"What a grand string of titles!"
As his master reeled off one title after another, Chen Cuo's heart tightened. The image of the long-haired man flashed through his mind again, and a name surfaced.
He frowned. "Master, do you mean that man has remained in the Mortal World since the Late Shang, Early Zhou era, right up to today?"
"You've guessed who he is." Daoyinzi nodded and came straight to the point. "He was ordered down the mountain to aid a mortal king in replacing Shang with Zhou. Afterward, he was granted dominion over the Eastern Lands, where he founded a state and established its institutions. He also created a school of cultivation all his own, but ascended before he ever displayed his Divine Abilities."
"He ascended?" Chen Cuo's thoughts stirred. "Was he someone who descended to the mortal world?"
Daoyinzi stroked his beard and smiled. "Whether he descended or was reincarnated, even I don't know. His movements have always been secretive, and he has hardly ever shown himself. If his plot against our Great Hua Mountain hadn't exposed his trail, even my skill at divination wouldn't have found him."
Chen Cuo seized the chance to ask, "What exactly is the difference between descent and reincarnation? This disciple knows of both, but not in detail."
Daoyinzi gave him a half-smile. "Whether descent or reincarnation, both have quite a lot to do with you."
Without waiting for Chen Cuo to speak again, he began to explain. "The heart of reincarnation lies in the word 'turn.' To turn is to move through a cycle, rounding into a circle that begins again when it ends, head joined to tail. When someone from Beyond the Mundane reincarnates into the Mortal World, they must relinquish their former standing and Dao Attainment and start anew. Thus,