Sixth: Harmonize the Body with the Tao

  The crowd returned to the Purple Mist Palace, and saw that Patriarch Hongjun was still sitting upright on his meditation mat. When he saw everyone coming in, Patriarch Hongjun said: "Pangu opened up the sky and created heaven and earth, as well as all living things, which has been dozens of epochs ago. I obtained the divine instrument of creation, followed the Heavenly Way to become a saint, established this Purple Mist Palace, transmitted the teachings and explained the Dharma, and have now fulfilled my merits and virtues. It is time for me to merge with the Dao, to supplement the great trend of the Heavenly Way."

  Everyone was delighted to hear that Daozu Hongjun would merge with the Dao. After merging, Daozu Hongjun would no longer be a saint and would not ask about the affairs of the Hongyuan. The people present all had great magical powers, but they were always suppressed by Daozu Hongjun and could not be free. This time, Daozu Hongjun merged with the Dao, which was exactly what they wanted to get rid of their worries.

  Zhun Ti was indeed the most shameless among all saints. When he heard that Daozu Hongjun was going to merge with the Dao, although he was extremely delighted in his heart, he pretended to be reluctant and cried out: "Master, are you going to abandon us and leave?"

  Everyone present probably knew that Zhunti was doing this to curry favor with Hongjun, although they also wanted to do so, but they all lost face, only Zhunti didn't care about his reputation.

  Kun Peng also wanted to do so, but he knew that Hong Jun would not give him any benefits, and even if he did, it was unlikely that he could win over Hong Jun's favor, after all, the Red Cloud had fallen because of him, and it was already fortunate that Daozu Hong Jun didn't bother him.

  The Eastern Emperor Taiyi saw Zhunti doing so, and thought that the demon clan was no match for the witch clan at present. This was the best opportunity to win over the Daozu Hongjun's favor, so he also stepped forward and cried: "Master, don't do this! We sincerely seek the Tao, and I hope Master won't abandon us."

  The crowd without a sacred position, though reluctant to part with Hongjun, did not cry out like Zhunti and Donghuang Taiyi. They only showed anxious expressions on their faces. With the departure of Daozu Hongjun, no one would preach the Dharma for them again, which meant they had lost the opportunity to attain enlightenment.

  "The Great Way is fifty, Heaven's Mandate is forty-nine, only lacking one, I will combine my body with the Heavenly Way to complete the Great Way. This is the grand trend of the Heavenly Way, and it is not necessary to say more." Although Daozu Hongjun's tone was calm, he gave people a feeling that his words were not to be taken lightly.

  The Taoist ancestor Hongjun continued to say to his disciples: "What else is unclear now? Ask me, and there will be no more opportunities in the future."

  The Supreme Elder Lord was the first disciple of the Taoist ancestor. He opened his mouth and asked: "May I ask, Master, what method can be used to attain the Tao and become a saint?"

  "The Great Dao has three thousand paths, all of which can lead to achieving sainthood. However, I have summarized the methods into three categories: The first is to achieve sainthood through power, this method uses one's own supreme law power to break open the control of the Heavenly Dao and attain a mixed yuan true body. This method of achieving sainthood is the strongest among saints, but also the most difficult; The second is to achieve sainthood by beheading corpses, using pre-heavenly spiritual treasures to rely on oneself, cutting off good and evil, and allowing one's three corpses to obtain the Dao and become a saint. This method of achieving sainthood is only inferior to achieving the Dao through power; The last method is to achieve sainthood through great merit, cultivating supreme merit and moving the Heavenly Dao to pity, allowing oneself to achieve sainthood. This method is the simplest, but also has the lowest law power among saints. Nüwa achieved sainthood through this method."

  Yuanshi Tianzun asked: "Is it true that the teacher became a saint through the Dharma?"

  Dào Zǔ Hóng Jūn said: "I am the one who beheaded the Three Corpses to become a saint, you want to become a saint but need to think carefully."

  "Teacher, can one attain enlightenment and become a saint without holding a sacred position?"

  The ancestor Hongjun looked at Kunpeng and said, "It is possible to become a saint, but because there is no great opportunity for its success, the path of becoming a saint is extremely difficult. Without great willpower and wisdom, it is very hard to succeed."

  After listening to Daozu Hongjun's method of becoming a saint, everyone's thoughts were revived. Without the great Tao mechanism, one can still become a saint, which is a great news for everyone. Who among those present does not have great willpower and great wisdom? The path of Tao is difficult, but as long as one can attain the Tao and become a saint, all difficulties can be overcome.

  Proving the Way with force is the most difficult, even the Daoist patriarch Hongjun was unable to prove this Way. They all have self-awareness, and this method of proving the Way is not feasible. Although becoming a saint through merit is the easiest, merit is not that easy to find, and furthermore, this time's cultivation is the lowest. Therefore, beheading corpses to become a immortal is most suitable for everyone, so the Pre-Heavenly Spiritual Treasure became the object of everyone's scramble.

  The Eastern Emperor Taiyi asked excitedly: "Teacher, is there a limit to the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure used to entrust oneself?"

  Upon hearing Dong Huang Tai Yi's question, everyone without the Great Dao's machine looked at Da Zu Hong Jun with full faces of expectation.

  "Any congenital spiritual treasure will do, there are no restrictions. However, the better the quality of the congenital spiritual treasure, the easier it is to cut off the three corpses and attain enlightenment. The quality of the congenital spiritual treasure determines the power of the law to cut off the three corpses."

  Dong Huang Taiyi's heart was filled with joy after hearing Daozu Hongjun's words, he and Yao Huang Di Jun were born with the pre-heavenly treasure 'Hunyuan Bell' and the top-grade pre-heavenly spiritual treasures 'Hetu' and 'Luoshu' to protect their bodies, which were most suitable for beheading San Shi.

  "Master, when one beheads the three corpses and achieves enlightenment, does that mean they have eliminated all attachments, achieving the Way through emotionless means?"

  Dào Zǔ Hóng Jūn said: "The Three Corpses are just a way to cultivate the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure, relying on one's own good and evil thoughts as well as oneself. It is not an emotionless path. However, this method makes it easy for both good and evil thoughts to be severed, but when it comes to severing the self, it becomes somewhat difficult."

  Kun Peng heard the explanation of Daozu Hongjun and understood that the method of beheading the three corpses to become a saint is not an unfeeling way, but wanting to behead the self among the three corpses is probably not as easy as Daozu Hongjun said. Without great opportunities, great Dharma power, great wisdom, and good innate spiritual treasures, it's probably more difficult than ascending to heaven. Moreover, Daozu Hongjun did not elaborate on the requirements of beheading the three corpses for innate spiritual treasures, but only vaguely said that innate spiritual treasures would do, which is probably not entirely correct.

  According to the enlightenment obtained by Daozu when he previously lectured on the Dao, Kunpeng thought that if the good thoughts were cut off using the killing and chopping type of pre-heavenly spiritual treasures, how could the good thoughts be completely entrusted to the pre-heavenly spiritual treasures? Moreover, even if the good thoughts were cut off, it would be extremely difficult to cut off the self afterwards, and there would be no opportunity whatsoever. Throughout one's life, one could only cut off two corpses.

  After this understanding, Kunpeng secretly thought that it was good that he was in the form of 'Twelfth-Rank Black Lotus', and by virtue of his merit in guarding the human tribe, he had beheaded the benevolent corpse. The 'Twelfth-Rank Black Lotus' was transformed from the 'Thirty-Sixth-Rank Primordial Blue Lotus'. Although it couldn't compare to the 'Twelfth-Rank Golden Lotus' which shared the same origin, when combined with merit, it could also completely entrust his kind thoughts without any worries.

  Kun Peng did not say what he thought, nor did he want to say it, lest he attract the attention of Daozu Hongjun and alert those who were about to become saints through the great Tao, thus cutting off his own chance of attaining enlightenment.

  Daozu Hongjun distributed the treasures this time, and everyone present had several pre-heavenly spiritual treasures in their hands. Therefore, everyone wanted to take the path of beheading the three corpses to achieve enlightenment, but they never thought that if they cultivated according to their thoughts, they would basically cut off their own chances of achieving enlightenment.

  The ancestor Hong Jun did not tell the crowd that the road to killing three corpses and becoming a saint should pay attention to the key points. On the one hand, he didn't want too many people to become saints, so as not to affect the operation of the heavenly way, and also leave some benefits for his own disciples. On the other hand, it was a test for the crowd to see if they could unlock this secret through their own efforts and become a saint.

  The Ancestor Hongjun saw that everyone no longer asked questions, and said: "A thousand years have passed, if you don't have any doubts, leave now. After a hundred years, I will merge with the Heavenly Way."

  "Master," asked Kunpeng, "I have one more question. After merging with the Way, will you become the Heavenly Way or will the Heavenly Way become you?"

  The Ancestor looked at Hongjun again and said: "Hongjun is for the Heavenly Way, but the Heavenly Way is not for Hongjun."

  After hearing Daozu Hongjun's words, Kunpeng finally put down the big stone in his heart, and it was said that after Daozu Hongjun merged with the Way, he only made up for the deficiencies of the Heavenly Way and could not completely control the Heavenly Way. As long as he did not violate the rules of the Heavenly Way, nothing would happen to him.

  The Master of Tongtian asked: "Can the Heavenly Way be changed?"

  The Ancestor of the Way, Hong Jun, said meaningfully to the Master of Tongtian, "A great trend cannot be changed, but a small trend can be reversed."

  "The time has come for me to merge with the Heavenly Way. From now on, there will be no more great calamities in heaven and earth, and you should all follow the natural order of things from now on. Remember that the Heavenly Way is unchanging, and I will not appear again; you must take care of yourselves from now on." Hong Jun said calmly to the crowd, as if it was someone else who would be merging with the Dao in a moment, it seemed that Hong Jun had already cultivated the emotionless Dao.

  Everyone replied in unison: "Please rest assured, teacher. We will follow the way of heaven from now on." After finishing speaking, everyone left the Purple Mansion and returned to the Great Wilderness.

  After the crowd left the Purple Mansion, a loud shout was heard: "The Heavenly Way is merged!" In an instant, the wind and clouds in the sky changed color, and the five-colored halo enveloped the entire Honghuang continent. The sound of celestial music came from the sky. The Heavenly Way was finally formed, and from now on, Honghuang would develop under the restriction of the Heavenly Way.

  Kunpeng doesn't care about this, after Da Zu Hong Jun merges with the Dao, he naturally won't easily take action again. As long as he himself doesn't do anything too heaven-defying, he also wouldn't fear Da Zu Hong Jun.