Planning Merit, Establishing the Twelve Time Markers

"Exactly. Merit."

Lingxiao nodded, his fingertips still tapping lightly against his knee, his eyes filled with the calm certainty of one who saw through everything.

To preserve oneself in this treacherous, ever-shifting Primordial World and roam free through myriad Calamities, there were only two methods: first, avoid the karmic consequences of predestined fate; second, amass enough Merit for protection. Neither could be lacking.

Relying solely on seclusion to evade karma would ultimately be taking the inferior path.

Take the Journey-to-the-West Tribulation of later ages. Zhen Yuanzi of Mount Longevity had always kept himself apart from worldly affairs, content to be the Earth Immortal Realm Patriarch, carefree and unbound. Yet he was still plotted against, and his Ginseng Fruit Tree was toppled. He had sat peacefully at home, only for disaster to fall from the sky.

Yet relying solely on Merit was likewise far from foolproof.

When Pangu opened heaven and split earth, he gained truly immeasurable Merit. Aside from forming the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda and nourishing all things in the Primordial World, more than half of the remaining Creation Merit fell upon the Three Pure Ones and the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

In terms of the abundance of their Merit, scarcely anyone between heaven and earth could surpass the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

And yet, even with Creation Merit upon them, after Gonggong smashed apart Mount Buzhou's heavenly pillar and brought about the great catastrophe of heaven collapsing, earth splitting, and all living beings suffering, eleven of the Twelve Ancestral Witches still answered the Calamity with their bodies and met the end of death and dissolution. Only Houtu preserved herself by sacrificing her body to transform into the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

—In this Primordial World, one had never been able to run rampant through brute force alone, or Merit alone.

Only by remaining untouched by karma while bearing Merit upon oneself could one sit firm like an angler on his platform amid the surging torrent of a Calamity.

Thus, Lingxiao decided to grasp both ends at once and work with both hands!

He could neither lead Xihe and Changxi onto the original path of the Demon Race Heavenly Court, nor neglect to plan for Merit!

"Merit is a treasure of heaven and earth. Dao Brother is entirely right; we truly should make plans early." After a brief moment of thought, Xihe nodded in agreement, her cool eyes filled with approval.

In the Primordial World, what Innate Sacred Being did not know the wondrous uses of Merit?

It could not only refine one's Dao body and advance one's cultivation, but also forge Merit Spirit Treasures, suppress one's own fortune, and dissolve Karmic Power.

With the Beast Calamity and Dragon-Han Tribulation as lessons from the past, the Great Supernatural Beings had long reached a consensus—one could lack anything but virtue, and possess anything but Karmic Power.

"Huh? Planning Merit?" Changxi's bright eyes instantly widened. She leaned closer and asked curiously, "Not long ago, Hongjun Ancestor joined forces with many great powers to end the Dragon-Han Tribulation, settle the War of Dao and Demons, and slay Devil Ancestor Rahu. The Heavenly Dao showered down Merit that filled the sky! Big Brother Lingxiao, are we going into the Primordial Lands to clear out the lingering demonic disasters and Demonic Qi in the west?"

As she spoke, eagerness appeared on her little face.

When the Devil Ancestor self-destructed, the devils under his command either died or fled into hiding. Yet the Demonic Qi and Sha Qi left behind by that explosion had lingered without dispersing, constantly assimilating the already sparse spiritual qi of the Western Lands and giving rise to quite a few Demonic Beasts.

That was the lingering demonic disaster Changxi had mentioned.

Had it been her alone, she naturally would not have thought of such a thing. But Lingxiao had casually brought it up during their previous discussions of the Dao.

That casual mention had been remembered by the girl.

"No." Lingxiao shook his head with a laugh. Raising his eyes toward the vast starry sky beyond the branches and leaves of Fusang, he spoke with certainty. "This is precisely what I wished to discuss with you two."

"Since we were born carrying the fortune of the Lunar and Sun Star, the supreme stars, then if we seek Merit, we must naturally begin with the starry sky beneath our feet."

"My intention is to use the Twelve Time Markers as the foundation and establish the Temporal Order of heaven and earth."

He paused, then laid out his plan in full. "With this, we shall divide day and night and the four seasons, establish the twelve two-hour periods, the ten Heavenly Stems and twelve Earthly Branches, the Zodiac, and even a complete system of time flowing through years, months, days, and hours."

The Primordial World did not count years. This had always been a shared understanding between heaven and earth.

There were only two reasons for this:

First, the timeline of the Primordial World was simply too vast—

A single Dragon-Han Calamity stretched on for fifty thousand Yuanhui. When Great Supernatural Beings entered seclusion or discussed the Dao, it often lasted several Yuanhui at a time. Measurements such as years, months, days, and hours held little meaning to them, so no one had ever proposed them.

Second, the heaven and earth of the present Primordial World still lacked a complete set of time laws accepted throughout all realms.

Though the rising and setting Sun Star marked day and night, and the waxing and waning moon distinguished warmth from cold, the iron laws governing the rotation of the seasons and the succession of years had never truly been established.

The Temporal Order was chaotic, causing the qi of the Three Realms—heaven, earth, and man—to influence one another, while the flow of heavenly and earthly energies was often obstructed and sluggish.

Even the "ten thousand years of discussing the Dao" Xihe had mentioned earlier used a definition of "year" that Lingxiao had casually explained to the two sisters during a previous conversation.

"Big Brother Lingxiao, I know about the Twelve Time Markers, but what exactly are the four seasons, the two-hour periods, the Heavenly Stems, and the Earthly Branches?" Changxi's little face instantly crumpled into a knot, looking both troubled and bewildered. She was utterly adorable.

As an Innate Sacred Being nurtured by the Lunar Star, she naturally knew the Heavenly Stellar Array like the back of her hand.

The Twelve Time Markers were the twelve principal stars of the starry sky: the Divine Queen Star, Great Fortune Star, Merit Officer Star, Grand Clash Star, Heavenly Dipper Star, Grand Unity Star, Victorious Light Star, Minor Fortune Star, Transit Star, Following Chief Star, River Chief Star, and Ascending Brightness Star.

Though their status did not compare to the Lunar and Sun Star, the two supreme stars, they were still core principal stars within the Heavenly Stellar Array, corresponding to the Zodiac Twelve Palaces.

But beyond that, things like the rotation of the four seasons and the twelve two-hour periods left her completely lost.

She only vaguely understood that a "day" was the rising and setting of the Sun Star, while a "month" was the waxing and waning of the Lunar Yin. As for everything else, she had no clue at all.

Seeing her troubled expression, Lingxiao could not help laughing warmly. "This is a complete system of Temporal Order for heaven and earth. Explaining it in detail is rather complicated. We will take it step by step, breaking it down while charting the star paths. You will naturally understand when the time comes."

He knew well that establishing the Temporal Order of heaven and earth would be no easy task.

The Twelve Time Markers were merely the foundation that anchored the laws, the framework of the entire system of Temporal Order.

Afterward, they would need to fill in countless details: the revolutions of the sun and moon, the succession of the seasons, the division of solar terms, the cycles of Stems-and-Branches, and more. The slightest mistake could throw the heavenly and earthly energies into disorder. Not only would they fail to gain Merit, they might instead incur boundless Karmic Power.

"I shall certainly offer my full assistance, study it earnestly, and not fail Dao Brother's trust." Xihe smiled radiantly, her cool features blooming like moonlight at its first unfurling, her tone brimming with resolve.

To her, so long as it was something Lingxiao had decided upon, she would help him without reservation.

"Hehe, Changxi will study hard too! So long as I can help Big Brother Lingxiao, nothing can stump me!" Changxi instantly tossed her worries behind her, happily spinning in place. Her skirts flew around her, and she was filled with delight.

She did not care about any system of Temporal Order. So long as she could leave the Sun Star and travel the starry sky with Big Brother Lingxiao, that was better than anything else.

Thus, the three departed from Lingxiao Palace on the Sun Star.

They traveled between the principal stars of the Twelve Time Markers, using the supreme yang fortune of the Sun Star and the supreme yin fortune of the Lunar Star to sort out the star paths and imprint one condensed Dharma seal after another, all for the purpose of—

Anchoring the corresponding relationship between the twelve principal stars and the Lunar and Sun Star,

Charting the laws connecting the flow of starlight with the movements of qi across the Primordial Lands.

Cold came and heat went; the moon rose and the sun set.

In the blink of an eye, thirty thousand years passed like a fleeting shadow.

On this day.

Lingxiao, Xihe, and Changxi stood atop the starry sky, positioned at the central heavenly seat of the Heavenly Stellar Array. Behind them, the two supreme stars, the Lunar and Sun Star, echoed one another from afar. Fortune surged around their bodies as they merged with the entire starry sky.

"Heavenly Dao above!"

Lingxiao stepped forward. His Mysterious Gold Emperor Robe snapped in the wind, and his resounding Dao voice pierced layer upon layer of space and time, ringing throughout the Primordial Starry Sky, the Primordial Lands, and the Four Seas and Eight Wastelands.

"I, Lingxiao, was born bearing the Sun Star Origin of Pangu's left eye and shall be the Sun God of the Primordial World. Today, I use the rising and setting of the Sun Star to establish the alternation of day and night. Sunrise shall be morning, sunset shall be dusk. One rise and one fall shall be one day!"

As his words fell, the Solar True Fire around his body surged explosively, transforming into a majestic phantom of a great sun that stretched across hundreds of millions of miles. It merged into the depths of the starry sky, strengthening his connection with the entire firmament.

The Sun Star Origin trembled. The roots and branches of the Fusang Tree instantly spread across the entire supreme star, firmly suppressing its fortune and echoing Lingxiao's aura from afar.

Immediately afterward, Xihe and Changxi stepped forward side by side. Lunar Moonlight flowed from their bodies like water, and their cool Dao voices joined together, resounding through heaven and earth:

"Heavenly Dao above! We, Xihe and Changxi, were born bearing the Lunar Star Origin of Pangu's right eye and shall be the Lunar Goddesses of the Primordial World. Today, we use the waxing and waning of the moon to establish twelve months. From new moon to full moon, then returning to new moon, one cycle shall be one month. Each month shall contain thirty days!"

The Lunar Star trembled in response. A phantom of the Moon Laurel Divine Tree emerged, suppressing the Lunar Star Origin. Twelve phantoms of moon phases, each waxing and waning differently, rose into the sky and merged into the starry firmament, forming a scene of yin and yang mutually aiding each other with the previous great sun phantom.

"One month has thirty days, one year has twelve months, and leap days shall align with the heavenly seasons. One year shall contain three hundred and sixty-five days, and this shall be called one year!"

"One hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years shall equal one Yuanhui!"

The three spoke together, their voices merging as one.

"Buzz!"

The Lunar and Sun Star suddenly resonated together. Majestic golden light and cool moonlight intertwined, spreading across vast stretches of the starry sky and gradually illuminating every corner of heaven and earth in the Primordial World.

—Using the sun and moon to establish years was the foundation of the entire system of Temporal Order.

Then Lingxiao raised his hand and summoned the Twelve Time Markers. Twelve streams of brilliant starlight descended from the depths of the sky, connecting with the power of the three.

"Heavenly Dao above, today we use the Twelve Time Markers to establish the twelve Earthly Branches: Zi, Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu, and Hai. They shall correspond to the twelve two-hour periods of a day, while one year shall contain twelve months!"

"We use Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui to establish the ten Heavenly Stems. Combined with the twelve Earthly Branches, sixty years shall form one Sixty-Year Cycle, revolving and repeating without end!"

"We use the circulation of the four times to establish spring, summer, autumn, and winter, dividing them into twenty-four solar terms to correspond with the changing heavenly and earthly energies and accord with the rhythms of all things' birth and death!"

As each line of Dao sound fell, the twelve principal stars of the Twelve Time Markers trembled together, and the Heavenly Stellar Array began to revolve.

The originally chaotic and disordered Temporal Order of heaven and earth slowly formed a complete system of laws at that very moment, closed in a cycle that turned without end.

Their voices resounded through the nine heavens and ten lands, spreading not only across the Primordial Starry Sky, but also falling upon every blessed grotto-heaven of the Primordial Lands and every dragon palace and aquatic abode of the Four Seas and Eight Wastelands.

Such a tremendous event, one that stirred the laws of the Heavenly Dao and reestablished the order of heaven and earth, instantly alarmed every reclusive Great Supernatural Being in the Primordial World.

In the Eastern Land, upon Qilin Cliff on the eastern foothills of the Kunlun Mountains, the Three Pure Ones were seated in discussion of the Dao.

Laozi sat cross-legged, stroking his white beard with his eyes half-closed. He merely cast a faint glance toward the starry sky, said nothing, and retained his usual air of tranquil non-action.

Yuanshi's gaze narrowed slightly. He snorted coldly, his words carrying innate pride. "Born bearing the fortune of Father God's left eye, he has a proper foundation. The sole Golden Crow of the Sun Star possesses such daring as to establish the Temporal Order of heaven and earth. It accords with the heavenly numbers."

Tongtian clapped his hands and laughed loudly, his hearty voice spreading across the Kunlun Mountains. "Good! What a Lingxiao! To actually stir the resonance of heaven, earth, and the starry sky—such a man must be met someday!"

In the central Primordial Lands, within Pangu Hall at the foot of Mount Buzhou, the Twelve Ancestral Witches all raised their heads and looked toward the phenomenon in the sky.

"Hmph, all flair and no substance! Can establishing such useless things be eaten as blood food?" Gonggong had the most violent temper. He grumbled in a muffled voice, then turned away and continued dripping his own essence blood into the Pangu Blood Pool to nurture Great Witches of the Witch Race.

Zhurong grinned as well, speaking without concern. "Why bother with him? Our Witch Race treads upon the earth. He can establish his starry sky, and we will mind our own business. Well water shall not mingle with river water."

The other Ancestral Witches withdrew their gazes as well. Only Houtu continued looking into the depths of the starry sky with clear eyes, her brows slightly raised as her fingertips gently rubbed together. She seemed to want to speak, yet held back.

She vaguely sensed that this newly established system of Temporal Order possessed an indescribable connection with the transformations between life and death throughout heaven and earth.

This stirred a trace of curiosity in Houtu toward the Lingxiao she had never met.

In the Western Lands, atop the ruins of Mount Sumeru, which had been destroyed by Rahu's self-destruction.

Jieyin held the Guidance Treasure Banner and gazed at the majestic phenomenon in the sky. His face was filled with sorrow as he let out a long sigh. "Good, good. The starry sky is brilliant and its fortune flourishes, while my poor Western Lands have withered spiritual veins and all living things fading away. Bitter, sorrowful—alas, alas, alas."

Zhunti held the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree and pressed his palms together. His face too wore an expression of compassion for the world, but a glint shone in his eyes. "Senior Brother speaks truly. I wonder whether this Daoist Lingxiao possesses some means to revive the west. If we could form a good karmic bond with him, it would be a great Merit indeed."

Deep within the Netherworld Blood Sea, the Twelfth-Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus slowly rose to the surface. Minghe sat cross-legged atop the lotus platform, while the two innate killing swords, Yuantu and Abi, trembled faintly behind him.

He raised his eyes toward the starry sky, confusion filling his blood-red gaze. With a cold snort, he said, "Establishing the Temporal Order? That brat from the Sun Star has quite the grand ambition. But what benefit can he gain from establishing the Temporal Order?"

Beyond this, at Purple Palace Isle in the Eastern Sea, Kunlun Immortal Island in the Western Sea, North Nether...

In countless blessed grotto-heavens and hidden Dao fields, Innate Sacred Beings who had been in seclusion for innumerable Yuanhui all opened their eyes at this moment, directing their attention toward the three figures at the center of the starry sky.

This was because, in the present Primordial World, methods of planning for Merit had gone no further than dispelling Demonic Qi, slaying devils, and ending Calamities—matters of fighting and killing.

Non-combat deeds of Merit, such as Nuwa mending the heavens, Nuwa creating humanity, Cangjie creating writing, and Suiren drilling wood to make fire, had not yet occurred.

Therefore, none of them understood what Lingxiao intended by establishing the Twelve Time Markers.