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

"Thump...thump...thump..."

The beating of Pangu's heart, like chaotic thunder, echoed throughout the vast, empty palace.

Lu Chen lay on the cold ground, feeling as if all the bones in his body were about to be shattered.

The heart, suspended a hundred feet in the air, was dark gold in color and as large as a small mountain. Each beat caused the entire hall to tremble. Around it floated twelve drops of blood essence, each the size of a fist, of different colors, whose aura made Lu Chen's soul tremble.

"The essence and blood of the Ancestral Witch..." He licked his dry, cracked lips.

A single drop can create a great sorcerer! All twelve drops together can even reshape the true form of an ancestral sorcerer!

但他不敢动.

Below his heart sat twelve illusory giant figures. Though illusory, their terrifying aura and pressure made it difficult for him to even lift his head.

Especially the phantom in the very center—a human-faced bird with four wings on its back and a red dragon under its feet—the head of the Ancestral Witches, Dijiang!

"Buzz—"

The illusory figure of Dijiang seemed to sense the intruder and slowly opened its eyes.

There were no pupils, only two burning flames of blood.

Lu Chen felt a chill run down his spine and quickly took out the jade slip of the Qiankun Ancestor, holding it high above his head:

"This junior, Lu Chen, was entrusted by Ancestor Qiankun to enter this sacred land by mistake. I have absolutely no intention of offending anyone!"

The illusory figure of Dijiang's gaze fell on the jade slip, and the blood flame flickered.

"Heaven and Earth..." A vast, ancient voice echoed in Lu Chen's mind, "That old bastard, isn't he quite dead yet?"

Lu Chen was shocked—Di Jiang knew the Ancestor Qiankun?!

"Are you acquainted with the Ancestor, senior?" he asked tentatively.

"Hmph, we've fought before." The illusory figure of Dijiang spoke indifferently. "Since you're his successor... I'll give you three breaths to explain why you've entered this place."

Lu Chen broke out in a cold sweat.

Three breaths? What did you say? That there are Qilin clan members outside trying to kill me, and I ran in to hide?

"This junior...this junior has come here to seek a drop of the Ancestral Witch's essence blood!" He steeled his heart and directly stated his true purpose.

"Oh?" The illusory figure of Dijiang seemed intrigued. "What use do you have for the Ancestral Witch's essence blood?"

"Body tempering, breakthrough!" Lu Chen gritted his teeth and said, "This junior already possesses the cultivation of a Golden Immortal, but my physical body is too weak. I wish to use the essence blood of the Ancestral Witch to strengthen my physical body and walk the path of proving the Dao through strength!"

That's the truth. He has the merit of creating the world as a foundation, and fragments of the laws of power, making him most suitable to follow Pangu's path of proving himself through force. And the essence and blood of the Ancestral Witches are the best catalyst.

The illusory figure of Dijiang remained silent for a moment.

"To prove the Way through force... What a grand ambition." His voice was unreadable. "But the path of Father Pangu is not one that anyone can walk."

Lu Chen's heart sank.

"However—" Dijiang changed the subject, "Since you are the successor of Qiankun and dare to break into Pangu Palace, you do have some guts."

He raised his hand and gestured, and one of the twelve drops of blood essence flew out, as red as fire.

"This is the essence of Zhurong, the god of fire. If you can withstand its power, I'll give it to you."

The drop of blood essence flew to Lu Chen, and the terrifying heat distorted the space around it.

Lu Chen gritted his teeth and reached out to grab it.

"boom--!"

Boundless flames surged into his body, burning his flesh, bones, and meridians. He felt as if he had been thrown into the core of the sun, every inch of him burning.

"Don't faint... Hang in there!"

He frantically circulated the golden light of merit and activated the Three Lights Divine Water to protect his primordial spirit.

A full hour.

The flames gradually subsided, and his essence and blood completely merged into his body. Lu Chen's physical strength increased tenfold, and faint crimson lines flowed beneath his skin.

"It's done!" He opened his eyes and was pleasantly surprised to find that his cultivation had stabilized at the mid-stage of Golden Immortal, and his physical body was comparable to that of a Great Witch!

"Thank you for bestowing your blood, senior!" Lu Chen bowed respectfully.

The illusory figure of Dijiang waved his hand: "No need to thank me. This drop of essence blood must be repaid."

"Return?" Lu Chen was taken aback.

"A great calamity is about to begin, and the Wu Clan must emerge." The illusory figure of Emperor Jiang spoke solemnly. "Three thousand years from now, a great calamity will befall the primordial world, and the Wu Clan must enter the world to face it. At that time, you will need to do one thing for the Wu Clan."

"What is it?"

"You'll know when the time comes," the illusory figure of Dijiang said, then raised his hand and waved.

An irresistible force grabbed Lu Chen and threw him out of the main hall.

"Remember, three thousand years from now, at the foot of Mount Buzhou, the Wu Clan will be born, and you must be there."

Before he finished speaking, Lu Chen had already appeared outside the valley.

The entrance to the Pangu Palace has vanished, as if it had never existed.

"It's... out already?" Lu Chen was still a little confused.

But soon, he forgot all about being stunned.

Not far away, the Primordial Qilin, leading three Great Luo Qilins, was frantically attacking the valley's formation. They were on the verge of breaking through!

"Damn it, it's like a ghost that won't leave you alone!"

Lu Chen turned and ran.

Now empowered by the essence of Zhu Rong, his escape speed doubled, transforming into a crimson rainbow that shot eastward.

"Chase!" The First Qilin sensed his presence and gave chase in a rage.

One chased, the other fled, spanning millions of miles.

Three days later, Lu Chen finally shook off his pursuers and hid on a deserted island on the edge of the East China Sea.

"It's safe for now..." He collapsed on the beach, panting heavily.

Looking back on the past few days, it was more thrilling than a rollercoaster ride. But the gains were also enormous: a mid-stage Golden Immortal cultivation level, a physical body comparable to a Great Witch, Zhu Rong's essence blood, and Di Jiang's "agreement".

"The Lich Wars will happen three thousand years from now... We'll talk about that then."

He is now more concerned with immediate interests.

Lu Chen took out the Dragon Palace Third Prince's Token, his eyes flashing.

"The Dragon Treasury...it's time to go and take something."

He rested for a day, recovered to his peak condition, and then dived into the East China Sea.

The deeper he went, the greater the water pressure became, but it was nothing to him now. Following the map on the jade slip, he found the East Sea Eye—a terrifying whirlpool with a diameter of ten thousand feet.

In the center of the vortex, the faint outline of a golden palace could be seen, which was the Dragon Clan's treasure vault.

"The Sea Eye's restriction weakens for three breaths each month on the fifteenth due to the tides..." Lu Chen calculated the time, "That's tonight!"

He lay in wait among the coral reefs.

Night fell, and the moon was full and round.

At midnight, the rotation speed of the whirlpool in the sea eye decreased sharply, and the restrictions on the golden palace showed slight fluctuations.

"Now!"

Lu Chen transformed into a water arrow and shot towards the center of the vortex.

In the span of three breaths, he rushed through the weakest point of the barrier and entered the golden palace.

The treasure vault has three levels.

The first layer: mountains of acquired spiritual treasures, ores, and spiritual herbs. Lu Chen didn't even glance at them—there were too many to take, and they weren't particularly valuable.

The second level contained innate spiritual materials, dragon clan cultivation techniques, and Great Luo-level dragon pearls. He casually took three dragon pearls and more than a dozen pieces of innate Geng metal.

Head straight to the third floor!

Using the Third Prince's Token to break the restriction, Lu Chen stepped inside.

"hiss--"

He gasped.

The third level is not large, only a hundred feet in diameter, but every treasure there radiates innate spiritual light:

In the very center float twelve Sea-Stabilizing Pearls, as blue as the sea, with faint phantom images of the world within them—this is a complete set of innate spiritual treasures, all twelve of which can be used to form a Small Heavenly Circuit!

On the left is a dragon blood coral, three zhang tall, entirely blood red, emitting a rich dragon aura—it can purify the bloodline of dragons and is a treasure to the dragon race.

On the right are three jade boxes: one contains a drop of the Ancestral Dragon's essence blood, one contains the complete version of "The Nine Transformations of the Ancestral Dragon", and the last one... contains a golden scale, whose aura is even more ancient than the Ancestral Dragon's reverse scale!

"This is... the reverse scale of the Primordial Azure Dragon, the father of the Ancestral Dragon?!" Lu Chen's heart pounded like a drum.

The Primordial Azure Dragon, one of the Chaos Demon Gods, the progenitor of the dragon race! Its reverse scale contains the Chaos Dragon Dao!

"Take them all!"

Without saying a word, Lu Chen unfolded the Qiankun Diagram, engulfing all the treasures within it.

But he was careful—he only took 70% of each item, leaving 30% to cover his tracks. He also placed the Third Prince's token in a conspicuous position, creating the illusion that "the Third Prince was stealing from his own post."

Having done all this, he prepared to leave.

Just then, a commotion came from outside the treasure vault.

"Third Prince, what brings you here?" came the guard's voice.

"My father ordered me to retrieve the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl to set up the formation." A young voice, tinged with arrogance, said.

Lu Chen's expression changed—the main character has arrived!

He looked around; there was nowhere to hide on the third floor.

As the footsteps drew closer, Lu Chen gritted his teeth, took out the drop of ancestral dragon essence blood, and smeared it on his brow.

"The Nine Transformations of the First Emperor – Transformation into a Dragon!"

"Buzz—"

His body began to change: dragon horns, dragon scales, dragon tail... In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a ten-zhang-long azure dragon, with an aura no different from that of the dragon race.

This is a divine power he shared with his clone "Ao Chen", and with the blessing of the Ancestral Dragon's essence blood, it is enough to fool people.

The transformation had just been completed when the treasure vault doors opened.

A young man in a golden robe walked in. He had two horns on his head, a handsome face, and an aura of a peak Golden Immortal—it was none other than Ao Bing, the Third Prince of the Dragon Clan!

Ao Bing was taken aback when he saw Lu Chen (in his Azure Dragon form): "Which dragon clan are you from? Why are you here?"

Lu Chen imitated the tone of the dragon clan and said in a deep voice, "I am the commander of the East Sea patrol yakshas, ​​ordered by the Crown Prince to come and inventory the treasures."

"Big brother?" Ao Bing frowned slightly. "Why would he send someone to the treasure vault..."

Before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly changed drastically.

"Where's the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl?! And where's the Dragon Blood Coral?!"

Lu Chen sensed something was wrong and quickly said, "The Crown Prince has already taken some, saying he urgently needs it for setting up the formation."

"Bullshit!" Ao Bing roared in fury. "Setting up the formation only requires three Sea-Stabilizing Pearls, and we're missing twelve! Plus, there's the Ancestral Dragon's essence blood, the Azure Dragon's reverse scale... Big Brother couldn't possibly have taken all of that!"

He stared intently at Lu Chen, his dragon eyes flashing with golden light: "You're not a dragon! You're a spy!"

My identity has been exposed!

Without saying a word, Lu Chen revealed his true form, holding a black brick in his hand, and smashed it towards Ao Bing's face.

"You're courting death!" Ao Bing unleashed his natal dragon pearl.

"Bang!"

The black bricks collided with the Dragon Ball, unleashing a burst of golden light of merit.

Ao Bing was forced back three steps, cracks appeared in the Dragon Pearl, and his face was filled with horror: "A treasure of merit?! Who are you?!"

Lu Chen didn't answer, and turned to run away.

"Stop him!" Ao Bing roared.

Outside the treasure vault, four Golden Immortal guards rushed in.

"Get out of my way!" Lu Chen summoned the Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag to protect himself and forced his way out.

"Chase! Sound the alarm! Thieves are stealing treasure!" Ao Bing was so angry that his dragon whiskers stood on end.

The entire Dragon Palace was in an uproar.

Lu Chen charged forward, his defenses unmatched by the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner, his black bricks aimed at the dragon heads, and he broke through seven checkpoints in a row.

Just as they were about to break out of the Dragon Palace, suddenly—

"Buzz!"

A terrifying pressure descended.

The entire East China Sea seemed to freeze, as if time had stood still.

A phantom image of a ten-thousand-foot-tall golden dragon appeared, its eyes like the sun and moon, looking down at Lu Chen.

"You ants, you who dared to steal my treasures and harm my offspring... Who gave you the audacity?"

The true form of the Ancestral Dragon has descended!

Under the oppressive aura of the Ancestral Dragon, Lu Chen couldn't even move a finger. But the Qiankun Diagram in his arms suddenly unfolded automatically, and a phantom of the Qiankun Ancestor appeared, saying calmly, "Fellow Daoist Ancestral Dragon, how about giving this old man some face?"

The First Emperor's eyes flashed: "Qiankun, you have already fallen, yet you still wish to stop me?"

The illusory figure laughed, "Yes, but if you kill him, the theft of your dragon clan's treasury will never be investigated—because the real culprit is within your dragon clan!"

Zu Long's eyes narrowed: "What do you mean?" Lu Chen's heart pounded wildly—what exactly was the contingency plan left behind by the Qiankun Ancestor?!