Chapter 259: Chapter 165: The Conference Starts
Translator: 549690339
Everyone followed the road, walking with the crowd towards the town center, and soon arrived at a large tea house.
Upon entering the tea house, the sight of a high platform set up in the center of the tea house was immediately met.
At this time on the platform, a yellow-robed Daoist and a cyan-robed Daoist were passionately debating.
“I perceive that in the rotation of heaven and earth, there are two elements essential to cultivation. Those who wish to enter the Dao must first annihilate their mind and then obliterate their soul. Only when the mind and soul are both extinguished can they approach the Dao, perceive the Heavenly Mind and Heavenly Soul, thereby achieving unity of heaven and man, and thus become immortal.
The doctrine you champion, emphasizing extremes of emotion, mind, and Dao, is truly absurd.
If human nature were to veer towards extremes, how would this be different from falling into the demonic path? Even if one genuinely attains enlightenment, that enlightenment would be of the demonic path, not the Dao of immortals!”
The yellow-robed Daoist was reprimanding the cyan-robed Daoist in front of him in the formal language of the Yue Country, though his pronunciation was a bit awkward.
Hearing this, the cyan-robed Daoist was not willing to show weakness and retorted: “We cultivate for longevity and freedom, without constraints. Your so-called annihilation of the mind and soul, attaining oneness with Heaven and Earth, in fact, annihilates the original mind and extinguishes feelings.
Even if one can attain enlightenment like this, it is not the Dao of immortals, but the heartless Heavenly Path Instead.
Without emotions and desires, wouldn’t you be like Heaven and Earth, unchanging throughout the ages? What’s the difference between that and being dead?
Your Dao is not the path of immortality, but the path of death. Once the Dao is accomplished, the person is dead!”
The yellow-robed Daoist was infuriated: “You’re talking nonsense! We cultivators behave in accordance with nature. What’s wrong with merging with
Heaven? You are against the Heavenly Path…”
On the stage, the yellow-robed Daoist and the cyan-robed Daoist were at this time fighting a war of words, clashing fiercely.
Many people on the side were engrossed in the heated debate.
Whenever an interesting point of view was posed, they would compare it to their own practices, occasionally furrowing their brows or showing a smile, clearly gaining some insights.
After listening for quite some time, Lu Yuan’s expressions on his face shifted continuously – experiencing joy, anger, disdain, and elation. His emotions fluctuated with the two Daoists’ arguments.
It must be said that the two Daoists on stage were highly adept.
At the very least, Lu Yuan felt that their understanding of the Dao, their deep insights into it, far surpassed what he and Qi Yun had achieved.
“I never thought there would be so many high-caliber scholars at this conference. Qi Yun said earlier that he didn’t dare to go on stage and ‘make a fool of himself.’ I originally thought it was humility, but now I see that Qi Yun’s level really doesn’t qualify him to preach the Dao on the stage, ” Lu Yuan couldn’t help but think as he listened to the debate over the Dao on stage.
After a long time, the debate on the stage finally came to a close.
The yellow-robed Daoist defeated the cyan-robed Daoist in the debate, leaving the latter pale-faced and dazed. He then walked down the stage with the help of others in a dazed state.
Seeing this, nearby Daoists occasionally gave loud cheers.
However, the expressions of the Daoists from Yue Country were somewhat unpleasant, because the defeated cyan-robed Daoist was one of their own. ‘These two individuals, either one of them, could certainly establish a Dao sect on their own. They are indeed at the level of the Grandmaster.’
Seeing the end of the debate, Lu Yuan finally came back to his senses from this Dao discussion, then heard many scattered comments from around him.
“I didn’t expect Xuan Yun to lose.”
“Xuan Yun is the Dao master of the Fei Xia Way in Yue Country, which is the largest Dao Vein in Jianan. If even he loses, it seems that this Qingying Daoist from the northern Liang Country is really formidable.”
“Could it be otherwise?
Ever since Qingying set up the Lecture Platform here and began broad debates against all the Dao Veins in the world, he has already debated more than ten times, defeating a number of Dao Vein Dao masters without a single loss.
Looking at his momentum, it seems that he should be among the top ten in the
Dao discussion at this conference.”
“I heard that this Qingying Daoist is the newly rising founder ot the Divine Official Way in the northern Liang Country. In just twenty years since the establishment of the Dao Vein, it has already become the third-largest Dao Vein in Liang Country, nearly surpassing the Dan Ding Path and Cang Long
Way. Isn’t it amazing?”
“Humph, what do you mean by ‘nearly surpassing the Dan Ding Path and Cang
Long Way’? Is his Divine Official Way even comparable to them? Without Immortal Techniques, no matter how prosperous his Dao Vein might be, how could it be compared to the Dan Ding Path and Cang Long Way?”
“Exactly, no matter how powerful the Divine Official Way is, it cannot match the Dan Ding Path and Cang Long Way.
Furthermore, its current momentum results from its gimmick of attaining godhood and becoming an official after death, which has deceived Monarchs and Ministers and won the favor of the court.
The emperor decreed that Divine Official Way Temples should be established in every province and prefecture, which has led to its current popularity.
But we have participated in many conferences and are naturally aware that in the current Nine Provinces and Ten Regions, let alone Ascending to Immortal, even attempting to cultivate is extremely difficult.
Yet they claim to be able to help Monarchs and Ministers become gods after death, which is utterly absurd.
In my opinion, this so-called Divine Official Way is clearly a false Dao.”
Among those present, some of the Daoists with the accents of Liang Country were expressing their discontent at this moment.
Although they are all from Liang Country, these Daoists from Liang Country do not seem to support or respect this Qingying Daoist.
The Daoists from other countries who were listening had a look of amusement on their faces.
The cake of the world is only so big.
Since the court of Liang Country supports the Divine Official Way, ordering all provinces and prefectures to widely establish Divine Official Temples, it has boosted the prosperity of the Divine Official Way.
However, the more prosperous the Divine Official Way becomes, the fewer followers the other Dao Veins will have if the common people come to believe in them.
And with all kinds of resources being monopolized by the Divine Official Way, the development and continuation of other Dao Veins will naturally be affected and hindered.
As this matter is related to the continuation of the Dao Veins, the actions of the Divine Official Way naturally incurred the indignation and resentment of many other Dao Veins in Liang Country, hence such a situation..