Prelude
At the heart of Chaos.
There was no sky above or ground below. Or rather, at this point there was neither sky nor land. The four directions stretched without limit, and streams of chaotic energy swept past, churning and intertwining.
This was the Hongmeng Battlefield.
At some point, the demon gods had gathered here by unspoken agreement, making it the center of their struggle.
Pangu was there, of course.
He stood bare-chested, muscles bunched across his shoulders and back. His eyes were half closed, and he gripped a massive axe in his hands. The muscles in his arms tightened into thick, corded lines as he exerted his strength.
Pangu paid no heed to the demon gods, who had gathered at varying distances around him, seemingly hemming him in. He simply hovered in the center of the battlefield.
“Pangu, you dare try to seize the very foundation of our existence. The Great Dao will not allow it!” one demon god sneered.
Pangu did not even raise his eyelids.
They were nothing but a rabble.
At that moment, all his attention was fixed on his Dao.
Ever since he had glimpsed the chance to attain the Dao, he had sensed it vaguely: he bore the responsibility of opening the heavens. If he wished to attain the Great Dao, he had to use the Heaven-Opening Divine Axe in his hands to split apart this Chaos!
But…
He lowered his head and stared at the great axe in his hands.
Not enough… still not enough…
Something was missing.
What was it…?
Pangu raised his head and surveyed his surroundings, his sharp gaze passing over the primordial demon gods one by one.
That was it. The chaotic energy gathered here wasn’t enough to create a new world. And the new world he carved out would need the support of laws.
Then… let these former kindred become nourishment for his axe.
Pangu thought coldly.
He moved without warning.
He strode forward, and in an instant was beside one of the nearer demon gods. His axe swept through the air. Before the demon god could react, the blow split him in two. He did not even have time to scream.
The chaotic energy lurking nearby immediately surged forward. It wrapped around the unlucky demon god, grinding him to nothing in the blink of an eye.
Nothing remained.
Without pausing, Pangu swung the great axe with all his strength, striking at another demon god.
The change came too quickly. The remaining demon gods fell into an uproar. From the rear, Yangmei frowned and shouted, “Don’t panic! If we join forces, Pangu can’t possibly defeat us alone. Whatever you do, don’t fight him one-on-one!”
After leaving Luo Yan, Yangmei had gone to great lengths to contact some of the demon gods. Perhaps Pangu was simply too powerful, and they had feared him for a long time. In the end, Yangmei really had managed to bring them together.
As far as Yangmei was concerned, whether Luo Yan and Hongjun’s prediction of the future was true or not, Pangu’s determination to kill every demon god but himself meant they had to kill him before he attained the Dao.
Otherwise, how could any of them hope to survive?
But Pangu did not regard Yangmei and the others as a threat.
His gaze darkened as he sized up his “enemies,” casually blocking the attacks aimed at him. Under his breath, he murmured, “One, two… no, two are still missing.”
His gaze fixed on the demon god shouting across from him. He asked coldly, “Where are the Lord of the Immortal Dao and the God of Causality?”
Yangmei, under Pangu’s gaze, felt a jolt of alarm.
To be honest, leaving Luo Yan aside, Hongjun was still a friend he respected. With Hongjun’s meager combat abilities, how could he withstand even a single blow from Pangu, renowned for his strength? Since Hongjun did not want to help stop Pangu from slaughtering the demon gods, Yangmei had not pressed him. He certainly did not want Pangu turning his attention to Hongjun.
Besides…
As Yangmei watched Pangu slaughter the demon gods as if he meant to wipe them all out, he inexplicably recalled Luo Yan’s prediction about Pangu:
Pangu would open the heavens.
Open the heavens…
Yangmei turned the phrase over in his mind.
He was not Hongjun or Luo Yan. The laws of space he controlled were unaffected by Hongmeng. He could take his time and study them in comfort. Naturally, he had no desire for Pangu to shatter the world he had long grown accustomed to.
Hearing Pangu ask straightaway where Hongjun and Luo Yan were, Yangmei’s expression darkened. “We’re more than enough to deal with you.”
Pangu said no more. As if tired of playing at fighting with these demon gods, he suddenly began swinging his axe in broad, forceful arcs. The demon gods had no strength to resist wherever it passed. Those struck were flung away, and the weaker ones were torn apart by the chaotic energy, vanishing without a trace.
A flash of cold light fell into Yangmei’s eyes.
Too fast.
The moment the light fell, Yangmei felt tremendous force slam into him. His cultivation was among the strongest in the alliance, so Pangu’s casual blow was not enough to overwhelm him. He took the blow head-on in his true form, a hollow willow tree. The axe struck its sturdy trunk, paused briefly, then pulled back, leaving a deep groove behind.
The hollow willow transformed back into Yangmei.
He clutched his abdomen, his face pale.
After a long moment, he straightened and looked around. His allies were falling one by one beneath the divine axe in Pangu’s hands. Even the stronger ones could barely withstand Pangu’s first blow. Before they could flee, they were swallowed by the chaotic energy with a scream.
So they truly were no match for Pangu.
A sudden sadness washed over Yangmei.
But though resistance was futile, the pride of a Primordial Demon God born of Hongmeng would not let him simply offer his neck for the axe. He drew a deep breath. While the other demon gods briefly drew Pangu’s attention, Yangmei endured the tearing pain in his abdomen and gathered the power of space he wielded best.
A pitch-black rift opened beside Yangmei. He stepped into it and vanished.
The next moment, Pangu sensed the killing intent behind him and instinctively turned. A rift in space had appeared without a sound at his back, and Yangmei’s fiercest attack yet was already bearing down on him.
But it was useless.
The great axe in Pangu’s hands swept lightly through the air. Yangmei felt his vision turn upside down in an instant. The world before him blurred, and in a daze, he seemed to see Hongjun’s figure.
“Sigh…”
A soft sigh reached him. Yangmei’s gaze grew hazy. He parted his lips, wanting to ask his friend, “What are you doing here?” He wanted to say, “You’re no match for Pangu. Run!” He wanted to say, “You really shouldn’t rely so much on your predictions.”
But he could not say a word.
Hongjun watched as Yangmei’s head dissolved before his eyes.
He had hurried as fast as he could, but he was still a step too late. In the scramble, all he had managed to do was release the karmic thread he had obtained from Luo Yan, barely preserving the last fragment of Yangmei’s true spirit before his head completely vanished.
With a sigh, Hongjun put away the karmic thread wrapped around Yangmei’s true spirit, then looked up at the Hongmeng Battlefield, which Pangu had all but cleared.
Luo Yan had appeared there at some point.
Pangu had finished clearing the battlefield. He turned and saw Luo Yan standing not far away. Sensing the dense power of causality around him, Pangu knew who Luo Yan was.
Further off, another figure in white was carefully putting something away.
“Causality,” Pangu said flatly.
Luo Yan smiled faintly.
“Pangu, I know what you want.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Hongjun approaching. While placating Pangu, he edged unobtrusively toward Hongjun.
Pangu did not reply. He merely rolled the handle of the great axe in his hand.
“You want to attain the Dao, but there isn’t enough chaotic energy or enough laws. Isn’t that right?” Luo Yan said with a smile.
Pangu’s eyes narrowed slowly.
“What do you want?” His voice was heavy. “Since you know, you should also understand that I cannot spare any of you.”
“That’s fine,” Luo Yan said readily. “You can have this demon god body. I can willingly hand over my Source of Laws as well.”
A Source of Laws given willingly would be more powerful from the start, making it far better suited to a newborn world.
What was more, the law of causality was one of the Great Dao’s core laws.
This surprised Pangu. The obsession with attaining the Dao kept urging him on. By instinct, he wanted to make the newborn world more complete, and so he almost agreed before catching himself.
“What do you want?” he repeated.
Luo Yan’s offer was practically a sacrifice of his own life to the world Pangu was about to create. Pangu understood these primordial demon gods all too well. Luo Yan’s actions clearly concealed a trap.
He turned his gaze to Hongjun, who was approaching. “You as well?”
Hongjun nodded.
Pangu fell silent.
Luo Yan stepped forward and spoke slowly, his voice almost hypnotic. “Pangu, why don’t we make a deal?”
“We will willingly give up our demon god bodies and Sources of Laws. In return, as the lord of the newborn world, you will allow us to reshape our bodies after the heavens are opened.”
“What do you say?”
Pangu scoffed. “Those two things are the foundation of a demon god’s existence. If you lose your Sources of Laws, can you even survive?”
“You needn’t worry about that,” Luo Yan said, wearing a smile like a mask. “Just agree. Whether we survive is our concern. If we’re unlucky and don’t make it, that has nothing to do with you.”
Pangu lowered his eyes in thought. Luo Yan continued, “Primordial demon gods are untouched by causality. Surely you don’t fear I’ll secretly try to sabotage you?”
After weighing it in his mind, Pangu said, “I can make this deal with you.” After all, he had slaughtered the demon gods for the chaotic energy contained in their bodies and the Sources of Laws they possessed. If any were willing to hand them over, all the better. He was happy to make the deal. “But I have one more condition.”
Luo Yan raised a hand with polished courtesy, inviting Pangu to name it.
“The newborn world will accept you, and you must uphold its workings. Otherwise…” He fixed Luo Yan with his gaze and spoke each word distinctly. “Your body and Dao will be destroyed, and you will vanish without a trace.”
Luo Yan exchanged a glance with Hongjun, who had remained silent throughout.
The instant their eyes met, they understood each other. In perfect unison, they raised their hands and said, “We will uphold the workings of the newborn world. Great Dao, bear witness!”
Of course they would agree.
Pangu did not know that understanding the laws of causality and the Immortal Dao both depended on the workings of the newborn world. They needed no oath to the Great Dao. They were already destined to be bound closely to that world.
They would uphold its workings for the sake of studying their own Sources of Laws, if nothing else.
Luo Yan thought with a complicated expression, ‘It’s true that I’m willingly giving up my Source of Laws, but I never said I’d give up all of its power. Enough to support the opening of the heavens will do.’
Only after Pangu saw the two of them swear their oaths to the Great Dao did he give a slight nod.
For some reason, a sense of urgency lingered in his heart, as if…
As if he would not be able to protect that newborn world himself.
Shaking his head to cast aside the distracting thought, Pangu looked at Luo Yan and Hongjun. “Since that’s settled, dissolve yourselves.”
Once the laws were complete and there was enough spiritual energy, he would split apart this Chaos!