Daoyi stood in the void above the Nine Heavens System. She was an insignificant speck of dust compared to the infinite universe. Yet, at this very moment, she seemed to have become the center of all creation.
A black-and-white aura covered her body. Anyone who gazed upon the black aura would feel their body weaken and their soul sucked out of it. Conversely, anyone who saw the white aura would feel their spirit lifted and vitality bursting forth. Together, these two contradictory auras gave Daoyi a paradoxical temperament.
It wasn’t just her body, but her eyes too.
In one eye, her sclera had become pitch black while her iris turned bleach white. Her pupil remained black, but it resembled a black hole sucking in the colors of everything nearby. Her other eye was the complete opposite, with a white pupil, black iris, and pure white sclera.
If one could withstand gazing into Daoyi’s eyes, they would see a seed. It was simultaneously all black and white, creating a contradiction just like Daoyi’s current self.
Daoyi spread her arms as if to embrace someone. The moment she did so, her aura surged, and something seemed to have materialized—but it was invisible to all. Divine essence of chaos surged toward her location from all nine heavens.
She accepted it with—quite literally—open arms. The divine essence of chaos did not harm her. Her robes did not drip apart; her skin did not melt. Instead, her skin became luminescent as the divine essence of chaos entered her body through every pore, enhancing her beauty.
The immortal sovereign stayed in that position for hours. The hours turned into days. Before anyone knew it, months had passed. Even that eventually turned into years. Yet, Daoyi kept the same posture as if she were a marble sculpture.
Although nothing seemed to have changed, reality was far different. The seed in Daoyi’s mind was continuously accumulating energy, ready to burst and birth a new world. The seed’s radiance also intensified, as if the protective shell could no longer contain what was within.
Black-and-white radiance erupted from Daoyi’s body as it expanded and transformed into a whole new world. Life immediately flourished upon its creation. It was a world with not much space but with vast lands and seas suitable for a myriad of life. Every blade of grass, and even each pile of dirt, was alive.
Moments later, half the life perished. It was not an unnatural death. The souls liberated from their flesh congregated together and formed a silver river. It was not a River of Time, but a Soul River that passed through every part of the new divine world.
The life that did not perish grew. Those belonging to a species found each other and propagated, while those unique lifeforms acted on their instincts. Perhaps, with time, they would develop sapience, but most, if not all, would fall behind the times and disappear.
Still, that was for later. At the beginning of creation, these unique lifeforms reigned over all.
Back in the Nine Heavens Universe, Daoyi appeared once more. She was still in the same pose, arms spread out, as if she had never disappeared, and the black-and-white world was just a mirage. After a few minutes, Daoyi’s arms hung by her side, and she closed her eyes.
At this moment, Tianyi appeared in front of Daoyi. He did not release any aura and just stood next to her, as if guarding her. However, this was his inner universe, and it would take a miracle for someone to harm Daoyi—especially with the special attention he paid.
He said nothing and silently watched the figure in the blue dress embroidered with silver phoenixes and lilies.
From seeing the process of her creating the divine world, Tianyi had a good estimate of Daoyi’s current power level. She also created reincarnation in her world, but unlike the Six Paths of Samsara in Tianyi’s divine system, inner universe, and the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, Daoyi’s Samsara was solely composed of the Law of Life and Death, with no other additional laws.
This Samsara bound life and death together, making it far more stable. If the size were equal, Tianyi’s Spacetime Divine World was lesser than Daoyi’s Life-and-Death Divine World. If Tianyi’s divine world was focused on size, then Daoyi’s was compressed.
Overall, Tianyi’s Spacetime Divine World was still much greater, especially after he incorporated countless divine-level laws, but Daoyi’s still had its own merits. If compared to when Tianyi only used the divine-level Law of Spacetime to create the Spacetime Divine World, Daoyi would have a greater advantage despite the smaller size.
Finally, Daoyi opened her eyes. Her sclera had returned to their original color. The only physical evidence of her change was her pupils—one remained black, while the other was white.
“How do you feel?” Tianyi asked.
“Powerful, like I can kill my former self with the wave of a hand,” Daoyi said. She sighed. “The difference between a divinity and a non-divinity is too immense. Had I known about the gulf, I might not have been able to persist in comprehending the Divine Law of Life and Death.”
Daoyi glanced at Tianyi from the corner of her eyes. “I can probably create a child from just your and my divine essence.”
Tianyi opened his mouth. He felt the way Daoyi said “divine essence” seemed especially off, but it could just be his overreaction. “Let’s put that aside for later. I recently succeeded in reconstructing my former body.”
“You have?”
He nodded. Tianyi hadn’t really focused on it. After hearing about his unique nature from Bao Ling and Confucius, he tried reconstructing his body with that information. It was as if he had finally found the missing link. Although he didn’t succeed on the first attempt, it was much easier than before. Previously, he was always missing a crucial piece, but now he had found it.
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Still, Tianyi didn’t feel like using his blood avatar. If Mengfei had not been possessed by the Heavenly Dao, he would have likely gone to Daoyi to give her a grandchild, but now was not the time—or so he thought.
Tianyi narrowed his eyes. Actually, it might not be a bad idea. What I’m about to do is incredibly risky. Should I ever…
He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a cool hand on his cheek. Tianyi stared into Daoyi’s eyes. “I was thinking that a child would make Mother happy. At the very least, it should give her a reason to resist the Heavenly Dao, should it not?”
Tianyi placed his palm over her hand and gently wrapped his fingers around it. “I’ll consider it. Right now, we have to go to a funeral.”
“Funeral?” Daoyi asked. “Whose?”
“Gan Xuehua’s.”
“It’s her?” Daoyi said with a modicum of surprise.
In their little group, Daoyi expected Gu Chuan to die first. After all, he was the only one who relied almost entirely on resources to become a true immortal. Even after he gained access to more powerful techniques, he stayed true to his initial goal. His purpose in cultivation was to live longer, not to pursue some loftier ambition.
In contrast, Gan Xuehua was a dedicated cultivator through and through. She understood that rather than relying on someone else, making herself reliable was the correct way. Even after becoming an immortal monarch, she did not rest on her laurels and continued to improve her realm.
When her talent could no longer be relied upon, Gan Xuehua leveraged the Immortal Gan Dynasty. She knew she would reach this point eventually, so she had helped the Immortal Gan Dynasty climb the ranks of power and influence. The previous Gan Emperor had died, and although she was not the current Gan Emperor, it was hers in all but name.
Gan Xuehua had only stepped into the Extremity Immortal Realm fifty thousand years ago, so it shocked Daoyi that her willpower had reached its limit so soon.
Soon, Daoyi and Tianyi disappeared from the space above the Nine Heavens System. When they reappeared, they had returned to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System. It was not on Trinity Continent, where the most powerful forces gathered, but on a remote island. Perhaps some forces had already discovered it, but because of the long distance and meager amount of natural resources, no force had claimed it.
Everything except the scenery was average at best.
Tianyi and Daoyi appeared in front of a strange building—strange for the culture of the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System, but it was a modern house built in the style of Earth. Several reincarnators had attempted to popularize Earth’s architecture, but the majority failed. Compared to the sleek geometric style, many people preferred the artful style they were used to. Even those who held interest only built such structures for novelty, and most cultivators lost interest quickly.
In mortal society, modern architecture was quite popular. The construction method pervaded all buildings, but the simple geometric design also cost far less and required less labor, making it popular only among the common people. Those with power and wealth still preferred the traditional style.
Anyway, that was beside the point. Tianyi pressed the doorbell, and it was opened by a familiar figure. Even after raising his realm, Tianyi still thought of himself as someone who easily forgot inconsequential people, but he remembered this man—Gan Linyou.
Just from the name, anyone could infer he was related to Gan Xuehua. In fact, he was also considered a notable cultivator in the Primordial Realm, being an immortal monarch and current emperor of the Immortal Gan Dynasty.
But that wasn’t the reason Tianyi remembered him. No, it was from their first meeting hundreds of thousands of years ago, when the Primordial Realm was still the Huang Realm. The Heavenly Immortal Court was still the Buzhou Immortal Sect ruling the Heaven Continent, while the Eight Pillars Sect and the Saintly Scholar School ruled the Earth and Mortal Continents.
Back then, the three hegemonic forces would gather every once in a while to compare their new generations and discuss the distribution of resources found on the endless seas. It was called the Three Heavens Connection Meeting.
As part of the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, the disciples of all forces competed in a tournament, and Tianyi faced off against Gan Linyou.
He wasn’t very strong, and Tianyi handily defeated him. The reason Tianyi had a deep impression of him was because of his self-introduction. Gan Linyou called himself the Esteemed Sage Ascendant Soul Venerable sent by the Wise Nascent Trigram Immortal of the Nine Great Heavens.
Who in the world could forget such an introduction?
Compared to the past, Gan Linyou was obviously in a gloomy mood, with none of his usual exuberance.
“It’s you two,” Gan Linyou said. He opened the door wider. “Come in. Xuehua has been waiting for you. You’re the last ones to arrive.”
Tianyi wasn’t sure, but he felt like he could detect some hostility in Gan Linyou’s tone.
Still, neither he nor Daoyi dwelled on it and entered. Inside, an old lady was talking to a fewpeople whose appearances ranged from young men in their prime to elderly retired ladies. The Samsara Travelers Chat Group had increased its number to twelve in the past years, though the membership growth had long since slowed. Everyone except Gan Linyou was a reincarnator.
“Tianyi, Daoyi, you’re here,” Gan Xuehua said with a peaceful smile. Instead of a powerful immortal empress, she resembled an amicable old lady who frequented parks and handed out candy to children. Before, she would have never been so casual with the husband-and-wife duo, especially as the disparity in power increased.
Although he told Daoyi it was a funeral, Gan Xuehua had not died yet. She could die at any time, so she sent invitations. Although she did not call it a funeral, everyone already knew in their hearts this was likely the last time they would see her.
“You’re looking good,” Tianyi finally said. He sat down and joined the conversation.
Gao Chushi and Gu Chuan were a bit detached, showing no signs of sadness at Gan Xuehua’s eventual passing. Tianyi didn’t find it strange. Both of their willpowers had stagnated. It seemed that they would likely also follow Gan Xuehua within a hundred thousand years. Gao Chushi was an immortal monarch-ranked chef, but he had long stopped taking orders. Instead, he took in several disciples, intent on passing his art down.
Tianyi eventually drifted toward Yan Nie, and the two discussed cultivation. Yan Nie was alone today since Gan Xuehua requested only reincarnators be present. The two were accompanied by two other members of the Samsara Travelers Chat Group. Both were immortal monarchs and appeared on the younger side. They also exuded a youthful exuberance that matched their appearance.
Rather than talking equally to Tianyi and Yan Nie, both of them humbly sought advice from the duo. Unlike many other reincarnators, these two still had lofty ambitions and were still expectant toward the future.
Daoyi sat with Gan Xuehua. The latter pulled Daoyi to the side and asked, “How’s your relationship with Tianyi?”
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