The long-still Undying Dao finally began to boil. The changes of the Undying Dao within the Technique Domain became the trigger for Lin Moyu's enlightenment. His identity as the Heaven-and-Earth Public Enemy screened out all Heaven-and-Earth Rules, sweeping away interference so he could view the Undying Dao with perfect clarity.
His Undying Dao existed only within himself, not within Heaven-and-Earth. Every inch within his body contained the power of the Undying Dao; he himself commanded its every drop. Life and death ought to lie within a single thought—why insist on surpassing some "extreme" to achieve it? In enlightenment, as if self-hypnotising, Lin Moyu told himself that he could fully grasp the powers of life and death and perceive the deepest essence of the Undying Dao. His prior understanding had only skimmed the surface; now he would look within—comprehend life, comprehend death—and only then truly govern life and control death.
Unknowingly, a ring appeared around Lin Moyu. It was grey and white in two colors and revolved ceaselessly about him. At first, the two colors were sharply demarcated, neither disturbing the other; very soon they began to collide and fuse—white thickened in some places that signified life, grey thickened elsewhere that signified death; then white became grey, and grey became white. The ring of life and death formed by the Dao revolved around Lin Moyu, and the astonishing power it shed affected the void. When death erupted, the void shattered—not broken by some brute force, but withering away; the power of death declared this space dead, and dead space naturally withered and fell to ruin. Such fractures were slow to heal; even for the Heaven-and-Earth Rules, restoring them would not be easy. Then the power of life swept across; the withered, shattered space regained vitality, rapidly recovering until fully restored. Wherever life passed, space grew unusually solid, hard to break, in stark contrast to other regions—yet in the next breath even those spaces influenced by life shattered again. Life and death converted back and forth, and so the Undying Dao rapidly strengthened in the cycle of life-into-death and death-into-life. Within the grey-white ring the forces of life and death interwove until each contained the other. Their conversion was completed within a single thought of Lin Moyu.
The enlightenment did not last long—ten minutes at most—but in those ten minutes the Undying Dao grew by dozens of times. Such is Dao-insight: tens of thousands or even millions of years without a step forward, yet once comprehension dawns, power can surge tenfold or a hundredfold in an instant.
Lin Moyu slowly awoke and murmured, "This is the true use of the Undying Dao—life and death in a thought, to govern life and control death. If I refuse to die, then I am eternal and indestructible." The Undying Dao could in fact be called the Life-Death Dao, for it contains immense powers of life and death; but Lin Moyu prefers to call it the Undying Dao, because if mastered to the utmost, he can truly achieve undying and indestructible. If life and death convert into each other, how can he die? Any power that could kill him can be turned into vitality. So Undying Dao is the most fitting name; "governing life and controlling death" is merely an ancillary capability—the true power is guaranteeing that he does not die.
He drew a deep breath; the ring of life and death dispersed and merged back into himself. His realm did not change, but Lin Moyu knew it would be hard to kill him henceforth; the powers of death would all convert into his vitality. At least within this Heaven-and-Earth, no one could threaten him anymore. Thinking back, it was rather amusing: from the evolution of the Technique Domain to enlightenment on the Undying Dao, the first things he obtained were all life-preserving methods. For one unafraid of death, it was indeed funny that what he gained first was how not to die. Perhaps not wanting to die is the deepest thought at the bottom of my heart, he mused.
Lin Moyu turned his gaze back to the Technique Domain. He felt the third technique was about to take shape. Moments later, a message arrived—his third technique had completed:
Heaven-Burst Earth-Rend—it can detonate all things of Heaven-and-Earth, releasing their internal power in a single eruption, and can fuse with the Life-Death Dao: either to annihilate an enemy or to open the heavens and split the earth.
Lin Moyu was stunned again. This technique clearly evolved from Corpse Burst. Before, Corpse Burst killed the living—detonating the corpse of a living being to slay those of the same tier, sweeping all before it. His reaching this point owed much to that technique. Since obtaining Corpse Burst, it had strengthened many times: fewer and fewer restrictions, greater and greater might—yet its essence had not changed much. Now it had completed its first qualitative change—perhaps the only one. Lin Moyu felt that this was the true form of Corpse Burst.
Who says "bursting" must be for killing? It can do other things. For example, Heaven-and-Earth: at its birth it came from a great explosion. And now this technique can detonate all things of Heaven-and-Earth, no longer limited to corpses: any masterless artifact, any material, a domain, even a world remnant—he could detonate it with the technique. At detonation he could choose to employ the power of death or the power of life. If he used death, the killing power would be astonishing—no weaker than before, even stronger. If he fused in life, he could convert death into life and use it for healing. If the detonation target were a world remnant—could this technique create a Heaven-and-Earth?
Lin Moyu was taken aback, then felt his thought a bit laughable. How could it create a Heaven-and-Earth? Even if it did what he imagined, at most it would let a dead Heaven-and-Earth regain vitality; that is not the same as creation. Of course, even to rekindle a dead Heaven-and-Earth, there must be many conditions he did not yet know.
He told the technique to the Primal Chaos Gem. "I want your opinion." The Primal Chaos Gem had seen many births and deaths of Heaven-and-Earth; perhaps an answer could be found in its words.
Listening to Lin Moyu's description, the Primal Chaos Gem fell into thought; for once it grew a few shades solemn. "I have indeed seen Heaven-and-Earth born and perish. You are right about one thing: every Heaven-and-Earth begins with a great explosion. I've seen it many times. What I've never understood is why that tiny point suddenly explodes, and only then comes the evolution that opens the heavens and splits the earth. I've thought of many explanations, like 'things reverse upon reaching an extreme,' but none feel right. I faintly sense there's a reason behind it—but I've never found it. If you can enter the Life-Forbidden Zone, you could try; perhaps you can recreate that process and gain some insight."
Indeed, even if one wanted to try, one must first enter the Life-Forbidden Zone. It was too early to dwell on it now. There will be a chance. There will be a chance. Lin Moyu had confidence in himself. His existence was peculiar to the whole of Heaven-and-Earth: the Undying Dao, the World-Scorching Fire, the Heaven-Scourge Scepter, and now the Yushen World he possessed—each surpassed Heaven-and-Earth. His extraordinariness even exceeded the legendary Emperor Pocang. Emperor Pocang merely went from one Heaven-and-Earth to another, then in the late stage of the first Heaven-and-Earth Life-Death Tribulation attained the Dao, became a Transcendent, and refined and took command of a Heaven-and-Earth. He was already its master before the first beings had been born, which laid his mighty foundation. But Lin Moyu had come even earlier. Though he had not become Dao, at the very dawn of a Heaven-and-Earth—before the cycle of the Life-Death Tribulation even began—he had already become its master. In that sense, his future would be broader than Emperor Pocang's. So he was confident in speaking those words: There will be a chance. Not "perhaps," but certainly.
The Technique Domain continued evolving new techniques. Gazing at the ever-roiling Undying Dao, Lin Moyu muttered, "Bone Hell has already become the cycle of the Grand-Thousand World and shouldn't become a technique again. That leaves two: Wings of Chaos and Infinite Summons. I wonder how those two will change." With so many variables at play, he could not calculate how the techniques would transform—just as Corpse Burst had become Heaven-Burst Earth-Rend, changing from a pure killing art to something that could save lives and even open the heavens and grant a dead Heaven-and-Earth new birth—far beyond his imagination.
This time the evolution proceeded a bit slowly. After patiently waiting several days, the fourth technique finally took shape:
Wings of Heaven-and-Earth—wrought from Primordial Qi into wings; these wings are the authority of Heaven-and-Earth, to command the rules of Heaven-and-Earth. All things under Heaven-and-Earth submit.
Sure enough, Wings of Chaos had undergone a qualitative change. Like Corpse Burst, it had once focused on offense—cursing, confounding, and killing with the rules of the Chaos Dao. Now it had taken another form: chaos, at its extreme, truly transformed—Wings of Chaos became Wings of Heaven-and-Earth. The technique shifted from chaos to order, taking Primordial Qi as root, becoming the authority of Heaven-and-Earth and seizing the rules of Heaven-and-Earth—the rules, naturally, of the Yushen World. All living beings within the Yushen World must bow to it. Lin Moyu knew the Wings of Heaven-and-Earth would be his insignia within the Yushen World; however it evolved, it would remain under those wings.
Nor was that its greatest use: it could also alter the rules of Heaven-and-Earth. With his current strength, though he was master of the Yushen World, he could only make small-scale changes to its rules. The advent of the Wings of Heaven-and-Earth would let him alter them on a grand scale—even render unreasonable things reasonable.
Having fully understood the technique, Lin Moyu's expression grew a little strange. The Primal Chaos Gem asked curiously, "Master, what technique is it this time?" Lin Moyu explained its function, and the Primal Chaos Gem also showed a strange look—its expression even more exaggerated than Lin Moyu's.
"What do you think?" Lin Moyu asked.
The Primal Chaos Gem said, "Your first two techniques are for preserving life. The third, besides killing, mainly opens new Heaven-and-Earth. The fourth is for governing and managing a Heaven-and-Earth. Without exception, all four take Heaven-and-Earth as their backdrop. It feels as if the enemies you'll face in the future are Transcendents from other Heaven-and-Earth. The techniques evolved by the Technique Domain seem aimed beyond Heaven-and-Earth; each targets enemies outside it. To put it simply, the objects these techniques are aimed at are either other Heaven-and-Earth or those Transcendents. They've already stepped beyond the tiers within Heaven-and-Earth, standing higher and aiming at higher-tier existences. The techniques have sublimated—an utmost sublimation. In conception and in function they go far beyond before: a complete qualitative change."
Lin Moyu pondered a few breaths. "You're right. That's exactly it."
The Primal Chaos Gem said, "You should still have a technique evolving."
Lin Moyu glanced at the Technique Domain. The Undying Dao was boiling even more fiercely, evolving a new technique—and the slow progress meant it was stronger still. "There should be one more technique."
"If I'm not mistaken," said the Primal Chaos Gem, "this one should be a pure killing art. First came life-preserving arts, then a world-birthing art, then a governing art. Next should be the killing art."
It continued, "You know, even Transcendents have higher and lower among them. I've seen some of the strongest Transcendents; later, they all do something similar." Its tone grew a shade mysterious, clearly waiting for Lin Moyu to ask.
Lin Moyu smiled and indulged it. "What is it? Tell me in detail."
The Primal Chaos Gem seemed delighted. "They study techniques—and then create new ones. Most of them create three kinds. I group them this way: first, a life-preserving technique. Within their own Heaven-and-Earth they're already invincible, but their enemies come from outside—from Transcendents of other Heaven-and-Earth—so life-preserving techniques are often the first they create. Second, a control technique to utterly command a Heaven-and-Earth—its living beings, its things, and its rules. Third, an offensive technique for battling other Transcendents. At their tier, techniques prize refinement over number: if one art is strong enough, that is enough. Without exception, these three kinds all take Heaven-and-Earth as their foundation."
Lin Moyu understood what it was saying, but to humour it he feigned a hint of confusion. "So you're saying I'm now like those Transcendents?"
The Primal Chaos Gem nodded. "Almost. But you're not catching my point. Think—why would those Transcendents, unprompted, do similar things? And not just any, but those who became Transcendents from higher Heaven-and-Earth."
"Transcendents of higher Heaven-and-Earth did similar things without coordination," Lin Moyu said. "That can only mean they knew something. Not something they saw, but something they sensed. They sensed something from somewhere and knew what they should do."
"That's what I think too," said the Primal Chaos Gem. "But they're not the same as you. Their techniques lack one."
Lin Moyu knew: his included Heaven-Burst Earth-Rend—a technique that could both kill and let a Heaven-and-Earth regain vitality. That was his difference from those Transcendents. And this technique seemed to foretell that one day he would enter the Life-Forbidden Zone to make contact with those world remnants.