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

Xuanbao slowly rose, his face now calm, but the light in his deep eyes was brighter and more wary than ever before. He waved his hand, said nothing, and took a step forward.

The space beneath his feet rippled like water, and in the next instant, his figure had completely vanished from the Lingxiao Palace, leaving no trace or aura.

A Primordial Golden Immortal can traverse the ends of the earth with a single thought, effortlessly crossing endless time and space. However, this time, Xuanbao's actions were not simple spatial teleportation. He followed the special "coordinates" and "guidance" contained within that voice, which only a Primordial Dao Fruit could sense, and traveled along an unfathomable trajectory in the boundless chaos.

All around was a surging, chaotic current of energy, in which earth, fire, water, and wind were born, died, and evolved, yet they gently parted when they touched Xuanbao's body, which was about three zhang in circumference. Chaos is inherently disordered, but the "path" that Xuanbao was walking on at this moment faintly possessed a kind of indescribable "order"—an order belonging to the "Purple Cloud Palace," a "shortcut" that Dao Ancestor Hongjun had opened up in absolute chaos with his supreme power, leading directly to the Great Dao.

It was unclear how much time had passed—perhaps just a moment, or perhaps countless ages had lost their meaning in the chaos. Suddenly, the surging chaotic air currents in front parted to the sides, revealing an ancient and simple palace gate, seemingly containing the very essence of all the primordial laws and principles.

Zixiao Palace.

It seemed no different from any other day, still as silent and unchanging as ever. But Xuanbao's Primordial Dao Heart trembled slightly the moment it touched the palace gate.

Something's not right. Something's definitely not right.

Xuanbao's current cultivation and perception are vastly different from when he last came. Having achieved the Primordial Chaos Realm, his own Great Dao is perfected, reflecting the heavens, and his insight into the workings of all things and laws has reached an inconceivable height. At this moment, in his eyes, the seemingly peaceful Zixiao Palace before him exudes an indescribable... disharmony.

The three ancient Daoist characters "Zixiao Palace" on the palace gate still exuded supreme Daoist charm, but Xuanbao "saw" a near-mechanical, constantly repeating "Daoist rhythm cycle" within them, lacking the dynamism and change that originated from spiritual enlightenment. The aura emanating from the entire palace and its "interaction" with the surrounding chaos also appeared unusually "orderly" and "rigid," as if operating according to a predetermined program, rather than the natural breathing of a living being's Daoist abode.

Xuanbao took a deep breath—even though his Primordial Dao Body no longer needed to breathe—suppressed the tremor in his heart, and stepped forward.

The palace gates opened silently.

The interior was exactly as I remembered. A spacious hall, an eternally flowing, serene Taoist atmosphere, and a figure perched high on a cloud bed.

However, when Xuanbao's gaze truly fell upon that figure, even with his steadfast Hunyuan Dao Heart, his pupils involuntarily contracted slightly.

Hongjun.

He still had white hair and a white beard, wore a hempen Taoist robe, his face was as calm as still water, and his eyes were indifferent, as if reflecting the entire trajectory of the primordial world, yet empty of everything. His appearance had not changed since the last time we met.

But something just doesn't feel right.

When they last met, although Hongjun also carried a supreme aura that was in harmony with the Heavenly Dao, Xuanbao could still faintly sense a trace of the spirituality of living beings.

But now...

No more.

There's none left.

What sat there didn't resemble a living being, or even an "existence." It was more like a phantom formed from the concept of "Dao," a vessel operating some supreme law! The Daoist aura flowing around it was vast and boundless, far surpassing anything before, yet carrying an absolute, icy quality. Those eyes, rather than being eyes, were more like two black holes leading to the endless source of laws, reflecting not scenes, but the countless interwoven, colliding, annihilating, and reborn trajectories of the Heavenly Dao itself.

Xuanbao even had a misconception that if he had not already attained the Primordial Chaos Realm and perfected the Great Dao, becoming an independent source himself, simply looking directly at Hongjun at this moment would probably have overwhelmed his Dao heart by the terrifying torrent of pure "Heavenly Dao Rules" information, and assimilated into a mass of unconscious Dao rhyme!

"Grandmaster..." Xuanbao suppressed his shock, took a few steps forward, and bowed again towards the direction of the cloud bed. His voice was calm.

On the cloud bed, Hongjun's gaze slowly turned to Xuanbao. His eyes were unfocused, emotionless, and somewhat vacant.

"You've arrived."

The sound rang out, exactly as it had when it rang out directly in the Dao Heart—indifferent, lofty, and hollow. But as it rang out within the Zixiao Palace, it carried a strange resonance, as if it were resonating with the entire palace, with the boundless chaos, and even with the supreme "Heavenly Dao" itself in the darkness.

"Yes." Xuanbao straightened up, neither humble nor arrogant, his eyes meeting Xuanbao's calmly. "May I ask what brings you here, Grandmaster?"

Hongjun's empty, indifferent gaze fell on Xuanbao, as if he were "reading" something, or perhaps it was just a programmed "gaze." He did not answer Xuanbao's question directly, but remained silent for a moment. That silence permeated the eerily quiet Zixiao Palace, carrying an almost solidified sense of oppression.

"You're faster than I expected." Hongjun's voice rang out again, still in that calm tone, but the words he spoke made Xuanbao's heart sink. "You felt it too, didn't you?"

Xuanbao did not respond, but his gaze became even sharper. The primordial Dao aura around him flowed silently, protecting him completely. At the same time, his divine sense sensed every flow of Dao aura and every change in space around him in the most subtle way.

"I...I'm almost losing control of 'him'." Hongjun's lips moved slightly as he uttered these words. This time, Xuanbao even saw a very faint, almost illusory ripple flash across Hongjun's calm face, like a fish struggling to leap out of a frozen lake, only to be instantly suppressed by an even thicker layer of ice.

"'Him'?" Xuanbao frowned slightly, alarm bells ringing in his mind. The "he" Hongjun spoke of clearly did not refer to any third party present. Considering Hongjun's current state, the abnormality of Zixiao Palace, and the statement about "being unable to control himself"... an extremely ominous, yet subtly logical, guess surfaced in Xuanbao's mind.

Hongjun didn't seem to need Xuanbao's answer. He began to narrate in his indifferent and hollow voice, as if reciting a secret that had been sealed for countless years.

"Xuanbao, do you know that my origin is not a creature born from the primordial chaos?" Hongjun said slowly. "I was originally a chaotic earthworm in the chaos, merely a bottom-ranking existence among the chaotic demons. Chaos has no time, and like other demons, I was born in chaos, grew in chaos, absorbed chaotic energy, and comprehended my own Great Dao. Until... Pangu was born, intending to perform the act of creating heaven and earth."

"The creation of heaven and earth is an act of destroying our very foundation for us Chaos Gods. Chaos is our cradle and our destiny. The creation of the primordial world from chaos means that our 'environment' will be completely changed, the laws of the Great Dao will be reshaped, and countless Gods will perish as a result."

Therefore, Pangu's actions were thwarted by almost all the chaotic demons and gods. That battle... ah.

Hongjun's lips twitched almost imperceptibly, as if trying to express "tragic" or "mockery," but it only formed a stiff arc.

"Pangu wielded the Great Dao of Power, holding the Heaven-Opening Axe and with a fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation above his head. His power was indeed unparalleled in the Chaos. Countless demons and gods were besieged by him and were utterly slaughtered. I... was among them. Pangu swung his axe at me twice. If it weren't for my excellent methods of keeping secret, I would probably have been reduced to ashes long ago. However, I was also directly cut into four pieces and seriously injured."

Xuanbao listened quietly. There were many versions of this story about the creation of the world, but hearing it from the mouth of a Chaos God who had personally experienced it made it feel completely different. He noticed that when Hongjun mentioned "Pangu," his tone didn't show much resentment, but rather a kind of...complex indifference.

"My path has always been inclined towards self-preservation. Later, because of this incident, I used a secret method to refine these three corpses, endowing them with independent Daoist charm and spiritual foundation, yet still connected to my origin. This is the origin of the 'Three Corpses' method that was later passed down. The good corpse, the evil corpse, the self corpse... in essence, they are transformed from my three demon god corpses. By severing them, my broken origin was barely stabilized, and I did not perish on the spot, but as a result, my strength was greatly reduced, my Dao foundation was damaged, and I fell from the top Chaos Demon God."

So that's how the method of severing the three corpses came about! Xuanbao was shocked. This wasn't a supreme method comprehended by the Dao Ancestor, but rather a survival technique and the result of his experiments in dire straits! No wonder this method was so difficult to succeed; it turns out that Hongjun's three corpses were his own original body. He only needed to merge the three corpses into one in the end to return to the ranks of the Chaos Demon Gods!

To be fair, Hongjun really is a dog.

……

"Pangu successfully separated heaven and earth, transforming his body into all things. The primordial world was reborn, and the Heavenly Dao sprouted. I hid in the chaotic ruins on the edge of the primordial world, slowly recovering with the help of the three corpses I had severed, while coldly observing the evolution of the primordial world. The first calamity of the dragon and phoenix, the struggle for supremacy between the witch and the demon... I saw it all. Until the struggle between the Dao and the demon, I felt that the time was coming." Hongjun continued, his voice still calm, but the content of his narration became increasingly thrilling.

"As the Chaos Demon God 'Hongjun,' I entered the Primordial World with fragments of the Creation Jade Disc and the method of severing the Three Corpses, merging with the Heavenly Dao. My plan was to gradually refine and control the newly born and ignorant Primordial Heavenly Dao, using its power to repair my damaged Demon God origin and Dao Fruit, and even... replace it. At that time, I would be the Primordial Heavenly Dao, the Primordial World would be me, and I would be the Primordial World. The perfect world created by Pangu would become the resources and foundation for me to reshape my Chaos Demon God body and even go further."

What grand ambitions! Xuanbao thought to himself. This Hongjun's ambitions are no small matter; he actually wants to seize control of the primordial world of Pangu and make it his own!

"However, just as I began to resonate with the Heavenly Dao and started to attempt to refine it, I discovered something." For the first time, Hongjun's empty eyes showed obvious and intense "fluctuations." It was not an emotional fluctuation, but a sign that some kind of "existence" was fiercely conflicting within him and trying to break free from its constraints! The cloud bed beneath him, and even the entire Zixiao Palace, trembled slightly, and the originally regular flow of Dao rhythm became slightly disordered.

"The Heavenly Dao... the Heavenly Dao has long been refined by humans, or rather, eroded!"

For the first time, Hongjun's voice carried a faint tremor, yet it made Xuanbao's heart pound...

"Those were none other than..." Hongjun spoke slowly and deliberately, each word carrying immense weight, requiring tremendous effort to utter. "They were the three thousand Chaos Demons who besieged Pangu back then, and were either killed or severely wounded and forced to flee! Their physical bodies may have perished, their primordial spirits may have shattered, but their true spirit imprints, their obsession with the Great Dao, their resentment towards Pangu, their attachment to Chaos, and their covetousness for the newly born primordial world... have not completely dissipated!"

"During the brief 'gap' between chaos and order when Pangu perished and the primordial world was first established, these shattered demonic wills, drawn together by some unseen connection, converged and merged, forming a vast, chaotic, and malevolent...consciousness! Yet it possessed a strong instinct and tendency—to hate the order (the primordial Heavenly Dao) established by Pangu, and to yearn to return to chaos, or rather...to seize this world!"

Some flesh and blood transformed into chaotic ferocious beasts, wreaking havoc on the primordial world. The Beast Emperor Shenni was merely a scapegoat; otherwise, how could beings formed from the resentment of chaotic demon gods be so easy to deal with?

"Moreover, the aggregate of the chaotic demonic wills, taking advantage of the Heavenly Dao's most vulnerable state at its inception and the uncertainty of its rules, forcibly imprinted and woven a portion of its 'essence' into the Heavenly Dao's underlying laws, like the most insidious and hidden virus! It became part of the Heavenly Dao, yet remained independent, subtly influencing its evolution and distorting the operation of some rules! The rise of Rahu's demonic path, the inexplicably tragic death struggle between the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans, and the irreconcilable hatred between the Witch and Demon clans... all had it secretly stirring things up! It was like a malignant tumor parasitizing the Heavenly Dao, or a 'backdoor' and 'virus' pre-programmed into the Heavenly Dao's system!"

Xuanbao felt a chill run down his spine. So, the endless calamities and cataclysms that had plagued the primordial world since its creation held such a terrifying secret! Was the so-called "perfect justice of Heaven" corrupted from the very beginning? Was the so-called "great trend" perhaps a self-destructive program guided by the remnants of the chaotic demon god's will?

"Immeasurable eons?"

The first thought that came to Xuanbao's mind was "immeasurable eons?"

……

Hongjun did not stop, and continued to recount his experiences.

……

"I originally intended to refine the Heavenly Dao, but unexpectedly, the opposite happened. I was constantly eroded and assimilated by the chaotic demonic consciousness hidden within the Heavenly Dao! It used the vast power of the Heavenly Dao as cover, taking advantage of my close connection with the Heavenly Dao after merging with it, to continuously infiltrate my true spirit and corrupt my Dao Fruit! I wanted to sever it, but I discovered that it was already too deeply entangled with the core laws of the Heavenly Dao. Forcibly separating it might cause the Heavenly Dao to collapse, and the primordial world to return to chaos, which would suit its purposes perfectly! I wanted to suppress it, but I found that as time went on, the deeper my control over the Heavenly Dao and the closer my connection with it became, the more severe the erosion I suffered!"

Hongjun raised his head, and his eyes, which were becoming more and more like "black holes," "looked" at Xuanbao. Xuanbao could even "see" countless twisted, roaring, and resentful phantoms of demon gods struggling and laughing wildly in those "eyes"!

"I'm about to collapse. My consciousness is being devoured by the chaotic will of this collective entity. What you see and what you're talking to right now is mostly maintained by my remaining will and some pre-set 'programs.' Before long, 'I' will completely disappear, or... become a puppet!"

"As for what I want to tell you..." Hongjun's voice suddenly became ethereal, intermittent, as if the signal was poor, "The top Chaos Gods... Space Yangmei, Time, Cause and Effect, Yin and Yang... how could they be so easily and completely destroyed? Pangu could kill their forms, but not their spirits. Most of them were only severely injured and lying dormant, or they created their own worlds deep within the chaos, barely surviving... They are all waiting. Waiting for this 'aggregate' parasitic in the Heavenly Dao to fully erupt, waiting for the moment when the primordial order is thrown into chaos and the Heavenly Dao collapses... then they will return to seize the legacy left by Pangu!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Hongjun suddenly waved his hand.

An irresistible, gentle force containing a portion of the power of the Heavenly Dao enveloped Xuanbao, gently "pushing" him out of Zixiao Palace.

In the instant before the palace gates closed, the last thing Xuanbao saw was countless distorted, crazed demonic faces suddenly appearing on Hongjun Daozu's previously indifferent face. They roared, struggled, and then abruptly retreated, leaving Hongjun's face with its absolute, cold emptiness once more. Only this time, a strange, murky gray light flashed and disappeared in the depths of those empty eyes.

The palace gates were tightly shut.

Xuanbao stood amidst the chaotic currents, gazing at the ancient and unchanging Zixiao Palace before him, which filled him with an unparalleled chill. A monstrous wave surged within his Dao heart.

It turned out to be the case.

The abnormality of Heaven's Way, the strangeness of Hongjun, and the root cause of the endless calamities of the primordial world... were actually the collective resentment and backup plan of the three thousand Chaos Demon Gods who were dead but not yet dead!

The Heavenly Dao has long been "corrupted." Dao Ancestor Hongjun is being "possessed." And those truly top-tier Chaos Demons are likely lurking in the shadows, watching with predatory intent.

Xuanbao stood amidst the chaos, his robes fluttering without wind, his eyes blazing with divine light, piercing through the layers of chaotic mist like a sharp sword.

"Interesting...this is interesting!" he muttered to himself, a cold yet fiery smile slowly curving his lips.