Evolution

"A supreme treasure of Fate, the Gate of Many Marvels." Yaoguang appraised the treasure once again. Yet, unlike before, now that this supreme treasure sat before him, it was surprisingly... Like a dead object. There was not the slightest trace of the power of Fate lingering upon it. Thinking his senses had deceived him, Yaoguang examined it closely for a time, only to be forced to concede that there truly was no power of Fate. The Gate of Many Marvels had become an ordinary object devoid of any miraculous qualities. This outcome left him somewhat disappointed. Yet on closer reflection, it was only natural. "The Three Thousand Grand Daos cannot manifest outside the Ancient Immortal Realm. Around me lies the chaotic void, where the Three Thousand Grand Daos do not exist. If not for my 'chaos' essence serving as an anchor and coordinate, I wouldn't even perceive space or time, let alone matter, energy, blistering heat, freezing cold, or ruin—sensations tied to the Grand Daos of Creation, Yin-Yang, Li Fire, Cold Ice, and Destruction." Yaoguang felt a tinge of regret. "If the Three Thousand Grand Daos cannot manifest, then the Grand Dao of Fate, being one of them, naturally cannot manifest either." Lost in thought, he took a step forward, preparing to return to the Ancient Immortal Realm. Yet just as he was about to cross back over, something seemed to strike him, and his gaze fell once more upon the Gate of Many Marvels. "The other two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine Grand Daos cannot manifest, but Fate... can it truly not manifest either? Didn't I already conclude that Fate ought to be a power transcending the other two thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine Grand Daos? If so, such a power shouldn't be constrained by the chaotic void..." Yaoguang looked at the Gate of Many Marvels in his hand, scrutinizing it once again. Even when he washed it with his own "chaos" essence, he still detected no abnormality whatsoever from this supreme treasure of the Ancient Immortal Alliance. It truly seemed to have become an inanimate object, bereft of wonder. Pondering for a moment, a thought stirred in Yaoguang's mind. Channeling the energy bolstering Artifact Crafting, he instantly elevated his vision and activated Higher-Dimensional Cognition. Entering Higher-Dimensional Cognition from within the Ancient Immortal Realm required rising from whichever lower world he occupied, then traversing the Immortal Realm and the Ancient Immortal Realm before reaching the chaotic void. Standing already within the chaotic void, the "vision" he could perceive was undoubtedly far clearer. He exerted every ounce of control to focus his "gaze" upon the Gate of Many Marvels. *At the end of the day, the Gate of Many Marvels is still an extraordinary treasure, a crafted artifact. If I view it through the eyes of a master of Artifact Crafting... it should...* Before Yaoguang's train of thought had even finished, he sharply perceived something. A key! The Gate of Many Marvels was like a key. A key that could open a gate and draw power from within. And that true gate... In his state of Higher-Dimensional Cognition, Yaoguang's "gaze" shifted, landing upon the core of the Ancient Immortal Realm—the Immortal Realm. To be precise, it settled upon the Gate of Fate and the Gate of Karma suspended high above the Immortal Realm. "This is the key to opening the Gate of Fate and obtaining power from within it." Clarity dawned in his heart. Yet this information aligned closely with what he already understood, offering little new significance. Yaoguang simply used the connection between the Gate of Many Marvels and the Gate of Fate in the Ancient Immortal Realm—a conceptual keyword—to continue searching the Gate of Fate, as well as... The core of the Ancient Immortal Realm's very existence: the power of Fate. Under this observation, in a daze, he finally seemed to "see" something clearly. The essence of the Ancient Immortal Realm! The innermost essence of the Ancient Immortal Realm originated from the birth of the power of Fate. On an unimaginably ancient day, in a state completely beyond his comprehension, the gaze of Fate fell upon an Ancient Immortal Realm that did not yet exist. Like a coincidence, an accident. This budding wisp of Fate's power exerted its nature as the head of the Three Thousand Grand Daos, either evolving into the Three Thousand Grand Daos or causing their attributes to extend outward through Karma, Time, and the Void, beginning the process of nurturing a world from nothingness. If the Grand Dao of the Void served as the foundation supporting all Daos, the Grand Dao of Time ensured the unfolding operation of the Three Thousand Grand Daos, and the Grand Dao of Karma bound them together into an orderly whole, then the Grand Dao of Fate was the beginning of everything. Only when Fate gave birth to ripples belonging to the "Ancient Immortal Realm" could the Ancient Immortal Realm have any possibility of being nurtured into being. Much like all living beings, only when the concept of "I" truly emerged could an entity be considered a genuine life. It was the primordial One! It was the flash of inspiration and fire that burst forth from colliding thought at the very moment a universe was born. It was precisely these flashes of inspiration and fire that formally brought universes into existence. Yaoguang "watched" this spectacle, continually absorbing the myriad wonders of the Grand Dao of Fate. Yet within his mind, another question lingered. He had grasped the Ancient Immortal Realm's Grand Dao of Fate. It was like a chance occurrence, a coincidence, or the wonder of a fleeting flash of inspiration. Yet how had that inspiration, that chance, that coincidence arisen in the first place? Or rather, what was the primordial, most primal Fate itself? What caused the power of Fate to be born and prompted the nurturing of the Ancient Immortal Realm? Too many perplexities and unknowns stirred the curiosity in Yaoguang's heart. Unfortunately... Searching for information with Higher-Dimensional Cognition required a prerequisite: one had to possess a "keyword." Like searching for a new book, one had to know its title first. "Still, at least I have a lead now." Yaoguang withdrew his gaze from the Gate of Fate in the Ancient Immortal Realm. Instantly, his vision plunged, and his "cognition" returned to his physical body. Coming out of that "vision," Yaoguang felt distinctly unaccustomed. Yet considering that the higher-dimensional state ultimately allowed him only to see and contemplate without the power to act or interfere in the physical world in the slightest, he still felt this physical state was preferable. "The essence of Fate can be seen as the primordial starting point. In terms of living beings, that is—'I.'" Contemplating this, Yaoguang redirected his attention to his "chaos" essence. *Remaining in the Ancient Immortal Realm with my 'chaos' essence not only restricts its growth, but also suffocates it. Should I leave the 'chaos' essence behind?* Yaoguang glanced at the Glazed Ancient Tree in his mental world. It had yet to sprout a branch for [Dao Integration: Fate], but with a stir of his will, Fate had already begun to form within his "chaos" essence... That was to say, the concept of "I" had been born. "The essence of Fate is 'I,' and I am Fate." A faint smile touched Yaoguang's lips. With the birth of the concept of "I," four Grand Daos—Karma, Void, Time, and Fate—began to unfold and evolve. With a thought, his true body in the lower starry universe took a stride through the void, crossing the barrier of the Ancient Immortal Realm's world boundaries and heading straight for the chaotic void. To the current Yaoguang, there was little difference between the Immortal Realm and the lower starry universe. As long as he wished, his true body and avatar could switch freely between the Ancient Immortal Realm and the lower realm. Furthermore, as the Lord of Yuanxi's power extended into the lower starry universe, there was no longer much point in lingering there. With that in mind, his true body swiftly arrived outside the chaotic void and rendezvoused with the Shaohua avatar. Without a single word needed, the Grand Dao Pagoda in his possession, now holding over a hundred distinct Grand Daos, was summoned forth and merged directly into his "chaos" essence, swiftly fusing with the "chaos" essence that had already evolved Karma, Time, and Space. The last time he attempted such an experiment, lacking the crucial paths of Fate and Karma, the resulting "chaos" world had turned into a formless morass. The Grand Daos had operated, shifted, and intertwined in utter chaos. Had the power of the Daos he controlled at the time not been relatively weak, his "chaos" essence would have been torn apart, leaving him severely wounded at best or plunged into a deep slumber at worst. As for when he would have awoken from such a slumber, no one could have known. This time, however, under the coordination of the power of Fate evolved from the concept of "I," the more than one hundred Grand Daos operated in impeccable order. What was even more astonishing was that the continuous resonance between the Grand Daos began generating entirely new Daos out of nothingness to sustain the world's operation. Yaoguang had never even comprehended these Daos, yet amid the resonance and the operational needs of the chaos world's evolution, they took shape naturally. Their pace of evolution was simply much slower than that of the hundred-plus Grand Daos Yaoguang was already familiar with. "Excellent." Watching his "chaos" essence transform toward a genuine "chaos" world, Yaoguang's face broke into a broad smile. "Does this count as splitting open the heavens and earth, becoming a Lord of Creation?" He examined the world's evolution... After being supplemented by the Grand Daos of Karma, the Void, and Time, alongside more than a hundred other Grand Daos, the evolution efficiency of this chaos world had leapt forward substantially. If before, the chaos world formed from his chaos essence would have taken three billion years to grow to a scale rivaling the Ancient Immortal Realm, then now... That timeframe had been compressed to under a hundred million years. Moreover, if he could comprehend even more Grand Daos and bring back their developmental blueprints, the duration would shorten drastically once more. And if he were to bring over shares of the Grand Daos as well... "How would that be any different from devouring a portion of the Ancient Immortal Realm?" Yaoguang muttered to himself. Then again... He glanced toward the vast, majestic Ancient Immortal Realm slowly turning in the distance. With an Ancient Immortal Realm so immense, taking just a single bite shouldn't be much of an issue, right? Wasn't the Hunyuan Realm already clinging to the Ancient Immortal Realm and draining its blood? If he truly took a bite, the Ancient Immortal Realm probably wouldn't even be able to tell whether it was his doing or the Hunyuan Realm's. "Speaking of which, my understanding of Dao Ancestors seems to have had a slight discrepancy. Take the Void Dao Ancestor, for instance. As long as I wish, I can now fully command all Void power. However... this Void power doesn't represent the Void power of the entire Ancient Immortal Realm. What a Void Dao Ancestor can truly command does not include the Void power that sustains the Ancient Immortal Realm's very existence." Yaoguang pondered, and with a stir of intent, the evolving "chaos" essence returned all the Dao power to his true body, recongealing into the Grand Dao Pagoda. Deprived of these powers' aid, however, the time required for the chaos essence to evolve into a chaos world reverted to three billion years. "I suppose this is the difference between total income and disposable income?" Yaoguang chuckled softly. Rather than sending his true body back to the starry universe, he left it right here alongside the chaos essence within this void to accelerate the essence's evolution toward a chaos world. Meanwhile, he himself stepped out across the void and returned once more to the Immortal Realm.