"kill!"
A cold shout came from the chaotic sea.
This is the voice of the Tongtian Cult Leader, extremely cold and fierce.
He held the Qingming Sword tightly in his hand, and the four Immortal Killing swords around him shook together, bursting out with immeasurable heavenly killing power.
In an instant, the void of this vast world exploded.
The friction between the space debris made a shrill sound, like the howling of an eternal ghost.
"Boom!"
The power of the two saints collided fiercely.
The runes splashed out, and countless fragments of the Great Law flew up and down, like butterflies flying through flowers.
Yuanshi Tianzun hesitated for a moment, but finally took back the Three Treasure Jade Ruyi.
"Why, are you giving in now?"
Tongtian Cult Master noticed Yuanshi Tianzun's hesitation, curled his lips with some lack of interest, then took the Qingping Sword and swung it out, directly breaking the vast world in the Chaos Pearl, and then walked away.
Yuanshi Tianzun didn't chase him, he just watched Tongtian go away.
As the world inside the Chaos Bead was shattered, earth, water, fire and wind surged out, causing this vast world to return to a state of chaos.
Yuanshi Tianzun smiled faintly, and the celestial clouds above his head disappeared.
He reappeared above Kunlun Mountain, and then a Nine-Dragon Agarwood Chariot flew slowly from a distance, carrying him to Daluo Mountain to meet the Taiqing Saint.
Daluo Mountain is located in the northwest of Nanfangbuzhou and is a first-rate blessed land.
The peaks of the fairy peaks here are dangerous, the mountains are steep and steep, auspicious grass grows on the slopes, and Ganoderma lucidum grows on the ground.
The strange pines are on the ancient top, and the precious trees reflect the sand embankment.
The mountains are high, the red sun is near, the streams are wide and the water is low.
Currently in the Eight Views Palace of Xuandu Cave.
Saint Taiqing was wearing a plain Taoist robe, with his hair pulled up and a wooden hairpin stuck in it. He was sitting upright on a futon, silently reciting Taoist scriptures and refining the Nine Turns Purple Gold Pill.
Although the Three Qing Dynasties all worshiped Taoist Hongjun as their master, they each have their own strengths.
The leader of Shangqing Tongtian is good at formations, Yuqing Yuanshi Tianzun is good at refining weapons, and Taiqing Daode Tianzun is good at alchemy.
Apart from studying the Great Dao, this Taiqing Saint focused his main energy on alchemy.
The elixir he refined was known as a top-quality magical elixir in ancient times.
Each one can attract countless immortals and gods to compete for it.
At this moment, he was at the critical moment of refining the elixir. Suddenly, his mind moved, and he felt like he was on a whim. He called two boys who were looking at the stove and said: "There are distinguished guests coming to the door. You two go to the door to greet them."
The two boys looked at each other, quickly put down their work and ran out.
After a while, the two boys ran back and said respectfully: "Master Qi, the second master is here."
At this time, a thick voice came from outside the door.
"I've met my brother!"
Saint Taiqing opened his eyes and saw Yuanshi Tianzun already standing at the door, looking towards him solemnly.
"You two stand down."
Saint Taiqing looked at the two boys and ordered softly.
"Yes, sir."
The two little boys quickly bowed and left.
"You are so anxious to come see me, but what happened?" Saint Taiqing stood up, looked at Yuanshi Tianzun and said, "If you have time, please go ahead and talk."
After saying that, he stretched out his hand and made a "please" gesture.
Yuanshi Tianzun hesitated for a moment and then walked into the hall of Saint Taiqing.
The two of them sat cross-legged on the futon, and then Saint Taiqing asked: "Tell me, what happened?"
"It's a long story, and I haven't figured out how to tell you yet."
When Yuanshi Tianzun spoke, his brows wrinkled slightly, as if he was considering how to tell him.
"It doesn't matter!"
Saint Taiqing smiled and said, "If you have anything to say, just say it!"
Yuanshi Tianzun thought about it and decided to start from the source.
He started with the incident of Lord Tongtian knocking on his door, and recounted his experience in detail, including his guess about Lord Tongtian's previous state, and how he allowed the latter to break through the vast world in the Chaos Pearl, and then walked away. Nothing was hidden.
"What?"
Saint Taiqing, who was always calm and indifferent, couldn't help but exclaimed when he heard what happened.
His eyes flickered and he didn't know what he was thinking.
After a moment, he raised his head and wondered: "Junior Brother Tongtian is a saint of heavenly virtues. Although he has not completely killed the three corpses, how could he suddenly be backlashed by the evil corpse based on his conduct? Even his original intention was suppressed by the evil corpse. ?
There must be other hidden secrets in this matter! "
Yuanshi Tianzun nodded and said: "I feel the same way. This time he went to the outer chaos to run for his disciple, but when he came back, he wanted to hunt down Yu Yuan!
If Yu Yuan hadn't been full of evil and lured Tongtian to Kunlun Mountain, and he was protected by the Chaos Bell, he might have fallen to Tongtian!
I'm afraid only they themselves know what is going on here. "
Saint Taiqing sighed, with a complicated expression on his face.
"All living beings in the world, whether they are mortals, immortals, or even saints like us, all have the three poisons of greed, ignorance, and anger, and at the same time they also have the three virtues of truth, goodness, and beauty! The method of killing three corpses taught by Master will When cultivation reaches a certain level, the three poisons of greed, ignorance, and anger can be condensed into the body of evil thoughts, and the three virtues of truth, goodness, and beauty can be condensed into the body of good thoughts.
Both good and evil are part of who we are.
Killing the two corpses of good and evil can allow us to understand our minds and nature, see the great road, and at the same time be able to see our own obsessions more clearly.
Finally, cut off the self and make yourself compatible with the Tao, with no desires or pursuits, no good and no evil, leaving only a clear and clear Tao heart, and finally achieve enlightenment and become a saint.
It's a pity that no one can reach this level except Master.
Even I chose the path of merit and sanctification in the end. "
Yuanshi Tianzun nodded with deep sympathy.
When they first practiced the method of killing three corpses to achieve enlightenment, Saint Taiqing was far ahead, killing all the good corpses, evil corpses, and the corpse of the self. However, they had no clue about the final stage of enlightenment. After Nuwa made man a saint, he also understood the method of merit and sainthood.
After several hesitations, he finally gave up the method of killing three corpses to achieve enlightenment and chose the path of merit and becoming a saint.
"Good, evil, and obsession are important factors that constitute the soul of living beings."
Sage Taiqing continued: "At the beginning, when Master was preaching, I felt how difficult it was for all living beings, so I chose to travel through the wilderness and measure every inch of the world with my feet.
Later, I discovered that the evil thoughts of all living beings are too deep.
Arrogance, jealousy, rage, laziness, greed... No matter how I guide them, they will eventually go astray.
The weak are weak and selfish, the strong are arrogant and greedy.
Good people are oppressed, and evil people are unscrupulous.
When I was traveling in the ancient times, I saw that there were too many strong people causing harm to the world, so I thought of using evil to fight evil and using force to stop them, so as to avoid the destruction of all living beings.
However, I finally found that all this was in vain.
Because the evil thoughts of sentient beings will never disappear, they will only continue to expand and shift.
When the weak become the strong, good becomes evil.
Where there is power, there will be desire, and where there is desire, evil will inevitably breed. "
Speaking of this, Saint Taiqing's voice became deeper and the expression on his face became more solemn.
"At that time, I thought that maybe there was a way to prevent all sentient beings from being troubled by good and evil thoughts. That is to let them be satisfied with everything and be immersed in joy forever. Everyone is the same. In this way, There will no longer be distinctions between the strong and the weak, and there will be no greed, laziness or other evil thoughts."
Hearing this, Yuanshi Tianzun couldn't help but widen his eyes and said in surprise: "Isn't this what Western religions call the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss?"
"good."
Saint Taiqing said calmly: "I have also been on this path. But in the end, I found that not only were those creatures not as happy as expected, but their desires were not satisfied. Instead, they always longed for more things. .
This is because there is always a "self" at work deep in their hearts. This "self" will expand infinitely and will never be satisfied.
But this 'self' I cannot destroy them!
Because once there is no 'self', these creatures are no longer real lives, but just artifacts! "
After listening to the words of Saint Taiqing, Yuanshi Tianzun looked at him thoughtfully and said: "No wonder my brother gave up the last step of killing three corpses to achieve enlightenment, and at the last moment changed to the path of merit and becoming a saint.
At that time, Tongtian and I had a hard time understanding our brother's decision. We thought you were unwilling because you saw Junior Sister Nuwa attaining enlightenment and becoming a saint first... Now it seems that I have underestimated your brother. "
Saint Taiqing sighed softly and said: "The road to killing the three corpses is indeed impossible for me. I can accept the idea of killing the good and the evil, but it is difficult for me to accept the killing of the self... Without the self, I still can't. me?"
"Hiss~"
Yuanshi Tianzun suddenly took a breath of cold air, looked at Saint Taiqing in surprise and said: "According to my brother's wishes, Master respects him..."
Before he could finish speaking, Saint Taiqing shook his head and said, "Don't think nonsense."
Yuanshi Tianzun's heart was filled with ups and downs.
How could he not have random thoughts?
Saint Taiqing had never told him these things before. His practice in the method of killing three corpses to attain enlightenment was similar to that of Tongtian. They were both at the level of killing two corpses, and after attaining enlightenment and becoming a saint, he also dispersed the good and evil. The two corpses make good thoughts and evil thoughts return to oneself.
In other words, he did not have as profound an understanding of the method of killing three corpses to attain enlightenment as the Taiqing Saint. He did not know that he needed to kill himself in the end!
If Saint Taiqing did not lie, and his judgment on the method of killing three corpses to achieve enlightenment is correct, then wouldn’t it mean that Taoist Hongjun, who pioneered the method of killing three corpses and successfully achieved enlightenment and became a saint, has put his “self” Beheaded?
wrong!
If that's the case, then he should become an "instrument" without independent consciousness, as Saint Taiqing said!
However, when they went to Zixiao Palace several times before, the Taoist Hongjun they saw was still the same as before he became a saint.
Of course, it's not accurate to say the same thing.
Because Taoist Hongjun became a part of the way of heaven soon after he became a saint.
In a sense, Hongjun Taoist is the prehistoric way of heaven, and prehistoric heaven is Hongjun Taoist!
He made the ancient way of heaven more perfect and gained consciousness.
Yuanshi Tianzun had many thoughts in his mind, and finally turned into an obscure look as he looked at Saint Taiqing.
"Brother, in this situation, should you and I go to Zixiao Palace?"
"Why go to Zixiao Palace?"
Saint Taiqing asked back, looking unusually calm in Yuanshi Tianzun's puzzled eyes, and said with a smile: "What are you doing? The sky won't fall."
Yuanshi Tianzun frowned when he heard this.
Saint Taiqing still had the same calm expression on his face, as if the collapse of the sky had nothing to do with him.
Yuanshi Tianzun couldn't help but sigh: "Brother, you are really open-minded."
After a pause, he couldn't help but ask: "Ever since the master issued the decree and ordered the three religions to discuss the conferring of gods, I have never sensed the change in the number of days. I wonder if this is the case for you, brother?"
This was a secret he had always kept deep in his heart, and it was rare to reveal it today.
After all, for him, what he pursues is to follow the way of heaven and explain the principles of nature.
The elucidator is the enlightenment!
The way of heaven is to make up for the deficiency when there is excess damage; the way of man is to make up for the deficiency when there is insufficient damage; the way of explanation is to follow the way of heaven and teach the way of mankind.
The way of heaven is my way, the heart of heaven is my heart, and my will is the will of heaven!
The way of teaching is not to act as a puppet of Heaven, but to have the final say of Heaven.
What is the way of heaven?
My interpretation has the final say!
But this is the final road. At the moment, he still needs to figure out God's will and obey God's heart to become invincible.
But during this period of time, he could no longer sense the change in the number of days.
At first, he only thought it was the reason why the calamity of calamity permeated the world, but now after hearing the words of Saint Taiqing, coupled with the changes in the leader of Tongtian, he inevitably had some more thoughts in his mind.
"The so-called number of days is the will of heaven!"
At this time, Saint Taiqing said calmly: "When the world first opened, the Dao of Heaven did not exist. Only the Dao existed attached to the heaven and the earth. Later, the Dao of Heaven slowly came into being and was derived from the Dao. Therefore, the will of the Dao of Heaven is the Dao. ' will."
Having said this, Saint Taiqing sighed softly, "Is your way of interpretation to obey the will of Heaven and be the 'spokesperson of Heaven's Dao' recognized by Heaven?"
Yuanshi Tianzun nodded slightly and said nothing.
Saint Taiqing continued: "Heaven's heart is unpredictable, and God's power is difficult to understand. If the will of Heaven is always in the control of saints like you and me, it means that we have lost all means and no longer have any deterrent effect.
At that time, will the way of heaven still be the supreme way of heaven? "
"this……"
Yuanshi Tianzun's mind changed rapidly, and he felt that he had gained a lot today.
It seems that because of what happened to Tongtian, the usually indifferent Saint Taiqing rarely revealed many secrets.
Even as arrogant as he is, he still has to admire him secretly.
This elder brother is worthy of being the head of the Three Pure Ones, and is also the most powerful being among the Six Saints.
Although he was a little reluctant to admit it, Yuanshi Tianzun still clearly felt the gap between himself and his brother, and it seemed to be quite big.
Thinking of this, Yuanshi Tianzun looked at Saint Taiqing and said seriously: "Thank you for your guidance today, brother. Now that the Great Shang is about to be destroyed, and Tongtian has an accident, it is the best time to complete the great cause of becoming a god.
I want to take advantage of the civil strife in Jiejiao to complete the matter of becoming a god as soon as possible.
After the Zhou Dynasty and Shang Dynasty flourished, they would use Pangu flags and Tai Chi diagrams to suppress the Great Desolation, and then use the spiritual energy of the gods to protect the three realms. In this way, they could clear away the tribulation energy in one fell swoop and restore the Great Desolate to the prosperous age of Qingming. "
"The Great Shang Kingdom Zuo still has decades to go. If you want to cut it off early, I'm afraid it may not be a good thing."
Saint Taiqing frowned slightly and said calmly: "However, now that the Jiejie sect is leaderless, it is indeed a rare opportunity for you. This can also prevent the two sects of the Interpretation and Jiejie from being destroyed... But after Tongtian returns to his roots, I am afraid that he will have to fight with him again. You did one.”
"His interception religion hides filth and evil and deserves to be robbed!" Yuanshi Tianzun said sternly: "I am also doing this to resolve the calamity as soon as possible and sort out the calamity. If he can't understand it, I will teach him the Immortal Killing Sword Formation. What’s the harm?”
Saint Taiqing's eyes flashed slightly when he heard this, and he looked at Yuanshi Tianzun and said: "Master once said that the Immortal Killing Sword Formation cannot be broken unless the four saints come together. Could it be that you have already won the two saints from the west?"
"I can't hide everything from my brother!"
Yuanshi Tianzun smiled and bowed, and said sternly: "If Tongtian is really ignorant and sets up the Immortal Killing Sword Formation, then I ask my brother to help me."
When he said this, his expression was full of determination, without any hesitation.
Obviously, I have deduced it countless times and have already calculated everything.
At the same time, it can also be said that I have already made up my mind!
Even if he teamed up with two outsiders, the Second Sage of the West, he would still defeat Tongtian!
"well……"
Saint Taiqing was silent for a moment, sighed helplessly, and finally nodded, "If there are difficulties when conquering the merchants, I will send someone to help."
Yuanshi Tianzun immediately beamed with joy when he heard this, "Thank you very much, brother."
The two saints chatted for a few more words, and then Yuanshi Tianzun excused himself and left.
Soon, he returned to Yuxu Palace in Kunlun Mountain.
At this moment, all the disciples of Chanjiao were alarmed by the big fuss made by the leader of Tongtian Cult, and they gathered around Yuxu Palace uneasily. Many disciples had anxious looks on their faces.
It wasn't until they saw the Nine-Dragon Agarwood Chariot descending from the sky that all the disciples felt relieved and gathered around to bow and salute.
Yuanshi Tianzun did not explain anything about what happened before. He just gave a faint reminder that the battle against the merchants was about to begin, and asked all the disciples to go ahead and prepare.
Although the disciples didn't know why he suddenly came early, they saw that he didn't mean to say more, so they didn't ask any more questions. They all bowed and left, and went to prepare according to his instructions.
When Yuanshi Tianzun returned to Yuxu Palace, he immediately summoned the White Crane Boy and ordered him to go to Xiqi to deliver the order.
After receiving the order, the boy Baihe immediately took up the auspicious clouds and flew towards Xiqi.
Not long after, a white crane descended from the sky and landed on the mountain road outside Xiqi City. It spread its wings and stood in the wind, standing four or five feet high.
When the people saw this, they only regarded it as auspiciousness and were full of surprises.
I saw the white crane holding the jade slip in its mouth, chirping twice, and then flying straight into Xiqi City.
At this time, in the palace of Prime Minister Xiqi, Jiang Ziya, the youngest disciple of Saint Chanjiao, was writing in the tent, writing a plan for military reform.
Jiang Ziya, also known as Jiang Shang.
His ancestors once served as officials in the Four Mountains and assisted Xia Yu in managing water and soil with great achievements.
During the time of Shun and Yu, they were granted the title of Lu Di, so they were also called Lu Shang.
When he was born, his family was already in ruins.
Fortunately, he had good fortune and was smart. He was noticed by a passing disciple of Chanjiao and was brought back to Kunlun Mountain to learn Taoism. Then he was unexpectedly noticed by Yuanshi Tianzun and became a disciple of the saint.
It is difficult to find similar examples of this kind of strange relationship throughout ancient and modern times.
However, although Jiang Ziya could be regarded as reaching the sky in one step, he was still troubled in his heart.
Because after he became a disciple, the saint did not teach him how to cultivate Taoism and make elixirs. He only asked the Antarctic Immortal to teach him some basic Qi gathering skills at will. Instead, he gave him a lot of military books and strategies to read.
During his time in Kunlun Mountain, he spent most of his time not practicing Taoism, but instead studying the art of war and governing the country.
He was very puzzled at first, thinking to himself that he was a disciple of a saint, what was the use of learning these things?
Unexpectedly, not long after, he was sent down the mountain by the sage master and ordered to come to Xiqi to assist Xibo Hou Jichang.
Jiang Ziya did not dare to disobey the saint's decree, but he also had his own small thoughts.
Taking advantage of the fact that he had no name and no status, and did not even know what Xibo Hou Jichang looked like, he went to Fengxi on the shore of the Weishui River to live a secluded life.
Every day, he chopped firewood and fished for some food, and when he was free, he collected Qi and practiced. He lived a happy and comfortable life.
But it didn't take long for rumors about him to leak out.
He is said to be a great sage descended from heaven, a living immortal, etc.
It happened that the Xibo Hou Jichang was a monarch who was thirsty for talents. Hearing that there was a great sage living in seclusion here, he came to look for him in the name of hunting, and then met Jiang Ziya.
At the first sight, Ji Chang recognized Jiang Ziya as the assistant minister who achieved the overlord's career.
When Jiang Ziya saw this, he knew it was destiny.
It is his mission to assist the Great Zhou Dynasty to take over the Great Shang Dynasty!
Therefore, he readily accepted the invitation of Xibo Hou Jichang and became the Prime Minister of Xiqi. After taking over the power, he immediately implemented drastic reforms.
He assisted Ji Chang in accumulating good deeds and cultivating virtues and practicing benevolence.
Externally, Jichang urged Ji Chang to contact other vassal states that were not satisfied with the Great Shang to pay tribute to him, which made Emperor Xin, the Shang King who had just ascended the throne, relax his vigilance towards Xiqi; internally, he formulated policies to love the people, do things that benefit the people, and actively promoted Production and training of soldiers and horses.
He also promoted the policy of respecting talents and meritorious service. For those who passed the assessment and met the criteria for selecting talents, they would use their strengths regardless of their closeness and maximize their positive creativity.
To put it simply, it means selecting talented people to serve as officials.
This policy of "appointing people according to their talents" broke Xiqi's ideological restraint of "respecting relatives" based on blood relations, and attracted a lot of backlash, but he suppressed all of them against all objections.
The benefits brought by such a policy are huge. In a short period of time, a large number of talents from other tribes were attracted to join Xiqi, allowing them to play their due role in national construction.
During the several years that Jiang Ziya was in charge of Xiqi, the national power of the entire Xiqi was booming, and the population, military strength, territory, etc. were growing at an extremely fast rate.
He also suggested that Jichang, the Marquis of Xibo, should exercise his power as the leader of the princes and attack those princes who did not respect orders, so as to further establish his own majesty and make all the surrounding princes secretly defect to Xiqi.
"Uncle Master!"
Chanjiao attaches great importance to etiquette. Although Boy Baihe is profound in Taoism and Jiang Ziya has not even cultivated the Immortal Way, when Boy Baihe saw Jiang Ziya, he immediately bowed and paid homage, saying: "Uncle Master, the disciples are here to teach you." The decree has come, and I order you, Uncle Master, to immediately prepare your troops for war and attack the great merchants as quickly as possible!"
"Crunt against the Great Shang, now?" Jiang Ziya couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.
According to his plan, now is far from a good time to attack the great merchants.
Besides, last time when the sage master ordered Baihe Boy to send him the Sibuxiang, he also said that he would provoke a fight between Dashang and Linhuan Pass so that Xiqi could reap the benefits.
How long has it been since then? Why have you changed your strategy?
And so eager?
But Bai Hedongzi would never lie about this matter or send wrong information.
Now that the head teacher has ordered him to attack the great merchants as soon as possible, he should not be aiming for nothing.
With this thought in mind, Jiang Ziya looked at Baihe Boy and asked curiously: "Has the head teacher ever told you the reason?"
"Reporting to Uncle Master, the headmaster didn't mention the reason. He just asked me to tell you that he ordered you to raise an army to conquer the Great Shang!" Boy Baihe shook his head and said hesitantly: "But..."
"But what?"
Jiang Ziya asked curiously.
The White Crane boy hesitated for a moment, then said seriously: "Uncle Master is not an outsider, so I will tell you. Before the Master ordered me to deliver the order, the sage from that sect had been to our Kunlun Mountains, and he seemed to have followed the Master. The teacher had a fight..."
He briefly stated what he saw.
This is no secret either.
After all, the noise was so loud that it could be heard clearly within tens of thousands of miles around the main peak of Kunlun Mountain.
"So that's it..." Jiang Ziya pondered for a long time and said sternly: "Now that Shang King Di Xin has forced the Marquis of Yizhou to rebel and forcibly married Su Daji, he has become more and more debauched and unscrupulous. Eight hundred princes in the world are complaining. I Also heard about it.
It is not impossible to send troops to attack merchants now.
It's just that Xiqi is thousands of miles away from the merchants. The army has to travel through mountains and rivers, which requires a lot of food, grass and baggage. If it encounters the main army of the merchants, it will be difficult to resist.
Moreover, as far as I know, Dashang now has nearly half a million troops stationed near Chaoge, ready to support the front line. We in Xiqi currently only have 300 military vehicles, more than 3,000 warriors, and 45,000 soldiers. , riding on fifteen thousand beasts...
Even if you include the armies of the princes under your command, you can't even make up the number of 100,000!
The gap in military strength is so huge, how can we be rivals? "
"Uncle Master, I don't know, but the Master has already made arrangements." Baihe Boy said seriously: "Every time the army reaches a pass, someone will come to help."
"That's it." Jiang Ziya nodded knowingly.
He knew that defeating merchants and enthroning gods was a great cause of teaching, and it was not his business alone. There were some things that he did not need to worry about.
He just needs to do his part.
His sage master must have already arranged other things.
As for whether a hundred thousand troops could march straight into Huanglong and capture Chaoge, that was no longer something he needed to consider.
Just like the 30,000 newly trained soldiers at Linhuan Pass resisted the 300,000 elite merchants.
No matter how impossible things are, they are possible with the intervention of external forces.
Even so, Jiang Ziya still felt a little uneasy.
He felt it was still too hasty.
Xiqi's national strength was not enough to compete with the great merchants.
Moreover, the fight between snipe and clam can easily benefit the fisherman!
(End of chapter)
