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

"clang--!!!"

The sound of the Chaos Bell resounded throughout the primordial world, causing the mountains and rivers a million miles east of Buzhou Mountain to tremble.

Outside Wuzhuang Temple, Donghuang Taiyi hangs in the heavens, holding the Chaos Bell in his hand. The bell is ancient and desolate, and every tremor seems to return this world to chaos.

With the first chime of the bell, the innate Wutu formation of Longevity Mountain had already cracked.

Blood trickled from Zhen Yuanzi's lips, and thirty percent of the illusory landscape depicted in the Earth Book was shattered. Hongyun fought alone against the three great demon saints—Ji Meng, Ying Zhao, and Jiu Ying. Although he was temporarily undefeated thanks to the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd, he was still in grave danger.

The clear breeze and bright moon fell before the temple gate, their fate unknown.

Taiyi looked down indifferently, lightly tapping the bell with his fingertip, preparing to strike it a second time.

"This cry is to send you on your way."

Just as the bell was about to ring—

"Taiyi! Your clock—is mine now!"

A streak of dark light suddenly appeared from the horizon. At first glance, it seemed to be tens of thousands of miles away, but in the blink of an eye, it was right in front of us!

Those are bricks!

A giant brick, three feet long, jet black, with dark gold and blood-red magic patterns flowing across its surface!

Wherever the bricks passed, the space collapsed layer by layer, producing a roar no less than that of the Chaos Bell!

"Hmm?" Taiyi frowned slightly, and the Chaos Bell turned to face the black brick.

"clang--!!!"

The moment the brick bells struck, the entire desolate eastern region seemed to be frozen in time.

There was no earth-shattering shockwave as imagined; only an extremely muffled impact sound and spatial cracks that silently spread from the point of impact.

The black brick flew back and landed in the hand of a figure that had just appeared.

Lu Chen stood in the void, holding a brick in his right hand. A tiny crack appeared on the surface of the brick, but it was instantly repaired by the golden light of merit.

Taiyi took three steps back, and the Chaos Bell hummed incessantly. A shallow dent was even smashed into the bell!

The entire room fell silent.

The demons froze, the three great demon saints stopped their attacks, and even Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun were stunned.

"Young friend Lu Chen...you..." Hongyun opened her mouth, unsure of what to say.

Taiyi stared at the brick in Lu Chen's hand, his gaze shifting from surprise to solemnity, and then to fervent admiration: "This brick... is it a supreme innate treasure?"

He recognized at a glance that the quality of this brick was no less than that of the Chaos Bell!

"So what if it is?" Lu Chen grinned, weighing the brick in his hand. "Your clock is nice, can I borrow it for a few days?"

"Arrogant!" Taiyi laughed in fury. "You think you can rival me just because you've obtained a supreme treasure? Today I'll show you what it means to be the number one person below the Saintly level!"

The Chaos Bell rings again!

This time, Taiyi activated it with all his might, and the sound of the bell transformed into tangible golden ripples, which reduced everything to nothingness wherever they passed!

Instead of retreating, Lu Chen advanced, causing the Chaos Brick to blaze with dark light, and the phantom of Pangu creating the world appeared on its surface.

"Power that spans the primordial chaos!"

This is the third move from the Pangu spine fragment. Now, when it is used with the Chaos Brick, its power is more than doubled!

The brick shadows are like mountains, forcefully impacting the Zhongbo River.

"boom--!!!"

This clash has finally erupted.

Centered on the point of impact, an area of ​​a thousand miles instantly turned into chaos! Earth, wind, water, and fire were reenacted; space shattered, and time became disordered. The army of ten thousand demons was sent flying backwards with screams, like fallen leaves swept up by a gale.

Zhen Yuanzi's Earth Book spread wildly, protecting the core area of ​​Wuzhuang Temple.

The Crimson Cloud Gourd spewed out crimson mist, enveloping the gentle breeze and bright moon.

At the center of the collision, Lu Chen and Tai Yi were both thrown backwards.

Lu Chen coughed up a mouthful of blood, his internal organs shifting, but his eyes shone even brighter—he had blocked it! With the cultivation of a peak Taiyi Golden Immortal, he withstood the full force of a peak Quasi-Saint combined with the Chaos Bell!

Taiyi was also badly injured; the web of his right hand holding the bell was split open, and golden blood dripped down. What alarmed him even more was that the dent in the Chaos Bell had deepened, and a primordial restriction inside the bell had actually been cracked by the brick just now!

"This child... must not be allowed to live!" Taiyi's murderous intent surged.

Just as they were about to launch another attack, a long, drawn-out dragon roar suddenly echoed from the sky.

"Fellow Daoist Taiyi, please stop."

A nine-clawed golden dragon broke through the clouds and transformed into the golden-robed Emperor Jun, landing beside Taiyi. Behind him, powerful demons such as Kunpeng, Fuxi, and Nuwa were all present.

"Brother, this boy stole our demon clan's treasures and injured the Chaos Bell. He must be killed today!" Taiyi shouted sternly.

Di Jun waved his hand, his gaze falling on Lu Chen with a meaningful look: "Young friend Lu Chen, did you obtain the brick in your hand from the Treasure Dividing Cliff?"

Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat, but he smiled and said, "So what if it is? So what if it isn't?"

"If that's the case, then that's interesting," Di Jun said slowly. "The Treasure Distribution Cliff was set up by the Dao Ancestor, and the number of treasures inside is fixed. As far as I know, the brick in your hand is not on the list."

He paused, then said, word by word, "Unless... you entered the most core forbidden area of ​​the Treasure Sharing Cliff and took away the Dao Ancestor's private treasure."

Even Taiyi was stunned by these words.

The Daoist Ancestor's private collection?

Lu Chen's heart pounded wildly. He had indeed entered the core area, but at the time he thought it was part of the Treasure Distribution Cliff. Could it be... that the three items on the stone platform were from the personal collection of Dao Ancestor Hongjun?!

"Does Fellow Daoist Di Jun have any evidence for his statement?" Zhen Yuanzi flew forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with Lu Chen.

"Evidence?" Di Jun smiled, raised his hand, and the illusory images of the Hetu and Luoshu unfolded, revealing the secrets of heaven. "Three days ago, the core restriction of the Treasure Distribution Cliff was triggered, and a being took three items: the Kunlun Mirror diagram, a Chaos Pearl, and a Chaos Brick. At this moment, the Kunlun Mirror diagram is in the hands of the Queen Mother of the West, the Chaos Pearl is missing, and the Chaos Brick—"

He looked at Lu Chen: "It's in your hands."

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Stealing ordinary treasures from the Treasure Sharing Cliff is one thing, but daring to steal even the Dao Ancestor's private stash?!

This isn't just bold, it's insane!

Lu Chen suddenly burst into laughter.

"Fellow Daoist Dijun, you accuse me of stealing the Dao Ancestor's private treasure. Then let me ask you—what level of cultivation does the Dao Ancestor possess? He is a sage, an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao. Could a mere Taiyi Golden Immortal like myself possibly enter his private forbidden area? Even if I did, would the Dao Ancestor not know? And if he did know, would he not have stopped me?"

He stared at Di Jun, his eyes sharp: "Unless, Dao Ancestor did it on purpose. He deliberately made me take those three items."

"Nonsense!" Kunpeng shrieked. "With the status of the Dao Ancestor, how could he tolerate a mere thief like you!"

"Is that so?" Lu Chen turned to look at Kunpeng. "Then tell me, why hasn't the Dao Ancestor shown himself yet? Why has news of my theft of the treasure spread throughout the prehistoric world, yet the Zixiao Palace remains completely silent? Why—"

He raised the Chaos Brick, and a faint purple aura suddenly appeared on its surface.

That was the aura of half-formed Primordial Purple Qi!

"Within this brick lies primordial purple energy! If not for the Dao Ancestor's tacit approval, how could I have obtained this purple energy, and how could I have integrated it into the brick?!"

That's half true and half false.

The purple aura was something he obtained from the Demon Abyss, but it was incredibly effective at intimidating people when he used it now.

As expected, Di Jun, Tai Yi, and the others' expressions changed.

Primordial Purple Qi! The Foundation for Sainthood!

The Dao Ancestor did indeed bestow purple energy, but only upon the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Jieyin, Zhunti, and Hongyun—a total of seven people. Where did the purple energy in Lu Chen's possession come from? Could it truly have been bestowed upon him privately by the Dao Ancestor?

If the Dao Ancestor truly tacitly approved it, then wouldn't their attack on Lu Chen today be a slap in the face to the Dao Ancestor?

Di Jun's mind raced, and he suddenly smiled: "I see. It seems we misunderstood. Since young friend Lu Chen is someone valued by the Dao Ancestor, the demon race will naturally not make things difficult for him."

He waved his hand: "Withdraw the troops."

"Big brother!" Taiyi exclaimed anxiously.

"Let's go." Di Jun gave Lu Chen a deep look, then transformed into golden light and departed.

Taiyi glared at Lu Chen resentfully, then left with the Chaos Bell.

The army of ten thousand demons retreated like a tide.

In the blink of an eye, peace returned to the area outside Wuzhuang Temple, leaving only a mess on the ground.

Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun breathed a sigh of relief, but their gazes toward Lu Chen became even more complicated.

"Young friend, what you just said..." Hongyun hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"Half true, half false." Lu Chen smiled wryly. "The purple aura is real, but the Dao Ancestor's tacit approval... I made it up."

The two of them gasped.

"You've gone too far!" Zhen Yuanzi shook his head. "If the Dao Ancestor were to pursue this matter..."

"They won't pursue it." Lu Chen looked up at the sky. "If I'm not mistaken, the Dao Ancestor is watching right now. If he wanted to pursue it, he would have shown himself long ago."

Just as he expected, deep within the chaos, inside the Purple Cloud Palace.

Hongjun Daozu sat cross-legged on a cloud bed, and in the water mirror in front of him was the scene outside Wuzhuang Temple.

After a long while, the Dao Ancestor's lips twitched almost imperceptibly.

"A clever little fellow."

He raised his hand and wiped it away, and the water mirror vanished.

"Well, those three items were meant for someone destined to have them. If he can take them, that's his good fortune."

"But... Rahu's Demon Abyss Token, the Ancestral Witch Token of the Witch Clan, the favor of the Queen Mother of the West, and now the fear of the Demon Clan... This little guy is getting more and more involved in karma."

The Daoist Master closed his eyes and ignored him.