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

When Lu Chen returned to his lair at Buzhou Mountain humming a little tune, Yan Chen was already pacing anxiously in the cave.

"My lord! You're finally back!" Yan Chen grabbed Lu Chen. "Something terrible has happened!"

"What's the panic?" Lu Chen slowly took a bite of the roasted beast leg. "Even if the sky falls, a saint will hold it up."

"It means the sage is about to collapse!" Yan Chen lowered his voice. "In the few days you were gone, at least seven waves of probing divine senses came from Kunlun Mountain, Western Spirit Mountain, and Nuwa Palace! They were all heading towards us!"

Lu Chen paused in his chewing motion.

Seven waves? Six sages plus Hongjun? Or perhaps...

Tell me more.

Yan Chen started counting on his fingers: "The first wave came from the Jade Void Palace of Kunlun Mountain, the divine thought of the Primordial Sage, which was scrutinizing and hostile. It was obviously aimed at your purification of the purple qi - he probably felt that you had slapped the sage in the face."

"The second wave came from Biyou Palace in Kunlun Mountain. It was Tongtian Shengren. He was just curious. He left after investigating and had no ill intentions."

"The third wave came from the Eight Views Palace. Laozi, the sage, has the most subtle divine sense; I almost didn't notice it. He seems to be deducing your origins and purpose."

"The fourth and fifth waves are from the Western Sacred Mountain. Those two old sly foxes, Jieyin and Zhunti, are filled with greed in their divine senses—they're probably eyeing your Chaos Brick and God-Slaying Spear."

"The sixth wave came from Nuwa Palace, the Sage Nuwa. Her divine sense was filled with doubt. She seemed to have discovered that a small portion of the Nine Heavens Breath Soil was missing, but she was not sure if it was you who did it."

After listening, Lu Chen finished the last bite of meat and asked, "What about the seventh wave?"

Yan Chen's expression turned solemn: "The seventh wave... comes from Zixiao Palace."

Lu Chen's eyelids twitched.

Did the Dao Ancestor Hongjun personally intervene?

"The Dao Ancestor's divine sense was the most unique; it contained neither hostility nor curiosity, it was purely 'observation,'" Yan Chen recalled. "It seemed to be confirming something. However, it only stayed for three breaths before leaving."

Lu Chen fell silent.

Seven waves of Saint-level investigators—that's quite a display of power.

Although he had anticipated that purifying the waste purple energy and slapping the six saints in the face would attract attention, he didn't expect the attention to come so quickly and so intensely.

"My Lord, shouldn't we go into hiding?" Yan Chen asked with some worry. "If the Sage really has designs on us, with our meager resources..."

"Hide? Why hide?" Lu Chen suddenly laughed. "Their probing means they're wary. Wary of what? Wary of me, this 'variable'."

He stood up and paced around the cave: "The Lich Tribulation has reached a critical moment. The Six Sages have just returned to their positions and are all busy consolidating their lineages and vying for fortune. In their eyes, I, a 'quasi-sage' who suddenly appeared, can purify the purple qi, can influence the Zhou Tian Star Array, and has ties to both the Lich and Demon races, am a ticking time bomb."

"What should we do then?"

"What should we do?" Lu Chen grinned. "Of course, we should reassure them—I'm not a bomb, I'm a troublemaker."

Yan Chen: "..."

That's a very apt metaphor.

"First, I need to make my stance clear." Lu Chen counted on his fingers, "I have no interest in the Sainthood. My path to sainthood is one of proving the Dao through force, which doesn't conflict with theirs. I need to find an opportunity to say this publicly."

"Secondly, I need to demonstrate my value." He then counted on one finger, "I can purify purple energy, forge deadly weapons, and understand array deduction... It would be such a waste to kill such a talent. It would be much better to keep him around."

"Third, and most importantly—" Lu Chen's eyes flashed with a sharp light, "I need to muddy the waters and divert their attention away from me."

Yan Chen pondered for a moment: "How do we stir it?"

"Simple." Lu Chen took out a bunch of things from the Qiankun Diagram: dozens of recording stones, dozens of transmission talismans, and a bunch of miscellaneous spiritual materials.

"For the next two weeks, you will take these things and do three things in various parts of the prehistoric world."

"First, spread rumors—saying that the Primordial Sage secretly supported the Demon Clan, intending to control the Heavenly Court after the War of the Lich King; while the Tongtian Sage secretly contacted the Wu Clan, preparing to incorporate the remnants of the Ancestral Witches after the Wu Clan's defeat."

Yan Chen's eyes widened: "This rumor is too fake, isn't it?!"

"Only falsehoods are effective," Lu Chen sneered. "The Six Saints have just become Saints, and there's already some suspicion among them. They won't completely believe this kind of rumor, but they'll definitely be wary of each other—that diverts their attention, doesn't it?"

"Secondly, anonymously 'leaked' the dark history of Jieyin and Zhunti's swindling and deception to the higher-ups of the demon and witch clans. For example, they embellished the story by saying that they used useless talismans to cheat the demon clan out of spiritual materials and that they secretly traded Blood Sea Lotus Seeds with the Styx River."

"Third, and most importantly—" Lu Chen took out a jade slip, "This contains the 'Optimization Plan for the Zhou Tian Star Array' that I deduced from the He Tu Luo Shu. You anonymously send it to the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court, saying that a certain 'reclusive great power' couldn't stand Di Jun and Tai Yi ruining the array, and it's a friendly gift to you."

Yan Chen took the jade slip, scanned it with his divine sense, and gasped: "My lord, is this optimization plan real?!"

"Half true, half false." Lu Chen shrugged. "The true part can increase the power of the formation by 30%, and the false part... I buried three backdoors. If Di Jun uses them, I can make sure he can't even activate the formation in the next great battle."

Yan Chen was convinced.

This move by their own master was tantamount to killing someone and destroying their spirit.

"After you've finished doing all this, go back to the Qiankun Diagram and go into seclusion. Don't come out for a hundred years," Lu Chen instructed. "I also need to 'disappear' for a while."

"Where are you going, Venerable One?"

"Go find a 'backer'." Lu Chen's eyes were deep. "The six sages are watching me because I'm unaffiliated and easy to manipulate. But what if another sage stood behind me?"

Yan Chen was taken aback: "Which saint would...?"

"Zhen Yuanzi," Lu Chen smiled, "the ancestor of earth immortals. Although he hasn't become a saint yet, he wields the Book of Earth and controls the primordial earth veins, giving him a special status. Moreover, he's on good terms with Hongyun, and I saved Hongyun's life, so that favor is enough."

"More importantly—" Lu Chen paused, "Zhen Yuanzi is a man of few words and never gets involved in the Great Tribulation. By affiliating myself with him, I can show my attitude of 'I don't cause trouble,' and also make other saints think twice—after all, even saints have to give some face to the ancestor of earth immortals."

The plan was well-thought-out.

Yan Chen nodded, packed his things, and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute." Lu Chen called out to him, then took out a small box from the Qiankun Diagram. "This is to be given anonymously to the Sage Nuwa."

Yan Chen opened the box, inside was a small handful of Nine Heavens Breath Soil—half of the small handful that Lu Chen had stolen before.

"This is..." Yan Chen asked, puzzled.

"Apologizing is also a statement," Lu Chen said calmly. "Nuwa discovered that the Breath Soil had been stolen, but she wasn't sure it was me. By 'voluntarily returning' half of it, I'm essentially admitting it, but it also shows that 'I only took a little bit and had no malicious intent.' In addition, considering the previous life-saving grace (saving the little golden crow), even if Nuwa is unhappy, she won't really make things difficult for me."

Yan Chen was impressed.

With such a brilliant mind, it would be a waste not to be a prime minister.

half a month later.

Rumors spread like wildfire, and the six sages became suspicious of each other.

The demon race received the anonymous optimization plan, and Emperor Jun was overjoyed. He worked through the night to modify the Zhou Tian Star Array.

Nuwa received the half-pinch of the Breath Soil, remained silent for a long time, and finally sighed, letting the matter rest.

Lu Chen himself, carrying a basket of ginseng fruits ("borrowed" from Wuzhuang Temple), swaggered into Wanshou Mountain and became a "nominal guest minister" under Zhen Yuanzi.

The surface of the primordial wilderness was calm and peaceful.

But the undercurrents have surged so far that they are enough to overturn everything.

Deep within the chaos lies the Purple Cloud Palace.

Hongjun Daozu, watching Lu Chen's series of actions reflected in the water mirror, finally couldn't help but laugh out loud:

"This kid... he's a real character."

"Well, with him around, this game of chess won't be too boring."

A light sweep of the duster stirs up the secrets of the universe, further disrupting them.

The gears of calamity continue to turn.

Meanwhile, the sixth brother, who was most adept at causing trouble, had already put on his helmet and was ready to continue his ruthless machinations in the eye of the storm.