Albedo and Hongjun

Hearing this, the old Daoist calculated with his fingers. Before long, he could only stop ruefully. Stroking his long beard, he smiled faintly and said to the youth opposite him, "Just as I thought—there is no trace of anything, just like with little friend Albedo. I imagine little friend Albedo's master must also be a being of great power."

"Otherwise, they could never have created such a unique lifeform as little friend Albedo."

Indeed, when Albedo had set foot on Jade Capital Mountain, Hongjun had immediately seen that Albedo was an artificially created lifeform. Yet compared with lifeforms enlightened through great magical power—

the race created by the great divine art Albedo himself called [Alchemical Puppet] possessed such spirituality and such exceptional comprehension.

Albedo cupped his hands and said modestly, "Senior Hongjun, you flatter me."

Hongjun looked at Albedo before him. He was courteous and elegant in bearing.

The longer Hongjun looked, the more he liked him. If his calculations had not shown that they shared no master-disciple affinity, Hongjun would have wanted to take little friend Albedo in as his disciple at once.

With that thought, Hongjun's mind turned. "How about it, little friend? Shall we sit and discuss the Dao?"

"Um..." Albedo froze upon hearing this. A Daluo discussing the Dao with an Earth Immortal—was he sure this was not a joke?

Albedo looked up and saw the admiration in Hongjun's eyes, seemingly understanding something.

Albedo then gave Hongjun the salute of a junior. "Then I shall thank Senior for your guidance."

Hongjun smiled and nodded. In the current Primordial World, there was no written language, nor were there any systematic cultivation methods. Even the division of realms was crude and vague.

If two cultivators wished to discuss the Dao with one another, the simplest method was to reveal the Auspicious Cloud above their heads. Within it lay a cultivator's most direct insights into the Dao.

Hongjun unfolded his Auspicious Cloud. Treasure light blossomed within it in countless hues, vivid and resplendent. Though Albedo could not make out everything clearly, a cursory glance revealed quite a few innate spirit treasures.

Before Albedo could inspect them carefully, a vast Dao rhythm of heaven and earth rushed toward him. Clearly, this was the Great Dao understood by Patriarch Hongjun.

It was complex and intricate, yet ordered. As for what it was, Albedo did not know.

But Albedo could clearly sense that Hongjun's Dao all belonged to the heaven and earth of the Primordial World; none of it was his own. By all rights, that should not have been the case.

According to Mother Goddess's speculation on the Daluo realm in the Myriad Spirits Profound Light Record, should a Daluo Golden Immortal not have already comprehended their own Dao and initially established their path?

Could Mother Goddess's conjecture regarding Daluo have been mistaken?

Albedo could only cast aside the distracting thoughts in his mind and silently comprehend the Dao rhythm within Hongjun's Auspicious Cloud.

As Albedo's understanding deepened, flowers of life and death, the color of yellow jade, bloomed beneath his feet.

Hongjun saw everything before him. With a light lift of his hand, a flower of life and death appeared in his palm.

"What a peculiar conception." Hongjun saw through the essence of the Flower of Life and Death at a glance.

"The four great elements composing the world—earth, fire, wind, and water—have actually had a portion of their authority mobilized so easily."

The Flower of Life and Death swayed in the Dao rhythm emanating from Hongjun, drifting with the wind as a peculiar pulse echoed through space.

"What an interesting little friend. You truly intend to discuss the Dao with this old Daoist." Hongjun smiled. At first, he had not taken Albedo's Dao seriously. Though Albedo cultivated a different path from his own, Hongjun could still understand some fundamental principles through his profound realm—perhaps even more deeply than Albedo did at present.

The reason Hongjun had spoken with Albedo was merely out of consideration for Cheng Jue behind him.

At first, Hongjun had not thought much of it. But when he sensed the scripture transmitted from the Flower of Life and Death, his expression immediately turned grave.

That was right. What the Flowers of Life and Death released was precisely a scripture. Though the scripture was exceedingly rudimentary—unable to cultivate one beyond the Golden Immortal realm, making it rudimentary in Hongjun's eyes—

Hongjun could see that it already concealed a very clear sequence of cultivation.

Of all the elements of heaven and earth, only rock endures forever.

The foundation of steadfast rock lies in orthodoxy.

Clear laws and good rules reveal the Geo Archon's profound mystery.

Judge good and evil fairly; cleanse the flowing sea.

Keep all dangers at bay; suppress and destroy demons.

Once the Jade Balance is established, the raging flood gradually recedes.

This passage of several hundred characters was the Jade Balance Scripture, a cultivation method spread within Liyue of the Grotto-Heaven World. It was said to have been compiled by those with an affinity for the Geo element together with the Geo Archon, and was said to have drawn upon Mother Goddess's Myriad Spirits Profound Light Record.

"So that is how it is." Hongjun suddenly understood. Cultivation could actually be divided this way: refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, refining spirit into emptiness, and refining emptiness into Dao Integration.

Having understood something, Hongjun laughed freely. "So from beginning to end, I had not even stepped through the gate of the Dao."

As Hongjun spoke, his realm rapidly fell: mid-stage Daluo, early-stage Daluo, peak Taiyi Golden Immortal.

His realm stopped at the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal and did not continue to fall.

Although Hongjun's realm had now fallen to Taiyi Golden Immortal, Albedo, whose enlightenment had just been interrupted by Hongjun, could clearly sense that Hongjun was even more terrifying than before.

If the Hongjun from before had felt to Albedo like a dangerously tall building that pierced the sky and could collapse at any moment, then the current Hongjun was like a foundation forged from steel—exceptionally solid.

As long as Hongjun one day understood what his own Dao was, he would soar to the heavens at once.

Seeing this, Albedo immediately stepped forward, cupped his hands, and bowed. "Congratulations, Senior Hongjun, on taking another step forward."

"Then I must thank you, little friend." As he spoke, Hongjun took out a jade slip. "Little friend Albedo, I have seen that you possess unique insights into the arts of artifact refinement and pill refinement."

"Within this are this old Daoist's own insights into pill refinement, artifact refinement, and formations. I hope they may be of help to you."

What Hongjun meant was the alchemy and alchemical potions Albedo had once displayed before him.

"Then I thank you, Senior Hongjun." The knowledge Hongjun offered was exactly what Albedo longed for, so Albedo did not refuse. Instead, he accepted it with great respect.

Over the following days, Hongjun and Albedo discussed the Great Dao and the world as they saw them. The more they conversed, the more Hongjun realized that although little friend Albedo's realm was low, his perspective was exceedingly unique.

Every discussion of the Dao brought fresh answers from the perspective of the weak, as though there were realms in the Primordial World even lower than Earth Immortal. At times, Hongjun even suspected that little friend Albedo had experienced an even weaker period.

One day, beneath Jade Capital Mountain, Hongjun said to Albedo, "Little friend Albedo, travel safely. The gates of my Jade Capital will always stand open for you."

"Then I thank Senior Hongjun. I wish to measure the land with my own feet and turn [the unknown] into knowledge. That is my Dao."

After seeing Albedo off, Hongjun sat upon the stone platform where they had been before.

There, Hongjun carved dense Dao script across the stone platform, all of it insights gained from discussing the Dao with little friend Albedo over these days.

At a certain moment, Hongjun's aura suddenly rippled. Hongjun broke through, and his realm returned to Daluo Golden Immortal.

With a complicated expression, Hongjun took out a jade disc upon which three thousand laws intertwined. "So this is my Dao: [Primordial Transmission of the Dao]."

"Since I am [Primordial Transmission of the Dao], what should I call that unknown Daoist friend who transmitted the Dao to me? Dao Ancestor, perhaps? That seems fitting as well."

The jade disc in Hongjun's hand trembled faintly.

"Oh, is that so? The time has not yet come." Hongjun seemed to be talking to himself. "I understand. The more I learn, the more I feel there is that I do not understand."

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