Inside Zixiao Palace, Hongjun's eyes flickered with a depth that resembled a black hole.
Throughout these endless eons, he had been attempting to merge his body with the Dao. Countless millennia had passed in the blink of an eye, yet he remained stuck at the final threshold—the "threshold kick" that would complete his transcendence.
This was utterly perplexing to him. Now that he had awakened, he intended to investigate exactly where the problem lay.
With a thought, the passage of time shifted within Hongjun's vision. Every event in the Primordial World, past and present, flashed through his mind like a series of rapid paintings. Though the Great Desolation was vast beyond measure, teeming with infinite Living Beings, it was laid bare before Hongjun's divine intent. He was not yet the fully merged Heavenly Dao, but the magic power of a Saint (Saint) was still immeasurable.
"This..."
A moment later, Hongjun's gaze shifted. He had seen something so inconceivable that his face actually stiffened for a heartbeat.
Outside Zixiao Palace, the elements of earth, fire, water, and wind surged violently. Space collapsed and time flowed backward; the Five Elements, Yin and Yang, and the cycle of Life and Death (Reincarnation) rotated incessantly. These terrifying celestial anomalies were triggered solely by the fluctuation of Hongjun's emotions.
"Evil creature!"
A cold, sharp exclamation rang through the silent palace. Hongjun's expression grew solemn, his eyes radiating an aura of total destruction. He had not expected so many variables to occur during his period of seclusion.
Nuwa remained ignorant of the heavenly fate, leading the Yao Race in a futile war against the Witches for eons. Worse, she hadn't even achieved a stalemate; the Yao had been ruthlessly crushed by the Twelve Ancestral Witches. The entire race was in tatters, the gap between them and the Wu Clan now spanning ten thousand miles. Even the intervention of the Sanqing had failed to turn the tide.
Then there were the Golden Crows of the Sun Star. They continued to ignore the Yao Race entirely. Hongjun had originally assumed the Crows' cultivation was too low to make an impact. The reality was the exact opposite. The "Protagonists of the Calamity," Di Jun and Tai Yi, were powerful enough to rival the Witches—but the most absurd variable was the third Crow, Ling Xiao.
He had faced the Twelve Ancestral Witches alone, and even the Pangu Phantom could do nothing to him. He had effectively torn through the Wu Clan's supremacy single-handedly.
"What an evil creature... to have taken the Path of Laws (Law) to such a stage..."
Hongjun's gaze shifted. He had expected the Crows to find the Law path blocked and return to the Yao fold out of necessity. Instead, they had not only found a way through, but the path was smooth and wide. No wonder they ignored the Yao Race; staying on the Sun Star to cultivate in peace was far more rewarding.
If he were in their shoes, he wouldn't want to manage the Yao either.
But the issue wasn't about "management"—it was about the Great Trend of Heaven. Previously, he thought the Crows were too weak to check the Witches. Now, the problem had flipped: the Crows were too strong, and the Witches couldn't keep them in check.
"The Wu Clan... the Pangu Phantom..." Hongjun whispered to himself. Aside from the Crows, the phantom filled him with doubt and a trace of dread. To him, that wasn't just a simple formation; it was a wisp of Pangu's Will.
Logically, after eons of the world's existence, Pangu's will should have dissipated into nothingness. Yet it still existed and could still influence the Honghuang World. This was evident from the Witches' worship of Mount Buzhou, but what truly baffled Hongjun was the most recent incident.
After the Pangu Phantom appeared, it had dissipated almost immediately after facing Ling Xiao. To an outsider, it looked like a fluke. To Hongjun, it was anything but simple.
"Does Ling Xiao have a mysterious connection to Pangu?"
Hongjun fell into deep thought. Combining all prior events, Ling Xiao was an anomaly—a "Variable", much like Raise Eyebrow (Great Hollow). But this anomaly was different; he seemed to resonate with Pangu.
The Twelve Ancestral Witches' claim to be the "Orthodox Lineage of Pangu" was nonsense. After Pangu created the world, everything was his manifestation; the Witches were barely a hair on his body. So, what did Ling Xiao represent?
"Is Pangu's will re-coalescing? Does he seek to disturb the Heavenly Dao and return to the world?"
Hongjun's mind cycled through a million possibilities. He was hyper-sensitive, suspecting that the Wu Clan's frantic collection of Pangu's Legacy (Pangu) over the millennia might be a move to facilitate Pangu's Rebirth. Perhaps the Twelve Ancestral Witches were being guided by Pangu's will to reclaim dominance while Hongjun was busy merging with the Dao.
The more he thought, the more convoluted and treacherous the situation seemed. No wonder his Merging with the Dao was incomplete. With so many variables, it would be a miracle if it succeeded.
"Ling Xiao..."
Hongjun muttered the name with an unreadable expression. His gaze pierced through countless layers of space and infinite time, landing upon the South Bright Volcano.
"I shall not allow any existence to disturb the Great Desolation!"
He had sacrificed everything to merge with the Dao, all to ensure the stability of heaven and earth. He would show no mercy to any entity that threatened that stability.
"The Great Dao is just; the Heavenly Dao is selfless. Now that I am merging with the Dao, I must have no personal bias."
"Ling Xiao, your actions have already affected the Great Trend of the Heavenly Dao. Small trends may change, but the Great Trend is irreversible. This Karma (Karma) must be borne by you..."
Hongjun's face was expressionless, his deep words sounding as if they came from the very edge of the universe. He then turned his gaze toward Mount Buzhou, a trace of dread flashing in his eyes. Since the era of the Demon Ancestor Rahu, Hongjun had not felt such a sense of crisis. Every step from here on had to be calculated with extreme care.
"Nuwa and the Sanqing... it is time for them to Achieve Sainthood (achieve sainthood)."
Hongjun let out a faint sigh. These "clumsy disciples" of his had been led by the nose by a Golden Crow. It was one thing to be thrashed; it was another to be utilized by the enemy. While the Crow was already on the verge of Sainthood, his own disciples were still clueless and showing no progress.
Now that anomalies were erupting, he needed their help. Since he had not fully merged with the Heavenly Dao, he was still bound by the rule that he could not interfere casually once the merger was complete—the old adage: "The Great Trend does not change; Hongjun does not emerge."
"The Heavenly Dao is selfless. The Karma that is owed cannot be escaped!"
In Hongjun's eyes, the Law was complex. Threads of Karma spread across the heavens and earth. Though not yet fully merged, he could already wield a portion of the Heavenly Dao's power. Endless strands of Karma began to envelop the Primordial World, reversing time and shuttling through the past...
Deep within the South Bright Volcano, the mechanical voice of the System rang out in Ling Xiao's mind once more.
[Detected that Hongjun has become aware of the Host's actions and is enraged. Please make your choice:]
[Choice 1: Stop the promotion to Grand Unity Golden Immortal (Saint). Go to Zixiao Palace immediately to admit your mistakes to Hongjun. Reward: God Slaying Spear.]
[Choice 2: Refuse to compromise. Resolve to break through to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. Reward: One fragment of Law.]