Chapter 171 — The Wondrous Method of Merit and Virtue, Direct Transmission of the Three Pure Ones

Qi Wuhuo looked at the waist token in his hand. It was very plain, lacking the characteristics and divine abilities of the Northern Pole Exorcism Five-Thunder Judge. However, this time the spiritual seal was connected to him. The young Daoist could faintly sense the connection between the mark and himself, and the characters Dangmo likewise pointed to Qi Wuhuo himself.

Yet this kind of connection only existed within the Northern Pole Exorcism Court.

If one tried to calculate using the methods of astrological divination, it would be completely impossible to deduce the true identity behind Dangmo.

Nor could anyone scheme against Qi Wuhuo by relying on this name.

The Three Pure Ones did not concern themselves with worldly affairs. If disciples were killed or injured upon the path of the Dao, that was the disciples’ own choice.

The Great True Lord Tianyou had already departed, going now to completely conclude this matter. Yet he still left Taibai and the Thunder God, the two strongest war generals, here to guard Qi Wuhuo, and also to treat his injuries.

Taibai Star Lord glanced at the token and smiled. “Not bad. Hmm, though right now you’re only an ordinary clerk of the Northern Pole Exorcism Court. Your task is to select those with aptitude and bring them into the system. After all, we are directly under the foremost of the Four Emperors. Although our scale isn’t as large as the Thunder Department or the Battle Department, our status is faintly above theirs.”

The young Daoist nodded. Stroking the Exorcism Court waist token, he still asked curiously: “The structure of the Northern Pole Exorcism Court is…?”

“Hm? You’re asking how the court is divided internally?”

Taibai Star Lord smiled. “It’s divided into nine ranks, upper and lower, and within each rank there are higher and lower levels.”

“It’s also related to one’s cultivation realm and merits.”

“For example, you—Dangmo—right now are only a minor official who hasn’t even entered the ranks.”

“And that fellow beside you…”

He lifted a finger and pointed to the imposing Thunder General nearby, smiling as he said, “He is a Lower Fourth Rank Official, titled Inspector of the Nine Heavens of the Northern Pole of the Central Heaven.”

“As for me, I’m a bit higher.”

“I serve under the Northern Emperor, holding the position of Proper Third Rank within the Jade Register of the Heavenly Altar. In the Heavenly Court, I bear the title Upper Immortal of the Nine Heavens Golden Gate, and I am appointed Investigation Envoy of the Nine Heavens of the Northern Pole of the Central Heaven.”

“And as for our boss, Tianyou—his status in the Heavenly Court is already extremely high. He is a Second Rank True Immortal within the Jade Register of the Heavenly Altar, bearing the title Grand Chancellor of the Nine Heavens Golden Gate.”

“The Deputy Marshal of Ziwei bears the title True Lord of Subduing Demons of the Nine Heavens of the Northern Pole of the Central Heaven.”

Taibai Star Lord stood casually with his sword in hand and said, “At this level, one is called a [Saint].”

“It is said that among the Demon race, there exist Great Sages, but to be honored by our Northern Pole Exorcism Court as one of the Saints of the Northern Pole is not determined by cultivation or realm, nor by rank within the Jade Register of the Heavenly Altar. One must personally wield the sword and single-handedly campaign against a Great Sage–level expert of the Demon race.”

“In other words, one must possess the strength to kill, one-on-one, a being equivalent to a Heavenly Court Great Emperor.”

“Since the Northern Emperor founded our Northern Pole Exorcism Court, countless tens of thousands of years have passed.”

“Yet there have only ever been three Saints.”

“They are called Tianpeng, Tianyou, and Yisheng.”

“Except for Great True Lord Tianpeng, the others have not yet cultivated to the level of a Great Emperor. However, each of them has personally slain opponents of that level. And not only Great Sages—if you have the means, cleaving a Great Emperor, subduing a Heavenly Venerable, or even slaying a Buddha who has fallen into demonic corruption would all count as achievements.”

“Brother Tianyou slew a Great Sage. As for Yisheng, he was originally the Demon race’s Black Fiend General, and only became a Saint after battling a Heavenly Venerable to a draw.”

“Hm? You’re asking how Great True Lord Tianpeng was granted the title of Saint?”

Taibai Star Lord burst into laughter. “Haha, because of the request of the Yuqing Great Heavenly Venerable.”

“Great True Lord Tianpeng once concealed his name and identity, slew Great Sages, trampled through Buddhist kingdoms, and subdued many Great Emperors who were trapped in their own obsessions. Only then did he qualify to be called a Saint. In those days, Tianpeng Dao Sovereign—ah, at that time his Dharma title was still Universal-Covering Heavenly Venerable—directly ascended to the Northern Pole Ziwei Star and fought the Northern Emperor.”

“After battling for a hundred years, he was finally defeated. Only then did he willingly acknowledge the Northern Emperor as his superior and consent to serve as one of his generals.”

“And the Northern Emperor, in turn, honored Great True Lord Tianpeng as the Emperor of the Azure Heavens.”

“Their titles may suggest superiority and inferiority, but in truth, they are close friends.”

“Among the various Heavenly Venerables beneath the Four Emperors, if one speaks purely of battle strength, only Miaole Heavenly Venerable, the Great Emperor Lingguan—that is, the Grandmaster Xuandu—could fight him evenly.”

“Mm, although I belong to the Central Heaven’s Northern Pole faction, speaking frankly—if the Grandmaster  Xuandu had time to prepare in advance, with his endless transformations of method and the marvels of his miraculous elixirs, the Azure Heaven Emperor would likely not be his match.”

“But if the two were to meet on a narrow road, blades drawn in close combat, then the Great Emperor Lingguan might not necessarily be a match for our Great True Lord Tianpeng.”

Taibai then sighed. “However, the Grandmaster Xuandu almost never leaves his residence in ordinary times.”

“Before he goes out, he first uses the mysterious methods of the Taishang to divine and calculate for several days before departing.”

“Whenever the Supreme Emperor of the Azure Heavens wishes to seek him out for a spar, they always just miss each other, and he manages to avoid him.”

“But the two of them seem to be extremely close and on very good terms. One often sees them drinking together. Everyone says that if the two of them were willing to join forces, and then also unite with the first disciple of the Shangqing Great Dao Sovereign, the Heavenly Venerable Taiyi, Savior from Suffering, then even the Four Emperors would find it difficult to withstand their edge.”

“Speaking of it, none of us really knows whether their relationship is genuinely that good—”

“—or if they are deliberately releasing such a signal to the Heavenly Realm.”

“To intimidate certain… things.”

Taibai’s voice paused for a moment. He then realized that the youth before him was not one of the core war generals of the Northern Pole Exorcism Court.

Subconsciously, he had treated him as a comrade-in-arms who had faced the greatest danger in this battle.

He quickly dropped the matter of these secrets of the Heavenly Realm. Instead, he laughed freely, stretched out his hand to pat the young Daoist on the shoulder, changed the subject, and joked: “Come now, Dangmo. Look—Boss Tianyou slew a Great Sage, and the Black Fiend General fought a Heavenly Venerable to a draw. That’s how they gained the title of the Saints of the Northern Pole, whose names shook the Three Realms.”

“You might as well go and slay a Buddha, or guide a Buddha Patriarch to enlightenment—round things out a bit.”

“How about becoming one of the Saints of the Northern Pole yourself?”

“Beyond Tianpeng, Tianyou, and Yisheng, we could add Dangmo.”

“That way, we’d have the Four Saints of the Northern Pole. It would also let that bunch of fellows know what it means to guard the four directions.”

The Thunder General at the side frowned and rebuked: “Investigation Envoy!”

The smile on Taibai’s face froze.

The Thunder General then said slowly to the young Daoist beside him: “You need not become attached to such things. Across the long and endless years, how many people have ever earned the title of Saint?”

“The title Saints of the Northern Pole means that—even though one is neither a Great Emperor, nor a Heavenly Venerable, nor a Great Sage—one nevertheless possesses the strength to fight them and even slay them.”

“It is not a matter of realm, but of peerless battle power and killing ability.”

“Those who blindly chase after titles often fall along the path.”

Thus, the former Taibai Star Lord could only burst into loud laughter. “Just a joke, just a joke!”

“Dangmo, don’t take it seriously, hahaha.”

“However, your body has been consumed quite severely… it needs replenishment. Otherwise, it will affect your stepping into the level of a True Person. This time, your foundation has been impacted and damaged.”

“A difference of a hair can lead to an error of a thousand miles. The reduction of your lifespan is merely the outward symptom—the real problem is that your foundation has been damaged.”

Taibai Star Lord raised a finger and pointed first at Qi Wuhuo’s brow, then at his chest.

“What we call lifespan is nothing more than xing and ming.” [TL_Note: Xing = Nature, Ming = Life]

“When lifespan is cut short—”

“—it means that both your physical and your spiritual life have been diminished. What cultivators cultivate is precisely the dual cultivation of xing and ming. Isn’t that the very foundation of the Great Dao that has been damaged?”

“Your Innate One Qi has likely been affected as well.”

“If it isn’t dealt with, there will only be one outcome—you will never, in this lifetime, cultivate to the stage of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown!”

Taibai’s expression grew solemn as he said:

“The Three Flowers represent the complete perfection of xing, ming, and the Primordial Spirit. If your foundation is damaged yet you still wish for the Three Flowers to gather at the crown, isn’t that like a cracked jar trying to hold water to the brim?”

“That’s nothing but climbing a tree to catch fish—an utterly impossible thing.”

“Just now I had you drink my wine. It was something I seized from the Great Emperor of Longevity of the Southern Pole—”

“Cough, cough… I mean asked for it. Asked for it.”

The former Five Luminaries Star Official, a man who had joined the Northern Pole Exorcism Court because he was simply too formidable in battle and who was now ranked among the Upper Immortals, put on a perfectly righteous expression and said:

“I really did ask for it. Truly.”

“If a mortal drinks it, their lifespan can be extended by ten years. If a cultivator drinks it, it can restore both xing and ming.”

“But after you drank it just now, your xing and ming showed no sign of recovery. That alone proves that the inside of your body is already in complete disrepair—even an immortal elixir like this cannot replenish it.”

“Kid, do you regret it?”

The young Daoist lifted his hand and brushed the white hair at his temples, then replied: “Perhaps when my lifespan ends a hundred years from now, I might regret it.”

“Hahaha! That means you don’t regret it now? Good lad—you’re a seed of our Northern Pole Exorcism Court.”

Taibai Star Lord took a drink and laughed loudly.

“To be honest, with the state of your foundation, even a Nine-Turn Golden Pill would be useless. That thing could at most raise your realm directly to roughly the level of an Immortal Official. You might gain a bit of carefree ease for a while, but after that, there’d be no future to speak of.”

“Anything obtained through external means inevitably comes with its own obstacles.”

“The Dao is cultivated through the self.”

“That thing merely gives you the Dao foundation of an immortal. It is indeed a terrifying and astonishing stroke of fortune—but anything that comes from outside is ultimately not truly your own. For mediocre people, it would be the greatest blessing in the world. But for people like us, it is the greatest poison under heaven!”

“Anything that obstructs my Dao path can be slain!”

“So if you wish to resolve this calamity, you must begin with yourself. It may sound difficult, but in truth, it is also somewhat simple—after all, you previously obtained merit.”

“Merit?”

“Indeed. Merit recognized by the Northern Pole Exorcism Court.”

Taibai Star Lord nodded and said: “But this merit is not from saving people or anything like that. Killing does not diminish it, and saving others does not earn it. That is because such things merely concern the myriad beings. What Jidu said earlier was extremely biased, yet in a certain sense it was also correct.”

“To Heaven, whether it is humans, grasses and trees, or even immortals and gods—there is no difference at all.”

“Life is merely the Dao giving rise to the myriad things. Death is nothing more than returning once again to the Great Thousand Worlds.”

“Whether sooner or later makes not the slightest difference.”

“Even if one slaughtered countless living beings, the Great Dao would not blame them in the least. And if one sacrificed oneself to save thousands, preserving innumerable lives, the Great Dao would not grant the slightest reward.”

“Living beings say the Dao is heartless—but why should the Dao possess feelings?”

“What people call heartlessness is merely this: beneath the vast heavens, countless sentient beings desire things they cannot obtain, wish to abandon things yet cannot let go. In their grief, fury, and despair, they have nowhere else to place the blame. So they attribute everything to fate, saying that Heaven is silent and the Dao is without emotion.”

“Even if Heaven had eyes, why should it pity you alone?”

“Even if the Dao had feelings, why should it assist you alone?”

“This merit exists because you upheld order, and it was therefore recorded within the Northern Pole Exorcism Court. That is why it is called merit toward Heaven and Earth, virtue toward living beings.”

“It is similar to yin-virtue, which is recorded among the gods of the underworld.”

“You can use it to exchange for certain rare treasures. These treasures are actually the direct transmissions of the various great Dao lineages. In truth, these merit items exist mainly to shut their mouths.”

“Even the Northern Pole Exorcism Court cannot openly hand out the secret teachings of other lineages.”

“Among them, however, there happens to be something that can repair your injuries.”

“Don’t worry—it isn’t an external object.” 

Taibai Star Lord could not help but shake his head and sigh with emotion.

“Your case really is a matter of fortunate coincidence… I have never heard of anyone at your level resolving such a calamity.”

“The merit you obtained happens to be enough to exchange for a [Qi Refining Method], with a little left over.”

“Although your five viscera and six bowels were damaged, they once contained the qi of mountain and river earth deities. Strictly speaking, your injuries could be considered the result of a Great Emperor using your body to unleash a single strike. The power of a Great Emperor is far too immense, and it washed through your organs and your foundation, shattering them.”

“Though they were shattered, they did once contain the power of that level. Naturally, there have been certain changes.”

“It is a disaster—but it may yet be turned into a blessing.”

“Hahaha! It just so happens that you could cultivate a method of this path. Let me take a look…” Taibai Star Lord took out his waist token. Streams of light shifted within it, radiating a powerful aura. Soon, several scroll-like records manifested in the air before them.

He quickly sifted through them. In the end, only three scrolls remained, each emitting endless flowing light.

The young Daoist looked over and saw the names written upon them—

[Central Heaven Northern Pole All-Heaven Stellar Qi Refinement Canon]

This was a cultivation method of the same level as the Hunyuan Sword Canon.

Yet astonishingly, it was only a Qi Refining method, and still it had reached the level of a [Canon] (典).

Taibai Star Lord pointed to it and said with a smile: “This is the method of the various Star Lords of the Northern Pole of the Central Heaven. All of their teachings are recorded here. Most of the descendants and juniors of those Star Lords cultivate this very method at the Qi Refinement stage.”

“Ordinary people refining qi cultivate only a breath of Five-Element qi. But this method takes the circumferential stars of the heavens as its foundation, inhaling and exhaling the radiance of the stars.”

“With the merit you have obtained this time, you could exchange for this method in full.”

He then pointed to another scroll. “[The True Scripture of Ziwei Imperial Qi].”

“This is a cultivation method created by the Ziwei Great Emperor.”

“He was formed from innate essence and qi, and originally did not possess the level of Innate One Qi. Later, however, the Great Emperor reversed the Great Dao and rewrote this scripture. It is a direct transmission of the Four Emperors.”

“Most of the Emperor’s relatives cultivate this method. It possesses boundless nobility and splendor. It can draw upon the qi of the stars of the heavens as support, and it can also summon purple qi to protect the body.”

“You would not even need to activate it consciously—most qi-reading or fate-observing techniques would simply fail against you.”

“If you choose this one, the merit you obtained this time would probably be enough to exchange for the method up to the level of a True Person.”

“Personally, I recommend this one.”

“Within it there are chapters on the Eleven Luminaries. Two of them—[Refining the Form through Taiyin(Great Moon)] and [Refining the Spirit through Taiyang(Great Sun)]—could completely repair your injuries.”

“By using the constellations of the heavens to replenish yourself, you could rebuild your human foundation after its destruction.”

“The human race is merely one part of the myriad beings, and is ultimately frail. With this, you could undergo a complete rebirth and transformation.”

He then pointed to the final scroll and said: “Mm… this one.”

“I don’t recommend you choose it.”

“Why?”

Taibai Star Lord sighed. “Because it is far too expensive, and almost no one has ever succeeded in cultivating it. More importantly, even if one succeeds, it only returns you to the original state of humanity—what is called returning to the root and following nature.”

“This scripture has been placed here for seventeen thousand years. Many people have exchanged for it, but none have gained anything. They only wasted the hundreds of years of merit they had accumulated.”

“What a waste!”

The young Daoist looked over curiously.

It was an ancient jade book.

There was no distinction like “true scripture” or “canon”.

There were only four simple characters written upon it:

[Primordial Ancestral Qi] (元始祖炁)