Primordial Era: Taibai, the Poison Master of Yaochi, drives a Sage insane!

Chapter 29: A Battle of Wits and Insults, Cangjie Achieves Enlightenment!

"Your Majesty, I have fulfilled my mission. The great task is accomplished. The final Pangu primordial restriction on the Sun and Moon Golden Wheel has been completely lifted."

When Li Bai arrived at Cangjie's place, the Jade Pool was teaching Cangjie the great Dao of writing!

During this period, Cangjie also made great progress, gaining a deeper understanding of the great Dao of writing, and realizing that enlightenment did not require extremely high magical power.

Although Cangjie was a mortal, it doesn't mean he couldn't attain enlightenment. Enlightenment is about one's mind and nature, not necessarily about having a high level of cultivation!

High cultivation level only means being able to mobilize the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, engage in combat, and achieve immortality!

But to comprehend the Great Dao, the origin, and the rules, one must consider one's temperament, innate wisdom, and natural affinity with a particular Great Dao.

It is not that the stronger one's magical power, the more likely one is to comprehend the Dao, nor that ordinary people without cultivation cannot touch the origin of the Great Dao.

For example, Wang Yangming was an ordinary person, yet he was still able to attain enlightenment in Longchang and ascend to heaven in one step. Magic power and enlightenment are two different paths.

In other words, it is divided into three categories: Dao (the Way), Fa (the Law), and Shu (the Technique). Dao is a path that condenses a single thought and leads to a specific direction. Fa is the method of cultivation. Shu is the technique of fighting, such as the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals and the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.

The Tao is the origin, direction, mindset, and ultimate destination.

The Tao is thought, original mind, the chosen path, and the fundamental source of harmony.

Regardless of one's level of cultivation or whether one is an ordinary person, as long as one's mind is in the right place, one's thoughts are focused, one recognizes a fundamental path and truly aligns with it, one has attained enlightenment.

The Great Dao does not distinguish between mortals, immortals, and saints; in its eyes, all are equal. Otherwise, all living beings would be born from moisture and eggs, with no way out.

The Great Way only looks at one's character, compatibility, and true nature, not at one's social status or the extent of one's magical power.

This is the root of the conflict between Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian. Yuanshi believed that the Great Dao could only be achieved by walking on high ground, while Tongtian believed that even those born from moisture or eggs could have a glimmer of hope to comprehend the Great Dao!

The struggle for sainthood in the entire prehistoric world revolved around these two. Li Taibai's plan to ensure the invincibility of the Nine Li was to leave a glimmer of hope for the prehistoric land, preventing it from becoming lifeless in the future.

The Dharma refers to the methods of cultivation, the foundational system, and the methods of circulating and refining vital energy.

The method is how to cultivate, how to gather spiritual energy, how to solidify the foundation of the Dao, and how to operate one's own origin.

For example, the Immortal Sect's Heart Sutra, the Witch Clan's Body Refining Method, the Breathing Technique, the Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir Technique, etc., which enhance life's leaps, belong to the category of Dharma. Dharma is used to improve cultivation, accumulate magical power, and stabilize one's cultivation.

Techniques are the methods used to unleash magical power, and they rank last.

Like Cangjie, who did not cultivate magic, practice martial arts, or learn fighting skills, but cared for all living beings, observed the patterns of heaven and earth, and was determined to establish the inheritance of writing. His thought aligned with the great path of humanities and writing, and this is enlightenment.

The Dao has absolutely nothing to do with fighting, magical power, or cultivation level. It only depends on the harmony between one's mind and one's origin. However, once one successfully comprehends the Dao, one can ascend to heaven in one step!

Cangjie was a mortal with limited magical powers, yet he was still able to comprehend the profound principles of writing.

The Great Way of Writing belongs to the Great Way of Humanity, the Origin of Cultural Heritage, and the Great Way of the Inheritance of Living Beings.

This path does not consider physical appearance, cultivation level, or immortal bones; it only considers innate literary talent, wisdom, and compassion for all living beings.

Therefore, during this period, Cangjie's enlightenment in close combat was very fast, which made Li Bai quite happy. Once Cangjie also succeeded in enlightenment, then Yaochi Wonderland would be truly established!

If the Chan Sect is held back by the Wu Clan, then the Jade Pool Wonderland will have a chance to develop!

Upon hearing Li Bai's words, Yaochi was overjoyed!

Yaochi hurriedly asked, "Taibai, is it true? That primordial seal has really been completely lifted?"

Taibai nodded slightly: "That's right. After the restriction is lifted, a secret realm will appear. Once things here have settled down, you and I, as ruler and subject, can seek opportunities and good fortune together."

Now is the crucial time for Cangjie to attain enlightenment. We are unsure what the secret realm holds, so it is not appropriate to go there immediately!

Yaochi took the Sun and Moon Golden Wheel and discovered that a secret realm had indeed appeared. Yaochi looked at Taibai with admiration and satisfaction, and was sincerely moved!

"Taibai, you are truly my right-hand man. Even Dijun and Xihe could not lift this restriction, yet you were able to strategize and use other forces to break it. You acted with meticulous care and ease, and you were able to calmly handle every desperate situation. I am truly amazed."

You must understand how difficult it is to break this seal. It requires the primordial spirit of Pangu. However, Di Jun could not seek out the Three Pure Ones back then, as the matter was of utmost importance. If the Three Pure Ones took away the creation on the spot, Di Jun would be helpless!

Because it's uncertain what it is, seeking out the Three Pure Ones might directly trigger a great war between them over the treasure, which could lead to the extermination of one's clan. Naturally, caution is required.

Finding Jiufeng is definitely not an option, so we have to put this on hold.

But now, Li Bai has successfully completed it, which has greatly shocked Yaochi.

Taibai bowed slightly and said with a humble smile, "Your Majesty flatters me. It was merely a small scheme and a stroke of luck by this humble subject. I dare not take credit for it."

Yaochi sighed helplessly, looking at Li Taibai with a reproachful expression: "You are always so overly modest. You possess extraordinary talent and the ability to plan for the future. From now on, you don't need to be so humble in front of me. Taibai and I are one!"

Yaochi now considers Li Bai her man. They've come this far, and Yaochi has no one to rely on anymore. They've been through thick and thin together.

Li Bai was right. In the Zixiao Palace, Yaochi and Haotian were fellow disciples, but once they arrived in the Heavenly Court, their fates and interests diverged, and their relationship naturally came to an end.

Although Li Bai had just taken human form, there was no conflict between them. Their relationship was one of shared honor and disgrace, not a dual-ruler relationship. Relationships determine everything.

This means that, for Li Shimin, the difference lies in whether Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji were closer to him, or whether Yuchi Jingde and Fang Xuanling were closer to him!

Similarly, if Li Shimin had no ambition to seize the throne, then the ministers who followed him would have deserted. But if they dared to seize the throne, these people would risk their entire families to follow him. This is the relationship between ruler and minister.

Even brothers can turn against each other for this one supreme being, let alone fellow disciples!

It was precisely because Li Shimin had the ambition to become the supreme ruler that these ministers dared to gamble their entire families, their lives, and their future, following him wholeheartedly, braving dangers and bloodshed together at Xuanwu Gate.

The foundation of the relationship between ruler and subject has never been favor, but rather shared ambition, shared vision, and shared interests.

The same applies to Yaochi and Li Bai. Yaochi was unwilling to be a puppet of Haotian and wanted to establish her own path, break free from the constraints of the sages, and forge her own way.

Only after this was accomplished did Li Bai wholeheartedly assist him, and the two shared glory and disgrace, planning the future of the world.

If Yaochi were content with the status quo and willing to be a mere figurehead empress, lacking any ambition, Taibai would have left long ago and wouldn't have stayed with her until now, sharing weal and woe.

It's not that Li Bai wasn't greedy for treasures, but rather that he didn't need them at the moment. What treasure could possibly withstand the order of the sages?

Moreover, by now, Li Bai and Yaochi have become inseparable, and Yaochi and Li Bai are of different genders, which is completely different from the situation of a male monarch.

Because if it is a male monarch, he will be too controlling, too suspicious, and not empathetic. He is born with the nature of a domineering tyrant, with an extremely strong desire for control, extreme suspicion, and a deep-seated ambition for power.

Even among meritorious officials and confidants, there will always be a distance between ruler and subject, a distance that can only be used, not opened to the heart, and certainly not one's wholehearted dependence.

Emotional empathy.

Yaochi, being female and naturally yin in nature, would develop a sense of dependence and emotional attachment.

This is the difference between men and women in the Great Dao. This is the distinction between genders and Yin and Yang in the Great Dao. Yin people are naturally more gentle, value bonds, affection, and companionship.

Unlike male monarchs who only care about power and self-interest.

Yaochi and Taibai have been inseparable all the way, overcoming challenges step by step, sharing risks, and plotting the great path together. There is no other person she can entrust, confide in, or trust.

This naturally leads to feelings of dependence, emotional belonging, and emotional reliance.

Over time, their relationship transcended that of ordinary rulers and ministers; in their hearts, they had long regarded Li Bai as their only reliance, their spiritual pillar, and a man almost like themselves.

Furthermore, since the two have no conflicts of interest, no division of power, and are completely aligned in their self-image, there is no fertile ground for suspicion. They are only bound by mutual support and affection, so naturally they can be inseparable, share treasures, and conspire together on the same path.

This is why Li Bai was willing to stay in Yaochi and had no desire to switch allegiances to Yuanshi Tianzun, the Western Sect, or the Jie Sect!

Of course, it wasn't because he was lustful. In the primordial world, no woman was ugly. Rather, this environment allowed Li Bai's will to be fully expressed, nothing more!

Taibai smoothly changed the subject, cupping his hands in greeting and asking, "I wonder how the Empress's instruction of Cangjie on the fundamental principles of writing is progressing?"

Upon hearing this, Yaochi's brows relaxed, and a look of joy appeared on her face: "Cangjie is exceptionally gifted, possessing innate literary energy and naturally in harmony with the fundamental principles of writing. With my personal guidance and instruction, his progress has been rapid, and his foundation is already complete. He is only one final opportunity away from successfully creating characters."

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Upon hearing this, Taibai was overjoyed and nodded, saying, "That's excellent. Once the Great Dao of Writing is perfected and characters are created and passed down through generations, my Yaochi Immortal Realm can seize the literary fortune of the human race for ten thousand generations and accumulate boundless merit."

Yaochi suddenly remembered the situation outside, her brows furrowed slightly, and she asked with a hint of doubt.

"By the way, I've been observing the flow of the primordial energy in the world recently, and I've noticed something quite strange. Originally, a great battle should have erupted in the land of Zhuolu, with war raging across the land, but now both sides have suddenly ceased hostilities, inexplicably ceasing hostilities and remaining in a stalemate, unwilling to truly start a war. Do you know the reason for this?"

Taibai remained calm and answered in a composed tone: "Your Majesty need not worry about speculating. The Battle of Zhuolu is a conflict between the human race, the Jiuli, and the Chan Sect. It is an internal struggle within the sage's chess game and has nothing to do with our Yaochi plan. We only need to complete our plan. We need not interfere in or concern ourselves with external conflicts."

Yaochi understood immediately and nodded slowly: "You are right. Others' games are none of our business. We should just focus on planning our own fortune and merits."

From then on, Yaochi no longer paid attention to the Zhuolu incident and devoted herself to staying in the fairyland, preaching to Cangjie every day and pointing out the origin of characters.

Time flies, and ten years have passed in the blink of an eye.

On the battlefield of Zhuolu, the situation became increasingly strange and stagnant.

The Xuanyuan faction remained inactive, refusing to initiate a decisive battle.

Because a decisive battle inevitably leads to death, and the Slaughtering Witch Sword is with Jiu Feng, it's uncertain which immortal will die first in a decisive battle. Therefore, Xuan Yuan dares not easily start a war.

The allied forces of the Jiuli and Wu tribes also adhered to the stabilization strategy proposed by Li Bai, refraining from provoking or forcibly conquering the enemy.

It should be noted that Jiufeng is the only great witch in the Wu tribe with a primordial spirit, and is the patriarch of the Wu tribe. The Wu tribe is the mother tribe of the Jiuli tribe, so Jiufeng is equivalent to the supreme ruler of the Jiuli tribe.

After hearing Li Taibai's words, Jiufeng also began to abandon the option of annexing Xuanyuan.

In the vast wilderness of Zhuolu, the two armies stood facing each other across the distance, their fortifications impenetrable and their soldiers numerous, yet they maintained an eerie silence and stalemate.

There were no clashes of swords or earth-shattering battles, only the two camps gazing at each other from afar, confronting each other daily, debating loudly, and blaming one another.

Within the Xuanyuan camp, human immortals and Chan Sect immortals stood at the front of the formation, sternly rebuking Chi You: "Chi You harbors wolfish ambitions, wantonly dividing the human race, colluding with the barbaric witch tribe, and wreaking havoc on the land. His crimes are heinous and he deserve to be punished by heaven and earth!"

On the other side, Chi You stood before the Jiuli army, his battle aura surging, and loudly retorted: "Xuanyuan has betrayed the true nature of humanity, willingly submitting to the immortal and divine Chan Sect, becoming a puppet of the sages, controlled by others, and losing his autonomy. He is no longer worthy of being the ruler of the human race!"

The Xuanyuan camp once again loudly retorted: "We cultivate the Pure Spirit Immortal Path, following the will of Heaven and the ways of the Sages; this is the true lineage of the human race! Your Jiuli tribe lives and intermarries with the Wu tribe, your bloodlines are mixed, and you are no longer pure humans!"

Chi You laughed in fury, his voice echoing across the land: "Utter nonsense! In ancient times, it was the shamans who formed an alliance to protect the primordial world. The Jiuli people originated from the same source as humans and shamans! We, the people of Jiuli, possess primordial spirits and formidable physiques, far surpassing you mortals who attach yourselves to immortal sects and only seek immortality!"

"You who cultivate the path of immortality will ultimately only be a minority who attain enlightenment, while countless others will remain ordinary mortals, serving as servants to immortals and gods for generations!"

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"As for the Jiuli, every person can be a warrior, each with a strong physique. We don't rely on immortals or gods, nor do we seek saints; we are self-sufficient and self-reliant. This is what humanity should be like!"

The two sides continued their daily verbal sparring and verbal clashes, neither side willing to back down, yet neither dared to actually order a full-scale attack and a decisive battle.

At this moment, within the Jiuli tribe's grand formation, Xing Tian's physical body was invincible, and his fighting spirit soared to the sky. Like a mountain blocking the front of the formation, no one dared to confront his sharp edge, directly suppressing even the Chan Sect from daring to fight him.

The Wind God and Rain Master control the primordial energy of heaven and earth, summoning wind and rain to annihilate armies and destroy formations.

The great shamans, including Jiufeng and Xiangliu, exuded a heavy aura, their shamanic power overwhelming and awe-inspiring in all directions.

Looking at the mountain-like powerful Wu Clan members, the Great Luo Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect were filled with apprehension and had no confidence whatsoever in their ability to fight a decisive battle.

Over time, the Zhuolu battle devolved into a stalemate of verbal sparring and inaction.

Time flows on, and here in the fairyland of Yaochi, ten years of preaching have finally come to a perfect end.

On this day, Cangjie stood respectfully before the Queen Mother of the West, his expression solemn, his eyes filled with profound understanding of the Great Dao. He opened his mouth and said, "Master, your disciple has thoroughly comprehended the origin of the Great Dao of writing. My literary energy is complete, and my foundation in the Dao is solid. Now I can be the first in the world to establish the writing system of humanity and formally create characters to pass on to future generations!"

Yaochi nodded slowly after hearing this: "Very good. Your Dao heart is complete, and you are blessed with literary fortune. It is precisely the time for the cycle of the universe to turn, and this is the time to create characters!"