When the Beginning Qilin rose from the deepest part of Qilin Cliff, all the stone patterns on the entire Qilin Cliff lit up for a moment. These stone patterns were the Dao marks carved by the powerful members of the Qilin Clan throughout the ages. They were usually hidden in the cliff face and could not be seen. At this moment, they lit up layer by layer from the foot of the cliff to the top, and when they reached the top, they turned into a pillar of light interwoven with gray, white and five colors, shooting straight into the sky. After the Qilin Clan's Karma/Sin was completely cleansed, the clan's fortune was already on the rise. The Beginning Qilin's rise was equivalent to lifting the entire clan's fortune up another inch.
As he ascended the stone steps to the platform atop the cliff, the Metal Qilin, Wood Qilin, Water Qilin, Fire Qilin, and Earth Qilin were already standing in a row. The Metal Qilin was enveloped in a grayish-white, sharp metallic aura; even a single golden scale the size of a fingernail could leave a dent on the stone surface. Behind the Wood Qilin floated the phantom of a giant grayish-white tree, its roots embedded in the cracks of the platform's stones, from which new shoots sprouted. The Water Qilin stood on a grayish-white puddle, which neither overflowed nor gushed, like a living mirror. The Fire Qilin's wrist, visible from its sleeve, was adorned with grayish-white flame patterns that burned not flesh, but only the turbid air within. The Earth Qilin stood the most stable, its feet leaving a shallow indentation in the stone surface beneath its feet, the indentation so thick with earth that one could mold a lump of mud from it.
The Beginning Qilin took out the Qilin Clan Command Flag from the stone box on the platform and planted it in the ground. The Qilin Clan unfolded, revealing a Pangu map of five continents and the four directions of Chaos. He turned to the five Qilin Clan and said, "The Supreme Lord Taiqing has issued a summons. It's time to collect the scraps from Pangu in the Chaos. The Qilin Clan has now cleared its Karma/Sin and produced many powerful beings; it's time for them to contribute. This time, we'll go out to the Ten Directions Universe Worlds. I'll choose the largest one, and the five of you will each choose one. The remaining four will be collected by the other Qilin Clan's Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal in groups of two or three. Remember one thing: when the patterns on the shell are spinning wildly, don't force it open; look for the sparse patterns in the core. Don't press the hand blocking the eyes on the bottom plate too hard; leave it half-open and let the shell breathe on its own."
The Metal Qilin drew its sharp metallic aura into its sleeve. "I'm heading due west. The metallic aura is strongest in the Chaos to the west; there should be someone cultivating the path of metal within that shell."
The giant tree phantom behind the Wood Qilin swayed. "I'm heading due east. There's a scent of burgeoning life in the Chaos to the east; I'll go take a look."
The Water Qilin turned its foot in the puddle. "I'm heading due north. The water vapor is heaviest in the Chaos to the north, which suits my path perfectly."
The Fire Qilin gathered the fire patterns on its sleeves. "I'm heading due south. The fire energy is strongest in the Chaos to the south; I'll go and see."
The Earth Qilin pulled its foot out of the dent. "I'm going to the center. The center is the most stable in the Five Directions; I'll guard the central route."
The Beginning Qilin nodded, tucked the command flag into its sleeve, and headed southwest towards the Chaos Realm. Before leaving, it added, "Those Dao Venerables inside the shell have cultivated for tens of thousands of years; each of them possesses hidden Karma/Sin. Be careful when you need to be."
Six Qilin Clan split into six groups and entered the Chaos. Within the Chaos, a hazy, swirling current of energy rose and fell, with world shells of varying sizes floating within them. Some shells were as thin as cicada wings, others as thick as mountains. When the Qilin Clan's command flag was unfurled in the Chaos, the five continents and the four cardinal directions on the flag would slightly shift according to each person's direction. The corner of the flag pointed to the point where members of the clan could communicate with each other. Not all of these floating world shells were still. Some had patterns that moved slowly, like the breathing of living beings; some emanated muffled thunderous vibrations, as if someone were repeatedly beating a giant drum inside; and others were entwined with a layer of half-withered, half-flourishing vines, with tiny specks of light hanging on them, resembling an inverted sheet of stardust from afar. The Qilin Clan's blood energy was not ostentatious in the Chaos, but rather manifested as six extremely faint gray-white five-colored lines, separated by vast distances, yet still able to sense the location of their clansmen through the command flag.
The Beginning Qilin traveled southwest for forty-nine days, collecting fifty-four Great Thousand World and one hundred and seventy-eight Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag in its sleeve rolled up by itself, its corner shifting three inches to the southwest. The Beginning Qilin went forward and saw a gigantic shell floating deep in the Chaos, three times larger than any shell it had seen along the way. The shell was covered with gray-white scale patterns, the patterns arranged in hexagons from the core to the surface, each one a complete earth element law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell was inlaid with a scale crystal, each crystal sealing an earth element Origin. From a distance, it looked like the entire scale armor shed by a Qilin Clan that Eon.
The Beginning Qilin pressed its hand against its shell, feeling a tearing force of earth element from its palm. The scales on the shell suddenly accelerated their rotation, converging on its palm from all directions. Upon reaching the center, they transformed into nine scale-patterned chains that wrapped around its five fingers, each chain pulling its earth element power outwards. It withdrew its hand, revealing a grayish-white scale bead in its palm, containing a complete earth element law. Crushing the bead, a profound and steady divine thought emerged from the fragments, "The Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable is here. Who comes?"
The Beginning Qilin flicked away the fragments. "Beginning Qilin, the scales on your shell are quite nice. They can spin on their own and even actively wrap around people's hands. It's a pity that what wraps around you is your own Earth element. Even if I crush you, you'll still sink a bit more."
A deep, muffled sound came from within the shell, and the scales on its surface simultaneously exploded, transforming into a gray-white phantom of the Qilin Clan that enveloped the giant shell. From within the phantom emerged an old man in a gray-white Qilin robe, surrounded by nine Qilin pythons, each holding a rotating Qilin bead in its mouth, each bead sealing a complete Earth Virtue Law. The Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable spoke, his voice like the muffled sound of the earth splitting open, "This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million Qilin patterns, each one formed from a wisp of Earth Virtue I released. For every Qilin bead you crush, I will release ten more wisps of Earth Virtue."
The Beginning Qilin did not confront the enemy head-on. As the master of the Earth element, he knew best that the Earth element was thick and slow, and where there was slowness, there was bound to be stagnation. He circled half of the shell and saw that although the scales were dense, they all converged towards the center of the shell; where they converged the most tightly, a small patch of sparse scales, about the size of a palm, remained, and the shell underneath was dark, as if something had thinned it from the inside. He pointed to the sparse patch, and a drop of the Beginning Qilin's Origin earth blood seeped from his fingertip. As the blood fell, a small section of the shell collapsed, revealing a bottomless earthen hole, from which came a muffled groan from the Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable.
"All ninety-nine million Daoist Qilin patterns are connected to the 'Pool of Ten Thousand Earths' at the core of your shell." The Beginning Qilin withdrew its finger. "You release Earth Virtue to nourish the patterns; the more patterns, the larger the pool, and the larger the pool, the more Earth Virtue you can release. But there's an 'Earth Eye' at the bottom of your pool. When the Earth Eye is blocked, the pool can hold Earth Virtue; when the Earth Eye opens, all the Earth Virtue in the pool leaks out. I just dripped a drop of Beginning Qilin's Origin Earth Blood onto your Earth Eye, and now it can't be blocked anymore."
Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable's expression changed, and a gurgling sound of soil leaking out came from inside the shell. The scale patterns on the shell peeled off layer by layer from the center outwards, and fine cracks crawled all over the shell. Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable pressed nine unicorn pythons onto the shell, and the pythons transformed into nine unicorn pillars to support the shell; but the pillars could support the shell, but not the soil holes, and the Pool of Ten Thousand Earths was still leaking. The Beginning Qilin slapped the area where the shell had peeled off, and a crack appeared. He crawled into the crack and landed on the edge of the Pool of Ten Thousand Earths.
The Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable was squatting on the bottom of the pool, trying to plug the holes in the soil with his hands. Every time he plugged it, two holes would leak out; every time he plugged it, four holes would leak out.
"Don't block it." The Beginning Qilin squatted by the pool and looked down. "Those earthen holes are the counterweight holes of the shell. They were counterweight holes on the debris that Pangu threw out when he created the world. You built the shell into the Pool of Ten Thousand Earths, and those counterweight holes became earthen holes. The earthen holes leaking soil is the shell's self-regulation—if there's too much earth in the pool, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens earthen holes to release earth and reduce its weight. You've blocked the earthen holes, no wonder the shell is collapsing."
Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable looked up. "Then what should we do?"
"Open half the soil eye, store half the soil virtue in the pond, and the weight of the shell will be just right. Don't spread all those scale patterns on the shell surface; leave 30% inside as a soil reservoir, and 70% on the shell surface is enough. With thick soil, 70% on the shell surface will block external impurities, and 30% inside will nourish the pond roots. With the soil eye half open and half closed, the shell won't crack."
The Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable squatted on the bottom plate of the pool for a long time, then released his grip. The earthen leak stopped on its own after a while, and the earth element in the pool decreased from full to half, while the scales on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell stopped falling off, and the scales stopped flaking up. He jumped up from the bottom plate and handed the nine scale pearls to the Beginning Qilin: "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you, and I'll borrow your method of regulation for three days. I've cultivated the Dao of Ten Thousand Earths for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I turned my own shell into a leaky pool. I don't even know when I plugged it up."
The Beginning Qilin accepted the Qilin Pearl: "I'll lend you the method. You collect the worlds. After you've collected them all, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts to find Yin Xi and break through the first ten thousandth level, the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you can adjust the weight of the worlds without using the Earth Eye, you'll have graduated."
The Metal Qilin traveled due west for forty-nine days, collecting forty-seven Great Thousand World and one hundred and forty-two Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches due west. Floating deep within the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered with gray-white gold patterns. The patterns radiated from the shell's core, each a complete Metal Dao Law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was inlaid with a gold crystal, each crystal sealing a Golden Dao Origin. From afar, it resembled a giant gold plate covered with Eon. The Metal Qilin pressed his palm against it, and the Golden Dao tore through it, causing the gold patterns to spin faster, converging into nine golden chains that bound his five fingers. He withdrew his hand and crushed the gold beads, and the divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable emanated from the fragments, sharp as a blade grazing his ear.
The Metal Qilin didn't try to pry open the golden patterns by force. Knowing the nature of gold—sharp yet brittle, with gaps inevitably appearing where they are sharp—it circled the shell three times. It observed that the golden patterns were extremely dense where they complemented each other, but left a thin gap where they clashed. This gap converged at the center of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. It dripped a drop of its Origin Metal Qilin blood into this sparse area, causing a small golden hole to appear on the shell. The Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable inside let out a muffled groan. The Metal Qilin followed the crack and indeed found a Metal Eye on the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Metals that was completely blocked. Once the Metal Eye opened, the pool... The golden energy in the pool dwindled from full to half, and the golden patterns on the shells stopped growing wildly. The Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable, whose hair and beard were entirely golden, still spoke with a hint of defiance, "I've cultivated the Dao of Ten Thousand Metals for tens of thousands of years, and now I have to learn from a Qilin Clan how to breathe with Metal Eye?" The Metal Qilin simply said, "Gold is sharp. Seventy percent of the shell's surface is used to ward off external evils, and the remaining thirty percent is used to nurture the pool's blades. Only when the Metal Eye are half-open and half-closed can the shell not collapse. Your stubbornness is fine, but first hand over the World Seal." The Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable remained silent for a moment, then handed over nine golden beads, and the World Seal fell with them.
The Wood Qilin traveled due east for forty-nine days, collecting forty-three Great Thousand World and one hundred and thirty Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches due east. Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered with gray-white wood grain. The grain was arranged in a ring-like pattern from the core to the surface, each line representing a complete Wood Dao Law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was inlaid with a wood grain crystal, each crystal sealing a Wood Dao Origin. From a distance, it resembled the cross-section of a giant tree that had coiled for countless Eon. The Wood Qilin pressed his palm against it, and the Wood Dao tore through him, causing the wood grain to spin faster, converging into nine wood grain chains that bound his five fingers. He withdrew his hand and crushed the wooden beads. The divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Trees Venerable slowly emerged from the fragments, like a bamboo shoot breaking through frozen soil.
The Wood Qilin did not force its way in. Knowing the way of wood, it understood that wood is inherently resilient, and where there is resilience, there is also restraint. It circled the shell once, noticing that while the wood grain and growth rings were dense, one ring was three-tenths thinner than the surrounding ones; the thinner ring converged at the center of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. It dripped a drop of its Origin Wood Qilin blood onto this sparse area, causing a small wooden hole to appear on the shell's surface. The Dao of Ten Thousand Trees Venerable groaned inside. The Wood Qilin followed the hole and saw that the wooden pores at the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Trees were blocked, allowing only inflow and no outflow of wood from the pool, which was why the growth rings on the shell grew increasingly uncontrollably. After the wooden eye opened halfway, the wooden path in the pool sank back to half its original size, and the number of wood grains on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The Dao of Ten Thousand Trees Venerable, with his green hair and beard, remained silent for a long time before saying, "A large tree has hollow roots; I actually mistook my own wooden eye for an enemy." The Wood Qilin said, "Wood is inherently resilient. Seventy percent of the shell's surface is used to prevent external decay, while the remaining thirty percent nourishes the roots in the pool. Only when the wooden eye is half-open and half-closed can the shell remain intact. Since you know the roots are hollow, come with me to City of Ten Thousand Crafts to break through the Naturalness Pass." The Dao of Ten Thousand Trees Venerable handed over the nine wooden beads, and the World Seal also fell with the beads.
The Water Qilin traveled due north for forty-nine days, collecting forty Great Thousand World and one hundred and twenty-eight Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches due north. Chaos deep within the chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered with gray-white water patterns. The patterns swirled from the shell's core to its surface, each a complete waterway law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a water pattern crystal, each crystal sealing a waterway Origin. From a distance, it resembled a giant body of water spanning Eon. The Water Qilin pressed its palm against it, and the waterways tore through it, causing the water patterns to spin faster and converge into nine water pattern chains that bound its five fingers. It withdrew its hand and crushed the water droplets. The divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Waters Venerable rippled out from the fragments, slowly and deeply, like a waterfall crashing into a deep pool.
The Water Qilin didn't forcefully dismantle the shell. Knowing the nature of water—soft yet deep, with eddies always present in its depths—it circled the shell three times. Near the core, the swirling water suddenly split into a thin, backward-flowing stream, revealing a palm-sized patch of shallow water. It dripped Water Qilin of its Origin blood onto this patch, causing a small hole to appear on the shell. The Dao of Ten Thousand Waters Venerable groaned inside. The Water Qilin slipped through the hole and saw that the water holes at the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Waters were tightly sealed, overflowing the pool. Only then did the eddies on the shell begin to swirl. The more urgent the situation, the more the water channels in the pool receded to half their original size after the water eyes were half-opened, and the ripples on the shell surface stopped swirling wildly. Dao of Ten Thousand Waters Venerable Zun, with his blue hair and beard, stared at the bottom of the pool for a long time before saying, "The abyss is inherently suffocating. By blocking the water eyes, I was actually blocking my own airway." The Water Qilin said, "Water is gentle. Seventy percent of the shell's surface blocks external turbidity, while the remaining three-tenths nourishes the abyss. Only by keeping the water eyes half-open and half-closed can the shell not collapse. Come with me to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and soak this knot open." Dao of Ten Thousand Waters Venerable handed over the water pearl and the World Seal, and said no more.
The Fire Qilin traveled due south for forty-nine days, collecting forty-four Great Thousand World and one hundred and thirty-five Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches due south. Floating deep within the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered in gray-white fire patterns. The patterns, arranged in a flame-like pattern from the shell's core to its surface, each one a complete fire law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a fire-patterned crystal, each crystal sealing a fire-based Origin, appearing from afar like a sea of fire that had burned for Eon. The Fire Qilin pressed its palm against it, and the fire-based tearing sensation caused the fire patterns to spin faster, converging into nine fire-patterned chains that bound its five fingers. It withdrew its hand, crushing the fire pearl. The divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Fires Venerable burst forth from the fragments, intense and scorching, like the roar of a raging inferno.
The Fire Qilin didn't charge headlong along the fire patterns. Knowing the Dao of Fire, it understood that fire is fierce and restless, and where there is restlessness, there is always weakness. It circled the shell once, noticing that while the fire patterns were intense, there was a spot where the fire stagnates, revealing a palm-sized sparse pattern. It dripped a drop of Fire Qilin Origin fire blood into this sparse area, causing a small fire hole to appear on the shell. The Dao of Ten Thousand Fires Venerable groaned inside. The Fire Qilin slipped through the crack and saw that the fire eyes at the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Fires were completely blocked, the fire channels within the pool glowing red, and only then did the fire patterns on the shell burst out layer by layer. After the shell partially opened, the fire channels in the pool receded to half their original size, and the fire patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million, no longer falling off. The Dao of Ten Thousand Fires Venerable, with his red hair and beard, remained silent at first, then finally said, "The fire is too strong for fuel. I tried to block the fire eyes, but ended up drying up my own pool." The Fire Qilin said, "Fire is intense. Seventy percent of the shell's surface is used to ward off external evils, while the remaining thirty percent is used to nourish the pool's flames. Only by keeping the fire eyes half-open and half-closed can the shell avoid exploding. If you are not convinced, go to the Naturalness Pass of City of Ten Thousand Crafts and burn it again." The Dao of Ten Thousand Fires Venerable pushed away the nine fire pearls, and the World Seal was handed over as well.
The Earth Qilin guarded the central path, traveling for forty-nine days to the deepest part of the Chaos directly below, collecting thirty-eight Great Thousand World and one hundred and fifteen Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches downwards. Floating in the deepest part of the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered with gray-white central patterns. These patterns were arranged in concentric circles from the shell's core to its surface, each a complete central Earth Virtue Law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a central crystal, each crystal sealing a central Earth Virtue Origin. From a distance, it resembled a giant central earthen platform laid out over countless Eon. The Earth Qilin pressed its palm against it, and the central Earth Virtue tore through it, causing the patterns to spin faster and converge into nine central chains that bound its five fingers. It withdrew its hand and crushed the central bead. The divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Centers Venerable sank from the fragments, as steady as the muffled thud at the center of the earth.
The Earth Qilin didn't pry it open forcefully. Knowing that the Earth element was thick and heavy, and where there was heaviness, there was bound to be stagnation, it circled the shell. It observed that while the concentric circles of the central pattern were dense, one circle was three-tenths thinner than the others; this thinner area converged at the center of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. It dripped a drop of its Origin Earth Qilin blood into this sparse area, causing a small hole to appear on the shell's surface. The Dao of Ten Thousand Centers Venerable groaned inside. The Earth Qilin slipped through the hole and saw that the central eye on the bottom plate of the Pool of Ten Thousand Centers was completely blocked, and the Earth element in the center of the pool was accumulating without releasing, causing the concentric circles on the shell's surface to gradually expand inwards. After the central eye was half-opened, the Earth element in the center of the pool decreased to half its original size, and the number of lines on the shell surface decreased from one billion to sixty million, and the shell no longer cracked. Dao of Ten Thousand Centers Venerable, with his yellow hair and beard, sat on the plate at the bottom of the pool and thought for a long time. He said, "The central palace is self-blocked. I thought stability meant no movement." The Earth Qilin said, "The central Earth element is thick. Seventy percent of the shell surface blocks the external turbidity, and the thirty percent inside the shell nourishes the pool's foundation. The central eye is half-open and half-closed, so the shell does not crack. Stability is not about being completely blocked, but about opening and closing." Dao of Ten Thousand Centers Venerable handed over the nine central beads, and the World Seal also fell with the beads.
The five Qilin Clan each closed their shells according to the same principle, but no longer repeated the same words six times. Metal is sharp and brittle, so they sought the gaps where it countered; Wood is resilient and robust, so they sought the thin rings of its growth; Water is gentle and deep, so they sought the meandering streams; Fire is fierce and restless, so they sought the slowing of its flames; the center is thick and heavy, so they sought the thin concentric circles. At the bottom of the five giant shells, the five Daoist masters initially tried to plug their eyes tightly, but each attempt resulted in two leaks, then four, until the Qilin Clan... By releasing his grip using the "half-open, half-closed" method, the Dao power in the pool decreased from full to half, and the number of lines on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. Only then was the shell stable and the shell material no longer covered with fine cracks. The Golden Dao Venerable was stubborn, the Wood Dao Venerable sighed, the Water Dao Venerable was silent, the Fire Dao Venerable was irritable, and the Middle Dao Venerable pondered. Their reactions were different, but the root cause was the same: they had cultivated the laws for tens of thousands of years, to the point that they had turned their own shell into a leaky pool, and they didn't even know when they had blocked the counterweight hole.
The remaining four groups of the Qilin Clan elders split up and went in different directions, encountering several hard shells along the way. Some shells were covered with wind patterns, some with thunder patterns, some with ice patterns, and one shell was even covered with half-withered, half-flourishing patterns of life and death. At first, the four groups of elders tried to pry it open by force, causing the patterns on the shell to become chaotic. The Daoist within the shell was stubborn, preferring to block the pool's eye rather than let the world be taken away. Later, the clan message from the First Beginning Qilin, a message interwoven with gray and five colors, arrived from the command flag. The four groups of elders stopped trying to pry it open. They first looked for the sparse patterns in the shell's core, then for the counterweight hole at the bottom of the pool. They explained the method of "half-open pool eye, three-tenths of the inner treasury, seven-tenths of the shell surface," and the Daoist within the shell readily let go. Some Daoists even handed over the world seal on the spot after hearing this. Some would still stubbornly retort, saying, "I've cultivated the laws for tens of thousands of years, yet a mere Qilin Clan teaches me how to breathe." But stubborn as they were, once the pool's eye opened and the shell's weight stabilized, the patterns on the shell's surface stopped growing wildly, and they had nothing more to say. The Wind Shell Daoist opened half of the Wind Eye, and the whirlwind outside the shell stopped tearing at the surface; the Thunder Shell Daoist loosened the Thunder Eye by a third, and the Thunder Pool inside the shell stopped exploding with patterns; the Ice Shell Daoist left a sliver of the Ice Eye, and the ice patterns on the surface of the shell stopped cracking layer by layer; the Daoist of the Life and Death Shell was the most troublesome. The withering and flourishing energies were tangled together at the bottom of his pool, and the elders used the method of "three parts inner treasury, seven parts shell surface" to separate the withering and flourishing energies into two treasuries for him. The life treasury nourished the roots inside the shell, and the death treasury expelled the turbidity outside the shell, and the life and death patterns changed from wildly rotating to slowly rotating.
After the ten routes were collected, the ten great worlds within the Chaos returned to their respective positions. The Beginning Qilin planted its command flag back on the giant shell in the southwest. The five continents and the four-directional map on the flag lit up simultaneously. Ten streams of the Qilin Clan blood flowed from all parts of the Chaos, forming a complete ten-directional cosmic map on the flag. The six Dao Venerables of Ten Thousand Earth, Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable, Ten Thousand Wood, Ten Thousand Waters, Ten Thousand Fire, and Ten Thousand Center stood under the flag, each followed by the remaining Dao Venerables and beings of their respective worlds. Some of these beings were still soaking in the Luminous Fluid and had not yet fully awakened, while others peeked out from their small worlds within the shell. Seeing that the Qilin Clan had not destroyed their worlds, they slowly relaxed. The four groups of elders also returned, each leading the world seals of Wind, Thunder, Ice, and Life and Death. The patterns on the world seals no longer spun wildly, leaving only slowly flowing light.
The Beginning Qilin put away the command flag and Human Dao, "The world is under control, and the shell is stable. You Dao Venerables have cultivated for tens of thousands of years, only to turn your own shells into leaky pools. The root cause is not that your laws are weak, but that you do not understand the word 'nature.' The pool's openings should open when they should open and close when they should close; the shell surface should be covered with seven-tenths of its thickness, leaving three-tenths for the inner treasury to breathe. Yin Xi of City of Ten Thousand Crafts explained this principle in more detail than I have. You will come with me to City of Ten Thousand Crafts to break through the first ten thousandth barrier, the 'Naturalness Pass.' If you can break through it, you will be in charge of the world yourselves from now on; if you cannot, you will soak in the Luminous Fluid in City of Ten Thousand Crafts for a few more days to loosen the knots in your minds."
The six Dao Venerables responded in unison, and the four elders presented the World Seals they had collected. The Beginning Qilin pressed the Ten Directions Ten-Direction Worlds Seal onto the command flag, causing the flag's gray-white surface and five-colored Qilin Clan fire to rise three zhang high, illuminating the depths of Chaos. He glanced back at the direction of Qilin Cliff; the Qilin Clan's blood and Karma/Sin still shimmered with five-colored light in the sky. Their clan fortune was flourishing after their karma was cleansed, but flourishing was not enough to justify their indiscriminate advance. There were still many scraps of Pangu in the Chaos; the Ten-Direction Worlds Seals were only the first batch. He rolled up the command flag and said, "Return to City of Ten Thousand Crafts. Save those who need saving, soak those who need to be soaked in the Luminous Fluid, and help those who need to break through their cultivation barriers. The Qilin Clan's contribution has only just begun."
City of Ten Thousand Crafts sits on a stable piece of land in the southeast of Chaos. Its foundation rests on three fragments of Pangu, and its walls are inlaid with fragments of various world shells, resembling a Giant Shield nailed down by countless laws from afar. There are no guards at the city gate, only a stone tablet inscribed with the two characters "Nature," the characters extremely faint, as if touched and wiped by countless people. Yin Xi stands behind the tablet, holding a scroll of bamboo slips. Seeing the Beginning Qilin leading six Dao Venerables and four groups of elders back, he doesn't exchange pleasantries, but simply unfolds the bamboo slips. "Leave the World Seal, and proceed to the gate. The first gate, the 'Naturalness Pass,' does not test magical power, but only three things: whether the pool's eye can be half-open and half-closed, whether the inner treasury can retain 30%, and whether the shell's weight can adjust itself. Those who fail will soak in the Luminous Fluid Pool; those who pass will return to their shells as Dao Venerables, and should not try to block the counterweight holes with their hands again."
Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable was the first to enter the pass. Inside was a miniature Pool of Ten Thousand Earths, its bottom surface riddled with earthen openings and closings, the scales on its surface sometimes dense, sometimes sparse. Yin Xi, standing beside him, simply reported the numbers, "The pool is three-tenths full, the shell weighs seven-tenths; the openings are two-tenths open, one-tenth closed; the inner treasury is three-tenths full, the shell surface is seven-tenths full." Dao of Ten Thousand Earths Venerable initially instinctively reached out to block the openings, but withdrew his hand halfway, instead using his earth virtue to support the bottom of the pool, letting the earthen openings and closing on their own. The earth virtue in the pool rose and fell, and the scales on the shell surface expanded and contracted accordingly, no longer cracking. He tried nine times, and on the ninth time, he didn't use his hands to press down, but only used his divine sense to guide the earthen openings and closings, and the shell's weight stabilized itself. Yin Xi nodded. "Pass."
When Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable entered the seclusion, his Metal Eye opened too quickly, causing the golden patterns on his shell to swirl erratically. Remembering the Metal Qilin's words, "Where there is a sharp edge, there is a gap," he stopped forcibly pressing them down and instead left a sliver at the point of conflict, allowing his Metal Eye to open half-closed. The golden pool shrank from full to half-full, and the golden patterns on his shell stabilized at 50 million from 60 million, and the shell no longer cracked. Yin Xi said, "Gold is brittle; knowing to leave a gap is considered natural."
As Dao of Ten Thousand Trees Venerable entered seclusion, he hastily began to retract the wooden channels as soon as they opened, causing the wooden channels in the pool to rise and fall. Yin Xi reminded him, "Wood is meant to grow; don't retract the roots of the pool as well." Only then did Dao of Ten Thousand Trees Venerable leave 30% of the wooden channels inside the shell as a storage space, covering only 70% of the shell surface. The wood grain and growth rings slowly turned, no longer growing wildly. When he emerged from seclusion, he sighed, "So leaving 30% wasn't a waste; it was to give the roots a chance to breathe."
The most tranquil place was when Dao of Ten Thousand Waters Venerable entered the pass. The water's eye was half-open, and the waterway in the pool swirled into a vortex, with the water ripples on the surface of the shell slowly turning with the vortex. Yin Xi said, "Water knows to yield, so it does not block." Dao of Ten Thousand Waters Venerable Zun nodded, and when he left the pass, he carved the four characters "deep abyss suffocates itself" on a bamboo slip for himself to see.
The most exciting moment was when Dao of Ten Thousand Fires Venerable entered seclusion. As soon as his Fiery Eyes opened, the fire pool surged upwards with a roar, and he almost reached out to press it down again. Yin Xi shouted, "The fire is fierce; you mustn't press it down!" Dao of Ten Thousand Fires Venerable changed to a half-open, half-closed position, and the fire pool, which had turned crimson, shrunk to half its original size, its surface stabilizing at sixty million fire patterns. When he emerged from seclusion, his hair and beard were still sparkling, but he said, "Half-open Fiery Eyes burn more steadily than when they're completely blocked."
Dao of Ten Thousand Centers Venerable was the slowest to enter the seclusion. After his middle eye was half-opened, the central earth element fluctuated, and the shell weight was always slightly off. Yin Xi instructed him to adjust the inner treasury from 30% to 35%, reduce the shell weight from 70% to 65%, and close the middle eye by half again. Dao of Ten Thousand Centers Venerable tried three times, and finally the shell weight was correct. As he emerged from the seclusion, he pondered, "Stability must have flexibility; rigid stability is not true stability."
The four Dao Venerables—Wind, Thunder, Ice, and Life and Death—brought by the four elders, entered the seclusion one by one. The Wind Dao Venerable learned to half-open his Wind Eye, so the whirlwinds outside his shell no longer tore at it; the Thunder Dao Venerable learned to leave a gap in his Thunder Eye, so the Thunder Pool inside his shell no longer exploded; the Ice Dao Venerable learned to leave a sliver in his Ice Eye, so the ice patterns on his shell no longer crumbled; the Life and Death Dao Venerable and Death Dao Venerable faced the most difficulty, as the withered and flourishing energies clashed again within the seclusion. Yin Xi instructed him to leave three-tenths of his Life Treasury to nourish his roots and to open half of his Death Treasury to expel impurities, only then did the Life and Death patterns slowly begin to rotate. When the Life and Death Dao Venerable emerged from seclusion, he only uttered one sentence. "Half withered, half flourishing, so it is natural."
The Ten-Direction Worlds was imprinted in a circle on the walls of City of Ten Thousand Crafts, the Ten Directions Universe Map on the flag echoing the fragments of the city wall. Grayish-white and five-colored halos flowed slowly along the three fragments of Pangu at the city foundation. The Beginning Qilin stood on the city wall, watching the world shells that had not yet been collected still floating in the depths of Chaos. Some of the shell patterns had begun to spin wildly, and on the bottom of some, people were blocking their eyes with their hands. He planted the command flag on the city wall, the corner of the flag pointing deeper into the Chaos, and said to the five Qilin Clan and the four elders, "The first batch has been collected, and the lessons have been taught. From now on, anyone who tries to block the counterweight holes will be sent to City of Ten Thousand Crafts to soak in the Luminous Fluid. The Qilin Clan's contribution has only just begun."