Emperor's Domination

Nine words manifested into reality and rotated continuously around Li Qiye - the creator.

He sat down and evolutions unraveled around him. Ages seemingly passed by in the blink of an eye.

“Who is the egg?” The illusory voice asked.

“Who are the nine words?” Li Qiye responded with a question.

This voice was invisible and incorporeal. He could only converse with it with his thoughts.

“Which word are you?” He asked using a primordial language.

“Dao.” The voice had no choice but to respond.

“Nine words from the absolute beginning. Unfortunately, I am not it.” He smiled: “As for the prior question regarding the egg, you know the answer.”

“The high heaven.” The voice answered.

“Then why do you wish to keep a distance? A mortal such as myself won’t eat you.” He smiled.

It seemed that the incalculable distance between them shortened by a tiny bit. The voice answered: “You are the second egg.”

“I am not.” He shook his head.

“For now.” The voice said.

“It’s within the realm of possibility but to become the next egg is rather meaningless. It’s just repeating the same thing.” He stroked his chin and said.

“Then what are you?” The voice asked.

“Just a nobody, a mortal searching for an answer, that’s all.” He smiled.

The voice took a while before responding: “There is no answer.”

“The dao has the answer that mortals are searching for.” He said.

“Not the answer that you want.” The voice said decisively.

“I suppose that’s true, but what about the nine words?” He said.

“With the nine words, you’ll be the egg.” The voice answered.

“I can assure you, I will never become the egg.” He shook his head.

“Why?” The voice asked.

“The dao heart alone, that is my pursuit.” He smiled.

“The dao heart.” The voice repeated.

“You have seen it before within the emperor and monarch.” He said.

“Not necessarily.” The voice said.

“True, it’s inconspicuous until the very end when the brilliance of an unwavering dao heart can be seen.” He nodded.

“Perhaps, but still to be determined.” The voice said.

“What are you afraid of? We both know that nothing can constrain you for you are the dao. Plus, I’m a kind soul.” He asked again in a casual tone.

“You are the egg.” The voice repeated.

“If you could enter my mind, I would let you do so to gaze at my dao heart, to see if it is an egg or not.” He shook his head.

“The probability is high.” The voice insisted.

“Sigh, looks like there is nothing I can do to prove otherwise.” He let out a sigh.

“Just another egg. You’ll realize this once you see it.” The voice said.

“What if I prove you wrong?” He asked.

“Well…” The voice hesitated: “And if you do?”

“There’s a particular tale from long ago, few know about it.” He stroked his chin and brought up something different.

“You’ve seen it?” The voice seemed reluctant to hear this tale.

“No, but it did happen, don’t you think?” He said.

The voice didn’t answer.

“There was a little baby born with little spirits dancing and singing around it.” He said: “The baby reached and grabbed one of the fairies, then turned around and went back to sleep.”

After a long silence, the voice finally answered: “Now I’m sure that you are an egg, only an egg would know this.”

“If I were an egg, I would grab you right now.” He revealed a menacing smirk, certainly scaring the voice.

“Hahaha, just kidding, if I really want to capture you, I would be going in person instead of using this method for a chat.” He laughed and waved his hand.

“Eggs are unpredictable.” The voice said.

“Stop making me repeat myself, I am not an egg.” He said helplessly but the voice didn’t seem to trust him.

“When you are at that place and the circumstances are right, will you become an egg?” The voice asked.

“Never.” He said firmly.

“This egg isn’t an egg…” The voice was being convinced by him.

“Sigh, can’t escape the topic of eggs at all, what the heck happened?” He smiled wryly.

“Because of the egg.” The voice said.

“That’s a very long time ago, the egg isn’t like how it was in the past.” He shook his head.

“But still an egg all the same.” The voice said.

He contemplated in silence for a bit before replying: “Maybe you’re right, I haven’t thought about this deeply enough. Perhaps I was biased from the start, I might actually be an egg.”

“Exactly.” The voice said.

“So what led to all of this?” He mused.

“The nine words.” The voice answered.

“Right, the nine words!” Li Qiye slapped his thigh and exclaimed.