Chapter 95: The Changes in the Human Tribe
Hearing that, Hongyun pondered for a while and said, "Zhenyuanzi, the Human Tribe is indeed suitable for you to pass on Taoism lineage. Just take Goddess Nvywa and Laozi as examples. Both succeeded in becoming Sages through the Human Tribe. Minghe also thought very highly of the tribe. Furthermore, they are developing extremely fast. We can see that they are extraordinary. Teaching them would bring you no harm."
Zhenyuanzi naturally understood what Hongyun said. He just sighed. "What you and I initially wanted was to be free and leisurely Immortals. But now you’re injured because of Hong Meng Immortal Qi. And I’ve no choice but enter the fight for Luck in Untainted Land to actualize the Realm of Origin. It’s hard to say if this will bring blessing or disaster!"
Hongyun remained silent. After a long time, he said, "Zhenyuanzi, are you really willing to be a Carefree Immortal unconcerned about worldly affairs?" Zhenyuanzi was stunned to hear such a question from Hongyun. Was he willing to do so? He could not help but question himself if he was truly willing.
Zhenyuanzi was confused. In the beginning, he thought he walked on this path solely due to Minghe and Hongyun. But was it really true? If he was truly unwilling, perhaps not even Minghe could force him. Or perhaps, he did it for the Fated Chance that Minghe promised to give Hongyun?
No, no, no, these were not the reasons. All of a sudden, the momentum of Zhenyuanzi’s body flared up, sweeping over all his previous confusion. Inside that momentum, there was an indescribable appeal which was hard to understand, the same as Minghe’s. It was a fearless determination that belonged to the strong.
Hongyun laughed loudly when he saw the change in Zhenyuanzi. "Congratulations, Zhenyuanzi!" Hongyun naturally noticed the change in his old friend. Now that Zhenyuanzi had swept his confusions away, his Rectification road would be smoother. After all, if there was confusion in the heart, perhaps it would not be easy to travel down this Rectification road.
...
"The Way of Heaven upon, I, Ancestor Minghe, have comprehended the supreme Way of Killing. I’ll establish the Religion of Ashura among the Ashura Tribe. Kill the Heaven. Kill the earth. Kill every living thing. The primordial supreme treasure, the Cauldron of Heaven and Earth, is used to suppress the Luck of the Religion of Ashura. The Religion of Ashura is established!"
On Blood Sea, Minghe had seen the formation of the four Sects of Untainted Land and felt he too should establish the Religion of Ashura. As for the Spiritual Treasures to quell the Great Sect, Minghe could only use the Cauldron of Heaven and Earth. As Grade 24 Red Lotus of Fire had already become his Evil Separation, it was impossible to use them to quell Luck.
It was inevitable that he would have to expose the Cauldron of Heaven and Earth, but he could make use of this opportunity to demonstrate his strength. In Untainted Land, only Three Pure Ones possessed primordial supreme treasures among the Sages. Now he also possessed one. It would naturally act as some sort of deterrence to the other Sages.
Minghe gained a new wave of Merit by founding the Religion of Ashura. Besides the appearance of the Cauldron of Heaven and Earth that somewhat astonished the Sages and other creatures in Untainted Land, other things did not cause a lot of waves in Untainted Land. After all, the Religion of Ashura was obviously founded for the Ashura Tribe and its foundation was the rule of killing. Thus it would be hard for it to spread in Untainted Land.
...
The initially thriving Martial Arts started to decline among the Human Tribe, whereas the Way of Celestial Immortality was seeing a rise. The Golden Core Way of Great Way that Laozi passed onto the tribe was something he took a long time to arrange. It was the most suitable Way of Celestial Immortality for the tribe. With this kind of Spiritual Inheritance of the Way of Celestial Immortality, the gate to the Way of Celestial Immortality for the Human Tribe opened at once.
The five sects of Untainted Land were established simultaneously. Except for the Religion of Ashura, the other sects were all suitable for humans to participate. If one could have a Sage personally given a sermon, frequently listening to their teachings would naturally benefit one’s cultivation in The Way of Celestial Immortality. Therefore, the craze of honoring one’s master instantly rose among the Human Tribe.
The Western Religion Sect was located west of Untainted Land. The area was remote so there were few human who went to honor their masters there. But it was not the same with the Tribe of Humanity, the Clan of Enlightenments, and the Tribe of Severity. Their temples were located in Mount Kunlun in the east. Countless creatures went to be their apprentices. Among those creatures, those from the Human Tribe made for a large segment.
Musen and Suiren-Shi who dwelled in the Human Tribe’s Sacred Land of Spiritual Inheritance naturally had anticipated this situation. However, they never thought the Way of Celestial Immortality would thrive so successfully and bring such huge impact on the Martial Arts of Human Tribe. Nowadays, it was hard to find Spiritual Inheritance of Martial Arts outside the sacred land.
Suiren-Shi and the two other elders were naturally distressed about this. Moreover, a great number of the elites of the tribe wanted to be the sect apprentices of the Sages. Wouldn’t this ease the Sages to interfere with affairs of their tribe? Suiren-Shi worriedly said, "Brother, everything is indeed as you’ve mentioned. The Way of Celestial Immortality thrives successfully in my clan. Though our strength is increased, it’ll also let the Sages’ Sects gain benefit. What should we do now?"
Musen was expressionless. His gaze was deep as he quietly said, "We’ve already anticipated this. Why should we worry about it again? As for what we should do, I have thought of a way. Nowadays among the Human Tribe outside, the Way of Celestial Immortality is prevalent while Martial Art is gradually declining. If this situation continues, perhaps there will be gradually fewer Martial Cultivators among the tribe outside. They may completely disappear in the end.
"For now, the plan is to issue an edict ordering all the Martial Cultivators of the tribe to return to Coast of East Sea and let them dwell outside the Sacred Land. At the same time, we’ll remove some of the restrictions of the sacred land and give them a chance to enter and listen to my explanation of Martial Arts. Furthermore, they’ll have the chance to enter Temple of Spiritual Inheritance to comprehend the Enlightenment Tablets. With this, we can at least guarantee the existing Spiritual Inheritance of Martial Arts from the Human Tribe will no longer be weak."
Youchao-Shi nodded. "It’s indeed a good idea. If the Martial Arts of our tribe is no longer weak, we’ll certainly regain our power someday. But what should we do about The Way of Celestial Immortality? Will we let things be or will we interfere?"
Musen shook his head. "There’s no need. Even if we interfere now, I’m afraid it’ll only produce the opposite result. It’s better to let them be. Furthermore, we still have to fully support those seeking The Way of Celestial Immortality. Of course, the ones they could worship as Masters shouldn’t be limited to the Sages’ Sects. Skilled Individual Cultivators in Untainted Land like Zhenyuanzi can also be the object of their worship."
The eyes of the three persons brightened. Right! In Untainted Land, there were many skilled Individual Cultivators besides the Sages. The Sages could not carelessly accept apprentices. In the Human Tribe alone, there was already a large number of people who wanted to be their apprentices. Even if the Sages accepted apprentices, they would not accept everyone. They could only choose a few talented ones and the remaining ones would inevitably fail to be chosen. In that case, these skilled Individual Cultivators would become proper targets of their worships.
Ziyi-Shi laughed and said, "Fourth brother’s trick is really brilliant! The Sages wouldn’t blindly recruit disciples. I’m afraid most would return in disappointment. But if we can point out some skilled Individual Cultivators, they would settle for second best. Since the Sages’ Sects hold no hope for them, then those skilled Individual Cultivators are also pretty good options. Using this as a pretext, our Human Tribe can also draw a lot of skilled Individual Cultivators in. We’re doing everything in one stroke."
Musen smiled. It was indeed ’doing everything in one stroke. First, they could reduce some of the influence the Sages had over their tribe. Therefore it would not only be the Sages’ Taoism lineage that dominated the clan. Second, they could draw some skilled Individual Cultivators in. Third, this went well for Minghe’s scheme. Zhenyuanzi wanted to establish the Way of Earth Immortals, so he needed a lot of manpower and what the Human Tribe did not lack most was precisely men.
Once the edict of Four Ancestors of Humanity appeared, the Human Tribe immediately flared up. Countless Martial Arts Cultivators headed towards Sacred Land of Spiritual Inheritance. The human ancestors did not abandon them, the ones who were cultivating Martial Arts outside the Sacred Land of Spiritual Inheritance. These tribesmen were naturally excited to have the chance to enter the sacred land. Furthermore, they would also have the chance to listen to Ancestor of Martial Arts’s teaching. These had greatly roused them as people who persisted in Martial Arts.
Also, in addition to the Sages’ Sect, the four human ancestors also pointed out some Individual Cultivators who were living in seclusion in Untainted Land. This had also given the tribesmen who had consciously worshipped the Sages’ Sect a new hope. Since the Sages were beyond their reach, they would always have some chance with these Individual Cultivators.
It did not take long for those still cultivating Martial Arts in the Human Tribe to gather outside the sacred land. However, when their numbers were counted, there were only few hundred millions of them. It was incomparable with more than ten billions of them at the peak of Martial Arts.
Suiren-Shi, Youchao-Shi, and Ziyi-Shi felt extremely distressed about it. They acknowledged Musen’s Martial Arts more than the Way of Celestial Immortality. After all, Martial Arts were created by Musen which was equivalent to be created by the Human Tribe. Besides, it could have strived together with the Way of Celestial Immorality. But now, Martial Arts had declined to such a state outside the Holy Land. How could they not feel distressed?
On the contrary, Musen was very calm. Even though the Martial Arts outside the sacred land had weakened, the foundation was still there. Furthermore, Martial Arts was extremely prosperous inside the land. It might seem like Martial Arts had been greatly injured, but in reality, the injury had only reached the exterior. From the beginning, Musen had never thought Martial Arts could thrive forever in the Human Tribe. For it to decline was only a matter of time. After all, its difficulty in cultivation was a serious weakness for Martial Arts.