When his soul transmigrated and became the spirit of the Twelve-Petal Merit Golden Lotus, the first thing he felt was an immeasurable weight.
It wasn't a physical burden, but a profound heaviness rooted in his Origin Essence, a feeling of being connected to heaven and earth.
He was like an ancient being who had slept for countless eons. Only now was his consciousness gradually awakening.
"What am I?"
The question echoed through his hazy consciousness.
Then the answer surfaced naturally, like a memory carved into his very bones long ago.
The Twelve-Petal Merit Golden Lotus.
A golden lotus throne, each of its twelve petals containing the profound truths of the Great Dao. Warm, gentle Merit Golden Light flowed between the petals, radiating a tranquil and peaceful aura.
Beneath the lotus throne were invisible roots, burrowing deep into the Origin Essence of this world and drawing in the purest Innate Spiritual Energy.
Fragments of memories from a later age surged through him like a tide.
The Primordial World, Sages, the Western Sect, Jieyin, Zhunti...
These words collided and interwove in his consciousness, sketching out a hazy yet terrifying picture.
The Twelve-Petal Merit Golden Lotus, the Western Sect's treasure for protecting its fortune.
His "true form" would one day belong to two Sages.
A chill rose from the depths of his consciousness and quickly spread.
If the legends in his memories were true, then his current predicament...
Was like that of a lamb beneath a butcher's knife, with only the butcher yet to arrive.
He tried to sense the outside world.
A warm, sturdy golden barrier completely enveloped him.
The barrier wasn't tangible, yet it was more unbreakable than anything that was.
It was an Innate Restriction, the protection heaven and earth bestowed upon an Innate Spiritual Root.
Everything beyond the barrier was indistinct, as if he were looking at the world through frosted glass.
He could only vaguely sense the vast Spiritual Energy flowing outside. He couldn't determine its direction, much less tell how much time had passed.
"What era is it?"
The question became his most pressing concern.
Had the Dragon-Han Initial Tribulation ended?
Had the Witch and Demon Clans risen yet?
What realms had Jieyin and Zhunti reached? Grand Unity Golden Immortal? Quasi-Saint? Or had they already... become Sages?
He didn't dare consider the worst possibility.
If those two had already become Sages, then with their power, it would only be a matter of time before they discovered him.
Once they found him, what would become of his awakened consciousness?
Would it be erased, leaving him nothing but a magic treasure?
Or would he be forcibly converted and made into a protector of the Western Sect?
Every possibility sent a shudder through him.
"I can't just wait here and die."
His instinct to survive overwhelmed everything else.
Since he was still safe for now and the restriction remained untouched, he still had time to undergo Form Transformation.
According to the legends of the Primordial Wilderness, all things with spirits could take human form.
Once he did, he would no longer be a magic treasure, but a living being—a natural-born divine being recognized by heaven and earth.
Then, even if Jieyin and Zhunti found him, they couldn't dispose of him as casually as they would an ownerless magic treasure.
At the very least, he would have more room to maneuver.
With his resolve made, he no longer hesitated.
He sank his entire consciousness into his true form and tried to guide the Innate Spiritual Energy pervading the restriction.
His first attempts were clumsy and inefficient.
Although he possessed the lotus's instincts,
as a newly awakened spirit, he knew almost nothing about how to cultivate deliberately or absorb Spiritual Energy efficiently.
All he could do was imitate the lotus's instinctive rhythm, slowly catching and refining the golden specks of Spiritual Energy.
The process was so tedious it was almost despairing.
There was no turning of the sun and moon to mark the passage of time, no sound to break the silence.
Only the faintest resonance, nearly impossible to notice, as Spiritual Energy flowed between the petals.
He was like a prisoner locked in a completely soundproof golden cell, able to breathe the air outside only through a tiny hole in the wall.
Time lost all meaning here. Perhaps a hundred years passed; perhaps a thousand.
But he didn't dare stop.
Whenever the endless solitude left his consciousness dazed, the fear of his future fate would douse him like a bucket of cold water, snapping him back to his senses.
He imagined the restriction suddenly breaking open.
He pictured two figures, their auras as vast as the ocean, standing before him.
The image became a whip, driving him to cultivate day and night.
Gradually, he grew more adept at controlling Spiritual Energy.
At first, he could guide only a few wisps as fine as threads. Later, he could form a small vortex of Spiritual Energy above the lotus throne;
at first, he barely understood his own golden lotus. Later, he could clearly "look within" and see the Dao Marks on every petal.
Though those markings were profound and difficult to understand, and looking at them for too long made his consciousness dizzy, he still forced himself to memorize and comprehend them.
He knew that Form Transformation required more than simply accumulating enough spiritual power. He also needed to understand his own "Dao."
The Twelve-Petal Merit Golden Lotus had two Great Daos at its Origin Essence:
One was "merit," bearing heaven and earth's merit, and impervious to all techniques;
the other was "golden lotus," symbolizing purity and freedom from defilement, with peerless defenses.
These two Great Daos complemented each other, forming the foundation of his existence.
He began trying to decipher the naturally formed patterns on the petals.
Some resembled an ancient script, others the courses of mountains and rivers, while still others were pure condensations of Dao resonance.
Every insight deepened his mastery over his Origin Essence, and his rate of Spiritual Energy absorption increased in turn.
The Spiritual Energy inside the restriction visibly thinned, then the fluctuations from his absorption and refinement drew in a steady supply from beyond it.
The golden lotus itself began to change. Its once-gentle glow grew brighter and brighter, while the gold of its petals became purer.
Light even began to gather faintly at the center of the lotus throne, forming a hazy orb—the core of his spirit.
Another long cycle passed.
The orb grew more solid, gradually taking on the outline of a human figure.
Limbs, torso, head... Though the shape was still blurry, its general form was clear.
The golden lotus began to tremble.
It wasn't trembling with fear, but moving in a natural rhythm as its energy reached saturation.
The entire Innate Restriction resonated with it, ripples spreading across the golden barrier.
"Almost there..."
That premonition came from the depths of his consciousness.
He wasn't excited. Instead, he grew even calmer, focusing his entire mind on the final step.
The complete fusion of spirit and body.
At last, in a moment that could not be measured by time, his accumulated energy reached its threshold.
Boom—
It wasn't a sound, but a tremor in the Great Dao.
The golden lotus blazed with a brilliance unlike anything it had ever radiated before.
All twelve petals unfurled at once.
Each shone brightly, bathing the entire space within the restriction in a golden sea of light.
At the center of the lotus throne, the human-shaped orb suddenly contracted, then expanded outward.
The lotus's form began to dissolve, becoming countless golden specks of light.
The specks didn't scatter at random. Following some profound, mysterious pattern, they recombined and coalesced.
The petals became the patterns on a robe, the lotus stem became an upright body, the lotus heart became clear eyes, and the roots became meridians connecting him to the earth...
When the final glimmer of light faded,
a young Daoist stood quietly at the center of the space within the restriction.
He looked to be in his early twenties, dressed in a plain white Daoist robe. Faint golden lotus patterns shimmered on the hem and cuffs.
His features were handsome and gentle, and his brow held a naturally serene quality, as if he could quell all restlessness.
His black hair fell like a waterfall, held back by a simple wooden hairpin.
A faint golden halo surrounded him—the manifestation of Merit Golden Light instinctively protecting his body.
His eyes were the most striking thing about him.
They were clear and limpid, yet deep as a pool. Deep within his pupils, the phantom of a twelve-petaled lotus turned slowly.
He lowered his head and looked at his hands, flexing his long fingers as he felt the real touch of flesh and blood.
At a thought, spiritual power vast as an ocean flowed through him, smooth and effortless, as if his limbs answered his every command.
He had succeeded in taking human form.
At that very moment, a supreme, detached yet compassionate will descended from beyond the mortal world.
It was no particular being, but the embodiment of rules, the manifestation of the Great Dao.
It swept lightly over the newly born Daoist, as if inspecting him, or perhaps confirming something.
The Daoist bowed naturally, showing the utmost respect.
The will lingered for a moment.
Then two ancient, profound Dao Marks crossed endless stretches of time and space, imprinting themselves directly upon the depths of his Primordial Spirit's Origin Essence, and resounding within his spirit.
Xuande.
"Xuan" meant profound and mysterious, in harmony with the formless and shapeless Heavenly Dao;
"de" meant bearing the weight of all things, embodying the merit that blessed all living beings.
This name was more than a form of address. It was recognition, a blessing, and the bestowal of an identity.
From this moment on, he was Xuande, a natural-born divine being recognized by the Primordial World.
Xuande slowly straightened, a complicated glimmer passing through his eyes.
There was joy and emotion, but above all, solemnity.
Successfully taking human form was only the first step.