Boundless Dao Sea

Yaan watched with burning eyes as he forced Reveal Truth to remain open. He used as much energy as needed and not a drop more to maintain the spell, but he increasingly felt like he needed to exercise more effort to maintain his vision over the situation.

This wasn't a surprise, Yaan had expected this. The suppression placed upon him here, was the suppression of the legacy creator - he had been introduced firmly to this same suppressive power during the previous part of the inheritance, so he wasn't caught off by the shock

The suppression felt like it was impossibly profound and therefore could not be overcome, however, this wasn't quite right. The will completely suppressed every single aspect of Yaan's powers, including his body movement, his ability to think, and even his ability to observe…all of these things were suppressed to the point of being completely frozen.

Not only that, but as he exercised more effort to counter this, the suppression rose to match his rising will.

However, so long as Yaan exerted enough will that he kept ahead of the growing suppression, then he was able to keep a single power activated. He did exactly this with Reveal Truth!

And with all this effort, going so far as driving his eyes to the point of melting, all Yaan could achieve, was keeping a single spell active so that he could at least see what was going on.

His thoughts stirred and he suddenly realised that so long as he spread out his Illusion Sense, he was able to see the entire vortex surface at the same time!

Without hesitation, Yaan shattered his frozen domain and regathered its power into a bubble of Illusion Sense which spread out for a mile in every direction, touching upon the surface of the golden sea.

However, Yaan's attention was caught even a moment before that when he noticed that the golden surface was covered by a single, highly complex rune…

'Boundless Dao Sea'

A moment later, a figure manifested before him and without any emotion, began speaking.

"This is the Boundless Dao Library's Dao Hall, once the safeguard for the many Dao Legacies left behind by Dao Class beings. Now, this hall will become the cauldron, refining 33,333 Dao Legacies in a Karmic Refinement, fused with the law of the paradox itself. I, the suppressive will left by Progenitor Yang to fulfil this trial, will conduct the refinement."

Yaan stared ahead and watched as the golden waters grew darker and darker, before the suppressive force suddenly accelerated even more.

He listened to the voice, which he thought sounded similar to the voice from the dark dome before, only calmer, more distant, and blunt.

Ignoring the blood dripping from his skin, Yaan's eyes shone with golden light. He took in the sight of so many thousands of Legacy Runes being dragged into the vortex, crushed into smithereens, and then absorbed into the golden sea.

'This was all planned since the 2nd Origin Era! Me coming here, reaching this point, and being trapped by my damned future self in this death trap! How is this supposed to help me? This would be a death sentence for me, even without the suppression! And now, my will is on the verge of exhausting itself…'

Yaan stared at the suppressive will, which was still taking form, and he asked:

"You do realise that this will kill me, right?"

The suppressive will looked back at him without a single emotion.

"I am just a strand of will left behind by Progenitor Yang. I know what I must do, but I do not know why."

As the sprit glanced at the darkening and now terror-inducing golden sea around them, Yaan continued to press the matter.

There was being courageous, and there was being suicidal. Looking at the golden vortex now…he really felt like entering would be an act of suicide!

"Once every one of the Dao Legacies has been completely fused into…whatever it is…you're going to force me in, aren't you? When that happens, I will be disintegrated and blended into the golden water, just like these legacies. If that happens, I will be completely destroyed…how exactly does that resolve this so-called paradox?!"

The suppressive will, which had taken on an appearance very similar to Yaan's own, looked at him indifferently.

"Indeed, your chances of survival seem quite small. Prepare yourself."

Yaan merely cast the will a glance before ignoring it. He acted outraged before to see if this will could be reasoned with, but clearly, it wouldn't react to his provocations.

Will itself was a strange, mysterious power, but he did understand a few of its applications. The most obvious use was simply to strengthen the resolve within the heart. Any decent cultivator could use will in this way, and many actually did so without even realising it.

However, will could also be congealed into semi-sentient clones, such as the one before him. Yaan had actually encountered this type of will long ago, back when he first entered the Primordial Devil's inheritance.

'This will is clearly far more intelligent compared to the Primordial Devil's will back then…it's almost like an actual clone!' Yaan thought this as he sighed to himself.

The fact that this will possessed significant intelligence didn't help him at all – will clones such as this might act intelligent, but they didn't possess true sentience. It could only act according to the will which maintained it, and that will was something left behind by the legacy creator in the 1st Origin Era.

Arguing with the will would achieve nothing. Even if this really was a will created by himself in the future, it didn't matter, it would continue following its directions regardless…even if it led to his death.

The insane level of danger and ruthlessness that was continuing to build up actually convinced Yaan that this really might be something left behind by his future self. 

The alternative possibility was that this was all a trap, he was being deceived, and someone from the 1st Origin Era wanted him dead.

'In the end, it doesn't really matter.' Yaan's gaze became increasingly cold as the vortex approached its limit, and gradually, he was sucked in towards the centre. The pressure continually ramped up, as did the suppression, causing small black cracks to open up across his body, as bloody miasma was dragged out and absorbed into the dark golden vortex.

'Whether this is a tribulation created by myself, or a death-trap conceived by my enemy, either way, I have no choice but to fight back!'

He thought this, but after the last of the 33,333 legacies was finally dragged into the vortex and shattered, the suppression slammed into Yaan like a collapsing mountain range. He was rapidly dragged towards the centre of the vortex – which was now also the centre of the entire library and Boundless Dao Sea.

The sudden increase in intensity was almost too much to bear. Yaan coughed up bloody miasma repeatedly, grimacing as he felt his body collapsing.

Until now, he had been trying to conserve his energy by only utilising as much strength as necessary to endure. Now, however, in a single instant, the pressure increased to such a level that he couldn't afford to hold anything back!

BANG!

Yaan hit the centre of the vortex and abruptly stopped moving. He was no longer being dragged around, because he was now seated within the centre of the source of the suppression power!

Without Yaan noticing it, the will which looked very similar to himself fused into the vortex, completing the activation of the formation, and the refinement of the Boundless Dao Sea!

The sea was now pouring into him, the various infused wills and daos slamming into his Dao Soul, trying to destroy and corrupt it. Yaan's eyes were completely bloodshot, his robes were in tatters, his body soaked in blood and surrounded by a heavy cloud of vaporised miasma.

He both looked and felt like a total mess…it had been a long time since he last found himself in such a pitiful state…

'Damnit, what is this?! Was this really just a death trap…?!'

His heart sank when he realised that the suppressive power was already far stronger than his ability to resist. His body was rapidly collapsing, releasing so much bloody miasma that his entire figure had become blurred and unstable. A sense of impending doom flooded Yaan's heart, it truly felt like there was simply no hope.

Yaan's bloodshot eyes shot open and he growled out like a savage beast.

"After all I've been through, how could I die here, because of none other than fate?! I can't resist this pressure, and I can't escape…in that case…I will break out with force and devour this entire Boundless Dao Sea!"

No longer did he bother conserving his energy, no longer did he worry about exhausting himself and running dry of stamina. He already couldn't muster the strength to endure, so what use was it, caring about simply enduring?!

Devouring this golden sea, which was formed from so many fused Dao Legacies, so many daos and wills blended into one…was a suicidal plan. There was practically no chance of success, and yet, it was still his best hope; his only hope.

Yaan had not encountered a situation this dangerous since reaching the Divine Step…honestly, he hadn't expected to experience this sort of danger until the end of the Era. That said, his life had been one of strife and struggle, he was all too accustomed to dealing with despair-inducing situations!

In an instant, Yaan dropped all resistance towards the vortex – because of this, he was no longer able to observe the situation with Reveal Truth, leaving him completely blind.

Without Reveal Truth, his eyes became useless…so he allowed them to melt, not bothering to recover the eyeballs within their bloody sockets.

The world fell dark, leaving Yaan with only the tremendous pressure and suppression of the golden sea, along with the pain that this instilled within him. He quickly reversed his previous actions, no longer resisting the pressure, but now, actively dragging it into his body!

Bang!

His body instantly exploded, but it quickly reformed…only to explode again.

His body exploded time and time again, several times every single second. Likewise, he reformed his body multiple times every second.

His energy was being worn down, but at the same time, gradually, his body was growing stronger, and gradually, he improved the efficiency with which he reformed his shattered self.

Unknowingly, Yaan's body started shining with a dark golden light, extremely similar to that around him. As time passed by, it became difficult to distinguish between Yaan and the centre of the vortex; it was as if he had become part of the vortex itself!

This sounded very harmonious, but Yaan felt anything but.

At first, his mind was filled with thoughts of madness as he crazily devoured the Boundless Dao Sea, risking the corruption of his own dao and the collapse of his will. However, he quickly realised that the act of thinking was simply wasting energy…so he allowed his illusory Sea of Consciousness to be destroyed, and he did not bother reforming it.

This sounded simple, but this seemingly simple act was actually filled with resolute madness. Without his Sea of Consciousness, Yaan could not think…if he could not think…then how would he know to reform his Sea of Consciousness after this was all over?

He would not know! He could only rely on his unconscious will handling everything for him!

This was the resolve that Yaan needed in order to overcome this, he realised this early on. Only by abandoning all rationality, only by letting go of his certainty in the future, could he hold on a little bit longer, and devour a little bit more!

For this reason, in the same moment that he discarded his mind, Yaan also discarded his body…

For others, something like this might be difficult, but Yaan's body was just an illusion to begin with. He resolutely gave up on his mind and his body, leaving only his Dao Soul, which he directly fused with the centre of the Boundless Dao Sea.

Now, there truly was no turning back. Either Yaan would devour the Boundless Dao Sea, or the Boundless Dao Sea would devour him, there was no other possible outcome!

He did not know how much time passed by, and without his mind, he was unable to even think about it. All he could do, was follow the will within his Dao Soul, the will to devour anything and everything in sight, regardless of the cost.

In truth, even if continuing to devour would lead him straight to his death, Yaan would continue walking along this fatal path without even knowing it.

Will…

What was will, exactly?

Even though he was unable to think right now, Yaan felt like he was starting to understand.

He experienced countless daos, 33,333 in all, flooding into his Dao Soul, attempting to corrupt his dao and replace it with their own. Along with those daos, he felt the wills behind them, urging the daos to infect him, to destroy him.

With 33,333 daos attacking him in this way, it became beyond confusing, making it difficult to remember who exactly he was, and which dao was his…

And yet, Yaan remained alive, he did not fall victim to this Boundless Dao Sea. A flicker of will remained ignited somewhere within him, and so long as that will remained, so long as a single spark continued to glow, he would never lose himself!

This had always been Yaan's way. He had never been like the God of Defiance, erupting with the will of an exploding star, outshining everyone around him and suppressing everything with absolute control. His will was one that was continually battered around, but refused to relent, unwilling to be extinguished.

So long as that spark remained, he would live for another day, and so long as he lived for another day, there was hope.

But right now, just enduring was not enough! He could endure for countless years, but how could he ever out-endure 33,333 daos? How could he out-endure this Boundless Dao Sea?!

It was truly a desperate situation…but the little spark of will did not lose hope.

Every now and then, the spark of will that was barely holding on, ignited into a flame and successfully devoured a few drops from the sea.

Whenever he devoured those drops, his Dao Soul would suffer from serious injury as it struggled to maintain itself under the assault of the absorbed daos.

But Yaan continued.

Drop by drop, he continued.

In his own way, he continued.

Yaan had his own way, his own will. He was not like most other powerful beings, with a will that burned like the sun in the sky. His will was but a spark, seemingly fragile, as if it could be extinguished at any moment…

But what if…a spark could devour a star?

Maybe, if that spark persevered for long enough, that spark could truly surpass a star.

RUMBLE….

Gradually, in the midst of an endless black void, several droplets of golden water were devoured into a crimson vortex. The moment those droplets were fully absorbed, the vortex slowly came to a halt.

When the vortex stopped moving, its mists exploded out, before being pulled back in and forming the shape of a person. At first, this person was blurred and undefined, and for an exceedingly long period of time, this figure would collapse back into crimson mist, before being reformed once again.

After countless iterations of this process, Yaan…opened his eyes.

He had no time to even think about what was going on, because right before his eyes, a blinding white light almost incinerated his body…

Shockingly, this was the exact same eruption of power caused by Defiance's 'Hate' spell colliding with the Heavenly Dao!