The Divine and the Origin
Yaan and the Primordial Sage continued to examine the giant entrance into the Boundless Dao Library. Since hitting it with brute force did absolutely nothing to shift those doors, it was clear that a more delicate approach was in order.
Yaan's eyes shone with the light of Reveal Truth. He spent some time searching for any traces of the karmic thread between himself and the door, but after finding nothing for several minutes, he gave up on this and moved on. It was obvious that he wasn't going to find that thread again, not from here at least, and he didn't want to waste too much time…
Yaan and the Sage stood side by side, seemingly at ease with one another and cooperating. They were calm on the surface, but how could either of them possibly trust the other in this situation?
The Primordial Sage had a vested interest in observing Yaan, but that didn't mean she would give away this immense fortuitous encounter if it turned out that it couldn't be shared. Yaan felt the same way…if either of them found a way to enter the library whilst leaving the other behind, they would immediately do so.
And then there was Defiance, who remained some distance away, but continued to stare at them both as he recovered from his injuries. They didn't know what exactly Defiance wanted, or if his plan was truly over now.
Yaan turned his attention towards the symbols which outlined the edges of the two doors. After examining in closer detail, he realised that these same symbols, although much smaller, made up the thin golden line that vertically bisected the giant arch down the centre into two distinct doors.
Unfortunately, he could only understand the meaning of the symbols around the upper edge of the arch.
'Strange, I have clearly never seen this sort of writing before, so how is it that I understand the meaning of the symbols at the top? As soon as I saw them, I knew that it meant 'Boundless Dao Library'…the other symbols seem to be written in the same language, so why can I not understand them?'
Reveal Truth wasn't helping, or at least, Yaan felt like he wouldn't be able to decrypt these complex, transcendent looking inscriptions within a short period of time. Thinking this, he glanced at the Sage.
"I only understand the meaning of the central line of smaller runes." The Sage replied without waiting for Yaan to ask his question.
"What does it say?" He immediately asked.
"It is some sort of seal. Are you able to understand anything?" She asked in return.
Yaan shook his head. He would only reveal that he could in fact read the upper runes if they were unable to make any progress for some time.
"Sage, have you seen these type of runes before? I assume they are from the 1st Origin Era, so why is it that you can understand some…and not others?"
Actually, even before this doorway manifested, the matter of 'runes' had been on his mind for a while now. Runes, symbols and inscriptions were a common sight in the cultivation world, but recently, Yaan had bore witness to the appearance of variance strange runes that seemed to follow the same set of principles.
When he released his full burning killing intent, without holding anything back, strange crimson runes would spontaneously arise across his body.
The Primordial Sage's Divine Rank pill that Yaan used to split his body and form a cultivation base clone also had strange golden symbols depicted across its surface.
After Yaan formed his clone, four golden symbols appeared on the clone's robe.
He could not 'read' any of these runes, but he very, very vaguely understood their meaning. The killing intent runes embodied the concept of burning killing intent, the pill runes contained the power of a clone formation pill, and the four runes on his cultivation clone portrayed the four paths of cultivation. On top of that, he could feel the concept of 'divinity' contained within these runes.
And now, there were these strange runes on the door to the Boundless Dao Library. However, although these doorway runes shared some similarities with the aforementioned runes, there were also differences, as if it was a sort of skewed or modified version of the previous 'language'.
Really, this deduction was extremely basic, Yaan didn't understand any of these runes properly.
"I have never seen this type of rune before, but they share certain similarities with Divine Runes. This is something that most divinities understand to an extent, but our understanding is far from complete. In essence, Divine Runes are the world's manifestation of a certain power when it is cultivated to the peak of possibility in this world - that is, the Divine Rank."
Yaan's eyes flashed indiscernibly. The Sage didn't mention it right now, but this immediately made him recall something that the Sage had mentioned in passing several years ago.
'She calls them Divine Runes, but if I'm correct, they could also be called Origin Runes! According to the Sage, most cultivation realms, and all of the cultivation steps, including the concept of 'divinity', were coined by Law Empyrean. Law Empyrean was the first being to attain divinity in the 2nd Origin Era, and he is most likely an outsider…it's very likely that the terms 'divine' and 'divinity' exist to mislead the world from the truth…that 'divinity' is actually the power of the Origin!'
This was Yaan's deduction that he believed most likely to be true.
He had thought about this matter many times over the past several years.
What exactly was divinity? What was Divine Essence, the crux of all things divine?
Mortality, immortality, divinity…Mortal Essence, Immortal Essence, Divine Essence; these were known as the three fundamental powers in this world.
Mortal Essence was the power wielded by Foundation Step cultivators, it was a power with limited longevity, fading over time.
Immortal Essence was the next stage. Unlike Mortal Essence, Immortal Essence was not corroded by the flow of time, it was without end in its longevity. Because of this, cultivators fused it into their Life Essence in order to grant themselves eternal longevity.
Divine Essence was…a mystery. However, there were certain clues which allowed Yaan to reach the conclusion that Divine Essence was, in fact, the power of the Origin itself.
Most Transcendents mistakenly believed that Divine Essence was granted to them from the Heavenly Dao, and in fact, many Deities had this same misunderstanding. It was a natural mistake to make, since a Transcendent would gain a strand of Divine Essence with each step they ascended up the Divine Stairway.
In reality, the Divine Stairway was the Heavenly Dao's obstacle to block the appearance of Heart Empyreans. That strand of Divine Essence was not given to the Transcendent with each step they took up the Divine Stairway, it was just that each step ascended, was a step taken past the Heavenly Dao's blockade. Upon reaching the top of the stairway, the tribulation was defeated and the Heavenly Dao could no longer prevent the divinity from absorbing Divine Essence from the world.
But if Divine Essence didn't come from the Heavenly Dao, then it didn't come from the world of the four planes, because that world was the Heavenly Dao's creation! If Divine Essence didn't come from this created world, then the only other possibility, was that it came from beyond…from the Origin, which existed behind the world itself!
This also explained Shi's terrifying rate of progression after reaching the Immortal Step. Shi followed the Origin Path, and upon reaching the Immortal Step, she actually developed what could only be called 'Origin Essence'…but if Yaan's understanding was correct, then Divine Essence and Origin Essence were actually the same thing, meaning that as an immortal, Shi had somehow absorbed a trace amount of Divine Essence! Because of this, her progress in her cultivation immediately reached a terrifying level and she quickly attained true divinity, even becoming the fourth Heart Empyrean.
So, why was Yaan thinking about this right now?
Because this allowed him to better understand the Boundless Dao Library Door.
If he thought of the symbols which appeared on his body when he released his killing intent, on the Divine Rank Pill, and his cultivation base clone, as '2nd Origin Runes' - runes which contained the maximal power attainable during the 2nd Origin Era - then the runes on this doorway were likely a unique fusion between 1st Origin Runes and 2nd Origin Runes!
The Boundless Dao Library was supposedly created in the 1st Origin Era by some extremely powerful beings, so it stood to reason that originally, the runes on this door had been 1st Origin Runes, runes from the 1st Origin Era.
But now, the Boundless Dao Library was no longer the same treasure that it was in the 1st Origin Era. Since that time, it had undergone the destruction of the 1st Origin Era and the creation of the 2nd Origin Era. Like the Origin Gods, this library had been washed through the Origin!
Now, those runes embodied two languages, two sets of Origin Runes from two different Origin Eras!
Yaan was starting to feel more and more confident in his conjecture, but there was still something that didn't make sense.
'Why is it that I can read the upper runes, and the Sage can read the middle runes? Well, it's possible that she's lying - maybe she can understand all of them, maybe none. Also…these runes almost seem like someone wrote them, rather than natural manifestations due to the creation of a powerful treasure…'
In the end, Yaan put these thoughts aside for now. This library was looking to be more and more mysterious, it was unlikely that they would be able to discern every single secret just by standing here and staring at it.
"Sage, how well do you understand this seal? Can we unravel it?" Yaan glanced to the side and asked.
"We-"
BANG!
Suddenly, shockwaves exploded throughout the world as black lightning bolts exploded crazily all around, seemingly originating from every direction simultaneously.
Yaan's expression immediately darkened. He quickly looked towards a certain direction, turning his back to the doorway. The Sage didn't turn around, but as the explosions of black destructive lightning grew closer and more frantic, a vortex appeared on Yaan's other aside, and another of the Primordial Sage's bodies dropped down.
"Her timing is far too annoying." Yaan grumbled.
Finally, the unwelcome guest arrived. From the midst of a sea off destructive lightning that looked like it wanted to tear apart the space in this region itself, a woman with long black hair, bloodshot eyes, and dressed from head to toe in blood-soaked rags, came to a stop.
"Uncle!" Shi cried out, her expression a confusing mixture of excitement, anxiety, and frustration.
But most of all, her heart was filled with killing intent. She hadn't killed nearly as much as Yaan and could only barely cause her killing intent to manifest in gaseous form, but her killing aura had a unique quality to it - obsession.
The killing intent that she felt towards Yaan specifically was unparalleled.
Yaan furrowed his brows slightly, feeling both annoyed and confused. He had some ideas, but he wasn't certain…just why did she want him dead so badly…?
Her heart was such a chaotic mess that even after activating Reveal Truth, it was difficult to discern much from her emotional state.
"Uncle, finally, I-"
BANG!
A pink beam of helical light slammed into Shi from the side. Even Yaan didn't see where it came from, it just hit her out of nowhere!
Yaan turned his head slightly and watched as Shi suddenly shot to the side. Blood sprayed from her mouth and her expression twisted into shock and fury. She had turned into a meteor, and even as she tried to stabilise herself, the pink beam of spiralling light continued to discombobulate her mind and body. She continued to spin about as she was pushed further and further away, giving Yaan the chance to turn to face the second new arrival with a strange expression.
'Love Empyrean!'
At first, Love Empyrean concealed her aura, even after attacking Shi with a Divine Spell right from the get go. However, after the ordinary looking woman calmly faced Yaan…
Her demeanour instantly broke down, for the first time in the past one million years.
In the first instant, the concealment over her appearance shattered. She previously looked like a simple mortal woman, but now, she was anything but simple.
Her white robe shone with a light so splendid that it would blind even immortals if they looked directly at her. Her hair grew several inches longer, her face became several degrees smoother. Her eyes lit up as a light filled with emotion encompassed her gaze. Her various accessories, from her jewelled earrings, to her hairpins, to the rings adorning her fingers, instantly became countless times more gorgeous.
For a moment, even Yaan felt surprised. This woman was simply unparalleled in her beauty! Yaan had believed himself to be very well versed with the most beautiful women in this world, but now, he realised that he only believed this because he had never met this woman before!
He had the thought that she and the God of Sin would suit each other perfectly, they were both unnecessarily attractive.
In the next moment, however, his eyebrows furrowed, and he couldn't help but fly back several paces uneasily.
Love Empyrean's aura erupted out, transforming this region of space into a pink nebula, filled with heart-shaped clouds and the sounds of harps. Her aura perfectly complimented her unmatched beauty, transforming her into the personification of love itself. A smile spread across her face, and her eyes shone with a concerning light as she stared at Yaan without blinking.
Yaan only felt increasingly wary as he stared at this woman.
Not Defiance Sovereign, not the Primordial Sage, not Shi, nobody else could make him feel this wary. Yaan could see through this woman's heart, but he felt like his eyes must be playing tricks on him, because what he saw left him feeling completely speechless.
Love Empyrean, as her eyes filled with love so overwhelmingly powerful that it caused love-stricken harp music to play around her, slowly drifted forwards, approaching Yaan with a strange gleam in her gaze. She only stopped when she noticed that Yaan was moving away from her. For some reason, her smile only widened further.
"Yaan…please marry me?"
"…"