The Grand Pure One's Dao Integration

The old man tilling the field looked up, his dim eyes only able to see three blurry figures. It took him a while to recognize who they were.

Then he cried out "Ouch!" and staggered two steps. Several chiefs quickly helped him up. The old man took out his water bottle and took two gulps before catching his breath.

"Oh, it's you guys! The sun is so bright, I didn't even recognize you."

"As for my cultivation level, well, I guess I've paid off all my debts. I'll probably be struck by lightning soon."

The old Li Fire Huo glared at the head of Great White Peak, who then gave an awkward laugh and said:

"It's not that I don't want to help, but my senior brother told me not to do it. Otherwise, I would have finished turning over these few acres of land long ago."

"Alright, alright, everyone find a place to sit."

With a flick of his sleeve, the Rogue Person Yanbo of Pure Water Cliff, Yanbo Sanren, a stone table, stone benches, and stone pavilion flew out from his sleeve, growing larger in the wind, forming a pavilion right by the field. He then snapped his fingers, and the teapot on the stone table quickly began to gurgle, steaming and emitting the aroma of tea.

"Senior brothers and sisters, please have a seat," the middle-aged man said with a smile.

After everyone was seated, True Person Tian took a sip of tea, his eyes narrowing comfortably.

"Junior brother, your tea-brewing skills are still as good as ever, delicate and smooth, pure without being bitter."

"It's just that the water at Pure Water Cliff is good."

"You all should try it, but you'll have many more opportunities to drink it in the future; I won't be able to."

Seeing Li Fire, the old Daoist Li Huo asked, "Senior Brother, have you truly taken this step? Have you completely Return to the Void?"

True Person Tian smiled.

"Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, Refining Spirit to Return to the Void, Void Refinement to Merge with the Dao —whether it's Return to the Void or Reversion to the Void, there's a lot to it."

He stretched out his finger and gently drew a circle on the stone table.

"Return to the Void emphasizes 'returning,' like a river flowing thousands of miles before finally merging into the sea. That sea is Emptiness, is the Dao, is the chaos before the separation of heaven and earth. A cultivator who Return to the Void slowly disperses and dissolves their Primordial Spirit, like dissolving a drop of ink into clear water, until it is impossible to distinguish which is ink and which is water, ultimately returning to the 'Emptiness' before the birth of heaven and earth. Therefore, once one enters the state of Return to the Void, the more one cultivates, the fainter and emptier it becomes, until finally, like a shadow scattered by the wind, it completely disappears into the world."

"Reversion to the Void means 'returning,' like a great tree returning all its branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds to the earth, while deepening and strengthening its roots. A cultivator who returns to Reversion to the Void cleans up Spiritual Qi, karma, and cause and effect bestowed upon them by heaven and earth, leaving only the purest and most solid 'self.' Therefore, a cultivator who returns to Reversion to the Void ultimately only has their 'original self' left. They have experienced birth, aging, sickness, death, gratitude, grudges, and passions—all the things they were meant to experience—only in this way can they return to their true self and cultivate truth."

The four present were all great cultivators whose primordial Primordial Spirit were nearly perfected. The most accomplished Daoist, Li Yan, and the Abbess Hengyue, seemed to be deep in thought. Rogue Person Yanbo frowned slightly. As for the Venerable Great White Peak, he did not understand at all.

"Alright, I called you here not to talk about cultivation principles, but mainly to discuss some arrangements within the sect after I leave."

True Person Tian coughed twice and sighed.

"My cultivation breakthrough came at the worst possible time. Why not earlier or later? Of all times, I had to take a step forward during this great upheaval. If it were just one step, that would be fine. I could just follow those Loose Immortal, eating what's in my bowl while eyeing what's in the pot. I've already chosen the Loose Immortal path, yet I've deliberately left open the possibility of going even further."

"Unfortunately, I'm going through the 'Return to the Void Reversion to the Void' stage instead of the 'Return to Emptiness' stage. After the 'Return to Reversion to the Void' stage, my lifespan is no different from that of an ordinary person, but unfortunately, the lifespan of this body of mine is only half a year. I can't even stay here if I want to."

Li Fire, the old Daoist Li Huo quickly comforted him, "Senior brother, don't be sad. Your disciple has his own blessings. Moreover, our Mysterious Peak Sect lineage has been passed down for seven generations. The second patriarch proved the Fire, the fourth patriarch took the path of the Ghost Immortal Nascent Soul to an accident, and the sixth patriarch ascended to the Nascent Soul stage. Now, after eight generations, we have finally produced a great master of the Three Mountains and Five Peaks Orthodox Dharma, an immortal of the Earthly Dao. If the first patriarch knew this in the afterlife, he should be able to rest in peace."

True Person Tian shook his head with a wry smile.

"Whether he rests in peace or not, I don't know, but if I successfully ascend to immortality, my descendants won't have to be verbally abused by the second ancestor every time they burn incense and offer sacrifices."

At this point, the other four all had strange expressions. After all, when their ancestors held a ceremony, their ancestors would send down a decree from above, scolding all their disciples and grand-disciples as unworthy descendants, saying that not a single one of them was a Daoist priest, causing them to be ridiculed every day, and some even said that they had betrayed their master and started their own sect.

Otherwise, how come there isn't even a single person from the younger generation who knows the ways of the land?

They've been cursing each other from the third generation to the fourth, from the fourth to the fifth, and now they've even cursed each other up to the eighth generation.

"Alright, enough with the small talk. I've already spoken with Brother Ming of Yellow Court Mountain. After I leave, Junior Brother Li Fire will take over as sect leader and officially become the ninth sect leader of our Mysterious Peak Sect," True Person Tian said solemnly.

Upon hearing this, the old Li Fire excited, the Abbess Hengyue's face remained calm, the head of Great White Peak looked indifferent, and only the Rogue Person Yanbo hesitated to speak.

True Person Tian looked at Rogue Person Yanbo and smiled, "Don't worry, Junior Brother. Junior Brother Li Fire is only challenging you because he is a Venerable of the Li Fire lineage. Once he becomes the Sect Leader of the Mysterious Peak Sect, he will be the first to object if anyone bullies you."

Rogue Person Yanbo pondered for a moment, then said, "In that case, Junior Brother understands."

Master True Person Tian nodded, then looked at Abbess Hengyue and said:

"Junior sister, you should stop practicing Buddhism. We both know that Buddhism carries a heavy karmic burden in this world. Once the great calamity unfolds, you won't even have the slightest chance of escaping it, and you'll be caught in the middle, disliked by everyone."

Abbess Hengyue smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Senior Brother. I have my own ideas about this matter."

True Person Tian sighed and stopped discussing that, changing the subject instead.

"The reason Mingdi isn't here is because I sent him to fetch Chunwuzi and the others. Chunwuzi went to the Thirty-Three Heavenly Dao to repair the rift in the outer heavens, and his message came back saying that there were signs of demonic activity in the outer heavens. Moreover, this time the demonic forces are very ambitious, seemingly trying to corrupt the Seven Eastern Lunar Mansions and forcibly force the Spring Life to evolve into Winter Hibernation. Among the seven mansions of Seven Spring Growth Lunar Mansions —Horn, Neck, Root, Heart, Tail, Winnowing Basket, and Dipper—Neck, Root, Heart, and Dipper all have obvious demonic auras."

"I suspect that the reason I suddenly broke through to the final step and ended the Reversion to the Void was because the cycle of spring and winter in this world pushed me to take that step ahead of time."

"That's why I sent Ming to pick them up. Chunwuzi had already informed the Seven Orthodox Sects of this news. I was worried that the demonic sects would be enraged and intercept the four of them halfway. So as soon as I heard the news, I took action myself, confusing the heavenly secrets, and sent Ming with the Earth's Heart Disc to pick them up."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of the four people present changed, even the usually oblivious leader of Great White Peak was startled.

"The Grand Pure One Dao Ancestor hasn't even Dao Integration yet, and those demonic cultivators dare to do this? They're utterly audacious!"

"This means that the Grand Pure One Dao Ancestor's condition is similar to mine, and he can't maintain it for much longer," True Person Tian said calmly.

"We old folks who passed down the innate teachings have joined forces to deduce the secrets of heaven several times, but each time it has been blurry and indistinct, as if some immortal is obscuring the secrets of heaven, and there is more than one immortal obscuring the secrets of heaven."

"We all know, and the righteous and demonic paths know even better, that once this realm merges with the Numinous Emptiness Immortal Realm, a calamity will inevitably unfold. But no one knows exactly what kind of calamity it will be. The only certainty is that the starting point of this calamity's evolution will be the Grand Pure One Dao Integration."

"Jade Pure One transmits the sword, Upper Pure One transmits the law, and Grand Pure One expounds the Dao. Among the three Dao Ancestor, Grand Pure One is both inactive and all-encompassing. He is the one closest to the Dao among the Three Pure Ones. With him, the evolution of heaven and earth continues. Once he is gone, it means that the Heavenly Dao of this world will return to the Heavenly Dao the Upper Realm. Heaven will change and the Dao will shift. Calamity is inevitable, and it will be immense, no less than the Investiture of the Gods!"

"In the past, the Upper Pure One Immortal Method transmitted the Dharma, and there were twenty-three people who were called 'immortals'; there were one hundred and sixteen people who were called 'cultivators'; and there were ten thousand and eight people who comprehended the 'acquired cultivation method'. Our founding ancestors of the great innate schools are all in these seats among the top one hundred and thirty-nine."

Therefore, we respect the Upper Pure One as our teacher and the Three Pure Ones as our ancestors, upholding the natural order of heaven and earth and the waxing and waning of the sun and moon in this world.

True Person Tian's tone grew increasingly serious.

"Now that heaven and earth no longer exist, Azure Mysterious has returned to the void, I do not know where our great innate sects will go, nor do the True Person of the other great innate sects. But as long as this world has not returned to the Numinous Emptiness Immortal Realm, we must guard our post until the very last day. Junior Brother Li Fire, the burden of your position as sect leader is much heavier than mine."

The Li Fire Daoist priest nodded solemnly.

Rogue Person Yanbo hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Should we discuss this with the higher-ups of the Seven Sects of the Righteous Path, such as the High Heaven Sword Sect? Some of these righteous sects are direct descendants of the Dao Ancestor, and some are orthodox lineages of the Orthodox Mystic Gate. They can't just stand by and watch something happen to this world."

True Person Tian shook his head.

"The disciples of Upper Pure One have their Upper Pure One way of speaking, and the Orthodox Mystic Gate has its own methods. Everyone has their own reasons, so when it comes to a real issue, whose opinion should you listen to? If you listen to one and not the other, aren't you just trapping yourself in a cage? It might even lead to a calamity."

"I'm not asking you to turn against the orthodox sects, but disciples should separate personal relationships from important matters. You need to be mindful of certain things. If we're talking about seniority and background, we, the true disciples of Shangqing, are in no way inferior to those major orthodox sects."

"Senior brother, I am from the Li Fire," the old Daoist Li Huo said in a deep voice.

"Don't shoulder everything yourself. Those five dwarfs are used to being free and easy. They should do something too. It's unreasonable for us old folks to work so hard while they enjoy their carefree life. After you take over as sect leader, the position of Venerable of Li Flame Mountain will be vacant. You can choose the candidate yourself; pick one from among these five dwarfs."

"Yes."

"Although the sword immortals of the Divine Sword Sect are generally not very bright and their swordsmanship is mediocre, they are still of the same lineage as us. Back then, the two founding ancestors sat next to each other on Three Pure Ones Mountain. Please remember to look after them, so that the righteous path won't be used as cannon fodder or harmed by the demonic path."

True Person Tian continued to ramble on and on until the sun set. He glanced back at the fields he had only cultivated halfway, sighed softly, waved his hand, and said no more.