Chương 50: Refining the Heart in the Mortal World

"Guang Chengzi, you have always believed in the supremacy of origin and looked down on creatures of low origin."

"Today, I will seal your cultivation and transform you into a snake spirit with a thousand years of cultivation, allowing you to enter the mortal world and spread the great Dao of my Xuanmen. Once you have accumulated three thousand merits, the restrictions on you will naturally be lifted."

The voice of the Tongtian Sect Leader slowly emanated, and the words of the sage became law, as golden sacred runes drilled into Guang Chengzi's brow.

Upon seeing this, Guang Chengzi felt an overwhelming sense of fear.

He never expected that the Tongtian Sect Leader would pull such a stunt. What he didn't expect even more was that the Primordial Celestial Venerable would watch as the Tongtian Sect Leader demoted him to a creature with fur and horns, born from a wet egg.

But under the majesty of the sage, he dared not say or do anything.

He realized that he had misjudged the relationship between the Three Pure Ones.

The Three Pure Ones are not merely three brothers; they are three holy deities with distinct personalities, differentiated from the primordial spirit of Pangu.

The Three Pure Ones are one, the Three Teachings are one family, and each disciple of the Three Teachings is not only a disciple of their own teacher, but also a disciple of the other Two Pure Ones.

If the Tongtian Sect Master wants to punish him, the Primordial Heavenly Lord will not stand up to protect him.

Sure enough, the next moment, the voice of Yuanshi Tianzun also came from the hall.

"Duobao, since you attained enlightenment, you have taught the world to 'repay evil with kindness and suffer losses as blessings.' Now, I will seal all your cultivation and cast you into the cycle of reincarnation to experience a thousand lifetimes of suffering."

"In this thousand lifetimes, you will suffer endless losses and hardships. If you can guide all those who insult you, slander you, deceive you, and laugh at you back to the right path in these thousand lifetimes, you will have rendered a great service to our Xuanmen."

Immediately afterwards, the power of the Primordial Celestial Venerable entered the body of the Daoist Duobao, imprisoning all of his magical power.

Despair filled Duobao Daoren's eyes. He taught the world in the name of "it's better to do less trouble than more trouble."

If everyone could forgive those who oppressed and persecuted them, the world would immediately be at peace, and the things his junior brothers and sisters did would seem unremarkable.

Who would have thought that his visit to Bajing Palace would lead him into the crossfire of the Three Pure Ones?

The Tongtian Sect Leader might be reluctant to punish him severely, but the Primordial Heavenly Lord showed no mercy.

"Go then, you two should cultivate yourselves well and not waste this opportunity."

A beam of azure light descended, enveloping the two and transporting them to their intended destination.

Inside the hall, Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu were heavy-hearted. Guangchengzi and Duobao Daoren were their most beloved disciples. Usually, if anyone dared to bully them, the two of them would definitely step in to seek justice.

But now, they have to watch helplessly as their disciples fall into calamity.

The Supreme Sage closed his eyes and sighed softly, his Daoist voice as gentle as a spring breeze and soothing rain.

"Second brother, third brother, it's not that we're heartless, but it's just that without removing the demonic obstacles, it's difficult to achieve the Great Dao."

"Duobao is hypocritical and deceitful, and Guangchengzi is deeply obsessed. The two of them are already the root of the discord between the Chan and Jie sects. If they are not enlightened, they will surely become a great calamity for the Xuanmen sect in the future, and may even trigger a deadly battle between the great sects of the sages, causing great suffering to the people."

"Brother is absolutely right." The Tongtian Sect Leader's voice deepened slightly.

"My disciple appears to be indifferent to worldly affairs and magnanimous, but in reality, he harbors a lust for power. His indulgence of the sect's disciples in their misdeeds is merely to protect his own position and has nothing to do with seizing any chance of survival."

"Hopefully, a thousand lifetimes of suffering will allow him to slightly realize his mistakes."

The Master of the Heavenly Sect said this, but deep down he wasn't sure either.

No one knows a disciple better than his master. Tongtian Jiaozhu watched Duobao Daoren grow up, and he knew Duobao Daoren's true nature better than anyone else.

Daoist Duobao was not truly evil, but rather hypocritical. His kindness was all an act.

The Tongtian Sect Leader didn't expose him because he felt that Duobao Daoist's willingness to pretend to be a benevolent god and his ability to restrain himself from causing trouble were commendable.

Yuanshi Tianzun gazed in the direction where Guangchengzi had disappeared, a hint of sadness flashing in his eyes.

Guang Chengzi was the head disciple of Yuxu Palace, whom he had carefully cultivated for many years, placing high hopes on. Unexpectedly, his favoritism fostered an arrogant and haughty personality in Guang Chengzi.

"My disciples at Yuxu Sect have always cultivated morality and valued the Dao, yet I have produced a stubborn disciple who is arrogant and looks down on all living beings."

The Primordial Celestial Venerable spoke slowly, his tone tinged with a hint of melancholy.

"Only by transforming him into a snake spirit and personally experiencing the suffering of birds and beasts can he understand the principle of equality among all beings and that the Tao resides in the heart, not in form. The three thousand merits are not punishment, but an opportunity for him to rebuild his Tao heart."

The Supreme Sage nodded slightly, and the Mysterious Mirror shone brightly, displaying two images: In the desolate mountains, Guang Chengzi was being chased by a group of human Qi cultivators.

Guang Chengzi couldn't understand why these human Qi cultivators were chasing after him when he hadn't done anything.

Did he want to become a snake spirit? He didn't want to, but he had no choice!

At this moment, Guang Chengzi began to understand a little of the helplessness of beings who cultivated themselves into immortals from the bodies of birds and beasts.

Yuanshi Tianzun nodded in satisfaction as he watched this scene.

Guang Chengzi was, after all, his disciple, so of course he wouldn't let anything happen to Guang Chengzi.

On the other side, Daoist Duobao has already been reincarnated in the small world.

The flow of time in the small world is much faster than in the primordial world.

The first reincarnation of Daoist Duobao was in a farming family with some property. His father was a cripple and his mother was mentally challenged. The family relied on his grandparents to manage the household.

However, when Duobao Daoren was six years old, his grandparents fell ill from overwork and both passed away.

Without a pillar to support them, the land and houses of the Duobao Dao family were all taken back by the clan, and they were forced to move to a thatched hut.

Daoist Duobao was so angry he wanted to kill someone, but when he remembered what Yuanshi Tianzun had said, he didn't dare to do it anymore.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable said that Daoist Duobao should guide those who had deceived and humiliated him back to the righteous path.

In the past, Daoist Duobao felt great saying such things to his followers, but now that it's his turn to do it, he's very unhappy.

In his second life, he was born into a wealthy family but was kidnapped and turned into a beggar. He was torn apart by vicious dogs and spat on by passersby, his broken bowl filled with spittle and leftovers.

In his third life, he was a scholar who studied diligently for ten years, only to be impersonated by a powerful figure. He was then falsely accused of cheating, imprisoned, and subjected to torture.

The fourth generation, the fifth generation... the tenth generation.

In every lifetime, he suffered greatly; in every lifetime, there were people who deceived him, insulted him, slandered him, and laughed at him.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable and the Tongtian Sect Master each sent out their divine thoughts to silently observe their disciples.

Occasionally, they would even transform into calamities to teach their disciples through words and deeds.

They realized that one cannot enlighten people with just words. Occasionally, people need to experience things and learn the great principles from those experiences.

You can't learn something just by being taught; you can learn it after just one lesson.