Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 540: Chapter 326: The Cause_2

With this, both the demon and monster paths established their own factions—one as the Hundred Thousand Demon Nation, the other as the Nine Serene Demon Abyss—contending against the Heavenly Court for supremacy. Besides them, there were the Buddhist Pure Land, the Confucian Academy, and other portals of Tao lineages from Ancient Immortal Gods, which constituted the “hundred schools of thought” turbulent era.

Although the Heavenly Court was strong, it was not supremely dominant and often had to engage in warfare against the demons and monsters. It also had to allocate resources to protect its own foundations and suppress the turmoil occurring throughout the Earth Immortal Realm in order to maintain its rule.

In such a situation, even the formidable Heavenly Court sometimes found itself stretched thin, lacking sufficient strength. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

During times of war, the turnover rate for mid and low-level cultivators would become extremely fast, forcing the various departments of the Heavenly Court to train a large number of cultivators every year and recruit all manner of talents to withstand the military pressure from the Hundred Thousand Demon Nation and the Nine Serene Demon Abyss.

And here lies the problem!

Resisting demons and monsters, fending off external enemies, is naturally justified and beyond reproach.

But in this world, many things do not adhere to reason, they do not differentiate between right or wrong, they do not regard black and white.

If not reason, then what?

Interest!

Human nature!

The major powers of the Earth Immortal Realm, the cultivator factions, although they have inherited the Tao lineage of the Ancient Immortal Gods and even carried the name “Heavenly Court,” they have not inherited the stringent nature of the Ancient Immortal Gods’ cultivation, moral integrity, but have rather skewed towards the law-of-the-jungle ethos prevalent in the current Cultivation World.

Such a system, such an ecology, how should I put it… is very unfavorable for unity!

Using the public for personal gain is the norm.

Nepotism is even more common sense.

Rewards and punishments are unjust; laws are not upheld.

It is only natural for human hearts to waver.

In the face of the threat from the Demonic World, the Wandao School was able to mobilize the entire world’s power, drawing on the resources, manpower, and materials of billions of cultivators, and even prohibiting something as significant for the future as ascension with a single order. What did it rely on?

One, centralized power, formidable suppression.

Two, fairness and clarity, established laws.

Three, moral cultivation, integrity of the people’s hearts.

It was these factors that united the billions of cultivators of the Wandao School as one, working together to fight a common enemy!

The idea of “valuing selfish interests on the Immortal Path,” does not work in the Wandao School; Xu Yang has always rejected such notions and has been even more severe in cracking down on Evil Path Cultivation Methods, not tolerating even a hint of emergence, because you cannot expect a group of Evil Path cultivators, who advocate “every man for himself, with heaven and earth against them,” to drive overall development and unite to resist external threats.

Such things as Evil Cultivators, he despises even himself!

The Heavenly Court of the Earth Immortal Realm, although not as far gone as the Evil Cultivators, isn’t much better. Selfishness within people’s hearts and fear of battle is normal.

What’s even more fatal is that this normalcy exists not just below, but above as well; it is the result of trickle-down behavior.

The five great Emperors, the five major factions, have always practiced nepotism and even engaged in open and secret struggles to eliminate dissidents.

The strife amongst the factions and the fights over self-interest have reached an extremely severe point.

When a power is riven with internal strife, it invariably leads to external disrespect and a collapsing situation.

Therefore, in recent years, the Heavenly Court has gradually fallen into a disadvantage in the wars against the Hundred Thousand Demon Nation and the Nine Serene Demon Abyss, and has had to form alliances with Fengdu Underworld, the Four Seas Dragon Palace, and has also had the watchful support of Buddhism.

What, demons and monsters don’t have internal disputes?

Of course, they do, but their ecological system allows their kings absolute domination over the lower ranks.

The kings among the demons and monsters can forcibly command the hordes to throw themselves into the battlefield, unconcerned about life or death.

Can the Heavenly Court do that?

Clearly not, even if they were to use unrighteous methods to constrain the lower-level cultivators and coerce them into the battlefield, it would only lead to even greater unrest among the people, causing everyone to feel endangered and ultimately leading to dissolution.

Thus, for nearly ten thousand years, the Heavenly Court’s situation has become increasingly difficult.

At this moment, the ascended cultivators from the Wandao School came into the view of the upper echelons of the Heavenly Court.

The Earth Immortal Realm is connected to the Upper Realm, with many Lower Realms linked below, above which there is an “Ascension Platform” specially designed to welcome the ascended cultivators from the Lower Realms.

These cultivators, having ascended from the Lower Realms, have no foundation in the Earth Immortal Realm and lack the support of True Immortal powers to stand by them.

Therefore, the Heavenly Court can treat them as cannon fodder without any scruples, sending them into the most dangerous battlefields, or using them like beasts of burden, exploiting them at will.

The “Celestial Soldiers” of the various Heavenly Court departments come from this lot, doing the most hazardous jobs and the most strenuous tasks without receiving corresponding rewards, to the point where even their own cultivation becomes untenable. Their cultivation dissipates as if they had just awakened until nothing remains and they hold no further value.

This is how the Heavenly Court treats ascended cultivators, which is only slightly better than how Demon Evil Cultivators treat their slaves, and even that is debatable for some.

In the face of this, the ascended cultivators also wanted to rebel, but they lacked background, foundation, and their cultivation strength was far from sufficient. How could they rebel? They had no choice but to accept their fate.

The ascended cultivators of the Wandao School were also among them, but unlike the ascended cultivators from other regions, the cultivators from the Wandao School generally possessed strong combat capabilities and had the skill of Heavenly Crafts Natural Creation. They could control Spirit-Treasure Mech Armor, allowing them to contend with Deity Transformation cultivators, even with only a Nascent Soul.

Although the ascended cultivators from the Wandao School were not foolish and intended to hide their talents and bide their time after understanding the situation in the Heavenly Court, it was inevitable that some of the three thousand ascended cultivators would be exposed in such an environment.

And the result of being exposed was like “a child holding gold in a bustling market!”

The upper echelons of the Heavenly Court were extremely interested in the skills of Heavenly Mechanics, and therefore demanded that the Academy Monks hand them over.

Before ascending, Xu Yang had instructed them to prioritize their own safety above all and that all external possessions could be forsaken. Therefore, the ascended cultivators from the Wandao School did not hold back much, promptly contributing the Heavenly Mechanics Methods and Spirit-Treasure Mech Armor.

However…

Human desires are like abysses, insatiable with greed and anger!

After the Academy Monks contributed the Heavenly Crafts Natural Creation Skill, there were some within the Heavenly Court who suspected that the skill was incomplete, lacking the superior Immortal Spirit part that works with Spiritual Treasures, and even doubted that the Academy Monks were hiding more extraordinary skills.

As a result, they resorted to soul-searching techniques on some Academy Monks!

Although the soul-searching confirmed that the Academy Monks had not concealed anything and that the complete Heavenly Crafts Natural Creation Skill had been handed over,

that was not the focus for the Heavenly Court. The real focus lay with the Wandao School and Xu Yang, the Taoist Master!

Through the soul-searching of the Academy Monks, they learned of the existence of the Wandao School and uncovered many secrets about Xu Yang.

Subsequently, it stirred the covetous desires and awakened the wild ambitions in them!

You must know, even ten thousand years ago before the prohibition of ascension matters, the population under the rule of the Wandao School had reached an astonishing three hundred billion, and most of them were cultivators. They had achieved the magnificent feat of “everyone being as dragons, heralding an era of widespread cultivation.”

A Lower Realm, with three hundred billion people, most of whom were cultivators, represented an enormous force.

Not to mention that the Wandao School had gathered the strength of the world and the wisdom of the masses, deducing Heavenly Mechanics Methods and various types of development, with terrifying potential for growth. Simply investing a bit of resources from their Upper Realm Heavenly Court, like related high-grade methods, would yield astonishing returns.

This was the potential deduced from cultivation and the power of population. By contributing some resources to assist the Academy Monks in ascension, the Heavenly Court would gain a formidable force at their disposal. Coupled with the Spirit-Treasure Mech Armor deployed on the battlefield, they could significantly alleviate the pressure brought by the Hundred Thousand Demon Nation and the Nine Serene Demon Abyss.

Beyond that, there was Xu Yang!

As the master of the Ten Thousand Dao, he had ruled for over twenty thousand years. Relying on the Earth Deities’ cultivation method and skill characteristics, he still remained in the prime of life, ageless and undying, as if he had already obtained the Longevity Dao Fruit.

The Wandao School’s development to such an extent was partially thanks to the Earth Deities’ cultivation method which allowed one to fabricate a Divine Soul, and another part was due to him as the Taoist Master. Utilizing his skill characteristics, he supported agricultural production, filled the gap in supplies, and met the needs of cultivation.

Being able to create such a foundation in a Lower Realm bereft of spiritual opportunities during the Five Calamities Turbid Age and to have persisted for ten thousand years without dying, all these factors, high and low, inside and out, carried the implication of “Heaven Reaching Destiny.”

This man must surely possess precious treasures.

Such treasures must be obtained by us.

This was the recognition and attitude of the Heavenly Court towards Xu Yang.

Thus, Xiao Qingyun and others arrived, holding what they claimed to be the Heavenly Court’s Jade Decree, promising him all kinds of imperial titles, and then asking him to travel to the Upper Realm to take up a post. This was their way of luring the tiger out of the mountain in order to seize the opportunity on him and the foundation of the Wandao School.

This was the background and context of the entire affair.

Is this tolerable? Who could stand for this?!