Primordial Era: I am a treasure trove, full of magical treasures.

A single era, 129,600 years, is merely a slightly longer period of seclusion for Xuanbao at present. But for the Primordial World, this era represents a cataclysmic transformation.

Xuanbao sat cross-legged in his secluded cultivation chamber, his body surging with a powerful aura. His aura was even more restrained than it had been a Yuanhui ago; unless deliberately released, it was almost indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person—but careful perception would reveal that the patterns of the three thousand laws within his body were more than ten times purer than before. The Pangu placenta floated in his dantian, slowly rotating, absorbing one law after another, purifying and refining them, and then exhaling them. With each completed cycle, Xuanbao's understanding of the laws deepened, and his foundation became more solid.

"One Yuanhui has passed..." Xuanbao slowly opened his eyes, his gaze calm as still water. "The Pangu Placenta truly lives up to its name. I have purified nearly half of the Three Thousand Laws. The rest is just a matter of time."

Xuanbao stood up, stretched his limbs, and scanned the entire prehistoric world with his divine sense. The prehistoric world of today was no longer the isolated Great Thousand World of yesteryear—its world barriers had expanded several times over, the concentration of spiritual energy had increased more than tenfold, and its territory was so vast that even a saint flying at full speed would need several years to travel from one end to the other. Furthermore, the number of cultivators in the prehistoric world had reached an unprecedented peak: there were over 81 saints, hundreds of thousands of quasi-saints, and countless Grand Luo Golden Immortals.

More importantly, the expansion strategy of the Primordial World has completely changed from the initial "passive defense" to "active hunting".

The reason was simple. Before Xuanbao went into seclusion, he set a basic strategy for the prehistoric world: "In the chaos, resources are limited. If you don't seize them, others will. Rather than waiting for others to seize you, you should seize others first." As soon as this strategy was announced, the war machine of the entire prehistoric world began to run at full speed.

It began as a small-scale probe. A group of newly ascended saints quietly crept to a small, vast world on the edge of chaos, plundered its essence, and swiftly withdrew. The entire process was clean and efficient, leaving no trace. The beings of that vast world didn't even have time to react before they discovered that the world they depended on for survival had begun to collapse.

As for whether it's too cruel, Xuanbao can only say, how can the prehistoric world progress if they don't die?

Moreover, the people in these worlds live worse than those in the slave era. One moment they're eating hot pot and singing, and the next they're being killed and used as food for cultivation. In the end, it's all the same no matter where you are; only a small group of powerful people enjoy privileges.

Having tasted success, the hunting expeditions in the Primordial World began to escalate. From the initial small Great Thousand Worlds, to medium-sized Great Thousand Worlds, and then to Great Thousand Worlds—the Sages' appetites grew ever larger. If the Primordial World were to improve further, the benefits would be greatest for them. Therefore, they naturally began to jointly hunt those Great Thousand Worlds. Some weaker Chaos Demons were truly no match for a dozen Sages working together.

The chaos has never lacked intelligent beings. While the chaotic demons weren't as adept at divination as the primordial cultivators, those who had survived to this day in the chaos were all cunning old foxes who had weathered countless battles. When they discovered this primordial model of "plundering the world's origin to accelerate their own growth," their first reaction wasn't anger, but a sudden realization—

"So you can play it like this?"

Those powerful figures of the Nine Heavens, who had previously held a high and mighty position and disdained to interfere with weaker worlds, began to re-examine their principles of conduct. Previously, they considered those lower worlds and weaker chaotic demons as mere ants; what benefit could there be in crushing an ant? But now they understood—though ants are small, their accumulation adds up, like grains of sand forming a tower. Wasn't the Primordial World's expansion to such an extent in a mere epoch precisely due to this kind of accumulation, where even the smallest act, like a mosquito's leg, is still meat?

And so, chaos ensued.

The first to act were the small and medium-sized Chaos Gods, who were already on the verge of chaos. Normally, they were suppressed by the giants of the Nine Heavens, forced to scavenge scraps for survival on the edge of chaos. But now, they had discovered a new path—those beings weaker than themselves, those lower-level creatures who weren't even Chaos Gods, weren't they the perfect prey?

A chaotic demon god at the eighth level of the Saint realm launched a surprise attack on a medium-sized Great Thousand World. Unlike the primordial chaos that gently plundered its origins, he directly devoured the entire world—billions of living beings, along with the world itself, were transformed into a wisp of origin within him. Although this amount of origin was merely a drop in the ocean for him, the thrill of "gaining without effort" was irresistible.

Once there's a first one, there's bound to be a second.

In just a few hundred years, the small and medium-sized worlds on the edge of chaos suffered devastating blows. Those low-level civilizations that had been struggling to survive in the chaos vanished overnight. The chaos demons who made the move, after devouring these worlds, saw their cultivation levels increase to varying degrees—though not by much, it was easy and quick, far more cost-effective than arduous cultivation.

However, the good times did not last long.

While the smaller Chaos Gods were still reveling on the edge of chaos, the true behemoths—the Chaos Giants of the Nine Heavens—finally made their move.

Their target was no longer the small and medium-sized worlds with their paltry profits, but the large powers that also had Ninth Heaven Demons in charge. The God of Destiny struck first, sealing off a vast area in the eastern part of Chaos with the River of Destiny, bringing dozens of Great Thousand Worlds within the region, each guarded by an Eighth Heaven Demon God, under his control. Those Eighth Heaven Demon Gods attempted to resist, but before the God of Destiny, their resistance was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot—with a single sweep of the River of Destiny, their fates were forcibly rewritten, either turning them into puppets or causing them to perish on the spot.

The God of Cause and Effect followed closely behind. With his Sword of Cause and Effect, he severed the causal networks of several large forces in the southern part of Chaos, completely severing the connections between them. Then, he systematically conquered them one by one, absorbing those forces that had lost external support. His methods were more subtle and elegant than those of the God of Destiny—the absorbed forces were unaware that they had changed masters; they only knew that their luck had suddenly improved and their cultivation speed had suddenly increased, until one day they discovered that they were completely inseparable from the causal network woven by the God of Cause and Effect.

The Time Demon God was even more direct. He used the advantages of the Time Law to adjust the flow of time in a region of western Chaos to one-thousandth of that in the outside world. A year outside meant a thousand years in that region. He forced all the demon gods and worlds within that region to frantically produce primal energy, then harvested it all. Those demon gods and worlds rapidly aged and withered in the accelerated time, eventually turning into a wasteland—but the Time Demon God didn't care; after all, Chaos was so vast, he could simply move on to another region.

Unlike the other three, the Space Demon God Yang Mei did not expand his territory extensively. He simply folded the chaotic space he controlled into countless layers, forming a labyrinthine domain. Any being that entered that domain would become lost in the endless spatial folds and ultimately be silently devoured by Yang Mei. His method of expansion was the most discreet and efficient—because he didn't need to take action himself; he only needed to wait for his prey to come to him.

The simultaneous actions of the four great powers of the Nine Heavens shattered the fragile balance in the chaos. Those medium-sized forces that had been observing were quickly wiped out within a few thousand years. The smaller forces that managed to escape were like frightened birds, either desperately fleeing deeper into the chaos or seeking refuge with one of the great powers.

But seeking refuge does not guarantee safety.

The purpose of those giants in gathering their vassals has never been to protect them, but to make it easier to exploit them.

In the chaos, there is no safe place anymore.

They were completely caught in a chaotic version of the Dark Forest theory.

Those neutral demon gods who were originally content with their peaceful lives and only wanted to cultivate quietly are now forced to make a choice: either join a powerful faction and become the prey to be harvested; or unite with other neutral demon gods to stick together for warmth; or become nourishment for others.

More and more neutral demon gods began to spontaneously form alliances. These alliances varied in size; some consisted of only three to five eighth-level demon gods, while others gathered dozens of demon gods, and occasionally even one or two powerful rogue cultivators from the ninth level joined. They agreed not to invade each other's territory, to jointly resist external enemies, and even established a resource-sharing mechanism within the alliance—each member regularly contributed a portion of their essence to enhance the overall strength of the alliance.

But these alliances are still incredibly fragile in the face of the Chaos Gods who stand at the very top.

Chaos has completely broken out.

Those once high and mighty giants of the Nine Heavens have now abandoned their reserve and personally joined the reaping. The four giants—the God of Destiny, the God of Cause and Effect, the God of Time, and the God of Space, Yang Mei—are like four ravenous beasts, frantically devouring resources from the four directions of chaos. Their vassal gods, on the other hand, swarm like locusts, leaving nothing but desolation in their wake.

But this is only the beginning.

When the expansion of the four giants reached each other's boundaries, conflict inevitably broke out.

The first to act were the God of Fate and the God of Time. Their spheres of influence bordered each other in the northeastern part of Chaos, where a cluster of vast worlds rich in resources lay, and both wanted to claim it for themselves. At first, it was just small-scale friction—you swallow one of my vassal worlds today, I'll intercept one of your transport convoys tomorrow. But soon, these small frictions escalated into large-scale direct conflict.

The Demon God of Fate manipulated the River of Fate, attempting to rewrite the destinies of several generals under the Demon God of Time. The Demon God of Time, in turn, disrupted the flow of time in that region, making it impossible for the Demon God of Fate's River of Fate to pinpoint its location. The two clashed in the northeastern part of Chaos, shattering dozens of worlds and affecting countless weak beings. Ultimately, neither gained the upper hand, and both retreated to their respective territories, but a deep-seated grudge was formed.

Although the God of Cause and Effect and Yang Mei didn't directly clash, they were subtly vying for power. The God of Cause and Effect attempted to infiltrate Yang Mei's spatial labyrinth with his causal network, but Yang Mei discovered and severed it in time. Yang Mei's counterattack was even more subtle—he quietly altered the spatial coordinates of several of the God of Cause and Effect's branch offices, disabling the teleportation channels between those branches and causing a brief disruption to the God of Cause and Effect's command structure. Although neither side openly broke ties, they both knew that peace was only temporary.

The other nine heavenly demons in the chaos were also secretly observing the movements of the four giants. Some chose to align themselves with one side, while others united to form several loose alliances. Although these alliances were not as powerful as the four giants, they had the advantage of large numbers, and by sticking together for mutual support, they were able to barely survive in the cracks.

For those lower-level Chaos Gods and small worlds, this was undoubtedly the end of the world.

Every day, worlds are swallowed up, and every day, demons fall. The stench of blood in the chaos is so thick that even the most oblivious creatures can smell it, and fear spreads like a plague. Those weak beings who manage to escape this calamity desperately flee deeper into the chaos, praying that they will not be targeted by those colossal beings.

But though the chaos is vast, there is no truly safe place anymore.

At the edge of the primordial world, Xuanbao stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze piercing through layers of void, silently watching the great chaos unfold within the primordial chaos.

A meaningful smile played on his lips.

"It's chaos, complete chaos." Xuanbao muttered to himself, a hint of schadenfreude in his voice. "Fight on, fight as hard as you can. The fiercer you fight, the safer the prehistoric world will be."

Bai Lu stood beside him, her brows furrowing slightly at his words: "Aren't you afraid that in the heat of the moment, they might drag the entire Primordial World into the fray?"

"No." Xuanbao shook his head, his tone firm. "The current size of the Primordial World is no longer something that any giant can swallow whole. 81 Saints, hundreds of thousands of Quasi-Saints, plus my Heavenly Dao Avatar from the Ninth Heaven guarding it—even if the God of Destiny personally intervenes, he'll have to think twice about whether he can take it down."

He paused, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes: "Besides, they're too busy taking care of themselves to bother with us. The four giants are keeping each other in check, and the smaller alliances are banding together for self-preservation. No one dares to easily divert their main forces to deal with the Primordial World—if other forces take advantage of the situation, wouldn't it be a losing proposition?"

Bai Lu remained silent for a moment, then had to admit that Xuan Bao was right. While the current strength of the Primordial World was not yet enough to directly confront the four giants, it already possessed the ability to protect itself. And those giants were currently busy with internal strife and indeed had no spare energy to provoke this tough nut to crack.

"So what do we do next?" Bai Lu asked.

"What to do? Watch the show, of course!" Xuanbao grinned, arms crossed, looking completely relaxed. "Let them fight, the longer the better. We can use this time to further solidify the foundation of the Primordial World. When they're both exhausted and weakened—"

He paused, a dangerous glint in his eyes: "Then, it will be our turn to step in."

Looking at him like this, Bai Lu silently mourned for those chaotic giants for a second. She knew Xuan Bao too well—this guy never did anything that would lose him money. The reason he calmly watched the chaos descend into chaos was not out of mercy, but because he knew that this great chaos was more beneficial than harmful to the prehistoric world.

The more chaotic the world is, the safer the primordial world will be. The more chaotic the world is, the more opportunities it will have to fish in troubled waters. The more chaotic the world is, the less energy the giants will have to pay attention to the rise of the primordial world.

By the time they realized what was happening, the Primordial World had probably grown to a point where they would be filled with awe.

"By the way, how are things going with those fleeing Chaos Gods?" Xuanbao suddenly asked.

"Seven batches have been accepted," Bai Lu reported. "A total of 23 demon gods, the highest being the early stage of the eighth heaven and the lowest being the middle stage of the sixth heaven. As you instructed, they have all signed the Heavenly Dao Contract, allowing them to settle on the edge of chaos, but they are not allowed to enter the core area of ​​the prehistoric world or interfere with the normal order of the prehistoric world."

"Hmm, well done." Xuanbao nodded in satisfaction.