Dao Tianxing: Demons Rise in the Vast Sea

Something came into being, born before Heaven and Earth. The Dao gave birth to One, One gave birth to Two, Two gave birth to Three, and Three gave birth to all things. It may be called the mother of all under Heaven. All things under Heaven arise from being, and being arises from nonbeing.

When Heaven and Earth first came into being, there was neither good nor evil in the world, neither righteousness nor demonic ways. All living creatures, whether rich or poor, noble or lowly, coexisted without distinction. Beasts and spirits did not prey upon one another; all things lived together in harmony and freedom.

Heaven and Earth changed, the stars and moon revolved, and after ten thousand years, humanity came to rule the world. Heaven and Earth follow their own laws: calamities such as raging winds, torrential rains, floods, and lava eruptions never cease. Human strength is small, powerless to resist or alter them. Knowing how brief life is, people agonize over the meaning of a lifetime of toil, and countless desires arise.

All people are controlled by greed, anger, delusion, and hatred. As the saying goes: one moment of anger, and you fall into the lowest hell. Some toil their whole lives for desire, then hastily reach the end of their mortal lives. Others abandon their humanity for desire, slaughtering others in a bloodbath until they fall into the demonic path and can never turn back.

Yet a rare few see beyond the desires of the mortal world, cultivate themselves and attain the Dao, seeking the truth of life. They attain immortal bodies that endure for a thousand years and boundless magical power, using them to save the world and its people.

The mortal world stands between Heaven and Earth, and it is here that the divisions between good and evil, righteousness and wickedness, immortals and demons first arose. The Immortal Realm protects all living things. People revere immortals and disdain demons, seeing the Demon Realm as a scourge. Joining with the Immortal Realm, the mortal world proclaimed itself the righteous path and sought to drive out the demon clans and seize sole dominion over the fertile lands of Yanhuang. Thus began the war between the righteous and demonic paths, a conflict that would last for thousands of years.

For centuries, the righteous and demonic sides fought without cease, in countless battles that left rivers of blood and cries of anguish filling the skies. The demon clans fought with ruthless methods, inspiring fear in mortals, who were fortunate to receive aid from the Immortal Realm. Countless died on both sides, and their accumulated hatred could no longer be undone.

Now the righteous path has grown powerful. After countless fierce battles, it has finally driven the remnants of the Demon Realm into a desperate corner at Yanhuang's southernmost reaches, on the edge of the Sea of Death.

The righteous path is a path, and the demonic path is a path too. I ask Heaven and Earth: what is the Dao?