cultivated was not exactly the same as Zhenyuanzi's, the Ultimate Truth of the Great Dao converged from different paths. Now, listening to Zhenyuanzi systematically lay out the cultivation framework from shallow to deep, they occasionally nodded slightly, a trace of understanding Flashed in their eyes. Clearly, they too were touched, achieving the effect of reviewing the old to learn the new and using another's stone to polish their own jade.

This grand preaching had nothing to do with divine abilities or killing, only the root of the Great Dao. The sun rose and set, the cold came and the heat went, lasting a full nine hundred years.

For the beings of the Primordial, nine hundred years might be but a Flicker of an Eye, but for the listeners below, most of whom were hearing systematic Dao teachings for the first time and thirstily absorbing knowledge, these nine hundred years were undoubtedly a Crucial Period that changed their destinies.

On the last day of the nine hundredth year, when the evening sun's afterglow bathed the platform, Zhenyuanzi slowly uttered the final Dao sound, concluding a dialectical discourse on "the earth's bearing and the transcendence of living beings." Then he fell silent and sat still.

On the platform, the grand phenomenon of Heavenly Flowers Falling and Golden Lotus Sprouting from Earth, which had persisted for nine hundred years, began to gradually dissipate, transforming into pure spiritual energy that returned to the heavens and earth.

Yet the subtle lingering resonance of the Great Dao did not vanish immediately. Like an indelible brand, it still permeated the space between heaven and earth at Longevity Mountain, lingering in the hearts of every listener, refusing to fade.

Below the stage, the vast majority of the countless living beings still had their eyes tightly shut, immersed in that mysterious Dao Realm. Their expressions ranged from joy to serenity, contemplation to sudden enlightenment, as they continued to savor and digest what they had heard and realized over the past nine hundred years, unable to snap back to reality—as if unwilling to awaken from this dream of the Great Dao.

The entire platform fell into an extreme silence, broken only by the sound of wind and the faint fluctuations of spiritual energy stirred by certain beings as they gained insights.

Zhenyuanzi's Gaze swept deeply over the multitude below the stage, observing the obvious or subtle changes in their auras, sensing the increasingly dense waves of gratitude and reverence converging here, his mind clear as a mirror.

He knew that the seeds of the Dao planted here today had already taken deep root in the hearts of these beings. As they departed, they would surely gradually blossom and bear fruit across this vast and ignorant Western Lands, subtly altering the fates of countless beings and even influencing the future flow of fortune in the entire West.

And he, along with the lineage of Longevity Mountain, had seized this unprecedented opportunity to preach the Dao, gathering considerable fortune, revealing unfathomable strength and magnanimity, and sowing far-reaching influence.

From now on, the name "Zhenyuanzi of Wuzhuang Temple of Longevity Mountain" would truly resound throughout the Western Lands, deeply ingrained in people's hearts, laying a solid and profound foundation for his future actions in this surging Primordial World.

A system belonging to the "Earth Immortals," and even the thread of an "Earthly Path" that he might one day lead—the curtain of that era seemed to be slowly drawn open by his own hand today.