Great Dao

Biodata

Nature and Cosmology

The Dao and Its Laws

• The Great Dao has no fixed appearance. Divine chains, patterns, and other visible manifestations express its laws rather than reveal its complete form 227.
• Enlightenment extracts a small portion of heaven and earth’s laws, order, and ultimate truths. Cultivators turn this understanding into Dao Principles and techniques 227.
• “Three Thousand Great Daos” and “Myriad Daos of the Heavens” are broad expressions of the Dao’s inexhaustibility, not exhaustive counts of its divisions 227.
• Li Qingyue concludes that the ultimate Dao is one whole; dividing it into separate paths gives only a partial understanding 227.
• Different worlds emphasize different principles, including yin and yang, the five elements, space-time, bloodlines, physiques, and ultimate strength 127.

Heavenly Dao

• According to the account given during Li Qingyue’s Dao Severing, the Heavenly Dao has no consciousness but possesses a will that maintains heaven and earth’s operation 323.
• Every Dao that appears within heaven and earth can be recorded and incorporated into it. The paths of successive generations therefore strengthen the world itself 301 323.
• The Heavenly Heart Imprint manifests a universe’s origin and the fundamental power born from its myriad Daos 429.

Accounts of Creation

Power Progression

• These stages describe the development of a cultivator’s personal Dao, not levels attained by the universal Great Dao itself.

Emperor’s Path and World Suppression

• An Emperor’s Path is a Great Dao that reigns over other Daos and dominates an era 221.
• A Great Emperor’s Dao can suppress heaven and earth for ten thousand years after their death because their Dao Fruit remains within the world 161 349.
• Under this suppression, the myriad Daos cannot flourish, Saints become rare, and Dao Severing or Dao-Proving becomes exceptionally difficult 161 199 221.
• Defying such suppression during Dao Severing can force a cultivator to confront the lingering Emperor’s Path through heavenly tribulation 221.
• The Feathered Great Emperor’s attainment cut off the prospects of the prodigies already competing on the Emperor Road. Many withdrew and sealed themselves away to await another era 341.
• Dao strength depends on reaching a path’s utmost limit, not simply accumulating principles. Nevertheless, bringing several Great Daos to their limits and successfully merging them is stronger than pursuing only one 326.

Manifestations and Applications

Visions and Mystic Arts

• Visions are woven from laws. Li Qingyue’s Heaven-Swallowing Demon Art gathers previously comprehended Great Dao laws into a single composite Vision 102 106.
• Nine Secrets: Dou develops one Dao into myriad Daos and supreme offensive techniques; Nine Secrets: Zu combines myriad Daos into killing formations 223 290.
• The Myriad Transformations Sacred Art transforms other Daos for the wielder’s use, contrasting with Dou’s manifestation of their power 297.

Domains and Dao Integration

• Great Dao power can alter heaven and earth’s order to create a domain governed by its own rules 186.
• Li Qingyue’s personal Dao strips away the surrounding Heaven and Earth Will, making time stand still along her path 267.
• An Ancient Saint can integrate their body with the Dao to suppress the Great Dao of a particular region 339.

Great Dao Divine Chains and Forms

• Li Qingyue’s Great Dao Divine Chains engrave myriad Daos, strengthen her mystic arts, retain immortal-gold power, and condense into Dao weapons 213 227.
• Their demonstrated uses include breaking treasures, overwhelming attacks, piercing bodies, and absorbing blood 233.
• A Great Dao Divine Form is a form that bears a Dao and makes its otherwise intangible power manifest in the world 370.
• Dao laws can sustain created worlds: Li Qingyue’s three thousand heaven-opening figures dissolve into newly formed heavens and earths, bringing forth living beings 342.

Weapons and Materials

Restrictions and Exceptions

Mortality and Tribulation

• Great Emperors, Ancient Emperors, and Supremes remain subject to heaven and earth’s laws; power at the human Dao’s pinnacle does not itself grant eternal life 301.
• Heaven and earth can reject a newly developed Dao. Li Qingyue’s Dao tribulation manifests a chaos millstone intended to erase her Dao and return it to primordial chaos 301.
• Tribulation lightning can carry the recorded Dao traces of ancient Great Emperors, Emperors, and Supremes, presenting them as hostile manifestations 219.
• The saying that the Great Dao numbers fifty while heaven unfolds forty-nine describes a missing thread that permits both opportunity and disaster. Supremes exploit such an opening by stealing life essence through Dark Turmoil 427 433.

Powers Beyond Ordinary Human Dao

• Immortal Dao laws inherently suppress human Dao laws, including the paths of beings at the human Dao’s pinnacle 378 418.
• Immortal Divine Medicines can let even a peak Great Emperor transcend the Great Dao’s lifespan restraints for another lifetime 349.
• The Bronze Immortal Palace can isolate a region from the Myriad Daos, Heavenly Dao, and Great Dao, preventing imperial powers from drawing upon their usual support 328.
• Chaos can dissolve heaven and earth’s Great Dao; the chaos sea in which Li Qingyue creates her world initially lacks Dao, time, and space 349 350.

Major Developments in the Story