Avatar and Planes

Chapter 28: Avatar and Planes

The dazzling golden radiance blurred He Yu's vision. Facing the Light of Taichu, he struggled to calm his excitement. He was about to cultivate the Primordial Avatar with the help of the Source of Earthly Fiend, and his state of mind had to be still as a tranquil lake. Even the slightest mistake might prevent the Primordial Avatar from reaching perfection. If he failed to perfect it on his first attempt, he would have to put in much more effort later—and he couldn't absorb the Source of Heavenly Dipper before it was complete.

Gradually, his state of mind settled. The main reason was that the benefits this time were simply too great.

An avatar! And once it reached its peak, it could wield the Power of an Era. What did that mean? In simpler terms, it meant the power of the entire Primordial World as it was now: the Power of Heaven and Earth, the power of living beings, and even the Innate Deities like Hongjun and Luo Hou, the Three Pure Ones, the Ancestral Witches, and Pangu's Descendants such as Dijun and Taiyi—all added together. This power was so terrifying that it could shake the world. Perhaps he could even fight a Heavenly Dao Sage!

The Primordial Avatar's potential was already enormous, yet it still fell far short of the Taishi Avatar. The Taishi Avatar had been born in response to the Era of Giant Beasts. Giant Beasts were at least Earth Immortals in strength, and the mightiest had even reached the Heavenly Immortal level. Moreover, the cultivation of the Innate Deities and Pangu's Descendants had also increased considerably, so the Taishi Avatar was naturally far superior to the Primordial Avatar. As for the final Taixuan Avatar, it had been born in response to the Era of Ferocious Beasts and was even more powerful than the Taishi Avatar. As far as He Yu knew, in the latter half of the Era of Ferocious Beasts, countless Innate Deities and Pangu's Descendants emerged in their true forms. It was only after they joined forces against the Ferocious Beasts that the three great races of the Primordial World came into being. By then, the Era of Ferocious Beasts would come to a complete end, the Heavenly Dao would emerge, and the struggle for the Jade of Creation would begin.

"If I can possess all three avatars—the Primordial, Taishi, and Taixuan—even if I can't cultivate them to their peak, I'll only need to make some progress to take part in the struggle for the Jade of Creation later." Now that he had the opportunity, He Yu's ambition had swelled beyond measure. On top of that, he had spent this time ruling the Primordial World, supreme and unrivaled. He certainly didn't want to end up cowering beneath Hongjun, the Heavenly Dao, and the Sages of the Heavens, scraping by—or even be wiped out for being an "anomaly."

Through Pangu's Information and the information contained within the Light of Taichu, He Yu understood that once Hongjun merged with the Dao, the Heavenly Dao's Sage positions would fall under his control. Anyone who wished to become a Sage would need his approval. Even the theoretically attainable "one who escaped" was no more than a flower in the mirror, a moon reflected in the water! The Heavenly Dao would be one with Hongjun, so even the one who escaped would have to communicate with the River of Heavenly Dao to become a Sage. Hongjun could sever that connection—or even trace it back and kill whoever possessed the one who escaped. Even without the power of the Heavenly Dao, Hongjun, at the perfected realm of a Heavenly Dao Sage, could easily kill someone who had yet to become a Sage!

"I absolutely can't let Hongjun merge with the Dao. If I can't get the Jade of Creation, then no one else can have it either. Better to break like jade than to remain whole as a tile!" A resolute thought rose in He Yu's heart.

His Heavenly Gate opened, and his consciousness converged like a stream, flowing toward the Light of Taichu and merging with it. At once, He Yu felt that he could completely control the Light of Taichu. He gave it a try, and the basket-sized orb of light began to slowly stretch and contract, gradually taking the shape of a square. Then, under the influence of his consciousness, it successively took on all kinds of forms: dragons, tigers, leopards, wolves, eagles, oxen, flying saucers, cannons, treasured swords, computers... Countless animals and machines from both his lives took shape one by one. This feeling of transforming into myriad forms was even more effortless than shapeshifting with demonic energy, as natural as moving his own arm.

After enjoying the novelty for a while, He Yu lost interest. He reviewed the details of cultivating an avatar to make sure nothing could go wrong, then began refining the Light of Taichu. The Light of Taichu was the foundation of the Primordial Avatar, and refining it was the first step.

Following the instructions in the information, he began refining it. To He Yu's surprise, the process went smoothly beyond belief. In just a few breaths, he had successfully refined the Light of Taichu.

Was the Radiance of the Era really this easy to refine?

The result left He Yu incredulous. He pondered it, then suddenly had a thought: this era was about to end, and the Light of Taichu would soon be extinguished. By refining it, he was preserving it, so it naturally cooperated with him completely. Its compatibility with his consciousness was a full one hundred percent, which was why refining it had been so easy. As for whether his guess was right, he would find out when he refined the Light of Taishi later. Now that he knew about the radiance of all three eras, how could he possibly give it up?

Whoosh!

At a thought, the Light of Taichu turned into a golden rainbow and shot into his sea of consciousness. As soon as it entered, it transformed into a human figure, sitting cross-legged with eyes closed. It looked just like He Yu had in his previous life. Though his face was ordinary, an imposing aura that commanded respect emanated from his entire body—an aura he had cultivated over this past period.

Having refined the Light of Taichu, He Yu immediately felt that he could control the light of the Primordial World. There were no sun, moon, or stars to illuminate the Primordial World yet; it relied on the Light of Taichu for illumination. Now that He Yu had refined the Light of Taichu and made it his own, he could be said to have become the master of the Primordial World's light.

At a thought, the entire Primordial World lost its light. The boundless world was shrouded in darkness. The sudden blackness left countless demons and living beings pale with terror, but in the blink of an eye, the light returned at He Yu's will. Then darkness fell again. He repeated the cycle several times before stopping.

"This feeling... It's simply wonderful, just like being a supreme deity!" He Yu was thrilled.

Now that he had refined the Light of Taichu, he could use the Source of Earthly Fiend to cultivate the Primordial Avatar. An avatar needed a vessel to contain it; he was still far from being able to form one from the Light of Taichu alone. According to the information, there were two ways to cultivate the Primordial Avatar. One was to cultivate it using only the Light of Taichu, but it would have no power for a long time in its early stages. The other was the method he would use now: cultivating it with the source of the Heaven-and-Earth's anomalous energies. This wouldn't affect it in the slightest later on, and it would even possess some power in its early stages.

Rumble!

The Light of Taichu transformed into a golden flood and wrapped around the Source of Earthly Fiend. Under He Yu's direction, it began to refine and fuse with it. This time, the process was nowhere near as smooth as before. The Source of Earthly Fiend resisted fiercely, and the refining progressed very slowly. There was nothing He Yu could do but wear it down bit by bit.

A vast mass of golden-black smoke churned without rest. Streaks of intense golden and black light poured from it, and He Yu, caught between the two colors, could barely keep his eyes open. He simply closed them. With his consciousness sensing everything, he could see every detail clearly. Though the Source of Earthly Fiend's resistance was fierce, it remained within his control, and not a single thing went wrong during the entire process of cultivating the avatar.

Time passed slowly, and the churning golden-black smoke gradually quieted, eventually becoming completely still. Then the dazzling light of both colors quickly drew inward, circulating across the smoke.

Bang!

With a loud explosion, the golden-black smoke scattered into wisps and spread through the air. It slowly gathered again, and after a long while, took the shape of a cloud once more. But as soon as it did, another explosion scattered it. It repeated this cycle nine times before finally settling down.

Looking at the great mass of golden-black smoke hovering quietly before him, He Yu was filled with excitement.

The Primordial Avatar was complete!

The avatar hadn't fused with He Yu's soul, so it hadn't taken on human form yet. But that didn't affect its power in the slightest. This mass of golden-black smoke brimmed with power as terrifying as a vast ocean.

"Early-stage Loose Immortal?" He Yu smiled to himself. He was very satisfied with the avatar's strength. Although it was still far weaker than the Power of Heaven and Earth he had possessed not long ago, it could continue cultivating and growing stronger. Moreover, it hadn't absorbed the Source of Heavenly Dipper yet. Once Heaven's Dipper and Earth's Fiend combined, its strength would surely increase dramatically.

At a thought, the golden-black smoke gathered into a human form, just like He Yu had looked in his previous life.

The seven-foot-tall Primordial Avatar was golden-black from head to toe and wore a golden Daoist robe. Taiji, Yin and Yang, the Eight Trigrams, and the Nine Palaces all appeared on the robe, giving it a profound, mysterious air. There was clearly great profundity woven into its patterns. As an early-stage Loose Immortal, it had already gained some insight into the mysteries of Heaven and Earth. After all, it had entered the immortal ranks.

"This humble Daoist is Taichu. Greetings, fellow Daoist!" The Primordial Avatar hovered before He Yu and gave him a Daoist salute. Then, feeling rather awkward, he muttered to himself, "I'm just talking to myself. Still, I can use this to fool people later. When all three avatars appear together, it'll be One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones! Heh!"

The Primordial Avatar was complete. The next step was to find the Source of Heavenly Dipper. For the avatar at its current level, that would pose no difficulty at all. An early-stage Loose Immortal was already strong enough to travel through the Firmament Gale. On top of that, the avatar itself was made of smoke, unbound by a physical body, and could fly with incredible speed. And there was the profound connection between the Source of Heavenly Dipper and the Source of Earthly Fiend!

With matters settled, He Yu didn't want to stay here any longer. Looking around at the Golden Radiance Region, he gave a cold laugh. The Primordial Avatar extended one hand and curled its empty fingers as if grasping. At once, the golden radiance across the entire ten-li area rapidly converged, gathering in Taichu's hand to form a golden sword. It was three feet long and a palm's width across—a heavy blade made for hacking and cleaving. Once all the golden radiance had gathered into the sword, it looked as if it had been cast from real gold. Golden light swirled over its entire body, and its keen edge inspired awe. Two ancient, unadorned golden characters appeared on the hilt.

Taichu!

With the Primordial Sword in hand, the Primordial Avatar made a grasping motion with its other hand. As it did, the space within a radius of three or four hundred meters rippled, as if wind had stirred a still pool. The ripples gathered in He Yu's hand, forming a transparent sphere. Without the countless ripples flowing inside it, He Yu might not even have been able to see it.

Bang!

The ripples in the void vanished completely, and the sphere in the Primordial Avatar's hand gradually settled. In the end, it could no longer be seen.

Whoosh! The Primordial Avatar swept its hand, and with a faint sound of something cutting through the air, the invisible sphere entered He Yu's brow and fused with his sea of consciousness. It seemed to have no effect at all.

"A plane? I can't believe the Light of Taichu formed a small plane. What a haul!" He Yu mused. A plane was the embryonic form of a world. Once it grew, it could become a domain, like the Buddhist realm in the palm, a deity's divine realm, or a demon's Demon Abyss. Given the right conditions, it could even develop into a world among the heavens, a minor world, a middle world, or even a great world like the Primordial World. But advancing through each level was as difficult as Jingwei filling the sea or the Foolish Old Man moving mountains. Still, at least he had something to hope for!

"Now that I have a small plane, my storage problem is solved too. I won't have to worry about where to put things like acquired spirit roots if I find any in the future." He Yu was secretly delighted. The Green Spirit Fruit Tree had been hidden away by him all this time, and he still had no idea what to do with it. It couldn't be planted for now, but at least he could store and preserve it in this small plane.