My name is Huang Tian, ​​what the hell is this "Heaven is dead" nonsense?

Chapter 44 A Thousand Years of Observation

Dinner was at a restaurant called "Miyue" on the campus of Changda University. The food there wasn't expensive, not much different from other restaurants, but it was delicious and well-known among teachers and students.

When Huang Tian and his two companions arrived at the restaurant, it was already filled with young students. Feng Zechun found a corner to sit down with ease and ordered eight dishes: braised beef and potato, loofah and clams, dry pot pork intestines, stir-fried squid, and minced meat baked eggs... Most of them were hearty dishes, but the flavors were a bit strong, which Xu Kaizhi, a native of Jiangsu Province, was not used to.

However, Xu Kaizhi had been in Jiangxi Province for a long time and could barely eat salty and spicy food, but he had to drink water all the time, which made Feng Zechun tease him for a while.

After dinner, the three parted ways. Huang Tian took a taxi back to his apartment after leaving the school. As for the paper, which had not yet been submitted, Feng Zechun still needed to help revise the paper's format.

What's particularly annoying during the submission process is that reviewers often nitpick about minor issues in the paper's format and writing style. Even when the paper is perfectly correct, they still insist on sending it back for revision. Feng Zechun himself is an editorial board member of a domestic journal, so he is very familiar with these details. After he makes the revisions, the paper is submitted again, and the format and writing style are generally not subject to criticism.

After returning to his apartment, Huang Tian quickly washed up, then sat cross-legged, his consciousness returning to the world of the late Han Dynasty.

In Luoyang, in a palace room of the imperial palace.

Huang Tian slowly opened his eyes, and a feeling of completeness immediately welled up in his heart. He looked inward and saw that the purple light sphere was emitting a harmonious and natural charm.

"Eight months have passed since the four provinces of Jing, Yang, Yi, and Jiao nominally submitted to the Dao Court. In these eight months, all thirteen provinces of the realm have truly come under the Dao Court's control. No wonder this sphere of light has reached its full perfection..."

Huang Tian thought to himself, "It's time to see what it really is!"

His consciousness gently touched the purple sphere of light, and in an instant, immeasurable purple light burst forth, engulfing Huang Tian's sea of ​​consciousness like a surging ocean.

Huang Tian felt a blur before his eyes, and a seed engraved with mysterious runes leaped out of his sea of ​​consciousness, swirling with a faint purple light in mid-air. Then, the seed suddenly burst open and transformed into a stream that was tens of miles long. The stream grew longer and wider, with the sound of rushing water, and finally it became a mighty river that stretched for hundreds of millions of miles, with endless white waves.

Huang Tian felt himself suddenly grow to be tens of millions of feet tall, sitting cross-legged on the vast river like the Jade Emperor in the heavens, looking down and quietly observing all the scenes in the river.

As the long river surged on, figures and scenes appeared one after another.

The first scene that appears is Huang Tian imparting his teachings to Zhang Jiao and ten others. Then, Huang Tian breaks through the tribulation and "ascends to heaven," leaving this world amidst the respectful farewells of countless people.

After his departure, Zhang Jiao, who was Huang Tian’s only nominally direct disciple, cultivated himself while governing the world based on the knowledge left by Huang Tian. In just sixty years, the Daoist court’s technologies such as iron smelting, papermaking, gunpowder, and animal husbandry have greatly improved.

Farmers across the land could afford iron farming tools, and the use of iron plows and oxen for plowing became increasingly widespread. Paper was no longer a precious item that only the wealthy could afford, but gradually entered the homes of ordinary people.

Zhang Jiao's rule was remarkably effective, but by this time, he was nearly 120 years old and frail, and he could never cross the threshold from the ninth level of Qi Refining to the Foundation of Dao.

It's not fair to blame him for not being diligent enough. It took him sixty years to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining, and his Qi, blood, and spirit were completely depleted. The key point is that before Huang Tian ascended to heaven, he only passed down the first six levels of the Qi Gathering chapter of the "Zhen Yue Ling Jing". The last three levels were completely missing!

Therefore, over the decades, cultivators throughout the world inevitably encounter obstacles after reaching the sixth level of Qi Refining.

What if there's no way forward?
There was no other way but to clear the way! Numerous cultivators gathered in Luoyang, studying and exploring the subsequent cultivation methods of the "Zhenyue Lingjing" day and night. It took them a full twenty years to barely complete the first nine levels of the Qi Gathering chapter, which also delayed Zhang Jiao for twenty years.

As he grew old and was about to die, and with successors to govern the world, Zhuge Liang, Zhou Yu, He Ting, Qin Xun, Xun Yu and others serving in the government, all possessing great talent in governing the country, Zhang Jiao felt at ease and decided to take a gamble and break through to the Dao Foundation realm!

The result was as expected.

Failed.

His spiritual energy dissipated, his meridians were severed, and his internal organs decayed, yet Zhang Jiao laughed loudly several times, ordering his insights from his breakthrough to the Dao Foundation to be recorded for future generations.

After Zhang Jiao's death, his younger brother Zhang Liang became the Great Teacher of Virtue, but he only served for ten years before passing the position to He Ting, intending to break through to the Dao foundation in the final stage of his life.

He Ting was the youngest son of the chieftain He Yi. He was born intelligent and could recite poems at the age of seven. After being taught the method of cultivating immortality, he devoted himself to cultivation, but tragically discovered that he had extremely poor aptitude. Disheartened, he focused on studying strategies for governing the world and made considerable progress.

After taking over the responsibility of the Great Teacher of Virtue from Zhang Liang, he worked diligently and created a new era. Literature flourished throughout the land, the imperial examination system completely replaced the recommendation system, a variant of the recommendation system for filial piety and incorruptibility, and the channels for selecting talents in the Daoist court became broader and more comprehensive...

In the cultivation world, Zhang Liang, Zhang Bao, He Yi, Huang Shao, Tian Feng, Lu Zhi, and others all fell at the Dao Foundation Abyss, and many others with even worse aptitude didn't even have the chance to see the abyss.

In a time of utter silence, Zhuge Liang, who was over a hundred years old, was deeply moved after reading the notes left by Zhang Jiao, Zhang Liang, Tian Feng and others who had failed to break through. His soul went to the depths of the void, and he sat in meditation all night. When dawn broke, he suddenly let out a long roar and broke through to the Dao Foundation realm, becoming the first Dao Foundation Ancestor in the world!

After Zhuge Liang's breakthrough, he did not keep his knowledge to himself and preached the Dao in Luoyang, benefiting many people. Ten years later, Zhou Gongjin successfully broke through and became the second Dao Foundation Ancestor. He also preached the Dao in Luoyang, which was praised by the world. Zhuge Liang and Zhou Gongjin were called "the two brilliant strategists of the same time".

With the experience passed down by these two individuals, over the next three hundred years, more and more people broke through to the Dao Foundation Realm, and various cultivation methods and Daoist arts gradually became more abundant. Xie An compiled the "Water Element Wonderful Scripture," Tao Yuanming created the "Spirit Wood Azure Flower Scripture," and Liu Yu created the "Great Evolution Golden Qi"...

Of course, Zhuge Liang created the most cultivation techniques, Taoist arts, and immortal skills, such as the Heavenly Eight Trigrams Formation, the Spirit Puppet Mechanism Technique, the Spirit Sealing Formation, the Cloud and Rain Technique, and the Initial Understanding of Talismans...

It can be said that Zhuge Liang single-handedly pioneered most of the cultivation system in this world. Unfortunately, no matter how talented he was, he ultimately fell before the Golden Core realm.

Over the centuries, countless cultivators have failed to break through to the Golden Core stage, and the notes they left behind have filled several palaces...

Until one day, an old man named Wu Daozi painted the "Portrait of the Divine Infant Descending to Earth and Beloved by the Central Yellow Supreme One," which was later hailed as an immortal work. He entered the Dao through painting and immediately proved his attainment of the Golden Elixir!
On the day he achieved the Golden Elixir, cultivators from all over the world gathered in Luoyang to celebrate. Wu Daozi sat high on a cloud, with a painting proving his Dao hanging beside him. His clear voice echoed for dozens of miles, and the rosy light obscured the sun. He appeared like an immortal or a god manifesting his divine power...

As time passed, more than two hundred years went by. The Xuandao sect flourished, with five great cultivators of the Golden Core stage, hundreds of Dao Foundation Ancestors, and over ten thousand minor cultivators of the Qi Refining stage.

They co-authored the Mysterious Scripture of the Subtle Methods, nine chapters on the Golden Elixir, three hundred chapters on the Foundation of the Dao, and countless chapters on Qi Gathering...

(End of this chapter)