NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: Inheritance
At this moment, Wang Heng seemed to glimpse the very form of the Great Dao—mysterious, infinite, and indescribable, an enigma beyond words.
This thought brought to mind an ancient saying: "The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of all things."
The Dao that can be described in words is not the eternal Dao, the name that can be articulated is not the eternal name. "Nothingness" is the origin of heaven and earth, while "being" is the foundation of all things.
Earlier, Wang Heng had studied a million ancient celestial characters in the Hall of Preaching, known as the language of the Great Dao. They depicted the tangible traces of the Dao, reaching to the very essence of heaven and earth.
Mastering these celestial characters was akin to grasping the fundamental principles of the tangible Dao. Yet, within heaven and earth, there existed the intangible Dao, which could not be articulated by ancient characters.
Now, Wang Heng had encountered this intangible Dao. His eyes widened, overwhelmed by unspeakable awe as he perceived its grandeur and majesty, feeling its vastness and eternity.
All of this was brought about by the supreme soul seed planted in his lower dantian. It was like a bridge that forged a path between Wang Heng and the universe, severing any barriers and allowing Wang Heng to perceive the Dao.
It was boundless, like an endless ocean or a vast sea. Wang Heng's spirit trembled as he gained a profound understanding of his own insignificance.
Drifting in the vast ocean of the Great Dao feels like sailing a small boat—like a drop in the sea or a grain of sand in the Ganges.
Perhaps only by uniting with the Dao, reaching the supreme level, can one barely comprehend even a small portion of its essence.
As Wang Heng pondered on the vastness of the Dao and the insignificance of life, the myriad of ancient celestial characters he carried within suddenly emanated a bright light, exuding the aura of the Dao.
Following this, the most fundamental and simplest words of the Great Dao floated out from Wang Heng’s body, hovering around him, making him appear as if standing amidst a radiant galaxy.
Driven by the formless Dao, these ancient characters autonomously evolved, arranging and combining to portray endless possibilities, bursting forth with brilliant sparks.
In time, they began to merge two by two, forming more complex and powerful ancient characters.
A myriad of images and variations unfolded before Wang Heng's eyes, each etching itself into his heart. In just one hour, his understanding and insight into the ancient celestial Dao had ascended to a new level, becoming more profound and transparent.
The millions of ancient characters merged, ultimately reducing their number by half, to several hundred thousand.
Despite the appearance of ancient characters diminishing in number, Wang Heng's strength and comprehension of the Dao has significantly improved.
The ancient characters merge and condense into an essence, unleashing greater power. This is a process of getting closer to the truth of the Dao. When the ancient characters mastered by Wang Heng reduce to a dozen or even a few, he will be able to summon the wind and rain, speak and have it accomplished, becoming omnipotent.
Of course, this "omnipotence" is confined to the primal ancient realm. Across the myriad worlds, except for the Celestial Domain which shares the same origin with the primal ancient realm, the power of the ancient characters is greatly impacted in other ancient realms. This is a notable flaw of the Dao of ancient letters.
Tens of thousands of ancient characters, each formed by the fusion of the most basic two characters, have structures more complex than before, and they describe even more powerful Daos. They gathered around Wang Heng like glowing stars, as if he were the center of the universe.
Finally, the ancient characters returned, transforming into streaks of flowing light entering Wang Heng's heart.
From the moment the Supreme Soul Seed commenced Wang Heng's journey on the Great Dao, until the initial fruition of his Dao, he spent over an hour shedding his state of epiphany. Throughout this process, the fusion of the Supreme Soul Seed with Wang Heng proceeded silently and is now nearing completion.
Only in this way can it open the door of the Great Dao for Wang Heng, allowing him to comprehend the vast ocean formed by the convergence of the formless Dao.
“Buzz!”
A soft sound signaled the complete fusion of the Supreme Soul Seed with Wang Heng, uniting them inseparably. From this moment on, unless Wang Heng perishes, this Dao Seed belonged to him alone.
In that instant, immense potential was unleashed from the Supreme Soul Seed, coursing through his meridians and infusing into the primordial spirit seated in his Purple Palace.
Already powerful and well ahead of his peers, Wang Heng’s primordial spirit now became even more terrifying.
It transformed from its previous radiant and sacred appearance to a dark, almost bewitched form, emanating black energy that seeped through his brow into the external world.
Wang Mian noticed this transformation but refrained from intervening. This darkness was not a sign of inner demons; rather, it marked another metamorphosis, another ascension of Wang Heng’s primordial spirit.
This was the blessing and feedback from the Dao Seed upon achieving harmony with the Dao.
Wang Heng felt his primordial spirit continually expand and contract, maintaining its current shape while its strength surged endlessly, transforming incrementally to trigger a qualitative change. Even he could not truly grasp just how powerful his primordial spirit had become, but it was certain that he outclassed his peers, overshadowing the descendants of Immortal Kings, reigning supreme in the ancient realm.
The feedback from the Soul Seed did not stop there. Wisps of black soul mist rising in the Purple Palace shook the small black sword suspended motionlessly in its midst.
This is the legendary Primordial Spirit Sword Technique, one of the three great sword techniques, hidden like a vast treasure in Wang Heng's primordial spirit abode, never before unlocked.
Wang Heng had previously tried to unlock this inheritance of the black little sword, but it had remained unresponsive, completely unmoving.
Now, however, with the assistance of the Supreme Soul Seed, the black little sword reacted, emitting a buzzing sword resonance.
Amidst the evolution and sublimation of his primordial spirit, Wang Heng noticed this change. He was astonished, as he had assumed that unlocking this supreme legacy would require him to advance several more realms, yet just after merging with the Supreme Soul Seed, the inheritance already showed signs of being revealed.
Only a part of the sword body was freed from confinement, much like rust that could not withstand the erosion of time, falling away bit by bit.
The particles transformed into a black substance, like a cloud of black mist drifting toward Wang Heng's primordial spirit.
Wang Heng was taken aback upon witnessing this scene, observing clearly that it was not mist at all, but a multitude of dense, ancient characters.
In other words, the Supreme Soul Seed forcibly extracted a portion of the inheritance from the little sword, making it accessible for him to use.
“Boom!”
As the black mist spread and fused into Wang Heng's primordial spirit, it erupted with a tremendous roar.
(End of Chapter)
