Lu Changsheng temporarily resigned from refining pills.
This was because he had been recently deviating himself to cultivation.
He hoped that he could at least reach the Advanced-stage in Qi Refining before setting off.
However, to his great disappointment, Lu Changsheng saw zero progress.
It was literally zero progress.
Lu Changsheng was really confused, he started to wonder if his breakthrough had to do something with experience, just like playing a video game.
Lu Changsheng had no other choice but to give up.
At this time, Li Zhang came over.
“Chief Leader wants you to give a lecture to all disciples in the Zenith Academy.”
Lu Changsheng was a bit surprised.
A lecture?
A Qi Refining cultivator was giving a lecture?
This was so unnecessary.
Honestly speaking, Lu Changsheng basically knew nothing about Dharmic Dao, other than Tao Te Ching[1].
“Tell my Master that I need to focus on my cultivation. I can’t go,” Lu Changsheng answered back like it wasn’t a big deal.
However, Li Zhang insisted, “Senior Brother, this upcoming trip is the very reason why the Chief Leader wants you to give this lecture. If you don’t go, I’m afraid that your image as the Eldest Senior Brother in the Zenith Land will be damaged.”
Li Zhang had a point.
Lu Changsheng was convinced with these words.
He had already been the Eldest Senior Brother in the Zenith Land for a few months. But so far, he hasn’t given a single lecture yet, other than that day.
Before he was going to give lectures in the other sects, Lu Changsheng should indeed at least have his first lecture to the disciples in the Zenith Land.
“Understood. I’ll be giving a lecture at noon tomorrow in the Zenith Academy,” Lu Changsheng responded.
“Yes, Eldest Senior Brother.” Li Zhang bowed to Lu Changsheng and left.
Before he was going to give the lecture, Lu Changsheng needed some time to prepare.
He would be setting off in seven days after all.
Time really passed by so quickly.
In the palace, Lu Changsheng was holding a map in his hand. This map was the one that was stored in the Cosmos Ring, prepared by Perfected Qing Yun.
Instead of a parchment roll, the map was a jade roll. When the jade roll unfolded, a map would be then projected into the air. It also provided real-time location like a gps, Lu Changsheng wouldn’t get lost because of this.
The first Saint Land that Lu Changsheng was going to visit was the Saint Land of Yin and Yang, which was three hundred and sixty thousand miles away from the Zenith Land. On his way there, Lu Changsheng would also visit the Empire of Da Qian and the Jiang family.
In the Cosmos Ring, there were lots of Dharma treasures and precious herbal ingredients. Some of them were for Lu Changsheng, and the rest of them were gifts to show the generosity of the Zenith Land.
After studying the map carefully, Lu Changsheng started preparing himself for the lecture.
However, as it turns out, Lu Changsheng really had nothing to prepare. Which was why he went back to cultivate by himself.
No matter whether he could make a breakthrough or not, practicing cultivation would do no damage after all.
On the next day, at noon.
On the Zenith Land’s main peak.
On his way to the lecture, Lu Changsheng sat down on the Level-twelve Cyan Lotus.
As he was surrounded by the cyan light, he looked like an immortal.
After around ten minutes, Lu Changsheng finally arrived in the Zenith Academy.
Three thousand disciples were already waiting for Lu Changsheng in the Zenith Palace. They were all extremely excited, fervently looking forward to the presence of their Eldest Senior Brother.
When Lu Changsheng showed up, they exclaimed together with one voice, “Respect to Eldest Senior Brother!”
Their voices in unison was deafening.
Li Zhang was standing beside the rostrum as Lu Changsheng’s assistant.
When Lu Changsheng landed on the platform, he could clearly observe the three thousand disciples in white, he slightly frowned.
“What’s the problem, Senior Brother?” Li Zhang immediately asked, he caught Lu Changsheng’s subtle change in expression.
“We only have three thousand disciples here. Why is this so?” Lu Changsheng asked.
“This is because, Senior Brother, they’re all core disciples. Not every disciple in the Zenith Land can attend your lecture this time,” Li Zhang explained patiently.
Lu Changsheng shook his head and said, “When it comes to studying the Daoist philosophy, nobody is inferior or superior. Follow my command, All disciples in the Zenith Land can go to the Hall of Discussion of Dao to attend my lecture.”
Lu Changsheng’s thoughts were quite simple. Since he was giving a lecture, then he wanted to cover all of the disciples in case Perfected Qing Yun wanted to ask him to do more lectures in the future.
It wasn’t his responsibility to make sure that every disciple could understand after all.
Lu Changsheng’s words stunned everyone.
Some of the disciples stood up and bowed deeply to Lu Changsheng. They said with great admiration to Lu Changsheng, “Eldest Senior Brother has reached such a realm of lofty thought. You’re truly the role model for all of us!”
“When it comes to studying the Daoist philosophy, nobody is inferior or superior. This state of mind is awe-inspiring.”
“Nobody is inferior or superior! Impressive! This is profound wisdom!”
“Changsheng is indeed the Son of the Dao sects. Despite his young age, he has such great perception. This is extremely true that when it comes to studying the Daoist philosophy, nobody is inferior or superior! Every cultivator should work together so that the sects will thrive together. How wonderful!”
The disciples were all very impressed. Even the elders in the Zenith Academy were abashed at their narrow point of view.
Their discussions surprised Lu Changsheng.
He was just being lazy.
Was this considered being in a high realm?
Was this profound wisdom?
Was this having a great spirit?
Ok, fine.
Throughout these past three years, Lu Changsheng had completely gotten used to this sort of treatment.
No matter what he did, there were always people who would read too far into his behavior.
Lu Changsheng wouldn’t let this bother him.
On the cyan lotus, Lu Changsheng left for the Hall of Discussion of Dao.
Very soon after, Lu Changsheng’s words were delivered to everyone, “According to Eldest Senior Brother’s command, when it comes to studying the Daoist philosophy, nobody is inferior or superior. All disciples in the Zenith Land can go to the Hall of Discussion of Dao to attend the lecture!”
“According to Eldest Senior Brother’s command, when it comes to studying the Daoist philosophy, nobody is inferior or superior. All disciples in the Zenith Land can go to the Hall of Discussion of Dao to attend the lecture!”
“According to Eldest Senior Brother’s command, when it comes to studying the Daoist philosophy, nobody is inferior or superior. All disciples in the Zenith Land can go to the Hall of Discussion of Dao to attend the lecture!”
This was delivered to every corner of the Zenith Land.
The disciples were all shocked.
Those In-name, Outer, and Inner Sect disciples couldn’t believe their ears.
This was because in the Zenith Land, status meant a lot.
Never in their wildest dreams could they imagine attending Lu Changsheng’s lecture.
But now, their Eldest Senior Brother’s words totally shocked them.
In an instant, countless disciples were so excited that they burst into tears.
The senior leaders of the Zenith Land were also very impressed.
“Changsheng really has a realm of lofty thought.”
“He’s such an extraordinary young man!”
“A sect which only sticks to outdated rules would slowly decay. This sense of equality is wonderful!”
“I’ll follow what Changsheng’s doing. From today onwards, all disciples in the Zenith Land can attend my lecture.”
“I’ll do it too.”
“Agreed!”
Soon, it set off a chain reaction. Many elders were inspired and decided to imitate Lu Changsheng.
Countless disciples owed Lu Changsheng a great debt of gratitude due to this.
Cultivators also had lots of questions and worries. The In-name and Outer Sect disciples were the most helpless of the bunch. They had heavy chores to do every day, but they couldn’t even attend the lectures given by elders. When they encountered difficulties, they could only rely on each other.
However, Lu Changsheng just broke this rule. They were moved to tears of gratitude.
Soon, in the Hall of Discussion of Dao.
A hundred thousand disciples were gathered like a school of silver carps moving down a stream.
An hour later, everyone was here.
Lu Changsheng’s lecture now started.
[1] The Tao Te Ching, also known as Lao Tzu or Laozi, is a Chinese classic text traditionally credited to the 6th-century BC sage Laozi.