Primordial Era: A brick knocks Hongyun unconscious, and he seizes the throne at the start.

Lu Chen's last memory was a sudden darkness before his eyes—he had stayed up for three consecutive nights to keep up with the top-ranked novel on the Seven Cats Novel Chart, "Primordial Era: I, Starting by Devouring the Twelve Ancestral Witches".

He closed his eyes and opened them again, and he was gone.

No, they're not even human anymore.

"Where...where am I?"

Lu Chen "looked" around, only to find he had no eyes. His consciousness was trapped in a chaotic darkness, only able to vaguely perceive the terrifying scenes outside—

Chaos churned, and the hazy air currents surged like a raging sea. A colossal giant, wielding a massive axe, battled countless indescribable monsters!

Some of the monsters were covered in eyes, others had a thousand hands and feet, and each exuded an aura that made Lu Chen's soul tremble. But when the giant swung his axe, the monsters howled and disintegrated, turning into chaotic energy.

"Pangu creating the world?!"

Lu Chen was stunned.

As a seasoned fan of the prehistoric era, he was all too familiar with this scene—three thousand demon gods besieging Pangu, the great calamity of creation!

But how did he end up here? And turned into a... brick?

Lu Chen strained to "lower his head" and finally perceived his own form: a three-foot-long, one-foot-wide, pitch-black brick. Its surface was pitted and uneven, its material unknown, and it floated heavily in the chaos.

Without limbs or facial features, only consciousness was trapped inside the brickwork.

"I'm dressed as a brick?!"

Lu Chen wanted to curse, but couldn't even utter a sound. Even more terrifying, a terrifying aftershock of the battle swept over, the chaotic air currents cutting like knives, and his brick body cracked with a "crack".

Pain! Pain that feels like your soul is being torn apart!

"I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm going to die!" Lu Chen panicked. He was like a broken brick now; any aftershock could crush him into dust.

Just then, he "saw" the axe.

The Axe that Opens the Heavens!

The axe blade cleaved through the chaos, annihilating a demon god with each strike. But Lu Chen noticed a fine crack on the axe handle—likely left by a demon god's desperate attack.

The crack is widening.

With each swing of the axe, the crack spreads a little further. At this rate, the handle will probably break after a few dozen more swings!

Lu Chen's heart stirred.

Wait, I'm a brick!

What are bricks for? To hit people, smash things, and use as weapons! Although we don't know the origin of this black brick, its existence in the chaos must mean it's something special, right?

A crazy idea popped into my head.

"If only... I could break off a fragment of the Heaven-Opening Axe..."

Fans of the prehistoric era know that after the Heaven-Opening Axe shattered, the axe head transformed into the Taiji Diagram, the Pangu Banner, and the Chaos Bell, while the handle became the Four Swords of Zhuxian. Even a fragment the size of a fingernail is a remnant of a supreme treasure of chaos!

More importantly—the merit of creating heaven!

After Pangu separated heaven and earth, he transformed into all things, and the Heavenly Dao bestowed immeasurable merit. When the axe shattered, the first wisp of merit landed on it. If one were to touch the axe, could one possibly claim some of that merit?

The more I think about it, the faster my heart races.

"Let's do it! The bold will feast, the timid will starve!"

Lu Chen concentrated all his consciousness, trying to control the movement of the bricks.

Move! Move!

The brick trembled and drifted slowly in the chaos—slower than a snail's pace.

"Faster! Faster!" Lu Chen was frantic.

At the heart of the battlefield, Pangu was in a bloodthirsty frenzy. Ninety percent of the three thousand demons were dead, chaos was cleaved, and the pure and turbid energies began to separate. But the axe handle was already cracked like a spiderweb, threatening to collapse at any moment.

The final blow!

Pangu roared, wielding his axe in both hands, and used his last strength to strike at the strongest Shichen Daoist.

It's now!

Lu Chen desperately propelled the bricks, crashing them into the crack in the axe handle. His speed was laughably slow in the chaos, but he had calculated the angle perfectly—the chaotic airflow generated by the axe's strike would accelerate him!

"May I borrow a breeze?"

The chaotic airflow surged in like a tsunami, engulfing Lu Chen's brick body and shooting it toward the axe handle at an incredible speed.

"Closer! Closer still!"

He could clearly see the mysterious patterns on the axe handle, and deep within the crack, a faint golden light flowed—it was the merit of creation automatically repairing itself!

The repair speed cannot keep up with the collapse speed.

"Knock it down!"

Lu Chen roared out with his mind, and the brick slammed into the deepest part of the crack in the axe handle.

"clang--!"

A crisp sound erupted the moment the black brick made contact with the axe handle.

Time seemed to stand still.

Lu Chen "saw" that a piece the size of a fingernail had been knocked off the axe handle. The piece was dark gold in color, covered with innate Dao patterns, and had golden light of merit flowing inside.

His black brick, upon impact, cracked wildly, nearly shattering on the spot. But the golden light of merit it received seeped into the brick like a warm current, and the cracks healed at a speed visible to the naked eye!

More than just repairs, the bricks became darker and heavier, with a faint golden halo appearing on their surface.

The fragment of the axe handle was sent flying by the aftershock of the impact, heading towards Lu Chen.

"mine!"

Lu Chen had a sudden inspiration; he lunged forward with the brick, catching the fragments with the brick surface.

The moment the fragment touched the brick, it melted right into it!

boom--!

A massive flow of information rushed into Lu Chen's consciousness:

[Fragment of the handle of the Heaven-Opening Axe (Minor)]

[Contains: Fragments of the Laws of Power, a wisp of the merit of creation]

[Can be slowly absorbed to strengthen the body]

Become!

Lu Chen was overjoyed. But before he could rejoice for long, a pressure that froze his soul descended upon him.

Pangu's gaze fell upon them.

Those eyes were as enormous as the sun and moon, within which chaos arose and vanished. With just one glance, Lu Chen felt as if his very consciousness was being seen through.

"We're doomed..." Lu Chen was so scared that the bricks went cold.

He was just a broken brick now, and he even stole someone's axe fragment. In a fit of anger, Pangu breathed on him and he was gone.

But Pangu only glanced at him, a hint of... doubt flashing in his eyes?

The giant's lips moved slightly, and a booming voice resounded from the chaos:

"An anomaly..."

Those two words made Lu Chen's consciousness buzz.

The next second, Pangu withdrew his gaze and ignored him. The giant used his last strength to prop up the heavens and earth, and his body began to disintegrate.

The pure and the impure were completely separated; the sky rose, and the earth thickened. Pangu's spine transformed into Mount Buzhou, his eyes became the sun and moon, and his blood became the rivers…

Lu Chen, swept along by the chaotic currents, was rushed to the edge of the primordial world and crashed into a newly formed mountain range.

"Boom—"

The mountain was smashed through, and the bricks were deeply embedded in the ground.

Darkness, silence.

Lu Chen was still in shock and it took him a long time to recover.

"I survived... and I even struck Pangu's axe that split the heavens?"

He sensed the interior of the brick; the axe handle fragment floated quietly, a wisp of golden merit slowly releasing and nourishing the brick. His consciousness, too, gradually became clearer and stronger under the nourishment of this merit.

He could even vaguely sense the outside world—it was a desolate stone mountain, with little spiritual energy and no living beings around.

"Just hold on and accumulate merit!"

Lu Chen made up his mind. The primordial world was too dangerous. The Dragon-Han First Tribulation, the War of the Lich Kings and Demons, the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods... He was just a broken brick now, and any random demon beast could use him as a stepping stone.

We must become stronger!

Time flows by in the process of cultivation. In the beginning of the primordial world, countless years passed.

After an unknown amount of time, one-tenth of the axe handle fragment had been absorbed. Lu Chen's brickwork underwent a dramatic transformation:

It was jet black and glossy, with faint dark gold patterns appearing on its surface. Its weight had increased a hundredfold; a single blow could probably knock out a True Immortal. Most importantly, it had developed sentience and could now subtly control the brick's movement!

"Let's test its power."

Lu Chen manipulated the bricks, causing them to fly out from underground and hover in mid-air.

They aimed at a massive boulder weighing tens of thousands of kilograms, a hundred feet away.

"go!"

The bricks turned into black light and crashed onto the boulder with a "whoosh".

"boom--!"

The boulder was blasted into powder, and a crater ten feet deep was smashed into the ground.

"This power... is impressive!" Lu Chen said with satisfaction.

Just then, a whooshing sound came from the horizon.

Two streaks of light approached from afar and landed on the desolate mountain. Lu Chen quickly concealed his aura, and the brick fell to the ground with a "thud," disguising itself as an ordinary stone.

The visitors were an old man and a young man. The old man had white hair and beard and held a whisk in his hand, while the young man had red lips and white teeth and carried a medicine basket on his back.

The boy asked, "Master, did the Dao Ancestor really preach on Jade Capital Mountain?"

The old man stroked his beard: "Of course. Three thousand years from now, the Dao Ancestor Hongjun will preach the Great Dao of Hunyuan at Yujing Mountain. Those who are destined can go. We need to prepare early..."

Hongjun! Preaching on Jade Capital Mountain!

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat.

This is the greatest opportunity in the primordial world. Among the three thousand guests of Zixiao Palace, the lowest level of those who listen to the Dao is a Great Luo Golden Immortal!

Wait, I'm a brick now, how do I get there?

Just as he was worrying, he heard the old man say again, "However, the journey is long and the chaos is treacherous. This black stone is quite good; it can be used to forge a protective magic weapon..."

As he spoke, the old man bent down and picked up Lu Chen.

Lu Chen: "!!!"

Picked up as a weapon-refining material? Lu Chen panicked—he had to transform into human form quickly! But transformation required spiritual energy, and this desolate mountain… wait, what did that old man just say? Jade Capital Mountain? Dao Ancestor Hongjun?

A bold plan emerged in Lu Chen's mind.