Chapter 42: The Third Teaching in Zixiao Palace (2/2)
All the cultivators in the Untainted Land were excited at Hunjun's words and flew to the Zixiao Palace immediately because being an Original meant to become a Sage, under which were nonentities. However, compared to the last Teaching, less than three thousand could reach the Zixiao Palace.
Minghe arrived at the Zixiao Palace within a short time. There appeared to be no new cultivators in the hall this time. What was different was that the number of Sages-to-be had increased to nearly 100.
Walking into the Zixiao Palace, Minghe still sat in a corner. Actually, his title— Ancestor Minghe— was well-known in Untainted Land, but not that good. His well-known was first because of the abundant Blood Jade Ganoderma Lucidums growing around his Blood Sea.
Blood Jade Ganoderma Lucidum had great benefits for the cultivation of the Wu and Demon Tribes, but it was very difficult to pick one from the Evil Spirit surrounding the Blood Sea. However, a lot of cultivators from the Wu and Demon Tribes still wanted to take the risk and pick one owing to the insufficient resources in the Tribe.
Soon all the Blood Jade Ganoderma Lucidum around the Blood Sea had been totally plucked, and some cultivators started to turn their target to the Blood Sea which had been a Forbidden Place since the appearance of the Untainted Land.
Instead of trying to stop these cultivators, Minghe allowed them to search around his Blood Sea. He even prepared them some Hundred Tribes Blood of Essence to attract more for finding counterparts for his disciples Liuer and Chixuan.
On the Sacred Island, Minghe had taught them the Tao, and Liuer and Chixuan had fought in addition to their daily cultivation. However, these fights couldn't match with real ones, so Minghe decided to attract more cultivators here for being his disciples' training partners. Unfortunately, those training partners might lose their lives.
Since Liuer and Chixuan, as Mingle's first disciple and mount, respectively were at the level of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortality, their master Minghe must be much better. Thus, Minghe naturally became known in the Untainted Land. However, with the exaggerated remarks from the cultivators seeking treasures, Minghe was known as a wicked devil.
After a while, cultivators arrived one by one for the Teachings. The number of cultivators here was just over 2,400. More than 500 cultivators who weren't there might have died. Otherwise, they would not miss the Teachings on the Origin.
DING! With a bell ringing in the Zixiao Palace, all the cultivators looked at the platform in front. The honorable Ancestor, Hongjun, showed up quietly from the void in a wild-colored Taoist robe and sat on a cloud bed. His vital force had become more mysterious and his strength had improved even further.
Ancestor Hongjun closed his eyes and began his remarks on Great Way slowly. ”The Way bears sensation. Sensation bears memory. Sensation and memory bear abstraction. And abstraction bears all the world. Each thing in the world bears feeling and doing. And, imbued with mind, harmony with the Way.
”Practice non-action. Attend to do nothing. Taste without flavor. Magnify the small, while multiplying the few. Return love for hate. Deal with the difficult while it is yet easy; deal with the great while it is yet small. The difficult develops naturally from the easy, and the great from the small, so the Sage, by dealing with the small, could achieve the great. Who finds it easy to promise, finds it hard to be trusted; who takes things lightly, finds things difficult. The Sage recognizes difficulty and so has none.
”What lies still is easy to grasp; what lies far off is easy to anticipate; what is brittle is easy to shatter; what is small is easy to disperse. Yet a tree broader than a man can embrace is born of a tiny shoot; a dam greater than a river can overflow starts with a clod of earth; a journey of a thousand miles begins at the spot under one's feet. Those who wish to change the world on their own desire cannot succeed. So the sage will be neither wasteful nor violent. People often fail on the verge of success; take care at the end as at the beginning, so that you may avoid failure. The Sage desires no-desire, values no-value, learns no-learning. And returns to the places that people have forgotten; he would help all people to become natural, but then he would not be natural.
”Is the action of nature not unlike drawing a bow? What is higher is pulled down, and what is lower is raised up; what is taller is shortened, and what is thinner is broadened; nature's motion decreases those who have more than they need, and increases those who need more than they have. It is not so with Humans. Man decreases those who need more than they have, and increases those who have more than they need. To give away what you do not need is to follow the Way, the Sage gives without expectation, accomplishes without claiming credit, and has no desire for ostentation.
”Nature is not kind; it treats all things impartially. The Sage is not kind and treats all people impartially. Nature is like a bellows, empty, yet never ceasing its supply. The more it moves, the more it yields, so the Sage draws upon the experience and cannot be exhausted.”