[This is impossible!] Mr. Gu, in the future of the old Yuqing, dared not believe that the Primordial Heavenly Lord had actually disappeared. The ultimate pursuit he sought had vanished into thin air, and the Taoist mythology, passed down through countless ages, was thus brought to an end.
Without the Primordial Heavenly Lord.
What then was the name of the supreme deity sung of in that mythology?
There was no name.
The phenomena that were sung of no longer existed, and the beings who sang of them also ceased to exist in the fragments of history.
Yuqing had truly shattered, and even this path had been abandoned.
[Without a beginning, Yuqing ceases to exist. If Yuqing does not exist, then what are we?]
[Who is the Divine Lord of Yuqing?]
[No! The Primordial Heavenly Lord has not disappeared. If he had disappeared, then all of Yuqing, and even the Yuqing realm, would not exist. A demise without definition, vanishing completely from history, leaving no trace in the past or future, as if ripped away from existence itself.]
[But now, I still remember Yuqing, I still remember Yuqing cultivators and the Primordial Heavenly Lord. The Primordial Heavenly Lord has not disappeared; it has merely gone to a place that rejects me, a place where I, or all Yuqing cultivators, are forbidden to enter, because we never existed in that place! Naturally, we cannot enter...]
[Could it be... there is still 'unknown history'!]
Mr. Gu, possessing unparalleled wisdom and vast knowledge, concluded after contemplation that the Primordial Heavenly Lord had leaped into an independent history unknown to anyone.
Regarding history, the world records what is written in historical texts for future generations to observe. What is not precisely recorded is passed down by word of mouth, which is to say, it is sung of. Generally, it is either imprinted on visible things or transmitted within aspirations and the beings themselves.
As for those histories that can be arbitrarily traced back or even fabricated, histories that do not even require deliberate replacement – these are the moments in transmission and records that are vaguely described, moments that even mortals can freely alter their past.
And when powerful Heavenly Heart cultivators, situated in the future, reflect upon the past, they encounter obstacles left by past strong individuals. Some eras are even blurred, leaving behind various mysteries that even Heavenly Heart cultivators cannot easily unravel. It is like the Han Dynasty, when the Divine Immortal Dao was prosperous, and Confucianism was also flourishing; thus, that period of history was controlled by them, making it difficult to verify.
But if there is a period of history unknown to all, never sung of in the world, with not even a trace of record, to the point where even true Yuqing cultivators cannot find this history when tracing back.
Then, the Primordial Heavenly Lord has entered such a history.
And then...
[So, no matter how much I trace back, I cannot see the Primordial Heavenly Lord. It is not in the history that is known, but within another, isolated history.]
[I am not in that history, and will never see the Primordial.]
All histories are interconnected. The four directions of space are called the universe, and the past and present are called time. Like the various Dharma realms of the heavens, such as the Great Vajra Realm, the Great Fulu Earth, or even the illusory years created by various Heavenly Heart cultivators, akin to parallel worlds, all follow a historical trajectory. Such history must inevitably have connections with the outside world, and once a connection is established, it can be traced back.
Ultimately, how many worlds and eras have been sung of? Countless numbers throughout the ages. Just as with the various Daos, even within the same sect, there are different legends. Thus, in different legends and transmissions, it is the Primordial Heavenly Lord who created heaven and earth, and in others, it is Tai Shang Lao Jun.
These are all things that exist within transmissions, and they live only within the streams of transmission. Each transmitted stream relies on the power of the future for its existence and travels further, driving the future to become stronger.
...
"In a sense, Mr. Gu's crisis is resolved by not being able to see the Primordial."
Yuan Huang was more pragmatic. He realized that although Mr. Gu remained in the old world of Yuqing, his connection with him had become tenuous. Due to the absence of the important Primordial Heavenly Lord, his goal of achieving the position of Primordial became impossible.
But Mr. Gu still wished to see the Primordial again. Yuan Huang, situated in the distant past, also made a simple attempt to continue tracing back, only to discover that at the historical moment when the Primordial Heavenly Lord should have appeared, there was nothing.
Yuan Huang thought, since the position of the Primordial Heavenly Lord no longer existed, why not replace it himself?
As this thought arose and he intended to put it into action, although all phenomena related to the origin of the Primordial Heavenly Lord had vanished, Yuan Huang found that he was unable to enter this period of history.
Because he was a Yuqing cultivator, and also related to the Primordial.
"The Primordial Heavenly Lord has vanished, and naturally, all phenomena related to the Primordial cannot appear."
"Because no one transmits the name of the Primordial Heavenly Lord anymore, even if many people transmit my name, I cannot intervene in history related to the Primordial Heavenly Lord."
"I am trapped, and this is not good."
Yuan Huang sensed a more terrifying trouble.
He could not leave the Primordial, nor could he replace the Primordial. Moreover, they, these Yuqing cultivators, had lost the origin of their own selves.
Just as the Golden Core Great Dao opened up a clear future, with a piece of the future always born around the path of the Golden Core Great Dao, the Corpse-Shedding Immortals fantasized about the origin of Yuqing, and the Primordial Heavenly Lord was thus born. In later generations, Yuqing cultivators continuously transmitted the name of the Primordial, bestowing upon themselves the Dharma form and great power of the Primordial Heavenly Lord.
Past and future are complementary.
But now the past was gone. All the futures related to this past, although still existing, were also excluded from other histories because they were incompatible with the corrected timeline.
They seemed as if they should never have existed in time, nor should they have been within history.
"Heavenly Heart cultivators can reflect upon history and fabricate history."
"The Heavenly Heart of Yuqing can even trace back history and replace anything at will. The destruction of an origin can be followed by a re-creation. Such things have not happened before. If there is a force preventing the Heavenly Heart realm, is this force from within the Dao?"
Yuan Huang had never encountered such a situation. He fell into deep contemplation.
Heavenly Heart was already a realm with few rivals in the world. They could even steal and replace the heart of heaven, manipulating it with their own will. Causality, heavenly secrets, and even history could be recreated. Yet, now, due to the disappearance of an origin, they were being rejected by history.
History, which should have been something they modified at will, was insignificant.
It was the future that created the history of the past.
The history of the past might not have existed at all, but was something shaped by numerous Heavenly Hearts. What confused people was only the definition of each piece of past and future.
Being rejected, even suppressed, by something insignificant.
For the Heavenly Heart realm, it was unimaginable.
"Perhaps, the heart always has a place of origin, and so does the Heavenly Heart realm. What we have lost may not be a simple origin, but something more important."
"It is something from the beginning."
...
If he did not leave the Profound Image, he could become the origin of this second Yuqing, eternally abiding before all things.
But this was not proving the Dao; it was becoming a part of the Dao.
The Dao is the greatest, most profound, and deepest. It encompasses all, gives all, and can also reclaim all.
The Primordial Heavenly Lord, in the second Yuqing, witnessed the Profound Image. It took a step closer to the Dao, for it came from the Profound Image.
But he himself would leave the Profound Image, because he was not born from the Profound Image.
The Innate Heart, it could manifest the Profound Image, and when it truly returned to the Profound Image, it allowed the Heavenly Lords of the world to see the Profound Image, but it could not allow the one who achieved the Innate Heart to completely transform into the Profound Image.
If it could, then it would become the body of the Dao, in the unknowable.
The Dao might be the Profound Image itself, or it might be above, or within the depths of the Profound Image.
"The transmitted name gives form to that which has never existed, endowing it with immense power, continuously elevating it, but never allowing it to reach the highest realm."
"If, with the first thought of emptiness, everything falls."
"From the past to the future, all things are manifested by a single thought of the Profound Image. Because the body of the Dao is formless, all phenomena lose their Dao and are also formed from emptiness."
"The Innate Heart is the first formless entity to witness the Profound Image. By witnessing the Profound Image at this moment, it gains an earlier and closer origin to the Dao."
Ji Xiang felt that this proposition was too grand.
Void and reality are very simple and easy to understand concepts, easily debated.
But if the Profound Image is added, it becomes difficult to articulate, because the Profound Image is undefinable, inherently unspeakable, and even the words "Profound Image" themselves might be incorrect.
However, most people in the world cannot even know the meaning represented by the words "Profound Image."
Therefore, to witness the Profound Image is already to transcend the vast majority of beings in the world.
"Hmm?"
As Ji Xiang left the Profound Image, he seemed to see a light. This light did not originate from any history, nor should it have appeared within the second Yuqing he had just birthed.
It pierced through from the "outside," extremely dazzling.
"It is because I left the Profound Image."
Ji Xiang understood where this light came from. This was the history of this second Yuqing beginning to move. Because he left the Profound Image, the world evolved from "Wuji" to "Taiji." Yin and Yang were originally one, yet they were also opposite sides. Therefore, if he left the Profound Image, the Dao would give birth to Yin and Yang.
Thus, all things in the world began to appear. At this moment, it was the origin and beginning of the world.
It was the true "Moment of Primordial"!
"And when I leave the second Yuqing, the Heavenly Heart realm is in the future. Past and future are one. I emerge from the first origin of the past, and the next moment I arrive in the distant future."
As Ji Xiang's thought arose, he took another step.
Then, immortal mountains hung in the world, pure qi ascended to the heavens, and various immortals and gods were arranged before him, seated in order, to hear him recount sacred scriptures passed down from ancient times.
From the Profound Image to the prosperous age of immortal cultivation.
Recreating Yuqing, recalculating the Great Evolution.
"The origin of Yuqing, the vacant honored position of the Primordial, the place where the true body of the Dao once resided."
"In the history unknown to all Daos."
Ji Xiang looked towards the future, waiting there.
He had already foreseen the arrival of Qing Yang, and this event would happen in the next thought.