Chapter 67: The Path of Sainthood Through Merit
Buzhou Mountain, Forefather Wu Peak, Chaos Divine Palace.
The twelve Forefather Witches, Fuxi, and Nuwa returned, summoning Emperor Cang along with the one hundred and eight Grand Witches of the Wu Tribe to enter the Heart of Pangu together.
The twelve Forefather Witches recounted, albeit briefly, the events that transpired during their journey to the Zixiao Palace. In the first sermon at Zixiao Palace, Hongjun lectured on the method of attaining the Great Luo Immortal state. The twelve Forefathers’ intention was to gather Emperor Cang and the one hundred and eight Grand Witches, to impart upon them the path of the Great Luo, so that the next generation of the Wu Tribe might produce individuals capable of standing on their own as Great Luo Divine Demons.
Naturally.
Before that, the Forefather Witches did not mind sharing some tales from the Zixiao Palace, to broaden the horizons of their tribe’s descendants.
...
Emperor Cang could not help but be dumbfounded.
He had anticipated that the trip to Zixiao Palace would hardly be smooth; surely, some major event would occur. Yet never in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that, in just the first sermon, the twelve Forefathers, along with Emperor Jun, Donghuang and their group, would commit such a bold act.
Within Zixiao Palace, they had ganged up on Pangu’s Three Pure Ones as well as Jieyin and Zhunti—what did that even mean?
Hearing the full account, Emperor Cang’s heart turned cold in an instant.
“What a catastrophe!”
He thought silently to himself, “We formed a tripartite alliance to enforce the mandate of heaven; it was never meant to be like this!”
“Fortunately, fortunately!”
As the twelve Forefathers recounted that they had managed to take away 14% of the Heaven-Opening Merit from the Three Pure Ones, Emperor Cang finally let out a long sigh of relief.
Thank goodness!
Though it was indeed somewhat reckless, the outcome was not altogether bad!
One must understand—
A single percent of Heaven-Opening Merit was enough to transform a third of the Heaven-Opening Axe’s power into a treasure on par with the supreme Heaven-Opening treasures, far surpassing the Seven-Colored Auspicious Merit Clouds.
Roughly three hundred strands of Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth could match one Seven-Colored Auspicious Merit Cloud, enough to become a Sage of the Way.
Fourteen hundred strands of Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth was an immense harvest!
With such a foundation, even if they had offended five Sages of Heaven at once, what of it?
...
Foremother Houtu smiled and said, “Now that we have gained fourteen hundred strands of Primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth, with this supreme merit of Xuanhuang, there are three wondrous uses.”
“First, to help the twelve Forefather Witches resolve their innate flaws.”
“Second, to aid our tribe’s Forefathers in increasing their cultivation.”
“Third, to fuse it into a certain spiritual root—perhaps we might use it to nurture a Chaos Spiritual Root!”
Foremother Houtu considered for a moment, then said, “Of our tribe’s eight Forefather Witches, only eight hundred strands of Primordial Qi are required to cleanse all karma, dispel resentment and curses, and nurture the power of the primordial spirit. Out of the fourteen hundred strands, eight hundred should be given to the eight Forefathers.”
“The remaining six hundred strands can be merged into the Innate Gourd Vine. If by chance it ascends to become a Chaos Spiritual Root, our Wu Tribe will have accumulated immeasurable merit!”
“Even if it cannot ascend,” Houtu smiled, “the Wu Tribe can still gain a top-tier genius, a kindred Daoist companion!”
For, when intelligence is nurtured with the tribe’s merit, the resultant being will have a deep karmic bond with the Wu Tribe, tantamount to that of mother and child. This is why the Wu Tribe believes they can cultivate a supreme innate divine demon.
“What do you all think?”
“No, absolutely not!”
Hearing the exchange among Houtu and the twelve Forefathers, Emperor Cang’s face changed dramatically. He stepped forward at once to interject, “Houtu may not be aware!”
Emperor Cang said, “The Heaven-Opening Merit is the supreme merit, utterly unmatched!”
“One percent of Heaven-Opening Merit is enough to transform an innate treasure—like our Wu Tribe’s Heaven-Opening Divine Axe or the Heart of Pangu—into a Heaven-Opening Supreme Treasure, anchoring the Wu Tribe’s fate for eternal prosperity!”
“To use it for merely repairing the flaws of the twelve Forefathers is not unthinkable, but our tribe has long accumulated merit. In time, the twelve Forefathers’ hidden dangers will be resolved one by one. Why use the Heaven-Opening Merit?”
Emperor Cang said respectfully, “I have three suggestions for your consideration.”
“Oh?” Forefather Dijang smiled, “Since Cang speaks, there must be merit in it. Speak, then!”
“If your words do not convince us, we’ll simply proceed as we discussed.”
“Thank you, Forefather.”
Emperor Cang said respectfully, “First, one percent of Heaven-Opening Merit holds the opportunity for sanctification. Eight hundred strands of Primordial Qi can help the eight Forefathers remove hidden dangers and become mighty Hunyuan Divine Demons. However, with a thousand strands, one Forefather could achieve the Dao and attain Sainthood. Given a choice between eight Hunyuan Divine Demons and one Sage of the Dao, what should we choose?”
“We should reserve one percent of the Heaven-Opening Merit and wait until a Forefather reaches the peak of the Hunyuan Divine Demon realm and comprehends their own Dao. Then, combined with the merit’s power, they may ascend!”
“To use the merit to achieve Sainthood?”
...
Upon hearing this, the twelve Forefathers fell into silent contemplation.
Forefather Dijang asked, half in doubt, “Is it truly possible to achieve Sainthood through one percent of the Heaven-Opening Merit?”
Fuxi shook his head, “I have never heard of achieving the Dao through merit alone.”
“However,” Fuxi continued, “the power of merit does indeed increase cultivation and raise one’s realm. That the Heaven-Opening Merit could help one achieve the Dao seems reasonable—there’s nothing impossible about it.”
Nuwa and Houtu both said, “It is worth trying!”
Emperor Cang considered, then said, “The power of merit alone might not suffice. If one has the potential for enlightenment and adds the Heaven-Opening Merit, then the opportunity is ripe.”
From Emperor Cang’s understanding,
To achieve Sainthood by merit, to elevate a spiritual root or a supreme treasure by virtue of merit—
All these require a prerequisite: the recipient must possess the potential.
If a spiritual root lacks potential, it can only gain intelligence with the help of merit.
If a treasure lacks potential, it can only plateau at a certain level, unable to transform further; like the Overturning Seal, even when the power is sufficient, it cannot break through.
If a cultivator lacks potential, the power of merit will merge with the primordial spirit and remain dormant until fate allows Sainthood in the future.
At present, Sanqing, Houtu, Emperor Jun, and others possess great merit, but cannot attain Sainthood, precisely because they still lack their own Dao—the potential and opportunity for Sainthood.
Of course,
The mighty ones of the Great Desolation possess profound vision. Regarding the use of merit to elevate spiritual roots, treasures, or cultivation, they have their own insights, no less than Emperor Cang’s.
Emperor Cang only speaks all he knows, striving to strengthen the Wu Tribe, and thereby protect himself. As for what choice the twelve Forefathers finally make, it is not entirely within his power.
Forefather Dijang said, “I think it’s worth a try. What do you all think?”
The twelve Forefathers spoke as one, “Let’s try it!”
Dijang continued, “I, along with Zhu Jiuyin and two others, have awakened the power of the primordial spirit. Yet the path of cultivation is arduous. We have only just stepped into the late Hunyuan Divine Demon realm. It is estimated we will need ten or twenty thousand cycles to reach the peak and comprehend our own Dao. I intend to use space to derive the Four Images, the Four Images to transform Chaos, and Chaos to open Heaven and Earth, forging the Great Dao of Chaos. It is still incomparably difficult. On the contrary, Zhu Jiuyin’s Dao is far purer than mine.”
“Our younger sister Houtu has already attained Sainthood with her physical body, with one foot in the realm of the Dao Sage. Both she and Zhu Jiuyin can give it a try!”