Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies

"If you ascend to the peak-Heavenly Creation Realm, make my path eternal. In return, I will bestow you all I can." Xiha words were suffused with desperation and unwillingness. This great Heavenly Monarch of old was actually throwing his pride away and asking a junior to carry his dreams.

Yan Zaizen didn’t even need to think about this. His body erupted with a dark-amber aura. His eyes suffused with an imperialistic ferocity that seemed authoritative over all things in existence, an unyielding confidence that could never falter, and the desire to achieve all things.

This was his Mortal Dao! The Dao of Sovereign Ascension!!

"As long as it doesn’t force me to take this path of yours, I accept." If he were to refuse, if he was to say he wasn’t capable of doing so, or couldn’t do so, his dao would shatter at that very moment. This was essentially the same as asking him if he was capable of reaching the peak! How could he ever say no?! What reason did he have to refuse?!

Xiha’s eyes of white flickered oddly. He nodded and the desperation in his stance faded. He stood upright, his eyes suffused with a regal charm of a Heavenly Monarch, and he stood before Yan Zaizen with deep pride. He may be dead, but he was still a monarch!

"To do so is simple," he pushed out towards Yan Zaizen with his armored palm. From this palm, a white light shone like a star. The white sun above started to condense. It became as large as a sun to as small as a palm in a split second. The world of grey still existed, but the white light was contained.

This sun of white contained a profound concept within.

"This is the True Origin of the Sirius Path." He pushed his hand out further. The palm-sized white sun arrived next to Yan Zaizen at lightning-like speed. "Merge this with the Heavenly Origin." As he said this, Yan Zaizen was startled.

True Origin of a Path? Heavenly Origin?

What did this mean?

Xiha continued to explain to alleviate Yan Zaizen’s confusion, "All things have a True Origin. It is the quintessential core of one’s existence. To become a Heavenly God, you must merge your core existence with the heavens, unable to extricate for all eternity. To establish an eternal path all heavens, you must merge its True Origin with the Heavenly Origin, the core existence of all heavens."

Yan Zaizen understood now. He was also deeply shocked. To merge your very existence to control the heavens felt extreme. He recalled his first thoughts of the heavens when he learned of it from Pinaka.

He had the faintest feeling that the heavens were soulless. It was like a tool with a controller. Now he understood why. His horizons were deeply broadened.

"To develop a Grand Dao, you need to merge your True Origin with your Mortal Dao...if that’s the case...then I wonder..." As his thoughts wondered, the True Origin of the Sirius Path vibrated. Looking at this miniature core that looked like a white sun, Yan Zaizen smiled. Most would think this to be foolish, accepting the lifelong goal of a Heavenly Monarch, but Yan Zaizen was thinking of other things.

"This guy must be rich...I wonder what he’ll give me." As his thoughts were consumed by a little greed, he touched the white sun. It submerged into his soul and became self-contained. It stayed within his black soul without a single hint of resistance. However, Yan Zaizen felt no connection to it.

He did have the feeling that if he was to die, the True Origin would return back to this realm. This felt further reinforced when the Heavenly Monarch didn’t ask him to swear an oath.

Ignoring these matters, he put his mind on more pressing concerns. "Now, what will you give me to accomplish this mission?" Yan Zaizen was excited.

Xiha nodded after witnessing the True Origin entering Yan Zaizen’s soul without resistance. "Yan Zaizen, my benefactor, I have two things to bestow to you: an Origin Source True Egg and my Sirius Slaughter Robe." As he spoke, he waved his hand to send two lights towards Yan Zaizen.

The first item was an egg. It wasn’t white or any color. Instead, it was translucent like glass and about the size of a baby’s fist. The second item was a white robe. It was pure without a hint of dirt or marks.

It looked like the outer robe of a martial art outfit. Yan Zaizen recognized this robe. When Xiha had displayed his life, at the end when he roared to the heavens, he wore this exact robe. It was truly like an immortal’s robe descending from the heavens.

"The Origin Source True Egg is an embryonic item that can help establish a connection with your True Origin," Xiha explained with a quickened and hasty voice. For some odd reason, Yan Zaizen felt that he wanted to end this conversation soon.

Yan Zaizen analyzed this Heavenly Monarch’s clone or remnant and realized its current physical state was trembling slightly. It seemed as if it was going to collapse. Even it’s aura that seemed one with the world was dissipating at a rapid rate.

Yan Zaizen still had questions he wanted to ask about the Origin Source True Egg, but Xiha didn’t even bother to halt for a second. Instead, he continued his words, "My Sirius Slaughter Robe contains my Sirius Law and can be considered a Minor Creation Armament. It is my most cherished possession. With it, your offense and defense will be unparalleled within your realm, and it will protect you in this mission."

Soon after, he faded like a ghost in the night. It was as if he didn’t exist in this world and it was only a construct of Yan Zaizen’s imagination. This startled Yan Zaizen deeply. He had so many more questions but was left with a quick description of the two objects with no other information.

He waved his hand towards the objects and intended to send them into his Meteor Ring. Unfortunately, a faint light emitted from both which rejected this action. Furrowing his brows, he wrapped the two in his soul energy and pulled them into his soul.

From his experience with Pinaka, he knew that True Spirit Armaments can be stored in the soul. It seemed these two items were unaffected by spatial laws and could only be stored in the soul.

They entered his soul form. However, when they did, the translucent egg seemed to have gone crazy. It rushed towards Yan Zaizen’s Mortal Dao orb with no hesitation. It even emitted a faint cry that seemed to distort Yan Zaizen’s soul form.

"What?!" Yan Zaizen felt urgent. He gathered his soul energy to intercept and entrap the egg, but was left helpless. The egg was unstoppable. It shattered whatever barrier he constructed and headed for his Mortal Dao avatar. It was frighteningly fast.

He was about to urge his black hole bloodline but hesitated. If he absorbed this egg, would it simply vanish? This little bit of hesitation left him unable to take action any longer.

It merged with his dark-amber orb and nothing else happened. With furrowed brows and frustrated eyes, Yan Zaizen was at a loss. Was this supposed to happen?

Before he could even think further, a vortex of grey formed above him. It was like a spatial rift but in the form of a cycling vortex. He felt a force surround his body that was softer than Zhou Xiuhei’s heavenly might but far more powerful.

With a sudden jerk, his body was pulled towards the vortex. To test out the strength of this force, he tried to resist but felt even more powerless than when he faced Zhou Xiuhei. With a sigh, he couldn’t help but hate how these old grandpas loved to send people away against their will.

Entering the vortex, his eyes gleamed with light. This light wasn’t intentionally emitted by him but seemed to originate from his soul form and reflect on his true body. "What? My Dao?!"

Crack! Crack!

He felt a sudden pressure within his soul form as his Mortal Dao orb started to crack, fine lines filled with a chaotic feeling spread across its surface.