The entire region was swept by blowing sand and rolling stones, lightning flashing and thunder crashing, filled with sounds like the weeping of gods and the wailing of ghosts. Even the skeletal remains of divine beings could be glimpsed floating up into view — wondrous phenomenon appeared one after another.
Moved by the heavens, all manner of strange and wondrous visions descended.
Ye Fan was still as a boulder, his entire body crystalline and translucent, radiating a sense of imposing dignity and emanating a sacred radiance. From within his five great secret realms, one ancient character after another leaped out, revolving around him.
Every single character appeared to be cast from divine gold — dazzling and brilliant, seared into the void, transforming into resounding roars of the Dao that shook the heavens with their thunderous rumbling.
Chan-chanting, sacrificial hymns, the roars of demons, the howls of gods — every manner of ancient sound rang out together in a chorus, weaving through the past, the present, and the future, crossing the vast expanse of cosmic time and being refined into a single unity.
Ye Fan sat cross-legged upon the blue stone. Ancient characters fell thick and dense all around him, raining down immortal radiance, setting him apart from the ordinary world — as though he had broken through the boundaries of past and future to arrive in this moment.
A single mote of dust is a world unto itself — and as dust is without end, so too is the number of worlds linked together through one gate after another, giving rise to the ten thousand realms of all existence.
The human body is likewise thus — containing within it countless gates. In the process of cultivation, a practitioner opens one gate after another, releasing the true nature within.
Ye Fan was creating his Dao — releasing his self!
“The human body is one — giving birth to two forms of qi. The Dao at the heart of the absolute, the primal and harmonious undivided qi. The ten thousand things of heaven and earth all have their source in this. Dao stands as one, creating the division of heaven and earth, transforming into the ten thousand things…”
Within Ye Fan’s body, every manner of divine sound merged into one — and at last, a voice of solemn authority rang out, vast beyond measure, as though a great divine demon were chanting sutras: solemn and sacred.
He was creating his own Dao, stepping forward on his own path. In this moment, the clouds and mist parted to reveal the clear blue sky!
For anyone to carve out a path uniquely their own, there could be no sudden leap — only step by careful step, advancing gradually, perfecting and refining until there was not a single flaw remaining.
Ye Fan, for now, was only a Saint — not a Great Emperor. Naturally it was impossible for him to produce Emperor Traces or directly create an immortal scripture from scratch — that was not realistic.
But based on his current realm, he had opened up the scripture of the first secret realm — the Wheel-Sea — which amounted to the equivalent of a single scroll of an ancient scripture.
The human body possesses five great secret realms: the Wheel-Sea, the Dao Palace, the Four Poles, the Dragon Transformation, and the Immortal Platform. He had created the scripture of the first scroll — and that alone was enough to shake the world.
If word of this spread, it would surely astound the entire ancient star. He was merely a Saint — yet he had already begun creating the Dao, opening up one-fifth of the scripture’s meaning.
This could already be called a divine miracle. For those who came after, it was an immortal and undying achievement.
If it were confirmed that Ye Fan’s technique was suited for human cultivation and sufficiently profound and wondrous, he would leave his illustrious name inscribed in the history of human cultivation, his Dao enduring together with him, imperishable for all time.
No one knew that in this quiet place, Ye Fan was creating the Dao. His whole body radiated immortal radiance — sacred and imposing — and the ancient beasts and savage birds that passed nearby all trembled, unable to help themselves from dropping to their knees in reverence, prostrating themselves toward this place.
An immortal and undying achievement — from ancient times to the present, it was exceedingly rare for anyone to begin creating an earth-shaking Dao lineage at this level of cultivation.
Ye Fan had sought enlightenment for many years, and all that long accumulation had now carried him to a decisive step forward.
The first secret realm of the human body — the Wheel-Sea — is a collective name for the Wheel of Life and the Sea of Bitterness. In the traditional cultivation techniques, it is divided into four minor realms: the Sea of Bitterness, the Spring of Life, the Divine Bridge, and the Other Shore.
Ye Fan, having smelted a hundred scriptures in one furnace and broken away from convention to walk his own path, combined the Dao Scripture, the Taiyang Immortal Scripture, and the Holy Body’s specialized individual technique — and created a Wheel-Sea scripture divided into nine minor realms.
This Dao differed greatly from traditional techniques. It was a unique path: possessing the precision of a technique that specializes in a single secret realm, and also the profound complexity of an Emperor Scripture. It could rightly be called a Sacred Classic.
In order to create the scripture of the first secret realm, one must naturally have completely and thoroughly comprehended every aspect of that realm. The Wheel-Sea is divided into the Wheel of Life and the Sea of Bitterness — the opposition between death and life.
Time is ruthless, leaving its marks upon all things without exception. Trees have growth rings — and the human body likewise contains a Wheel of Life within it, the two being of the same fundamental nature.
To live long, one may diligently polish and wipe away those marks — this is not without merit as an approach — but the Wheel of Life must ultimately exhaust itself. When that time comes, a person will pass away.
The Sea of Bitterness is, by contrast, a manifestation of the principle of death — existing in polar opposition to the Wheel of Life, covering over it. In cultivation, many practitioners work to refine and dissolve the Sea of Bitterness, revealing the Wheel of Life beneath.
From this process comes the opening of the Sea of Bitterness, allowing the Spring of Life to gush forth, the construction of the Divine Bridge, and the escape from this secret realm to reach the other shore — arriving at the second great secret realm of the human body.
These steps, taken together, constitute the four minor realms of traditional understanding: the Sea of Bitterness, the Spring of Life, the Divine Bridge, and the Other Shore.
Ye Fan’s technique no longer involved refining the Sea of Bitterness, building the divine road, and escaping from this realm. Instead, he let it evolve and transform to its fullest extent.
“The human body is one — the primal and harmonious undivided qi. The ten thousand things of heaven and earth all have their source in this.” His Past Self, True Self, and Dao Self chanted sutras together, jointly expounding his Dao — this was his understanding of the Wheel-Sea secret realm.
Ye Fan regarded the Wheel-Sea as the birthplace from which all things begin!
He would transform the Wheel-Sea into the origin point of the human body, using it as a foundation to create the scripture, evolving the undying Great Dao and walking out a path unlike any other.
No longer dividing it into the four minor realms of the Sea of Bitterness, the Spring of Life, the Divine Bridge, and the Other Shore — he viewed the Wheel-Sea as a single whole, viewing it as a primordial source.
The Wheel-Sea is located below the navel, at the optimal point of the human body’s golden ratio, naturally in harmony with the Dao — making it an ideal vessel.
Dao gives birth to one; the human body is one. One gives birth to two; the two are the Wheel of Life and the Sea of Bitterness, standing in polar opposition, bringing each other into being and coexisting side by side.
Before heaven and earth were divided, primordial qi was undifferentiated and unified — this was the Dao. Heaven and earth opened, the Great Ultimate was evolved, yin and yang were generated, the two forms of qi came into being, and they cycled in ceaseless interaction.
This was the Wheel-Sea that Ye Fan would evolve. Different from the techniques of those who came before, he would expound a different Dao — he would cultivate the Wheel-Sea as the Great Ultimate, viewing the first secret realm as the birthplace of all things.
The scripture resounded, the light of the Wheel-Sea blazed brilliantly. Ye Fan grew ever more solemn and sacred, motionless as a mountain. The first secret realm he had originally cultivated dissolved inch by inch, being melted down and reforged.
The Divine Bridge broke. The Other Shore grew hazy and indistinct. The Wheel of Life became clear and crystalline, radiant with translucent light. The golden Sea of Bitterness blazed with brilliant splendour. The two, which had originally overlapped and converged, now separated as this moment arrived, re-evolving, transforming into two swimming fish of yin and yang.
The golden Sea of Bitterness, unlike that of other people, ordinarily showed little trace of death energy — yet now, truly refined from the very root and source, a vast and boundless power of erosion made itself visible.
Life and death, standing in opposition — now fully manifest. The two rotated and cycled, giving birth to new existence.
A Great Ultimate diagram took shape in hazy outline: the golden Sea of Bitterness and the crystalline Wheel of Life utterly transformed, becoming two yin and yang fish, entwined and coiling together.
They evolved without cease — growing ever more vivid and animated — giving birth to strands of opposing aura, which then came together again in unified harmony.
Ye Fan’s path, Ye Fan’s Dao — the Wheel-Sea secret realm scripture was in its initial formation, gradually perfecting itself and undergoing transformation.
RUMBLE!
Heaven and earth opened; Dao gives birth to one; the single body of a person; from one comes two, transforming into the two instruments of the Great Ultimate.
Within Ye Fan’s Wheel-Sea, all things were as though newly born — everything in a state of rebirth, mysterious and unfathomable, overflowing with strand after strand of immortal aura, spiraling around the Great Ultimate, endlessly revolving.
Ye Fan sat in meditation for several days, advancing his Dao to the third minor realm of this secret realm. The Great Ultimate grew ever more real and substantial, and his entire body was purified into a state of pristine clarity.
The first secret realm was divided into nine minor realms. Once all were thoroughly comprehended and perfected, which would mark the full completion of the Saint’s realm, he would transcend beyond them and open the second great secret realm of the human body.
All the chan-chanting, the divine howls, the demon roars, the sacrificial hymns disappeared entirely. Every ancient character flew back into Ye Fan’s body, and all fell silent and tranquil. With a sharp snap, he opened his eyes.
In that indistinct and fleeting moment, Ye Fan’s eyes were themselves the Great Ultimate — a flash of golden light, and then gone in an instant, his two eyes returning to normal.
This was not so strange. He regarded the Wheel-Sea as the birthplace from which all things begin — connected with all other parts of the body — and so naturally there would be all manner of transformations.
“Finally it’s stopped! Were you trying to kill this Seat?!” Long Ma complained furiously.
Ye Fan’s act of creating the Dao had truly been earth-shaking. Moved by heaven, many wondrous phenomena had descended — and some had attacked directly toward him, their might of terrifying magnitude.
Long Ma, fearing he would be disturbed or interrupted during his enlightenment, had exerted every ounce of its strength to hold them off, its whole body bathed in blood, and even had two sacred artifacts destroyed.
In the end, it brought out the Ten Thousand Things Mother Qi Cauldron that Ye Fan had given it in advance — and only then managed to withstand wave after wave of attacks.
Ye Fan recalled the cauldron, moved as well. He had not anticipated that creating a technique within his heart and evolving his own Dao would bring down such terrible retribution.
Long Ma revealed a grave expression and said, “What is wrong with you, boy? Does heaven just naturally despise you? At this rate, I foresee you meeting a great catastrophe sooner or later and being reduced to ash.”
Ye Fan shook his head and said, “It is nothing. Where in heaven and earth is there any will? There is only the Dao that heaven and earth bear, and the imprints of the laws of the world that are carved within them. Everything that just happened was born from my own heart.”
Long Ma was first stunned, then let out a great shout: “Everything born from your own heart?! You are truly talking big and without shame!”
In the distance, many ancient beasts and savage birds were still trembling with fear. When Ye Fan had been creating his Dao, some powerful creatures that were passing through had all been suppressed and frozen in place — it was only now that they were finally able to move again, and they left in shuddering haste.
Over the past few days, the atmosphere on this ancient star had been strange and uneasy, with a palpable tension to it. Based on Long Ma’s observations from the past several days, it seemed that no small amount of killing intent was lurking beneath the surface.
“Everyone is reinforcing themselves. Word on the street says this stretch of the cosmos is about to fall into chaos — the ancient path of the human race may be severed, with Holy Spirits leading a thousand armies and ten thousand horses this way!”
Ye Fan was silent. When he had left the Human Race’s Tenth City, he had already caught wind of some of this news — and it now seemed increasingly likely that all of it would come true.
Against this backdrop of great upheaval, every person needed to raise their power as swiftly as possible to meet what might very well be an imminent great battle — otherwise, most of them would likely find it difficult to survive.
This ancient path would be filled with dangers — and at the same time, it might hold even more opportunities.
“I can see that after your enlightenment, you’ve reaped enormous gains. What exactly are the benefits?” Long Ma asked.
Ye Fan said, “The gains are indeed quite significant. What I need now are primordial source forces that stand in opposition: light and darkness, the Supreme Yin and the Supreme Yang, life and death. Once obtained, there is a good chance I will advance by leaps and bounds.”
Long Ma’s eyes widened in shock: “You… what kind of demonic technique have you practiced? Are you going to succumb to qi deviation? To draw in two diametrically opposed source forces — one false move and you’ll be reduced to ash, with both body and soul destroyed. And yet you claim this will let you break through rapidly — this defies all reason.”
“This is my Dao. Though it encompasses only one great secret realm, being merely one scroll of the scripture — without question, it suits me well. You need not worry.”
“You say you have opened… a path uniquely your own, and written an immortal scripture?” Long Ma nearly bit off half its own tongue, looking exactly as though it had seen a ghost.
It had known that Ye Fan was searching for his own path — but had never imagined that after his enlightenment, he would reach this point in a single stride, seemingly comparable to the ancient scriptures. Throughout history, those who created Dao lineages unlike anything that had come before were, without exception, terrifyingly powerful beyond measure.