Transmigrating to the Primordial Era as a Peerless Great Witch, Changing Fate in the Primordial Worl

Nuwa thought to herself, "If one absorbs merit to prove the Dao without relying on one's own understanding and enlightenment of the Great Dao, and simply accumulates external forces to become a saint, where is one's own Great Dao? Where is one's foundation?"

These saints are nothing but puppets of the Heavenly Dao and slaves to destiny; how can they speak of the "Great Dao"? Her pursuit of the Great Dao of creation made her disdain this method.

Zhu Rong and Gong Gong shared similar thoughts: "If cooking and brewing wine can bring great merit, then that's a skill. But can simply accumulating merit be called 'attaining enlightenment'? That's called 'taking drugs,' what kind of fighting power can that have? It's probably just for show."

However, for the vast majority of cultivators who felt that "proving the Dao through force" was a dead end and were also desperate about the spiritual treasures needed to "sever the three corpses," "proving the Dao through merit" seemed to be another path worth trying.

Although "abundant merit" is hard to come by, it is still more "traceable" than the previous two. For example, sorting out the earth's veins, educating sentient beings, and spreading the Taoist tradition.

Among them, the most quick-witted were the brothers Di Jun and Tai Yi.

Upon hearing that "achieving enlightenment through merit" requires "making great contributions to the primordial world" and "establishing unparalleled achievements," a dazzling golden light almost simultaneously shone in the eyes of both of them.

"To establish a super power, rule over billions of living beings, restore order to the primordial world, harmonize yin and yang, and suppress the rebellious." Di Jun communicated with Taiyi rapidly with his divine sense, filled with barely suppressed excitement.

"Isn't this exactly what I, the Sun Star, have been doing all along, and what I'm destined to do for great things in the future?"

If the Ten Thousand Demon Mountains could be integrated, leading to the unification of the primordial world, the establishment of celestial laws, order among all living beings, reduction of slaughter, and harmony of yin and yang, wouldn't that be a great contribution to the primordial world? How much merit could be accumulated from heaven and earth?

Taiyi nodded emphatically, his eyes filled with a mixture of fighting spirit and ambition: "What you say is absolutely right, elder brother. This path is simply tailor-made for my brother and me. Even if my brother and I do not prove our Dao through merit, absorbing merit can accelerate our accumulation and shorten the time required to prove our Dao through force."

To rule the heavens and earth and establish order is a great merit. It will not only enable us to realize our grand ambitions and dominate the world, but also gather supreme fortune and merit, accelerating our own accumulation—a multi-faceted achievement with immense potential.

The two brothers looked at each other and saw immense excitement and determination in each other's eyes.

Hongjun's three methods, though seemingly innocuous, pointed out a seemingly "legitimate" path to heaven for these "sons of the sun," and also planted a more turbulent thunderbolt for the future pattern of the primordial world.

Before the aftershocks of the "Three Methods to Achieve Sainthood" had subsided, another figure suddenly stood up. It was the Shangqing Tongtian clone on the third purple futon.

His eyes were sharp, and he bowed slightly to Hongjun on the platform, asking a more direct and realistic question:

"Shangqing also has a question, and earnestly requests the sage to enlighten him."

Hongjun turned his gaze to Tongtian, his expression still calm and composed, and nodded slightly.

Tongtian raised his head, his gaze intense, a hint of sword intent flickering within him: "The Sage just stated that the three paths to enlightenment are of varying difficulty. May I ask the Sage, are the 'Saints' attained through these three methods also ranked in terms of superiority and weakness? If so, what is their order?"

"Buzz---"

This question once again ignited everyone's suppressed desires and calculations. Who doesn't want to prove the strongest Dao? Who doesn't want to surpass others after achieving it?

Even though "proving the Way through force" may seem unattainable, if it can be confirmed that it is the "strongest," it may inspire countless proud and arrogant people to regard it as the ultimate goal.

Countless gazes focused once again, filled with curiosity.

Hongjun's profound gaze lingered briefly on Tongtian, as if trying to pierce through the sharpness of his swordsmanship and see the deeper intention behind his question.

He spoke slowly after a moment, his voice calm yet carrying an unwavering certainty, as if it were the will of Heaven:

"Naturally, there are differences in strength."

"To prove the Dao through force means to forcibly break the shackles of the Great Dao with supreme power, without relying on external things or the power of heaven. The Dao fruit is the purest and the foundation is the most solid. The power returns to oneself, so it is the strongest." He affirmed the pinnacle of this path, but then his indifferent tone pushed it to the "unreachable" peak.

"The path to enlightenment through the severing of the three corpses is gradual. One uses innate spiritual objects to carry one's obsessions, and the three corpses merge into one. One's primordial spirit is entrusted to the Heavenly Dao. The foundation is secondary, but one can also act on behalf of Heaven and grasp the authority of the Heavenly Dao, so it is the second strongest." He emphasized "the authority of the Heavenly Dao" again, which invisibly raised the "practicality" and "orthodoxy" status of this method.

"The path to enlightenment through merit is achieved by using external merit to break through realms, but the foundation is relatively weak. Although one may attain sainthood, one's own understanding of the Great Dao is insufficient, and one's great power is mostly borrowed from the Heavenly Dao, thus making it the weakest." He bluntly pointed out the drawbacks of this method, but the words "attain sainthood" were still an irresistible temptation for him.

This "theory of strength and weakness" appears objective, but in reality it is full of manipulation.

After everyone was initially intimidated by the idea that "proving the Dao through force is a dead end that even Pangu failed at," this "ranking of strength" further solidified the impression that severing the three corpses was the most feasible and strongest path in reality.

As for "attaining enlightenment through merit," that's the weakest option, but it's merely an "alternative" for those who truly lack spiritual treasures and perseverance.

As a result, countless cultivators subconsciously ignored or downplayed the path of "merit" once again, and their belief in the "severing the three corpses" method became stronger than ever before. This was the best and most feasible option certified by the sages, second only to the Pangu Great Way.

Hongjun's few words, seemingly an answer to a question, had in fact quietly completed the "definition" and "guidance" of the orthodox path.

A long silence fell over Zixiao Palace as everyone digested the discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the three methods, weighed their own conditions, and pondered their future paths.

Some people have a firm gaze, clearly determined to go all the way down the path of "severing the three corpses," while others have shifty eyes, perhaps plotting how to accumulate "merit."

Some, like the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, and Zhen Yuanzi, have their own thoughts and remain silent in their contemplation of the profound meaning behind this "ordering".

No one got up to ask a question for a long time.

On the platform, Hongjun slowly opened his eyes, which seemed to contain the endless Dao of Heaven. His gaze calmly swept over the three thousand mortals below. Seeing that no one spoke, he spoke again.

However, he did not continue preaching, but instead turned to something else unexpected:

"The Eastern King Father and the Western Queen Mother."

Both men who were called out were taken aback. Dong Wanggong reacted faster and immediately stood up and respectfully replied, "Disciple is here."

The Queen Mother of the West, in her purest Yin form, suppressed the turmoil in her heart and gracefully rose to her feet: "Greetings, Sage."

Hongjun's gaze fell upon the two, his tone still indifferent, yet carrying a majestic air of authority as if he were making a declaration on behalf of Heaven:

"You two were born from the primordial yang and primordial yin energies at the beginning of the primordial world. You are of pure nature and naturally formed Dao bodies. You can serve as role models for all the immortals in the primordial world and govern the order among them."

Upon hearing this, the atmosphere within Zixiao Palace changed drastically, and countless gazes, filled with astonishment, envy, jealousy, or dissatisfaction, instantly fell upon the Eastern King Duke and the Western Queen Mother.

To be in charge of all the immortals? What immense power and prestige that is!

Hongjun ignored the undercurrents below and gently waved his hand:

"Dongwanggong shall be the head of all male immortals in the primordial world. I bestow upon you a dragon-headed walking stick, and you shall be in charge of the ascension and descent, the register of names, and the merits and demerits of all male immortals under heaven."

A golden dragon-headed cane, carved with lifelike detail and exuding a grand and majestic aura, appeared out of thin air and slowly flew into the hand of the Eastern King Duke. The cane seemed to emit a dragon's roar, demonstrating his supreme authority.

"The Queen Mother of the West shall be the head of all female immortals in the primordial world. I bestow upon you the Phoenix Hairpin and entrust you with the management of the names, merits, fortunes, and misfortunes of all female immortals under heaven."

A beautifully crafted hairpin, with a phoenix head holding a pearl and exuding the charm of Yin and the elegance of nobility, flew out and gently landed in the palm of the Queen Mother of the West. The plain-colored cloud banner of the West that Hongjun originally intended had already been taken by Wugu, so the hairpin was used as a substitute.

Hongjun's actions were not a simple reward, but rather, in his capacity as a sage and the spokesperson for the Way of Heaven, he directly established "status" and "authority" for the two of them.

This means that from then on, the positions of the "male and female immortal leaders," the Eastern King Duke and the Western Queen Mother, were imbued with the "legality" of the Heavenly Way, and at least nominally gained supreme recognition.