But Hongjun knew that in front of such powerhouses, one must absolutely not court death by denigrating Earth or looking down on it; that would be to **insult the majesty of the Long-Headed King and court disaster!**
As expected, the Long-Headed King fell silent again after hearing this.
Hongjun then looked at the shelf labeled with the character "Yi." Inside were Earth's Buddhist and Taoist classics such as "The Sutra of the Origin of the World," "The Lotus Sutra," "The Treatise on Actions and Their Retributions," "The Taoist Canon of the Supreme Lord Lao," and "The Seven Slips of the Jade Cavern."
Hongjun flipped through these Buddhist and Taoist classics, and his heart was filled with immense disappointment.
He had originally thought these were cultivation texts, but to his surprise, the cultivation content within these scriptures was all fabricated. They were merely the fantasies of mortals.
Inspiration for thought was secondary to the extreme. If Hongjun sought inspiration for his cultivation, he would be better off comprehending the content within the Will of the Great Dao.
"How laughable are cultivation texts created by a bunch of mortals?"
"They themselves cannot cultivate and possess no extraordinary power, yet they wish to teach others to become immortals and Buddhas. I see these scriptures, apart from their slight effect on cultivating the mind, as nothing more than tools for mortals to collect wealth, spread their sects, and build their influence. They are merely brainwashing."
"To expect scriptures created by mortals of a hundred years to suddenly enlighten a Great Luo Golden Immortal or a Hunyuan Golden Immortal – isn't that a joke?"
"A Hunyuan Golden Immortal who has cultivated for billions of years, and the cultivation methods they create still require the guidance of mortal thoughts from a hundred years ago? There is no logic to it whatsoever."
Just as Hongjun had desperately hoped these were cultivation texts before, seeing these fabricated scriptures that spoke of erroneous views and violated common cultivation sense, he couldn't help but sneer inwardly.
From the Earth's history books he had seen previously, the leaders of Buddhism and Taoism were all ambitious schemers. While the common folk might believe in their religions, the high-ranking Taoist priests and monks themselves likely did not, as the scriptures and legends were fabricated by them.
Before the Han dynasties, where were the legends of the Lingbao Heavenly Venerate, the Primordial Heavenly Venerate, and the Moral Heavenly Venerate of the Supreme Purity? Before the Han dynasties, there was only the Emperor of Heaven and the Empress of Earth! Where were so many so-called Taoist deities?
Most of these Taoist deities were fabricated after the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties. They were entirely different from strange records like the "Classic of Mountains and Seas." It was akin to a conceptual substitution.
In the "Songs of Chu," the initial descriptions of immortals were those with wings and covered in fur.
As it is said, "Feathered beings on the verdant hills, dwelling in the ancient land of immortality."
King Huainan, before fantasizing about becoming an immortal, was still singing, "Will you, sir, and I, grow feathers?"
The original version of the immortal underwent numerous conceptual and image alterations. It was only after the appearance of Tao Hongjing's "True Ranks of Immortals" during the Wei, Jin, and Southern and Northern Dynasties that the vast pantheon of Taoist deities was initially formed.
This vast pantheon of Taoist deities was merely a tool fabricated by the higher echelons of Taoism to expand their influence and harvest wealth. The deities were fabricated. One can only imagine how many descriptions in the so-called Taoist scriptures were added to extort money!
These scriptures had excellent brainwashing effects. To expect to truly achieve immortality through them, Hongjun felt, was as effective as telling oneself to go to sleep.
"More useless things..."
"Senior Long-Headed King, what is the meaning of placing these books here..."
Hongjun could look down on Earth and the Buddhist and Taoist scriptures on Earth.
However, he dared not look down on the Long-Headed King, this ancient sage who had transcended countless eons of tribulations.
He had to swallow any doubts and moved to the shelf labeled with the character "Bing."
There, on this shelf, were classical biographical novels, including "Journey to the West," "The Romance of the Journey to the West" (Yuan Dynasty Zaju), "The Sequel to Journey to the West," and "The Wonderful Journey to the West."
Also present were "Investiture of the Gods," "The Three Tales of Tang," "The Eight Immortals Gain the Dao," "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," and "Zi Bu Yu," among others.
Hongjun's divine sense swept over them. He glanced at "The Romance of the Journey to the West" (Yuan Dynasty Zaju), "The Sequel to Journey to the West," "The Wonderful Journey to the West," "The Three Tales of Tang," "The Eight Immortals Gain the Dao," and "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" once, and then discarded them.
When his divine sense scanned "Investiture of the Gods," he became engrossed upon seeing the depiction of Daoist Hongjun accepting Sanqing as his disciples, and how just three pills caused Sanqing to cease their conflict. He pondered deeply.
"Why are there novels and biographies about me recorded on Earth?"
"This is bad. I have underestimated Earth. Earth must have a profound mystery. Senior Long-Headed King's longing for Earth is definitely not just because it is his homeland..."
In Hongjun's eyes, Earth, which could be easily annihilated by a Heavenly Immortal-level postnatal being, became unfathomably mysterious.
And when he reached the shelf labeled with the character "Ding," this feeling reached its peak.
Among the four shelves, Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding.
Shelf Jia contained all of Earth's history books.
Shelf Yi contained all of Earth's Buddhist and Taoist scriptures.
Shelf Bing contained Earth's classical novels, written by ancient people.
And Shelf Ding contained... novels written by modern people!
Hongjun disdained shelves Jia and Yi. Among the books on shelf Bing, only "Investiture of the Gods" was worth savoring and contemplating.
However, on shelf Ding, there were many such points of deep contemplation!
He quickly scanned "Battle Through the Heavens," "Battle of the Gods," "Lord of the Mysteries," "The Holy Ruins," and "Perfect World" with his divine sense, and then focused on the most important section.
"Primordial Era Novels?"
After scanning several Primordial Era novels, Hongjun's heart was stirred by a tempestuous wave!
"Primordial Era: Dao Lord of Devouring the Heavens?"
On the shelf, there was a Primordial Era novel titled "Primordial Era: Dao Lord of Devouring the Heavens."
It narrated how a mortal, who had transmigrated from Earth, directly used the power of a system to seize the body of the Devouring Demon God.
The Devouring Demon God no longer used his Earthly name as his Dao title, but instead forgot his original name and called himself the Dao Lord of Devouring the Heavens.
The Dao Lord of Devouring the Heavens easily cultivated to the Half-Step Great Dao realm in the chaos. In the end, he and Pangu fought to a mutual defeat, opening the Primordial World. The Dao Lord of Devouring the Heavens then retreated into the depths of chaos to heal.
He sent a clone into the Primordial World. By the time of the Witch-Demon era, the Dao Lord of Devouring the Heavens had finished healing, devoured Pangu's Dao fruit, and ascended to the Great Dao Saint realm.
After ascending to the Great Dao Saint realm, the Dao Lord of Devouring the Heavens discovered that there were eight other chaos realms in the distant chaos. The chaos he was in was merely the ninth chaos domain, and in the first and second chaos domains, the number of Great Dao Saints reached hundreds or even thousands.
Hongjun discovered that the three thousand Chaos Demon Gods within the novel were very similar to the three thousand Demon Gods in his actual chaos. More than ninety-nine percent of the Demon Gods were identical, which filled him with an extreme sense of dread.