Chapter 8: The Sage
Seeing how quickly Bai Jing was able to calm his mind, Laozi praised him, saying, “This person has a commendable nature.” Yuanshi and Tongtian both nodded in agreement; not everyone could resist the temptation of a spiritual treasure that shared the same root and source as themselves.
“If it were any other spiritual treasure, I wouldn’t mind forming a good bond with him, but the Qingping Sword is absolutely off-limits,” Tongtian said.
Laozi and Yuanshi wholeheartedly agreed. The spiritual treasures they held were not just three innate supreme treasures; they also symbolized the bond among the Three Pure Ones.
After the lecture at the Purple Cloud Palace, the Three Pure Ones had distributed the treasure gourds and continued their journey. Suddenly, they encountered a place radiating immense divine light, the pure energy filling the sky. Upon closer inspection, it was a blue lotus.
After some calculation, Laozi discerned the origin of this blue lotus—it was the mature seed of the primordial Chaos Blue Lotus.
Back then, the Chaos Blue Lotus shattered alongside Pangu’s opening of the heavens, transforming into many supreme treasures. Among these were four immature seeds that became the twelve-grade World-Destroying Black Lotus, the twelve-grade Merit Golden Lotus, the twelve-grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus, and the twelve-grade Purifying White Lotus. Because they were immature, these four escaped destruction.
The only mature seed transformed into the twenty-four grade Creation Blue Lotus, an innate supreme treasure. However, lacking the merit of opening the heavens, the primordial laws forbade it from existing as an innate supreme treasure, thus giving rise to its current tribulation.
During their travels, the Three Pure Ones encountered this treasure on the verge of breaking apart. Laozi stepped forward and touched the blue lotus, saying, “Red flower.”
Immediately, the red flower on the lotus turned into a coiled dragon staff and fell into Laozi’s hand.
Yuanshi also reached out and said, “White root.”
The white root transformed into a three-treasure jade scepter and landed in Yuanshi’s hand.
Tongtian touched the blue lotus and said, “Blue lotus leaf.”
The lotus leaf became the Qingping Sword and fell into Tongtian’s grasp.
These three treasures were all supreme innate spiritual treasures, embodying the saying: “Red flower, white root, blue lotus leaf—the Three Pure Ones were once one family.”
Bai Jing, having barely suppressed the trembling in his heart, naturally did not focus his gaze on these three treasures. He turned to look at the others.
In front stood a group of people: a man in a purple-golden Dao robe and another in a red long robe chatting happily; a youthful Daoist standing with a sword on his back; a cold, shadowy figure with a sinister gaze; a pair of siblings walking together; two Daoists dressed in tattered robes full of patches; and a pair of brothers exuding the aura of emperors, one of whom occasionally glanced at Houtu.
“Brother Bai Jing, these people ahead are mighty beings of the primordial era. The one in the purple-golden robe is Zhen Yuanzi; the one in the red robe is Hong Yun.
The young Daoist with the sword on his back is Ming He, and the shadowy, sinister one is Kun Peng...” Houtu whispered to Bai Jing, briefly introducing some of the great beings present.
Bai Jing matched these individuals with the images he remembered from his previous life. He glanced toward Fuxi and Nuwa before turning his attention away from the powerful figures ahead.
Over the next thousand years, more and more beings gathered behind them. The Great Primordial Assembly was about to begin. Bai Jing closed his eyes to regulate his breath when suddenly there was a soft sound. Countless great beings opened their eyes and looked toward the Purple Cloud Palace, where the great doors had slightly parted, revealing a small head timidly peeking out.
It was a delicate young girl. Seeing so many people, she appeared nervous and immediately withdrew her head. After a moment, she cautiously peeked out again and shyly said, “The Great Primordial Assembly has begun. The Elder’s second lecture is about to start. Please enter the hall.”
As soon as Yaochi finished speaking, two Daoist children pushed open the palace doors from left and right.
Bai Jing almost laughed aloud. Is this the future Queen Mother of the West? How adorable she is now. Then he glanced at the boy on the other side. Haotian has always had a serious expression, looking somewhat imposing even as a child.
The assembled great beings entered the palace one by one.
Hongjun’s seat from the last lecture was already reserved, and everyone returned to the seats where they had listened previously.
Houtu called Bai Jing to sit in the place where the Twelve Ancestral Witches had listened last time. Since her brothers and sisters would not be attending, the seat would remain empty otherwise—it was better that Bai Jing took it.
After a moment, the palace doors closed. Everyone quickly settled down. At the very top, on the meditation cushion, a figure materialized from the void, instantly appearing.
Bai Jing’s expression turned solemn because he could not discern how Hongjun appeared. Even seeing Hongjun seated, he felt no presence.
It was as if Hongjun had always been there, yet Bai Jing was unable to perceive him. It was as if he had not truly appeared at all.
Before coming, he had imagined what a sage would be like. After seeing Hongjun, he realized his imagination had been too limited. Is this a sage? Truly unfathomable! Bai Jing even broke out in a cold sweat.
Hongjun sat calmly at the front, surveying the crowd below. A quarter of the cultivators who had attended the previous lecture at the Purple Cloud Palace were absent, replaced by new disciples.
Except for a few specific individuals, Hongjun paid no attention to who had come to listen.
After a moment, Hongjun spoke: “This lecture will last three thousand years, opening the Way of the Quasi-Saint. The Quasi-Saint is the transitional stage between the Great Dao Immortal and the Sage. Therefore, to discuss the Quasi-Saint, we must first speak of the Sage.”
At this moment, Laozi asked, “May I ask, what exactly is a Sage?”
Hongjun looked down upon the three thousand great beings gathered below, his gaze imbued with endless Dao resonance, causing a shiver to run down their spines.
After a moment, his imposing gaze faded, and he spoke slowly: “A Sage governs heaven, earth, and the cosmos. They endure countless tribulations without being worn down, partake in cause and effect without being tainted, exist eternally with Heaven, and coexist with the Dao. They know all things and possess unlimited power.
A Sage perceives all phenomena and the myriad worlds, observing past, present, and future. They command space and time, life and death, and the cycle of reincarnation.
With a mere thought, the Sage can change the laws of Heaven and Earth—limitless, immeasurable, without birth or death, returning to the void, capable of gathering or dispersing, neither arising nor perishing, enduring countless tribulations without wear, transcending space and time, untainted by cause and effect, roaming beyond all things, not bound by time, space, or reincarnation, eternal and everlasting.
Those beneath a Sage are but ants.”
The phrase “Those beneath a Sage are but ants” caused many of the great beings present to lose their composure. After countless years of arduous cultivation, were they truly nothing but ants?
Many below wore bitter expressions, doubting their own paths.
Yet some were undeterred, their fighting spirits ignited even more fiercely, their yearning for the Sage growing stronger.
Even Laozi found it difficult to maintain his usual calm and asked respectfully, “May I ask, how does one become a Sage?”
“Facing a Sage, even Laozi cannot remain serene and void,” Bai Jing thought to himself.
At this moment, Houtu was filled with confusion. Their Witch Clan possessed no primordial spirit, and Hongjun’s teachings all related to the primordial spirit. Did this mean the Witch Clan had no chance of becoming Sages?