211: Chapter 211 Proving the Dao of Primordial Chaos

There was no time in Chaos, but Lu Mingyuan knew that the moment was fast approaching.

It wasn't measured by a clock, but felt with the heart. His heartbeat was accelerating—not in a frantic way, but with a rhythmic pace. Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump. It was like war drums, like thunder, like the pulse of heaven and earth. With every heartbeat, Chaos trembled. As it trembled, Chaos began to change.

The grey mist was churning, not randomly, but in an orderly fashion. Like the tides of the sea, wave after wave surged from the distance and washed over him. It didn't hurt; it was warm. Chaos was embracing him, like a mother embracing her child. Chaos gives birth to all things; Chaos is the mother. He was a child of Chaos, and now he was going home.

Bai Ze jumped down from his shoulder and crouched in the distance. It knew the critical moment had arrived. It could not disturb him, could not approach him, and could not even breathe. It held its breath, its eyes fixed on him without blinking. The kitten also woke up, jumped off his shoulder, and crouched beside Bai Ze. It didn't understand what attaining the Dao meant, but it felt the atmosphere. It was so solemn that even a cat didn't dare to yawn.

Lu Mingyuan sat cross-legged in Chaos, hands on his knees, palms facing the sky. His eyes were closed, yet he could see everything. He saw the depths of Chaos, the edge of Chaos, the origin of Chaos, and the end of Chaos. There was no beginning and no end. Chaos had always been there, always changing. In its constant change, the Dao was born. The Dao produced One, One produced Two, Two produced Three, and Three produced all things. All things return to One, and One returns to Chaos.

Within his Dantian, that tree began to glow. It wasn't a light of seven colors, but the color of Chaos. It was grey, yet within that greyness lay infinite possibilities. Light seeped from the trunk, from the canopy, and from the roots. It seeped out of the Dantian, into the Meridians, into the flesh and blood, into the bones, and into the true spirit.

His body began to brighten. It wasn't his skin that was glowing, but his inner self. Light shone through his bones, through his blood vessels, and through every pore. He became a being of light, a grey being of light. The light wasn't dazzling, but it was very bright. It was so bright that Bai Ze had to squint, and the kitten buried its face in its paws.

Chaos began to resonate.

It wasn't a resonance of sound, but a resonance of Dao principles. Countless Dao principles within Chaos began to vibrate. The frequency of the vibration synchronized with his heartbeat. Thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump. Chaos pulsed along, the Dao principles pulsed along, and all things pulsed along. The entire Chaos was beating drums for him.

Lu Mingyuan opened his eyes. There were no pupils or whites in his eyes, only light. A grey light, like Chaos. He looked at Chaos, and Chaos looked at him. They met each other's gaze as if looking into a mirror. In the mirror was him, and also Chaos. Chaos was him, and he was Chaos.

"My Dao is accomplished."

These four words came from his mouth. His voice was not loud, but it carried very far. It reached every corner of Chaos, every Dao principle of the Three Thousand Great Daos, and every moment of the creation of the world.

Before his voice faded, Chaos exploded.

It wasn't a physical explosion, but an eruption of Dao principles. Countless Dao principles surged out of Chaos like countless Dragons flying in the air. The golden Heavenly Dao, the earthy-yellow Earthly Dao, the fiery-red Human Dao, the incense-colored Divine Dao, the azure Immortal Dao, the colorless Buddhist Dao, and the black Demonic Path. There were also countless unnamed Daos—purple, pink, white, and transparent. They danced and spiraled, finally rushing toward Lu Mingyuan together.

They surged into his body, into his Dantian, and into his true spirit.

His body began to expand. He wasn't getting fat; he was growing large. He grew so large that his head touched the sky of Chaos and his feet trod upon the ground of Chaos. But there was no sky or ground in Chaos. He was the sky, and he was the ground. The sky was his head, and the ground was his feet. Within his body, he held the entirety of Chaos.

The tree in his Dantian grew frantically. Thirty feet, fifty feet, a hundred feet, five hundred feet, a thousand feet. The trunk grew so thick its boundaries could not be seen, and the canopy grew so large it covered the entire sky of his Dantian. Countless flowers on the tree bloomed simultaneously. They didn't bloom one by one, but ten million at once. The sound of flowers blooming was like music, like poetry, like the sounds of nature.

The fragrance of the flowers drifted out of his Dantian, out of his body, and into Chaos. Chaos smelled the fragrance and began to change. Within the grey mist, a hint of color appeared. It wasn't just seven colors, but countless colors. Red, yellow, blue, green, purple, pink, white, black. The colors flowed through the mist like a rainbow river.

Lu Mingyuan had attained the Dao.

A Hunyuan Grand Unity Golden Immortal.

A Saint.

His cultivation crossed that thin layer of paper, moving from the Peak of Quasi-Saint Perfection into the Saint Realm. That layer of paper wasn't punctured; it dissolved on its own. It turned into water, into Qi, and into the Dao. The Dao was within him; he was the Dao. The Dao was outside him; the Dao was also him. Inside and outside were one, body and mind were one, the Dao and the self were one.

Watching this scene, tears streamed down Bai Ze's face. It had followed him for so long, from the East Sea to the Northwest, from Zixiao to Chaos. It had waited for this day for a long time. Not because it wanted to see him become a Saint for his own sake, but because it knew he didn't become a Saint for himself. It was for Mending the Heavens, for the sentries on guard, for the lamp of Zhao Sanniang, and for Gousheng's waiting.

The kitten also looked at him, its eyes filled with a light that had never been there before. That light was awe, worship, and love. It didn't understand what a Saint was, but it knew this person had changed. He had become warmer, steadier, and greater. Great enough to hold the entire world.

Lu Mingyuan's body slowly shrank back to its normal size. But his aura had changed, becoming deeper, calmer, and more inclusive. Like the sea, calm on the surface but with infinite power beneath. Like a great mountain, silent and wordless, but simply being there made it a pillar of support.

He stood up within Chaos. There was no ground beneath his feet, yet he stood firmly. There was no sky above his head, yet he stood straight. He was himself, no longer just the scholar who had walked out of Heyin City. Yet he was still that same scholar, never having changed. What changed was his cultivation; what remained unchanged was his heart.

Heart as the Mysterious Pivot. The pivot does not move, yet the door opens and closes. The heart does not move, and all methods naturally return to the origin.

He reached out and looked at his hands. His hands hadn't changed; they were still the same hands that had copied books, drawn talismans, held swords, and written scriptures. But they were different now; they possessed the power of a Saint. That power was not for bullying others, but for protecting them. Protecting those who needed protection, and mending the gaps that needed mending.

"Bai Ze," he said.

"I am here."

"I have become a Saint."

"I know."

"But I am still me."

"I know."

"That is good."

He smiled, a smile that was very light, faint, and warm. It was the smile of a Saint, and also the smile of an ordinary person. A Saint does not have three heads and six arms; a Saint is an ordinary person with a heart larger than others. How large? Large enough to hold heaven and earth, large enough to hold all living beings, and large enough to hold the gaps.

Chaos still swirled around him, but it had become gentler. Like a river, flowing softly, without haste or panic. It knew that this person had realized the Dao and become a Saint within Chaos. He would not forget Chaos, and Chaos would not forget him.

Lu Mingyuan looked up into the depths of Chaos. There was still a path there, and he had to keep walking. Becoming a Saint was not the end, but the starting point. At this starting point, he had to write scriptures, establish his Dao, return, and perform the act of Mending the Heavens.

He took a step forward and continued walking. Without haste, without agitation, without attachment. He walked slowly, steadily, and softly.

Behind him, Bai Ze jumped onto his shoulder, and the kitten jumped up as well. Three lives walking through Chaos. A Saint, a Divine Beast, and a kitten. It was a strange combination, yet it was harmonious. Because in their hearts, there was love, light, and the Dao.

The oil lamp glowed in his hand, its wick flickering. The light was very weak, as faint as a firefly. But it would not go out, because it was connected to Zhao Sanniang's heart. Zhao Sanniang's heart was waiting for him in the Northwest, waiting for him to return.

He would return. Carrying the cultivation of a Saint, the insights of the Seven Daos, and the wisdom of All Methods Return to the Origin.