Chapter 195 The Western Religion, the Demonic Sect
On the Sun Star, Di Jun and Tai Yi silently watched everything unfolding below. When they saw that the Primordial Purple Qi was not in the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd, Tai Yi suddenly said to Di Jun,
"Brother, judging from this, it's highly likely that the Primordial Purple Qi has fallen into the hands of the Styx River. Please wait a moment, and I will retrieve it for you!"
Without waiting for Di Jun's reply, Tai Yi transformed into a long rainbow and flew towards the Netherworld Blood Sea.
…
"It's a pity about that Red Cloud Daoist. He was originally transformed from the first red cloud in the world, naturally possessing the aura of good fortune, with continuous luck."
"But within the Purple Cloud Palace, a single wrong thought led to him being schemed against by Hongjun Daoist, resulting in his demise. Millions of years of arduous cultivation turned to nothing in a single day; it's truly lamentable!"
In the Western Regions, the White Tiger Sacred Beast sighed upon seeing the Red Cloud Daoist's death.
But this seemingly casual sigh struck Feng Zichen like a thunderbolt, leaving him momentarily stunned.
From the White Tiger Sacred Beast's words, it seemed the fall of Daoist Hongyun was orchestrated by Dao Ancestor Hongjun—a truly top-tier secret.
If this were to spread, it would cause a massive uproar, damaging Dao Ancestor's prestige and inevitably instilling a sense of shared fate among powerful beings.
If Dao Ancestor schemed against Hongyun today, who knew what he might do against them tomorrow?
"Holy Venerable One, I've lingered here long enough. I won't bother you any longer. Zichen will take my leave."
Although curious about Dao Ancestor Hongjun, Feng Zichen was worried about his life and dared not listen any longer. He immediately prepared to depart.
Hongjun, the true number one being of the primordial world, was not a problem for the White Tiger Sacred Beast to discuss, given its immense power; Hongjun couldn't do anything to it.
If Feng Zichen were to speak recklessly, no one knew what might happen next.
"You little rascal, you're quite the coward!"
The White Tiger Sacred Beast, being no ordinary being, understood Feng Zichen's eagerness to leave after a moment's thought and couldn't help but laugh and scold him.
"This place is one of the four levels of Heaven and Earth. Hongjun's influence doesn't extend here. He can't hear you speaking ill of Him here."
"Telling you this is to broaden your horizons, or perhaps as a lesson."
Perhaps because he hadn't seen anyone for a long time, the White Tiger Sacred Beast was unusually talkative today, pulling Feng Zichen aside to tell him some secrets of Heaven and Earth.
"As the Holy Venerable says!" Feng Zichen replied with an embarrassed smile.
Since the White Tiger Sacred Beast had already gone this far, he couldn't very well refuse, and besides, he was genuinely curious, so he reluctantly stayed.
"Back then, when Hongjun Daoist established the Xuanmen, he prepared six saintly positions for his disciples. With Him, the Xuanmen would have exactly seven saintly positions."
"This is what is meant by: 'Numbers begin with one, are established at three, are completed at five, flourish at seven, and reach their peak at nine.'"
"According to Hongjun Daoist's original plan, with seven saints presiding over it, the Xuanmen could continue to prosper."
"But who knew that Hongyun Daoist, in a moment of weakness, would give away the saintly position he had already obtained, to two people from the West."
"The Western lands, the ancient stronghold of the demonic sects, are filled with traces of the demonic sects. Those like Jieyin and Zhunti, who came from this place, were more or less influenced by the demonic sects."
"Those so-called Western mystical methods, upon closer examination, reveal many shadows of demonic scriptures. Therefore, how could Hongjun possibly value them!"
At this point, the White Tiger paused, then said to Feng Zichen, "You've encountered both Western and demonic methods. Think back and see if there are any similarities."
Hearing this, Feng Zichen carefully considered the implications and found it to be true. Western religions excel at bewitching people and have profound insights into the ways of the mind; the demonic path is similar.
The difference lies in that demonic methods are driven by malevolent energy, appearing sinister and terrifying; while Western methods are driven by spiritual energy, appearing magnificent, holy, and grand. Their outward appearance far surpasses that of demonic methods.
However, once these appearances are stripped away, it becomes clear that the methods of the demonic path and the Western religion are not fundamentally different; they are derived from the same system, two different philosophies.
Thinking of the later conflict between the demonic and Buddhist paths, Feng Zichen vaguely understood something: the clash of ideologies is the most terrifying.
Heretics often deserve to die more than heretics!
Moreover, following this line of thought, Feng Zichen discovered even more inconsistencies.
In the East, numerous innate gods and demons roamed, traveling in small groups, discussing the Dao, pooling their wisdom to forge the Great Luo Path, resulting in a constant stream of Great Luo Golden Immortals and the East's current prosperity.
The West, however, was devastated by the ancient war between immortals and demons, and its innate gods and demons were few and far between.
Yet, Jieyin and Zhunti, without instruction or Dao discussions, cultivated to the Great Luo Golden Immortal level solely in the barren West, and were no weaker than some of the top powers in the East.
Was this possible?
If so, wouldn't it mean that the innate gods and demons of the East were a bunch of useless fools?
A large group of people had spent years discussing the Dao, occupying the most prestigious blessed lands, yet still surpassing these two, while they cultivated alone in the barren West—what else could they be but useless fools?
The innate gods and demons of the East certainly couldn't be useless. Therefore, the achievements of the two in the West were undoubtedly related to the demonic path.
"Jieyin and Zhunti, born from the last remaining fortune of the West, are wholeheartedly devoted to the West. Faced with a choice between the interests of the Xuanmen (Taoist sect) and the interests of the West, they will inevitably choose the West."
"They came to the Xuanmen to study under a master; their intentions were not pure; they sought to harm the East to enrich the West. With Hongjun's cultivation, how could he not see this?" "
Therefore, before the lecture at Zixiao Palace, he secretly used methods to keep the two Western disciples in chaos, intending to prevent them from entering Zixiao Palace."
"Unfortunately, man proposes, God disposes. At the last minute, though late, the two still arrived at Zixiao Palace."
"Then Hongyun's concession made all of Hongjun's schemes futile, forcing him to grit his teeth and accept these two disciples."
"In the end, they owed the Western land a debt they had to repay!"
Hearing this, Feng Zichen was also astonished. He hadn't expected the Western disciples to arrive at Zixiao Palace so late for such a reason.
Without the guidance of the Heavenly Dao, the two probably wouldn't have been able to find Zixiao Palace, let alone enter.
"The Red Cloud Daoist separated two sacred positions within the Xuanmen, preventing the Xuanmen from achieving lasting prosperity. Given Hongjun Daoist's character, how could he tolerate this?"
"Therefore, Hongjun gave the Red Cloud a wisp of Primordial Purple Qi, but didn't say it would grant him sainthood. Isn't this blatantly telling everyone, 'If you want to become saints, you can try to steal it!'"
(End of Chapter)