Sitting quietly atop a barren mountain, Li Yi gradually became immersed in his thoughts, continually pondering the ordinary yet unfathomably profound question of life.
His understanding of life over countless years, every insight he had gained, began to surface from the depths of his soul. Everything he had learned about life, in both his past and present lives, now converged in his mind.
In his previous life, Li Yi had been an ordinary office worker. He had neither the time nor the inclination to ponder questions that seemed so disconnected from his daily life and work. He had not even considered them.
He had no lofty ideals of striving to strengthen his country, sacrificing his own interests for the greater good, or dedicating himself to all of humanity.
He had simply lived for the sake of living. Everything else was an illusion to him. He had never cared for notions like, "A person's worth should be measured by what they contribute, not by what they receive." Those ideas were far too distant from him, and simply impractical in his eyes.
The only topic related to life that had left a deep impression on him was a lesson about "little grass" from his primary school days.
The arduous journey from seed to root, then breaking through one obstacle after another before finally reaching the sunlight, had remained in a corner of his heart. It had been the first time he realized how great life was.
In this life, he had experienced more, and thought more, too.
From a mere wisp of consciousness when he crossed into this world, to becoming a Chaos Demon God when he took form, to splitting his soul in two and suppressing his instincts to safely weather the tribulation of creation, and then scheming in every way to achieve eternal life—even severing Pangu's arm and devouring Pangu's essence blood...
Every bit of it pointed to the most fundamental question: how to stay alive, and live better.
Li Yi had always believed that the meaning of life was an illusion. Only by living did anything have meaning—or, at least, meaning to oneself.
As for being cold-hearted, selfish, a walking corpse, lonely, or forlorn... Once you had eternal life and endless time, how could you not eventually overcome such things? You could even seal your memories and send your consciousness into the cycle of reincarnation. Then you could experience whatever kind of life you wanted.
Rebirth for a thousand lifetimes, reincarnation for ten thousand—the myriad facets of the world were yours to experience.
So Li Yi had always believed that life was what made things wonderful, and that living was the highest pursuit. That was why he had split his soul in two, separating the more emotional side from his body to create the Green Lotus Clone, while leaving the most instinctive, absolutely rational side in his Chaos Demon Body to become the Main Body. The Main Body could plan better and would not be swayed by emotion.
Of course, that did not mean you should destroy the world. If everything were annihilated while you remained, that would hardly be meaningful. To live as long as Heaven, immortal and everlasting—that was the true pursuit.
Thought after thought, image after image depicting life swept through his mind.
A blade of grass swayed in the cold wind. A baby cried in its cradle. A hunched old man sighed beneath the setting sun... On a blood-soaked battlefield, countless cultivators shouted and fought to the death...
As his comprehension deepened and he separated the essential from the trivial, Li Yi's understanding of life grew ever more profound. Gradually, green light appeared around his body, and countless green specks converged on him.
On the once-bare mountain, seeds began to take root and sprout. Herbaceous plants sprang up, and before long the whole mountain was covered in flowers. The barren mountain had vanished completely, replaced by a vibrant immortal mountain in the Primordial World.
What was life?
In the end, this was the only question left in Li Yi's mind.
Li Yi opened his eyes and gazed at the green mountain before him. His gaze shifted between clarity and bewilderment. He watched the green light continually drawn toward him, then looked at the flowers that had only just bloomed. A series of insights flickered through his mind.
A picture gradually took shape in Li Yi's mind. As more and more green light flowed into it, the flower slowly grew. Hundreds of years later, one day, it suddenly developed thoughts, though they were still very immature. Tens of thousands of years after that, the flower learned to think. It desperately absorbed every kind of nourishment, and after several thousand more years, it transformed into a charming young woman atop the mountain...
Reflecting on his own experiences as he watched those green specks, Li Yi finally understood.
Life was the union of matter and will. And matter could give birth to will because it possessed the Power of Life.
At this thought, a flash of green light passed through Li Yi's eyes.
A massive green vortex appeared above Li Yi's head. Endless Power of Life poured into his body, tempering his bones, flesh, and blood.
At some point, a huge black lotus had appeared behind Li Yi. It was gradually changing: its twelve branches blurred, then slowly disappeared altogether, leaving only a massive black lotus.
The lotus stem slowly changed from black to a greenish yellow. Beside the black lotus, a bud sprang forth, its emerald green petals glistening. Before long, it bloomed fully into a massive green lotus.
From afar, the strange pair of lotuses sharing a single stem swayed gracefully. The green lotus, however, was still somewhat illusory, not yet fully solid.
Li Yi's world of will had undergone a tremendous change as well. A vast surge of green energy poured into it, and his will seemed to undergo some kind of transformation, becoming more vigorous and more substantial.
"I've finally drawn in the Power of Life." Li Yi flexed his newly invigorated body. "As long as I keep the Power of Slaughter and the Power of Life in balance at all times, I can advance to the Nirvana Sword Dao."
"Peak Golden Immortal. Not bad, not bad." Li Yi was extremely pleased with his breakthrough, and a glint flashed in his eyes. "I wonder if I can stand against a Grand Unity Golden Immortal now."
"Ha!" Li Yi gripped the Green Lotus Ancient Sword and swung it at a nearby mountain.
A pair of lotuses sharing a single stem appeared above the mountain. In an instant, endless green specks flew out from within it and were swiftly absorbed by the green lotus. In next to no time, the plants on the mountain had withered and turned yellow, and the mountain itself seemed to have grown old.
At the same time, light flowed across the black lotus, spawning countless black sword auras. "Whoosh, whoosh..." "Rumble..." The entire mountain was easily pierced by the sword auras and reduced to dust.
"The green lotus devours life force, while the black lotus brings destruction. Once the two are balanced and can freely transform into each other, wouldn't that let me absorb an enemy's life force in battle and turn it into the Power of Slaughter for my attacks, weakening and destroying them? It would also reduce my expenditure, or even replenish what I've used." At the thought, Li Yi could not help feeling excited.
"No. The green lotus's offensive methods aren't limited to devouring life force. It can also instantly pour a vast amount of life force into an opponent and burst their body apart." Li Yi considered the matter quietly. "It would be even more effective on the battlefield: it could devour the enemy's life force while sending it back to our side. It's practically a weapon of mass destruction."
"But as far as I'm concerned, its main use is still support." Li Yi was not discouraged. How precious the Power of Life was!
"Then the sword dao wielded through the Power of Life shall be called the 'Rebirth Sword Dao.'"
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