The two young Daoist attendants, Qingfeng and Mingyue, bustled cheerfully about the platform, their small figures weaving between the enormous stone seats.
They carefully wiped the naturally formed stone seats with clean cloud cloths until not a speck of dust remained, then sorted low-grade spirit fruits cultivated in the temple's herb garden, such as Cinnabar Fruits and Jade Marrow Pears, arranging them neatly on jade platters beside the seats.
Though these were only the simplest preparations, their faces shone with pure joy at sharing in the honor. Their flushed little faces were earnest; being able to contribute to their master's grand gathering filled them with immense pride and excitement.
Inside and outside Wuzhuang Temple, the final preparations proceeded smoothly under an unseen order as everyone awaited visitors from all directions, creating a peculiar stillness amid the bustle.
As time passed, the first listeners crossed the layers of mountain forest, overcame the hardships of the journey, and reached the foot of Longevity Mountain, ascending to the platform along the cleared paths.
The first to arrive were some twenty or thirty highly intelligent, well-mannered white apes. Their leader was an old ape whose fur was white as snow. Its face was aged, but its eyes were bright, and it held an ancient wooden staff that twisted like a horned dragon. Its cultivation had actually reached the Early Taiyi Golden Immortal stage.
Leading the troop, it performed an ancient salute with utmost reverence toward the Mountain Gate—or rather, toward Zhenyuanzi, who stood quietly there—before silently choosing a seat near the front. Its clear eyes brimmed with longing and awe for knowledge of the Great Dao, and its conduct was impeccably proper.
Next came several immortal cranes with flawless white wings, wreathed in immortal qi and graceful in bearing. They glided in, bending their long necks slightly as though bowing, then settled lightly onto the stone terraces prepared for birds. Their Dao resonance was pure and extraordinary; clearly, they too possessed exceptional origins and established inheritances.
Then, as though a floodgate had opened, living beings of every kind arrived in succession like rivers flowing into the sea, bringing unprecedented bustle to Longevity Mountain:
There was a wolf demon riding a black demonic wind that swept sand and dust across the sky, its gaze sharp as a blade. Upon landing, it transformed into a lean, powerful man and surveyed the surroundings warily;
There was a carp spirit riding the waves, arriving through water escape, its scales shimmering with rainbow hues in the sunlight. It transformed into a girl in colorful robes who looked about curiously;
There was a stone monster that emerged straight from the ground at the platform's edge, its massive body like a mountain and its skin gleaming like stone. It walked silently to a corner and sat down;
There was a strikingly beautiful flower demon whose body exuded a refreshing fragrance, its swaying steps full of grace... They came in every shape and form imaginable, encompassing almost all the common races of the Western Primordial.
Zhenyuanzi's powerful spiritual sense even noticed a few figures within this surging tide of beings who bore extremely faint traces of dragon qi, phoenix breath, or kirin markings, all extraordinary in essence.
They generally came alone, their auras somewhat removed from those of the other beings, making them seem out of place. They appeared to be marginalized members of the Three Races, neglected by their clans because of impure bloodlines, violations of clan rules, or different aspirations. They too sought opportunities for breakthroughs here, or perhaps a different path.
Every arriving being, regardless of cultivation, race, or whether its temperament was fierce or gentle, was guided by an invisible, gentle power of the earth to an appropriate place on the platform.
Those with profound cultivation, rich Dao resonance, and steady temperaments naturally sat toward the front, where they could perceive the voice of the Dao more clearly; those with shallow cultivation and restless auras sat toward the rear, lest the Dao resonance harm them.
The entire process was orderly, without any scrambling or contention, as though unseen rules governed it all. It revealed Zhenyuanzi's precise control over the power of the earth veins and the gathering grounds, secretly alarming those who had intended to test him and prompting them to rein in their schemes.
Though they belonged to different races and had different habits, and some might even have been predators and prey or rivals.
Yet here, upon Longevity Mountain's preaching platform, they were under the unseen gaze of a being at the Great Luo peak, whose presence every creature could clearly feel.
Under the combined influence of the surrounding calming formation and the wood qi, every being maintained a rare silence. None dared raise a clamor, and all kept their claws and fangs in check. Most of their eyes held reverence for the speaker and a pure thirst for knowledge of the Great Dao.
A peculiar harmony spread across the platform.
His gaze calm as water, Zhenyuanzi slowly surveyed the ever-growing multitude below. Their numbers had already exceeded ten thousand, with newcomers still arriving, and he had formed a clear assessment.
Though these beings varied in quality and temperament, and their goodness or wickedness was difficult to discern, they represented much of the finest life on the western continent. Among them were many promising individuals with solid foundations, enduring fortune, and decent dispositions, who lacked only guidance. With a little direction, they could become worthy talents—important forces that might one day sustain the Western Lands and even influence the Primordial Wilderness.
It was as though he saw countless seeds that would draw nourishment here today.
The appointed time had arrived. The sun stood at its zenith, when the world's yang energy was most abundant and balanced.
Zhenyuanzi waited no longer. He walked slowly toward the slightly raised stone dais at the platform's center, which looked as though it had formed naturally, and seated himself with unhurried composure.
Hong Yun and Lord Wanshouyuan sat at slightly lower positions on either side of him, both serving as protectors and marking their standing.
Qingfeng and Mingyue curbed their excitement, their little faces drawn taut as they stood respectfully behind the stone dais, striving to appear solemn.
Zhenyuanzi surveyed the gathering. Wherever his gaze passed, the noise ceased completely, until a falling pin could have been heard.
Without wasting words on pleasantries, he began preaching the Dao.
His voice was not loud, but it was gentle and weighty. It seemed to come not from his mouth but from the earth beneath his feet, as though the earth itself were whispering. Unaffected by distance, it reached clearly into the depths of every listener's mind, whether they sat in the front or the very last row.
He did not begin with earth-shaking divine abilities, secret methods, or profound cultivation arts. Instead, he started with the fundamentals of refining qi into spirit and consolidating the Dao foundation, systematically explaining the essential points, hurdles, and bottlenecks of cultivation in the Earth Immortal realm (for even the weakest beings capable of reaching this place were Earth Immortals).
He then moved on to forming the Dao fruit of a Golden Immortal, and to gaining an initial understanding of and invoking heaven and earth law. From there, he explained in detail the mysteries of a Taiyi Golden Immortal's five qi facing the origin and three flowers gathering at the crown, finally even touching upon a hint of the profundities by which a Da Luo Golden Immortal transcended space and time and began to command the laws.
Throughout, he progressed from the simple to the profound, step by step. Every word contained the true meaning of the Great Dao and pointed directly to the roots of cultivation. He discarded flashy but hollow tricks and divine abilities, focusing instead on explaining and strengthening the foundations of the Great Dao.
Whenever he reached a crucial and exquisite point, heaven and earth responded. Countless heavenly flowers formed naturally in the air from pure spiritual qi, crystal clear and radiating Dao resonance. They drifted down in profusion, dissolving into refined spiritual qi and merging into the bodies of the listeners upon whom they landed;
Golden lotuses also emerged from the depths of the earth veins beneath the platform, their petals swaying and shining, releasing a wondrous fragrance that soothed the mind.
The voice of the Dao intertwined with these manifestations, making all of Longevity Mountain seem like the source of the Great Dao, sacred beyond measure. The four symbols phantoms surrounding the platform also raised their heads to the heavens, their long cries, roars, clear calls, and low growls harmonizing with his voice.
The myriad beings below reacted differently, displaying the full spectrum of living existence.
Some heard passages that addressed their cultivation difficulties or suited the nature of their arts and suddenly understood. Their delight burst forth uncontrollably, and they waved their hands and danced;
Others encountered obscure ultimate truths of the Great Dao beyond their present understanding. They scratched their heads, knitted their brows, and pondered deeply, unwilling to let even the faintest spark of inspiration slip away;
For some, the voice of the Dao touched their hearts, recalling the countless hardships and lonely struggles of cultivation. Grief welled up within them, and tears streamed down their faces, as though they had found someone who truly understood;
Others were blessed with sudden insight and plunged directly into deep comprehension of the Dao. Their auras fluctuated ceaselessly, rising and falling, showing immense gains and even signs of imminent breakthroughs.
Those with profound cultivation reflected thoughtfully, silently comparing the teachings they heard with their own learning to identify and remedy their shortcomings;
Those with shallow cultivation listened in rapt absorption as well. Though they could not understand everything, and many passages remained as hazy as flowers seen through mist, they felt as though an entirely new door had opened before them. They glimpsed a vaster world, found a clearer direction for the road ahead, and benefited greatly.
Even Hong Yun and Lord Wanshouyuan, who had long since reached the Great Luo realm, became immersed in this systematic, comprehensive, and profound discourse.
Though the paths they cultivated differed from Zhenyuanzi's, the ultimate truths of the Great Dao led to the same destination by different routes. As they listened to him set out the cultivation system from its simplest foundations to its deepest mysteries, they occasionally nodded, understanding flashing in their eyes. Clearly, they too were moved, gaining fresh insight by revisiting what they knew and using another's wisdom to refine their own.
This grand discourse concerned neither divine abilities nor slaughter, only the foundations of the Great Dao. Suns rose and moons set, cold gave way to heat, and it continued for a full nine hundred years.
For beings of the Primordial Wilderness, nine hundred years might have been no more than the flick of a finger. But for the listeners below, most of whom were hearing a systematic exposition of the Great Dao for the first time and hungrily absorbing its knowledge, these nine hundred years were undoubtedly a pivotal period that changed their destinies.
On the final day of the nine hundredth year, as the sunset's lingering glow bathed the platform, Zhenyuanzi slowly uttered his last words of the Dao, concluding a dialectical discussion on "the earth's support and the transcendence of living beings." Then he fell silent and sat still.
Above the platform, the grand manifestations of heavenly flowers falling and golden lotuses sprouting from earth, which had persisted for nine hundred years, gradually faded, dissolving into pure spiritual qi that returned to heaven and earth.
Yet the profound lingering resonance of the Great Dao did not vanish at once. Like an imprint, it remained throughout Longevity Mountain, entwined around every listener's heart, refusing to fade.
Most of the myriad beings below still had their eyes tightly closed, immersed in that profound Dao realm. Their expressions showed joy, peace, contemplation, or sudden understanding as they continued savoring and digesting all they had heard and comprehended over those nine hundred years. Long afterward, they still had not returned to their senses, as though unwilling to wake from this dream of the Great Dao.
The entire platform sank into utter silence. Only the wind and the faint fluctuations of spiritual qi stirred by certain beings' insights could be heard.
Zhenyuanzi swept his deep gaze over the multitude below, observing the changes in their auras, some obvious and others subtle. Sensing the increasingly dense gratitude and reverence gathering here, his mind was clear as a mirror.
He knew that the seeds of the Dao planted here today had already taken deep root in these beings' hearts. Once they departed, those seeds would gradually flower and bear fruit across the vast, unenlightened western continent, quietly changing the courses of many lives and even influencing the future flow of fortune throughout the Western Lands.
He and the Longevity Mountain Lineage had also used this unprecedented opportunity to gather considerable fortune, reveal their unfathomable strength and breadth of spirit, and sow a far-reaching influence.
From that day onward, the name "Zhenyuanzi of Wuzhuang Temple of Longevity Mountain" truly resounded throughout the Western Lands and took root in countless hearts, laying a firm and far-reaching foundation for his future actions amid the sweeping tides of the Primordial World.
Through his actions that day, he seemed to be slowly raising the curtain on an era belonging to a system of "Earth Immortals," and perhaps even to a future framework of the "Earthly Dao" under his leadership.
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