Avery was the creator of this world, and technically ruled it, but he was not all powerful.
Before, the level of the visualization was too high compared to his body and soul, and it was normal that he had no control. However, now that he had fully integrated as the ruler of this realm, he had thought he would naturally be granted ultimate power over it. Unfortunately, this was not how things worked.
He had hoped his transformation would have given him more control over the inner workings of his world, but apparently not. He was not a God who could shape and reshape the world at a whim, or a Sage with boundless magical powers. He held the position of the Tao, and despite the unparalleled honor that was, it also came with extreme restrictions.
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Avery often compared the Tao to God, since that was a concept he was much more familiar with. However, the more he learned about the Avenue, the more he saw the limitation of this comparison. No matter how enthralling and divine the Truth seemed, there were key differences between the two.
A god was a creature that transcended reality, and that had created the world because he had wanted to, not by necessity. He could care immensely for his creation, going to extreme lengths to ensure its well being, but in the end he was above it all.
It was like a human treasuring a vase he had crafted. He would be extremely upset if somehow that vase came to break, but it wouldn't actually harm him, because he was separated from his possessions.
The Tao was different. It was not the world’s maker or ruler, it was the world. There was no part of the Avenue that was separated from the universe, and no part of the universe that was dissociated from the Tao. In the end, perhaps it was not so much the ultimate creator and more that it was a divine seed from which the universe sprouted.
A God was also different because the name implied it was a sentient creature. It had desires, values and often enemies. The Avenue simply was. It merely followed its own rules, in a rigid but infinitely complex way. It had no Goals, or any opinions on what the world should be like. It only ordained that it existed.
That did not mean it could not be biased in any way, rewarding some things and punishing others, but that was not motivated by some great plan or vision. No, that was simply the way it was.
And that was the way it would stay, because without anything to influence it, it would simply follow its own rule for all eternity. That was why the free will of sapient creatures was so important.
It was the only thing that did not have to flow according to the natural cycles, the only thing that could express creativity, the only thing that could have a true impact on the world. Enlightened beings held the power to completely transform the world and the Tao, for better or for worse.
He had often dreamt of being accepted by the Avenue, but now, after decades spent studying it, he realized this was not how things worked.
It simply did not have the intelligence to accept or reject him. Becoming a part of this world was not a matter of recognition, it was a matter of him forcing his way in, and tricking the world into thinking he was a native from the beginning.
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There were obviously multiple worlds, and Avery liked to imagine each one of them was a beautiful tapestry.
He had previously been one of the many threads on the tapestry of earth, but a mysterious accident happened, and he had been torn out and thrown across the room, where he landed on the tapestry of the prehistoric.
From afar it might look like Avery was part of this work of art, but in actuality he was only a wandering thread that had fallen on it, and he wasn’t truly part of it. A small breeze would be enough to pick him up again and exile him to god-knows-where.
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Avery liked this analogy a lot, because he thought it accurately reflected his humble position. In the grand scheme of things, he was only a small, loose thread. Not worthless of course, he could be a very pretty piece of thread, but his potential would only be fully released if he was part of something bigger. Only when millions of threads merged together would they truly form a stunning picture.
That was why Avery wanted to become an immortal so badly, as he theorised that through ascension, he would be reborn as a child of this world, and be completely integrated.
To do that, he needed to explore the Truth. As a thread, stuck to the surface of the tapestry, he had very limited vision. He could see a lot of things happening around him, but most of it seemed random and nonsensical. To contemplate the Truth was to take a step back and view the world from afar, and only then would all of the elements meld together to form a wonderful picture.
You were still technically looking at the same thing as before, but with new context and perspective, he could now better understand the whys and the hows of the world.
Since Avery was not really a piece of thread but had some agency of his own, he would be able to improve himself and work to follow this order. And once he knew enough, he would be able to weave himself in that tapestry as a powerful immortal.
But even if weaving himself into something greater was infinitely better than to remain a forgotten piece of string, that was not the end of Avery’s ambitions. He wanted more than to just be a part of the Tao, more than just being an unremarkable thread among a million others.
He wanted to become a piece of art himself. Once he was an immortal, he would continue learning from the Truth, and strive to imitate it. As he learned more, he would gain in length and color, until one day he would have grown enough to be able to weave himself into a picture of his own, a smaller painting that was part of a larger piece.
The Avenue was a huge mural depicting countless things, from the 33 heavens to Mount Bouzu and the netherworld, but some of those scenes had their own identity. That was what Saints were.
The six reincarnations were made by empress Houtu, and both of them were indistinguishable, like the world was indistinguishable from the Tao.
If one day the empress decides to become independent and exile herself from this world, as it was her right as a saint, then she would leave with the entire netherworld. By herself, she equaled the Avenue in nature, and was a piece of art by its own merits. It would be smaller and perhaps less expansive, but in the end it would be a complete world nonetheless, and one with just as much potential as the prehistoric.
To dream of the Tao was not to accept it as an overlord, becoming a mere super powered lackey, nor was it to forgo your own individuality to serve it.
No, to dream of the Tao was to study it, using it to grow until you reached it, and it didn’t stop there.
To dream of the Tao was to wish to equal it, and by doing so add to it. It was to catch up to it, and then continue walking together ever forward throughout eternity, in a mutually beneficial relationship. And if one day they were separated, you would simply form a smaller picture, instead of merely being a loose thread.
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That was Avery’s dream, but that would take countless years to achieve. Right now, what mattered was that this new outlook on the nature of the Avenue explained his current powerlessness.
The Tao was not a sentient being, it was a complex set of rules undergoing endless self-contained evolutions. It was not designed to have a consciousness and be controlled by it.
If a human was made tiny and climbed into the driver's seat of an RC car, then he would still not be able to drive it. There would be no working steering wheel, no acceleration or brake pedals, or anything of the sort. Everything was designed to work with a remote control, and just because someone was in the toy car did not mean that it would suddenly work differently.
That was Avery’s current position. He was in command of the virtual the Tao, but he could no more influence the events of the world than a human could control his individual blood cells. He still had some overall control, being able to influence the world space and time, but he could already do that before fusing with it.
There might be some obscure workarounds he had not yet discovered, or some ways to influence the world he was missing, but for now it was best he focused most of his attention on familiarising himself with his new identity. He just needed to let natural evolution work its magic, keeping an eye on what happened to the creatures of his world, especially the eldritch rock monsters.
Hopefully soon some more palatable creatures would evolve and gain sapience.