You, Spirit Vine, were already so wealthy. I could overlook you coming to freeload on my lectures and take a share of my spiritual treasures, but you even came to divide up my thousand-plus treasures-and took the largest share, several hundred of them! And when only the Treasure-Splitting Rock remained, you took that too! Hongjun was so furious that his beard bristled and his eyes bulged. But he had been the one to tell them to divide the treasures, so he had no grounds to complain.
In this division, Houtu alone claimed over two hundred treasures. The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Zhunti, and Jieyin took over two hundred between them. The supreme powers-Minghe, Kunpeng, Zhen Yuanzi, Red Cloud, Di Jun, Taiyi, Xihe, and Changxi-received over two hundred, while the remaining three thousand guests of Purple Heaven Palace shared over three hundred.
After dividing the treasures, everyone returned to Purple Heaven Palace. Hongjun had not told them to leave yet, so he clearly had something else to announce.
Sure enough, once everyone had returned to their original seats, Hongjun addressed them. "Now that you are all here, I have another announcement to make: I am about to merge with the Dao!"
"Merge with the Dao!"
Everyone present was bewildered by Hongjun's words. They had no idea what merging with the Dao meant.
Looking at their puzzled faces, Hongjun sighed. "The Heavenly Dao is incomplete. I shall merge my body with the Dao. Henceforth, Hongjun shall be the Heavenly Dao, but the Heavenly Dao shall not be Hongjun. Unless a great calamity befalls heaven and earth, Hongjun shall not emerge!"
"Teacher!"
Everyone froze at Hongjun's words, then erupted inwardly with joy! Hongjun would merge with the Dao and remain absent unless a great calamity struck heaven and earth! In other words, the