By Daylight, the Dao Unfolds and a Hundred Lives Take Root; Seven Paths Preserve Their Intent, and Ten Thousand Forms Arise [Two-in-One]

In the endless darkness, a flicker of will gradually emerged.

That will was dazed and muddled, lost in chaos. It could distinguish neither itself from anything else nor one direction from another.

In its haze, it felt a crushing pressure—

From every direction, pressure bore down without cease, threatening to extinguish that flicker of will.

The will felt as though it were trapped inside an egg, unable to stretch or move.

At last, rage seized it. A tiny flame seemed to kindle deep within, then surged and erupted from the depths of the will, burning away all the pressure around it.

The will unfurled and swelled without end. In an instant, it surpassed the surrounding darkness. Four rays of light burst from its depths, converged in midair, and evolved into Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water.

Many-colored light spread, gradually staining the darkness and tracing vast contours according to the memories deep within the will.

An immense Starry Sky. A boundless earth.

Between heaven and earth lay a vast emptiness.

Yet ancient memories rose from the depths of that will. Everything it had seen, smelled, and heard poured forth without cease, becoming thoughts that settled across this world.

Where those thoughts landed, they changed from within and without, until illusion became reality. Mountains, rivers, jungles, and marshes took shape upon the empty land.

Terrain emerged everywhere, driving off the former desolation. Yet not a trace of life stirred. Only the passing wind made the faintest sound.

Darkness returned and filled every corner.

Loneliness wrapped around the will, and it called out.

Cracks appeared between heaven and earth. Figures, living beings, stepped out of them one after another.

Strange ripples coiled around them and spread. In the darkness, fear arose in every living creature. Their thoughts rose like smoke, joined the ripples,