Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies Chapter 327 Dao Heart 8

The Dao Egg and Soul Seed's collision dominated the darkness of this disconnected space. A world of pure amber-gold was all that existed, but the sheer pressure from this collision produced a force that was tremendous beyond description!
Yan Zaizen's body cracked like earth! Fissures of separated skin spawned across his body, from his face to his toes. Blood spewed from these cracks like geysers, and his mouth became the opening of a waterfall of crimson! The pressure and pain reached to the point where his eyes lost its focus, his conscious ceased immediately, and he couldn't even react or make a single whimper or cry.
Despite this, he stayed in his position without moving a single millimeter. The pressure was so powerful and coming from everywhere in the world that his body remained stationary!
The Dao Egg was like a sun and so was the Soul Seed. Two suns collided but neither were willing to surrender. This wasn't unexpected. Daos were naturally incompatible, much like Regalias of the Heavens. They held their own beliefs and drive, oftentimes clashing with others to validate their own existence, but regardless of what Dao, neither would ever wish to surrender to the other.
This was a form of natural instinct. An unwillingness to be crushed, defeated, and vanquished out of existence. However, these two Daos were the same in make and origin! This offered a very, very rare opportunity that could only be performed under these very specific circumstances.
But make no mistake, if two of the same dao from different individuals were to clash in such a manner, there would be no other option but absolute mutual destruction! My Dao will survive, your Dao will disappear! It was a law, a formless yet definite law of the Dao.
A voice sounded like a ghost in the lone wind, "Sacrifice the Dao! Concede!"
This voice was like an Imperial decree from beyond the heavens and it caused the Dao Egg to tremble violently. It flickered and halted its crushing attempt for supremacy. If one were to sense the Dao aura or even see the Egg, it seemed to be in conflict and confusion, and if it had eyes, it would be staring at the Soul Seed in puzzlement.
The voice had originated from the Soul Seed!
Yan Zaizen had, the moment his dao clashed with this Soul Seed, truly lost consciousness, but his Soul Seed was a part of his consciousness and it was still connected to him!
The Dao Egg listened to his command. It must. This was his Dao, it was him much akin to a limb or a thought, fully within the control of the user except under extreme circumstances.
"I command THEE!" The Soul Seed's figure became upright and if it had eyes, it would be incredibly cold and sharp like an emperor's blade.
The Dao Egg violently trembled. However, Yan Zaizen's portion of his consciousness no longer had to give the command. The first was an alert, but the second was a command! It can not, could not, and will not resist.
It became a stream of amber-gold light that poured into the Soul Seed willingly. The Soul Seed consumed the Dao Egg and relished in its aura and strength. As it did, the Soul Seed's humanoid form became more and more human. Firstly, it gained a kingly crown atop its head. Then, its features slowly begun to resemble Yan Zaizen.
As all of the Dao Egg entered the Soul Seed, the world's light and pressure vanished like a wisp of flame in a blizzard. Without the pressure, Yan Zaizen's body crashed heavily to the ground. A pale white light circulated where his heart was. His body ignited into a white flame!
This was the Unyielding Flame of Life!
Much like the time Yan Zaizen had lost consciousness and nearly died when he first cultivated the Herculean Method, the Unyielding Flame of Life remained by his side, always protecting him whenever necessary! Within seconds, his cracked body became fully healed and the blood burned away, fueling the flame itself.
"Urgh…" Yan Zaizen groaned as he slowly rose from his fallen position. Him suddenly losing consciousness wasn't described in the Divine Art…
"This is why I hate theorized arts...too many unexpected events." In truth, the art did work as intended, but it went to show that a second soul with a second dao was absolutely required otherwise convincing his dao to merge while unconscious was impossible. Not to mention, if the Dao was a different Dao, even if he did have the same soul, two complete Daos couldn't co-exist peacefully in one form.
This was a law of the omniverse.
The Soul Seed was no longer a Soul Seed, but a Dao Heart!
Yan Zaizen felt strangely empty. If this feeling was described as Yan Zaizen being a cup full of water before, then now, it was akin to him being a cup with a drop of water. This singular drop was the connection he now possessed with his dao.
It felt abnormally strange. It was like losing your arms and legs, and now you used prosthetics.
"The third part of the art: Establish Union." Yan Zaizen originally believed this part meant the merging of the Dao Egg and Soul Seed into becoming a Dao Heart, but now he understood his error. The Establish Union meant to reconnect fully with the Dao Heart.
"Humph," Yan Zaizen coldly humphed, his eyes imperious.
"Come."
Like an obedient dog, his Dao Heart flew towards him with no hesitation. His eyes became surprisingly warm, a smile of confidence appeared on his face, "Enter." This command set in motion the unification of his Dao Heart and himself almost instantly.
Like a cup being poured into by a gallon of liquid, Yan Zaizen quickly returned to full. However, If the cup was filled water before, then this was filled with a liquor of Dao. It was beyond refreshing and the connection was perfect without any flaws.
What Yan Zaizen didn't know was that this part was the most difficult part of the entire technique. It was even theorized to take thousands or tens of thousands of years! However, Yan Zaizen's Dao was not normal. It was a False Grand Dao!
His existence had long since merged with this Dao of his, how could the connection be remotely difficult to establish?!
The avatar that was usually blank had its eyes slowly widen, almost as if it was in disbelief. However, it quickly regained its blank state.
"Refine the soul...the last step." The Dao Heart, Grand Soul mostly referred to the last two steps. To establish the Dao Heart and refine the Soul! This would create a Dao Soul! Something that, by all logic, should be impossible!
While the Dao, Origin, and Essence stay within the soul, for they to become the soul was beyond the word 'unconventional'. It was suicidal as demonstrated by the first step, losing everything for barely anything.
While the Dao, Origin, and Essence all have connections with the soul, empowering, moulding, and function in their respective order, it remained that it was limited to simply those three things!
Yan Zaizen looked at this Dao Heart of his. It was him but with a crown. It was remarkably familiar to him, as if he had seen a figure like this before. However, he couldn't recall the specifics of this feeling. He could only put it aside for now.
"Time for the moment of truth. Yri, despite your methods, I must give praise where praise is due. You are exceptional, and even as a Non-Entity, I would be hard pressed to devise such a spectacular art." When he said those words, the avatar's gaze flickered very briefly. Yan Zaizen wasn't facing the avatar as he spoke, but his eyes flickered briefly with intense light.
"Dao Heart, refine this soul of mine." With his words, the Dao Heart entered his body and fixated itself within his soul. It was as if it became the true heart of the soul, slowly throbbing at an even cadence. Soon, the Dao Heart started to expel thin threads of light. This light was like veins and arteries. Slowly, his soul was absorbed into the Dao Heart.
The veins carried blackness. This blackness seemed to contain a trace of devouring, mimicry, and beyond the heavens aura! It funneled into the Dao Heart, thin lines of black surfacing within the Dao Heart's internal form.
The arteries were sending out amber-gold blood, bright and powerful. It was warm, imperious, ferocious, determined, unyielding, and relentless. It entered the shell of the soul and slowly mixed with the blackness.
The law avatars within the soul remained unaffected, surrounding the Dao Heart as if it were their sovereign.
This continued for a while until the Dao Heart and the Soul was like a mixture of black and amber-gold. The black and amber-gold were like curvy, swirling, yet horizontally parallel lines within the soul, much like a zebra's moving or curled body.
It was majestical and beautiful to behold.
"No longer is my Dao and Soul two different entities. I now have a Dao Heart and a Grand Soul, a Dao Soul!" Yan Zaizen's eyes brightened as he saw the form of his soul and within was a throbbing heart surrounded by his myriad laws.
He, Yan Zaizen, had just defied conventional ways of the omniverse!