Chapter 387 - Polished Rocks
Shen Lian was using the power of his Primordial Spirit to stabilize Zhao Xiaoyu's injury and thus he knew of the changes that happened to her.
Obviously, Wang Shidao spoke about the Enlightenment Scripture specifically for Zhao Xiaoyu. It explained thoroughly about Primordial Spirit, Celestialism, and the path of Shen to reach to the source of Zhao Xiaoyu's injuries.
He did it indirectly through his preaching. Shen Lian and Zhao Xiaoyu were aware of what was happening but decided to just keep quiet about it.
After Wang Shidao had done his preaching, the guests, starting from the Trio of Suihan, started exchanging their thoughts on Dao. It did not matter if one's cultivation experience was lower or higher than the other, everyone paid full attention to the discussion. Even though some theories have been understood by others, it was always good to gain insights from a different perspective. This was also the main objective of exchange between Daoist. After all, it was impossible for them to be omnipotent, and not everything was reflected in reality.
Soon enough, it was Zhao Xiaoyu's time to deliver her discourse. The guests were already full focused and were anticipating what would this great Saintess of Luoism speak about.
Zhao Xiaoyu was an influential figure in Luoism and had experienced many big occasions. Naturally, she was neither shy nor nervous.
She looked around with her beautiful eyes and began speaking like birds chirping. She looked heavenly mesmerizing as she surprisingly spoke about the Enlightenment Scripture.
Aside from her beauty, the essences of her speech were slightly different from Wang Shidao's version of the Enlightenment Scripture that was one with the universe. Zhao Xiaoyu's approach, on the other hand, was more focused on the gods.
People have heard so much about the sermon about, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God'. But as Zhao Xiaoyu incorporated the essence of Nine Lotus into it, it gave old things a whole new perspective. She talked about the vastness of the universe and the God of all creations. The guests were quickly captivated by her discourse.
As she finished her speech, the guests were in awe and gave her a standing ovation.
She may not have delivered the best discourse of the day but people were amazed by her ability to digest Wang Shidao's preachings in such a short amount of time and gave it a new spin towards it. Ever since Shen Lian appeared out of the blue to invade the heaven and earth, he had made heroic accomplishments of the past hundred years looked dull. Now, people were reminded that Zhao Xiaoyu was after all the most outstanding figure in the long history of Nine Lotus Order.
With Zhao Xiaoyu setting the bar high, the guest was even more excited for what Shen Lian, the chief of Qing Xuan had in store for them. Would he share generously or would he just tease a small part of the supreme method, Taixu Strategy.
The guests were extremely excited on the inside but they maintained a straight face. The Trio of Suihan, on the other hand, did not hide their emotions as they looked at Shen Lian with curiosity. After all, the Trio were exceptionally advanced in both years and virtue and it would not be appropriate to imitate them.
Wang Shidao gently caresses the short beard on his chin and smiled. He had heard a lot about Shen Lian from his junior apprentice-brother.
Shen Lian waited for Zhao Xiaoyu's lingering tune to fade away and then started to speak. Like an ancient bell deep in the mountain that was hit by a copper hammer, his resonance was clear and triggered the condensation of the vital Qi in heaven and on earth. Floating runes that radiated a gentle white light appear in the void and produced a harmonious melody.
Each and every syllable uttered was heart gripping but at the same time seamless like a dream. In a trance, it was as if the guests present were able to see the vastness of the sky and as Shen Lian emphasized on certain parts, they were able to feel the richness of the earth.
The sky then brightened up with the glowing sunlight that radiated a warmth that wandered between heaven and earth, it was the hotbed of life. The moon, like water, moisturized the universe and as time goes by, the hot air and coldness intertwined to form the greens of the earth. As all beings grew, the clones of God and humans came to live and that was the source of life of the universe.
There were neither any stunning light rays nor majestic forces involved. Everything came by naturally.
The heaven's element was gold, the ground's element was earth, the sun's element was fire, the moon's element was water while the birth of beings was of the wood element. Even if Shen Lian did not mention a word about the five elements, he was able to convey the birth of the five elements through his discourse. It was enlightening and the guests indeed gained a lot from it.
The Temple of Contentment had been independent within the Tianmen Straits for many years and the interior and exterior of the temple were two different realms. Under Shen Lian's harmonious Dao of elements, the Dao melody floated in the void while the Qi of vitality knotted together to form characters. It was as if he created a bridge between the two realms of the interior and the exterior of the temple.
The sound of the flowing water outside could be heard inside the temple. It was as if the waves of the river were delighted to hear Shen Lian's discourse.
Clouds gathered on top of the Temple of Contentment, while birds danced and the beast crawled down to growl.
The host of the temple was Wang Shidao, but Shen Lian who sat cross-legged in the temple appeared as portrait of a Buddha-like figure in the biers of the guests. At that very moment, he was the incarnation of the five elements of Dao.
As the Dao rhythm came to an end, Shen Lian smiled, took on Zhao Xiaoyu's hand and walked off the temple without making any eye contact with anyone. The latter too did not say anything and the guests did not feel that Shen Lian was being arrogant. Instead, they thought that Shen Lian was elegant and noble. He probably had nothing else to say and left a lingering aftertaste for the guests to ponder on.
The sound of the river began to fade, the birds stopped chirping, heaven and earth gradually stayed still while the guests remained silent.
Wang Shidao sighed, "I heard that one could polish themselves by accepting criticism from outside. I am now polished like a solid rock."
The guest laughed at Zhenren Wang's humility.
They said, "If you are a solid rock, we are all yellow soil."
Everyone burst into laughter.
In all the commotion, Mister Jinghe's words struck like the cold spring of the cliff. He said to Wang Shidao, "Today's Dao discussion will be passed down to future generations. Fellow Daoist brother, would you draw the conclusion for today?"
The guests agreed with the suggestion and said, "Yes!"
Wang Shidao smiled, "Jinghe, you're trying to embarrass me again."
But as he used his finger as a brush and his Qi of Dao as the ink, in an instant, he wrote magnificent writings. While he was writing, there were people who cried out, "After parting today, no one would know of his life and death. With such aftertaste and magnificent writings, this is sufficient to comfort the rest of my life."
Most of the guests remained silent as Wang Shidao announced earlier that the Xuantian Sect would close its door for the next hundred years after today. They would not allow anyone to enter neither nor allow anyone to exit. As for the next Bier Discourse of Dao, they would only send a person to deliver a token to unleash the Dao restriction of the bier. With such solitary arrangements, no one knew if they would ever have the chance to once again witness Wang Shidao's discussion of Dao.