"Have you thought it through?" Qing Ling asked with a smile.
Bai Ze whispered, "I... I think I should cultivate the Great Dao of Heavenly Secrets."
Qing Ling blinked, "Great Dao of Heavenly Secrets?"
"Yes, I am naturally adept at divining Yin and Yang and understanding the affairs of heaven and earth. I cultivate the Great Dao of Heavenly Secrets."
Qing Ling smiled, "The Great Dao of Heavenly Secrets is excellent. However, I have another path here that is more suited for you!
This path has had only one ancient predecessor and will only have one successor in the future.
The ancient has passed, the successor has not yet emerged; you are the sole individual for this path in heaven and earth!"
"Gulp—"
Bai Ze swallowed, and asked, "What path is that?"
Qing Ling's voice boomed,
"The Great Dao is hidden, the Heavenly Dao takes precedence.
When the Heavenly Dao does not manifest, Destiny reigns supreme.
When Destiny does not appear, Karma becomes dominant.
Time is honored, Space is king.
Creation and destruction, inter-dependent and opposing.
The Law of Force, opening heaven and earth.
Light and darkness alternate, night and shadow follow.
The Five Elements clash, water and fire cannot coexist.
How can Heavenly Secrets compare to Destiny?"
In Bai Ze's eyes, the Daoist standing before him seemed to be at the center of heaven and earth, with all Daos circling him in deference, guarding all directions.
"Do you wish to learn it?"
Bai Ze nodded vigorously, "I am willing to learn, I am willing to learn!"
Qing Ling laughed heartily, his laughter resonating for millions of miles within Budou.
He had found a worthy successor for the Ancestor of the White Dragon!
The calamity of the Wu and Yao would also be altered because of him!
Qing Ling rose and said, "This path is arduous, can you endure it?"
Bai Ze nodded, "Bai Ze can endure hardship!"
"Good!" Qing Ling pointed at Jianmu and said, "First ascend the Heavenly Ladder. I will wait for you at the highest point!"
Bai Ze was startled. He recalled the rumors from Budou and quickly said, "Dao Master, but only great beings can ascend Jianmu. How can I, with only Golden Immortal cultivation, possibly climb it?"
Qing Ling's expression turned solemn, "To obtain great fortune, one must first undergo great suffering!
How can the Dao of Destiny be compared to other Daos?"
As his words fell, Qing Ling vanished.
Bai Ze looked at Jianmu with unease. It soared into the clouds, its height immeasurable, seemingly without end!
He gritted his teeth, turned, and began to ascend Jianmu.
The roots of Jianmu were as thick as mountains, like a celestial pillar. On its outer edge, overlapping green leaves formed a green staircase, winding upwards towards the Ninth Heaven, its end unseen.
Bai Ze calmed his mind and stepped onto Jianmu.
As his first step fell, an illusion appeared before his eyes.
Bai Ze, however, felt a sense of relief. At least the suppression of the Great Dao did not prevent him from taking even a single step.
As he took another step, an illusion materialized before him: a rat.
A rat grew in the wilderness, gradually gained sentience, cultivated Qi circulation, and experienced countless struggles before achieving enlightenment and reaching the Heavenly Tribulation.
Bai Ze marveled at the rat's arduous journey. However, he knew he was merely an observer, watching the rat's life unfold in a fleeting glimpse. It stopped at Taiyi and died in the jaws of a monstrous beast.
He walked a thousand steps through this illusion.
Upon taking the thousand and first step, the illusion changed again.
This time, it was the monstrous beast that had killed the rat. Its name was Chou Niu. Bai Ze witnessed Chou Niu's life, and the death of the giant rat was merely a fragment of its existence.
Its path was long and arduous. Bai Ze walked three thousand steps before emerging.
The next illusion shifted again, depicting the life of Yin Hu...
Bai Ze journeyed through the lives of twelve beasts. A hundred years of a beast's life passed in a dream, yet he was oblivious.
At the peak of Jianmu, Qing Ling's primordial spirit manifested the various illusions of Jianmu's ladder. These illusions were not fabricated but were projections of the lives of various beasts that he had observed with the eyes of a great being.
Destiny was layered and profound, not easily attained!
This was merely the beginning.
Jianmu ascended through twenty-five levels. Bai Ze first had to set foot on the first level.
Qing Ling once again closed his eyes and continued his eternal cultivation. His wood Dao ascended, growing in tandem with Jianmu. The higher the heavens, the more the pressure from Buzhou receded.
A thousand years later, Bai Ze, having experienced the twelve illusions, ascended to the first level.
The lives of the twelve beasts repeatedly flickered through Bai Ze's mind, cycling endlessly.
Bai Ze lingered for ten thousand years within the cycle of illusions before starting anew.
This time, it was the stars.
The starlight of the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the cycle of the celestial bodies, the past lives of the star gods.
After ascending to the first level, Bai Ze could only proceed in his true form.
Unbeknownst to him, twelve beastly markings had appeared on his pure white fur.
Within the Twenty-Eight Mansions, the celestial sphere was formed, coalescing into the Four Symbols, and then splitting into countless star systems.
Bai Ze walked for a hundred thousand years before finally emerging.
New stars began to appear on his beastly body.
Next, he witnessed the dawn, the star of the sun, the master of all stars!
The moon hanging in the nine heavens, the star of Taiyin, the mother of all stars!
The Ziwei constellation, the supreme destiny, the king of all stars!
...
Bai Ze had long since lost himself in the layered illusions. He was no longer Bai Ze, but the protagonist within each illusion.
Time flowed unceasingly, the sun and moon moved on, and in the blink of an eye, more than ten epochs had passed.
On the Primordial World, Penglai in the east and Kunlun in the west stood as the might of the two Immortal Kings, standing shoulder to shoulder with the sun and moon, revered by all immortals.
Besides the two Immortal Kings, the Wu clan had gradually flourished, feeding on the flesh and blood of myriad beasts, forcing other tribes to retreat.
Centred around Buzhou Mountain, twelve Ancestral Wu Halls formed a circle, encircling the eight directions of the Primordial World.
Each of the twelve Ancestral Wus commanded a department of the Wu clan, and their descendants had proliferated through countless generations, resulting in a large Wu population.
Outside Fengqi Mountain, a six-tailed white fox, accompanied by hundreds of foxes, desperately rushed towards the mountain.
Behind them, a group of muscular, wild-haired men pursued them.
Among them, a towering Wu tribesman wielding a golden spear, each stride covering a hundred miles, aimed at the six-tailed white fox leading the escape. With a fierce grip of his hand, the terrifying power contained within his right arm erupted. He threw the spear with one arm, and it shot through the air, piercing the white fox and embedding itself in the ground, pinning the fox immovably.
The white fox cried out in pain and struggled, only widening the wound.
The Wu tribesmen behind them roared and gave chase.
The white fox glanced at the panicked young foxes surrounding it and the approaching Wu tribesmen.
With a fierce roar, the white fox swept its huge six tails, gathering over a hundred young foxes into its tails. It then swung them forcefully, creating a gust of wind that propelled the foxes towards the giant mountain ahead.
The white fox howled, its piteous cry echoing for a thousand miles. "May Empress Nuwa show mercy and take in my young foxes. My clan shall forever honor you!"
The spear-wielding Wu tribesman behind them sneered and called out, "Xun Wu!"
A young great Wu chanted a shamanistic curse, roared forward, and then inhaled sharply.
Instantly, the fierce wind carrying the group of foxes was drawn backward into the young Wu's mouth.
Seeing this, the white fox's eyes blazed with fury. It struggled and roared, but a giant Wu caught up and stomped on it. Its fox face was pressed into the dust as it watched its kin about to be devoured.
"Presumptuous!"
A light reprimand, a streak of red light rising from the dust, a splash of blood staining the Great Wilderness.
A massive head rolled away, still frozen in the act of inhaling with its mouth agape.
The ten-thousand-foot-tall giant Wu cried out in shock, "Xun Wu!"
The young great Wu's corpse then crashed to the ground, kicking up dust that mingled with the dust stirred by the white fox's struggle.
Amidst the crimson sky, a woman emerged, holding a bloodied short knife. Her exquisite face was etched with ferocity.
The ten-thousand-foot-tall giant Wu roared, pulled the golden spear pinning the white fox, and hurled it with hatred, as if tearing through space itself.
The red-clad woman raised her hand and blade. A sharp blade light shattered the golden spear. A scroll of green light descended from her body, collecting over a hundred young foxes.
Seeing this, the giant white fox was overjoyed and tearfully bowed its head to the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, "Empress Nuwa, you are benevolent! Empress Nuwa, you are benevolent! Empress Nuwa, you are benevolent!..."
The ten-thousand-foot-tall giant Wu roared in fury, "Are you Nuwa, who opposes my Wu clan?"
Nuwa sneered, raised her short knife again. A blood-red blade light sliced through the void, faster than time and space. Before the giant Wu could react, his head was severed.
"The dead have no need for idle chatter?"
Nuwa placed the short knife into the sea of clouds at the horizon. The white clouds were dyed red, transforming into a rosy glow. When she drew the knife again, it was spotless.
Below her, the hundred-odd young Wus shrieked to the heavens, fearless. Each transformed into a hundred-foot or thousand-foot giant Wu, roaring at Nuwa, seeking revenge for their leader.
Nuwa raised her hand and slapped, sending hundreds of Wu tribesmen flying. The cacophony of Wu voices faded tens of thousands of miles away. She never struck at ants.
The crimson glow landed, and Nuwa walked to the white fox's side. Looking at the bloodied fox, her phoenix brows furrowed, and she sighed lightly, "Its primordial spirit is shattered, and I am powerless."
The white fox struggled to kneel, "Thank you, Empress Nuwa, for your benevolence. My life and death are but the fate of an ant. I only wish that Empress Nuwa would benevolently take in my hundred-odd young foxes."
Nuwa replied, "I agree."
A relieved smile spread across the white fox's face, "Thank you..."
Before her words were fully spoken, the white fox's primordial spirit shattered, and it collapsed to the ground.
A pool of blood stained the dust of the Great Wilderness, the fox's blood intermingling with the blood of the two headless Wu corpses. The red, bloodied earth surrounded Nuwa beside the white fox's corpse.
Nuwa sighed, waved her sleeve, and the white fox's corpse turned to dust, as did the two Wu corpses. They were scattered into the heavens and earth.