Primordial Era: A man at the mouth of the Guanjiang River marries the Third Holy Mother.

The sound of Taiyi Zhenren's sternum shattering echoed throughout the entire general's mansion, so jarring it made one's teeth ache.

He lay sprawled in the mud pit, his body covered in mud and blood, his Taoist robe tattered into strips, his face smeared with mud and blood, his eyes unfocused, showing no trace of the dignity one would expect from a Great Immortal.

Chen Changsheng's foot landed firmly on his chest, with just the right amount of pressure, pressing down on the broken ribs and causing them to sink inward.

"Speak, what else did the Primordial Celestial Venerable tell you?"

Chen Changsheng spoke in a calm tone, as if he were asking about something extremely ordinary.

A string of bloody foam spilled from the corner of Taiyi Zhenren's mouth, and a hoarse sound came from his throat. He looked like a fish that had been thrown onto the shore.

He raised his bloodshot eyes and stared intently at Chen Changsheng.

Fear? Of course there is.

But more than anything, it's a kind of desperate madness born from having nowhere else to turn.

"Chen...Chen Changsheng...you think defeating me is the end of it?"

Taiyi Zhenren's voice was hoarse, and with each word he uttered, blood bubbles were squeezed from the corners of his mouth.

"Do you really think Master would send me here alone to die?"

Chen Changsheng's brows twitched slightly.

He noticed that Taiyi Zhenren's right hand was uncontrollably stretching out into the distance, his five fingers spasming as he desperately reached in a certain direction.

That direction is exactly where the Pangu Banner was plunged into the sea.

"Master!"

With the last of his strength, Taiyi Zhenren roared hoarsely toward the heavens.

"This disciple is incompetent! I beg my master to descend!"

This roar was no ordinary cry for help.

As Taiyi Zhenren roared, his primordial spirit burned wildly, pouring all his remaining cultivation into the Pangu Banner, which was located thousands of miles away at the bottom of the sea.

boom!

A column of water suddenly shot into the sky from the seabed of the East China Sea.

The Pangu Banner, which was stuck upside down on the reef, rose into the air, and the second layer of saintly power sealed on the banner surface was activated on its own.

A gray, chaotic light, carrying an apocalyptic pressure, burst forth from the center of the banner, shooting straight up to the Thirty-Three Heavens.

The entire East China Sea boiled over in that instant.

Towering waves rose from the ground, and countless ancient beasts sleeping deep in the sea were awakened by this aura, letting out terrified cries and desperately fleeing into the abyss.

The city walls of Chentang Pass were shaking violently, and countless bricks and stones were falling down.

Li Jing protected Lady Yin and Nezha as they retreated to a corner of the room, his legs trembling and his teeth clenched so tightly they clicked.

Li Jinzha activated his Undying Golden Body, his body protected by golden light. He held Li Muzha with one hand and shielded his father with the other, his face ashen.

"This aura..."

Li Jinzha's voice trembled.

Although he was only at the True Immortal Realm, he had witnessed many grand scenes while following Chen Changsheng. This sense of oppression, this suffocating feeling of being deprived of even breathing, he had only ever felt from one other being.

saint.

The Pangu Banner hovered above Chentang Pass, its surface fluttering in the wind.

Chaotic light condensed, twisted, and recombined in the center of the banner.

A figure slowly emerged from the chaotic light.

The figure was surrounded by auspicious clouds, its feet treading the void. Its face was majestic and ancient, and its eyes shone with the divine radiance of the Jade Purity Dao. Its aura was vast and boundless, suppressing all the laws of heaven and earth within a million miles the moment it appeared.

One of the three incarnations of Yuanshi Tianzun.

A sage has descended to earth.

All living beings inside and outside Chentang Pass knelt down under this oppressive force.

The people knelt down.

The soldiers guarding the city knelt down.

Even the rogue cultivators and low-level demons passing by outside the city felt their knees buckle, their foreheads pressed to the ground, and their whole bodies trembled uncontrollably.

This is the natural suppression of all living beings by the Heavenly Dao Saints, unrelated to cultivation level or willpower; it is the instinctive submission etched into the very bones of every primordial being.

Li Jing knelt on both knees, his face pale, and squeezed out a few words through clenched teeth: "Sage... Sage..."

Li Jinzha and Li Muzha could no longer withstand it. Their golden protective aura was shattered by the saint's pressure, and the two brothers fell to their knees with a thud, their heads hitting the blue bricks heavily.

Only two beings did not kneel.

One is Nezha.

The newborn child stood behind the threshold, the Qiankun Ring around his neck humming on its own. The Hun Tian Ling tightly wrapped around his body, absorbing most of the oppressive force. He stared with his big, round eyes, his lips pouting, looking displeased.

The other one, of course, is Chen Changsheng.

He withdrew his foot from Taiyi Zhenren's chest, slowly straightened up, and looked up at the saintly incarnation in the void.

With his cultivation at the half-step Grand Luo Golden Immortal level, he activated his full power, causing the nine-colored Great Dao Thunder Patterns to surge like a tide on his body. The Nine-Rank Divine Radiance of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Top bloomed behind his head, forcefully tearing a gap in the Saint's pressure from his body.

He stood ramrod straight, motionless.

The avatar of Yuanshi Tianzun looked down at Chen Changsheng, a cold rage flashing in his eyes.

"Chen Changsheng".

The avatar spoke, his voice not loud, yet it completely overwhelmed all other sounds within a million miles, leaving only his voice echoing between heaven and earth.

"Having seen this holy being, why do you not bow?"

These six words, when they landed, were heavier than any supernatural power.

The laws of heaven and earth contracted wildly the moment those words were spoken, as if trying to forcefully press Chen Changsheng's knee down.

The ground cracked beneath Chen Changsheng's feet, and blue bricks and stones flew everywhere.

Chen Changsheng's legs bent at a very slight angle, but the next moment, the three supreme treasures within his body—the God-Slaying Spear, the Eastern Emperor Bell, and the Primordial Measuring Ruler—resonated simultaneously, forcefully pushing back the oppressive force from the outside.

Chen Changsheng raised his head, a slight smirk playing on his lips.

"snort."

He looked at the avatar in the void, his tone filled with undisguised contempt.

"A mere incarnation of the Three Corpses dares to make me kneel?"

Chen Changsheng stood with his hands behind his back, his voice neither loud nor soft, yet it carried clearly throughout the entire Chentang Pass.

"If the true form of the Primordial Celestial Venerable were to arrive in person, I might still show him some leniency."

"But you..."

Chen Changsheng's gaze swept over the avatar, as if he were examining a worthless object.

"Not at all."

In the void, the expression on the face of the avatar of the Primordial Celestial Venerable instantly darkened.

The auspicious clouds of the heavens surged and churned, and the laws of the Jade Purity Great Dao transformed into countless golden chains, spreading out densely behind him.

The entire sky was stained a somber gray-gold by his anger.

"presumptuous!"

With a cold shout, his voice shook the heavens.

"You ignorant brat! The Jie Sect has only produced a half-step Hunyuan cultivator, and you already think you're so arrogant?"

"Today, I, the Holy One, will teach you a lesson on behalf of your grandmaster Tongtian, you arrogant fool!"

When Chen Changsheng heard the words "to teach you a lesson on behalf of your grandmaster," the coldness in his eyes intensified.

On behalf of my master?

When did you, Yuanshi Tianzun, become qualified?

But he didn't waste any more words.

Because he sensed that the magical power surging within the avatar of the Primordial Celestial Venerable was genuine power at the level of a sage. Although it was an avatar, and although it was less than one-tenth the power of the true body, it was still the true power of a sage.