Volume One: The Calamity of Liches Chapter 132: Hongjun's Second Lecture, Qingxuan Returns to the Great Wilderness

"It's just about reincarnation, isn't it?" Yangmei smiled as he spoke to Qingxuan.

As a former Chaos Demon God, Yangmei understood perfectly well the significance of reincarnation to the Great Desolation. Its importance might not yet be fully apparent, but without Qingxuan's meticulous schemes over the years, who could say what the world might look like today?

What Yangmei hadn't told Qingxuan was that his decision to remain in the Great Desolation was not solely for the world's vitality. Qingxuan himself played a significant part in that choice. Otherwise, with Yangmei's wisdom and strength, would he have been so easily driven away by Hongjun to wander the Chaos?

"Fellow Daoist Yangmei, you seem to know far more than I imagined," Qingxuan replied.

"There’s no need for more useless words. The importance of reincarnation to the Great Desolation cannot be explained in a sentence or two. Of course, this also greatly increases the chance of your plan succeeding," Yangmei analyzed carefully.

Both of them knew that, while reincarnation appeared to exist for the sake of living beings, its true importance lay with the very world itself. Every time the world gave birth to a new life, whether innate or acquired, it consumed a portion of the world’s primordial essence. When these beings died, their flesh returned to the earth, but their souls continued to drift across the land. Only a few were drawn into the Blood Sea, but the soul itself was the essence of the heavens.

Without special means to guide them, these scattered essences could not return to the world, even if they remained within it. Yet the world had no consciousness and could do nothing; only through reincarnation could souls be led, their true spirits stripped away to be reborn, and their essence restored to the world.

That was the best ending for heaven and earth. This was why the souls of those who committed great evils in life needed to undergo judgment and cleansing before they could enter the cycle of reincarnation. Such negative influences might otherwise pollute the world, causing irreparable harm.

"Listening to you, fellow Daoist Yangmei, I feel much more at ease," Qingxuan replied. "If that's the case, let us return to the Great Desolation and make preparations."

He turned to Yangmei.

"Oh? Are you not going to care about the world created by the Life Demon God?" Yangmei looked at Qingxuan in bewilderment.

"How could I not care? It's just that, the closer we get to the Great Desolation, the more I sense the world's attraction to it," Qingxuan answered, observing Yangmei and thinking that there were still things the latter did not know.

Had Qingxuan not already refined the control core of this world, he would not have sensed the faint pull of the Great Desolation.

"That’s because this world is rich in primordial essence. Even if the Great Desolation is far more powerful, it still considers this a precious bounty. With the Heavenly Dao in place, how could it let such a prize slip by?" Yangmei said with a smile.

Qingxuan was well aware of this, so he had no other intentions.

"Very well. In that case, let’s bring these two youngsters and return to the Great Desolation ahead of time. Besides, that girl with a trace of Pangu's bloodline—she can barely hold it back any longer, can she?" Yangmei then swept up Houtu and Jumang, employing the Dao of Space to race back to the Great Desolation at full speed.

Qingxuan knew Yangmei spoke of Houtu. Indeed, after cultivating in the Chaos for so long, aided by Qingxuan’s time formation, both of them were now on the verge of breaking through. Especially Houtu—her comprehension of the Law of Reincarnation was already complete, and through her bloodline, she had realized her true mission.

While countless mighty beings of the Great Desolation made their way to the Zixiao Palace, Yangmei and Qingxuan slipped quietly back into the world. At this time, in the Zixiao Palace, the Three Pure Ones sat on the three seats to the left, followed by Nuwa, and then the last two seats were occupied by Jieyin and Zhunti. Behind these six sat Kunpeng, Fuxi, Hongyun, and others.

When Hongjun appeared, he looked over the hall and saw that all those present were below the level of perfected Da Luo. Not a single being on the verge of breaking through had come. For a moment, Hongjun felt both relieved and uneasy. Especially those related to Qingxuan—apart from the twelve Celestial Sovereigns in the ancient starry sky, Xihe and a few others, none had appeared.

"Haotian, Yaochi—close the palace doors. The lecture begins! Today, I will speak of the Dao of Quasi-Saints."

But as soon as Hongjun finished his words, the Supreme Elder sitting at the head of the Three Pure Ones immediately raised a question. "May I ask, what is a Quasi-Saint?"

Hongjun gave him an approving look and replied slowly, "Strictly speaking, the term 'Quasi-Saint' does not truly exist; it was coined by me. For cultivators, the limit is Da Luo Golden Immortal. If one wishes to go further, there is a higher realm—this is Hunyuan, also known as Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal. The gap between Hunyuan and Da Luo is vast, as great as that between heaven and earth."

"For a cultivator to attain the Dao of Hunyuan is extremely difficult. Thus, I created the realm of the Quasi-Saint as a transition between Da Luo Golden Immortal and Hunyuan. Once you reach the perfection of Da Luo, and cultivate according to my methods, you will draw closer to the Hunyuan realm, increasing your chances of attaining the Dao."

"May I ask, what is Hunyuan?" someone else inquired.

Hongjun replied, "Hunyuan is that which exists before the separation of primordial energy, when all is chaos as one. It is the beginning of primordial energy, born within chaos, inside the light and outside the darkness..."

He then explained to everyone his understanding of Hunyuan.

"And what, then, is a Saint?" was the next question.

Hongjun answered, "A Saint is Hunyuan, but not all Hunyuan are Saints!"

With that, Hongjun began his lecture to the gathered might of the Great Desolation.

While Hongjun expounded the Dao, Qingxuan and Yangmei had already returned quietly. Qingxuan now led Houtu across many corners of the world, showing her the frequent strife among different tribes, allowing her to comprehend the myriad truths hidden within.

With his power as a Hunyuan Da Luo and his authority over the Great Desolation, he helped Houtu witness countless wandering souls, even those lurking in the darkest corners of the land.

Afterwards, Qingxuan told Houtu to follow her own instincts and understanding, to seek her opportunity to attain the Hunyuan Dao.

But he instructed her that, no matter what, she could only attain Hunyuan through the Dao of Reincarnation.

Houtu understood that, though Qingxuan had his own plans, he would never harm her.

After this, Qingxuan left Houtu to her own devices and stepped directly into the Blood Sea.

At that moment, Minghe was still in the Sea of Learning, contemplating the Dao, and had not gone to the Zixiao Palace to listen to the lecture. In fact, he had been about to go, but Wuyun had told him that a great opportunity awaited him, persuading him to stay.

Minghe knew that Wuyun would not speak without reason, so after some thought, he agreed.

Minghe was the Earthly Dao Saint Qingxuan had prepared; Qingxuan had no intention of letting him follow the path of severing three corpses.

Although Minghe had just entered the realm of Hunyuan Golden Immortal, with a little more cultivation, he could soon reach the middle stage.