บท 384: The Paradox of Fate
The simplicity of the rune which read 'Fate', massively contrasted with the aura of absolute, crushing power, that made Yaan's mind reel and sent his breathing into a heavy state for several moments before he adjusted.
Fortunately, the legacy seemed to understand that it needed to be patient and allow him to adjust, so the legacy did not move on until Yaan was calm and prepared for what was to come.
Slowly, that rune faded away, but was soon replaced by several more.
Every single rune caught Yaan's full attention, sucking in his mind and slamming into his every sense. Each time this happened, he felt dazed, and at a loss as to what was going on. Each time, a thick black crack threatened to rip open his body; just looking at these runes was enough to damage his Dao Soul!
Fortunately, each injury healed over by the time the next abyssal crack had taken form. Like this, Yaan was dragged into a mindless daze, injured over and over again as he 'read' through just three lines of runes.
Eventually, he stared blankly at the text for a while, before furrowing his brows in irritation.
"What the hell was that? My consciousness was forcefully dragged into each rune and made to focus fully on that rune, injuring my Dao Soul before letting me go and sending me to the next. I was made to concentrate so intently against my will on every single rune, but I don't even know what I just read! Hah, I'll just read it normally…"
Thankfully, this worked just fine. Yaan was able to read the three lines of runic text as if he was fluent in this never seen before language. By the end, he wore a strange expression.
"This is the final addition that I will make to my original Dao Legacy. The first part was written by the me of the past, and whilst it no longer represents my awakened dao, I do not dislike what was said. The first part was written in Dao Runes, with my completed dao heart as the pen. I am writing the second part in a language infinitely more profound - the language of my will.
My will is the paper, the pen, and the ink. With the language of my will, there is no need for thought, no need for cultivation, and…there is no need for dao.
What is will, exactly? The best way to explain this, is with a story…
I once asked the God of Defiance, not long after he entered this 1st Origin Era as boldly as one would expect of that man…Defiance, what is dao to you?
The God of Defiance, this man completely unconcerned with respect, etiquette and seniority, cast me a glance that seemed ordinary on the surface, but for reasons I did not understand back then, sent alarmed shivers through my entire body.
The God of Defiance, even before he started cultivating in this Era, could deter the world's powerhouses from moving against him with this very same glance.
I wanted to know, this man, just what about him - and I assumed his dao - made him so…shocking?"
There was a pause as the lines of runes vanished. Everything turned black, as if the Legacy was giving Yaan the opportunity to look away. This was clearly a warning that the next 'Will Rune' that he saw, could potentially be dangerous to look at.
What a joke. Would Yaan, or anyone else in his position, actually choose to look away?
A few moments later, a single rune appeared, erupting with a splendour infinitely more imposing than any rune Yaan had seen up until now! Every part of his body became afflicted with the most extreme abyssal cracks that he had suffered, ever since completing his dao heart and mending his Dao Soul!
And yet, Yaan did not so much as blink, he did not look away from that rune, nor did he tend to his frightening injuries.
He stared at the rune, but he could not understand its meaning.
As the tremendous force of will erupting from the rune shone across his body, the profound will cut into his flesh and threatened to rip him apart.
The normal response when faced with this power would be to retreat, or defend, or at the very least look away - after all, it was the act of attempting to read this powerful rune that was causing these problems!
Instead however, Yaan completely removed his every defence against the violent will, which continued to blast out from the rune in endless chaotic waves.
Yaan's body exploded on the spot once the abyssal black cracks almost totally covered his skin. Faint traces of bloody miasma lingered in the air, but before this too could vaporise, he rapidly re-congealed his body from a single droplet of 'blood'.
Moments before reforming his body, without even thinking, he fused his will into a single droplet of blood at the last moment when he realised that he was on the verge of being slaughtered.
When his body reformed, Yaan stood there, directly in front of the shining rune, and stared at it without blinking.
When the will destroyed his body down to the last drop of blood, he used the destruction to temper himself against the attack, which was unlike anything that he had experienced before now. He waited until he was completely destroyed, aside from a single drop of blood fused with his entire will. That remaining drop was the most resilient in his body - something he had not known before now.
In that moment of near-annihilation, even his dao and will were almost wiped away. In an instinctual survival reaction, they fused into the blood drop that could best contain the full might of Yaan's will.
That drop of blood was not really blood, but a single fragment of his full self. This body of his was an illusion reflecting his Dao Soul after all, it wasn't a flesh and blood body, even though it looked and bled just like one.
Allowing himself to be broken down to a single fragment like that was quite dangerous, but he gained an unexpected benefit from the ordeal - the reformation of his body used that single enhanced blood drop to grow into a new, complete body.
Of course, like the old body, his new body was still just an illusion, but this illusion was based on his Dao Soul, and how he willed his body to manifest. Since he used that strengthened fragment as the start point, it was only a matter of course for Yaan's new body to instantly become superior compared to before. Whenever he was injured in the future, he would be able to reform this same, superior body once again.
Yaan's approach to his own dao was one of absolute ruthlessness. He refused to defend his Dao Soul from these sorts of 'attacks' that wielded raw strength of aura, dao or will as the weapon. His resolve was to stand there in the midst of all such attacks, and to let them try their worst to wipe away his dao.
Finally, after staring at the rune without fear for several moments, Yaan came to understand its meaning.
Will Runes were something that Yaan hadn't even heard of before today, but after battling against this immensely powerful Will Rune, he vaguely understood the gist of their operation. They were actually very simple, created by a being's will alone. The creator would release a surge of will, forming a rune that explained exactly what they wanted to say, from both the mind and heart.
The legacy proceeded, but Yaan's expression was more somber than before. The further this legacy proceeded, the more he felt like its profundity was vastly beyond anything else that could be found in this library…
When asked the question, 'Defiance, what is dao to you?'…
The God of Defiance replied casually, with a simple glance:
"Dao? I do not cultivate dao; in all my life, not once have I ever cared about that so called dao!"
The shocking rune vanished, but the legacy continued.
"At that time, back when I had been searching for the completion to my dao heart for tens of thousands of years, I found his answer incomprehensible. The God of Defiance may have come from a different Origin Era, but he must have comprehended his dao heart to an extremely high level in order to transcend the Origin.
When I asked Defiance about his dao heart, he uncaringly replied that his heart was a heart of defiance. And so I asked…
Well then, do you not cultivate the dao of defiance within your heart?
The God of Defiance laughed at me - I can still remember his mocking gaze, the same gaze which he cast upon all cultivators, regardless of their strength. It was a simple gaze, but now, I understand that he has earned the right to gaze upon the world in this way. You see, the God of Defiance told me something, something that I believe to be the source of his incomprehensible power. He said…"
The runes vanished, before several more of those same hyper-imposing runes reappeared once again.
"My heart is filled with defiance, so call it a heart of defiance if you must. But the 'dao of defiance'? Why would I ever waste my time and energy on something as useless and pointless as dao? And yet, it is as you say - the 'dao of defiance' truly does exist in my heart. However, that dao is merely a side effect of my true cultivation. What I cultivate, is my will - my Defiant Will. I cultivate my will, and my will strengthens my heart. I have cultivated such powerful Defiant Will, that it gave rise to the dao of defiance within my heart."
Yaan stared at the runes, feeling completely speechless. Firstly…
Did Defiance seriously say that, throughout his long, multi-Era life, he had never actively sought to pursue or comprehend dao?
He even said that dao itself was useless and pointless…Yaan wasn't really sure what to make of that. His own personal experience, not to mention the experiences of every other cultivator to ever live, said differently.
In the end though, in his own way, the God of Defiance actually did cultivate dao, it just wasn't deliberate on his part. Every other powerful cultivator spent their life pursuing their dao heart, comprehending the dao which they had based their very heart upon, seeking the ascension which would push them to greater heights…
If Defiance didn't do any of that, just how did he raise his cultivation realm to the acme in each Era, and more curiously…how did he transcend the Origin?
Could it be that, in his pursuit of cultivating his will, he actually ended up ascending his dao heart to the required heights as a mere side effect…?
Yaan sighed and shook his head.
"I can't guess the truth just by speculating, maybe I'll ask Defiance himself one day. Regardless, I would like to speak with Defiance some more about his main pursuit in cultivation - will. This is a very interesting concept indeed, and it explains how Defiance remains so overbearing, even after sacrificing his strength and dao heart attainments to enter each Origin Era. Every Origin God needs to sacrifice their dao heart attainment, but Defiance doesn't focus on his dao heart to begin with!"
The will and the heart were intrinsically intertwined, but they were also two separate powers. One did not rely on the other; even though each stage of dao heart ascension required a certain minimum level of will for the ascension to be initiated, this generally wasn't the biggest hurdle or limiting factor for most cultivators.
"The dao heart must be sacrificed, typically down to the lowest mortal stage dao heart, upon re-entering the Origin in a different Era. For whatever reason, the Origin Gods seem to be willing to make this sacrifice, but they ensure that the 'sacrifice' of their dao heart results in the formation of a mortal dao heart seed!"
A dao heart seed was a dao heart that possessed the innate potential and instinct to follow a certain path all the way back to its original peak. By reverting their powerful dao hearts into a dao heart seed, even if the Origin God sacrificed their memories and forgot their own lives after re-entering the origin, the progression of their dao heart would still follow the best path towards the end point that they desired once again.
An Origin God was an almighty powerhouse of a being, but their power was somewhat wasted, since they couldn't actually enter the first three Origin Eras with this power. As for the 4th Era, Yaan knew very little about it.
They were powerful, but if an Origin God sacrificed their dao heart down to the mortal stage, their Dao Soul would likewise decline, and they would lose their lifetime's accumulations of dao comprehension. This would be regained if they managed to transcend the Origin once again, however…it put them in a precarious, weak position, when they entered a new Origin Era and found themselves so weak.
There were basically two things that the Origin Gods could retain - their memories, and their strength of will.
Many chose to also sacrifice their memories to some degree, for one reason or another.
But as for will…
Will was a strange, intangible power that existed within the dao heart. It had strength, but no size, it had use, but no form. Will was much harder to 'sacrifice' than anything else, simply because a person's will was defined by the strength of their heart. Trying to sacrifice will was a very difficult thing to do, because the act of burning your own painstakingly accumulated will, was in itself a wilful act that would prevent your will from diminishing.
The stage of the dao heart represented enlightenment and understanding, but the will within the dao heart gave it tangible strength.
Now that he thought about it, Yaan realised that to an Origin God looking to enter a new Origin Era, their will should be one of, if not the most important power at their disposal! Not only would a powerful will assist them in controlling their incarnation into the Origin Era, but having the will of a God would be extremely helpful, even when your every other strength and trait was no better than a common mortal.
"I need to look into this a bit more. Yaan murmured. "My will should be relatively powerful, given all that I've been through. The fact that I can produce an Absolute Domain is also proof of a very powerful will, and it must be a will that works in perfect harmony with my dao heart. But…I have no idea if a person's will can be measured in any way! Can it be quantified? Are there stages? Is there a certain point wherein the power of one's will allows them to accomplish unimaginable things?"
As Yaan's train of thought reached this end, the dark world lit up with ancient looking, somewhat archaic runes. The profound will from before was not present, but for some reason, Yaan now had the feeling that even these 'normal' Will Runes which didn't deliberately release a torrential storm of will, also concealed within a profound and immense will that would shock the world if it were ever to be revealed.
"You are currently wondering why this second part of my legacy is titled 'Fate', when I have only spoken of dao, heart and will.
You see, to explain fate, I could say many things, and it would all be just as useful as saying nothing.
What is fate, truly? I have asked this question innumerable times, but the answers always seem correct as they are spoken, yet so blatantly flawed as soon as the moment has passed.
They say that dao is boundless, encompassing all things, but is that really true? When I turn that phrase around, I am reminded of a certain truth - the dao may encompass all things, but not all things encompass dao.
I am certain that, at the very least, there is no dao in the Void, for the Void is the part of this world wherein dao does not exist. The Void is the concept of nothing; there is no life or death, karma or fate, any form of life, or anything other than the infinite Void. It lacks space, time, past, present or future.
Could something like the Void, more illusive than the Origin and more extreme than the expanse of Chaos, be regarded as a dao, just as any other?
I will not speak of my lifetime's theorising on the nature of fate and its connection to the dao, but I will divulge the hidden truth of fate that is unfolding as of this very moment…"
There was a brief pause, a moment wherein nothing was being said. However, a feeling of immense fate arose within Yaan's heart, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
"When this karmic fate once again completes the cycle that I created, this very same Dao Legacy will be created…by you…for you.
If you have not discerned my identity by now, then you are a fool, and we are doomed to fall here.
Along any path of dao, the road is not straight and clear, but disjointed and covered with obstacles. In the 1st Origin Era, those whose dao hearts have surpassed completion, will be met with their own dao's 'trial of dao corroboration'. The trial befalling the one who walks the path of fate, can only be called a…paradox.
What will happen if you never seed the karma that resulted in the karmic end, if you never resolve the unstable cyclic fate that follows us across the Origin Eras?
Perhaps, refusing to indulge this paradox will completely rewrite the future. Perhaps, failing to resolve the paradox would destroy us. Or perhaps, ignoring the paradox will do nothing at all…but for now, we do not know.
Finally, consider my parting words. The fate that you cultivate…is it the fate that you have observed, or the fate that you will create? What…is your fate?"
There was a long pause, before a final line of runes appeared.
"I have not yet recovered the memories from your side of this encounter…I see, I can say no more. Now go…do as you will."
Whoosh…
Just as it had come, the darkness vanished, leaving Yaan standing there, alone and in silence, as he stared at the Legacy Rune which had lost its might, but not an ounce of its mystique.
"Trial of dao corroboration…paradoxes, blatantly illogical and impossible phenomena that are clearly tied to my pursuit of the dao of fate. This Dao Legacy, left behind by the first member of the human race, and the second being born into the 1st Origin Era after the Heavenly Dao…"
Yaan sighed, before finally saying it out loud.
"Hu Yang…Progenitor Yang…is the future life that I am fated to live in the 1st Origin Era. This Legacy was created in the past, by my future self…for my current self."
Slowly, a strange smile spread across Yaan's face.
Suddenly, he started laughing, and for a long time, his laughter filled the golden sea, sending the crashing waves far away from him, averted by the manic aura that filled his laughter.
"Are you serious? Completing my dao heart of fate has lead to this, a life wherein I am bound to ensure the completion, from the end to the beginning, of an actual paradox?!"
Yaan's laughter faded, leaving only a brutal look in his eyes.
"I was not mistaken. This world…is truly a mess."
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