Chapter 158

Are you here?

His figure flashed, and Li Mo vanished from the spot.

Within the Pavilion of the Immortal Pool in the Realm of Creation.

Li Mo calmly brewed and poured tea; shortly after, a graceful figure approached from afar, and upon drawing near, immediately bowed to Li Mo.

"West Queen Mother pays respects to Your Eminence; please forgive this intrusion."

The graceful figure bowed solemnly and said softly.

West Queen Mother, arrive!

"No need for such formalities; this is not a time for official matters. Sit and speak."

Li Mo said with a smile.

"One must still bow when it is time to bow. Little Mo, it has been a long time. I was too busy perfecting the Great Dao completely to come with them to see you; you won't be angry, will you?"

West Queen Mother said with a smile.

"..."

Li Mo.

Why so tea-like?

"You have come for the second step of the Supreme Thunder Lord?"

Li Mo smiled and got straight to the point.

Many matters still need arranging; the time seems long, but spread out, it is not much. Whether for him or for West Queen Mother, time must be seized; there is no need for further chatter or waste.

Even with Nuwa, Li Mo had not had a relaxing chat in a long time.

"Yes. The Great Dao of Thunder has been fully mastered; the first step is complete, but I do not know how to proceed with the second step. I have not the slightest clue, so I came to disturb you."

Seeing Li Mo speak of official matters, West Queen Mother nodded, her expression turning serious.

"The path of the Supreme Thunder Lord takes thunder as its core and thunder as its source. If the first step were named, it could be 'Ten Thousand Thunders Return to One,' while the second step is 'Ten Thousand Thunders Open the Source.' 'Ten Thousand' means boundless; taking the concept of an imaginary number, it appears as ten thousand, yet is truly infinite."

Li Mo said calmly.

"Ten Thousand Thunders Return to One..."

West Queen Mother pondered; this term was far more precise.

What she had done was take the Great Dao of Thunder as the core, merging countless minor paths into the Great Dao of Thunder; 'Ten Thousand Thunders Return to One' could not be more tailor-made.

But what 'Ten Thousand Thunders Open the Source' meant left West Queen Mother utterly confused. Open the source? Open what source? The root? Or the origin?

"In days past, I told you that you once said the second step would make the Great Dao from rules, yet it proved difficult to achieve. This 'Ten Thousand Thunders Open the Source' is to help you fully merge all Great Daos into the Great Dao of Thunder... 0"

"Though your Great Dao of Thunder now differs entirely from the Thunder Daos of all heavens, it is still merely the integration of rules and cannot yet be called a new Dao."

"If your second step succeeds, if all Great Daos are fully merged into the Thunder Dao, then at that time, the Great Dao of Thunder you wield will become a new Dao, which will shine upon all heavens. At that time, you will be the Ancestor of Thunder Daos in all heavens, the Lord of the Thunder Dao."

Li Mo said slowly.

If you reach the absolute peak, you will be the source of all Thunder Daos in all heavens, the Lord of all Thunder Daos. The new Thunder Dao will be in your hands!

And this is merely the second step!

West Queen Mother's slender body trembled slightly, her breath catching. Even with her tranquil, non-contentious nature, West Queen Mother could not help but breathe slightly faster, her eyes growing fiery.

"Your Eminence, what must I do? I implore Your Eminence to bestow the method."

Her expression sobered; West Queen Mother rose, bowed, and said respectfully.

"The 'source' can mean the origin, or it can mean the root."

"Since it is to shine forth as a new Dao, one must take the root as the Dao and expand from the root."

"What is the root? It is the Great Dao of Thunder."

"How many branches does your Great Dao of Thunder have now?"

Li Mo said slowly.

"There are three thousand Great Daos; each Great Dao comprises three thousand minor paths. I have fully merged the three thousand minor paths of each Great Dao into the Great Dao of Thunder, totaling nine million thunder derivatives, and from these nine million rule-thunders, I have extended them into the boundless."

"However, those boundless extensions have not been fully cultivated; otherwise, several derivative eras would not be enough to finish cultivating them, and even if cultivated, they would not increase much."

West Queen Mother said thoughtfully; at the end, a faint bitter smile appeared on her face.

She did wish to cultivate the extensions as well, but there were simply far too many. How could one cultivate billions of variations? How many years would it take? One derivative era? Ten? A hundred?

It was utterly immeasurable.

Moreover, it would not increase her cultivation base much, so there was no need to cultivate them.

It is like water: the water of one ocean is already sufficient; adding the water of several more oceans serves what purpose? Besides having more water, it cannot trigger a qualitative transformation.

"Do not worry about the extended minor paths."

"If one turns rules into a Great Dao, the difficulty is too high, truly as hard as climbing to the sky. But what if one turns rules into a realm?"

"One Dao comprises three thousand; then use the three thousand minor paths to condense a realm, gathering them into that Great Dao."

"Take the Great Dao of Water, for example: assemble its three thousand minor paths to construct a realm of rules. At that time, would rules not also be a Great Dao?"

Li Mo waved his hand and said.

"Rules become a realm, returning to the Great Dao?"

West Queen Mother murmured to herself; she had a vague realization, yet still some parts remained unclear, causing West Queen Mother to ponder and deduce further.

"If it is merely this, it cannot yet be called 'Ten Thousand Daos Open the Source,' nor does it have any relation to the 'source.' Moreover, this approach would lack a medium."

Seeing West Queen Mother's confusion, Li Mo spoke calmly to guide her.

"Lack a medium?"

A flash of inspiration struck; West Queen Mother suddenly understood, her eyes gradually brightening.

"Your Eminence, do you mean to split the Great Dao?"

"My Thunder Dao is composed of ten thousand Daos, constructed by ten thousand Daos; its core is the Great Dao of Thunder, while its branches are billions of minor paths. It is they that formed my current Great Dao of Thunder."

"And the second step is to re-split my Thunder Dao, to separate those minor paths once more, using those minor paths as cores to evolve a realm of rules, and to nurture and strengthen those minor paths within the realm of rules."

"Once all the myriad realms are formed, once the rules transform into Great Daos, only then can the Great Dao be reabsorbed, using these transformed Great Daos to reconstruct and reshape my Thunder Dao."

"When the ten thousand paths return to one, that will be the day my second step is completed."

"And at that time, it will be the period when my Dao illuminates the myriad heavens and achieves a new Dao."

"This is the opening of the source of the ten thousand thunders!"

"Starting from the Thunder Dao, taking the minor paths that bow their heads to the Thunder Dao as the ten thousand paths, using this to open the source, using this as the origin—this is the second step of the Supreme Thunder Lord's Dao!"

Her eyes bright, her heart surging, the Queen Mother of the West quickly voiced her thoughts; at first she spoke with some stammering, but by the end she had fully understood, and her speech rate grew ever faster.

Internal group: Wu Yi Jiu Er (Two) Si Er 4 3

"Indeed."

Li Mo nodded slightly and said.

This is truly the second step of the Supreme Thunder Lord's Dao!

A magnificent step!

It is also the core step of the Supreme Thunder Lord's Dao.

"Thank you, Venerable One, for bestowing this method."

The Queen Mother of the West performed a bow and said respectfully.

"No harm; you understood it yourself. Otherwise, even if I spoke much, it would be useless."

Li Mo smiled.

"Wait!"

At that moment, as if reacting to something or thinking of something, the Queen Mother of the West's expression froze; immediately afterward, her body trembled once more, and her pupils contracted slightly.

"Opening the source of the ten thousand paths... opening the source of the ten thousand paths... opening the root, opening the source... this opens the source, yet it is not the true root; it is more like... the foundation!"

"Venerable One, does my Supreme Thunder Lord's Dao have a third step!?"

The Queen Mother of the West looked up abruptly and said.

PS:

Updates finished. Unless there are special circumstances, the author will release four chapters totaling twenty thousand words daily.