Qing Shi accepted the statue and felt the faint yet incomparably pure Creation Dao aura upon it. His heart trembled.
The few traces of contempt he had harbored instantly receded.
"Fellow Daoist Yuan Ming, you are too courteous. Please, take your seat."
Qing Shi solemnly placed the statue beside the seat of honor. Its sacred aura seemed like an invisible barrier, causing the atmosphere of the banquet to veer from the course the great demons of the four clans had anticipated from the very beginning.
Yuan Ming took his seat calmly.
At the same time, the four great demons swept him with their divine senses without prior agreement, and all of them were startled.
This man was clearly only a True Immortal, yet the Dao aura flowing around him was perfectly harmonious, and his blood and qi were restrained like a blazing furnace. His presence was as steady as a mountain and as profound as the sea, no less imposing than theirs as Golden Immortals. It even carried a faint ancient majesty that made their hearts palpitate.
This made them even less willing to underestimate him.
The wine was demon wine brewed from spirit fruits, fierce and potent, while the meat at the feast was also filled with spiritual energy. As cups were raised and exchanged, the atmosphere in the hall appeared to grow increasingly lively after several rounds of drinking.
Yet as they conversed, the great demons of the four clans became ever more astonished.
Whether discussing the geography of the Primordial World, identifying spiritual treasures, cultivation insights, or the profound principles of heaven and earth, the Human Race leader's observations were often incisive and thought-provoking. His knowledge was astonishingly broad, and his understanding of the Great Dao seemed far deeper than that of these old demons who had cultivated for countless years.
Having integrated the essence of the Dao De Jing with the insights he had gained from numerous cultivation arts, Yuan Ming's words often went straight to the heart of things, carrying a profound mystery.
For a moment, Calamity Star of the Calamity Hound Clan and Black Baleful of the Black Ox Clan, who had intended to make things difficult for him, could find no excuse to provoke him.
Seeing this, Qing Shi knew things could not continue this way. He set down his wine cup and spoke in a clear voice that overwhelmed the clamor in the hall:
"Fellow Daoist Yuan Ming's knowledge is extraordinary. We are truly impressed. On such a fine occasion, how can we refrain from discussing the Dao? We have sat secluded in the mountains for so long, and it is rare to have such an opportunity for exchange. Why don't we discuss the Dao and verify each other's insights?"
His gaze swept over the crowd as he proposed, "I shall begin by offering a humble contribution. Then Fellow Daoist Black Xiong, Fellow Daoist Dou Cang, and Fellow Daoist Hei Tian may each expound upon their Great Dao in turn. Finally, Fellow Daoist Yuan Ming may conclude this discussion for us. What do you say?"
At these words, sharp light flashed through the eyes of Black Xiong, Dou Cang, and Hei Tian.
Discussing the Dao was merely a pretext. Using the voice of the Great Dao to pressure Yuan Ming and probe his foundations was their true goal!
"Excellent!"
"That is precisely what we should do!"
"We shall follow Fellow Daoist Qing Shi's suggestion!"
The three great demons voiced their agreement, their gazes all settling on Yuan Ming. An invisible pressure surged toward him like a tide.
The ancestor of the Azure Ox Clan, an ancient-looking old man in yellow robes with two horns on his head, spoke first. His voice rumbled like muffled thunder, breaking the silence:
"We cultivators place discussion of the Dao above all else. I shall begin by speaking of the Earth Dao."
As soon as he finished speaking, a heavy yellow radiance spread around him. The entire palace seemed to merge with the earth itself, as boundless earth-vein power blessed his body, giving him the feeling of being immovable as a mountain and indestructible.
Next, a mass of shadow writhed. The Ghost Lion Clan ancestor's figure seemed to exist somewhere between illusion and reality, his voice drifting and uncertain:
"Earth bears all things, yet light and darkness intertwine, while illusion and reality give birth to one another. My Dao lies in shadow."
In an instant, the light within the hall warped. Countless ghostly shadows emerged from the walls, the floor, and even the void itself, releasing silent howls filled with mystery and killing intent.
"Shadows are everywhere, penetrating every opening. They are weapons of slaughter."
Dou Cang, leader of the Calamity Hound Clan, was lean in appearance, with ominous red light flickering in his eyes. He gave a sinister laugh.
"Heaven and earth possess constancy, yet they also possess the inconstant. Calamities and misfortune are manifestations of that inconstancy. My Calamity Dao draws upon the negative energies of heaven and earth, cursing and slaying the soul, entangling one in misfortune until it becomes impossible to guard against!"
As his words fell, the air seemed to fill with a strange force field that unsettled the mind and suppressed one's fortune.
Finally, Hei Tian, leader of the Black Ox Clan, spoke in a voice like a great bell, carrying an overbearing ferocity:
"Water is both the softest and the strongest! It can nourish all things, and it can also drown all living beings!"
Mist rose around him, and the faint image of rushing rivers and towering waves emerged.
"Water benefits all things without contention. But once it contends, it is the wrath of a raging flood!"
The four powerful Dao auras intertwined and collided within the hall, forming an invisible pressure like four great mountains bearing down upon the solitary Yuan Ming. They intended to suppress him first in terms of Dao realm.
Facing the pressure of these four Great Daos—heavy, mysterious, calamitous, and violent—Yuan Ming's expression remained unchanged as he slowly rose to his feet.
He revealed no earthshaking aura. He merely spoke calmly, yet his voice entered the ears of every great demon with perfect clarity:
"The Dao of each fellow Daoist expounds upon one aspect of heaven and earth, and each is exceedingly profound. Yet before heaven and earth began, when Chaos had not yet separated, where could there have been earth, shadow, calamity, or water?"
That single sentence caused the expressions of the four great demons to shift slightly.
Yuan Ming continued as his hands traced through the air before him. A hazy stream of pure qi flowed from his fingertips.
"At the beginning of the Great Dao was Taiji. Taiji was born from Wuji, the mechanism of movement and stillness, the mother of Yin and Yang."
As he spoke, that thread of pure qi began to transform, dividing into two and becoming black and white qi.
The black qi sank, faintly resonating with the heaviness of earth and the softness of water. The white qi rose, corresponding to the shifting of light and shadow, as well as the circulation of fortune.
"Yin is still, Yang moves. Yang transforms, Yin unites."
The black and white qi were not wholly opposed. Instead, they wound around each other, with you within me and me within you, forming a pattern that flowed endlessly and gave birth to itself without cease—the embryonic form of the Taiji Diagram!
"The heaviness of earth is Yin, while the strange transformations of shadow are Yang within Yin. The movement of water is Yang, while the still extinction of calamity is Yin within Yang."
With effortless ease, he incorporated the Great Daos discussed by the four demons into the framework of Taiji Yin-Yang.
"All things carry Yin and embrace Yang, blending their qi to achieve harmony." Yuan Ming's voice carried an unusual Dao aura.
"The Daos of you all may appear vastly different, but in truth, they all lie between the movement and stillness of Yin and Yang. All can return to Taiji."
He did not suppress them through force. Instead, from a loftier and more fundamental perspective, he encompassed and absorbed their Dao lineages.
"This is the Taiji Great Dao I have comprehended. Grasp the one and command all methods; Yin-Yang Rotation is balance, and also... the source."
As his words fell, the small phantom of the Taiji Diagram possessed no overwhelming power, yet it seemed to contain the ultimate principles of heaven and earth, the source of the Great Dao.
When the four Dao auras that had been pressing down upon him touched the Taiji Diagram, they no longer seemed aggressive. Instead, they appeared to find their respective places within a grander system and became orderly.
The hall fell silent.
The looks in the eyes of the four great demons as they gazed at Yuan Ming changed completely.
Their earlier contempt and probing vanished, replaced by solemnity and even a trace of barely perceptible awe.
To expound upon such a Great Dao—one that encompassed all things and pointed directly to the origin—while only at the True Immortal realm... this man was absolutely no ordinary figure!
In this discussion of the Dao, Yuan Ming had not used a single move. Yet through the Dao of Taiji, he had deftly resolved the joint pressure of the four clans. Not only had he not fallen behind, he had even faintly surpassed them in Dao realm.
Ancestor Azure Ox took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Fellow Daoist Yuan Ming's Dao is profound and unfathomable. We... have been enlightened."
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