Absorbing the Fragment of Mind (1/2)

The difference between the first seal and the second seal was blindingly obvious.

The first seal, which prevented Yaan from fully absorbing the Fragment of Qi, was a rune with nine nodes…

The second seal, which had prevented Yaan from absorbing a single trace of the much more powerful Fragment of Mind, was a rune with 729 nodes.

This was the difference between the strength of a True Immortal and a Dao Immortal.

When the Spirit Plane Lord saw that Yaan was easily able to deal with the backlash from the first unsealing, she felt somewhat relieved, but she was still concerned about the second seal. After all, the difference between a True Immortal and a Dao Immortal wasn't merely a difference in power. It was also a difference that Yaan could not ignore, because Dao Immortals were beings with named dao hearts.

A 'named dao heart' meant that the dao heart had achieved a level of completion equivalent to a full fragment of an earthly dao – essentially, once the dao heart ascended to this level, the dao heart had reached the immortal stage, making the dao heart itself immortal!

For this reason, Dao Immortals were often considered truly eternal beings, because they would not die due to old age, tribulations, or the breaking down of their dao heart. Dao Immortals could only die if they were killed by something more powerful than themselves.

The Dao Soul reflected the strength of one's dao heart, and the key point in Yaan's devouring of the other fragments, was his devouring of their Dao Souls.

"The Fragment of Mind's Dao Soul is an Immortal Dao Soul, whilst yours is just a Mortal Dao Soul." The Primordial Sage reminded him. "Not only that, but the Fragment of Mind lived its entire life under my tutelage, and although it seemingly willingly gave up its life for the cause of returning to your core self…it is likely that the Fragment of Mind has implemented some scheme of its own."

"I see." Yaan nodded as the Sage warned him about what he was about to take on. "So, the Fragment of Mind, although seemingly dead and sealed within my Dao Soul…will probably use this opportunity to attempt to take control over me, and devour me."

"This is a strong possibility." The Sage confirmed.

Yaan slowly shook his head.

"This changes nothing. No matter what, the next stage in my path is to devour the Fragment of Mind. And if a mere Fragment of Mind wishes to take control over my Dao Soul?"

Yaan paused, then smiled slightly, as if this was simply a joke to him.

"Then I will just let it try to do so."

Before either of the divine women could say anything else, Yaan directly shattered the second seal, unravelling all 729 nodes simultaneously, without any intention of easing himself into it.

He knew that if he tried to undo one node at a time, he would become delirious after the very first node. Since that was the case, he might as well just rip away the seal, thrusting himself directly into the life of the Fragment of Mind.

Suddenly, Yaan was no longer himself, and the world around him was not one that he was familiar with. Even compared to the seemingly chaotic Spirit Plane, this place…was very unusual.

The world became a sea of colours, extending outwards in every direction. The entire surroundings were like a vibrant space where the normal laws of the world did not apply, and everything that could be conceived existed as a result of conscious thought…

This was the Sage Plane.

The Sage Plane was unlike the other three planes. The Spirit Plane Lord was the undisputed ruler of the Spirit Plane…but the Primordial Sage was the only living being on the Sage Plane.

She was the first being to be born into this world, and she had altered this world's laws such that other living entities could not intrude this place. However, after the Primordial Devil's fragmentation, she decided that for the first time, she would need to allow another living being to enter her home…

Her home which did not border with, but overlapped with the other three planes. Her home which was in truth, a part of herself. Her home which she had used to become the most scheming, intelligent being, that the four planes had ever seen.

The moment the Fragment of Mind was born, as a fleeting consciousness existing in a tentative form in this fascinating space, a young girl appeared before it, and directly declared its fate…

"I am the Primordial Sage and this is the Sage Plane. You are the Fragment of Mind, one of the five fragments of the Primordial Devil's divergent reincarnation. I will help you cultivate to the peak of the Immoral Step, and then, you will willingly give up your life, such that the core fragment can devour you, along with the other fragments, allowing you to become whole again. This is your path, and your fate…do you have any questions?"

The Fragment of Mind, which was at this point merely a fleeting consciousness drifting across the Sage Plane, stared dazedly at the young girl before it…this girl who looked as if she and the world around her were one and the same. It took quite some time before the consciousness was able to process her words and respond, speaking for the first time in its life.

"No…I understand my purpose…"

With no other living beings to influence it in this world, and only the Primordial Sage to provide it with direction and guidance, it was only natural that the newborn Fragment of Mind accepted her words as if they were divine gospel.

The Fragment of Mind, who knew no other name for itself other than the Fragment of Mind, was taken to the core of the Sage Plane - the Primordial Sage's main abode. Here, in this place which the Primordial Sage had never bothered naming since only she had ever been here, the Fragment of Mind…lived its entire life.

The Fragment of Mind was taught that it was merely a fragment of a complete being, and that its purpose was to cultivate its mind and heart until it became a sufficient supplement for the core of the Primordial Devil to devour.

The Fragment of Mind started to cultivate psyche path. It went from being a fleeting consciousness, to gaining a humanoid form based on psyche power itself - in a way, it was like a psyche avatar, living in the world's largest Sea of Consciousness…the Sea of Consciousness known as the Sage Plane.

If others were to learn of the true nature of the Sage Plane, they would no doubt be shocked and terrified beyond belief. However, this was the only world that the Fragment of Mind had ever know…it had only ever known itself, and the god-like being who dictated its life's purpose.

The core of the Sage Plane was like a spherical accumulation of natural wonders and artificial formations of the world. It contained all of the Primordial Sage's grandest creations, and all of the Primordial Treasures that existed on the Sage Plane.

Under the Primordial Sage's tutelage, it wasn't long before the Fragment of Mind achieved a Myriad Sage Grade Sea of Consciousness. It soon developed immortal stage comprehension in a dao that interested it more than any other - the dao of formations…suitable, for a being of pure intellect such as itself.

Of course, the Sage had steered it in this direction, by basing the vast majority of its growth on the study and usage of various formations.

The Fragment of Mind overcame its Nirvana Ascension, and finally, reached the Immortal Step.

It was at this point, that the Fragment of Mind, a being without much of a sense of self, started to subtly change.

On the day that it became an immortal, the Primordial Sage took the the Fragment of Mind to a certain place…

The Fragment of Mind stared up at yet another formation on the Sage Plane. However, this could be considered one of the grandest formations which the Primordial Sage had ever created, because she had created it using a Primordial Treasure over 2 million years ago.

Using a Primordial Treasure to create a formation…there were very few examples of this across the four planes.

When the Fragment of Mind first saw this 'formation', which in its eyes, was simply a pillar of all-coloured light blazing up from the depths of nowhere, piercing through the heights of the heavens themselves…for the first time its life, it felt a burning curiosity in its heart.

"What is this formation called?" The Fragment of Mind couldn't help but ask, despite already knowing that the Primordial Sage did not bother naming any of her creations in this world.

After a moment of silence, she spoke one simple word.

"Dao."

"Dao…" The Fragment of Mind muttered, before slowly nodding as it stared at the infinite godly flow of light before its eyes. This 'formation' lay at the very centre of the Sage Plane, and as soon as the Fragment of Mind saw this existence, it immediately understood - this formation was how the Primordial Sage had managed to comprehend every single earthly dao to the divine stage, giving her complete comprehension over the entire heavenly dao, a stage that very few were able to achieve in this world.

"Indeed…this formation, is worthy of simply being called 'Dao'…" The Fragment of Mind muttered once again.

And so, the Fragment of Mind began to cultivate within the formation simply called 'Dao'. Within this formation, it was able to clearly see dao in all its forms, allowing its conscious comprehension of dao itself to skyrocket to unprecedented levels.

It remained within this formation, even as its various tribulations descended.

Typically, at the True Immortal Realm, one would experience a total of eight True Immortal Tribulations - one corresponding to each of the elemental daos. These would descend once every 300 years…at least, that was usually how things went.

There were rare exceptions to this rule, and as the Fragment of Mind continued to cultivate within the Dao Formation, it found itself thinking; thinking in solitude, for an extremely long period of time…

It had never had such thoughts before reaching the Immortal Step, but after its Sea of Consciousness ascended, it started to think…

Did it really wish to live according to the Primordial Sage's purpose, which she had always dictated for it to follow?

Perhaps it was coincidence, but like the Fragment of Qi, the Fragment of Mind experienced its 5th True Immortal Tribulation not long before Yaan arrived in the Southern Continent. Perhaps it was coincidence…or perhaps it was fate.

But unlike the Fragment of Qi, the Fragment of Mind's path did not stop there.

As the old man sat within the Dao Formation, for the first time in its 1,500 years spent sitting in this glorious pillar of flowing light, its eyes shot wide open, and suddenly, its heart erupted with an unexpected change.

The change of the heart would not usually be so sudden, but for the Fragment of Mind, its change of heart was simply too extreme. It went from its state of possessing practically no desire of its own…to possessing the desire to live - not as the Fragment of Mind, not as a nourishment for the Primordial Devil, but as its own, independent entity!

It wanted freedom!

It wanted to continue along its path!

It wanted to continue seeking knowledge, with its heart which possessed the burning desire to learn more!

And so, in this moment, the Fragment of Mind unexpectedly developed a named dao heart - and its name? It was quite simple, really…it was a heart of learning.

This heart desired to learn more about itself, about this world, about anything and everything it could! Its heart desired to break free from the Primordial Sage's restrictions, and to become its own person…not the Fragment of Mind…but its new, self-proclaimed self - Knowledge Immortal!

The fact that the Fragment of Mind had immediately decided on its immortal title at this point was not too strange, but actually, it would have been more common to come up with a title sooner.

When immortals left behind their mortality, they left behind what they once were, including their old names. This was why they typically went by titles, either decided upon by themselves, or by those around them, depending on the circumstance.

Unfortunately, nobody would ever know that 'Knowledge Immortal' had been born into this world.

As soon as the Fragment of Mind attained this level of dao heart - an immortal stage named dao heart - he immediately stepped into the Dao Immortal Realm.

Did this mean that he could simply skip past the tribulations that immortals would typically face in the previous immortal realms?

It did not…in fact, this sort of success was more dangerous than anything else, because it meant that every previous tribulation would assault him all at once!

The Fragment of Mind's final three True Immortal Tribulations, which would have led it into the Ancient Immortal Realm…

It's Dao Ascension Tribulation which came from within, and was the result of a mortal dao heart attempting to ascend into a named dao heart…

These four tribulations struck the Fragment of Mind all at once, thrusting it into the greatest life and death crisis of its life.

As all of this transpired, the Primordial Sage watched on calmly. She prepared to seal away the Fragment of Mind, which had become a danger now that it had gained its own independent will, as soon as it overcame its tribulations.

Fortunately, the three True Immortal Tribulations were not actually a huge problem for the Fragment of Mind, which had spent 1,500 years cultivating within the Dao Formation, and had already attained immortal stage comprehension into each of the earthly elemental daos.

However, its Dao Ascension Tribulation, the tribulation that came not from the heavens, but from within its own heart…was not something so easy to overcome.