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

Deep within the Ruins of Return, a place where laws are annihilated.

Lu Chen took a step forward, and the void cracks beneath his feet spread for hundreds of miles. The pure power disturbance even caused ripples in this land of endings.

Ahead, the evil, decaying final wave grew clearer, finally manifesting as a mass of writhing, living black pus. Countless distorted faces appeared on the surface of the pus, emitting silent wails and exuding a terrifying aura that devoured all life and corrupted all laws and principles.

"A composite of resentment from the Void? Or the remnants of 'evil' left after the fall of the Chaos Demon God?" Lu Chen's eyes were grave. The sense of danger this object posed to him even surpassed that of facing the four Saints in a direct attack!

The pitch-black pus seemed to sense the perfect Law of Power and life aura emanating from Lu Chen, letting out a sharp screech and suddenly expanding, transforming into a black tide that blotted out the sky and engulfed him! Wherever the black tide passed, even the shattered fragments of the Law were instantly corroded and assimilated, becoming part of it!

"Well done!" Lu Chen neither dodged nor avoided, raising his hand in a gesture of grasp.

"Ultimate Power - Annihilation of Chaos!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, no dazzling divine light. Only the void a hundred miles in front of Lu Chen's palm suddenly collapsed inward! It was as if an invisible giant hand had crushed that space, along with the black tide within it!

It's not cutting, not burning, not scouring; it's the purest form of crushing power! Using the laws of force, it forcibly interferes with the dimensions of reality, causing matter and energy to disintegrate and annihilate from their most basic structures!

"laugh--!"

The ear-piercing sound of corrosion clashed with the silent annihilation. The black tide surged wildly, attempting to corrode this power, but the annihilation power of the perfected Law of Force was too high-level. The black tide seemed to have met its nemesis, dissipating in large swathes!

A glint flashed in Lu Chen's eyes, and he seized the opportunity to pursue. The Chaos World Brick flew out of his hand, transforming into a real Chaos World phantom, which descended upon him! Within the world, the power of the Thirty-Six Heavens circulated, cooperating with the Annihilation Force, to completely obliterate this mass of Void Evil!

The black tide let out a final, unwilling cry, contracted rapidly, and finally turned into a barely perceptible black dot before exploding!

boom--!

It wasn't an energy explosion, but a collapse at the level of laws! An ultimate Daoist aura, capable of ending all things and causing everything to perish, was like the most vicious curse, ignoring defenses and directly impacting Lu Chen's Dao heart and soul!

"A mere trick!" Deep within Lu Chen's soul, the will of the Great Dao of Power roared, transforming into a towering, chaotic giant phantom that roared to the heavens! The Dao of Termination struck the giant, melting away like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun!

The giant phantom grabbed out a gray-black, cracked crystal from the core of the collapsing black tide—a fragment of the evil creature's most fundamental "Ending Law"!

"A good find!" Lu Chen's eyes lit up. Although this fragment was filled with malice, it was the most direct manifestation of "end," and it had great reference value for his understanding of the other side of the Law of Power—"destruction" and "end." He carefully sealed it and put it deep into the Chaos World Brick.

Thus, the greatest threat to the Ruins of Return was eliminated. Lu Chen looked around; the shattered graveyard of laws remained, but the chilling source of evil had vanished.

"The hundred-year period is approaching." He sensed his own condition. The Law of Power was perfected, the Demonic Ape's essence was completely refined, and his cultivation had firmly reached the peak of the Primordial Chaos realm. He had one foot in the door of proving the Dao through power. He only needed an opportunity, an epiphany, or a battle of sufficient magnitude to break through that barrier.

"It's time to go back." He took out the Guixu Guiding Shuttle, and the stone shuttle lit up, guiding him on his way back.

A hundred years after Guixu, the outside world was a vast and desolate place, presenting a completely different scene.

While Lu Chen was cultivating diligently in Guixu, the Heavenly Dao of the Primordial World was in operation, and a new great calamity was brewing—the Journey to the West Great Calamity!

After the Investiture of the Gods, although the Heavenly Court was established, the old gods of the Jie Sect outwardly obeyed but inwardly defied it, while the Western Sect expanded wildly, constantly eroding the faith of the human race. The Dao Ancestor merged with the Dao, the Three Pure Ones retired, and Nuwa withdrew from worldly affairs. For a time, the two Western Saints, Jieyin and Zhunti, were extremely arrogant.

Under the guise of "spreading Buddhism eastward and saving all sentient beings," they pushed for the Heavenly Court and Buddhism to sign a "Journey to the West" agreement: Buddhism would send pilgrims from the Western Paradise to the Tang Dynasty in the East to obtain the true scriptures, setting up eighty-one tribulations along the way to test their will and spread Buddhism. After the mission was accomplished, Buddhism would receive a portion of the faith and incense offerings from the East, while the Heavenly Court would use Buddhism's power to further consolidate the human race's fortune and suppress internal dissent.

Although the Jade Emperor was unwilling to be used by Buddhism, the Heavenly Court was beset by internal and external troubles and urgently needed external forces to counterbalance the old gods of the Jie Sect, so he had no choice but to acquiesce. The Primordial Heavenly Venerable's attitude was ambiguous, and he seemed to want to use Buddhism to further eliminate the "outliers" of the Xuanmen. Laozi secluded himself to refine elixirs, and Tongtian sealed off the island and did not come out.

Thus, the Journey to the West was quietly set up through the tacit understanding and strategic maneuvering of the sages.

Lingshan, Daleiyin Temple.

The Amitabha Buddha sits on a lotus platform, with Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Arhats standing below, bathed in the light of Buddha.

"Jin Chanzi," Zhunti said.

A handsome young monk with slightly bewildered eyes stepped forward; he was none other than Jin Chanzi, the second disciple of the Buddha.

"You have slighted the Dharma, and you will have to go through ten lifetimes of reincarnation to feel the suffering of all beings. In your tenth life, you will be reborn in the East as a pilgrim to obtain the scriptures. You will endure eighty-one tribulations to obtain the true scriptures. When your merits are fulfilled, you will return to the Buddha's position."

Jin Chanzi clasped his hands together and said, "Disciple receives the decree." He turned around and walked step by step toward the reincarnation passage. In the depths of his confusion, there was a trace of barely perceptible... unwillingness?

Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Court, at the Lingxiao Palace.

The Jade Emperor looked at the jade slip containing the agreement signed with Buddhism, his face grim. The terms of the agreement seemed fair, but in reality, they were riddled with traps. Buddhism not only wanted to spread its teachings in the East, but also demanded the Heavenly Court's cooperation in providing various "actors" needed for the "calamity"—for example, those unruly old gods of the Jie Sect, the mounts and attendants who had descended to the mortal realm as demons, and even some disobedient mountain and river deities…

"Your Majesty, the Buddhist sect is powerful. For now, we should feign compliance and wait for the future..." Venus whispered, trying to comfort him.

"I know," Haotian interrupted him, a cold glint in his eyes. "But I am not one to be manipulated. Issue an edict: General Rolling Curtain is banished to the mortal realm for accidentally breaking a glass goblet, to be thrown into the Flowing Sand River, and to suffer the torment of flying swords piercing his chest every seven days. Marshal Tianpeng is banished to the animal realm for harassing Chang'e, and is mistakenly reborn as a pig. Furthermore, Ao Lie, the third prince of the West Sea Dragon King, has committed a grave offense and is banished to the mortal realm as a horse, to be given to the pilgrims for their locomotives."

Venus was startled: "Your Majesty, what is this...?"

"Since you're going to set up a calamity, I'll plant a few of your own people in it." Haotian sneered. "Rolling Curtain, Tianpeng, and Ao Lie are all loyal to me and have been wronged. Let them infiltrate the pilgrimage team; at crucial moments, they might become my eyes and ears and pawns."

"Furthermore," Haotian looked down at the Eastern Continent of Victory, "that stone monkey should also be born soon."

Huaguo Mountain, the immortal stone at the top of the mountain has absorbed the essence of the sun and moon, and has already shown signs of spiritual activity.

Everything is proceeding according to the "script".

At this moment, chaotic air currents surged at the exit of the Guixu Passage.

Lu Chen took a step forward, returning to the primordial world. A hundred years had passed, and he had lost all his former sharpness, his temperament returning to simplicity, just like an ordinary mortal.

But as he looked up at the heavens, at Mount Ling, at the Heavenly Court, and at the Journey to the West calamity that had already begun in the darkness, a familiar, wicked smile slowly crept onto his lips.

"A resurgence of Buddhism? A journey to the West to retrieve Buddhist scriptures?"

"I, Lu Chen, am back."

"This scene would be so boring without my cameo as the sixth brother."

He activated his brick-transformation technique and silently disappeared into the primordial clouds, his destination—Flower Fruit Mountain!

A new chapter in the primordial era, the grand drama of Journey to the West, is about to begin.

The biggest variable has already entered the game.