546: Evolution of the True Self

Time flowed in the True Self Realm at a peculiar speed.

There were no markings of the sun and moon turning, nor traces of the changing seasons; there was only Primordial Qi rising and falling between heaven and earth, carrying the hazy, nascent aura of Chaos.

Xu Qing's will permeated the entire world. He neither manipulated it deliberately nor let it run its course entirely; instead, he followed the Laws of the Origin, guiding the omnipresent Primordial Qi to subtly reshape the True Self Realm along a trajectory most in harmony with the Dao.

The air currents slowly condensed into clouds, and the clouds descended, turning into torrential rain. This downpour lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, soaking the desolate land and allowing the cracked soil to gradually bloom with a hint of vitality.

Time passed slowly. After countless millennia, this world, having just shed its shell of Chaos, finally welcomed the first sprouts of Life.

However, the initial forms of Life were not creatures of flesh and blood, but rather a type of primitive spiritual resonance existing between energy and matter.

They had no fixed form, no mature consciousness; they were more like products of spiritual resonance that had escaped into the world and condensed by chance.

They were born by the banks of the Ancestral River, at the convergence of earth veins, and in the vast night sky. Their forms were diverse: some resembled ethereal clouds, gathering and dispersing unpredictably in the breeze; others were like flickering streams of light, shimmering in the night.

Therefore, Xu Qing named them Primitive Spirits.

They floated ignorantly between heaven and earth, instinctively absorbing the surrounding Primordial Qi, slowly strengthening themselves like newborn infants suckling milk.

Xu Qing did not interfere with their forms; he merely set the most fundamental Law: survival of the fittest.

This was the fundamental Law of the Dao's operation—it needed no carving or embellishment, yet it was sufficient to drive the evolutionary process of the entire world.

Thus, in this silent, primitive world, a soundless competition quietly began.

The more active Primitive Spirits would actively pursue areas with denser energy, and when they encountered weaker peers, they would follow their instincts to consume them, thereby strengthening their own Origin.

Primitive Spirits of different attributes collided with one another; some dissipated in annihilation, while others produced new Primitive Spirits through Fusion.

A fire-attributed Primitive Spirit merged with a water-attributed one, turning into dense water vapor; a soil-attributed Primitive Spirit intertwined with a metal-attributed one, condensing into the first batch of Ore in the earth veins...

Billions of years passed in an instant. The forms of the Primitive Spirits gradually moved from disorder to stability, from simple to complex. Those that managed to survive the competition had already developed attribute tendencies.

Finally, at the foot of the Ancestor Mountain, near the source of the East Ancestral River, a cluster of Primitive Spirits that had absorbed a great deal of Primordial Qi underwent a qualitative change.

It was no longer a wandering cluster of Primitive Spirits; it had sprouted a sliver of ignorant "spirit," which was the budding of consciousness.

And the budding of consciousness was the true beginning of Life.

Immediately following this, the cluster of Primitive Spirits began to spontaneously compress and condense, eventually transforming into a tangible body.

It was a sapling, emerald green throughout, only three inches tall. Its stem was slender yet upright, its leaves spread out in a palmate shape, and faint golden veins flowed across them. With every movement of these veins, it could draw the surrounding Primordial Qi toward itself.

"The first living creature shall be of the wood attribute, carrying vitality."

Xu Qing's Dao thought brushed gently over the sapling's leaves, carrying a trace of satisfaction from creation.

Using the Dao as his authority, he gave this first sapling of the world a name—Jianmu.

The birth of Jianmu was like igniting a prairie fire of Life, breaking a certain rhythm between heaven and earth.

Following closely, deep within the scorching earth veins by the South Ancestral River, a cluster of Primitive Spirits that had been burning for ages sprouted consciousness, transforming into the first flame spirit with self-awareness. Xu Qing named it Nanming Li Fire.

Beneath the ten-thousand-foot abyss at the source of the North Ancestral River, the essence of water that had not flowed for billions of years condensed into form, becoming the Northern Underworld True Water, which possessed the ability to consume all things.

Deep within the earth veins at the source of the West Ancestral River, metal Qi and earth vein Qi gestated each other, transforming into Innate Golden Essence.

Deep within the Ancestor Mountain, a wisp of soil-attributed Primitive Spirit awakened under the baptism of the power of heaven and earth. Xu Qing named it Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.

The Origin spirits of the Five Elements were born in succession. They were naturally close to the Dao and breathed in Primordial Qi; they were the prototypes of the Innate Five Elements Dao.

They could no longer be named Primitive Spirits; they could now be called Innate Lifeforms.

Under the influence of the Innate Five Elements spirits, a more widespread evolution of Life began.

Beside a tributary of the Ancestral River, in soil soaked with Primordial Qi, the first Spiritual Plant broke through the earth.

It possessed no intelligence, but its leaves were naturally imprinted with Dao patterns, allowing it to spontaneously breathe in Primordial Qi. This was the beginning of the combination of material Life and Dao resonance.

Soon, complex Life forms began to emerge in the subsequent years.

Following the instinct of Life, the first Spiritual Plant soon propagated seeds, which spread toward the Ancestor Mountain with the wind and rivers, forming a unique community.

Soon, the Pattern-Devouring Beetle, which fed on Spiritual Plants, was born among the leaves; its shell was even inscribed with Innate protective Dao patterns.

And soon, Innate Lifeforms that fed on Pattern-Devouring Beetles were born.

Just like that, as time passed, a primitive ecosystem based on Primordial Qi as the fundamental energy quickly formed in the True Self Realm.

These creatures were the Innate Spirits; although most were currently ignorant, they had already begun to Cultivate by relying on their instincts to approach and utilize Dao resonance.

After another long period, in places where the Primordial Qi was exceptionally dense, the first tribes possessing spiritual wisdom began to gestate.

Among them was a humanoid race; they had evolved from the Innate Spirit Apes. Through repeated struggles for survival, their spirituality had accumulated to the extreme, eventually resulting in their evolution.

They were born with strong Physical Bodies and were acutely sensitive to Primordial Qi. Some revered the Five Elements spirits like Jianmu and Li Fire that breathed out Dao resonance; they worshipped the rushing Ancestral River and were full of desire to explore the wind, thunder, rain, and lightning that contained the might of heaven and earth.

Gradually, some of these humanoids began to use all things in heaven and earth as totems, obtaining power through sacrifice; others focused on their own Cultivation by absorbing Primordial Qi...

Besides these humanoids, many other strange tribes were born in the world.

There was the Wu Race, which was born with terrifying Physical Body strength, vitality, and combat instincts; they did not Cultivate their Primordial Spirit but were born with an affinity for one or more heaven and earth Laws.

There was the Spirit Race, composed of Innate elements, plant essences, and strange earth Ores; they were born with the ability to communicate with heaven and earth elements, plants, and animals.

There were the Water Descendants, gestated from the Ancestral River, with human bodies and fish tails or the forms of flood dragons; they were born with the ability to control water.

There were the Flame Demons, born at the intersection of raging flames and earth fire; their forms were scorching and changeable, and their temperaments were irritable.

There were also many beast-like creatures that had gained spiritual wisdom over long years, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon and the ancient Dao marks within their Bloodlines, forming a massive group collectively known as the Yao Race.

They possessed both tyrannical Physical Bodies and Innate Divine Abilities; they worshipped power and had a strict hierarchy of Rank.

With ten thousand races standing tall, all used Primordial Qi as the foundation of their Cultivation, embarking on different paths of evolution and civilization based on their own natural talents.

Xu Qing named the creatures of the ten thousand races from this period the Primeval People, and this era was also called: the Era of Ten Thousand Races!