Li Qiye couldn't be any more meticulous while checking this wooden box in his hand. He would caress it and try to feel something different than all others.
This box was simply indecipherable. Its previous owner was a clan with many powerful characters throughout the year but none managed to figure it out.
In the end, the clan fell into ruins and had to sell the box. Li Qiye wasn't too sure about the box but he was aware of the legends.
“Purewood Divine Emperor, I hope you're not just messing with the world this time.” He tapped the box and said.
In an ancient era, there were stories about how this emperor had left items to the world. Of course, few people who knew about this were still alive.
This emperor was the most mysterious one in the history of the thirteen continents. Some said that he was the first Divine Emperor. Others disagreed and said that there had been others before. It was just that no records were written down about them.
One thing was certain, he was the oldest known emperor in the tenth world and the first to shoulder twelve wills. This was confirmed and clearly written down in the annals.
This was a top level Grand Emperor who had started a brilliant era.
His origin was a mystery. No one knew which sect or what type of person the emperor was. His name has been shrouded in a fog as it trekked through the river of time.
There was an even more ridiculous rumor stating that no one had ever seen the emperor before or knew his true appearance. [1]
Recently, people rarely brought him up but they still believed that he was alive and staying at an unknown location.
In spite of all the mysteries, Li Qiye knew one thing – the emperor had one of the nine grand heavenly scriptures, the Thought Scripture!
However, he didn't hold onto the original copy and left it in the mundane world. Li Qiye spent a considerable amount of time finding it to no avail.
It wasn't until he saw the wooden box that he found some clues. He wasn't completely certain, only around sixty to seventy percent. This was the reason why he wanted the box so badly.
He sat down and placed both palms on the box before reaching a zen state, focusing his mind, spirit, and thoughts.
He removed all primordial chaos energy because it was useless here. Only the dao heart was effective right now.
A while later, a buzzing noise resounded as his body glowed with a black light. Next, a gigantic pair of horns grew from his head as he became shrouded with an evil fog.
When he opened his eyes, two crimson rays rushed out. A murderous temperament made the world tremble. Under his bloodthirsty brilliance, both gods and devils would feel their souls scattering about.
In this split second, he became the eternal dark hand, the supreme butcher. He could massacre the nine worlds and slaughter the thirteen continents!
He became the representative of evil, an everlasting devil king. All living beings were subjected to his cruel whims!
If it wasn't for his spatial concealment, this frightening evil energy would have shocked everyone.
Despite this wicked transformation, his dao heart was still immovable. The evil energy eventually rescinded and he turned back to his original form.
It didn't take long before another buzzing noise came about. A sacred light permeated from his body with the emergence of a golden lotus below him.
The lotus carried him up in the air before a golden spring oozed out all around him. He looked like a saint bathing in this holy water.
He was devoid of any imperfection at this second in this saintly form. The darkness couldn't touch him at all even as he experienced an eternity to become the savior of the world.
Immortal hymns descended with flowers fluttering down. It looked like an immortal world was opening to welcome the ascension of this saintly being.
This saintly transformation couldn't move his dao heart either. The sacred lights disappeared and he eventually reverted back once more.
“Boom!” Li Qiye suddenly disappeared for his new form was a vast expanse of chaos. From this, he became the nine worlds and the thirteen continents. He created the laws and dao of the heaven and earth. He reigned above the six dao and reincarnation cycles. He derived the yin and yang and decided the movements of the ages…
He himself was the high heaven, the laws of the world, eternity itself, and everything in the three thousand worlds. Nevertheless, this couldn't affect his dao heart either.
With each transformation and metamorphosis of his dao heart, he maintained a single thought in this mind.
This process was exceedingly difficult and could drown out anyone else but him.
They weren't mere illusions for they were the thoughts within his mind. It was a tangible experience, a test of the dao heart.
He was once a murderous devil and a saint in the past. He once murdered the myriad races but also saved the nine worlds.
If he couldn't maintain his will, not to mention opening the box, he wouldn't even be able to save himself. His desires would engulf him; the demon of his heart would triumph.
This was the similarity between the Thought Scripture and the Myriad Thoughts Pot.
He assumed his initial form again. Despite all of his hang-ups, obsessions, and desires, he managed to persevere. He was still him, Li Qiye. This allowed him to attain an eternal dao heart with no equals, his greatest capital.
“Buzz!” The thing changing this time wasn't him but the box within his hands.
One page flipped over after another starting from the top of the box with unbelievable speed. After a complete cycle, the wooden box was no longer there. In his hands was a book emitting a divine glow and countless images – the Thought Scripture!
This heavenly scripture was finally within his grasp.
The truth was that the wooden box was no box at all. Purewood Divine Emperor used his supreme will to change its external appearance in the past.
Alas, future generations weren't aware of this and thought that the precious thing was the content of the box, potentially containing a unique item, treasure, or some peerless merit laws.
No, the box itself was everything. There was no need to open it at all.
1. The pronoun is clearly “he” this time so let's hope that this isn't another unknown sex emperor or I will have to go back and correct everything again