The Daoist in the middle regarded him for a moment before speaking. "To observe the Dao's methods, one must first understand the workings of the Dao. The principle of creation is transformation from nothing into something; from transformation arise the myriad changes..."
As he spoke, Zhang Yu saw a speck of primal light emerge beneath his feet. It appeared and vanished within the void, cycling through birth and extinction. Amid these transformations, it was like a spark of starlight, enduring and continuing. From change it became settled, from settlement it transformed. At first it was exceedingly weak, then it gradually grew stronger. Finally, it burst forth in a surging eruption, and all things evolved from it.
"When the Dao transforms one world, it becomes one self. When the Dao transforms ten thousand worlds, it becomes ten thousand selves. Those of us who seek the Dao's methods must sever the myriad transformations and return to the primal One. At the end lies the Dao Fruit."
Zhang Yu then saw countless lights extinguish one by one. All things seemed to contract away, finally returning to that single primal One. Yet this was not the one that had originally transformed out of nothing; it had cast away countless tangled distractions and ultimately been purified into a singular, indestructible existence.
If the Dao at the beginning of origins was utterly Heaven-made, then the Dao that returned at the end was held and commanded by oneself—it merged with spirit, with humanity, and with the Dao.
At that moment, the Daoist seated to the right continued, "From the primal beginning comes creation, and worlds naturally come into being. Yet Heaven and Earth are countless, fleeting lives enter extinction, and change is ever fickle. All these heavens and earths arise from one primal source, then transform anew