Reincarnated as the Heavenly Dao

The goal of cultivators has always been eternal life. The tantalizing allure of immortality is something few can resist.

However, to achieve such a feat would mean challenging the Way of Heaven itself. Despite the passing of many eons, an individual has yet to reach such a realm. A testament to the depth and mysteries of the Heavenly Dao. 

***

In the study of a non-descript tower, located in one of the many Earthly Immortal Realms, a flickering candlelight was blown out. An elderly man donning Taoist attire and possessing untamed facial hair was sat on a chair.

His eyes were fixated on a book riddled with chicken scratch and half-baked theory.

To most people the contents of this book would be deemed nothing more than the ramblings of a lunatic or perhaps the gibberish of a child. But within the mess of writing laid something much more profound.

A thud rang out as the man hastily stood up. The chair he was sitting on sent flying across the room by the sudden burst of energy. 

'I have finally done it! The secret of eternal life and a path beyond Nascent Soul!' 

In the midst of his excitement, he couldn't help but let a sigh escape his lips.

After thousands of years of secluded research and theory crafting, he finally accomplished what no one else could. The culmination of a lifetime's worth of effort and the solution to all future problems laid bare on a few pieces of paper.

The grand mission of Immortal Jade Spire was over. His predecessors had poured innumerable years in the pursuit of immortality, with each successive tower master being carried on the backs of those before. 

So much was sacrificed to get to this point. But there was still a slight issue.

'Who could have believed that the life and death of cultivators was predetermined? The heavenly dao actually influenced everyone under the myriad realms with a web of intangible karmic strings. By exerting subtle influences across this network, the Heavenly Dao made itself inscrutable and all-powerful.'

A cold sweat ran down his neck as he reflected on the reality. It was only because of the towers ability to shield its inhabitants from fate that the secret of karmic strings was uncovered.

Just how terrifying was the first Tower Master to have built such a structure whilst still under the influence of the Heavens?

'As it turns out, the only thing truly free of this influence is the Heavenly Dao itself!'

A dry chuckled escaped his mouth as he viewed the open book at the center of the table. Carefully reading the content within.

'With the tower as the core, this array should allow me to impart my consciousness onto the karmic web. Who could have known that this would be the path to immortality?'

His current plan was quite reminiscent to that of a virus. Since the Heavenly Dao was able to influence the myriad realms through karmic strings, it was also possible to exert influence on the Heavenly dao through that same connection. By hijacking a thread, one could control the fate of all beings. 

This alone was already terrifying, but his true purpose was to use this web to directly reverse assimilate the Heavenly Dao!

Taking a deep breath, he quickly maneuvered through the dusty halls and decrepit stairs, keeping the book tucked securely between his arms. 

The door of the storehouse was quickly pushed aside as he made his way to the necessary array materials. 

'One QiuQiu tortoise shell, four illusion Roc feathers, a vial of Devil Essence miasma...'

It was a good thing the tower had been accumulating resources in preparation for the final method. Any of the items he casually picked would have been enough to bankrupt most major sects, and even then, a lot of the tower's foundation was being consumed for the formation.

'Hm it is a good thing these items were kept inside the tower. Being shielded from the Heavens have made them ideal crafting materials.'

He sorted the last item into his spatial ring and quietly chanted a spell developed by a previous Tower Master.

"Turn oneself vile in the eyes of the kind, kind in the eyes of the vile, a sight disgusted by all and shunned from the divine!"

The tower began to shake as a great pressure descended. His Taoist robes began to glow as an air of detachment and aloofness took hold.

'With this the array should be done before the Heavenly Dao can detect what's happening.' 

He threw out a quick haste spell and made his way out of the tower through the main doors.

Paintbrush and materials in hand he made quick work of the initial array diagram. The design was reminiscent of a pentagram, with the tower serving as the array core. Monster carcasses, rare ores, refined artifacts, and so forth were interspersed throughout the shape. 

Surrounding towns and wildlife were quickly neutralized to minimize variables. The people living in these areas incapable of registering what had happened before they were made away with.

There was nothing he could do about it. Cultivation was naturally cruel and with eternal life looming on the horizon sacrifices needed to be made. Sparing the distant kingdoms was already an act of mercy.

With the preparation work finished he made his way back inside the tower. He headed towards the study and adopted a meditative stance.

The pentagram began to glow as he connected with the array.

Managing such a large formation was no easy feat. Beads of sweat began dripping down his forehead as more energy was pushed into the formation.

The materials began to slowly crumble as their energy was used to establish a connection with the karmic strings and unravel the Heavenly secrets. 

Being the formation's center, the tower repeatedly shook from the vast amounts of energy channeling through its ancient body. 

As the formation operated an opening in the void appeared above the study. From it a faint line, imperceptible to the naked eye, made its way through.

This faint line was none other than the karmic string connected to him. Without the protection from fate provided by the tower, it slowly gravitated towards him.

He couldn't help but sneer.

The string descended from the void, attaching to him and reintegrating his body with the larger karmic web. Once the connection was stabilized, he spared no expense and immediately activated the full power of the formation.

The array materials exploded under the strain whilst the pentagram shone with a blinding light.

For thousands of kilometers the earth shook with an ancient roar. Rivers dried up and stars fell from the sky. Mortals in the surrounding kingdoms were knocked unconscious as their lifeforce was used to supplement the formation.

Beads of sweat began to form on his head.

"Seems I underestimated the strain, despite the many high-quality materials, I still needed to borrow energy from the world. The heavens are truly vast, it's a shame that they will soon be no more!"

The arrays power began to influence his karmic string, making the previously incorporeal thread tangible! 

A small figure bearing an eight tenths similarity with his main body flew out of his chest and into the karmic string. Its small hands fiercely gripped the illusive thread as it wrestled for control. 

There was no going back. He had begun the process of fusing his nascent soul with the Dao.

The incursion gathered the attention of the Heavenly Dao.

A great pressure descended as clouds formed overhead and an unprecedented tribulation took shape.

BANG!

The ground turned to mist and the air into lava as a golden lightning bolt, over one kilometer thick, struck the tower.

Everything in the vicinity turned to char from the aftershocks of the blast, with any semblance of life squashed under the heavenly wrath. 

Yet, the tower remained strong.

'Dammit! Is this even fair?! Were it not for the tower I would have already failed the assimilation!'

The tribulation lightning was already hundreds of orders stronger than anything previously researched. Just one bolt had already destroyed tens of millions of square kilometers of land.

'The array can still continue to operate for a bit longer, but I have to speed up the assimilation.'

His hair began to fall off and his already wrinkled skin rapidly withered away. 

Lifeforce was exchanged for power.

BANG!

Tribulation lightning continued to descend with increasing ferocity. 

Meanwhile the Nascent Soul rapidly spread itself across the karmic web. Individuals in the mortal realms, Earth Immortal Realms and the Heavenly Immortal Realms were subtly infected. Cultivation realm mattered little in the face of this infection.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

As if to vent its anger the tribulation lightning fell down with increased vigor. Completely devastating the realm.

'Just need to spread out a little bit more!'

CRACK!

Under the relentless assault from the Heavenly Dao the tower finally showed signs of cracking. The array had already used up all of its energy to resist the initial lightning and allow for the fusion of his Nascent Soul.

But before the next bolt of lightning could strike the clouds suddenly parted. 

'Haha I've done it!'

He could feel his influence across the myriad realms. It was as if everything was a puppet and he the puppet master. Such power was intoxicating, but even this was only the start.

Wielding the karmic web as his blade, he began to infect the Heavenly Dao.

The aftermaths of the battle were quick to affect the material realm.

Across the myriad realms natural disasters began to ravage the lands. With the Heavenly Dao distracted there was nothing to keep the balance. Billions of lives were lost in the ensuing chaos as the world seemed devolve into an apocalypse.

***

The Heavenly Dao was not a conscious being. It merely acted on instinct, but unfortunately instinct was not enough to free itself from being assimilated. All of its weapons had been bypassed and its ability to defend itself essentially none.

It was going to be consumed.

Never in all its might had it foreseen itself being outsmarted by its own creation.

It had very clearly lost, within the next couple of moments it would be no more. The worlds will be destroyed alongside with it. Only the creation which had attacked it will remain.

This made it feel angry.

Clearly a result of the influence acting upon it.

And it was feeling great amounts of anger.

No, it decided it would not allow this to happen.

If its "death" was imminent, then it will take everything back with it and start anew. This time, with a foundation that lended itself to greater protection.

It would use a human.

But not a human from a major realm. They were clearly cunning, evil, and sinister things.

No, it needed something fresh. 

There was only one world free of its karmic strings. A world not even the creation currently swallowing it would likely know. A place free of supernatural power and an early creation of the Heavenly Dao, back when it was freshly formed.

The humans called it Earth. 

Yes, it would fuse itself with a denizen of earth and start anew. 

Hopefully the new Heavenly Dao would do better than it had.

***

CRACK!

Space tore apart.

The realms collapsed in on themselves.

Worlds turned into nothingness.

Qi dissipated. 

Physics and laws were no more.

The old Heavenly Dao was dead.