Donghuang Ziji

Chapter 948 Taiyi Forges the True Spirit

"I understand."

Taiyi Zhenjun nodded, and Dao Qi surged, with layer upon layer of precious light rising up, like the sun and moon revolving, shining brightly. Many immortals and celestial maidens appeared, some striking golden bells, which rang clearly, and others striking jade chimes, which jingled in unison.

Amidst countless wondrous sounds, a wondrous fragrance surged forth, forming numerous clouds of light, from which countless Taiyi Dharma gates descended.

The essence of the Dharma manifests itself, sometimes with rays of light emanating from all directions, and purple energy flowing through the air – these are the characters of the Flying Mysterious Purple Qi Natural Form; sometimes with a luminous glow like fire, illuminating the profound and subtle – these are the characters of the Heavenly Light Azure Qi Morality Form; there are also characters of the Great Void and Spiritual Treasure Form, characters of the Extended Kang Limitless Opening of Calamity Formation, characters of the Three Caverns and Four Thorns of the Vast and Mysterious Formation…

The numerous characters swayed gently, and the Daoist sounds echoed, initially as murmurs, barely audible, but later like thunder, resounding throughout the universe.

A myriad of principles pervade the four directions, severing all external interference.

Chu Tai bowed and sat down cross-legged. The Eastern Emperor Bell floated above it, with streams of light rotating. Dense prayers and Taoist scriptures appeared on the ancient bell wall, turning it into a golden hue.

With a slight tremor, Daoist texts and scriptures intertwined, depicting the myriad phenomena of heaven and earth, the changes of mountains and rivers, the mortal world, and the underworld. Among the many illusory figures, eight more divine figures emerged, forming a circle around the Eastern Emperor Bell. Each of them shone with divine radiance, intertwining with the Daoist rhyme on the Eastern Emperor Bell, further sealing off the surrounding void and cosmic light.

Among the eight majestic divine figures, Donghuang, who had mastered the Way of the Celestial God (Celestial Immortal), possessed the highest and purest aura. His body radiated a clear and precious light that unified all things, and his eyes were filled with a misty flow, giving him a somewhat celestial air.

The Mountain Spirit, who has mastered the Way of [Heavenly Inheritance], feels closer to the legendary Houtu. Its aura is as majestic as a mountain and as steady as the earth. It exudes a pure essence and boundless civilized atmosphere, steadily bearing the changes of the Eastern Emperor.

At the same time, Dongjun, who had comprehended the way of Dongjun (Qingdi), was surrounded by golden flames and had a brilliant aura. The blue sun behind him was even more dazzling and vast, and the layers of illusory grass and trees brought endless vitality to the human world.

At the same time, Dongjun manifested Shao Siming, who is in charge of the Way of Creation (the God of Grain). The breath of all living beings was like a fine thread that traveled through her palm, falling into the human world, bringing more life and creating more miracles.

The flourishing of life caused Yun Zhongjun, who embodied the Dao of the Immortals (Supreme Saints), and Hebo, who controlled the Dao of Gouchen (Escape One), to descend, bringing with them both prosperity and conflict.

A vast, endless river, spanning the void, leads all living beings toward the Great Master of Destiny, who opened up the Netherworld by relying on the path of [Reincarnation (Netherworld)], and into that boundless silence. Only a very few, guided by the Lord of the Clouds, are able to leap out of the river's pull and move toward the direction of the Eastern Emperor.

After the long river flowed on, Xiangjun and Xiangfuren, the masters of the [Primordial Beginning] Dao, transformed into two intertwined and twisted illusory shadows, landing beside Chu Tai. One of them placed a hand on Chu Tai's shoulder, and then they stretched towards the past.

The moment the spread began, the Eastern Emperor Bell swayed gently, and a bell sound, audible only to those who had reached the first rank, echoed between the two great heavens.

In the Immortal Manifestation and Transformation Great Heaven, all the Later Saint Emperors were stunned for a moment, and some of them showed a little clarity in their eyes. In the Eastern Extreme Chenguang Great Heaven, the Buddha Demon Lord suddenly felt a trace of fear in his heart, while Qing Shi, Hun Yuan, and Yu Li showed strange expressions.

The Heavenly Demon Lord, the Blood Demon Lord, and the Monarch Demon Lord all frowned, feeling as if they had heard this voice before.

They tried to trace the origin of the bell's sound using magic, but could not detect its source.

Meanwhile, on Chu Tai's side, golden ripples spread outwards from the Eastern Emperor Bell, like an invisible giant axe cleaving through the constraints of heaven and earth.

The first to be impacted was the Mountain Spirit's Dao of [Bearing Heaven], which contained the void, the earth, and the Dao Fruit that carried civilization and the sky. A tiny crack appeared, and then the Mountain Spirit's form collapsed like billions of mountains, turning into countless dust particles that scattered. The incomparably heavy divine power also caused Chu Tai's form to disappear without a trace.

In contrast, the Donghuang Bell incorporates heavy, solid earth patterns, the form of mountain spirits, and information from various civilizations, becoming entirely new patterns on the bell's surface.

The disappearance of the earth caused Dongjun and Shaosiming to sigh together, and the two Dao fruits of [Dongjun (Qingdi)] and [Creation (Gushen)] also dispersed.

【Dongjun (Qingdi)】 took the lead in transforming into the golden flames of the great sun, which rolled back and wrapped the broken Qingyang phantom, merging into the bell wall. This scorched the ancient bell body until it was very bright, as if it were flowing and burning gold.

Yet, subtle life force flowed within the bell's walls. With the integration of [Creation (Certain God)], the previously lifeless information about civilization on the bell's walls came to life. Countless phantoms of living beings paid homage to the Eastern Emperor Bell, and the aura of countless living beings converged into the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Conversely, Chu Tai's life force began to wane, and the aura of death surged forth.

Before death could fully materialize, the Reincarnation (Netherworld) shattered. The Grand Commander looked at Chu Tai, raised his hand and took away the death from him, while he himself turned into mottled ashes and merged into the Eastern Emperor Bell, becoming its shadow and driving the civilization within to continuously progress.

[Gouchen (Dunyi)] followed closely behind, and all the countless convergence changes collapsed, and the original singularity once again moved towards infinity.

Seeing this, Sun Wukong's eyes widened. This transformation actually incorporated some of the mysteries of the Victorious Fighting Buddha (Great Sage Equal to Heaven), making Chu Tai's future completely unpredictable and unanchorable, but also making him more ethereal and without a foothold, leaving only a sliver of spiritual light to maintain his self.

Sun Wukong knew that this was the most dangerous time. He manifested his mental power and merged it with the protection of Taiyi Zhenjun to build a powerful defensive system.

It was at this moment that Chu Tai [the Immortal (Supreme Saint)] reached out and took the last of the innate spiritual light from Chu Tai's body. As the sound of the Eastern Emperor Bell echoed, it transformed into a gentle radiance with the brilliance of the sun and the softness of the moon, merging into the bell wall and giving the illusory image within it a more real will.

At this moment, only Xiangjun and Xiangfuren, as well as the two deities Donghuang, remained by Chu Tai's side.

Taiyi Zhenjun and Sun Wukong also sensed something and looked at Donghuang, looking through this deity at the sealed heavens in the darkness.

"Interesting. Are you trying to provoke me, or are you trying to lure me into a trap?"

Tian looked at Donghuang, then at the almost phantom-like, non-existent Chu Tai, a hint of amusement appearing in his eyes.

He could sense that Chu Tai had relaxed his control over the Dao Fruit of [Celestial God (Celestial Immortal)] held by Donghuang. If he wanted, he could use the connection with the heavens to exert influence and even temporarily seize Donghuang's power.

However, he was also very clear that once he lowered his power, whether it was the Heavenly Emperor at the bottom of the cycle of reincarnation, the Three Pure Ones defending outside, or the Taiyi True Lord protecting Chu Tai, they would all completely sever part of his power connection, allowing the Eastern Emperor Bell to crush his power.

But that's exactly what he wants to try, and if he succeeds, it will be a happy thing for him.

Therefore, he unhesitatingly unleashed his power, causing the aura of the Eastern Emperor to expand continuously, and the Dao Fruit of [Celestial God (Celestial Immortal)] was gradually perfected. But just as his will was about to separate,

The Three Pure Ones intervened, the Heavenly Emperor used magic to suppress it, and the Taiyi True Lord's body was surrounded by blazing light. The sound of the Eastern Emperor Bell echoed in all directions, directly shattering the Eastern Emperor's illusory image. The Dao Fruit of [Heavenly God (Heavenly Immortal)] merged into the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Tian stood there dumbfounded, while Sun Wukong burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, Taiyi clearly wanted to take a bite out of your cultivation, and you actually believed him? That's hilarious! Seriously, why did you think he would want to help you?"

Sun Wukong's loud laughter echoed throughout the heavens and earth. Although the heavens could not reveal his expression, the manifestation of various winds, rains, thunder, and lightning around him silently revealed the feelings of this powerful being.

It was during this time of wind and rain that [Zhou Shi (Tai Shi)] pulled Chu Tai back to the past.

The light of time began to materialize, countless grains of sand from the past swirling like snowflakes, refracting into iridescent brilliance. Each ray of light reflected the past and future of various mystical realms, allowing Chu Tai, enveloped by Xiang Jun and Xiang Furen, to transcend the world. In this continuous process of tracing back, Chu Tai saw many aspects of his past: before entering the Three Pure Ones Heaven, when he made his grand vows, when he established the Eastern Peak Dharma Realm…

As time goes back, inscriptions appear on the Eastern Emperor Bell left under the Heavenly Pillar.

[By reopening the mountain gates, connecting with the stars, and drawing in wondrous energy, the Golden Flower Grotto-Heaven was elevated...]

[By forging connections with all directions, gathering the vital energy of the Taiyi Immortal Sect, entangled in fate, increasing the number of vital energies, the Youkan Blessed Land...]

In the Central Plains and the North, connections are forged from all directions; good and evil are hard to define, fortune and misfortune intertwine, and karmic entanglements are ever-present…

These records kept manifesting, but each time they manifested, they faded away, making Chu Tai's form even more illusory.

During this time, when Chu Tai broke through and condensed the Dharma intent of "One", the spiritual light inside the Eastern Emperor Bell suddenly fell and merged with the spiritual light that Chu Tai had used at that time.

The entire process continued without pause, as Chu Tai continued to trace back to the past.

Until the image of the Eastern Emperor Bell appeared: "Uphold the Great Heavenly Order, the Laws of the Underworld, and be reborn..."

At this moment, Chu Tai was almost nothing, and the power of the Dao Fruit of [Zhou Shi (Tai Shi)] had also almost completely dissipated. He was only maintaining himself by relying on the projection of the power of the Eastern Emperor Bell.

However, the Eastern Emperor Bell is an innate object, independent of the cosmic light, and at the same point in time, no two identical Eastern Emperor Bells can appear.

Therefore, the phantom of the Eastern Emperor Bell that fell to this place overlapped with the Eastern Emperor Bell of the past, and the present Chu Tai intertwined with the past Chu Tai.

This time, however, the near-absence of Chu Tai clearly affected the past Chu Tai, and the past Chu Tai naturally complemented the present Chu Tai.

The two intertwine, causing a pure and indescribable radiance to emerge on the Eastern Emperor Bell.

And this radiant light shines upon the present world of the Three Pure Ones.

"This is……"

Sun Wukong, who had been mocking him, froze in place. It was a variable that did not belong to either of the two great heavens.

His expression changed drastically: "He's taken out all of this, so what does he have left?"

"Naturally, nothing will be left."

Taiyi Zhenjun's expression was somewhat solemn, but then he revealed an expression of certainty. He sensed that with the appearance of the radiance, the Taiyi Dao began to operate wildly, absorbing the changes of many Heavenly Demons under the Three Pure Ones. Naturally, the changes brought about by Sun Wukong no longer shook the seal of the Heavenly Demons.

Sun Wukong showed no joy at this. He looked at the Eastern Emperor Bell in front of him and felt the almost non-existent Chu Tai aura within it.

"Will he succeed?"

"He will succeed, because I have already seen it."

Taiyi Zhenjun uttered a cryptic remark, and the Dao Qi in his palm began to churn, while the surrounding radiant clouds grew even more dazzling.

Chu Tai, who was trapped in nothingness, felt that he could not find any foothold. His innate spiritual light had been abandoned, and his experiences in the two great heavens were no longer the anchor of his core. The memories before reincarnation belonged to his past self, as did the Eastern Emperor Bell.

'Then what is the meaning of my existence?'

The moment this thought crossed his mind, Chu Tai couldn't help but laugh. At this point, he suddenly realized that many of his past considerations were completely unnecessary.

Just as the Heavenly Demon uses numerous illusions to bewitch many cultivators, occupying all their senses and plunging them into endless suffering.

The reason it works is because, for them, those past experiences that had misled them were not false.

How he exists, why he exists, and how he exists are things that do not require thought.

Because a person already exists when they can think.

Just like him now, even if all of that is stripped away, as long as he can still think, he still exists in the world.

Going further, at the first-grade level, one doesn't even need to think anymore; as long as there's even the slightest trace of it, it exists.

For example, the Way of Taiyi…

As Chu Tai gained enlightenment, or rather, as he gained enlightenment of the Dao of Taiyi, countless changes of the Dao of Taiyi began to revolve throughout the many worlds.

Countless changes, countless starting points, and countless flashes of inspiration manifested on numerous lifeless objects as the Taiyi Dao operated, even enhancing the power of many spirits and monsters in the Dongyue Dharma Realm, and causing the eight incarnations to undergo various changes.

Several True Lords and Dao Masters sensed a change in the Taiyi Dao between heaven and earth. Hunyuan True Lord narrowed his eyes slightly: "Taiyi manifests as Taiyi? No, it seems that Taiyi is derived from the Taiyi Dao, and now Taiyi is returning to Taiyi?"

The Heavenly Demon Lord rose and headed towards the Immortal Manifestation Dao Transformation Great Heaven, where several Later Saint Emperors manifested and blocked his way.

Just as the two sides were about to go to war, the Eastern Emperor Bell rang again, and a tiny light appeared. It was as small as a mustard seed at first, but after it lit up, it quickly occupied the core of the Eastern Emperor Bell and expanded rapidly. Its clear light, like that of the bright moon, flowed and filled the void. Then it continued to grow stronger and transformed into a great sun standing in the void, filling the heaven and earth.

Countless beings sensed the light and looked towards it. Countless spiritual energies surged and converged inward. Finally, at the center of the radiance, a new spiritual light emerged, and then a figure opened its eyes.

His eyes were clear and penetrating, piercing through the darkness. He looked to the side and smiled, "Fellow Daoist, now that you're here, why think about leaving?"

Having said that, he reached out and grabbed towards the direction of the Heavenly Demon.

(End of this chapter)