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

Before the malevolent aura of Mount Buzhou had dissipated, Lu Chen was already squatting in the clouds outside the Heavenly Court, gnawing on the third roasted beast leg he had smuggled from the Wu Clan's kitchen.

"This generation of demons is no good. The Sun Star Array Flag of the Zhou Tian Star Array was pulled out and it still hasn't been repaired." He squinted at the magnificent Thirty-Three Heavens in the distance and mumbled indistinctly.

Hunyuanzi, transformed into a wisp of green smoke, drifted nearby, his voice tinged with helplessness: "My lord, weren't we supposed to be going to Mount Ling to find Jieyin and Zhunti? Why did we end up in the Heavenly Court?"

"What's the rush?" Lu Chen finished gnawing on the beast leg in a few bites, then casually tossed the bone down into the clouds—just then, an unlucky crane flew by and was hit, crashing into the Jade Pool with a "caw." "The Dao Ancestor asked me to find three stolen imitation treasures. I'm figuring out that the Heavenly Court has at least one of them."

Which one?

"The Hetu and Luoshu." Lu Chen licked the oil off his fingers. "Kunpeng was punished to guard the North Sea. He secretly told me that Dijun hid the real Hetu and Luoshu in the deepest part of the Heavenly Treasury. What he usually showed to others were imitations."

Hun Yuanzi was taken aback: "Why would he tell you this?"

"Because he hates Di Jun." Lu Chen grinned. "Back then, Di Jun and Taiyi really fueled the flames when the seat was given up at Zixiao Palace. Kunpeng wanted to take someone down with him before he died... but unfortunately, I'm tough."

He stood up, brushed the cloud-like dust off his clothes, and weighed the Chaos Brick in his hand: "Besides, although I managed to snatch most of the core array diagram of the Zhou Tian Star Array from Kunpeng, the most crucial 'River Luo Evolution Chapter' is still in the genuine Luo Shu. How can I trick the demon race later if I don't get my hands on it?"

It is justifiable and irrefutable.

Hun Yuanzi sighed: "Those Heavenly Guardians..."

"The Lich Kings just finished a tough battle, and the demon race suffered heavy casualties. Emperor Jun and Taiyi are both recuperating, and the Sage Nuwa has returned to the Nuwa Palace." Lu Chen listed them off as if they were old friends. "Now, the one in charge of the Heavenly Court is the Demon Master Bai Ze—that guy is smart, but his combat strength is average. Three of the Ten Great Demon Saints are dead, and the rest are either healing or on the front lines."

He paused, then added, "Moreover, last night I had Yan Chen set fire to the demon front lines, and now most of the guards have been deployed to put out the fire."

Hun Yuanzi: "..."

The way this old man himself operates is getting more and more skillful.

"I'm off." Lu Chen activated his Brick Escape technique, his figure transforming into an almost invisible wisp of black light, silently passing through the outer perimeter of the Heavenly Court's guard array—he had figured out the flaws in this array three years ago.

The thirty-three heavens are each more heavily guarded than the last.

But Lu Chen never takes the right path.

He would deliberately choose gaps in the formations that were old and in disrepair, or where the guards were changing shifts, and slip into them like an eel.

The first heaven is the Supreme Emperor's Heaven.

The garrison commander was a drunken bull demon, snoring while clutching a wine jar.

The second heaven is the Taiming Jade Perfect Heaven.

The two patrol teams of demon soldiers were changing shifts, arguing about who should stand guard.

The third heaven, Qingming Hetong Heaven.

Several demon immortals gossiped: "Have you heard? The Ancestral Witch Zhurong is forging some kind of 'Demon-Slaying Sword,' and she's going to use the essence blood of our demon race's Great Luo Immortals!"

"I've heard about it too! I also heard that His Majesty is forging the 'Witch-Slaying Blade,' and he's going to use the heart's blood of the Ancestral Witch!"

"Hiss—if this is successfully forged, won't the next great battle be a bloodbath?"

"you do not say……"

Lu Chen floated over their heads, secretly amused: Rumors spread pretty fast.

They traveled unimpeded all the way to the thirty-third heaven—the Great Luo Heaven, the location of the demon race's treasure trove.

The treasure vault was a magnificent golden palace, with the four divine characters "Lingxiao Treasure Vault" inscribed on its gate.

Two rows of golden-armored demon generals stood in front of the gate, each exuding a profound aura, at least at the early stage of the Great Luo realm.

What's more troublesome is that the door is covered with a dense array of restrictions, of which Lu Chen can recognize 365, which correspond to the number of the heavens.

"That old rascal Di Jun has a pretty strong sense of security against theft." Lu Chen lay on a cloud a hundred feet away, squinting as he observed.

Hunyuanzi's voice echoed in his mind: "My lord, you cannot force your way through. These restrictions are interconnected; triggering one will alarm the entire Heavenly Court."

"Who said I was going to force my way in?" Lu Chen laughed and took something out of the Qiankun Diagram—a single hair.

This was something I casually pulled out when I knocked out the demon saint Ji Meng.

Ji Meng was a confidant of Emperor Jun and had the authority to freely enter and exit the treasury.

He blew a hair onto his body, and his form changed, transforming into the likeness of Ji Meng, even mimicking his breathing perfectly.

Then he swaggered toward the treasure vault.

"Lord Ji Meng!" The demon general guarding the gate hurriedly bowed. "Weren't you recuperating from your injuries at the front lines?"

"My injuries have healed, so I came back to retrieve some things." Lu Chen imitated Ji Meng's rough voice. "His Majesty sent me to retrieve the Hetu and Luoshu; I need them urgently."

The demon general was taken aback: "The River Chart and the Luo River Book? But His Majesty just gave orders this morning that no one may..."

"Snapped!"

Lu Chen slapped the demon general across the face, sending him spinning three times: "His Majesty's order? Look what this is!"

He revealed the Chaos Brick—which, of course, took the form of Emperor Jun's token.

The demon general was stunned by the slap, but seeing the strong aura of Emperor Jun on the "token" (simulated by Lu Chen using the Morning Bell), he dared not doubt it anymore and hurriedly opened the treasure vault door: "My lord, please come in! It was my mistake!"

Lu Chen snorted coldly and walked into the treasure vault with his head held high.

The door closed behind me.

He breathed a sigh of relief and wiped away his cold sweat—if that slap hadn't intimidated him, he would have had no choice but to force his way through.

The treasure vault was unbelievably vast; it was practically a small world.

On the left, there were mountains of innate spiritual materials, and on the right, thousands of acquired spiritual treasures floated. In the center, there were dozens of jade platforms, each with a replica of an innate spiritual treasure.

Replicas of the Tai Chi diagram, the Pangu Banner, the Zhuxian Sword... all the items stolen from the Treasure Distribution Cliff are actually backed up here!

"Good heavens, is Di Jun treating the Treasure Distribution Cliff as his own warehouse?" Lu Chen's eyes lit up, but he didn't touch these things—his goal was clear: to take the Hetu Luoshu first.

Following the clues given by Kunpeng, he arrived at the deepest part of the treasure vault.

It was completely empty, except for a jade disc.

The jade disc is as smooth as a mirror, with the trajectory of stars flowing across its surface; this is precisely where the Hetu and Luoshu are sealed.

"It requires Di Jun's essence blood and primordial spirit imprint to open..." Lu Chen frowned.

This is troublesome.

He did have a drop of Di Jun's essence blood—extracted from Taiyi's wound during the blood sacrifice to the God-Slaying Spear—but the primordial spirit imprint...

"Try this." He took out the morning bell.

The Morning Bell and the Chaos Bell share the same origin, and the Chaos Bell, having been refined by Emperor Jun for many years, must retain the aura of Emperor Jun's primordial spirit.

Lu Chen activated the Morning Bell, simulating an extremely faint fluctuation of Di Jun's primordial spirit, and combined it with the drop of essence blood, pressing it onto the jade wall.

"Buzz—"

The jade disc trembled and slowly parted to the sides. Inside, two treasures floated: a star chart scroll (Hetu) and a jade book (Luoshu).

It is indeed the genuine Hetu and Luoshu!

Lu Chen's heart raced, and he was about to reach for it—

"Ji Meng, how dare you!"

A cold voice suddenly rang out from behind.

Lu Chen's hair stood on end, and he instantly activated his Brick Escape technique, moving ten zhang to the side.

Looking back, one sees the demon master Bai Ze appearing in the treasure vault at some point, holding a feather fan, his eyes sharp as knives.

"Lord Bai Ze is too kind," Lu Chen said, trying to remain calm. "His Majesty sent me to retrieve the treasure."

"Oh?" Bai Ze smiled faintly. "Then why did His Majesty simultaneously send me a telepathic message saying that a thief impersonating Ji Meng had infiltrated the treasury?"

Oh no! Di Jun has noticed!

Lu Chen acted decisively, abandoning his pretense and revealing his true form, the Chaos Brick in his hand: "Bai Ze, get out of the way, I won't kill you."

"It really is you, Lu Chen." Bai Ze sighed. "His Majesty had long anticipated your arrival. This treasure vault... is a trap."

He waved his feather fan.

The entire treasure vault shone brightly, and countless restrictions were activated simultaneously! The space was completely sealed off, and even the Brick Escape technique became ineffective!

Even more terrifying, all those floating imitations of spiritual treasures turned around and aimed at Lu Chen—they had been transformed into the core of the killing array!

"The Zhou Tian Star Array - Miniature Version," Bai Ze said calmly. "Although it only has one ten-thousandth of its power, it's more than enough to trap and kill a quasi-saint like you."

Lu Chen looked around and realized it was indeed dangerous.

But then he suddenly laughed.

"Bai Ze, have you forgotten... that I also have the diagram for the Zhou Tian Star Array?"

He raised his hand, and 108 array flags flew out from the Qiankun Diagram—the very ones he had pulled from the demon race's great array earlier!

The array flags automatically deployed, actually setting up a Small Heavenly Star Array inside the demon race's grand array!

The two forces clashed violently, causing the restrictions to break apart and the treasure vault space to begin to crack!

"You!" Bai Ze's expression changed drastically.

"Go!" Lu Chen seized the opportunity to rush towards the Hetu Luoshu, grabbed it in his hand, and turned to run away.

"Stop!" Bai Ze activated the great formation, and billions of starlight shot out like arrows.

Lu Chen neither dodged nor evaded, but swept his God-Slaying Spear horizontally, its ferocious aura shattering all the starlight.

At the same time, the morning bell rang, freezing Bai Ze in place for a moment.

In that instant, he had already rushed to the entrance of the treasure vault.

But the door couldn't be opened—it was completely sealed off from the outside!

"Lu Chen, you have no way to escape today." Di Jun's voice came from outside the door, filled with suppressed anger. "Hand over the Hetu Luoshu and all the stolen treasures, and I will leave you with a whole corpse."

Lu Chen grinned and called out towards the door, "Di Jun, have you forgotten... I can dig holes?"

He smashed a brick into the ground.

"One brick can break all laws—open!"

The Chaos Brick Axe's edge erupted, smashing a huge hole in the floor of the treasure vault! Below wasn't a lower level of heaven, but... a chaotic rift!

This treasure trove was actually built at the border between the primordial wilderness and chaos!

"Oh no! He's trying to escape into the Chaos!" Di Jun exclaimed in shock and anger.

But it's too late.

Lu Chen leaped into the crevice, turned back and waved to Di Jun and Bai Ze: "Thanks, bro, come play again next time—"

The figure disappeared into the chaos.

The crack slowly closed.

Di Jun slammed his palm down, shattering the treasure vault door. Looking at the empty jade walls and the mess on the ground, he trembled with rage: "Lu! Chen!"

Bai Ze smiled wryly, "Your Majesty, he was prepared. Those battle flags..."

"Investigate!" Di Jun gritted his teeth. "Find out who leaked the treasure vault's structure and array layout! I will tear him to pieces!"

At this moment, in chaos.

Lu Chen held the Hetu Luoshu in his arms, grinning from ear to ear.

"We're making a killing...wait, what?"

He suddenly noticed that on the last page of the Luoshu (Lo Shu Square), there was a line of text written in extremely small print:

In the 37,500th year of the Primordial Era, Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged three lotus seeds of the Twelve-Petaled Merit Golden Lotus for one replica of the Taiji Diagram and one replica of the Pangu Banner.

"Good heavens!" Lu Chen's eyes lit up. "Jieyin and Zhunti, you two really did hide something dirty!"

He looked towards the western direction of Mount Ling, his smile gradually becoming dangerous.

"You guys are the next target."

They unleashed their full power of brick-遁 (a technique for stealth and explosives), heading straight for Mount Ling.

Meanwhile, inside the Great Buddha Hall of Mount Ling.

Both Amitabha Buddha and Bodhi Patriarch shivered.

"Senior brother, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Me too... Quick, hide those two fakes you just got!"

The two hurriedly opened the secret chamber, only to find a Taoist priest in a green robe squatting inside, grinning at them.

"You two meet again."

"Lu Chen—?!"