Unification

Peaceful coexistence. Mutual cooperation and shared prosperity. Although the Lord of Yuanxi and the Fate Dao Ancestor had vaguely realized that the situation might not be as dire as they had imagined, they never dreamed it could ultimately turn out this well. Yaoguang, who was clearly powerful enough to swallow both of their universes by sheer force, had chosen instead to accept and accommodate them within his domain, guiding their two universes toward a completely new path. This... was undeniably the best possible outcome. Right then, the Lord of Yuanxi and the Fate Dao Ancestor exchanged a glance, speaking at the same time: "We thank you for your benevolence!" "Your Majesty Yaoguang's magnanimity is vast beyond anything words could even fractionally express," the Fate Dao Ancestor added. "The Ancient Immortal Realm, from top to bottom, is willing to enter your Chaos Realm. From this day forth, we shall pour all our efforts into further perfecting the rules and Grand Daos of the Chaos Realm." "Very good. It seems we have reached a consensus." Yaoguang nodded with a smile. The Lord of Yuanxi and the Fate Dao Ancestor smiled as well. On one hand... This outcome at least ensured that neither the Lord of Yuanxi nor the Fate Dao Ancestor would have to perish over this, completely vanishing from existence. On the other hand... The Lord of Yuanxi and the Fate Dao Ancestor glanced at the Chaos World, which was several times larger than the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm combined. When an existence of this caliber was willing to reason with you and even grant you such favorable treatment, what more could you say? If one could live, who would be stubborn enough to seek death? "Now then, regarding the arrangements for your two worlds," Yaoguang said. "My original plan was to establish Six Realms. Currently, I have opened three: the Heaven Realm, the Mortal Realm, and the Nine Nether Realm. With the entry of the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm, they may serve as the Immortal Realm and the Spirit Realm." The Lord of Yuanxi and the Fate Dao Ancestor could tell that the Chaos World was many times larger than their own worlds. If distributed proportionally, with the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm each becoming one of the Chaos World's Six Realms, the territories under their jurisdiction would not diminish—they would actually expand. "We willingly obey Your Majesty Yaoguang's arrangements," both assented together. "Then..." Yaoguang controlled the entire Chaos World, gradually shifting it as it once more moved to engulf the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm. Meanwhile, the Lord of Yuanxi and the Fate Dao Ancestor promptly retracted the forces of the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm, preventing violent collisions during the convergence of the three worlds that could trigger an apocalyptic, universe-shattering catastrophe. The Nine Rulers and the Two Dao Ancestors, who were still locked in combat with the Hunyuan Saint Body controlled by Yaoguang's strand of divine mind, felt the Chaos World encroaching upon the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm. Each was thoroughly shaken. "What is this..." "No more fighting? Is it over...?" "Alas. The moment Yaoguang's true body descended here, whether it was the Ancient Immortal Realm or the Hunyuan Realm, the outcome was already sealed." The Nine Rulers and Two Dao Ancestors sighed. Yaoguang glanced at the Nine Rulers, then shifted his gaze to the Lord of Yuanxi. "I believe you gave too much authority to the Nine Rulers. Were it not for them, your war with the Fate Dao Ancestor would never have deteriorated to such a point." Saying this, something else came to mind, and he smiled. "Still, that is also your most precious quality, and the very reason I trust you." "Thank you for your praise, Your Majesty Yaoguang." The Lord of Yuanxi sighed as well, but replied honestly, "I was born to represent the will of all sentient life; naturally, I must act in accordance with their will." "Acting in accordance with the will of all sentient life is fine, yet more often than not, all sentient life is easily fooled. To prevent such a scenario..." Yaoguang stated his intentions directly: "From now on, I will take over half of the spiritual power in the Hunyuan Realm. You and the Nine Rulers will manage the other half of the sentient spirituality. Of course, my Chaos World is far vaster and broader, so your Hunyuan Realm will also be able to develop further within it. In the end, the sentient spirituality you control will still not be much less than what you hold now." The Lord of Yuanxi was not surprised by Yaoguang's demand. In fact... For the Hunyuan Realm to retain half or more of all sentient spirituality was an outcome even better than anticipated. In its calculations, Yaoguang would establish a completely new hierarchy of permissions, using his conceived 'Lord of Heavenly Dao' to oversee the allocation of all sentient spirituality, while the Lord of Yuanxi, including the Nine Rulers, would be just like the high-authority Immortal Kings beneath the Lord of Yuanxi—their permissions raised or stripped away at a mere thought. "We thank you for your benevolence," the Lord of Yuanxi said sincerely. Yaoguang nodded, then turned to the Fate Dao Ancestor. "My universe has also simulated the Three Thousand Grand Daos. Next, I will use my Three Thousand Grand Daos to take over your Three Thousand Grand Daos..." He pondered briefly, then continued, "From now on, the Ancient Immortal Realm counts as a realm of its own. Thus, the Ancient Immortal Realm's Three Thousand Grand Daos shall be designated at the 'Heavenly Dao' tier—governing a single domain—while the Three Thousand Grand Daos responsible for maintaining the operation of the Chaos World shall be of the true 'Grand Dao' tier! The true Grand Daos of the universe!" "My all-out mobilization of the power of fate this time has already made me realize that the fate I understood was not true fate. When deployed across the Ancient Immortal Realm, the power of fate was already stretched beyond its limits, let alone encompassing the Chaos Universe! Therefore, that the great Majesty Yaoguang is willing to let me maintain the operation of the Three Thousand Grand Daos within the 'Immortal Realm' is the greatest grace to me and to our Ancient Immortal Realm." The Fate Dao Ancestor wholeheartedly accepted this arrangement as well. "Good." Yaoguang nodded slightly. He looked upon the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm. Looking at the leaders of these two worlds who had finally, under his mediation, sat down together peacefully and earnestly for peace talks, a profound sense of satisfaction welled up within him. Ever since he learned the truth behind the war between the two realms, he had been striving toward this goal. And now... It was finally realized. His life could be considered fully consummated, leaving nothing more to be desired. ... Time slipped by quietly in the process of advancing the convergence of the three realms. Because they had to ensure the fusion of the three worlds would not cause severe tremors and trigger massive cosmic disasters, the process naturally had to be carried out with utmost caution. Otherwise, even the slightest friction or bump, when reflected within the Hunyuan Realm or the Ancient Immortal Realm, could very well spell the destruction of a galactic system, or even dozens or hundreds of them. And within those galactic systems often lay thousands, tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of civilizations, each home to tens of billions, hundreds of billions, or trillions of living beings. To any single individual, such a catastrophe could not even begin to be described by the falling of the heavens and the cracking of the earth. Under these circumstances, the fusion of the three realms was naturally very slow. Yet precisely because Yaoguang, the Lord of Yuanxi, and the Fate Dao Ancestor were so meticulous, the vast masses of living beings in the Hunyuan Realm and the Ancient Immortal Realm who lacked sufficient cultivation barely felt anything at all. They only knew that the war between their world and the enemy world seemed to have come to an end. It had presumably concluded in a draw, with neither side able to overcome the other. At any rate, the powerful immortal spirits returned to their own world one after another. Furthermore, because the high-level immortal spirits kept strictly silent out of deep taboo, almost none of the immortal spirits dispatched to the Ancient Immortal Realm received an increase in spiritual permissions. Not only were their permissions not elevated, but the computing power they could mobilize actually decreased. Everyone was effectively demoted by a rank. This outcome triggered a considerable stir. However, since the Lord of Yuanxi, the Nine Rulers, and even many in-the-know Immortal Kings and Immortal Venerables had willingly accepted the result, the remaining immortal spirits—capped at rank seventeen at highest—could cause no meaningful disturbance even if they wanted to make trouble. As it was in the Hunyuan Realm, so it was in the Ancient Immortal Realm. The Three Thousand Grand Daos took over the Three Thousand Heavenly Daos. Although the Three Thousand Heavenly Daos still maintained the operation of the Immortal Realm, they were no longer self-contained and complete; no more Dao Ancestors could be born. Fortunately, Yaoguang had devised a corresponding plan long in advance. Though Dao Ancestors were no more, the practitioners below sustained the Immortal Realm's continuity through a path known as Golden Immortals and Immortal Golden Immortals. Practitioners in the Immortal Realm comprehended the Heavenly Daos until they touched upon the Grand Daos, attaining the rank of Grand Dao Golden Immortal, and from Grand Dao Golden Immortal they could advance to become Immortal Golden Immortals who proved immortality. This progression significantly reduced the Heavenly Daos' singular weight, yet it allowed the Three Thousand Heavenly Daos to spread fully beyond the borders of the Immortal Realm. The Fate Dao Ancestor did not resist this either. For now, the Immortal Realm was still kept in operation by the Three Thousand Heavenly Daos, and once these Heavenly Daos belonging to the Ancient Immortal Realm were diluted, they were vigorously promoted by Yaoguang and would soon spread throughout the entire Chaos World. Thus, the Fate Dao Ancestor chose to retire upon accomplishing the task. He had already realized his own limits. Therefore, what he needed to do next was devote more time and energy to delving into the essence of his own power—fate itself. This evolutionary process spanned tens of millions of years. Over tens of millions of years, the oldest generation of immortals either cultivated into Immortal Golden Immortals and survived, or withered away under the erosion of time. So too did the immortal spirits. Though claimed to be immortal, immortal spirits were not truly eternal and deathless. They too could perish within the Hunyuan Realm—now the Spirit Realm—due to the collapse of their minds. With the passage of tens of millions of long years, as the first generation of immortal spirits withered, the newly born immortal spirits and immortals gradually adapted to their current living environment amidst the universe's transformation. Moreover, because Yaoguang had been busy advancing the convergence of the three realms and had lacked the time to further develop the Heaven Realm and the Nine Nether Realm, people even forgot that six—or rather, five—realms existed in this universe. Furthermore, Yaoguang had previously poured the most effort into the Mortal Realm, which had the Nine Cauldrons Sect—a cultivation sect he occasionally looked after—acting as a beacon for cultivation. Even the myriad living beings scattered across the starry cosmic void were placed by him into numerous planes centered around the Mortal Realm plane. As a result, the Mortal Realm layer gradually surpassed the Immortal Realm and the Spirit Realm, flourishing above all others, to the point where beings of both the Immortal and Spirit Realms were captivated by its rich variety and sought ways to travel there. In time, the Lord of Yuanxi and the Fate Dao Ancestor simply proposed to Yaoguang that the three realms be connected. After inspecting the situation, Yaoguang did not refuse. From that point on, the Chaos World's development moved completely onto the right track. A brand-new universe that merged the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Hunyuan Realm—a world equipped with an entirely new cultivation system and operating logic—was fully formed.