The blazing Yang fire raged, yearning to cook with fierce flames, but it merely added to the scorching sun of the summer solstice.
The divine bird Chongming was suppressed beneath the layers of mountains and rivers in the summer solstice diagram. The entire world, save for Qing Ling, was filled with lush green mountains and waters, vast plains, deep valleys, and high plateaus. All vegetation transformed from green to verdant.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit permeated every inch of grass and flower, every mountain peak, every river, every living creature, and every worldly sound.
His divine consciousness divided into infinitely fine and small threads, invisible to the naked eye, like molecules and atoms.
Thousands upon thousands of divine consciousness threads delved deep into every blade of grass and petal. This world was born from the convergence of his will and divine authority. The diagram of spring's burgeoning prosperity transformed into the diagram of summer's peak.
Then, Qing Ling's countless threads of divine consciousness, having divided into millions of times finer strands, finally perceived a sliver of decay within the vibrant fullness of all the flowers and grasses!
Though the vegetation was flourishing, it relied on the vigorous flames of the Chongming divine bird for strength to grow and expand. However, within its peak vitality, a trace of decay had inevitably emerged.
This trace of decay was minuscule, yet it existed.
Qing Ling leisurely walked through this land of mountains and waters, sometimes treading through dense, towering forests, sometimes crossing lakes that spanned a thousand li, traversing the sweltering heat of high summer, bit by bit.
With each step, there was no dao or method to be found; it was merely Qing Ling's carefree wandering between heaven and earth.
Summer, long and intense, unlike the gentle nourishment of spring, but it showcased life's vitality even more. Flowers could bloom so brilliantly, and grass could grow so luxuriantly!
At the summer solstice, all things reached their peak of growth.
A hundred years passed in his leisurely stroll, and a single summer season felt like a hundred years passing in the world.
At this moment, the dao within Qing Ling began to shift from the dao of life to the dao of death. Faint wisps of death energy entered the world. The vitality contained within countless flowers and grasses resisted the death energy. Life and death were naturally in opposition; there was no need to intervene.
He traveled from south to north, traversing the southernmost to the northernmost reaches of the summer solstice diagram, a distance of one hundred and eight thousand li.
When Qing Ling, clad in his azure robes, stood upon the northernmost mountain peak, a wisp of withered wind swept across the land.
"Hoo~"
"Hoo~"
The mountain wind blew stronger, ruffling his long hair and billowing his robes. From the summit, Qing Ling looked south of the mountains, knowing that autumn was coming.
A single withered yellow leaf fluttered down. Beside the mountain peak, the leaves of an ancient tree danced in the wind. The withered yellow leaf fell, and Qing Ling reached out to catch it, smiling faintly before letting it go, transforming into wind and returning to the earth.
"Rustle~"
"Rustle~"
Moments turned into years. The mountain wind carried a hint of coolness. Unbeknownst to the world, the great sun began to wane, and the sun hanging in the sky seemed to shrink by a third. The scorching heat of the world had long since dissipated.
North wind swept the land, scattering, and fallen leaves returned to their roots, their lives rising and falling.
"Boundless fallen leaves descend with a mournful sound, the endless Yangtze River rolls on ceaselessly."
By the great river, Qing Ling stood alone. Deep autumn had arrived.
The world gradually turned autumnal yellow.
In this world, a Dao inscription surrounded by radiant light bore the character "夏" (Summer).
The "夏" Dao pattern descended into Qing Ling's brow. This was his exclusive Dao pattern, and though the world was born, all things remained unaware.
The "秋" (Autumn) character Dao inscription was gradually taking shape, but it would still take considerable time.
Evolution was more than mere waiting.
It was the embodiment of his realm of withered and flourishing life and death within the diagram of spring's burgeoning prosperity, combined with the power of the Wood Dao's Jianmu and the fire power of the Chongming divine bird. With his primordial spirit as the commander, he directed countless primordial spirits to simultaneously undergo fundamental transformations, facilitating the change from summer to autumn.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit was weary, but he could not stop. If he missed this moment, he would have to begin anew from spring, and the energy required for such a process was not easily obtained.
Even in his exhaustion, Qing Ling would not cease his primordial spirit's deductions. This was his only chance. Seizing this opportunity would bring a heaven-sent boon.
For the Primordial World only had spring and winter seasons. If he were to evolve the four seasons, the world itself would change because of him.
By the lakeside, he slowly fell asleep. His primordial spirit completely immersed itself in the equilibrium between the life and death energy of myriad things, the balance of the Wood Dao and the Fire Dao.
The lake water flowed gently, and he slept for a hundred years, then another hundred years.
A hundred years later, the world was in deep, chilly autumn.
Qing Ling awoke from his deep slumber, having dreamed of spring and autumn for eight hundred years. It felt like mere moments had passed.
The "秋" character Dao inscription descended.
As death energy grew stronger with the passage of time, the chill intensified. Autumn rain fell upon the phoenix trees, and the evening wind frostily dyed the layered forests. Each autumn rain brought a chill.
Finally, in the thousandth year, the death energy in the world reached its peak. The sky-reaching Jianmu drew in the Taiyin moonlight, and the silver radiance cascaded for a thousand li like snow. Ice and frost formed crystalline flowers, and the world was adorned with heavy snowfall. Mountains and rivers were blanketed in white. All vegetation entered dormancy, and flowers and grasses returned to the earth, their vitality merging into the death energy.
Life entered death, and death nurtured life. Spring, summer, autumn, and winter all culminated in a complete cycle, forming a closed loop.
As the four seasons evolved over a thousand years, spring flowers, autumn moons, summer trees, and winter snow all converged within Qing Ling's heart.
At this moment, the realm of withered and flourishing life, encompassing the cycle of spring, summer, and autumn, truly began to turn.
The seasons cycled, spring and autumn unending, winter and summer at their extremes, passing away and returning.
When the diagram of the four seasons was complete, a wispy, thread-like void of white silk was born, and within the cycle of the four seasons, a sliver of time emerged.
Time flowed like water and silver, reflecting the starlight in the sky. Its pure, flawless radiance, like luminous jade, seeped into Qing Ling's brow.
Time flowed, and the passage of time intertwined with the flow of time to become "guangyin" (time). Time intertwined with space to become "shikong" (spacetime).
Whether guangyin or shikong, both were mutations of the Great Dao of Time.
Qing Ling's diagram manifested the four seasons, and the four seasons evolved into time.
As time entered his body, Qing Ling's mind and spirit bathed in a cool waterfall. In an instant, he emerged from the divine diagram. From the vast heavens, the Taiyin moon poured down into the Milky Way, and the moonlight condensed into water, all flowing into Qing Ling's being.
The profoundness of time, the inscrutability of spacetime. Qing Ling's Dao body was undergoing a baptism of time, a cleansing by the passage of years. His jade bones and jade skin, his fingertips turned white, and the joints on his fingers seemed to condense into a point of white light before vanishing.
The old man Chongming watched with shock as Qing Ling absorbed time and exclaimed, "How could you possibly grasp the Great Dao of Time?"
"Fellow Daoist need not know these things. This is all thanks to your Yang fire. Without Yang, there is no Yin; Yin and Yang complement each other, and the Great Dao merges into one."
Qing Ling stepped out of the divine diagram, absorbing the four-season diagram and placing it within his primordial spirit for nurturing.
He raised his head to glance at the Jianmu reaching high into the distance and murmured, "Now that I have reached the perfection of the Dao, with the four-season diagram complete, it is time for me to truly attempt the Great Luo realm!"
The Dao of Time was an unexpected bonus, while the completion of the four-season diagram was a necessity. With this, Qing Ling would have an even greater chance of breaking through to the realm beyond Great Luo!