Chapter 219: The argument between father and son (Part 2)

In the primordial era of prehistory, the first paths humanity tread were Martial and Shaman Dao.

Practicing martial arts strengthened the body, facing the countless perils of the wilderness.

Yet Martial Artists could only ever serve as vanguard warriors; their heavy casualties created gaps in transmission, leaving them unable to sustainably lead the remaining people.

Thus the most primitive ‘Shamanes' were born.

The first Shamanes wandered the earth, persuading among the mighty gods, using their wits to trade and scheme so the gods would shelter the weak Human Race.

At that time the Shamanes were the leaders of the people, the core of the tribe, spreading culture, healing the wounded, divining the heavens, communing with the gods, protecting the folk—simultaneously chief, teacher, doctor, mage, and more.

Hence the titles ‘Shaman-Doctor', ‘Shaman-Historian', ‘Shaman-Master' came into being.

With perfect courtesy and a resonant voice, Yun Fang answered: “I once read the classics of the Human Dao Orthodoxy; the Guoyu states:”

“In ancient times, among the people, those whose spirits were focused and undivided, reverent and upright—whose wisdom could compare the principles of high and low, whose sageliness could illuminate the distant, whose sight could shine light upon all, whose hearing could penetrate every sound—such people the bright gods descended upon; the men are called Xi, the women are called Wu.”

“They were set to order the positions and ranks of the gods, to prepare the sacrificial beasts, vessels, and seasonal robes, and then to cause the descendants of the former sages who possessed brilliant virtue, and who knew the names of mountains and rivers, the lords of ancestors, the affairs of ancestral temples, the generations of the honored and the humble, the diligence of reverence, the appropriateness of rites, the rules of dignified bearing, the loftiness of appearance, the substance of loyalty and trust, the purity of sacrificial robes, and who could revere and illuminate the gods—to be appointed as Invocators.”

“Those who could know the growth of the four seasons, the creatures for sacrifice, the kinds of jade and silk, the standards of ritual garments, the measures of ritual vessels, the degrees of precedence, the positions of screens and attendants, the places of altars and grounds, the gods above and below, the origins of surnames, and who could follow the old canons, were appointed as Ancestral Masters.”

“Because sages and worthies, though perspicacious, would not act arbitrarily, they established divination to consult the gods; the virtue of yarrow is round and divine, the virtue of hexagrams is square and wise, roughly aiding governance, showing there are spirits, and clarifying oneself—this is the Diviner.”

“Thus there were officers of Heaven, Earth, Gods, People, and Things—these are the Five Officials—each presiding over its order, none encroaching upon another. Therefore the people could be loyal and true, the gods could be bright in virtue; the tasks of people and gods were distinct, reverent without profanity, so the gods sent down blessings, the people offered goods, calamities did not arrive, needs were not lacking.”

The meaning of this passage is:

In ancient times, among the Human Race, those whose spirits were focused and reverent, whose talents could order Heaven and Earth, whose sageliness could shine afar, whose sight could illuminate all, whose hearing could reach every side—upon such people the bright gods descended; men were called Xi, women were called Wu.

Among these people there were distinctions:

Those who could set the altars and ranks of the gods, determine sacrificial beasts, vessels, and robes, who knew the names of mountains and rivers, the ancestral tablets, the affairs of the temples, the order of generations, the diligence of reverence, the fitness of rites, the rules of bearing, the loftiness of appearance, the substance of loyalty and trust, the cleanliness of robes, and who could revere and illuminate the gods, were called ‘Invocators'.

Those who understood the growth of the four seasons, the creatures for sacrifice, the kinds of jade and silk, the etiquette of ritual garments, the quantities of sacrificial vessels, the degrees of precedence, the positions of screens and attendants, the places of altars, the gods above and below, the origins of surnames, and who could follow the old canons, were called ‘Ancestral Masters'.

Others stood behind; though sages and gods were keen, they would not be arbitrary, so they used divination to question them, employing the round divinity of yarrow and the square wisdom of hexagrams to clarify themselves; such people were called ‘Diviners'.

The rest were Shamanes who governed Heaven, Earth, People, Gods, and Things—these are the Five Officials, each overseeing its own duties without confusion.

Thus the people of old could be loyal and true, the gods could be bright in virtue; the affairs of people and gods were not mixed, neither irreverent nor hostile, so the gods sent down blessings, the people offered sacrifices in exchange for the absence of calamities and the sufficiency of goods.

(Note: the summary of Invocator, Ancestral Master, and Five Officials is from the Guoyu; the summary of Diviner is from the Han-era Lunheng. Both show that Shamanes were the earliest bearers of Huaxia culture; China's traditional Dao Orthodoxy, philosophy, principle, literature, and history were all built by Shamanes. Though they later declined, replaced by the more advanced Hundred Schools, Shaman thought still permeated those schools—Daoism, Confucianism, Legalism, etc.—forming an important part of Huaxia's pluralistic culture. Hence it is said the Human Dao Orthodoxy emerged from the Shaman Dao Orthodoxy.)

“Thus the sages of ancient Human Dao Orthodoxy also held Shaman Dao in high esteem. Surveying history, the Human Dao Orthodoxy evolved from Shaman Dao; why do people today despise Shamanes as barbarians?”

“Could it be that you have turned against the sages of Human Dao Orthodoxy? Forgetting your origins, abandoning all rules—have you even forgotten where the Human Dao Orthodoxy was born?”

Yun Fang spoke with righteous sternness.

Though neither side would come to blows, they certainly would not stop with words, so Yun Fang sounded rather aggressive.

Thus, when Grand Shaman Yun Fang spoke of the father-and-son claim, the faces of the several Utmost Persons of the Human Dao Orthodoxy darkened.

Yet, being Utmost Persons, after only half a second of silence they immediately replied:

“It is true that Shamanes once saved the ancient people, but the father-and-son notion is absurd. Have you not seen how in the past the Nine Li confounded virtue, mixing people and gods until nothing could be distinguished?”

“Shamanes performed sacrifices in every home, each family its own Shaman-Historian, lacking all trust; the people were exhausted by offerings yet received no blessings; sacrifices knew no measure, people and gods shared the same rank; the folk grew profane in their covenants, reverence vanished; gods, familiar with human ways, no longer kept them pure; good harvests failed, no goods were offered, calamities arrived in succession, the people's Luck nearly spent—are these not disasters wrought by Shamanes?”

This means: in the past the Nine Li, who revered Shamanes, disturbed virtue, mixing people and gods until name and reality could not be separated; Shamanes everywhere collected offerings under the pretext of sacrifice, every household its own Shaman-Historian, all trust lost.

The people were worn out by sacrificial tribute yet gained no blessings or shelter; rites lacked regulation, people and gods stood equal, the folk grew irreverent toward oaths, gods lost interest in human customs, sacrifices became impure, grain no longer blessed, no food remained for offerings, calamities arrived in waves, the Luck of humanity nearly exhausted—are these not calamities caused by Shamanes?

At this point the Utmost Person bowed toward the Central Plains and said reverently: “Fortunate was Emperor Zhuanxu, mandated by Heaven, who commanded Nan Zheng Chong to oversee Heaven and assign the gods, and Huo Zheng Li to oversee Earth and assign the people, restoring the old order so neither encroached upon the other—this is Severing Earth from Heaven!”

Then he turned his head and shouted at Yun Fang:

“Later emperors, like Yao, again nurtured the descendants of Chong and Li who remembered the old ways, restoring their offices down through Xia and Shang. Thus the Chong-Li clan has for generations ordered Heaven and Earth, distinguishing their separate lords. From then on the practice of Shamanes taking offerings ceased, illicit sacrifices to wild gods were cut off, and the Human Dao Orthodoxy flourished! The orthodoxy of Shaman Dao lies in the Central Plains; you barbarians merely steal the title of Shaman—what comparison can there be?!”

That was a serious accusation.

Yun Fang's expression turned distinctly uncomfortable.

Put simply, humanity's Dao Orthodoxy was finally born. The emperor of that age, Zhuanxu, shouldered the burden and ordered the Southern Steward Zhong to oversee communion with the gods and the Fire Steward Li to manage the affairs of men, restoring the old order so that neither side encroached upon the other. This severing of heaven from earth is called the ‘Severance of Earth and Heaven,' meant to cut off the paths between men and gods and to purge the influence of Shaman Dao.

Shamanes were the mediators between heaven, earth, gods, men, and ghosts; remove the mediator and the two sides can no longer communicate.

When the later emperor Yao rekindled the lineages of Zhong and Li, he did not forget their ancestors' work and had them once again preside over sacrifices. Through the Xia and Shang dynasties the Zhong and Li clans still governed heaven and earth, fixing the ritual precedence of men and gods. Only then were wasteful cults to wild spirits ended, and witches could no longer profit through sacrificial rites.

Thus the orthodox witches were originally the Zhong and Li clans, who served the human emperors of the Central Plains and handled sacrifices for generations. Your Shaman God Mountain line merely stole the title of Shaman; how can you compare with the true orthodoxy of the Central Plains?

The implication was clear: Shaman God Mountain is an illegitimate coven of wild witches. Humanity's Dao Orthodoxy did spring from Shaman Dao, but the orthodox Way was never your Shaman God Mountain—you were the bane that once brought calamity upon the realm.

Such a Shaman God Mountain—what right has it to claim a ‘father–son bond' with Tang Nation?

Yun Fang immediately shot back in rebuttal.

The two sides clashed in a war of words, tearing into the origins of humanity's Dao Orthodoxy and Shaman Dao from the very first line.

Zhu Fengdan watched the mutual spitting with open irritation.

Though both camps cited classics in flowery language—impressive to a first-time observer—to Zhu Fengdan it was simply dull.

How many times had Shaman God Mountain and Tang Nation bickered like this? And never to any avail.

How could a struggle over orthodoxy ever be settled by talk?

Better to just roll up sleeves and fight it out.

But… the other party carried a handwritten decree from a second-rank minister. In Tang Nation every office is graded into nine ranks; humanity's Dao Orthodoxy has a special method: channeling the Dynasty's Luck, the rank you hold determines the rank you reach.

For instance, this Minister of Personnel is a second-rank official, so his cultivation automatically rises to Second Rank.

Though temporary and weaker than an ordinary Second-Rank, it is a genuine Second-Rank all the same.

When he leaves office the power will fade and pass to his successor.

It is a mind-boggling method: no cultivation, no burden.

As long as you are appointed to a post and receive the imperial seal on the long edict, you instantly gain the rank and every Divine Ability that comes with it.

Of course those abilities belong to the office, not the officeholder; they vanish the moment you step down, and tenure is limited.

The principle is much like Shen Shuibi's Formation: the office is a Gundam, the official is the pilot.

Whoever climbs in can pilot the Gundam; only the skill level differs.

This system produces Tang Nation's peculiar situation: the total of top-tier combatants stays fixed, but the people filling the slots keep changing.

Hence Zhu Fengdan holds these revolving Tang officials in contempt.

Yet apart from these placeholders, some true powerhouses Cultivate through their own effort.

Some of them still serve in government, holding office and usually relying only on their post's abilities, though their real cultivation may far exceed their ‘Gundam.'

Others are Jianghu experts, reclusive talents, or palace guards—no less formidable.

But… among the Third-Ranks before her, apart from that Daoist Earth Immortal the rest owe their rank to office.

The two Protector-Dao Resonances, substantive third-rank officers, command the palace guard and should be the emperor's trusted men.

Leading them is the Left Assistant Minister of Personnel—the one who read the decree—a concurrent third-rank post supervising finances in the Secretariat.

As for the Daoist Earth Immortal, he is a genuine Third-Rank; who knows why he's mixed up in this. Are Daoism and Tang Nation still their old interdependent selves?

Daoism's own Luofu Mountain was destroyed—what are they thinking? Could Daoist hands have helped sever the Luofu line?

Why? Just for the Sun-Moon True Lead Cauldron? Hardly necessary; can't Daoism produce another second-rank Spiritual Artifact? A trade would've solved it.

While Zhu Fengdan watched the verbal duel, her mind mulled over the hidden currents behind it.

Eventually even the bickering ceased.

After several hours of citations, it was time to get physical.

Both sides sat motionless, words gone, while Dao Orthodoxy-resonance billowed, conveying near-infinite information to anyone who could sense it.

This is language beyond language; once you can perceive the Dao Orthodoxy, Dao Orthodoxy-resonance can transmit unbelievable amounts of information.

They were ‘discoursing on the Dao Orthodoxy.'

When words fail to convince, the more persuasive method is to let the Dao Orthodoxy speak.

These resonances can even project a precise possible future—one obtained through calculation.

Discoursing on the Dao Orthodoxy means letting infinite Dao Orthodoxy-resonance compute and simulate, to decide who is ‘right.'

Put plainly, if each side claims reason, lay out the full chain of deduction for all to see—like displaying open formulas. Whose logic is more convincing becomes obvious.

Such discourse seldom yields absolute victory, for the future is only probable. Even a ninety-percent chance still holds ten-percent uncertainty, so it can rank contenders, not decide victors.

But the information load is so vast that anyone below Fourth Rank would have their brain explode on sight, so only high-level Cultivators use it to communicate.

The discourse lasted a full four hours.

Zhu Fengdan sat idly by, watching Yun Fang fight four alone.

Suddenly he rose and gazed into the distance.

Over there… is that Bailin Kingdom?

This disturbance—could my disciple be performing a rite?