Chapter 2 Secrets of the Three Realms (Part 2)

A look of recollection appeared in Bodhi's eyes, and he said softly, "Let me begin with the chaos. Before the ancient era was born, the region that is now our Three Realms was a vast chaos. The chaos itself was wondrous beyond measure, and it began to gestate one after another of the Ancestral Gods, True Gods, and Celestial Gods. Because of their origins, they were honored as the Chaos Ancestral Gods, Chaos True Gods, and Chaos Celestial Gods."

"Ancestral Gods?" Ji Ning was shocked as soon as his master spoke.

"The Dao contained within this heaven and earth is divided into ten Grand Daos, eighty-one Greater Daos, and one hundred and eight thousand Lesser Daos," said Bodhi. "The ten Ancestral Gods were all born with mastery over a Grand Dao. They are: Pangu, who was born comprehending the Chaos Dao; Nuwa, who was born comprehending the Life Dao; Fuxi, who was born comprehending the Destruction Dao; the Phoenix, who was born comprehending the Yin Grand Dao; and the Ancestral Dragon, who was born comprehending the Yang Grand Dao. As for the other five elemental Grand Daos, they belong to the Fire God Zhurong, the Water God Gonggong, the Metal God Rushou, the Wood God Goumang, and the Earth God Houtu."

"These ten... were all beings born with mastery over a Grand Dao. Among them, Pangu was the most revered!"

Bodhi looked at Ji Ning. "Disciple, it seems you have many doubts."

"Yes, Master. I have never heard of these Ancestral Gods before," Ji Ning said in astonishment. "I had thought that True Gods were the ultimate."

"Very few in the Three Realms know of them, and I will explain the reason slowly later. Pangu, Nuwa, and the others are different from us. They were born with mastery over a Grand Dao, and their power is thus a cut above ours," said Bodhi. "Within the chaos, there were also born many True Gods who mastered a Greater Dao at birth. Among them are your master, and also Sanshou, Chiming, as well as Sanqing Daoist, the Buddha Tathagata, and the Buddha Dipankara—all of them are True Gods."

"Next in rank are the one hundred and eight thousand Celestial Gods, who were born with mastery over a single ordinary Dao."

Bodhi continued, "These are the Ancestral Gods, True Gods, and Celestial Gods born from the chaos."

"The most honored and powerful among them was Pangu, who mastered the Chaos Dao. Though Pangu was immensely powerful, he was also fated by destiny," Bodhi said with emotion. "His birth-fate was to split the heavens. Pangu was the last to be born. As soon as he emerged, he wielded the Pangu Axe, split heaven and earth, and even burned his own life force, ultimately dying. Yet he created this vast and magnificent ancient Pangu World."

"After heaven and earth were split... the ancient Pangu World began to gestate many lives. These were born from heaven and earth, with the strongest reaching the Celestial God level, and the weakest at least at the Xiantian level."

Ji Ning listened intently.

"Heaven and earth were born, and everything was wondrous. We who came from the chaos were filled with curiosity about everything," Bodhi said with feeling. "Some claimed territories as leaders, others lived in seclusion... As more and more lives were born within the ancient Pangu World, that ancient world became increasingly splendid. Figures like Sanshou, and even several Ancestral Gods, established their own kingdoms, began to struggle, and even engaged in life-and-death battles."

Ji Ning nodded.

For their own ambitions, war was only natural.

"Many great powers also created Qi Refining techniques for the countless lives of the ancient world," Bodhi said. "The Buddha Tathagata, for instance, specially created the Buddhist techniques, which can be considered a form of Qi Refining. Thus, one after another of the True Gods of that time, including myself, Tathagata, and others, successively cultivated in Qi Refining and became Daofathers."

"Nuwa was the first to break through," Bodhi said. "With great perseverance and great wisdom, Nuwa comprehended the two Grand Daos of Yin and Yang, and then created the human race. After mastering both Yin and Yang Grand Daos, her power soared. It was then that the ancients realized that by comprehending opposing Grand Daos, one's power could reach a new level."

"Thus, the great powers of the ancient world all went into seclusion to cultivate, but they discovered that after comprehending one Grand Dao, it was extremely difficult to comprehend its opposite. For example, one who had comprehended the Life Dao would find it hard to comprehend the Destruction Dao, as the original Life Dao would strongly interfere and obstruct... making it impossible to gain insight."

"For a very long time, aside from Nuwa, no one else comprehended an opposing Grand Dao," Bodhi said.

"Later... Sanqing Daoist appeared."

"Sanqing Daoist, also a Chaos True God by origin, was originally called Yuanshi. He was also extremely accomplished, comprehending the Yang Grand Dao and the Destruction Dao one after another. But when he tried to comprehend their opposites, the Yin Grand Dao or the Life Dao, he never succeeded. So... he made a great decision," Bodhi said. "He committed suicide."

"Suicide?" Ji Ning was startled.

Beside him, Hongxue smiled. Though this was a secret, Hongxue, born at the time of the creation of heaven and earth, had learned of it while following Sanshou.

"Sanqing Daoist set a restriction within his own true spirit: only by comprehending the Yin Grand Dao or the Life Dao could he awaken his past-life memories," Bodhi said. "Sanqing Daoist directly entered the cycle of reincarnation and then committed suicide. Because he died within the cycle, his true spirit naturally went to be reborn."

"It was a great gamble."

"If Sanqing Daoist, after being reborn, had his soul scattered, his true spirit would enter the River of Destiny. That would be the end," Bodhi said.

Ji Ning nodded.

He had to comprehend the Yin Grand Dao or the Life Dao to awaken his past-life memories, meaning he could not awaken them until at least becoming a Daofather. And to become a Daofather without the aid of past-life memories—how difficult was that? Even if his true spirit made him exceptionally talented, the path of cultivation was fraught with dangers. If he was killed and his soul scattered, it would indeed be the end.

"He failed repeatedly, reincarnating nine times," Bodhi said. "In those nine lives, six were as mortals who never entered the path of cultivation, so they died and were naturally reborn. Two more died at the Zifu level and were also reborn. It was not until his ninth life that he was reborn as the ancient human Laozi!"

"In that life, he was exceptionally brilliant, advancing by leaps and bounds. Without the interference of past memories, he comprehended the Yin Grand Dao in one go and became a Daofather. Only then did he awaken his original memories... He regained mastery of the Yang Grand Dao and the Destruction Dao, and his power soared. At that time, he also realized the technique of One Qi Transforms into Three Purities... His power was such that even Nuwa might have been inferior, and he was virtually the foremost leader of the ancient era. Because he realized the One Qi Transforms into Three Purities technique, he styled himself Sanqing Daoist. From then on, he transmitted many Daoist techniques, founded the Daoist school, and became its leader."

Ji Ning was awestruck.

"By using reincarnation to conceal past-life memories, one could comprehend opposing Grand Daos without interference. But it was a gamble—if one's soul was scattered, one would truly die," Bodhi said with emotion. "Because of Sanqing Daoist, six other Daofathers likewise entered reincarnation, setting restrictions in their true spirits."

"But they were never heard from again. From the ancient era to the present Three Realms, there has been no trace of them," Bodhi said. "Perhaps they died, or perhaps they are still turning through endless cycles of reincarnation."

Ji Ning sighed inwardly.

Endless reincarnation?

Those Daofathers who entered reincarnation had extraordinary true spirits, so their talent was naturally exceptional. As long as they had the opportunity, they could generally embark on the path of immortality. But the path of cultivation was very dangerous; they could easily be killed and have their souls scattered. From the ancient era to the present, it had been too long. Those six Daofathers had probably long since died, their true spirits entering the endless river.

"After this, for a long time, none of the ancient great powers entered reincarnation. But the Dao-seeking hearts of the great powers were too strong; each craved to become stronger," Bodhi said with emotion. "Thus, the Buddha Tathagata, who was considered average in power among the great powers at the time, also entered reincarnation, committing suicide to be reborn. At that time, Tathagata had already comprehended four of the five elemental Grand Daos, only the last Earth Grand Dao remained unattainable. When he tried to cultivate it, the other four Grand Daos interfered and obstructed."

"Without madness, there is no life," Bodhi shook his head and sighed. "In his third reincarnation, Tathagata became a prince of a small human kingdom, named Shakyamuni. Naturally, he was exceptionally brilliant, and finally comprehended a Grand Dao to become a Daofather. Awakening his past-life memories, his power instantly surged. The Buddhist school, which had been just one of many powers in the ancient era, immediately grew greatly in strength, and Tathagata became its leader."

"Having heard the cultivation paths of the two leaders of the Daoist and Buddhist schools, what do you think?" Bodhi looked at Ji Ning.

"Great perseverance, great determination," Ji Ning said with admiration.

Those two were already Daofathers.

They could have roamed freely between heaven and earth, yet they still had a strong Dao-seeking heart, willing to gamble with their endless lives to reach a higher level.

They won.

But many more Daofathers lost their bets.

To cultivate the Dao and reach a higher level... it was far too difficult.

"At that time... the ancient world was also rife with war," Bodhi said. "The strongest were the kingdoms ruled by several Ancestral Gods."

"Once, the Water Ancestral God Gonggong and the Fire Ancestral God Zhurong, leading their two sides, fought madly. These two Ancestral Gods battled fiercely across the ancient world... Seeing that his side was about to lose, Gonggong went completely mad. In his madness, he angrily crashed into Buzhou Mountain, which was formed from Pangu's spine."

"This tore the very sky, affecting the foundations of the ancient heaven and earth."

"For a time, heaven and earth trembled, as if the end of the world had come."

"At this point, Gonggong and Zhurong panicked. The great powers of the ancient world gathered, trying to stop the destruction of heaven and earth, but for a while, there was no solution. It was Nuwa who, after deep thought... at the critical moment, fully comprehended the five elemental Grand Daos. Using Yin and Yang as the foundation, she gathered the five elemental essences of heaven and earth, refined them into five-colored stones, and used these divine five-colored stones to mend the sky... After Nuwa mended the sky, heaven and earth were restored to stability. Because she mastered Yin, Yang, and the five elements, Nuwa was undeniably the strongest in the ancient world. For her merit in mending the sky, all races in the ancient era held great respect for Nuwa."

"At this time, the Ancestral God Fuxi, who had a deep bond with Nuwa, almost like brother and sister... first, he disliked warfare, and second, he saw Nuwa's power constantly breaking through while his own increased very little. So he also committed suicide and entered reincarnation, vowing not to awaken his past-life memories until he comprehended the Life Dao," Bodhi shook his head and sighed. "He was reborn into the human race as Fuxi, one of the Three Sovereigns of ancient humanity, and to this day has not awakened his past-life memories."