Hongjun Preached the Dao

The Wind-Fixing Pearl trembled with a mighty hum under Shi Mo's full power. Its invisible might spread through the Earth Vein network, causing the surging Earth Vein energy and earthfire to seize up.

However, the energy clogging the Earth Vein network across the area centered on Shi Mo also stirred up the Earth Vein energy and earthfire converging from afar.

Rumble! Far off, vast stretches of ground began to shake and split open, while volcanoes filled with magma shook violently and erupted.

"Not good! My reach is too short. Even if I want to divert the flow, I don't have the strength to manage it." Sensing the upheaval both beneath and upon the distant ground, Shi Mo's expression changed, and he hurriedly controlled the Wind-Fixing Pearl to shrink the range of the Earth Vein network it affected.

At once, the surging Earth Vein energy and earthfire flowed onward again. But after being obstructed, their impact was no longer so terrifying.

"Right. Block them bit by bit and dissipate the impact of that energy." With a sudden inspiration, Shi Mo hurriedly controlled the Wind-Fixing Pearl, shrinking its range again and again. Once the energy's impact had been exhausted, he urged the pearl to its full power and continued blocking the flow in stages from farther away.

Even so, the surging Earth Vein energy and earthfire still ran rampant, opening up many channels in the Earth Vein network that had never existed before.

Meanwhile, wherever the surging underground energy passed, it triggered earthquakes and volcanic eruptions one after another, rippling across the Western Continent like waves.

"Fortunately, there are few living beings in the Western Continent. Otherwise, the casualties caused by this underground energy upheaval would have been enormous." Still shaken, Shi Mo sensed that the merit within him had diminished somewhat and couldn't help feeling frustrated and helpless. This really was an undeserved calamity. Even doing good deeds wasn't easy!

Fortunately, Shi Mo had the Wind-Fixing Pearl in hand, allowing him to avert this great disaster without incident.

But clearly, he had celebrated too soon. Before long, Shi Mo discovered that the Earth Vein energy and earthfire within the Earth Vein network had become chaotic.

"What's going on? Did the newly formed Earth Vein channels disrupt the stability of the entire network because of the energy's impact?" Realizing the cause, Shi Mo felt his headache worsen.

"This is trouble! Hong Yun and Daoist Brother Zhen Yuan have both left. How long will it take me to repair the damaged Earth Vein network? And I still have to go to the Purple Heaven Palace to listen to the Dao!"

"Forget it! Whether I listen to the Dao or not can wait. If I don't repair the damaged Earth Vein network soon, the chaos caused by the surging Earth Vein energy and earthfire will wreak even greater destruction, and the karmic debt I owe the Western Continent will only grow." At the thought, Shi Mo couldn't help sighing inwardly.

"Alas, merit really isn't so easy to earn!"

So, as he used the Wind-Fixing Pearl to suppress the chaotic Earth Vein energy and earthfire within the network, Shi Mo also worked tirelessly to block the channels that the energy had opened up in the wrong places.

"It seems the Earth Vein network really isn't a disorderly jumble. It secretly accords with the mysteries governing the Primordial World. Opening channels recklessly causes problems. It's like a grand formation: you can't arrange it any which way; everything has to follow a method." As he repaired the network, Shi Mo mused to himself.

The energy throughout the vast Earth Vein network, now linked together, had become chaotic. Like a man rushing from one fire to the next, Shi Mo tried to reach the main areas where the energy was gathering and running wild first.

Fortunately, Shi Mo knew the Earth Vein network well, and he could travel through it quickly.

Even so, rushing around to put out fires left him flustered and scrambling.

Gradually, thanks to his familiarity with the Earth Vein network, Shi Mo began to grasp the patterns of the chaotic energy's surges and started diverting it in a more targeted way.

These Earth Vein networks really did form a grand formation, one that could rival any formation in the Primordial World—or even surpass them in mystery and complexity. It was impossible to fully understand and master it, but grasping some of its patterns was enough for Shi Mo to learn how to manipulate the Earth Vein Formation in simple ways.

Immersed in studying and comprehending the formation of the Earth Vein network, Shi Mo slowly forgot the passage of time and the matter of listening to the Dao at the Purple Heaven Palace. All he could think about was directing the flow of the network.

He had no idea how long had passed when, just as he was getting the hang of directing the Earth Vein network, an ethereal voice suddenly sounded by his ear. "In chaos, there is a thing, whole and self-formed. I call it the Dao."

"Hm? Is this... Hongjun preaching the Dao?" Shi Mo jolted in surprise. "Has the Purple Heaven Palace begun its lectures? But Hongjun is preaching the Great Dao there. It's impossible for all the beings of the Primordial World to hear him. So why can I hear him even though I didn't go?"

"Could Hongjun be preaching specifically for me?" The thought struck Shi Mo as scarcely believable. "How could that be? What's so special about me that he would treat me differently and show me such special care? Is it because I'm a transmigrator? A variable? Or..."

"Could it be because I'm repairing the Western Continent's Earth Vein?" An idea suddenly came to Shi Mo, and his expression shifted. "That's it! Hongjun and Luo Hou once fought a great battle that destroyed the Western Continent's Earth Vein. What a tremendous karmic debt! Even though he later preached in the Purple Heaven Palace as the Dao Ancestor, teaching the beings of the Primordial World, he still had to unite with the Dao to repay his great debt to Heaven and Earth."

"But now that I'm helping repair the Western Continent's Earth Vein, I'm practically helping him repay his debt. For Hongjun to repay that debt indirectly, he'd have to preach specifically for me! If that's the case, preaching alone won't do. At the very least, he has to take me as his disciple and grant me a seat among the Saints." At the thought, Shi Mo's heart warmed.

"That's it! He's treating me so specially. Maybe he really will take me as his disciple! If I hadn't transmigrated, how could I have made these connections? To be so highly regarded and favored by him—I'll surely be overcome with gratitude!"

"Never mind the rest. Listening to the Dao comes first!" With his thoughts racing, Shi Mo stopped himself from dwelling on it and began to focus on the lecture.

Fortunately, the restoration of the Western Continent's Earth Vein was nearly complete. The remaining finishing touches were well within the Earth-Core Fire Dragon's abilities, now that its intelligence had greatly awakened, and Shi Mo had given it instructions.

So, Shi Mo was now no different from the mighty beings listening to the Dao in the Purple Heaven Palace. He could devote himself entirely to the lecture.

And whether Hongjun had deliberately given Shi Mo special attention or not, those profound and mysterious words of the Great Dao were surprisingly easy for him to understand. Rather than straining to keep up, he felt as if a veil had been lifted from his eyes.

As Shi Mo listened closely, he drew on the Chaos Divine Pattern within him and his insights into the Earth Vein network, the Earth element, and the Fire element. His cultivation rose like water filling a channel. Before he knew it, the Three Flowers had gathered at his crown and the Five Qi had returned to their origin, and he had achieved the Daluo Dao Fruit, granting him the same longevity as Heaven and Earth.

In truth, Zhen Yuanzi had reached this very same realm, while Hong Yun still lagged somewhat behind. Shi Mo, who had previously cultivated on his own, had long since reached the Golden Immortal level in physical strength, and the purity of his cultivation and magic power had even surpassed that realm.

In the Primordial World, the realms were mainly divided into Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, Mysterious Immortal, Taiyi Loose Immortal, Golden Immortal, Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, and Daluo Golden Immortal.

As for realms above Great Luo, before Hongjun preached the Dao, only the Twelve Ancestral Witches of the Wu Clan, along with a very few Innate Chaos God Demons who had either died or were still alive, possessed physical bodies and magic power comparable to—or surpassing—that of ordinary Quasi-Sage mighty beings.