He would give up his current mid-stage Golden Immortal of the Origin cultivation and his exalted foundation as a Xiantian God-Demon.
He would give up his identity as a core member of the Earthly Dao and the comfort it afforded him, and plunge into an unknown cycle of reincarnation.
He would become a fragile acquired being, experience Life, Old Age, Sickness, and Death and the turmoil of the mortal world, then climb anew amid the vast sea of humanity to fight for the position of "Heavenly Emperor"—a position he might not succeed in claiming...
The risks were enormous, and the future uncertain.
And yet, there was the call of that Heavenly Emperor Destiny, the pull of a profound resonance with his own Great Dao.
There was also the grand sense of purpose that came from participating in and leading the rise of a great civilization.
And then there were the threefold benefits that Martial Uncle Zhenyuanzi had described: to his own path, to the Human Dao, and to the Earthly Dao, should he succeed...
All of it was like a blazing fire, scorching his Dao Heart.
He recalled being born at the dawn of the Primordial Wilderness and relying on his younger sister Nuwa;
He recalled meeting the wise master Daoist Yin Yang, joining the Earthly Dao, comprehending the Eight Trigrams, and making progress in his cultivation, yet always sensing an impassable barrier before him;
He recalled the overwhelming might of Fellow Daoist Minghe establishing a religion and attaining sainthood, and how he, too, had yearned for a higher realm...
Comfort meant stagnation.
Risk often came hand in hand with opportunity.
Those who cultivated the Dao contended with Heaven for their fate. How could he let fear of hardship make him miss an opportunity that might lead straight to the