Then, Xuan Tian bowed to the Outer Heavens first, saying, "Disciple respectfully welcomes Master." The other sages, though unaware of the proper etiquette, also bowed.

Sure enough, Hongjun appeared shortly afterward. Seeing that all the saints were present, he nodded and said, "You all find the large pieces; we'll leave the smaller pieces alone."

Upon hearing this, the sages each found some of the larger fragments and, using their immense supernatural powers, forcibly gathered them together. When the primordial world shattered, those spiritual veins were destroyed. Although the sages can now restore the earth, they have no way to restore the spiritual veins.

Hongjun slightly opened his hands, then brought them together and uttered a low shout: "Combine." Instantly, the fragments of the spiritual veins on the ground began to move and combine to form new spiritual veins, releasing countless streams of spiritual energy from heaven and earth.

Hongjun then reached out and drew mysterious and inexplicable trajectories in the air. The fragments of the primordial world flew up and transformed into countless stars. Seeing that the celestial constellations were complete, Hongjun grabbed at the air again, and specks of light flew from the chaotic world beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens. He then flicked his fingers, and the specks of light flew out one by one, disappearing upon reaching the countless stars. Immediately afterward, beams of white light shot down from those stars, clearly the light of the stars, full of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

Sixty-Eight Gods Conferred (3rd installment)

Hongjun then pointed to the restored primordial world and said, "From now on, this realm will be called the Earthly Immortal Realm. This Earthly Immortal Realm is the foundation of the Three Realms. In order to ensure that you will not damage this realm in the future, sages shall not leave here except during the Great Calamity."

The saints were astonished, but had no choice but to agree, except for Xuan Tian, ​​who disagreed. Hong Jun finished reading and then disappeared again without saying a word.

The remaining matters are naturally the business of these sages. Xuan Tian said, "Now, the Earthly Immortal Realm, as the foundation for the survival and reproduction of all living beings in the future, can be divided into the Heavenly Realm and the Earthly Realm. The Heavenly Realm is where the Heavenly Court is located, which performs the duties of the Heavenly Dao and governs everything in the primordial world. The Earthly Realm is where humans and cultivators coexist, reproduce independently, and each follows their destiny and obeys the Heavenly Dao. The two places are the Netherworld, which governs the Six Paths of Reincarnation. After the death of living beings, their primordial spirit and soul are transformed into ghosts and re-enter the Netherworld. According to their merits, their lives are tested, and they all emerge from the Six Paths of Reincarnation, repeating the cycle endlessly." We can gather these fragments of the primordial world in three locations, and then place humans and other beings whose cultivation is below the Earth Immortal realm onto them, allowing them to reproduce freely. Their cycle of life and death will remain with the Netherworld, forming a separate realm under the Heavenly Dao, which can be called the Mortal Realm. Those who achieve success in their cultivation within the Mortal Realm and pass the Heavenly Dao's test can enter the Immortal Realm, or continue their cultivation independently, or integrate into human life—it's up to them. Our Daoist lineage can also be passed on to the Mortal Realm to promote its development. What do you fellow Daoists think?

Upon hearing this, the saints each considered it in their hearts, but they all agreed that it was acceptable and praised it.

Thus, the rest became much easier. The sages split up and collected fragments of the primordial world. Some of these fragments were large pieces with minimal damage to the original spiritual veins, while others contained small fragments of spiritual veins, which, though few, still emitted spiritual energy. After gathering all the fragments, the group worked together to combine them, and thus the mortal realm was formed. This realm was shaped like a planet and was called the Ancestral Star, which is Earth. Xuan Tian, ​​harboring some selfish desires, found a few more fragments and refined them to be more than three times their original size.

However, this mortal realm is essentially a miniature prehistoric world, complete with rivers, lakes, seas, mountains, and spiritual veins. Although the spiritual energy is somewhat lacking, and the cultivation speed may be slower here, the foundation for the reproduction and development of life is not lost. The saints then use their great magical power to relocate various beings. Those below the Earth Immortal realm are directly moved from the prehistoric continent to the mortal realm, scattered in various places, and left to develop on their own. The Three Pure Ones and others also left their own lineages in the mortal realm, absorbing the fortune of the mortal realm.

Now that the affairs of the mortal realm are settled, it's time to settle the affairs of the immortal realm. The celestial realm doesn't need settling; it's already set, and with the Investiture of the Gods over, the Heavenly Court is now complete and doesn't need the intervention of the sages. The Netherworld includes the Underworld and the Blood Sea. The Underworld is nominally under the Heavenly Court's jurisdiction, but in reality, it's Xuan Tian's private domain, and other sages can't interfere. The Blood Sea is even less of a possibility. The Styx River resides there; although not as powerful as Xuan Tian, ​​its terrain makes it a force to be reckoned with. Besides, among the sages, apart from the impoverished Western Sect, the Eastern sages really don't even consider the Blood Sea worth their attention.

Therefore, the current Immortal Realm has become the focus of power struggles among several sages.

Xuan Tian spoke first, saying, "Now the prehistoric continent is divided into four parts. We can call the eastern continent Dongsheng Shenzhou, the southern continent Nanzhanbuzhou, the western continent Xiniuhezhou, and the northern continent Beijuluzhou. It would be best if the founders of the sects passed down their teachings as soon as possible to educate and bring peace to the people."

Upon hearing Xuan Tian's words, the saints looked around the Earthly Immortal Realm. The eastern land was a land of outstanding people and beautiful scenery; the southern hills were home to many creatures and had a complex terrain; the western land was full of barren mountains, but it was the closest to the Western Paradise; the northern land contained the corpse of the Xuan Turtle that Tong Tian had killed back then, and now the Northern Continent was truly a desolate place with treacherous mountains and rivers, and was overrun by poisonous insects and ferocious beasts.

Just then, Nuwa was about to speak when she saw Xuantian shake his head at her. Confused, she realized she was trying to use this opportunity to establish her own sect and unite the demon races of the world. Seeing Xuantian shake his head, though puzzled, she remained silent.

At this moment, the leader of the Western Religion suddenly said, "Since you are all here today, my Western Religion wishes to change its name to Buddhism."

The Daoist Zhunti then said, "I manifest the form of a lotus in the West; when the flower blooms, everyone sees me." After they finished speaking, before the other sages could speak, auspicious clouds appeared above their heads. Zhunti was a golden body with twenty-four heads and eighteen arms, each hand holding a necklace, parasol, flower garland, fish-gut ornament, golden bow, silver halberd, white battle-axe, banner, vajra, precious file, and silver bottle, among other things. Zhunti spoke, "Amitabha Buddha." Meanwhile, within the auspicious clouds above Jieyin's head, atop a twelve-tiered lotus platform, was a relic. That relic transformed into a golden Buddha image, holding a precious banner, and the auspicious clouds transformed into Buddha's light. Jieyin spoke, "Amitabha!"

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