177: Chapter 177 The Cycle of Heaven, Earth, and Man, Extraordinary Ecology, the Possibility of the Golden Core

The three felt a chill in their hearts upon hearing the Incarnation's warning, realizing that their journey thus far had been too smooth, inevitably leading to an imbalance in their mental states; these words served to cool their heads.

Of course, the Incarnation had determined this goal upon the first contact with the job-change stone; since it was a rare opportunity to start over, naturally, it was necessary to climb to higher scenery and pursue that endless Great Dao.

Following this, the Incarnation began to expound upon its own Dao.

First, it was to expound on the classification of the various paths of cultivation.

"To practice my Dao of Primordial Qi, one must divide it into the three paths of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity."

"The Path of Heaven is the cornerstone of all things; it comprises the five elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, or the Eight Trigrams of Heaven, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Marsh; it can also include the Great Universe paths that possess specific physical imagery, such as Yin and Yang, the Four Symbols, and the stars."

"This path is the most extensive and obvious; different Transcendent systems have different understandings of it. Some interpret it as Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire; others as matter, energy, and information; and still others as Heaven and Earth Qi, Innate Wondrous Qi, or Primordial One Qi. Transcendent paths that gather concepts in this way to expound upon the Great Dao are the smoothest for advancement, as they have the Great Universe as a reference."

"But I believe that after this, there must also be the Path of Earth and the Path of Humanity, to divide the world of the deceased among all sentient beings from the real world of mortals."

"Beneath the Path of Heaven, numerous living beings are born; the place where death, souls, and spirits return to rest can be the Netherworld Realm. It serves the purpose of gathering all departed souls, yin spirits, Netherworld ghosts and deities, and handling reincarnation. It processes those souls who died unjustly, died with grievances, or died in battle, either helping them reincarnate as humans or, through various punishments within the Netherworld Realm, washing away their sins before they can have a future life. Such realms have the function of bearing yin dregs, filtering the Transcendent pollution of the world, and promoting self-circulation."

"Above this, Buddhism, Daoism, religious sects, and others have put considerable effort into this Path of Earth. Now that the Path of Earth has only recently been born, it still requires many Transcendent systems to assist in handling Netherworld affairs. Only by banishing those evil ghosts and fierce souls lingering in the reality dimension into the Netherworld prison can the world have peace."

Daoist Master Sumu, Master Yi Xiu, and Saint Laiye nodded in agreement, deeply understanding this.

"Besides this, there is the Path of Humanity, composed of the concepts, emotions, will, fortune, and destiny of all sentient and intelligent beings."

"For example, martial arts systems involving the will develop Human Path Transcendence based on one's own consciousness and the principles of laws. Confucianism writes chapters on principles, condenses life-bound characters, and expounds on the relationships between people, and between humans and the universe and nature. These paths expounded by intelligent beings all fall into this category."

"These types of Transcendent paths focus on experiencing the mortal world, comprehending the Great Dao among intelligent beings, completing the Path of Humanity, and assisting the entire human civilization in striving upward. Even the various concepts of the mortal world that arise from this, such as the seven emotions and six desires, greed, hatred, ignorance, wisdom, and spirit, are all included here."

"Given this, many Transcendent systems should ascend based on the foundation of the Path of Heaven, creating an environment for the growth of the other two paths, thereby complementing and accelerating development; only in this way can the Transcendent system of the entire civilization have the opportunity to develop healthily and continue to grow stronger."

Except for Savage, everyone present had some understanding of the theory of the three paths of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.

Even several Transcendents from the sects were more familiar with this than the Incarnation, but the Incarnation reclassified the three paths from a higher perspective and pointed out the corresponding specific things and Transcendent systems, which far exceeded their capabilities and understanding.

Naturally, they attached great importance to this; this was not just the theory of the three paths of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, but a detailed description of the positioning and roles of various Transcendent systems under these three paths.

This grand framework included all systems and set a common goal: to push the Transcendent development of the entire civilization forward; it can be said that this is a guiding theory for the Transcendent world.

Ye Tianli spoke up at this moment, explaining to the few Transcendents who did not quite understand the importance: "Simply put, Master has established a complete Transcendent ecosystem self-circulation theory where the Path of Heaven is the producer, the Path of Humanity is the consumer, and the Path of Earth is the decomposer."

However, unlike the other Transcendents who were still a bit slow to react, Savage gasped after listening in detail.

He was shocked that the Incarnation could so quickly come up with a guiding theory to handle the various problems of Transcendent systems.

If this theory were used as a guide to execute, there would be hope that upon reaching a certain peak of development, one could draw wisdom from it and seek the opportunity to attain a higher stage.

Subsequently, he thought with some envy and jealousy: "It is a pity, however, that this kind of opportunity only exists for those who propose such theories and execute them; the complete laws born from this will only favor this person and cannot be forced. But then again, if Transcendents from other systems could plunder at will, that would contradict the principle of the Great Universe requiring more diverse Transcendent systems. This kind of reward will only truly go to those lives that promote major development of Transcendent systems."

Immediately, the Incarnation began to speak about its own understanding of the Five Elements Dao Foundation.

"The so-called Dao Foundation carries one's own Dao."

"Among cultivators, it can be the [Heavenly River Water]; in martial arts, it can be the [True Martial Celestial Dharma Sword]; among wizards, it can be a first-ring [Fire — Energy] innate spell; in arcane arts, it can be an [Arcane Rule Calculation Array]; and so on. In the end, it is still carrying the Transcendent law runes we have comprehended and envisioned, or rather, the path we ourselves are cultivating."

"Based on this, by carrying it through various different methods, one can ascend to Transcendent Life; after this, it is a matter of constantly completing one's own flaws and expanding the grade of one's life-bound magical artifact, Dao Foundation minor divine abilities, innate abilities, spells, and so on."

"And 2 to 3 are middle grade, while 4 to 5 are high grade. Only after cultivating to perfection can one use the power of the Dao Foundation to refine the Yin Spirit, elevate the Purple Mansion, and cut off delusions; only then is there a sliver of opportunity to advance to the middle stage."

"From then on, casting the Dharma Body and refining the Purple Mansion Divine Ability is the only way to be considered a Zifu True Person."

Subsequently, the Incarnation used exquisite control to demonstrate its [Return-to-One Heavenly River] Purple Mansion Divine Ability to everyone in the hall.

One could see starlight falling from an infinitely high place, and rootless water merging into the starlight to form a Silver Milky Way, coiling in the air of the hall, with countless knowledge of the Water-type Dao displayed within it.

The powers of laws such as nourishing vegetation, the intersection of water and fire, vitality, extinction, and sealing circulated and evolved.

The Incarnation tapped lightly, and immediately this divine ability expanded sharply, enveloping everyone, including Savage.

"Hearing is not as good as seeing, and seeing is not as good as experiencing it personally. Everyone, enter my divine ability and clearly feel the operation of the laws within it."

As soon as everyone entered the Heavenly River and was wrapped by the Heavenly River Water, they felt an extremely strong sealing ability, which blocked their spiritual power from perceiving outside the body, and even their defensive force fields were forced back to the surface of their bodies.

Even Savage, when not using his own [Spirit-Suppressing Azure Sky Tower], had most of his spiritual perception sealed, and could only observe the mysteries within with his naked eyes.