Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

Yan Zaizen had experienced fear before, such as facing the unknown, but this was the first time since his dao emerged that fear displayed on his face. It was incredibly unsightly to behold.

As he felt his characteristics that defined himself slowly deteriorate, the cracks appearing on the surface of his dao orb became thicker and deeper.

"No! Not like this!!" Eyes blazing with decisiveness, Yan Zaizen drew upon his Mortal Dao and brought out all he could. "Absolute Dao Merge!!!" His Mortal Dao orb projected outwards, transforming into a clone of himself. This dark-amber clone had countless cracks on its surface, as if it was thick glass smashed by a warhammer.

"ROAR!" Thunderously bellowing, the clone turned into droplets of rain that submerged into Yan Zaizen’s flesh and blood, completely merging with him. His fiendgod, soul, and qi cultivation base circulated vigorously! Using all he could, he attempted to delay the shattering of his dao.

With ice-cold decisiveness and imperialistic charm, his eyes suffused with titanic fury. "If this is a plot against me, I swear I’ll find your soul in hell and make you suffer a fate worse than death!!!" His madness grew stronger as he threatened the Heavenly Monarch himself.

His voice caused trembling in the spatial void. His eyes started to undergo a change. No longer was it amber-gold, but misty white. It was as if it contained everything in existence yet also nothing at all. This was the law of mimicry! Specifically, it originated from his bloodline!

A black dot surfaced from his glabella. Slowly, this black dot expanded until it covered nearly a tenth of his forehead. It started to swirl, becoming a black hole that seemed intent to devour all creation. As it spun, Yan Zaizen’s gaze of misty white no longer contained madness but a kingly gaze, as if all things in creation were inferior in comparison.

A faint illusory form of a grand crown appeared on his head, and his aura suddenly underwent a dramatic shift. With this crown’s appearance, he no longer had no control of his physical body as he was funneled through space. He halted in the middle of the spatial void tunnel.

If Yan Zaizen had personally seen this crown, he would be incomparably shocked! This crown was on the head of ’him’ during the Sky Opening Gate event. This figure had snapped his fingers and collapsed heavens restriction! He elicited silence in all those beneath him and all those above cheered in excitement!

At the moment, the spatial void force that pulled Yan Zaizen was quelled. He felt an indescribably vicious pain reminiscent to being in chaotic space, being ripped apart from all angles, once more. It was like something was being pulled out from the depths of his existence.

Lifting his head, those eyes that seemed to contain nothing and everything blinked. No longer did they contain nothing, but black holes! "Roar!!!" A more intense thunderous bellow resounded as Yan Zaizen faced the heavens above. The pain he felt was beyond description! He almost wanted to die!

An indescribable amount of time flowed on...

To Yan Zaizen, it felt like an eternity in torture!

He blinked once more. Those eyes returned to a misty whiteness. Yan Zaizen could feel himself calm down and the pain subsiding. Looking at his trembling palms, he felt his heart tremble. "My Mortal Dao?"

His Mortal Dao no longer had cracks. In truth, it had transformed. No longer was it dark-amber but resplendent amber-gold. He deactivated his Absolute Dao Merge. The features from before faded, revealing his Mortal Dao avatar once more.

No longer was it an orb, but an egg! This egg was about the size of grown man’s fist, several times larger than before. Within this egg of amber-gold, a black and white hole were intermixed and swirled in unison. It was like two different colored paints in a barrel being mixed.

What was even more prominent was the illusory golden crown atop this egg. It radiated a kingly charm filled with regal vigor and innate superiority.

A surge of information suddenly appeared within his mind and when it did, his eyes darkened. "A False Grand Dao?" Yan Zaizen eyes grew even darker. It was as if information from the universe were entering his mind by some unknown method, informing him of his circumstance. It was beyond mystical, like a god communicating with someone without leaving a trace.

"A False Grand Dao...the precursor to a true Grand Dao." Yan Zaizen calmly collected this ethereal and elusive information into his mind. As he learned more, his calmness increased.

A Mortal Dao was an interpersonal law constructed from one’s true definitions of a person’s existence. If they are lustful to the core, they will develop a dao relating to lust. If they are murderous to the extreme, they will develop a dao relating to murder and killing. A person’s core developed from experiences and beliefs as well as the intensity of it constructed one’s Mortal Dao.

This is what he understood. It was also a law that could directly strengthen and interact with all things, from essence to souls. It could be used to enhance one’s bodily talent or increase the rate of cultivation regardless of the Path. This was what a Mortal Dao was.

A Grand Dao was different. It was the product of one’s True Origin, their existential self, merging with their Mortal Dao. From Pinaka’s earlier descriptions, the Grand Dao has characteristics and unique powers of this world. It was also far, far stronger than the Mortal Dao it derived from.

As for what happened to him, it was truly a perilous experience. If he didn’t execute his Absolute Dao Merge, merging his Mortal Dao with all that he was, his Mortal Dao could’ve shattered. By doing so, however, he was capable of gathering his Origin Source stored in his body, the trace aura of one’s True Origin.

The Origin Source True Egg’s function was to gather the Origin Source and create a pseudo-True Origin. This pseudo-True Origin would slowly grow until it can locate and connect with the real True Origin. With this, after millions of years of development, one could easily find their True Origin, thereby having the ability to establish their Grand Dao.

However, it was obvious that Xiha didn’t think that the egg would be drawn to Yan Zaizen’s Mortal Dao. This was because of one fact: No one would casually send unknown things into their soul form!!

Yan Zaizen had also refined a Heavenly Spatial Box into his dantian which could store both the robe and the egg. However, Yan Zaizen’s ignorance and empty, unused since refinement Heavenly Box had him send it to his soul form instead. This was him essentially being stupid.

This was not something Xiha could predict. This was not something ANYONE could predict.

As Yan Zaizen understood the situation further, he inwardly groaned. He didn’t know what this False Grand Dao entailed, nor of how it’ll affect his future. All he understood was the information given to him somehow.

A False Grand Dao is a Mortal Dao suffused with a vast amount of his Origin Source. The gathering of his Origin Source was why he felt an intense, suicidal-inducing pain earlier. After all, the Origin Source was the aura and energy of his True Origin, it existed everywhere but was unable to be seen. The extraction of which wasn’t an easy manner.

Even the portion of his Origin Source, the Law of Mimicry, was only a part, a manifestation, of his True Origin. When he created his Origin Core, it enabled him to subtlety access the Origin Source he couldn’t discover, allowing it to develop into a bloodline!

He took a deep breath and recalled the amber-gold egg into his soul form. When it rested within, it was no different than his Mortal Dao avatar. "...I have more clues." He softly smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

Despite the vicious pain he had to experience, his Mortal Dao transformation had helped him figure out a few things about himself. The mysteries of his past was slowly unveiling.