âTo the Three Clear Ancestors, please forgive me for being so rude,â said Yan Zhaoge slowly. âVine Sovereign, youâve personally experienced the Great Calamity. I want to inquire about something from you.â
The Vine Sovereignâs expression was calm. Based on Yan Zhaogeâs previous statements, she could already guess what Yan Zhaoge wanted to say.
Yan Zhaoge didnât hide it either. He just gazed at the Vine Sovereign, someone who had survived the Great Calamity.
âIs the Elder Lord still alive?â
Such a short sentence made everyone in the room silent.
Everyoneâs breathing seemed to have paused for a moment.
The two words, âElder Lord,â seemed irrelevant and out of place. However, as a member of the Three Clear Lineage, everyone present knew who Yan Zhaoge referred to.
The âElder Lordâ was referring to the Supreme Elder Lord, which was the Daoismâs Three Clear Grand Masterâs Grand Clear Lord of Dao and Virtue Grand Master!
âAre you asking if the Elder Lord had taken any action during the process of the Great Calamity?â The Vine Sovereignâs expression remained unfazed, and her tone seemed ethereal.
Yan Zhaoge replied frankly, âYes.â
When the Great Calamity had just descended, his consciousness had faded along with the destruction of the Heavenly Court Divine Palaceâs Martial Repository.
When he finally woke up in the Eight Extremities Worlds, countless years had already passed.
Yan Zhaoge had no memories regarding the process and details of the Great Calamity.
At that time, the Vine Sovereignâs cultivation realm wasnât that high. The information that she knew would be limited.
However, the Vine Sovereignâs current identity was unique. During the past few years, she had been in contact with the Incongruence Divine Mother more than once. Maybe, she might have a better understanding of what happened in the past. In fact, she might even hold a much deeper understanding than those born after the Great Calamity, namely Gao Qingxuan, Suo Mingzhang, Chen Xuanzong, and the others.
Yan Zhaoge looked towards the Brocade Emperor â Fu Yunchi beside him, âThe origins of your master dates back to a fairly long time. The Grand Master that established his forces had attended the lecture within the Elder Lordâs Tushita Palace. However, since he left the Tushita Palace for too long, he wasnât aware of the Tushita Palaceâs condition, and was oblivious of the Elder Lordâs condition during the Great Calamity.â
âAfter the Great Calamity, all the successive Grand Masters had attempted to locate the path leading towards the Tushita Palace, but their efforts were to no avail.â Fu Yunchi shook his head.
The Vine Sovereign quietly looked at Yan Zhaoge and Fu Yunchi. After a while, she said, âDuring that time, my cultivation was still very weak. I was only able to escape from the disaster, thanks to Incongruence Divine Motherâs protection. Naturally, I wasnât aware of what happened in the outside world during that time.â
âHowever, after the Great Calamity, Iâve heard the Incongruence Divine Mother mentioning that the Elder Lord did not take any action during the Great Calamity.â
She said word by word, âBut, according to the Incongruence Divine Mother, the Elder Lord is still alive!â
Yan Zhaoge nodded and started contemplating.
The Vine Sovereign said slowly, âNo oneâs able to guess the thoughts of the Elder Lord correctly. We arenât able to do so, the devils and heretics arenât able to do so as well.â
Yan Zhaoge said softly, âIf the Lord of Dao and Virtue had truly transcended, that might explain the situation.â
For the Lord of Dao and Virtue, he could choose to have the heart of a saint, abiding by the will of the great Dao, and view everyone in an equal perspective. At the same time, he could choose to be like a human, filled with emotions and desires. He could choose to be either of them with just a mere thought in his mind.
He would help others if he felt like it, and would ignore it if he wasnât willing to. Everything was based on his own emotions alone. There wasnât any need for a reason, nor could his emotions be guessed based on logic alone.
There was practically no difference between doing nothing or doing everything.
If he wished to be heartless and remain unbiased like the Heavenly Dao, there was no difference between the Three Clear Lineages, the heretics, and the Buddhists in his perspective.
However, no one could accurately judge what was going on in his mind.
What was even harder to judge was whether he would change his mind all of a sudden.
Compared to this old man, Chen Qianhuaâs unpredictability paled in comparison.
âIf he had truly transcended, why is he still in this world? I donât see the Primordial Heavenly Lord Grand Master or the Lord of Numinous Treasure Grand Master either.â
A long time ago, Yan Zhaoge had been curious about this.
After the Great Calamity, when the orthodox Daoism was awaiting its thrive, that was the period where both the heretics â no matter if it was the Immortal Court or the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus, were both at their prime.
Under such a situation, the World Beyond Worldsâ Earthly Sovereignâs soft attitude might be forgivable.
However, for such a radical faction like the Roving Jade Heavens, who had always acted aggressively, why didnât the heretics annihilate them?
After being informed that the Daoismâs Grand Heavenly Immortals like the North Star Emperor, the Southern Extremity Longevity Emperor, and the Incongruence Divine Mother were still alive, he thought he had found his answer.
After all, while it was uncertain, three Grand Heavenly Immortals might threaten the foundations governed by the Immortal Court and the Blessed Lands of the White Lotus.
If the three Grand Heavenly Immortals succeeded, they would bring about a large-scale massacre towards the heretics sided with the Future Buddha and the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord.
Even if the Future Buddha and the Immeasurable Heavenly Lord were to take revenge, their losses were practically impossible to be recuperated.
Such a massive amount of loss would naturally allow the other party to take advantage of the situation.
After all, the two of them were already mortal enemies, to begin with.
The impact of Suo Mingzhang ascending to the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm twenty years ago, and the war that lasted until now proved this point.
If the situation didnât force them to do so, the heretics wouldnât massacre everyone within the Dao universe.
The best choice would be to limit the orthodox Daoismâs strength to a certain degree, similar to rearing sheep to shave their wool.
This should be the case...
However, after learning of the Demon Race concealing themselves from the world to condition themselves, and the Western Pure Lands still existing, Yan Zhaoge felt that something was off.
Although the Demon Race and the orthodox Buddhism hadnât appeared within the world, they were merely making preparations, choosing the right time to make an appearance.
With them present, the Incongruence Divine Motherâs threat and the Southern Longevity Emperorâs threat to the heretics would weaken by a considerable margin.
The matter of Suo Mingzhang passing the Origin Heavenly Tribulation and ascending the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm was something beyond their expectations, which was why the impact caused lasted even up until now.
If that was the case before Suo Mingzhang managed to ascend to the Grand Heavenly Immortal Realm, how did the Dao universe manage to remain so peaceful?
Yan Zhaoge had always been thinking about this.
Then, he related his thoughts to before the Great Calamity and the rumors he had heard within the Heavenly Courtâs Divine Palace.
The Great Calamity was something that had been engraved deep within his heart.
Other than that, there were a few other things as well.
These rumors werenât secrets before the Great Calamity. Instead, they were merely some unsolvable mysteries.
Everyone was curious, but no one had the precise answer.
Maybe, only the most top-notch existence within the universe might know the truth behind those mysteries.
After all, many of the mysteries were created because of them.
Other rumors were negligible, but Yan Zhaoge was very conscious of it because it was directly related to the Great Calamity and the decline of the orthodox Daoism.
Is the Supreme Elder Lord still alive?
This question might seem inexplicable at first.
Everyone knew that the Three Clear had fused into one and transcended together.
With the Daoism Three Clear Grand Masterâs transcendence as a symbol, the ancient Investitures of the Gods era had ended, and the era shifted to the Journey to the West era.
However, there was something that made everyone puzzled.
After transcending during the ancient Investitures of the Gods era, the Jade Clear Primordial Heavenly Lord and the Lord of Prime Clear Numinous Treasure had never appeared within the world once more.
However, the Grand Clear Lord of Dao and Virtue, which was also the Supreme Elder Lord, had made an appearance during the mid-ancient Journey to the West era!