The boy obeyed and left. Before long, Xuandu arrived, led by the boy.

Xuan Du respectfully said, "Teacher."

Lao Tzu glanced at Xuan Du quietly and sighed, "Heroes are rising up all over the world, and Buddhism is flourishing. Our Daoism cannot lag behind."

Upon hearing this, Xuandu sighed inwardly and said, "This disciple obeys."

Lao Tzu nodded, took out the Tai Chi diagram, wrapped it around Xuan Du, and threw it into the void.

Suddenly, a strange phenomenon appeared in the void: a golden rainbow, like a bridge, spanned the sky, its five-colored light shining brightly, illuminating heaven and earth and overshadowing the brilliance of the countless stars. The Tai Chi diagram hung horizontally in the sky, its five-colored light circulating, receiving the primordial energy of all the stars. After a moment, it condensed into five orbs of light, each a different color—blue, red, yellow, white, and black—the essence of the five elements. From the ground, they appeared as five stars revolving around the golden bridge, absorbing the five-colored light emitted by it. After three hundred and sixty-five cycles, only the golden bridge and the five stars radiating the light of the five elements remained in the sky.

Then, a swirling aura of primordial yellow energy emerged from beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, enveloping the golden bridge. Beneath the chaotic void, two colossal dragons, one black and one white, snaked down from the primordial yellow energy. Their bodies stretched for tens of thousands of feet, their nine claws gleaming, intertwined and coiled together, embodying the union of Yin and Yang. They descended into the radiance of the five planets, rotating in a Tai Chi pattern, encompassing and fusing the essence of the five elements into a unified whole, transforming into a white glow.

A faint humanoid figure emerged from the golden bridge and landed in the white mist. The mist immediately gathered into a ball of white vapor, within which a human figure was faintly visible, crouching and embracing. Then, the primordial energy dissipated. The golden bridge vanished, and the ball of white vapor descended like a falling meteor, heading straight for the center of the Southern Continent.

In an instant, a brilliant white light erupted over Jambudvipa, soaring into the sky and radiating a majestic aura. It was not violent, but rather resilient, persistent, and profound, possessing an exceptionally pure and luminous quality. Yet, everyone on Jambudvipa, gods and demons alike, felt a benevolent pressure. It lacked the domineering power of Buddhist golden light, but was continuous and gentle, like flowing water, yet unbroken. Even those suspended in the sky above Jambudvipa were involuntarily drawn to the ground by this pressure.

On Penglai Island in the East Sea, Xuan Tian, ​​seeing this scene, sneered and said, "Lao Jun is not content to be left out either, but why do you have to make such a big show? It's obviously just a performance." After laughing, Xuan Tian closed his eyes again, looking serene, clearly having gone on a spiritual journey.

Twenty-nine schools of thought contended, and the Legalist school brought peace to the world.

The various vassal states in the Southern Continent radiate different colors of light: some exude the aura of emperors, some the aura of emperors, and some the aura of the nation's lifeblood—the so-called national lifeblood being the faith within the nation, the spirit of its inhabitants, the spiritual energy of the region, the harmony between heaven, earth, and humanity, and the aura of vassal states.

On the continent of Jambudvipa, numerous kingdoms were scattered, and many warlords rose up, each ruling their own territory, causing widespread war and chaos on the continent.

Since the Zhou Dynasty's influence extended to the Southern Jambudvipa, it has been passed down for dozens of generations and has been divided into the Western Zhou and the Eastern Zhou. The Eastern Zhou is located in the Eastern Continent of Victory and is completely controlled by Taoism. The Western Zhou is in the Southern Jambudvipa, but due to the loss of power and the decline of its national fortune, it now only occupies the central area of ​​the Southern Jambudvipa. Relying on the orthodox status of the Eastern Zhou and the Humanist religion, it is barely recognized as the suzerain state of the various kingdoms in the Southern Jambudvipa, but it is only in name.

Beyond the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were seventy-two major vassal states, each with its own beliefs. Unlike the Eastern Continent, this was essentially the territory of Taoism, with followers of the Ren and Chan schools of Taoism.

After Xuandu descended to the mortal realm, his reincarnation was named Zhuang Zhou, courtesy name Zixiu, and later known as "Nanhua Zhenren". He was a native of Meng (present-day Mengcheng County, Anhui Province, or according to another account, within the territory of Minquan County, northeast of Shangqiu County, Henan Province) in the State of Song during the Warring States period.

Lao Tzu, after converting the barbarians, transmitted the *Tao Te Ching*, which brought Taoism to the attention of the world. Xuandu, after descending to the mortal realm, inherited and developed Lao Tzu's thought. His philosophy contained elements of rudimentary dialectics, with the core idea of ​​"the Way of Heaven is inaction" (天道无为). He believed that all things are in flux, and that the "Tao" was "born before the earth," meaning it had no boundaries or distinctions. This belongs to a subjective idealist system. He advocated "non-action" and abandoned all frivolous actions. He also believed that all things are relative, therefore he denied knowledge, denied the essential differences between things, and vehemently denied reality, fantasizing about a subjective spiritual realm where "heaven and earth are born together with me, and all things are one with me," living a life of ease and contentment, leaning towards relativism and fatalism. Politically, he advocated "governing by non-action," opposing all social systems and rejecting all cultural knowledge.

Somewhat ironically, Zhuangzi, also known as Zhuang Zhou, the reincarnation of Xuandu and the True Man of Nanhua, once said, "If sages do not die, great thieves will not cease." This statement was quite shocking. He was not afraid of offending sages. Laozi, being inactive, naturally did not blame him, and other sages, whether out of respect for Laozi or to maintain their own image, did not hold it against him.

In that year, an academy was built in the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty. It was built by the Zhou Dynasty to attract talented people from all over the world. The head of the academy was the prime minister of the Zhou Dynasty, and the academic director was Xunzi, a disciple of the Confucian school.

One day, the academy suddenly announced that Xunzi, the head of the academy, would no longer serve as the head of the academy in a month, and no one would be designated to succeed him. All talented people in the world were welcome to come to the Jixia Academy to display their talents. As long as they could debate with the crowd and convince everyone, they could take over the position of head of the academy.

Once the news spread, representatives of the various schools of thought during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods flocked to the academy to compete for the position of head of the academy, driven by their desire to develop their doctrines and pursue their ideals.

At this time, a hundred schools of thought contended, and the more famous doctrines included: Laozi's Taoism, Confucius's Confucianism, Mozi's Mohism, Huizi's School of Names, Zouzi's School of Yin and Yang, Lü Buwei's School of Miscellaneous Learning, Xu Xing's School of Agriculture, Bian Que's School of Medicine, plus Sun Tzu's School of Military Strategy and Guiguzi's School of Diplomacy, and so on. These ten schools of thought, along with Han Fei's Legalism and the later eastward spread of Buddhism, made a total of twelve major doctrines.

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