Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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For a moment, Feng Bo and Shui Shi thought they had misheard. Their eyes widened as they stared at the stranger before them as if they had seen a ghost: “???”
Xia Shouren below was also stunned by the dazzling light before him: “!!! How could there be such great merit?!”
Tuan Tuanyi, listening from below, was quite confused: “What are you talking about? Who is this person? What is merit?”
Xia Shouren, who was standing next to him, was taken aback by the question.
There were many interpretations of the concept of merit, but the essence of the Way of Heaven had never changed throughout history.
In a broad sense, merit referred to the virtuous deeds and acts of kindness most revered by Taoism and Buddhism, which were currently active in China. Heaven governed the world, and to maintain order, since the dawn of wisdom, it had hoped that those with spiritual insight would harbor goodwill towards Heaven and Earth. Merit was the merit of bringing benefits, while virtue was the virtue of promoting good deeds. This had been true throughout history, regardless of social status.
Does performing rituals for the deceased in Taoist temples or Buddhist shrines count? Of course it does.
Ordinary people helping elderly women cross the street or intervening in injustices were also examples of this.
However, there were differences between different kinds of merit. There was an ancient story about a compassionate mortal who yearned for ascension to immortality. He devoted his life to countless good deeds, helping the old and young, giving away his entire fortune, and tirelessly helping others, yet he never achieved sainthood. At his deathbed, a messenger from the underworld came to collect his soul. He asked if he could join the ranks of the immortals, but the messenger told him his merit was insufficient; at best, it would only be enough for a comfortable and happy next life. The one who accumulated enough merit and was thus enlightened to sainthood was the king of his homeland.
This compassionate being was extremely indignant and argued with the underworld official, saying that the king was cruel and harsh, and had never done any good deeds in his life. Not only did he summon beauties from all over the land for a beauty pageant for his own enjoyment, but he was also greedy for grand projects, forcing all the laborers in the land to build city walls and dig canals for him, causing unbearable suffering to the people. Why could such an evil person be made a saint, while he, a benevolent person who had saved countless people, could not?
The underworld messenger smiled and told him, “You have indeed saved many people, and this king is indeed not as benevolent as you. But do you know that the city wall this harsh king built, twenty years after his death, would save the lives of 120,000 people from enemy attacks during a war? The river he dug would become a source of water for millions of people during future droughts, preventing them from starving to death? He saved so many lives, while you have toiled your whole life but only saved a few thousand. Compared to his merits, which one is greater?”
The story had been passed down to this day, and even Xia Shouren could not be sure whether it was true or false, but the rules of the Heavenly Way in the story were correct.
The Way of Heaven had no emotions and did not understand emotions. It was merely the constraint that Heaven and Earth use to control the world. The standard for judging and bestowing merit was never based on the individual who received it. It only considered the consequences that a living being’s actions would bring.
For example, some researchers in the mortal realm today have achieved remarkable results, whether it’s researching food to solve the hunger and cold problems of hundreds of millions of people, or researching medicine to save tens of millions of lives on the verge of death. Such beings, even if they know nothing about cultivation and deeply believe in science, possess no less merit and golden aura, and may even possess more than most cultivators who are devoted to cultivation and enlightenment.
This was precisely why the mythical beasts of Ningtian Group, who had been looking down on the human world since ancient times, had been working hard to solve natural disasters for the country in the 21st century. They caught the wicked and arrested the powerful, and travelled around all year round without rest. It was already miserable enough that they had no believers. If they lost their merits, what kind of gods would they be?
Many mythical beasts, disregarding their advanced age, shamelessly plunged into the ocean of modern civilization’s knowledge. They spent their days mingling under human professors, some even younger than themselves, learning obscure data that baffled them, thus contributing to the numerous scientific research projects of Ning Tian that now awed across all sectors of society. Aerospace, pharmaceuticals, internet technology, and so on— what were they after?
Isn’t it because metaphysics can’t save modern people?
Xia Shouren, being an ancient mythical beast with profound knowledge and discerning eyes, naturally recognized the overwhelming amount of merit emanating from Wei Dedao. He had lived even longer than Feng Bo and Shui Shi, yet he too had never witnessed such a breathtaking golden light of merit. This was no longer a human; he was practically a walking merit box.
As for Xia Shouren himself, he was actually quite familiar with the golden light of merit. During the medieval period when believers were everywhere, he was enthusiastic about participating in activities to bless his followers and was considered a model employee for a time. He was one of the employees who most frequently drew merit from the Heavenly Dao. Although the Heavenly Dao had largely collapsed now, the golden light of merit was still quite common. Two months ago, when the anti-tuberculosis drug that Qingniu[1] of Ningtian Pharmaceutical R&D Center had been researching for many years was finally released and won an award, he received merit once. Because this latest anti-tuberculosis drug was very effective, the amount of merit he received at that time was especially large, to the point that the other divine beasts in the company were envious.
But the merits that Qingniu gained back then was practically insignificant compared to those of the person before him.
Such merit was simply unbelievable. What exactly did he do? This is the kind of treatment one would receive after winning seven or eight hundred Nobel Prizes!
After hearing his previous explanation, Tuan Tuanyi had a vague understanding of the word “merit,” but he also realized that merit was probably a very powerful and rare thing. Therefore, even though he couldn’t see it, he nodded in admiration and said, “I see. I didn’t expect that curing athlete’s foot and constipation would have such great significance.”
Xia Shouren: “…”
Athlete’s foot, constipation…
When Tuan Tuanyi mentioned these two ailments, he suddenly remembered something, his mind went blank, and he stared wide-eyed at the sky: “Believers? Athlete’s foot? Constipation?! Master! Master! Is this the enlightened celestial being of our sect?!”
Wei Xi was held in Shuo Zong’s arms, his feet dangling in the air, his mind blank. He stared blankly at the old man he hadn’t seen in so long standing in front of him, and called out, “Wei Dedao?”
The arm that was strapped to his waist seemed to have tightened a bit.
The figure in front of him paused before turning around, a smug, slightly arrogant smile on his face. His unfocused gaze seemed to sweep across the figure’s back before he slowly spoke, his beard twitching: “Disciple…”
Wei Xi’s expression changed several times. He subconsciously wanted to ask, as he used to, who was his disciple? But in the end, he said, “…Weren’t you dead?”
Wei Dedao clicked his tongue and said, “You child, I was just kidding you. Your master has cultivated for over five hundred years, how could he die so easily? Besides, you miss me so much and even have people come to worship me. Even if I really died, I would risk my old life to come back to life.”
Wei Xi pursed his lips tightly and stared at him in silence.
Wei Dedao immediately chuckled: “I know what you want to ask. I haven’t gone anywhere these days; I’ve been by your side the whole time.”
Wei Xi said coldly, “Who cares about that?”
Wei Dedao didn’t take his attitude towards him seriously at all, and continued to say to him: “I have seen everything you have done since you came out of the mountain. It was indeed a good decision to hand over the position of the 62nd generation leader of my Taicang Sect to you.”
“You haven’t eaten a single spirit or monster since you came down from the mountain, have you? You’ve even spared protected animals.”
“The sect’s performance is also good, with over a thousand employees now? That’s better than what your master did back then.”
“You even implemented a public-private partnership. Even if your other senior brothers and sisters were in charge, they couldn’t have done a better job than you.”
Amidst his rambling, Wei Xi’s cold gaze finally shifted away, though he still looked displeased.
Wei Dedao knew that he had already appeased Wei Xi. When Wei Xi was angry, he would never show it so quietly. His outburst with the Five Elements Umbrella earlier was when he was truly unhappy.
He exchanged a glance with Wei Xi’s second apprentice behind him. Although they couldn’t see each other, they tacitly conveyed the same message: it was best not to let Wei Xi know certain things for the time being.
Feng Bo and Shui Shi behind them couldn’t hold back any longer. They were having a proper fight, and suddenly it turned into a praise contest? What was this brat parent trying to do by praising his child endlessly in front of them?
Feng Bo’s face was still sore from being hit by the Five Elements Umbrella, and being ignored like this only fueled his anger. He glared at his opponents and demanded, “Are we going to fight or not?”
Shuo Zong gripped the God-Slaying Whip tightly, the whip’s end striking Feng Bo and Shui Shi, their blood mingling with the rain as it slid down. He put one arm around Wei Xi, his voice still cold: “You’ve already lost your magic weapon, and you still want to resist?”
Feng Bo’s robes were billowing in the gale. Although he no longer had his magic fan, he still sneered confidently: “Stubbornly resisting? God of Heavenly Fortune, you are far too confident. Why don’t you take a look at what that is?”
Shuo Zong remained completely unmoved.
A thunderous bolt of lightning once again ripped through the night sky. Since their fight began, the lightning had been approaching their location one streak after another along with the dark clouds. Seeing that he did not answer, Feng Bo laughed wildly, “Heavenly punishment is coming, aren’t you afraid?!”
Shuo Zong raised an eyebrow: “Why should I be afraid?”
Feng Bo: “???”
Shuo Zong: “Are you out of your mind? Putting aside what happened earlier, how could the heavenly punishment possibly hit me now?”
Feng Bo’s laughter abruptly stopped at his voice, as if he had just remembered something and his gaze fell on Wei Dedao, who was standing in front of him.
Feng Bo: “…”
Indeed, with such immense merit and golden light, Heaven would be too busy protecting it to possibly strike it down.
Feng Bo gritted his teeth and asked Wei Dedao, “Are you going to protect him?”
Wei Dedao was stunned for a moment: “Huh? How is that possible?”
Knowing that he wouldn’t interfere, Feng Bo felt relieved and immediately joined forces with Shui Shi to attack Shuo Zong. However, before Shuo Zong could even retaliate, Wei Xi became furious and vented his anger on the two of them. He snatched the God-Slaying Whip from his disciple’s hand and lashed it at them with a fierce look in his eyes: “Want to die!”
Feng Bo received another blow to the face, his nose almost twisted out of shape. He clutched his wound, his eyes nearly bleeding from staring. He exchanged a glance with Shui Shi and then retaliated against Wei Xi.
Before Shui Shi’s magical artifact could even get close to Wei Xi, a flash of golden light appeared before his eyes, and Wei Dedao stepped in front of him again: “Star Lord, please calm down.”
Feng Bo and Shui Shi: “…”
Fearing they would be struck by lightning if they hit him, the two hurriedly withdrew their magic, nearly dying of anger: “Didn’t you say you wouldn’t care?!”
Wei Dedao looked worried: “It’s none of my business if the Star Lord hits the Heavenly God, but how can I let him hit my disciple?”
Feng Bo and Shui Shi: “…”
Wei Dedao said, “My disciple is young and mischievous. He didn’t mean to offend. Please be magnanimous and don’t hold it against him.”
Feng Bo and Shui Shi: “…”
His disciple behind him watched them coldly, gripping the God-Slaying Whip, his eyes brimming with murderous intent that almost materialized.
Feng Bo: “…You’re saying this wasn’t intentional offense?”
Wei Dedao had a smile on his face that said, “I really can’t do anything with this child: He’s been spoiled too much, so he is indeed a bit too naive.”
Feng Bo and Shui Shi: “……………………”
Oh, so in the eyes of these mortal cultivators, the disciple’s act of killing a god was merely “naive and innocent”? It’s obvious you’re blind.
Wei Dedao spoke with righteous indignation, his golden light of merit blocking the way, leaving Feng Bo and Shui Shi helpless. Feng Bo was furious, and after a long stalemate, Shui Shi whispered in his ear, “How about we stop fighting?”
Fighting the God-Slaying Whip, even if it means dying, could be said to be a fight for dignity. But if it hit the Golden Light of Merit and they were struck by heavenly lightning, then all the face and dignity accumulated over thousands of years would be completely lost.
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[1] The qingniu (青牛), literally meaning “blue/green ox” or “livid ox,” is a mythical or legendary bovine creature in Chinese mythology and ancient texts.
