Primordial Era: The Witch Clan's Dog-Headed Strategist

The path of martial arts was tailor-made for the Wu Clan by Pan Xuan.

It is divided into four realms: Body Refinement, Qi Refining, Intent Refinement, and Dao Refinement.

The Wu Clan had already thoroughly understood the first three realms.

Body refinement involves tempering the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones with blood and qi, ultimately achieving physical sainthood.

Refining Qi involves circulating Qi throughout the body, connecting with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Refine your will, use your will to condense your troops; wherever your will goes, your spirit will follow.

Only this last realm.

The path of cultivation is always like looking at flowers through a fog, separated by a thin membrane, making it difficult to see its true form.

The practice of refining the Dao, as the name suggests, is to cultivate the Dao into oneself.

Body refinement is about refining the physical body, while Qi refinement is about refining spiritual energy.

Refining the will is about cultivating one's will, while refining the Dao is about understanding the laws of heaven and earth themselves.

Refine a strand of your own natal Dao that is in harmony with your own being, so that every gesture you make is a manifestation of the Dao.

If this state is achieved, the physical body becomes the law, and fists and feet become the Great Dao. There is no need to seek anything external from heaven and earth, because I am heaven and earth, I am the Dao.

This is precisely the highest realm where martial arts transcend the path of the primordial spirit.

It is a realm that only after the physical bodies and primordial spirits of the Twelve Ancestral Witches are on par with each other can they reach.

From this day forward, Pan Xuan and the twelve Ancestral Witches went into seclusion in the Great Luo Heaven to conduct divination.

It was a long and arduous exploration that belonged purely to the "Tao".

Pan Xuan used his late-stage Hunyuan Golden Immortal cultivation as a foundation to repeatedly sort out, deduce, and reconstruct the outline of the martial arts general principles.

The twelve Ancestral Witches, with their perfected physical bodies and primordial spirits, personally verified each deduced martial arts trajectory.

Dijiang tested his fist with the Way of Space, Zhujiuyin tested his will with the Way of Time, Gonggong tested his strength with the Law of Water, Zhurong tested his power with the Law of Fire, and Houtu tested her body with the Way of Earth...

The twelve laws and twelve verifications polished every corner of the Dao Refining Realm to perfection.

Hundreds of years, thousands of years, tens of thousands of years.

Finally, one day, with the combined efforts of Pan Xuan and the twelve Ancestral Witches, the door that had troubled the Witch Clan for countless years was smashed open.

The true essence of the Dao Refining Realm was deduced by them together.

That is not simply about refining the laws into the physical body.

Instead, it allows the physical body, primordial spirit, and will to resonate and unite completely with the laws of heaven and earth, making oneself the carrier and embodiment of the laws.

At this stage, martial arts practitioners no longer need to deliberately use supernatural powers.

Because every breath, every movement, and every drop of his blood silently embodies the Great Dao.

Dijiang stood in the main hall and slowly clenched his fist.

He didn't use any magic; he simply threw a punch.

However, where that punch passed, the void silently shattered, revealing a deep, chaotic rift, which then slowly closed up again.

He looked down at his fist, his voice trembling slightly: "This is... the realm of refining the Dao?"

"This is the realm of refining the Dao."

Pan Xuan nodded, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.

"From this day forward, the martial arts of my Wu clan will be complete in all four realms, with no further shortcomings."

Body refinement, Qi refinement, Intention refinement, Dao refinement.

Achieving physical sainthood, one's vital energy pervades heaven and earth, one's will moves the universe, and one achieves unity with the Dao.

This is the true foundation upon which my witch clan is founded!

The twelve Ancestral Witches roared in unison, their roars piercing the Great Luo Heaven and echoing across the primordial wilderness. Within those roars lay a sense of fulfillment and pride that the Witch Clan had never experienced before in countless eons.

When the Wu Clan's martial arts reached their peak, the Three Pure Ones had already quietly stirred up another storm in the primordial world.

Hongjun preached the Dao three times in Zixiao Palace, passing on the methods of cultivating immortality and seeking the Dao, but he also buried the restriction of primordial purple qi in the primordial spirit.

This caused the Three Pure Ones and other great beings to be controlled by him.

Later, Pan Xuan helped the Three Pure Ones remove the purple aura and abolish the method of severing the three corpses. The Three Pure Ones joined the divine path and were conferred the titles of Transmitting the Dao Yuanzun, Elucidating the Dao Xuanzun, and Gathering Life Saint Venerable. From then on, they were freed from their shackles and returned to freedom.

Now that Hongjun has departed, the Way of Heaven is impartial, and the Three Pure Ones are no longer hindered.

They then began to fulfill their duty of "preaching".

Through the way of education, we benefit all living beings in the vast world.

Taiqing Laozi was the first to set off.

He transformed into an old man with white hair and a youthful face, rode a blue ox, left Hangu Pass, and traveled westward, preaching along the way.

He was talking about "Tao follows nature".

The Tao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to all things. Heaven and Earth are ruthless, treating all things like straw dogs.

Do nothing, yet nothing is left undone.

He taught all beings to follow nature, not to act recklessly, not to force things, and to achieve great things through non-action.

His path is like still waters running deep; it may seem plain, but it encompasses all things.

Wherever he went, the grass and trees flourished, the birds and beasts became docile, and the hearts of all beings seemed to be cleansed by a clear spring, becoming clear and bright.

He established the Daoist tradition, accepted disciples, and wrote the "Daode" (Tao Te Ching), engraving the word "nature" into the hearts of all living beings in the primordial world.

Yuqing Yuanshi, on the other hand, chose a different path.

He valued etiquette and law, and revered education. He believed that the masses were ignorant and needed to be guided by rules and regulations and etiquette to distinguish between good and evil and right and wrong.

He established a Taoist temple and opened many lecture halls, where he spoke about the ways of self-cultivation, family harmony, governing the country, and bringing peace to the world.

He taught all beings to be polite and orderly, to respect heaven and fear the earth, and to each be content with their place.

He accepted disciples and established the "Chan" lineage, which emphasizes "following the will of Heaven and responding to the needs of the people, understanding the principles and rectifying the mind."

His principles were as precise and meticulous as the rules of nature, establishing an order in the primordial world sufficient to sustain it for eternity.

Shangqing Tongtian was a completely different kind of person. He was as fiery as fire and valued education for all.

He treats all people regardless of race or background, and he teaches without discrimination.

Whether they are witches, demons, beasts, or spirits, he teaches them all with care as long as they are inclined toward the Tao.

He was talking about "seizing a glimpse of the secret".

Heaven and earth give birth to all things, all things have a spirit, all can seek the Dao, and all can transcend.

He opened his mountain gates wide, accepting numerous disciples, attracting countless immortals to pay homage, and enjoying a period of great prosperity.

His path, like a sword beam, was unstoppable, cleaving a path to heaven for countless beings in the primordial world who had been excluded from the Daoist sect.

The Three Pure Ones each followed their own paths, yet they all arrived at the same destination.

Their teachings, like three clear springs, flowed from different sources and eventually merged into the vast land of the primordial wilderness, nourishing countless living beings.

The witch clan, the demon clan, the dragon clan, the phoenix clan, the qilin clan, the human clan, and even those nameless plant spirits and mountain beasts, all under the tutelage of the Three Pure Ones, gained spiritual intelligence, understood principles, and cultivated the Great Dao.

For the first time in the primordial wilderness, a scene unlike any other appeared.

That is the atmosphere of "learning".

Whether human, demon, sorcerer, or beast, all began to pursue wisdom, the Great Way, and transcendence.

In the past, all living beings fought only for survival and vied for resources.

Now, they are beginning to seek the "Tao".

Pan Xuan stood in the Great Luo Heaven, overlooking the primordial world, watching the three torrents of enlightenment surge between heaven and earth, and couldn't help but sigh:

"Fellow Daoists Sanqing, you have truly accomplished a great deed that will benefit future generations."

The way of education is like a gentle rain nourishing the earth. It does not establish a city or a fortress, yet it can lay the foundation for generations to come.

With such teachings in the primordial world, how could it not prosper?

Just as everything in the primordial world was progressing smoothly, Taiyi quietly entered his secluded retreat.

Donghuang Taiyi, the Eastern Emperor of the Demon Clan, wields the Chaos Bell.

When Di Jun attained sainthood, although he was the Eastern Emperor, he was still just one step away from achieving it.

Now, Di Jun has proven his Dao through a heavenly marriage and has also obtained the origin of the divine realm to replace the primordial purple qi, making his position as a saint as solid as a rock.

But Taiyi still lingers before the gates of the sages.

He wasn't jealous of Di Jun and the others; they were brothers, close friends who fought side by side.

He was just thinking: Where exactly is my Dao of Taiyi?

On this day, Taiyi sat alone in the depths of the starry sky, with the Eastern Emperor Bell hanging above his head, humming softly.

He closed his eyes for a long time, then suddenly opened them and looked at the bell.

On the bell, chaotic energy circulates, as if containing a world that has not yet been created.

"The Chaos Bell... The Chaos Bell."

Taiyi murmured, "Your name is Chaos, yet you are famous for suppressing all the heavens because of my demon race."

I, Taiyi, was born in chaos and grew up in the primordial era. I wield this bell and suppress all ages.

But what exactly is my path?

He suddenly remembered a sentence that Pan Xuan had said years ago:

The way of the sage lies in realizing the Great Way within oneself, and no longer seeking it from heaven and earth.

Di Jun proved the way of the emperor, established order through heavenly marriage, and became a saint through the virtue of an emperor.

Nuwa attained enlightenment through the Way of Creation, becoming a saint by creating humanity. So, what Way does Taiyi seek to attain?

Taiyi pondered for a long time, and suddenly, his gaze fell on the Chaos Bell, and a flash of inspiration struck him.

The Chaos Bell, the Chaos Bell, it is itself a treasure for proving the Dao.

It represents the supreme realm of undifferentiated chaos, encompassing everything.

If he takes the "One" of Taiyi as the Dao, and the Chaos Bell as the treasure for proving the Dao, he can control all laws by holding onto the "One," and encompass all heavens by holding onto "Chaos"...

"What I want to prove is the Way of 'One'."

Taiyi slowly closed his eyes, his voice soft yet firm, "All things are born from one, and one is the Dao."

"I wield the Chaos Bell, suppressing all the heavens, precisely to grasp this 'One' and attain this 'Dao'."

As if sensing its master's enlightenment, the Chaos Bell emitted a series of melodious chimes.

As the bell tolled, the chaotic energy slowly circulated, gradually merging with Taiyi's aura.

Taiyi's figure gradually became hazy and profound amidst the tolling of the bell, as if it were about to merge into the chaos.