Chapter 36: The Second Teaching in Zixiao Palace

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

A few years later, a crisp ring resounded through Untainted Land, followed by Hongjun's voice. "The time has come. Zixiao Palace is open. Those who are fated are welcome to sit in on my preaching." Countless figures soon flew there, worried they might miss the beginning of the lesson.

Minghe headed straight to the peak of Mount Buzhou after leaving Blood Sea. He did not take long to pass through the Chaos and arrive at the gate of Zixiao Palace. Observing the cultivators who were already at Zixiao Palace, Minghe found that it was the same group of people who came the last time. There were no new faces at all.

Shortly, all who were interested in the preaching were gathered. There were exactly 3,000 cultivators, not one person more or less. There were actually more who meant to come, but it was the same 3,000 of them who found Zixiao Palace. Perhaps this was what Hongjun meant by fated people. The unlucky ones missed it the first time, but truly had no fate with Hongjun the second time.

Minghe sat at a corner, observing those who came to listen to the Teachings. Except the Three Pristine Ones, Goddess Nvywa, Jieyin and Zhunti, there were surprisingly 20 to 30 cultivators who were at the realm of Sage-to-be. Among them were people who would be famous in Untainted Land in the future, such as Emperor Jun, the Great One, Zhenyuanzi, Hongyun, Kunpeng and so on. There also people whose background he could not guess, but was sure they were not ordinary.

In the palace, Ancestor Hongjun quietly appeared on a small stage above the ground. It made him look much more mysterious and ancient, almost blending into the palace. Even though he did not exert pressure on his audience, everyone got a sense of irresistible pressure. Minghe found Hongjun much more impressive than the last time he saw him. By right, Sages could never quickly improve their cultivations.

"Have a seat. I'll begin my preaching today." When he saw everyone had arrived in the palace, Hongjun started his Teachings. "The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal; The name that can be named is not the eternal name; The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; The named is the mother of myriad things; Thus, constantly free of desire; One observes its wonders." "Constantly filled with desire, one observes its manifestations; The two emerge together, but differ in name; The unity is said to be the mystery; The mystery of mysteries that is the door to all wonders."

"The wise student hears of the Tao and practises it diligent The average student hears of the Tao and gives it thought now and again. The Sfoolish student hears of the Tao and laughs aloud. If there are no laughter, the Tao would not be what it is. The reasons have expressed themselves. 'The Hence it is said: The bright path seems dim. Going forward seems like retreat. The easy way seems hard. The highest Virtue seems empty. Great purity seems sullied. A wealth of virtue seems inadequateI. ITheI strength of virtue seems frail. Real virtue seems unreal. The perfect square has no corners. Great talents ripen late. The highest notes are hard to hear. The greatest form has no shape. The Tao is hidden and without name. It alone nourishes and brings everything to fulfillment.

...

"The Three Separations are ghosts that walk invisible in the human world, feeding on oblations. If a person has a premature death, his corpse will most definitely be a ghost that will parade self-indulgently and oppress the living. On a day each month, they will report the sins of people to the heaven. And the god will punish the guilty humans according to their mistakes."

"Of the Three Separations, one is called Qing Gu, who will cut one's eyes and killing the light within, wrinkle one's face, and rotten their teeth. Another one is Bai Gu, who will depress people and eliminate all their hopes for life. Therefore, humans should always first keep inner peace and drink elixirs to help them become immortals, ridding them of the Three Separations."

...

3,000 years imperceptibly passed during the Teachings. Later, Hongjun stopped and said, "After the creation of Heaven and Earth, I gained a great tool from God to help me reach the Way of Tao. The only thing requested of me was to preach three times to help more people reach the Way of Tao. I need only another lesson to accomplish my duty. The next lesson will be held tens of thousands years from now on. If you have any questions now, I can give you the answers."

Laozi stood up and asked, "Teacher, is there a way to reach the Way of Tao?" The others soon fixed their eyes on Hongjun, wanting to know the answer. It was well-known that people who wanted to reach the Way of Tao all aimed to be immortal, something not even Sage-to-bes and Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals can do. Only the Sages could be immortal.

Hongjun paused briefly before giving his answer. "There are, in fact, many ways for you to reach the Way of Tao. Every one of them can also help you realize the Mix Nascent Core. As far as I'm concerned, three ways will be enough for you to reach the Way of Tao and be immortal. One is to reach it through your own cultivation and supernatural power. Another one is to release your Three Separations which include your kindness, evil, and arrogance, and reach the Way of Tao. The last choice is to accumulate Merits by doing kind deeds in your life."

Hong Jun's answers fascinated everyone present. But their reaction was normal, as there were so many ways to reach the Way of Tao and gain the Divine Law. But enlightenment was required and the Divine Law was pretty difficult to decipher. Sage-to-bes would find it much more difficult to understand the Tao of Divine Law. The reason why Minghe could predict the Tao of Divine Law at such a high speed was his use of the Magical Tao Mirror.

But, unlike Minghe, not everyone has a Magical Tao Mirror. Countless cultivators stepped into Sage-to-be realm after the last lesson 3,000 years ago. In other words, even though they could make progress, the effect would not be that optimistic, for the Tao of Divine Law would only become more difficult to understand.

Now that Hongjun had given them three ways to reach the Way of Tao, they were naturally excited. No one even considered the first way. To reach the Way of Tao through the accumulation of power was just seeking a death sentence. Not even the Great Divine Pangu succeeded and ultimately perished. They were not so arrogant to think they could surpass him.

The second and third ways were much simpler. After Laozi received his answer, the Primeval Lord of Heaven hurriedly asked his question. "Teacher, what exactly is the Three Separations?"

Since the first way to reach the Way of Tao was impossible for him, the Primeval Lord of Heaven decided to be a Sage through the Way of the Three Separations.

Hongjun explained, "The Three Separations exist inside human bodies. One of them is called Peng Ju, responsible for monitoring human's upper-jiao. The second one is Peng Zan, supervising people's middle-jiao. The third one is Peng Jiao, managing human's lower-jiao."

"Peng Ju is in the head, Peng Zan in the back, and Peng Jiao in the spine. They record sins and report them to the heaven at a specific time each month. Furthermore, there are also Nine Undead Insects existing in human's bodies, stopping the flow of their blood. Moreover, the Nine Undead Insects all have names. The first five of them are called Fu Gu, Long Gu, Bai Gu, Rou Gu, and Chi Gu respectively."

"Next four are Ge Gu, Fei Gu, Wei Gu, and Qiang Gu. The Three Separations and Nine Undead Insects both occupy important acupoints in the body. Sometimes, they will give you lewd dreams and then let you have a nocturnal emission, consuming your energy to reach the Way of Tao."

"However, one needs a primordial item to displace his kindness and evilness when ridding the Three Separations from his body. One's cultivation level will also be influenced by the primordial item. The item should be selected carefully." Hongjun then waved his hands to his audience. "The lesson today is over. You may now leave!" He disappeared into thin air once he finished his sentence.

The audience left Zixiao Palace after bowing to the place where Hongjun once stood, as a way of showing their gratitude. On their way back, everyone included Minghe was discussing the Way of the Three Separations. It turned out that Way of the Three Separations was be the best chance for them to reach the Way of Tao. They had all subconsciously decided to store their kindness and evilness in Primordial Spiritual Treasures after they driving the Three Separations out.

Those people now knew that the primordial item they chose would influence their cultivation after eliminating the Three Separations in them. So it occurred to them to use Primordial Spiritual Treasures. It seemed that a battle for Primordial Spiritual Treasures was inevitable.

Although there were plenty of Primordial Spiritual Treasures in Untainted Land, they were not enough for 3,000 of them. Moreover, Hongjun now owned a part of these Primordial Spiritual Treasures, so bloody battles would surely occur in the next tens of thousands of years when more Primordial Spiritual Treasures showed up. It was really a question of whether all of 3,000 of them would be able to listen to the third lesson alive.

Minghe directly returned to Blood Sea after passing through the Chaos and arrived at Untainted Land. The reason why he returned in haste was not because he was afraid of other asking him for Primordial Spiritual Treasures. It was because he felt the best time for him to eliminate the Three Separations was coming, so he needed a quiet place for him to cultivate.

After Minghe returned, he began cultivating at Sacred Island. Liu Er and Chixuan did not disturb him seeing him in a rush. During the cultivation, Minghe called up all of his spiritual treasures. In a moment, the glow from all his treasures lit up the entire island.