Primordial Era: I am a treasure trove, full of magical treasures.

The Primordial Holy Assembly, with Xuanbao's earth-shattering oath, shone brightly, completely overshadowing everything else. Within the Jade Pool, ten thousand immortals paid homage, their voices rising like a tidal wave, their Daoist aura soaring to the heavens. This grand gathering was no longer merely a celebration, but a landmark declaration—a new order centered on the Heavenly Court had taken complete shape before all living beings of the primordial world.

The saints' expressions varied. The Three Pure Ones clapped their hands and laughed, their eyes filled with the exhilaration and pride of seeing their disciples as truly formidable. Nuwa and Houtu showed approval, and the others knew that the primordial world now had a true pillar of stability. Only Jieyin and Zhunti, their faces ashen, sat listlessly on their lotus thrones, their surrounding Buddhist light dimmed, seemingly out of place with the dazzling light and vibrant atmosphere, becoming the most lonely and desolate backdrop.

The holy assembly lasted for nine days. During these nine days, Xuanbao either opened an altar to expound the ultimate principles of the Primordial Chaos, discussed the Dao with the saints, received the congratulations of ten thousand immortals, and processed the initial intentions of the first batch of rogue cultivators eager to express their loyalty. The entire Heavenly Court was operating at high speed, with Haotian and Yaochi extremely busy, maintaining order at the grand event while also initially registering and screening the massive influx of pledges of allegiance.

Nine days later, the Hunyuan Holy Assembly came to a successful conclusion.

The immortals departed in order, but their steps were far less hurried than when they arrived. Many powerful figures turned back again and again, gazing at the majestic Heavenly Court and the Primordial Dao Platform, their eyes burning with unprecedented fervor and determination. They knew that the first thing they would do upon returning was to consolidate their forces, take stock of their resources, and prepare to fight for future "Heavenly Court achievements."

The saints also departed one after another. Before leaving, the Three Pure Ones had a private conversation with Xuanbao. Laozi left behind the words, "Go ahead and do as you please; Kunlun is your backing." Yuanshi instructed, "The rules of the Heavenly Court are all about order." Tongtian laughed and patted Xuanbao on the shoulder, "Good lad, now those two bald monks in the West will probably be having a hard time sleeping! Well done!" Nuwa and Houtu also offered gentle encouragement and promised to meet often in the future.

The last to depart were the two Western Saints. Almost out of the sight of the other saints, Jieyin and Zhunti silently rose, gave a hasty bow in the direction of Xuanbao, and then transformed into two somewhat flustered beams of Buddhist light, fleeing swiftly westward, their backs revealing endless desolation and dishevelment.

Although the holy gathering has ended, its aftershocks have not subsided and have instead intensified.

Sure enough, not long after, a piece of news that was both earth-shattering and somewhat absurd and exhilarating spread like wildfire throughout the primordial world at an incredible speed, even overshadowing discussions about the details of the Primordial Holy Assembly—

……

However, from the day the Hunyuan Holy Assembly ended, strange phenomena began to appear in the Western Spirit Mountain. These were not auspicious omens, but terrifying chaotic divine lightning! The divine lightning was chaotic in color and contained the supreme power of the Dao that could create heaven and earth and destroy all laws. It did not strike anywhere else, but specifically struck the Great Buddha Hall, the core of the Pure Land of Spirit Mountain!

At first, the myriad Buddhas of Mount Ling were shocked. The saints Jieyin and Zhunti personally took action, setting up layers of defense with the Twelve-Petaled Golden Lotus of Merit and the Boundless Nirvana Buddha Light. However, the chaotic divine lightning was extremely domineering, ignoring most of the defenses, and always finding a gap to strike down fiercely! It scorched and cracked the magnificent golden roof of the Great Buddha Hall, greatly damaging its spiritual energy!

What's even more astonishing is that this lightning strike lasted for a full eighty-one days!

For eighty-one days, lightning flashed incessantly and roared incessantly above Mount Ling. The chanting of Buddhist sutras and the explosions of thunder intertwined, occasionally punctuated by faint, furious groans. The entire western region could witness this terrifying spectacle and feel the awe-inspiring power of heaven that made all living beings tremble. At first, some Buddhist disciples attempted to chant sutras to resist the calamity, but later they all hid deep within their caves, trembling with fear.

Eighty-one days later, the thunder finally subsided. Looking at Mount Ling again, the once magnificent scene of golden light, auspicious clouds, and melodious chanting was gone. In its place was... a charred black.

Half of the golden roof of the Mahavira Hall collapsed, revealing the charred beams and pillars inside. The originally white and lustrous Lingshan floor tiles and rocks are now mostly covered with a thick layer of pitch-black ash that flashes with lightning arcs, as if they had been thrown into a furnace and burned by the fire of chaos for ten thousand years.

The entire Ling Mountain, from its peak to its foot, seemed to have been splashed with a thick layer of ink, exuding an aura of surviving a calamity and utter desolation. Only the core of the most profound, silent Buddha light, and the places where the saints Jieyin and Zhunti resided, still retained a faint radiance, but compared to the past, it was more than ten times dimmer.

When the news reached the Heavenly Court, Xuanbao was playing Go with Kong Xuan and Dapeng in the Lingxiao Palace.

"Master, you're cheating! You used your supernatural powers to turn back time!"

Da Peng looked furious at the culprit.

"I didn't! Don't talk nonsense. How could I, a dignified Grand Luo Golden Immortal, resort to such low-level methods?"

Xuanbao naturally wouldn't admit to cheating, and put on a very upright face.

Suddenly, a celestial official stumbled in to report, his voice filled with barely suppressed excitement and awe.

Seeing that someone was just arriving, Xuanbao immediately changed the subject.

"What's wrong? Why are you in such a panic?"

Upon hearing the Heavenly Emperor's question, the celestial official naturally recounted how the Western Sacred Mountain had been struck black by heavenly lightning, giving a detailed account from beginning to end.

……

"My masters... they really are decisive and efficient." Xuanbao's tone carried a hint of a smile. He didn't need to guess to know that this was most likely the work of his three masters, especially Tongtian, the hot-tempered master who couldn't stand seeing his disciples being wronged. With the combined power of the Three Pure Ones, they simulated and even invoked a portion of the power of the Chaos Divine Thunder, continuing it for eighty-one days as punishment. This not only vented his anger but also severely humiliated the West and indirectly warned the prehistoric world—Xuanbao should think carefully about who was behind him.

Moreover, this lightning bolt didn't strike the mountain, but rather the fortune of the Western Sect, and even more so, the faces of the two saints, Jieyin and Zhunti.

"Master, those two bald-headed... saints in the West are probably going to be so angry they'll vomit blood!" Dapeng was beaming. He had officially joined the Heavenly Court as Xuanbao's personal attendant and was living a very carefree life. Even the high-ranking officials of the Heavenly Court treated the two brothers with great respect.

After all, don't underestimate them just because they're boys; they're serving their own top bosses.

Seeing how happy the two comrades were before, I thought that Kong Xuan and Da Peng seemed to have a connection with Buddhism. In the original timeline, Kong Xuan later became the Western Buddha Mother, and Da Peng naturally became the Buddha's maternal uncle.

cough!

The saying goes that what you eat and what you excrete becomes the Buddha Mother!

If someone were to eat the Primordial Chaos in one bite and then expel it, wouldn't the Primordial Chaos become their son?

However, after thinking about it, Xuanbao laughed at his own stupid idea. Who the hell could eat Honghuang in one bite? Even a Saint with that strength is just an ant. What's the point of resisting? Let him eat him.

Xuanbao chuckled, about to speak, when hurried yet steady footsteps sounded outside the hall. Haotian rushed in, his face showing the weariness of days of work, but his eyes shone with an astonishing light, like two inextinguishable starlight. He first bowed respectfully to Xuanbao, then reported with a wry smile:

"Your Majesty, I... can't hold on much longer."

"Oh? What could possibly make my 'Marshal of Heaven' and 'Grand Steward of Heaven' cry out that he can't hold on any longer?" Xuanbao raised an eyebrow, gesturing for Haotian to sit down and speak. Kong Xuan cleverly offered a cup of calming "Starry Jade Dew".

Haotian disregarded etiquette, accepted the jade dew and drank it all in one gulp. He let out a long sigh before speaking rapidly, "Your Majesty, ever since you attained the Primordial Dao, especially after the oath at the Holy Assembly to 'exchange merit for innate spiritual treasures' spread, our Southern Heavenly Gate... has almost been trampled apart! No, not just trampled apart, it's practically bursting at the seams!"

He gestured in the air, and a screen of light unfolded, densely covered with flowing light and message markers. "Look," he said, "these are the jade slips, talismans, and even those directly imprinted with divine sense that have flooded in over the past three days—those offering allegiance, inquiring, and requesting audience! More than 30,000 new independent cultivators above the Golden Immortal level have registered! Among them, over 800 powerful clans and sects have explicitly expressed their willingness to submit their entire clan or sect to the Heavenly Court and accept its reorganization and command!"

Haotian pointed his finger, and the flowing light and markings on the screen magnified and refined according to his guidance, forming a series of chilling image fragments.

"This is only the result of the initial screening." Haotian's voice carried a hint of weariness, but even more so, shock. "Of these 30,000+ cultivators at the Golden Immortal level or above, over 4,000 are Taiyi Golden Immortals, and even... there are seventeen veteran Quasi-Saints who have long since retired from the world! They have been silent for countless eons, yet now they have all taken the initiative to appear, presenting their visiting cards with earnest words, only requesting an audience with His Majesty and seeking an opportunity to 'serve the Heavenly Court'!"

He paused, then pointed to another area: "Look at these eight hundred or so forces willing to submit their entire clans. The 'Northern Dark Tortoise Clan' has come to surrender, leading its entire clan to guard the Weak Water of the Heavenly River! The 'Southern Fire Crow Clan' is willing to lead its entire clan to join the Heavenly Court's Fire Department and await orders! There are also the 'Eastern Sea Dragon Clan' and the 'Western Gengjin Mountain Range' White Tiger Clan."

The images on the light screen shifted, revealing the scene outside the South Heavenly Gate—where was the "deserted" scene? It was practically a "celestial" mountain and a "celestial" sea! Various kinds of escape lights, magical treasures, mounts, and even enormous flying palaces and ships filled the vast square outside the South Heavenly Gate and the surrounding void to the brim, stretching as far as the eye could see! The celestial soldiers and generals maintaining order had to form a human wall and activate the diversion formation, working up a sweat. Even through the images, the noisy yet orderly waves of sound could be felt, a multitude of divine thoughts intertwined, some excited, some apprehensive, and some fervent.

"And these are just those who have voluntarily come to surrender and are qualified to wait outside the South Heavenly Gate." Haotian rubbed his temples. "Those who know they are not qualified yet, or are still observing, or are trying to indirectly join through various connections... their numbers are simply impossible to count. In addition, the appointment applications of local mountain gods, earth gods, river gods, city gods, and other grassroots deities, the selection of personnel for the expansion of the heavenly armies, and the celestial officials who were already serving in the Heavenly Court, after hearing about the 'merit-for-spiritual-treasure' exchange, their enthusiasm for work has soared, but they are also trying to find out the merit evaluation standards and exchange details, or want to take on more dangerous and higher-merit missions... Your Majesty, the operational pressure on the various departments of the Heavenly Court is more than a hundred times greater than when we were conquering the four directions. It's like a machine pushed to its limit, overheating everywhere, and in urgent need of help! Your Majesty, Yaochi, and the heads of the various departments have been working almost non-stop these past few days, and we haven't even been able to squeeze out time for meditation and breath adjustment!"

After speaking in one breath, Haotian felt his throat go dry. He picked up another cup of jade dew offered by Kong Xuanxin, drank it all in one gulp, and stared expectantly at Xuanbao. His eyes clearly said: Your Majesty, you've stirred up a hornet's nest, you have to find a way to clean it up! If this continues, your loyal and capable chief steward will really "die of overwork" before the Heavenly Emperor's throne!

Kong Xuan and Da Peng listened in astonishment. Although they knew their master was now incredibly powerful, they never expected that a single promise could trigger such a terrifying tsunami. Da Peng shrank back, secretly glad he had chosen the right person to follow. If he were still a rogue cultivator outside, he would probably be stuck in that sea of ​​people below, anxiously waiting for a slim chance.

After listening to Haotian's "complaints," Xuanbao showed little surprise on his face, instead revealing a calm smile that seemed to have been expected. He gently put down the white jade chess piece he was playing with, his gaze sweeping over the bustling scene on the light screen, and slowly said:

"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it. Excessive popularity, if not properly managed, can indeed be a hidden danger. However, this is also the perfect opportunity for the Heavenly Court to thoroughly establish its foundation and regulate the primordial world."

He looked at Haotian, his gaze profound: "Haotian, I have seen the hard work you, Yaochi, and all the important ministers of the Heavenly Court have put in these past few days. You have done a good job, stabilizing the overall situation and preventing major chaos. However, there are priorities and rules to follow. In the past, when the Heavenly Court was newly established, everything was done expediently, which inevitably led to some carelessness. Now that the situation is settled, it is time to establish rules and build a framework so that this mighty torrent is brought under my control and used for my purposes, rather than being swept away by it."

Haotian's spirits lifted, knowing that His Majesty was about to reveal his opponent. He immediately straightened his back and listened intently.

"Your Majesty's decree will be obeyed!" Haotian bowed and accepted the order, his voice booming, showing no sign of fatigue. "Your subject will act immediately! Join forces with Yaochi and the other departments to implement Your Majesty's decree as soon as possible!"

"Go." Xuanbao smiled and nodded. "Remember, everything is difficult at the beginning. The plan can be outlined first, and then refined. The key is to be fast and steady, and to show people the efficiency and determination of the Heavenly Court. If there are any difficult decisions or significant obstacles, report back immediately."

Xuanbao picked up his teacup, took a sip, and gazed at the boundless starry sea outside the hall. He said leisurely, "In addition, I have recently had some insights into the Dao of Primordial Chaos and need to go into seclusion to comprehend it for a period of time. You and Yaochi are in charge of handling all matters of the Heavenly Court. Unless absolutely necessary, do not disturb my seclusion."

Upon hearing this, Haotian's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. "Your Majesty, the timing of your seclusion is rather too coincidental... isn't it!"

This is clearly a move to wash one's hands of the matter, leaving all the troubles of the Heavenly Court to him and Yaochi!

However, Haotian had been following Xuanbao for quite some time and knew that although His Majesty seemed casual, every step he took was actually meaningful.

Taking a deep breath, he swallowed his complaints and bowed solemnly: "Your Majesty, I obey! I will certainly not fail Your Majesty's trust!"

Xuanbao nodded in satisfaction and was about to wave Haotian away when he felt that life was full of hope. How about we get another stack of these subordinates who can do the job well and don't require any attention from the leader?

Should I go to Nuwa's Palace to play chess with her, or go back to Kunlun Mountain?

But someone disrupted his plans.

"Mysterious Treasure".

A detached, lofty voice, seemingly emanating from the heavens above or from time immemorial, resounded without warning directly from the deepest part of Xuanbao's Dao heart.

It was not a transmission of sound, nor a divine thought, but rather like the divine voice of the Great Dao, ignoring all the defenses and barriers of his Primordial Dao Body, and directly imprinting itself into his true spirit.

Hongjun!

Come again?

Xuanbao's movement to get up froze instantly. The leisurely look on his face vanished, his eyes suddenly became sharp as knives, and the warm and jade-like primordial Dao aura around him involuntarily stagnated and rose slightly.

This voice was even more... emotionless than when we last met at Zixiao Palace. It was colder, more hollow, as if some supreme rule was merely using the name "Hongjun" to convey a message.

"Go to Zixiao Palace immediately."