“Subhuti, what are your thoughts on the disaster of the demon race?”
By the Heaven-Mending Spirit Stone, the gray-robed Elder Dao stood with his hands behind his back as he asked.
Li Changshou, disguised as ‘False Subhuti,’ stood slightly behind him, maintaining the traditional Western Sect disciple’s greeting posture—hands folded in front and body slightly bent forward. After a moment’s contemplation, he replied:
“This disciple dares not speak much; all follow Heaven’s Dao’s arrangements.”
Direct communication with the Dao Ancestor and Heaven’s Will carried its risks.
The biggest concern was that he couldn’t reveal too much information. If the Dao Ancestor caught even the slightest trace and said, “You know too much,” he would have to overturn everything prematurely.
Too unstable.
Having come this far, he must wait until victory was ninety-eight percent assured.
The gray-robed Elder remained silent for a moment, then gently waved his hand. The mist before them instantly became transparent, revealing the beautiful view of the valley and gentle slopes below.
They could even see a tribe of monkey demons that had taken root and flourished there.
“Subhuti, you’ve worked with the demon race before. What purpose do you think these demons serve in Heaven and Earth now?”
Li Changshou: …
Was the biodiversity of the Primitive World not important?
Back to business, back to business.
“This disciple dares not answer such a difficult question. This is something only Heaven’s Dao can contemplate.”
The gray-robed Elder showed a slight smile and said, “Very well, you maintain your cautious nature. You should still remember Heaven’s Dao’s taboos.”
Li Changshou quickly bowed his head in greeting, maintaining his bent posture.
“Ah, it’s ultimately a difference in ideology,” the gray-robed Elder said. “I was very fond of him, gave him the most attention, and guided him toward the path of balance.
Even to the point of letting him master the Great Dao, which living beings shouldn’t control.
But this harmed him in the end. He believed he had transcended the Three Realms and Five Elements, yet still wanted to advocate for living beings, insisting they should rise above Heaven and Earth, saying that without living beings, Heaven and Earth’s existence was meaningless.
Such arrogance.
Heaven and Earth are simply Heaven and Earth, neither destroyed because of living beings nor existing for them.”
Li Changshou inwardly chuckled.
A brilliant way to win hearts and minds.
These words from the Dao Ancestor seemed to explain the greed of ‘living beings’ self-importance’ through ‘Heaven and Earth’s permanence,’ but they only served to muddy the waters.
Though Heaven and Earth endured eternally, living beings had the power to overturn them.
Without Heaven’s Dao or the Dao Ancestor’s intervention, the Three Pure Ones could have already reforged wind, fire, water, and earth, creating a new realm.
Their irreconcilable contradiction was that Heaven’s Dao harbored selfish desires. Li Changshou wanted to erase these desires, and the Dao Ancestor was the embodiment of these desires.
That was all there was to it.
Of course, he couldn’t say this.
Li Changshou softly said, “That person failed to appreciate the favor shown to him and missed a great opportunity. Truly lamentable.”
“You do well, not taking the chance to curse at that fellow.”
The gray-robed Elder chuckled lightly and sighed:
“Regardless, the Three Realms have taken this step. Heaven and Earth have become incredibly stable, with fewer variables. Living beings can dwell in peace, and Heaven’s Dao remains stable.
Subhuti, there are still a few uncertainties in Heaven and Earth that remain unresolved.
Are you willing to carry out Heaven’s will and handle a matter or two?”
“This disciple is willing to give his all!”
‘False Subhuti’s’ voice trembled slightly, but his dao heart quickly returned to calm.
The gray-robed Elder observed him secretly for a while before nodding with satisfaction.
Silence fell again at the cliff’s edge. After a gentle breeze passed, the gray-robed Elder walked to the Spirit Stone and patted it lightly:
“Inside is a stone embryo, created by Heaven and Earth’s nature, bearing the merit of the Human Race Holy Mother’s heaven-mending deed. It has now gathered spirit power no less than that of an ordinary Golden Immortal.
A spirit embryo will emerge from here, which is key to your Western Sect’s prosperity.
Today, I entrust this key entirely to your care.
Are you willing to teach this spirit embryo, pass on cultivation methods, and help transform its spirit power into divine power?”
“This disciple is willing.”
‘False Subhuti’ immediately agreed and added, “Thank you, Heaven’s Dao, for such consideration for the Western Sect. If Master knew of this, I wonder how delighted he would be.”
“There’s no need for him to know,” the gray-robed Elder said calmly. “You knowing is enough.”
“Yes, this disciple will keep this matter buried in his heart.”
“Very good. Now tell me, how do you plan to teach this spirit embryo? How will you use it to help your Western Sect prosper?”
“This…”
‘False Subhuti’ pondered for a moment. This truly stumped Li Changshou.
Should he speak according to the Small Tribulation of the Journey to the West? Or analyze based on Spirit Mountain’s current situation?
If he chose the former, he could gain the Dao Ancestor’s favor, but there would be risks of exposure.
Therefore, Li Changshou slowly said, “This disciple… this disciple isn’t quite clear. This disciple is foolish, please guide me, my lord.”
“Never mind,” the gray-robed Elder shook his head slightly. “Go find a cave dwelling in the northwest of South Jambudvipa Continent, name it Mount Fangcun and Three Stars Cave.
Take in some disciples to teach, whether human or demon.
When this spirit embryo emerges, I will guide it to seek you out. You need only accept it as your disciple and teach it with all your effort.”
“Yes,” Li Changshou inwardly sighed.
Though playing dumb like this was safe, he had also missed some small opportunities.
Nothing to be done about it. You win some, you lose some. Safety is first in all things.
The Dao Ancestor seemed to be in a good mood for conversation, as if he had achieved a great victory but had no one to share it with, so he wanted to chat more with False Subhuti.
The gray-robed figure said, “Let’s walk around.”
Li Changshou quickly agreed, following step by step.
However, after just half an hour, the gray-robed Elder indicated Li Changshou could leave. Li Changshou breathed a sigh of relief, bowed low in farewell, mounted his cloud, and departed, concealing his traces after leaving Flower Fruit Mountain.
The gray-robed Elder wore an expression between laughter and tears, shaking his head as he gave his evaluation.
“Inadequate for great use.”
As for Li Changshou, after leaving Flower Fruit Mountain, he immediately headed for South Jambudvipa, searching for a suitable mountain and cave at the border between northwest Jambudvipa and West Aparagodaniya.
A task from Heaven’s Dao and the Dao Ancestor had to be addressed immediately.
With Heaven’s Dao watching, Li Changshou dared not make any small moves, only earnestly searching for an auspicious site to build a temple.
Spirit Platform’s Mount Fangcun, Three Stars Cave.
He also created seven boy and girl attendants and kept two or three immortal cranes.
The temple was built into the mountainside with typical cave dwelling structures, containing a sutra repository, reward and punishment hall, disciple quarters, and a small dining hall.
The main hall enshrined Heaven and Earth’s position, with a large incense burner before it, eternally wreathed in immortal mists like a celestial realm.
Afterward, Li Changshou arranged several layers of maze formations, trapping formations, and spirit-gathering formations according to False Subhuti’s memories. These were quite profound formation arrangements, effectively announcing to passing beings that a master dwelled here.
Next came the matter of accepting disciples.
According to his calculations, Brother Monkey’s emergence was still some time away, so there was little point in accepting disciples too early.
For now, Li Changshou sealed off Mount Fangcun, occasionally wandering the continental borders.
After several years passed this way, he returned to West Aparagodaniya for a visit, making a circuit of Spirit Mountain where he sensed a strong feeling of ‘exclusion.’
Spirit Mountain could no longer accommodate him.
Regarding this, ‘False Subhuti’ smiled without saying much, only bowing toward Honored Master Rujia’s closed-door meditation chamber before floating away.
The current Spirit Mountain had effectively fallen under the control of the Enlightenment Sect and Severance Sect disciples.
Unfortunately, they weren’t affiliated with the Dao School, but rather with the Western Sect’s own teachings.
Why did Li Changshou determine that the monkey’s birth was still far off?
Simple—the Buddhist School hadn’t been established yet.
Setting aside the Dao Ancestor’s influence, Heaven’s Dao’s operation had its own rules; the Stone Monkey was Buddhism’s ‘envoy’ for great prosperity, so Buddhism must have existed before the monkey.
Therefore, the monkey’s birth must come after the transformation of Hu into Buddha.
Only after Buddhist destiny had completely stabilized could the Stone Monkey’s descent be triggered!
Compared to the monkey’s stone embryo education, Li Changshou was more concerned about Lord Lao’s move this time.
At this moment, the Western Sect hadn’t realized what was about to happen; few in Heaven and Earth still mentioned Lord Lao’s capture of Dao Man Duobao.
Presumably, Lord Lao was currently ‘reconstructing’ Dao Man Duobao, though Li Changshou couldn’t be certain to what extent.
Though this matter was important, Lord Lao wasn’t heartless.
Despite his usually stern demeanor and the supreme dignity he carried everywhere as Sage’s incarnation walking through Heaven and Earth, Lord Lao was quite benevolent, never refusing requests from his disciples.
As the Primitive World’s greatest artificer and pill master, Lord Lao single-handedly managed the entire Human Dao School’s ‘logistics.’ From Nine Cycles Golden Pills to the Lesser God-Slaying Spear, Li Changshou’s current ability to challenge the Dao Ancestor wouldn’t have been possible without Lord Lao’s support.
Even now, the Dao Ancestor dared not move against Lord Lao carelessly, indirectly proving Lord Lao’s terrifying power.
When Master Taiqing went to battle the Dao Ancestor at Purple Void Palace, he hadn’t recalled Lord Lao.
The main reason was simple—Master Taiqing’s true form was already powerful enough. With or without Lord Lao, he could overwhelm the Dao Ancestor, who was already constrained by Heaven’s Dao in reverse.
The difficulty lay solely in the inability to separate the Dao Ancestor from Heaven and Earth’s origin; killing the Dao Ancestor would require recreating the Primitive World, causing all beings below the Golden Immortal realm to perish once.
Destroying the enemy through pure force left no room for maneuver.
And this was Li Changshou’s crucial significance.
Like the steps to put an elephant in a refrigerator, Li Changshou only needed to ‘open the refrigerator door’—that is, separate the Dao Ancestor from Heaven and Earth’s origin. What came after wouldn’t require his intervention.
Of course, Li Changshou wouldn’t place his hopes in unconfirmed ‘possibilities,’ so he had prepared several trump cards for battling the Dao Ancestor.
He wanted to use every means at his disposal to minimize the impact on Heaven and Earth and reduce casualties among living beings to the lowest possible level.
Gradually, ‘False Subhuti’s’ Great Dao of Emptiness reached another bottleneck.
Li Changshou no longer roamed the Three Thousand Worlds, but instead began traveling through the Five Continents of the Primitive World, using Mount Fangcun as his base.
He would browse through markets, disguise himself as an ordinary Golden Immortal, visit various Daoist immortal sects in the Central Divine Continent, and acquire Daoist Three Schools’ classics under the pretense of discussing the Dao.
He didn’t lack these classics himself, but ‘False Subhuti’ did.
To ‘cultivate both Buddhism and Daoism’ and ‘achieve a breakthrough in power,’ he had to maintain appearances.
Several more decades passed this way, and False Subhuti’s dao realm broke through again.
After gaining a deeper understanding of emptiness, he turned his attention to the Great Dao of Reincarnation, proposing the dao conception that ‘after extinction comes new reincarnation,’ advancing his dao realm once more.
Subtly, ‘False Subhuti’ had taken on the bearing of the Western Sect’s second strongest expert.
Manjusri and other Western Sect power holders seemed to sense the threat, secretly moving against ‘False Subhuti.’
Patriarch Subhuti’s name began spreading through the Primitive World, with various excessive praises and embellishments, elevating Patriarch Subhuti to the same level as the Western Sect’s Honored Master Rujia and the former Honored Master Zhunti.
Spirit Mountain had become completely inaccessible to ‘False Subhuti.’
Li Changshou truly hadn’t expected Manjusri to be so methodical in plotting schemes.
A formidable character—worth paying special attention to later.
He took the opportunity to settle permanently at Mount Fangcun, simply revealing his identity as Patriarch Subhuti and cutting ties with Spirit Mountain.
Free and unfettered, he quietly awaited the monkey’s arrival.
…
“Hehe—”
In the Celestial Court, atop a certain immortal mountain wreathed in divine light, within a magnificent palace.
The God of Wealth, wearing celebratory robes, sat beside the bed, leaning near Golden Light Holy Mother’s slightly swollen belly, holding a wine jar with some intoxication.
Golden Light Holy Mother quietly read a book volume, having grown several times gentler than before the Investiture of the Gods!
Zhao Gongming laughed, “My lady, how long do you plan to stay pregnant? Consider my feelings too.”
“Hmph, be patient.”
Golden Light Holy Mother said calmly, “I can still provide benefits to our child at this time, what are you being impatient about?
Moreover, I don’t want them interfering much in today’s Celestial Court.”
“What’s wrong with the Celestial Court? Isn’t it good?”
Zhao Gongming spread his hands: “Look, everywhere is harmonious, each immortal palace operates normally.
From the Five Continents to the Three Thousand Worlds, which part hasn’t the Celestial Court managed well?”
Golden Light Holy Mother thought carefully: “It just feels managed too well, the Three Realms operate entirely according to celestial law, everything is meticulous, somewhat lacking spirit.”
“That’s a good thing,” Zhao Gongming sighed, “Even if little brother returned, it would continue according to this system.”
“That’s different.”
Golden Light raised her head to look at the palace dome, where brilliant stars sparkled, and said: “It feels somewhat stifling overhead, not open and bright.”
Zhao Gongming was struck speechless.
He sighed dejectedly and raised his hand to adjust his hair, his eyes showing some helplessness.
“Isn’t it enough that they’re living well outside?” Zhao Gongming said, “For them, this is the best outcome—staying away from the Celestial Court, controlling their destinies, living freely beyond the Three Realms.”
Zhao Gongming’s eyes carried a glimmer of light that kept flickering as he said softly:
“Perhaps after both sides reconcile in the future, we can meet them again. Then Second Sister can hold two children, playing together with our child.
How wonderful that would be.”
But Golden Light said: “Reconciliation? Impossible.”
“One can hope,” Zhao Gongming smiled, “Whatever happens, this world should continue developing in a better direction, and the Primitive World can continue through one great kalpa after another.
Just like in the human mortal world, after the fires of war, people’s hearts seek peace, and they naturally settle into peaceful lives for a time.
We should try to be content, after all, there’s little we can do now.”
“You,” Golden Light chided, patting Zhao Gongming’s head.
She knew why her husband spoke this way.
Her husband was persuading her not to harbor thoughts of conflict over the Severance Sect’s tragedy, asking her to endure more in the Celestial Court.
In their current positions as powerful deities in the Celestial Court, they maintained the fate of the listed Severance Sect immortals and preserved the sect’s current legacy in Heaven and Earth.
Because of their high cultivation, Heaven’s Dao couldn’t directly interfere with their minds.
But Heaven’s Dao used the brotherhood that the Severance Sect valued most to place layer upon layer of shackles on them, leaving them unable to move from this place.
The pressure her husband carried had become too heavy.
Golden Light deliberately changed the subject, asking: “Has Long Ji remembered anything lately?”
“No,” Zhao Gongming shook his head, “I went to check secretly. She seems dispirited, lacking energy every day, often crying.
It feels like repeating Chang’e’s tragedy from back then.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Golden Light Holy Mother’s beautiful face grew cold, “What they’ve lost, they’ll eventually find again.
What Heaven and Earth has lost will ultimately return.”
Boom—
Heaven’s Dao force came crashing down, seeming ready to descend thunder tribulation.
Zhao Gongming stood up, smilingly cupping his hands toward the sky, and Heaven’s Dao force slowly dispersed.
“Don’t say such things,” Zhao Gongming sighed, “Let’s just focus on the pregnancy and pass our days in the Celestial Court. Isn’t this good enough? What’s worth fighting for?”
Golden Light Holy Mother said no more, continuing to read her book.
Zhao Gongming scratched his head, and sat back down, somewhat lost in thought.
Golden Light suddenly asked: “By the way, where did Lord Lao throw Big Senior Brother?”
“Haven’t found out, but there shouldn’t be any problems.”
Zhao Gongming smiled: “After all, Lord Lao isn’t some evil deity.”
Meanwhile;
In Doushuai Palace.
Under the old tree where Grand Master Xuandu had once slept for long, Dao Man Duobao was wrapped in layer upon layer of Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams dao rhyme, looking at the mountain of classics piled before him, his face deathly pale.
“Lord Lao, please just end this quickly! This disciple’s dao realm was all dug out!”
Moo—
Hearing an ox’s cry from the opposite, Dao Man Duobao immediately shuddered.
He saw the green ox wearing a nose ring, lying comfortably atop a pile of treasures.
Each time the nose ring flashed with light, a treasure below would quickly dim and Dao Man Duobao’s dao heart would be severely scratched.
“I’ll recite, I’ll recite! I’m reciting!”
Dao Man Duobao laughed bitterly, patting his recently thinned belly, and continued reading with his head down.
Being a sect leader was truly suffering.