Primordial Era: A God-Level Choice, Possessing Zhao Gongming at the Start.

Chapter 384 A Thousand Years of Incense Offering

That's right, it was during the opening of the Daoist temple that the saints fought fiercely, shattering the primordial world. The Dao Ancestor personally issued an edict that saints must not take action in the primordial world for countless eons.

"Cannot act" actually means "cannot appear," so the sages would naturally have to establish another place of practice.

Time is like fine sand, slipping through our fingers. After the conferment of the title of deity at Qishan, a thousand years have passed in a flash.

Since the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods, the primordial world has finally passed through a thousand years in peace and tranquility.

A thousand years is nothing to many ancient and powerful beings in the primordial world; it's not even as long as they can take a nap.

But this thousand years was an unprecedented period of peace, a time when war was almost never seen.

Although a thousand years is a short period of time, several major events have occurred.

First, each of the saints opened their own Daoist temples outside the Thirty-Three Heavens. The Taiqing Saint of Shouyang Mountain opened the Taiqing Realm, the Great Crimson Heaven, and the Eight Views Palace of Tushita Heaven outside the Thirty-Three Heavens, between the Three Realms and Chaos.

The Jade Purity Saint of Kunlun Mountain opened up the Jade Purity Realm, the Great Luo Heaven, and the Jade Void Palace outside the Thirty-Three Heavens.

The Tongtian Sect Leader of Jin'ao Island opened up the Shangqing Realm, Yuyu Heaven, and Biyou Palace outside the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Meanwhile, the two Western Saints remained as close as ever, practically inseparable, and in the Thirty-Three Heavens, they established the Supreme Buddha Kingdom, boasting of encompassing the world's boundless bliss.

As for Nuwa's sacred site, it was originally located outside the Thirty-Three Heavens, in the Tai Su Heaven, at the Nuwa Palace, so there was no need to change the site.

Zhao Gongming, however, was not among those mentioned by Hongjun, simply because he was the eternal and unique Hunyuan Daluo Golden Immortal who only cultivated his true self and lived a carefree and unrestrained life.

Sages cannot appear or act in the primordial world, but Primordial Golden Immortals can still remain in the primordial world.

Over the course of a thousand years, not only has the great teachings of the sages undergone earth-shattering changes, but the Heavenly Court has also experienced tremendous transformations.

After the Investiture of the Gods, the Heavenly Court's strength greatly increased, with 365 righteous gods returning to their positions and being distributed in the east, west, south, and north, controlling the four cardinal directions of the heavens.

With the addition of the Investiture of the Gods, the God-Slaying Whip, and the Heavenly Rules in Haotian's hands, his control over the Heavenly Court and the Three Realms finally reached its peak.

With subordinates, things became much easier. Over a thousand years, Haotian dispatched the Heavenly Emperor of Gouchen Shanggong, also known as Liu Er, along with the Thunder Department led by Wen Zhong, to descend to the mortal realm three times to vanquish demons from the Nine Heavens.

Before the Great Tribulation of the Six Ears' Conferred God, he was already at the early stage of the Primordial Golden Immortal realm. After the Conferred God realm, he obtained one of the Six Emperors, the position of the Great Emperor of Gouchen Upper Palace, and his strength rose to another level, reaching the peak of the Primordial Golden Immortal realm.

That is equivalent to the Great Perfection of Quasi-Saint in the Primordial Era. However, Liu Er cultivates the Dao of Laws, and his laws are unparalleled. He can fight against heaven and earth, so he can even compete with Quasi-Saints.

With Liu Er around, all demons were no match for him. In just two or three hundred years, he subdued demons three times, cleansed up the three realms, and killed almost 99% of the demons and monsters that remained in the mortal world and the mortal kingdoms of the four continents.

The name of the Great Celestial Venerable of the Primordial Era resounded throughout the four seas and eight wastelands. The name Haotian appeared in the ears of all cultivators in the Three Realms for the first time.

But Haotian was not satisfied with this, so he ordered people to build shrines in various parts of the mortal realm to worship and to refine the incense offerings.

It should be understood that once a primordial spirit is listed on the Investiture of the Gods, the cultivator who is then further enshrined as a god will possess a divine status in the Heavenly Court, be immortal and indestructible, and even if he or she perishes, he or she can be resurrected through the Investiture of the Gods.

However, it has one major flaw: its strength will remain permanently at the moment of its death.

Think about it again. Back then, cultivators who were at the same level as you, or even inferior to you, improved their cultivation day by day, leaving you behind, while you could only stay in the Heavenly Court and waste your days, day after day, year after year, with your cultivation never progressing.

For cultivators who pursue the Great Dao to the death, this is no less than the cruelest punishment in the world, but the incense offerings perfectly solve this problem.

Since all living beings have faith, as long as the divine positions and titles of the Heavenly Court are brought down to the mortal realm, the more people worship them, the more incense smoke will naturally be generated.

And the incense smoke can help those whose primordial spirits have been listed on the Investiture of the Gods improve their cultivation.

And this worship of the gods, the incense offerings, are firmly in the hands of Haotian, so it is equivalent to Haotian controlling all the gods.

The Heavenly Court has developed rapidly over the past thousand years, and its fortune has grown stronger day by day. Naturally, the other great powers of the primordial world are not willing to be outdone and are working hard to cultivate and catch up.

In a corner of Kunlun Mountain, Randeng suddenly opened his eyes, his body radiating the aura of an early Quasi-Saint, his eyes filled with a resolute determination.

The next moment, he suddenly stood up, clouds appeared beneath his feet, and he flew away from Kunlun Mountain, heading towards Cihang Daoren, Putuo Mountain, and Luojia Cave.

A thousand years have passed since the Investiture of the Gods, and the Chan Sect is no longer the best place for them to cultivate. It was because their teacher was ruthless that they blamed the cultivators for being unrighteous and turned to the West.

At Luojia Cave on Mount Putuo, a crack appeared in the space, and the figure of the Taoist Ran Deng flashed out from it.

His expression was resolute as he walked straight toward Luojia Cave. Halfway there, two boys with red lips and white teeth suddenly flew out from either side of the cave.

"Grandmaster Ran Deng!"

The two little boys were chubby and adorable. They recognized Randeng at a glance and quickly bowed respectfully.

"Is your teacher currently in seclusion?"

The lamp-lighter seemed very anxious!

He had to bring Cihang, Manjushri, and Samantabhadra to the West before the sages realized their intentions.

Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable, even if the true form of the sage is no longer in the primordial world.

Seeing that Ran Deng was in such a hurry, the young boy dared not be careless and quickly said, "Master is in the cave. Please wait a moment, Uncle-Master Ran Deng, while we go and inform him."

Ran Deng waved his hand and said, "It's too late, I'll go myself."

After saying that, Randeng's figure flashed and he entered Luojia Cave. Inside Luojia Cave, Cihang woke up from her seclusion. Looking at Randeng's resolute face, Cihang couldn't help but feel conflicted and wavering.

The presence of a saint was too intimidating for Cihang, making him dare not take any action lightly.

Ran Deng sighed and advised, "Junior Brother Cihang, think about our days on Kunlun Mountain. The sages are unjust, always favoring one side. Besides, now that the primordial world has shattered and become the Three Realms, how can the Three Realms compare to the primordial world? Only a thousand years have passed, and the spiritual energy of the Three Realms is far inferior to that of the primordial world. The innate spiritual energy is showing signs of evolving like acquired spiritual energy. If this continues, when will we be able to advance further?"

"But the West is different. It has established Mahayana Buddhism and is at the height of its fortune. The Dao Ancestor has even personally promised that the West will prosper in the next great calamity. If we don't seize such an opportunity, when will we ever encounter one again? Hesitation will only lead to chaos."

Randeng was filled with worry, as he was an ancient monk who had participated in the sermons at Zixiao Palace in the past.

Although he has fallen behind his former teammates in terms of strength.

However, their sensitivity to changes in the external environment remains undiminished.

The primordial world was shattered, seemingly resolved effortlessly by the Dao Ancestor, but the impact it had on the world was profound.

(End of this chapter)