Simulating the primordial era? That's way too extreme.

Chapter 28 Abdication

The primordial chaos and calamity permeated the land, giving rise to a pervasive sense of malevolence, and the struggles intensified ever more fiercely.

[If a demon kills one, the human will kill ten demons in retaliation! Even if those ten demons have no grudge against him, he will still be killed to deter the demon race from killing. After all, humans are the most powerful of demons, and even if one life is exchanged for ten, the human race will still feel it is a loss.]

But unprovoked violence cannot solve this problem; it will only invite more extreme violence in return!

[In the 370th year of the Demon Calendar, during the Sixth Cycle and Tenth Period, a tiger demon attack erupted in the Eastern Wilderness. A celestial-level tiger demon stormed into a human village, indiscriminately attacking civilians and successfully destroying the village.]

[In the 370th year of the Demon Calendar, the 11th cycle of the Sixth Period, a demon-exterminating campaign broke out in the Northern Wilderness. Thousands of humans attacked a wolf demon settlement, slaughtering all the adult and semi-adult wolf demons, capturing only a few immature wolf cubs as servants.]

[In the 370th year of the Demon Calendar, during the 12th cycle of the Third Period, the Feathered Clan of the Southern Wilderness attacked a human city. Two Golden Immortals fought a great battle, the aftershocks of which destroyed the city, and more than 100,000 people from both clans died.]

[In the 372nd year of the Demon Calendar, the eighth cycle of the second phase, the demon race of the Western Wilderness formed an alliance and jointly swept away all human villages and cities in the Western Wilderness. To show their contempt and discrimination against humans, they even openly ate humans, meaning they denied the human rights of humans and considered them only worthy of being food.]

[The Demon Calendar...]

The situation is escalating, and the conflict is gradually intensifying!

"So, where is Di Jun? Where is the Heavenly Court? Where is the protagonist, Jin Bing?"

Zhao Si astutely discovered a blind spot in the information about the two races killing each other:

Throughout the entire process, neither side's leaders intervened, and the conflict and massacre remained confined to the lower and middle classes.

Where is the law of heaven? Where is the divine justice?

This is a massive massacre, the primordial order has been shattered, and you're not doing anything about it?!

So what are they doing?

The answer is:

In stark contrast to the carnage and wailing that filled the primordial wilderness, a small banquet was being held on Shouyang Mountain, in the Heavenly Capital. Attendees included the Heavenly Emperor Di Jun, Donghuang Taiyi, Sun God Xihe, Wangshu Changxi, Heavenly Consort Yinglong, Demon Master Kunpeng, and demon saints such as Ji Meng and Fei Lian, along with various Heavenly Lords and Star Lords.

[And...you, the Human High Chieftain.]

[Among them, the one laughing the happiest is neither Di Jun nor Tai Yi, but your master, the Sun Star Lord!]

[The Sun Star Lord laughed heartily, saying that he had indeed not misjudged you back then. You are truly a pillar of the demon race. It is thanks to you that you have been encouraging the human race to actively participate in the war and not allowing anyone to be afraid of death and hide. Otherwise, the sages would have protected the human race long ago, and the war would not have been going so smoothly.]

[Once the human race is wiped out by the demon race, your contribution will be immeasurable. In the future, he might even be willing to relinquish the position of Sun Star Lord to you and live a peaceful life himself!]

Upon hearing this good news, you showed no joy at "finally making progress," but rather a distracted and sorrowful expression...

"What exactly did I do?"

[Countless times you've been tormented by your own conscience; the moment you close your eyes, you seem to hear the cries and pleas of endless humans and demons... It's all your doing, you did all of this...]

[Di Jun could see that you were plagued by inner demons, but he didn't have any good solutions. After all, planning was one thing, and causing a massacre with one's own hands was another... But he still comforted you, telling you not to overthink it. With the merits you've accumulated among humans, as long as you don't dwell on it, no inner demons can affect you!]

But can we really not think about it? Merit is amazing, but it's not a panacea...

[To dispel your inner demons, Di Jun pondered for a long time, and then, in front of all the important figures of the Heavenly Court, issued an edict.]

"I realize I have failed in my duty to Heaven, and therefore abdicate the throne to Jin Bing of the Dragon Clan. I hereby appoint Jin Bing as Crown Prince. After the extermination of the human race, you may then support the new emperor to ascend the throne!"

Upon the issuance of the edict, everyone was shocked. Taiyi and Kunpeng immediately protested, while the Sun Star Lord burst into tears, kneeling and begging His Majesty to rescind the decree!

[But Emperor Jun was determined and, disregarding everyone's advice, insisted on writing a decree to pass the throne to you.]

[You were stunned by this sudden surprise, staring at the imperial edict, unsure of what to do, your hands and feet trembling.]

Faced with the edict of succession, what would you choose?

A: No.

Zhao Si: ?

"Wait a minute... I didn't skip any plot points. I've never even been a proper celestial official, so how come I'm suddenly going to ascend the throne and become emperor?!"

Zhao Si was dumbfounded, partly because she couldn't understand the plot's development, and partly because of the choices the game presented:

"Didn't we always have two or more options before? Why is there only one this time? What am I supposed to choose?!"

Left with no other choice, Zhao Si had to select the only option:

Faced with the edict of succession, you choose option A, to refuse.

You immediately knelt down and said that you had no merit or virtue, dared not covet the throne, and begged Your Majesty to rescind your decree.

[Emperor Jun remains unmoved and continues to hand you the imperial edict. What do you choose?]

A: No.

"There's still only one option..."

Zhao Si had no choice but to click "decline" again.

Faced with the edict of succession, you choose option A, to refuse.

[You continue to argue that the Heavenly Emperor is a supreme ruler revered by all people, how could the Heavenly Emperor bear to abandon his people?]

[Di Jun remains unmoved and continues to hand it to you. What do you choose?]

A: No.

Zhao Si: ...

Okay, I'll order!

Faced with the edict of succession, you choose option A, to refuse.

[You knelt on the ground, sobbing, and said that the ten Golden Crow Princes had only recently been born. Even if the Heavenly Emperor were to abdicate, the princes should succeed him. Your subject is willing to serve the new emperor wholeheartedly and would never dare to have any improper thoughts!]

[Upon mentioning his sons, Di Jun snorted coldly and finally spoke, saying that the ten little brats were unruly and utterly incapable of being of any use. Without their father's discipline, who knew what kind of trouble they would cause? They absolutely could not be allowed to succeed to the throne.]

[Without a father's discipline?]

You looked at the Heavenly Emperor with a blank expression, wondering what he meant by that. Unexpectedly, Di Jun smiled and said that he would soon attain sainthood and would then go to the Chaos to establish a Daoist temple. Naturally, it would be inconvenient for him to continue serving as the Heavenly Emperor. He told you that when you became the Heavenly Emperor, you must help him take care of his sons.

[As he spoke, Emperor Jun handed over the imperial edict again. What do you choose?]

[A: Thinking to himself, "The process of three refusals and three offers is complete, so I won't stand on ceremony. I will certainly treat the late emperor's son well from now on!", he outwardly accepted the edict cautiously.]

Goodness, so it was just going through the motions!

Zhao Si couldn't bear to look. No wonder there was only one possible option among the three options; it turned out to be a process of "three refusals and three concessions" in abdication...

"So, you really want me to be the Heavenly Emperor?"

Zhao Si still couldn't quite understand the reasoning behind this. Logically speaking, even if Di Jun wanted to abdicate, his younger brother Donghuang Taiyi should be given priority, or at the very least, the demon master Kunpeng. There were plenty of powerful figures in the Heavenly Court who could inherit the throne from the Heavenly Emperor, so why should it fall to me?

Zhao couldn't understand.

Secondly, Di Jun claims he's about to become a saint—isn't that utter nonsense?!

Anyone who has read prehistoric novels knows that to become a saint in the prehistoric world, one needs "Primordial Purple Qi," which was only bestowed upon him by Dao Ancestor Hongjun during the Three Lectures at Zixiao Palace.

The six saints were six direct disciples, each possessing a wisp of purple energy. After they all used it up to become saints, they never had any more.

Could it be that Di Jun found Hong Jun, a wholesaler, and got new purple energy from him?

That shouldn't be possible...

"unless……"

Zhao Si was suddenly startled. Had she been forgetting someone all along?

There was a certain person with a weak presence, who had heard the teachings of Zixiao Palace and even received a wisp of extra Primordial Purple Qi, but who was nonetheless the number one unfortunate soul in the Primordial World who failed to become a saint...

"Red Clouds?!"

……

(End of this chapter)