The indescribable state of nothingness had neither the existence of years nor the passage of time, much less any living beings or myriad things. Everything was blank and void, a state beyond description.
Within this nothingness, something profoundly mysterious and nameless—formless, bodiless, soundless—appeared. It seemed akin to nothingness, yet transcended its meaning, existing within the void and towering above it. Then a golden radiance illuminated the nothingness, like an infinite and boundless Dao, its meaning stretching endlessly across the void.
When the golden light vanished and returned to formlessness, dust seemed to have appeared within the void. The void was no longer pure nothingness; there was now something within it.
The dust gathered together, gradually forming a tiny patch of land. It was unknown whether time had yet been born. On that little land, infused with a meaning beyond nothingness, a sapling sprouted. As it grew, it gradually became a luxuriant giant tree.
Within the void, a luxuriant giant tree grew in utter solitude. No one knew how many years passed before a fruit suddenly formed upon it. As the fruit ripened, it fell at a certain moment.
Bang!
For the first time, sound appeared within the void.
The shell split open, revealing the kernel within. It had the shape of a human and shimmered with radiance. It fell to the ground and slowly grew, finally opening its eyes. The first living being was born.
As the humanoid being grew, it remained ignorant of what years were. It merely sat beneath the great tree from time to time, as though comprehending something, observing something, and gazing toward the expanse of nothingness beyond the tree.
Through his meditation, the humanoid being seemed to gain something. The power within his body grew ever stronger, and he acquired even more powerful and profound