About to Attain Enlightenment

Time flowed like water, and the Primordial World knew no years. Since Empress Nuwa's sermon on chaos, thirty thousand years had passed in a leisurely drift.

In those thirty thousand years, the Primordial World's surface seemed calm, but beneath it, undercurrents surged.

Nearly every great power who had returned from listening to the Dao at Wa Huang Palace chose to go into seclusion, digesting the supreme saintly path.

The entire upper echelon of the Primordial World fell into an eerie stillness, like the calm before a storm.

In the West, Mount Sumeru.

The Nirvana Bodhi Great Array still hummed silently, guarding this increasingly flourishing Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

On this day, at high noon, a resonance suddenly stirred between heaven and earth!

Boom! Boom!

Two indescribably vast auras, like ancient dragons awakening from a slumber of ten thousand ages, erupted violently from the secluded chambers behind Mount Sumeru!

One aura was merciful and nirvanic, drawing forth a phantom of the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss, where countless Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats chanted sutras, ultimately returning all dharmas to stillness, pointing toward Transcendence.

The other aura was wise and unyielding, the radiance of the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree illuminating all heavens, as if it could brush away every worldly affliction and obstacle, reaching the other shore!

A mighty pressure instantly flooded the entire Western lands, even stirring a faint resonance in the Heavenly Dao laws of the entire Primordial World! Countless beings Felt a Resonance, looking toward the West in fear and reverence.

Ming Xin, in his secluded meditation chamber, was also jolted awake by these two familiar yet now overwhelmingly vast auras. He opened his eyes, a glimmer of understanding and anticipation flashing within.

The next moment, two figures radiating a perfect, leakless aura—only a single step away from the final threshold—burst forth from the rear mountain. They were none other than Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti!

At this moment, their Dao rhythms were complete, the peak aura of a Golden Immortal of the Origin blooming without restraint, even faintly brushing against an invisible barrier—the supreme threshold to the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin!

Their faces brimmed with barely contained excitement and fervor. Clearly, these thirty thousand years of seclusion had yielded immense gains; they had already glimpsed the dawn of enlightenment!

"Hahaha!" Daoist Zhunti laughed aloud, his voice shaking the heavens, "After endless eons of bitter cultivation, I finally see the light! The opportunity for the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin has arrived! It has arrived!"

Daoist Jieyin's face was also flushed, his usual expression of suffering gone, replaced by a surge of exhilaration at nearing his goal: "Indeed! We have already understood the path ahead. We only need to stir our own Great Dao and can attempt to charge into that supreme Saint Realm!"

Their gazes burned as they looked at Ming Xin, who had flown out of the meditation chamber. Zhunti said impatiently, "Beloved disciple Ming Xin! Quickly focus your mind and comprehend! Your master and your uncle are about to attain enlightenment. This process contains supreme Dao mysteries, which will greatly benefit your future path!"

They hoped Ming Xin would witness this historic moment firsthand and gain insights from it.

However, facing his two masters' surging passion and expectations for enlightenment, Ming Xin did not immediately agree. Instead, he furrowed his brow slightly, as if racing through some urgent thought.

A phantom of his Future Self flickered in his eyes, and his system core was deducing some possibility at an unprecedented speed.

Just as Jieyin and Zhunti were about to stir their Great Dao and charge into the Saint Realm, Ming Xin suddenly spoke, his voice clear and calm, carrying a hint of undeniable gravity:

"Two masters, please hold!"

Jieyin and Zhunti paused mid-motion, looking at him in confusion.

Ming Xin took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping across the heavens as if piercing some Heavenly Dao rule. He said solemnly, "Master, Uncle-Master, when you seek enlightenment now, your goal is the carefree, unbound Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin, is that not so?"

Zhunti nodded: "Naturally! The Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal is true great freedom, true Transcendence!"

"But your disciple speculates," Ming Xin's words quickened, "The Primordial World was opened by the Great God Pangu. It has its own inherent rules and a limit to what it can bear. The essence of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin already transcends this realm. I fear... the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World will not permit it to remain long within this world!"

At these words, Jieyin and Zhunti's expressions shifted slightly. Immersed in the joy of imminent enlightenment, they had not deeply considered this point. But now, prompted by Ming Xin, with their current realm, a faint sense revealed that the Heavenly Dao indeed showed signs of rejection! If they forced their way to becoming Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals, they might be expelled from the Primordial World the moment they succeeded, cast into the unknown depths of chaos! What then of the Western Teachings they had painstakingly built?

"This..." Daoist Jieyin's face once again turned bitter.

Seeing this, Ming Xin knew his speculation had hit the mark. He continued, "Thus, your disciple has a humble opinion: why not... take it in two steps?" His eyes were sharp as he spoke each word deliberately: "Two masters, you could first attain the Heavenly Dao Saint!"

"Heavenly Dao Saint?" Zhunti was taken aback.

"Exactly!" Ming Xin explained, "The Primordial Violet Qi is the Heavenly Dao's credential. By attaining enlightenment through it, one becomes a Heavenly Dao Saint, merging with the Heavenly Dao and acting on its behalf. Naturally, you can remain in the Primordial World for a long time, enjoying boundless fate and merit, teaching all beings! This is 'borrowing a shell to list on the market'—first establishing an unassailable foothold in the Primordial World!"

"Once you become a Heavenly Dao Saint, with a solid foundation and a deeper understanding of the Heavenly Dao and the Great Dao, you can then use the saintly position as a springboard, accumulate boundless merit, and delve into deeper mysteries. At that time... you can then charge into the true Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin realm, shedding the Heavenly Dao's bonds and achieving true great freedom!"

"In this way, you avoid the risk of being expelled from the Primordial World after attaining the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, preserving the Western foundation. Moreover, from a saint's perspective, you can observe the Heavenly Dao more clearly, laying a stronger foundation for future true Transcendence! It is a path where you can advance or retreat as you wish!"

Ming Xin's words struck like a thunderbolt, instantly stunning Jieyin and Zhunti!

They had always pursued the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin, viewing the Heavenly Dao Saint as a kind of shackle. But after Ming Xin's analysis, becoming a Heavenly Dao Saint first, then aiming for the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, turned out to be a more stable path—even one with broader prospects! Especially for them, who were determined to revitalize the West and had great vows to fulfill, staying in the Primordial World was a necessary condition!

Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance, each seeing the shock, sudden realization, and a barely contained excitement in the other's eyes!

"First attain the Heavenly Dao, then attain Primordial Grand Unity... Good! A fine 'backdoor listing'! A fine strategy with both advance and retreat!"

Daoist Zhunti clapped his hands in admiration, his gaze toward Ming Xin filled with astonishment. "Disciple, your foresight has already reached such depths! This method is excellent!"

Daoist Jieyin also nodded heavily, the look of suffering fading from his face, replaced by a clarity and resolve like sunlight piercing through clouds. "Good! Let us follow the disciple's words! First secure the Saint position, stabilize the West, then seek Transcendence!"

The vast aura on the two of them, which had been poised to surge toward Primordial Grand Unity, slowly receded and shifted direction.

They began to communicate more deeply with the indistinct Heavenly Dao and the Primordial Violet Qi, preparing to walk the path of making great vows and attaining the Heavenly Dao Saint through merit!

Ming Xin watched his two masters sink back into enlightenment and breathed a sigh of relief. This suggestion of his was based not only on deductions of the Primordial World's Heavenly Dao but also on the future of the Western Teachings.

After all, if Daoist Jieyin and Daoist Zhunti were to directly achieve Primordial Grand Unity and be forced away, the Western Teachings would truly be left with only him to support them.

"Next, I wait for Master and Uncle to make their great vows and draw forth the Heavenly Dao Merit..."

Ming Xin looked up at the sky, knowing that another grand event set to shake the Primordial World was about to unfold here on Mount Sumeru in the West.

And his own opportunity to attain Primordial Grand Unity was drawing closer, right after this grand event.