No words could describe the Daoist. "Dao" was the only word that came close.
Upon seeing Meng Qi, the Daoist smiled and spoke first:
"I am the Primordial Heavenly Venerable."
This was the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, who had attained Transcendence and the Dao Fruit!
"Greetings, Teacher Primordial Beginning."
Meng Qi bowed to the Primordial Heavenly Venerable.
Both relationships had arisen from Reducing to Emptiness, yet Gu Xiaosang and the Golden Emperor had become enemies.
Meng Qi and the Primordial Heavenly Venerable, by contrast, had become master and disciple.
Across the ages, plenty of Other Shore Beings had begun Reducing to Emptiness. But the Golden Emperor was as singular as a scorpion taking a dump: she had deliberately made an enemy of the product of her own Reducing to Emptiness.
Of course, part of the reason was that the Golden Emperor had concealed her cultivation and Gu Xiaosang's true identity from the start.
Even so, the Golden Emperor's path had been ruthless to the extreme.
If she failed to attain the Dao Fruit on this path, she would die. There was no third possibility, and the Golden Emperor knew it.
The Golden Emperor could have used gentler means. Then, even if she failed to win the struggle for the Dao Fruit in the Current Era, she could have survived to try again later.
Amitabha Buddha and Bodhi Ancient Buddha had done just that.
But if the Golden Emperor had chosen a gentler approach, she would not have been the Golden Emperor.
Two figures stood behind the Primordial Heavenly Venerable. One embodied the passage of all things from existence to nonexistence. The other, the Virtuous Heavenly Venerable, had white hair and a presence so faint it was almost imperceptible.
Their positions made it clear: the Primordial Heavenly Venerable now took the lead,