Chapter 149: One Flower, One World

While inside the chaos bead, the secrets of heaven were completely obscured, preventing the Heavenly Tribulation from sensing his aura, so it naturally could not descend.

Chu Yuan calculated in his heart that once the matters here were settled and he had completely stabilized his rules, going out would no longer attract the Heavenly Tribulation.

He raised his hand, and the map of mountains and rivers flew out from his sleeve, suspending in the Void Realm.

Within this treasure, there was already the prototype of a world, containing mountains, rivers, vegetation, the sun, and the moon, forming a world of its own.

In the past, his cultivation was insufficient, and his Law of Creation had not yet reached Perfection, making him unable to activate its true power.

Now that he had achieved the Pure Nirvana Realm and his Law of Creation was approaching Major Achievement, the map of mountains and rivers could finally unleash its proper power.

Chu Yuan pinched a hand seal with one hand, spiritual light flowing at his fingertips.

The map of mountains and rivers slowly unfurled, and the mountains, rivers, and vegetation on the scroll manifested one by one, lifelike.

Endless Qi of Creation gushed out from the map, like the power of the Origin from the beginning of heaven and earth, majestic and overwhelming.

As the Qi of Creation surged, the floating continent below underwent earth-shaking changes.

On the barren peaks, green pines burst through the rocks, dripping with lush green.

In the dry riverbeds, clear springs gurgled out, gathering into streams, which then became rivers, merging at the foot of the mountains into a lake of rippling green waves.

On the lake's surface, lotuses bloomed one after another; flowers blossomed and withered, lotus pods bore seeds that fell into the water, and new lotuses grew, endless and unceasing.

Even living creatures began to emerge from within.

On the grasslands, hundreds of flowers competed in beauty, a riot of purple and red, attracting fluttering, colorful butterflies.

In the woods, hundreds of birds built their nests, orioles sang and swallows danced, a scene full of vibrant life.

Chu Yuan sat cross-legged in the Void Realm, closing his eyes to concentrate, his mind connecting with the map of mountains and rivers, merging into one with this newborn world.

The Law of Creation circulated within his body like an invisible thread, weaving his understanding of heaven and earth, as well as his insights into all things, into this continent one by one.

In seclusion, there was no concept of time.

For the first ten years, Chu Yuan just watched quietly.

He watched a single seed break through the soil, sprouting branches and leaves in the wind and rain, eventually becoming a towering tree.

He watched a flower bud quietly bloom, its petals unfolding layer by layer to reveal golden stamens, only to gradually wither in the autumn wind and return to the dust.

He watched a butterfly break out of its chrysalis, stretch its wings in the sunlight, soar high, lay eggs, and die, while new larvae hatched from the eggs.

The blooming and withering of flowers was not an end, but a beginning.

The birth and death of butterflies was not extinction, but continuation.

The succession of withering and flourishing, the continuity of life and death—this was Reincarnation.

Another ten years passed.

Chu Yuan closed his eyes, no longer looking with his physical eyes, but with his heart.

What he saw was no longer flowers, butterflies, or trees, but the rules behind them.

A flower blooms because the potential to bloom is already contained within the seed; sunlight, rain, and soil are merely conditions that allow this potential to be realized. A butterfly's transformation occurs because the potential to fly is already contained within the chrysalis; time, temperature, and nutrients are merely the process that allows this potential to be released.

All things possess potential, which will manifest only when the time is ripe.

This was Creation.

Another trace of comprehension rose in Chu Yuan's heart, but he still felt as if it were separated by a thin veil.

Another ten years.

Chu Yuan began to try guiding it. With a thought, dead wood on a certain hillside sprouted new buds; with another thought, a clear spring gushed from a dry riverbed.

He discovered that in the face of the Law of Creation, all things could be communicated with.

Mountains have their pulsations, water has its breathing, wood has its rings, and flowers have their language.

He was no longer just watching, but began to listen. Listening to the voice of the mountains, the voice of the water, the voice of the wood, and the voice of the flowers.

The voice of the mountains was silent, yet in that silence lay the vicissitudes of billions of years.

The voice of the water was flowing, yet in that flow lay immutable laws from antiquity.

The voice of the wood was growing, yet in that growth lay the Reincarnation of the changing seasons.

The voice of the flowers was blooming, yet in that blooming lay the brilliance of fleeting youth.

He recorded these voices in his heart one by one.

In the twentieth year, Chu Yuan opened his eyes and stood up.

He walked onto the continent, stepping barefoot on the soil, feeling the warmth of the earth.

He walked to the stream, reaching his hand into the water to feel the pulse of the current.

He walked into the flowers, bending down to smell their fragrance, feeling the joy of their blooming.

He walked into the woods, looking up at the canopy, feeling the growth of the trees.

He was no longer a mere spectator; he was a part of this world, and the world was a part of him.

"I am the mountain, I am the water, I am the flower, I am the tree."

Chu Yuan muttered to himself.

The mountain was his skeleton, the water was his Bloodline, the flower was his countenance, and the tree was his sinews and bones.

This world was born because of him, and it existed because of him.

He closed his eyes, his mind merging into one with the entire continent.

He could sense the temperature of every inch of soil, the flow of every drop of water, the breath of every leaf, and the blooming of every flower.

Every corner of this continent was within his perception.

At thirty years, Chu Yuan returned to the Void Realm and sat down cross-legged.

He began to organize his insights from these thirty years.

He saw a seed go from dormancy to germination, from germination to growth, from growth to blooming, from blooming to bearing fruit, from bearing fruit to withering, and from withering back to the dust.

From the dust, a new seed was nurtured, and the seed began a new cycle of Reincarnation.

Life and death, withering and flourishing, rising and falling—these were not opposites, but a unity.

Life is the beginning of death; death is the destination of life.

Withering is the starting point of flourishing; flourishing is the extreme of withering.

Rising is the accumulation of falling; falling is the inevitability of rising.

All things are within Reincarnation; no one can escape it, nor is there any need to escape it.

Reincarnation is not a punishment, but a gift.

It is precisely because of Reincarnation that life can continue and all things can flourish endlessly.

After another hundred years, he had already comprehended the true essence of Creation: the interconnectedness of all things, and the convergence of all laws into one.

There is no isolated existence, only mutual interdependence.

There are no isolated individuals, only parts of a whole.

Flowers and butterflies depend on each other, mountains and water accompany each other, heaven and earth harmonize with each other.

This is Creation.

But how could he integrate these comprehensions into a single Divine Ability?

He racked his brains but still could not find the answer.

Another ten years passed.

One day, Chu Yuan sat on the mountain peak, gazing at the sea of clouds in the distance.

The clouds and mist surged, changing unpredictably, sometimes resembling mountain peaks, sometimes rivers, sometimes birds, and sometimes beasts.

Clouds are inherently formless, taking shape because of the wind. Water is inherently shapeless, taking form because of the container. The power of Creation is inherently formless and shapeless, manifesting because of Destiny. Why cling to form? Why cling to shape?

He reached out his hand and plucked a wisp of the Qi of Creation from the Void Realm.

That wisp of Qi circulated in his palm, sometimes turning into a flower, sometimes a butterfly, sometimes a mountain, and sometimes water, constantly changing and unpredictable.

Chu Yuan closed his eyes, his mind sinking into that wisp of the Qi of Creation.

Flowers bloomed and withered, clouds gathered and dispersed, seas turned into mulberry fields, and spring and autumn alternated in succession.

That wisp of the Qi of Creation had transformed into countless shapes and experienced countless cycles of Reincarnation, before finally, in an instant, transforming into a budding green lotus.

The green lotus was not large, only about the size of a palm, emerald green all over, with faint dewdrops rolling on its petals.

It quietly floated in Chu Yuan's palm, emitting a faint spiritual light.

Chu Yuan opened his eyes, looking down at the green lotus.

He could sense the power of Creation contained within the green lotus; it was not violent or turbulent, but calm as water and gentle as the wind.

"One flower, one world."

Chu Yuan softly murmured to himself.

Within a single flower, there lies a world.

Within a single leaf, there lies a heaven and earth.