Signs Emerge

At this moment, Di Kun's mind churned like a vast, tempestuous sea, countless scenes flashing past like meteors. Within the sea of consciousness, Di Kun and Zhou Jun separated once more like two meteors, standing face-to-face. Neither spoke, yet their gazes burned like flames, all manner of emotions surging within them. After a moment of silence, Zhou Jun let out a low, night-owl-like laugh. His voice grew louder and louder, his expression increasingly exaggerated, as though a brazen flame were burning between his brows.

Di Kun remained motionless as a statue at the sight, merely turning his head to continue observing everything around him. An inexplicable look flickered through his eyes, as though he were pondering something. Only after a long while did Zhou Jun stop like a deflated ball. He sighed softly and said, "It really is as the saying goes: only upon waking from a great dream do you understand you and me."

Di Kun turned back, his hawk-like gaze fixed tightly on Zhou Jun. He slowly opened his mouth. "Then who are you?" Zhou Jun glanced around before turning back to meet Di Kun's eyes like a sage. "I am myself. I existed in my past life, and I came to be in this one. By understanding my mind and seeing my nature, I achieve the Original Self." Yet Di Kun, like a persistent hunter, continued asking, "What is the Original Self?" Zhou Jun smiled. "The Seven Emotions and Six Desires all arise because of me. Joys and sorrows, reunions and partings all exist because of me. I follow my heart, free and unrestrained; without desire or pursuit, there is neither law nor heaven."

After hearing this, Di Kun slowly nodded. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, seeming to smile yet not quite smiling, but he merely shook his head without speaking. Seeing this, Zhou Jun asked as well, "Then who exactly are you?" Di Kun raised his head, his gaze blazing as he stared at Zhou Jun. "My past life gave birth to me; in this life, I am myself. Through great enlightenment, I comprehend the True Self." Zhou Jun pressed, "What is the True Self?" As though he had not heard him, Di Kun turned and strode into the distance. Zhou Jun stood dumbfounded, cursing inwardly, You asked me the same thing before, and I answered you honestly. Why won't you say a word before turning around and leaving?! Answer me! Hey! Damn it, get back here and answer the question!

Zhou Jun could only watch helplessly as Di Kun walked farther and farther away, vanishing from his sight. Aggrieved, Zhou Jun curled his lips and muttered, "So you're the only one who knows how to act cool. You're the only one who's impressive. What kind of person are you? Putting on airs with yourself when you're not even someone else. Hmph!" Zhou Jun angrily raised his middle finger toward the direction Di Kun had gone, then swaggered off in the opposite direction. Just as he was about to return to his body, a voice rang out from all around him like a great bell, deafening and thunderous: "The Great Dao walks alone; only I become true. All things are false, but with me, all is true. With me between heaven and earth, I create all living beings!" Zhou Jun could not help laughing. "Heh, this guy puts on a bigger act than I do. Original Self, True Self, achieving the self—when the day comes to attain the Dao, that will be the day you and I roam free and unrestrained!" (I wonder if anyone can understand this. Hehe, the first pitfall has appeared—let us see how you all fill it.)

When Di Kun left his inner sea of consciousness and returned to his physical body as though waking from a great dream, he realized that he was already standing atop Mount Zhou. The Leyline Map, like the work of a master painter, had vividly engraved the entirety of Mount Zhou within itself. At the same time, it completed a magnificent advancement from a low-grade Innate Spirit Treasure to a High-grade Innate Spirit Treasure. Though it had only just entered the high-grade Innate ranks, Mount Zhou's power was beyond doubt. Even when it had once depicted Mount Sumeru's Ancestral Vein and covered half the Western Land, it had failed to advance. Yet this time, merely depicting Mount Zhou had allowed it to effortlessly surpass the mid-grade Innate Spirit Treasure rank and become a High-grade Innate Spirit Treasure in one leap.

Di Kun gave it only a hurried glance before putting it away. Compared with this realization of his mind and nature, it was truly insignificant. This experience was like a phoenix's rebirth from the ashes, allowing Zhou Jun to completely bid farewell to his past and merge into this world. Di Kun could also keenly sense heaven and earth's favor toward him. In the past, it had been like looking at flowers through mist, but now it was utterly real. More importantly, after this trial, Di Kun and Zhou Jun were like the two poles of yin and yang, mutually dependent yet united as one. Even if they made no effort to conceal their origins, no one would be able to detect that they were originally one entity unless they took the initiative to reveal it. This was undoubtedly the greatest gain from this enlightenment, shining brilliantly like a dazzling pearl.

Di Kun slowly turned his head and looked around, gazing into the distance, yet he still could not see the edge of the world. And this was from atop Mount Zhou. From this, one could see just how boundless the Primordial Wilderness truly was. Di Kun raised his head slightly and looked toward the heavens, unable to help sighing. Mount Zhou truly deserved its title as the greatest divine mountain of the Primordial Wilderness. It carried Pangu's mighty power of holding up the heavens, connecting the earth below to the Star River above, tightly linking heaven and earth together. No wonder the collapse of Mount Zhou in later ages would tear a hole in the sky. After all, Mount Zhou already towered into the clouds, piercing straight into the heavens!

Staring at the sight before him, Di Kun sank into deep thought. "Mount Zhou's collapse—could it truly have been Hongjun's scheme? Even Gong Gong, as an ancestral witch, might not have been able to knock down Mount Zhou so easily, right? Mount Zhou... Mount Buzhou?" Di Kun seemed to suddenly realize something. He abruptly raised his head, his eyes blazing as he looked deep into the starry sky. "Heavenly Dao! Was all of this your will? Mount Zhou connects heaven and earth, so there is distance between them, just as when Pangu held up the sky—the sky rose one foot, and Pangu grew one zhang taller! The so-called vastness of heaven and breadth of earth is nothing but an empty phrase!

Mount Zhou symbolizes perfection, and if you wish to advance, you must break that perfection. Only then can there be room for progress! Thus, Mount Zhou became Mount Buzhou. Could it be because you long for progress?" Di Kun frowned deeply, his heart filled with doubts. This was vastly different from his earlier speculation. If this was not Hongjun's conspiracy, then were the many Kalpas of Calamity in later ages all preparations made by the Primordial Wilderness in order to advance? But why was the Primordial Wilderness later torn apart? What benefit could that possibly bring to heaven and earth?

Di Kun pondered it silently, yet no matter how much he thought, he could not understand. Shaking his head slightly, he sighed. "Forget it. My understanding of this Primordial Wilderness is ultimately too shallow. Many things came only from novels I had heard of in my past life. That was not a real world, but one mixed with countless subjective fantasies. I can only rely on myself to comprehend it in the future." Di Kun gazed toward the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains in the north, where a patch of thick, ink-black Calamity Qi was surging from the north toward all directions. He could not help sighing inwardly. "This is the trend of the times!"

Suddenly, Di Kun shuddered all over. Like someone struck by lightning, he abruptly lifted his head and stared deep into the boundless starry sky, enlightenment rising in his heart. "The greater trend cannot be reversed, but the lesser trend can still be changed! The collapse of Mount Buzhou is the inevitable greater trend, yet under this overarching premise, the lesser trends are yours to manipulate! If so, then after Hongjun Merges with the Dao, wouldn't he be able to toy with the Witch and Demon races in the palm of his hand beneath this greater trend? After Hongjun Merged with the Dao, the trends of the world all fell under his control. That is why, after the Witch-Demon Kalpa of Calamity, the later Kalpas of Calamity became increasingly powerful and caused ever greater harm to the Primordial Wilderness—because the further things went, the deeper the schemes became! Could this be Hongjun's conspiracy?"

At that thought, Di Kun broke out in a cold sweat. "If that is truly the case, then what will the theme of every subsequent Kalpa of Calamity be? Why did the War of Immortals and Demons come after the Dragon-Phoenix-Kirin era? Could that Kalpa of Calamity originally have been meant to choose a Spokesperson, only for Hongjun and the others to deliberately sabotage it, ultimately forcing the War of Immortals and Demons to erupt? Then were Hongjun and Luohu truly enemies? If so, why is it that when the Dao rises one foot, the demonic path rises one zhang, eventually turning into the Buddha-Demon Calamity? Could there have been secret arrangements behind it all?" The more Di Kun thought, the deeper his thoughts became. "It seems I must also find a Creation Jade Disc Fragment. Otherwise, if I keep making wild guesses here, my thoughts will only become more confused. I hope my guesses are wrong. Otherwise, this War of Immortals and Demons..." Di Kun's expression suddenly darkened. He then glanced once more into the depths of the starry sky before turning and slowly walking down the mountain.