Chapter 59: The Innate Mirror Path (Part 2)

[Innately Mirror Dao]
[Dao Lord: Chen Xian]
[Cultivation: Transformation Realm (One-Star Extraordinary)]
[Dao Power: 100]
[First Trait: Mind Like a Clear Mirror]
[Second Trait: Dao Reflected Across the Heavens]

"Dao Lord? Not Mirror Lord?"
"Is it the Dao or is it a mirror?"

Gazing at the lines of text appearing upon the ancient mirror, Chen Xian felt a wave of doubt mingle with a sudden flash of enlightenment.
The Innately Mirror Dao had an indescribable origin, falling into his possession by some unknown means. The dream that had haunted him for three full years had manifested because of it.
As for his doubts, answers now lay before him.
The Innately Mirror Dao was the Dao, not a mirror; the mirror was merely its form, while the Dao was its essence.
The reason it took the shape of a mirror was simply to facilitate his comprehension.

"He is my past, and I am his future. Reincarnation, is it!"

Regarding the young man in his dreams, Chen Xian now understood his origin.
Chen Xian pondered deeply.
Had he not come into contact with the contamination power, perhaps he would not have laid eyes upon this ancient mirror so soon. If that were truly the case, even if those dreams were to vanish, other dreams would surely take their place. Lifetime after lifetime of reincarnation, existence after existence of past lives, all might have manifested in the form of dreams.

"I never expected that the extraordinary power had nothing to do with this ancient mirror."

Ever since he beheld that streak of mirror light within his mind's sea, Chen Xian had assumed that all the changes of the past three years—whether the dreams or his extraordinary abilities—were connected to it.
Yet in truth, his extraordinary power had no relation to the Innately Mirror Dao whatsoever.
The ability to increase his vital energy by bathing in the sunlight was an innate capability he had awakened himself.

"The power of contamination—I originally thought it to be some sort of evil or negative force, yet I never imagined it to be an existence like this."

Chen Xian looked toward the ancient mirror within his mind's sea, a look of sudden realization dawning on him.
The so-called power of contamination, the very force that had caused nations across the Mysterious Star to turn pale with dread, possessed an essence far surpassing Chen Xian's imagination. It was neither an evil nor a negative force at all.
In its essence, the power of contamination was nothing less than unconstrained and scattered Dao principles.
The reason those who contracted this power underwent mutation was merely because its tier was far too lofty; ordinary people were utterly incapable of absorbing it, and thus were passively altered by it.
These scattered Dao principles were precisely the source of the Dao power upon the ancient mirror.

Dao power was the primordial force of all Dao, the operating energy of all creation.

"Is this the turning point to break the deadlock?"

Chen Xian's gaze fell upon the ancient mirror, his eyes shimmering with intent.
"Dao Reflected Across the Heavens—as the Dao Lord, I can naturally project my reflection across the heavens as well. That being the case, I can use this ability to travel to other worlds."
"I only wonder what these 'heavens' truly are. Are they other habitable planets? Or realms beyond the universe?"

Seeing this ability, Chen Xian deliberated.
Presently, the great sun hung high in the void, and scattered, disorderly Dao principles permeated the entire Mysterious Star.
To break the deadlock, there was clearly no way out upon the Mysterious Star itself. But in other worlds, a solution might yet be found.
Even in this brief moment, the Dao power upon the ancient mirror had already increased significantly.
Having comprehended the information imparted by the ancient mirror, Chen Xian desperately wished to use the "Dao Reflected Across the Heavens" ability to journey to other worlds right away. Yet a trace of hesitation kept him from making a final decision.
How much time would such a journey consume? If the required duration proved too excessive, by the time he returned, the opportunity would surely have slipped away.
Furthermore, by what method would he travel to other realms?

Just as Chen Xian was turning these thoughts over in his mind, several lines of text suddenly manifested once more upon the ancient mirror, as if responding to his doubts.

[Dao Reflected Across the Heavens: Time flows relative to the Dao Lord's original world, remaining relatively static.]
[Dao Reflected Across the Heavens: When the Dao Lord reflects across the heavens, he shall travel in the form of a projected spirit from within the mirror; the physical body remains unaffected.]

Seeing this, Chen Xian breathed a slight sigh of relief.
His anxieties could finally be laid to rest.
Since time was static and his physical body would remain unaffected, there was no problem at all.
This meant that even if he encountered disaster and tribulation in another world, his real body would come to no harm.
Had his physical body been susceptible to danger, he would have had to act with extreme caution. After all, he had no inkling of what those other worlds were like; what if he encountered a crisis the moment he arrived, perishing before his venture had truly begun?
As long as he could travel to other worlds, he would have ample time to make preparations. If one world offered no solution, he would simply visit several more. In time, he was bound to find a world that held the answer to dealing with the scattered Dao principles.

Chen Xian hardened his resolve.
With this thought in mind, a flicker of intent from Chen Xian caused the ancient mirror to transform.
Boundless and profound sounds of the Great Dao seemed to echo throughout his mind's sea.
The Dao power, which had been approaching two hundred, plummeted rapidly. Simultaneously, lines of text continuously surfaced upon the ancient mirror.

[Consuming Dao power. Detectable worlds available for reflection:]
[Cangyuan Realm (One-Star), Xuanling Realm (One-Star), Chenxi Realm (One-Star)]
[Tianwu Realm (Two-Star), Longquan Realm (Two-Star)]
[Fuli Realm (Three-Star)]

At this point, the text on the ancient mirror ceased flickering and came to a halt, producing no further characters.
Glancing at the Dao power that had been entirely consumed, Chen Xian understood in his heart:
The text on the mirror had stopped increasing simply because his Dao power was exhausted. Had his Dao power been sufficient, it undoubtedly would have searched out even more worlds.

Scanning across the mirror's surface, several distinct worlds had appeared.

"One-Star, Two-Star, Three-Star—is this how worlds are categorized?"

Noticing the hierarchical classification of the worlds displayed on the mirror, Chen Xian voiced his question directly.
Judging from the mirror's previous reactions, it seemed to lack sentience, yet it was capable of answering his queries. Thus, Chen Xian stated his doubts aloud.

[World classification is based upon the strongest individual within the realm. A One-Star world's strongest entity does not exceed One-Star; a Two-Star world's strongest entity does not exceed Two-Star, and so on.]

"So that's how it is. Then what star-level is the Mysterious Star?"

Chen Xian thought of the Mysterious Star, feeling a deep curiosity regarding how the mirror graded his home world.

[One-Star (Undergoing Metamorphosis)]

"Just One-Star? The most powerful martial arts myth on the Mysterious Star—the Seeing-Divinity martial artist—judging by this, they cannot exceed One-Star either."

He had previously thought Seeing-Divinity martial artists were immensely powerful, yet in the classification of the ancient mirror, they were merely rated as One-Star.
Suddenly, a thought struck Chen Xian.
"The strongest individual on the Mysterious Star is a Seeing-Divinity martial artist, but its greatest destructive force does not come from martial arts, but from technological weapons of mass destruction."
"That being the case, this classification of worlds has loopholes. At least, one cannot judge whether a world is dangerous solely by its star-level."

[Although world star-level classification primarily focuses on the strongest individual, other factors are also taken into account. In a One-Star world, the maximum destructive force shall not exceed the One-Star threshold.]

Reading the ancient mirror's explanation, Chen Xian was momentarily stunned.
"If that's the case, the Transformation Realm is One-Star, Seeing-Divinity is One-Star, and technological weapons also fall within the One-Star scope. This means the span of a One-Star rating is exceptionally vast."
"Then, what star-level is that thing?"

Chen Xian thought of the great sun hanging high in the sky.

[Essence is Four-Star. Dao principles are scattered and disorderly, incapable of constraint; its current state is Two-Star.]