The New Heavenly Dao

Void Space

The surrounding darkness was unfathomably empty. Here, the concept of energy, physics, time and other fundamental ideas was rendered non-existent.

Yet, a subtle glow suddenly appeared in the midst of this endless void. It shined with a resplendent golden hue whilst exuding an unmistakably profound aura. In the otherwise barren void, the anomaly stood out as a beacon. 

Within the glowing phenomenon appeared the faint figure of a man, and from the figure exited a few words.

"Huh? Where am I?" 

Did he get kidnapped in his sleep? Even then he seriously doubted whether a place such as this could even exist on Earth. Could it have been the work of aliens?

In the midst of his confusion a sudden onslaught of memories flashed through his mind.

He saw the slow creation of Earth, the establishment of the myriad realms, the introduction of karmic strings, and eventually, the destruction of the Heavenly Dao. 

The inherited memories were long. A material world would have likely been born and destroyed tens of times over before the last thought finished. 

But once all was said and done, the expected onset of glee or anxiety didn't come. Rather he felt unnervingly calm. The 30 years he experienced as a human dwarfed by the eon's long history of the previous Heavenly Dao. To still be succumbing to human desire was unrealistic, let alone the fact he no longer had a human body.

He had a much bigger purpose now.

Recalling the previous Heavenly Dao's last memory, his focus shifted inwards. 

"System"

[Race] Great Heavenly Dao

[Influence] None

[Divine Merits] 10

[Summary] A blimp in the endless void 

He had been given a system reminiscent to what one might find in a generic RPG back on Earth. Its purpose was to guide him in the creation of realms.

Why did he need a system when he already inherited memories from the previous Heavenly Dao?

Well, there was a big difference between seeing a flashback and experiencing it firsthand. Additionally, the previous Heavenly Dao was largely passive and seldom took the initiative. Much of the development found in the realms was a result of luck or unconscious instinct. So, a familiar and organized screen would go a long way.

Or at least he thought so. Either way there was a more serious issue at hand.

From the inherited memories it was clear that he was not alone in the endless void. It wasn't other Heavenly Daos living here, as there could only ever be one, but rather creature's native to this void space.

These creatures were the complete opposite of him. They were vicious things that were only capable of destruction - wholly intent on returning everything to the surrounding void energy.

Even he was not immune from being attacked and destroyed. Considering his current small size there shouldn't be any danger from void creatures, however the natural void energy would still actively assimilate everything that wasn't part of it.

He couldn't help but internally sigh.

Being the Heavenly Dao is not as easy as it seems. The only way to survive was to spread his influence and raise his Divine Merits. Which luckily, could both be accomplished by creating his first realm. 

"Hmm, what should I make?" 

The first realm must be thought about carefully. His merits were limited to ten, so he couldn't afford anything too expansive. Similarly, if he built something to small then he risked it being immediately assimilated and wasting resources. 

"Every realm will need a spatial bubble to protect itself from the void, so I'll start with that."

[Consumed 5 Divine Merits]

A translucent dome manifested around him. It started off quite small, but under the influence of divine merits quickly expanded to cover an area of one million square kilometers and encompass a height of twenty kilometers. Within this area the trapped void lost its ability to assimilate matter. 

"With the area now designated there must be land for the creatures to roam."

[Consumed 1 Divine Merit]

Large amounts of soil were created at the base of the dome. The trapped void energy was quickly replaced wherever the newly made earth appeared. Minerals veins were quietly finished, and one could even spot the formation of mountains. 

"Unfortunately, void energy is still present in the space above the earth. An atmosphere should work well to fill in any empty space."

[Consumed 1 Divine Merit]

This phenomenon was quite subtle when compared to the prior two. Other than the disappearance of any trapped void nothing else seemed to occur. 

But with this change life should be able to survive above ground.

"This is troubling. Just to establish the bare bones foundation cost me 7 Divine Merits, and the remaining 3 won't be enough for the creation of intelligent life."

It was a good thing he wasn't alone. His predecessor had already gone through a similar phase, so the solution should be within the inherited memories.

As expected, going over the early thoughts of the previous Heavenly Dao, he saw a solution.

Creating intelligent life was incredibly expensive, but there was a work around. Although it was less controlled and had the possibly to fail, there wasn't much choice considering his current situation.

As the Heavenly Dao, fusing with a spatial barrier will naturally lead to the emergence of spiritual energy. This energy is naturally emitted by his body, and when combined with a world, can be used by others.

Given a large amount of time this spiritual energy can actually birth sapient beings. The previous Heavenly Dao had also used this method on its first world.

The natural downside of this method was that the process could not be controlled. There was no way to control the amount emitted or what it was used for, but considering he had no other option it would make do.

But before that, this world was still lacking some things.

[Consumed 1 Divine Merit]

Lush forests and wide rivers sprouted in the realm. Covering the originally barren looking dirt and breaking up the homogenous landscape. 

[Consumed 1 Divine Merit]

A blinding sphere of light entered the sky. Its rays strengthened the trees, and its heat allowed the river water to circulate as rain.

"That should suffice for now."

He would save the last Divine Merit for emergencies. 

With nothing else to add he promptly began the fusion process. It only took a moment to complete, as he was the one who made the barrier in the first place.

Thinking back on a famous phrase from his time as a human, he couldn't help but remark, "Let there be life!"

The air rumbled and the trees swayed as he merged himself with the dome. His presence immediately rippling throughout the minor world. Faint traces of spiritual energy already started to permeate the space within the spatial bubble.

Even without the use of Divine Merits he could sense his near absolute control over this realm. He could order the rivers dry up, cause the earth to split and make the forests shrivel up with a simple thought. 

Knowing that any rebellious life could be quickly removed before they could cause permanent harm was quite reassuring. Though he'd prefer not to damage the local ecosystem if possible. 

"Just how incompetent was the previous Heavenly Dao to allow itself to be defeated?" 

Of course, he knew that his predecessor had chosen a human specifically because of its failures. That part was made quite clear towards the later parts of the inherited memories. 

But who was he to complain? If the previous Heavenly Dao had not failed, then how could he have taken over?

His vision could stretch across the entire million square kilometer space with relative ease. Nothing that happened here would be able to avoid his gaze. If he chose to focus his attention, then even the granules of soil and molecules of air could be analyzed in great detail.

Earth would have likely reached the stars centuries earlier if scientist had been able to view the microworld with such clarity.

But Earth was now gone forever, and he had no plans of remaking it. Despite being one of the earliest worlds and experiencing multiple technological breakthroughs, the planet as a whole was embarrassingly fragile. Any mid-level being from the myriad realms could have likely swept through it with ease.

His current objective was to bring forth new intelligent life on this realm. Once that's achieved, he'll be able to passively generate Divine Merit and influence. 

But what should he call this realm?

Refocusing his attention on the unremarkable terrain nothing shot to mind. He would just leave it to the inhabitants to decide.

Thinking of names, he realized that he also did not have one. There was his human name of Thomas, but that was completely unbefitting of the Heavenly Dao.

Perhaps Daozi would work? Yea, he was quite fond of that name. The mortal inhabitants would only know him as the Heavenly Dao, but he was different from the one that came before. So, at least to himself, he would be Daozi.

There was little he could do to speed up the slow diffusion of spiritual energy into the environment, so he just waited.

Five Million Years Later

The once faint spiritual energy was now omnipresent throughout the realm. From the tallest peak to the lowest ravine, one could not find a place where it did not permeate. 

In one of the more secluded forests, near the great spatial boundary, a sudden twitch echoed in the otherwise stagnant world.

Intelligent life had arisen.