Wei Huoran stayed in his private quarters continuing his study of runes, elements, resources, and formations, recording the results in a series of books. It had been several months since he started his guardianship over the upper west coast of what was now known as the 'Wuying Shenzhou' super continent.
During the first few months, he had used most of his efforts to make connections with the ancient and spiritual beasts that inhabited the land. He also acted as protector of the emerald jade province to prevent the ancient beasts from continuing to dominate the humans that lived there. Huoran acted as part of a huge initiative to prevent the top forces from the new world from invading their home. All the Celestial Dao realms of Wuying were assigned areas of responsibility by the Taiyang and Taiyin capitals. After having the land merged into the new super continent, all the cultivators of land picked capitals for each region. Sun & Moon and Twin Dragon islands were also renamed, and had unanimous approval as Sun & Moon island became the Taiyang capital of the east, and Twin Dragon island became Taiyin, the capital of the west.
The initiative set by the leaders had the strongest protectors watch the borders while they prepared a better defense. Once everyone was in place, the leadership of Wuying started to once again launch satellites into the air. Unlike the last time in the inner world, this time that satellites reached their proper orbit around the world. As that was in progress, a massive, concerted effort was in work as all the highest sage and grandmaster artisans were constructing a continent sized formation. Using the capitals as a blueprint, the satellites were used to detect the spiritual veins of the Wuying continent to supply energy to this super array formation.
As all this was in progress, Wei Huoran also received some good news of his own, Meirong was pregnant with twins. He was overjoyed as he spoke with her over a holographic call, and could not wait for his replacement to arrive in the next season.
When he was not making diplomatic visits to the ancient beast, or recording more rune reactions for future generations, Huoran would still submit scripts for movies or shows, game ideas, or slight improvements to quality of life artifacts to the ministry. Nowadays, more cultivators stepped forward to create their own stories or music, but not many. Sometimes he felt like if he was not sending in improvements or new ideas, the rest of the world would continue on from this day and never try to progress any further. Huoran never did it for money, his one percent ownership in every company of the capitals meant that his future was set.
One day as Huoran was sitting at his desk, he felt a fluctuation of feelings from Quanliyuan. This seemed odd to him because ever since his ascension from the inner world to this one, the artifact spirit had taking the time to finish repairing itself. Since then, Huoran had been amazed by the artifact's capabilities. He could read anything, identify anything, and detect everything within a much larger range than normal. Also, the stored memories that had been sealed away had helped Huoran avoid many dead ends or detours in his own research.
"Did something happen, old friend?", Huoran asked the artifact spirit.
'I detected something that is very familiar', Quanliyuan replied, 'There is a group of cultivators heading this way.'
Huoran had detected the ones Quanliyuan were speaking about, but had not thought about it very much.
'The one in the front is one of the cultivators that attacked my previous owner, and caused me to flee into that world', the artifact spirit narrated.
"Oh!", Huoran exclaimed, "But he is only a late Void Refinement realm cultivator."
'My lat master was also a Void Refinement realm cultivator', Quanliyuan explained, 'But he had been surrounded by many of his peers as they wanted to extract me from him.'
"Well, how about we meet up with old friends", Huoran smiled as his exited his temporary house, unleashed his aura, and waited for the group to arrive.
Quanliyuan in a rare moment also projected an image of himself next to Huoran, but it was an image he had never seen before. Huoran would never claim he had witnessed all the artifact's transformations, but he had seen many.
'I know you are curious so I will just tell you', the artifact spirit spoke, 'This is the image of my late master, Venerable Long Xujie. I think it will be a nice surprise for our guests. I can recognize that the whole group is here. The leader is Feng Ziyu, and the others are Han Yujing, Wu Renjie, and Xue Liang.'
Huoran took note as he floated in the air, and soon a voice called out to him, "Supreme, we are an envoys from the Burning Sun, Thousand hands, Ironclaw Mountain, and External Sky sects. We came to investigate the incident that occurred several seasons ago, as well as offering friendship to any righteous friends along the way."
Feng Ziyu was sweating as he stood in front of the mysterious cultivator that had appeared. Everything inside him said that this man was at the Celestial Dao realm, and even ten of him would not be enough to do anything to the man.
"If I look at this group, your claim that you are here for friendship seems insincere", the man said, "Beside, my friend here says he is familiar with you."
When Feng Ziyu first felt Wei Huoran's aura, he had not made any attempts to find out about the other cultivator next him. At Huoran's words, Feng Ziyu looked at the other man, and in an instant began to panic.
"How can you be here?", Feng Ziyu could not stay calm, and when he looked at his other three friends, he saw they were frightened as well.
"Why can I not be here?", Quanliyuan acting as his late master said, "Did something happen to make you ask this, is this how you greet an old friend?"
The group of cultivators being led by the four seemed confused what was happening, but they were even more concerned when the top four cultivators tried to run. Feng Ziyu shouted as he felt space solidify around him.
"Supreme!", he cried out, "I do not know what that man has told you, but I can assure you he twisted his words to unjustly slander us?"
"Man? What man?", Huoran laughed, "I do not see a man here, simply an illusion created by the artifact you once coveted."
As Feng Ziyu saw Huoran point to his head, he realized what had happened.
Meanwhile Huoran moved his hand, and brought the four cultivator me to him.
He turned towards the frightened group, "If you still wish to visit these lands, I will escort you in. Just remember to learn the rules, and that violators will be found and punished. As far as your seniors, I have more to speak with them about. If your sect leadership has a problem with that, they can come seek me out."
Everyone meekly nodded their heads, and Huoran created a clone image, "Follow him, and he will take care of you."
After the group left, Huoran took the four men to his temporary house. That day, Quanliyuan was able to take his revenge. Even though they did not die, Huoran sent them back to their sects with a secret jade slip detailing the events and why it happened. Needless to say, those four were barred from the Wuying continent for life.
After that incident, Huoran received many more exploration teams and the majority were able to enter and enjoy the wonders of the continent. The rest were unorthodox sects trying to sneak inside, and not only did he remove them from the living, but he also found their sects so that he could visit them at a later date. Soon, his replacement came with the changing season, and he gave all accounts of what occurred to her before heading home.
Once Huoran made it home, he lovingly embraced his wife before checking on his future children. By now, Meirong stomach was showing, but with his own strength or Quanliyuan's abilities, it was easy to check on their growth. After another season passed, the twins were born, and the names both parents agreed upon was Wei Haoran for the elder boy, and Wei Yuelin for the younger girl.
Huoran wanted to keep this a private affair, but news soon picked up on it as many of the most powerful people of Wuying came to visit him. Ministers came to give their blessings, sages delivered artifacts for the children, and the merfolks of the Taiyang capital celebrated for several days when they heard their princess had babies. Life for Huoran began to feel somewhat nostalgic. He remembered what he felt like in his past life when he was working and taking care of his family then too.
It was early in the afternoon, and Wei Huoran was laying in bed. He looked much different now, as his face was full of wrinkles and his hair was as white as snow. Several families were at the foot of his bed, as he felt like he had returned to a familiar scene. All around the rooms were memories of a long life.
"How much time does grandfather have left?", a man said.
"I do not know, but it I believe it will be soon", a woman replied.
"Great grandfather, who is this?", a very young boy asked.
"This is your great-great grandfather", the man replied, "He is one of the most important figures in the whole world."
"Really?", the boy looked skeptical.
"Do you have a QTV or pod at home?", the man asked in a friendly voice.
"Yes", the boy answered, "Mom has had me taking lesson on it lately. The games are fun, but school is boring."
"That would make him very said to hear that", the man said as he pointed to Huoran, "He is the man to created both of those things."
Spurred in action by the boy's ignorance, the boy brought the boy to several large bookcases.
"You see this? This is a collection of every rune, array, and formation every discovered by your ancestor", the man explained, "And this here, many years ago the Blue Star had a crisis of too many high level cultivators causing an imbalance in the spiritual veins. Thanks to the hard work of your ancestor, we were able to travel the stars and venerable and supreme cultivators were able to find new worlds to take as their new home."
The man then brought the boy to another wall covered in many awards, "Your ancestor has been recognized over and over again for each one of these achievements in musics and film. Our technology, cultivation, and culture are all thanks to him and he earned the title, 'The Father of the New Era'."
The boy's eyes were opened to the point someone might think they could pop out any moment after hearing just some of the accomplishments of his ancestor.
The man who had been watching over Huoran soon called everyone over, "The ancestor is awake, and wishes to say some words."
Everyone gathered around as they saw Huoran awake.
"Everyone…I am glad to see you here…Yan'er…someone I invited has arrived…let them in", Huoran instructed his great grandson.
"Of course, ancestor", Wei Junyan said as he directed the house's servants to let the guest come in.
Soon, the visitor entered the room and Wei Junyan recognized him as Lu Jianyu, the family's lawyer.
"I have come at the request of Ancestor Wei", Lu Jianyu said as he bowed.
"Come here", Wei Huoran said, and the lawyer approached the bed.
Wei Huoran pulled jade slip from his robes, "Please act as a witness of my last will and testament".
"Of course, Ancestor Wei", the lawyer responded.
Huoran slipped the piece of jade into a nearby projector, and it began playing. Everyone watched the contents, and there were no big surprises for the most part until the end.
(For most of my life, I had an artifact implanted in my head and spine. It has several abilities in the collection and identification of almost anything. When my time is finished, my friend will not be able to go with me over the bridge of forgetfulness before entering the wheel of reincarnation. After I'm gone, I do not want my friend to be alone and so I examined all my descendants to find out who should be accompanied by Quanliyuan next. After much deliberation, we have chosen Wei Tianzhao to be the next master of Quanliyuan), the projection played.
The young boy was given a tour of his ancestor's room looked at the screen, "Me? I will get something?"
His father and mother came up to him, "Yes, the ancestor has given you a great blessing, make sure you thank him."
As taught, Wei Tianzhao did the most respectful bow he could think of. Silence filled the room, and soon everyone began to wonder if something happened.
"Father, Mother, something is wrong with the ancestor", Wei Tianzhao exclaimed, "He is turning grey!"
Everyone turned from the projection of the will towards the bed that Wei Huoran was laying on, and as the boy said, his skin was turning grey.
Everyone rushed over, and many calls of "Ancestor!" could be heard, but after sometime everyone realized it was to no avail. Wei Huoran, the strongest human cultivator known to man, and the Father of the New Era was no more. Most of the family who were there started weeping, and Wei Junyan went outside the room to make some calls.
"Fortunately, I was hear to receive and hear the will of Supreme Wei Huoran before his passed", Lu Jianyu said, "As ordered, I will now start to execute the last will and testament."
Whether it is was family mourning or the lawyer doing his duty, the situation quickly became chaotic and poor Wei Tianzhao was not sure what to do. So he kept watching Wei Huoran, but soon he noticed a change. The ancestor might have turned grey like a stone, but now the grey appeared to be glowing. Unsure what was happening, he reached over and pulled his mother's sleeve.
"Momma, why is the ancestor flowing?", he asked.
The mother wanted to discipline her son for saying something rude at such a sensitive time, but then she looked at her ancestor and realized what her son said was true.
"Heavens", she said as she pointed, "The ancestor is glowing!"
No one had heard Wei Tianzhao when he asked his mother, but when she asked, everyone heard it. They all turned their attention back to Wei Huoran, and everyone was shocked when they saw this unusually event. What happened next almost caused hysteria, because Huoran's body collapsed and the grey glowing dust that was his body floated away out the window. Screams of panic could be heard, and the only thing left on the bed was his robes, and an artifact, Quanliyuan.
Several days later on every news program, the same news story was being told, "Supreme Wei Huoran, the Father of the New Era, has died a few days ago. No foul play is detected in the event, and authorities have told us that he had reached 100,000 years of age and passed due to being unable to breakthrough to the next level. Unfortunately for him, his dao partner, Zeng Meirong had also passed around one hundred and fifty years ago. The funeral will take place next week as many cultivators, beastkins, and spiritual beasts will be in attendance. After this program, a show that details the life and achievements of Wei Huoran will play, and I invite everyone to watch."
The next week, due to the venue size, only so many attendees were invited to the funeral to pay their respects. The reaction to Huoran's death was normal: the closest friends and acquaintances felt deep loss, the majority of beings that used his inventions and discoveries were sad to hear about it, some were indifferent, and very few were pleased.
Huoran himself had felt his sight change as he remembered being in his room, and then everything was grey. He no longer felt a connection with Quanliyuan, and his movements felt under the control of some other force.
'Where am I?', he thought as he no longer had a mouth to speak with.
Realizing that probably could not receive an answer, he was about to give up when he heard a response.
'You have returned to where you belong', the voice said.
'Who are you?', Huoran quickly asked.
'I am…', the voice started to speak, 'It is complicated, but to make it easy, I am the Dao.'
'Why did I end up here?', Huoran could not understand the situation.
'Just for simplicity, show I call you Theodore Everheart, Mo Tu, or Wei Huoran?', the voice inquired.
Huoran felt very nostalgic hearing the names of his past life, and his birth name but he still answered, 'Please continue to call me Wei Huoran.'
'I will', the Dao continued, 'The reason you are here is that you cannot enter the wheel of reincarnation. You might have noticed something strange about your body, so I will tell you what happened. You were born of chaos. It most likely happened because you crossed over from your old universe to this one. Chaos still separates the universes from each other, and whatever caused you to come here also caused your body to be affected by it.'
'So I had a chaotic physique?', Huoran asked.
'Have is more precise', the Dao replied, 'You did not actually die, but finally broke through to the next realm.'
'Oh', Huoran was surprised, 'But that does not make sense.'
'Chaos normally does not make sense', the Dao countered, 'Formations had no effect on you because they are too weak to enforce their rules on you, you can absorb any kind of energy because chaos is all energy, and reincarnation denies you because you are still alive in its eyes.'
'Then what do I do now?', Huoran asked as this was the first time in a long time that he was unsure.
'That's why I am here, as the Dao, I am all paths', the voice explained, 'I also saw how you helped many return to their own Dao, and I want to thank you.'
'Thank me for what?', Huoran responded.
'For a long time, people walked the Dao', it said, 'But over time, people stopped walking their own Dao and would follow others if it felt easier. Things devolved over time, resources were lost, and eventually people even forgot how to cultivate. With you efforts, this universe has almost returned to how it should, but other universes still suffer. Can you think of a way that they could be corrected as well?'
'If what I did worked, then it should be possible to replicate it', Huoran told the Dao, 'All you need is to select who you feel worthy, and grant them a system that can achieve your goals.'
'I like that idea', the Dao approved, 'Now I can give you a choice, there are not very much places that deal with Chaos because all things come from it, and will eventually return to it. So your first option is to return to the barrier between universes where you will eventually return to your origin, or you can merge with the Dao. Just like chaos, all roads come from the Dao, and will one day return to it and thus I can handle chaos as well. There are no third choices, if you try to go other places, your physique will absorb your surroundings as everything will try to return to you.'
'Then I will merge with you', Huoran firmly made his choice.
'Ok, let us start now', the Dao spoke.
Huoran had a hard time describing what he felt as he merged with the Dao. In life, he had studied every profession, researched every element, and practiced every martial art and cultivation. When he merged with the Dao, he felt comfortable because he felt he had walked every road he could find on the dao, a true polymath.
'This is amazing', Huoran exclaimed, 'I feel like I'm home, I felt like I know everyone, I finally know who I am…I…I am the Dao.'