Primordial Era: The Three Senior Brothers of the Taiqing Clan

The boy raised his head, his gaze piercing through the chaotic gray sky, as if staring at a time that had long been crushed by the years.

His voice, already ethereal, now flickered like a candle in the wind, carrying a weariness that seemed to have traversed countless ages.

"Then... I watched him walk here." The boy's illusory figure slowly raised his hand, pointing to the enormous crack beneath his feet and the desolate, half-finished world. "This was originally the place where Pangu prepared to create heaven and earth."

Chen Qing's heart skipped a beat: "Here? You mean, Pangu originally intended to create the primordial world here?"

The boy nodded, then shook his head: "Yes and no. Pangu traveled through the chaos for countless years, searching for many places, and finally chose this place."

The chaotic energy here is more concentrated than in other places, and the balance of earth, water, fire, and wind is just right.

He spent three thousand chaotic years laying the foundation for the Great Dao here, meticulously refining the laws one by one, and solidifying the foundation of the world inch by inch.

He paused, and a slight tremor appeared in his voice: "This unfinished world is the result of his hard work over the years."

These exposed rocks and desolate earth you see once shimmered with golden Daoist energy. Pangu nourished this land with his own blood and essence; every inch is soaked with his sweat and soul.

"And then what happened?" Chen Qing asked again, "Why did you abandon this place?"

The boy's ethereal figure drifted down, crouching at the edge of the massive crack, and gently stroking the smooth, mirror-like surface with his illusory hand. His movements were incredibly tender, as if he were caressing the face of an old friend.

"Because... something unexpected happened," the boy said in a low voice. "When Pangu was about to complete the nascent world here, an uninvited guest came from the chaos."

"uninvited guest?"

"A Chaos Demon God." The boy raised his head, and a ripple suddenly appeared in the two pools of stagnant water in his eyes. "Unlike other demon gods, that guy is extremely special."

It is not any of the three thousand demon gods; it is more ancient, more powerful, and more... incomprehensible than those demon gods.

It drifted in chaos for countless years, and even those beings known as "primordial demons" may not know its origins.

Chen Qing frowned: "More ancient than the Three Thousand Demon Gods? What kind of existence is that?"

The boy was silent for a moment, seemingly recalling a distant name, but after a long while, he simply shook his head: "I can't remember. Pangu once told me its name, but that name was too strange; there were no corresponding Daoist characters in the chaos to write it. I can only remember some vague syllables. Pangu called it 'Shi' (噬)."

"bite?"

"The 'devouring' in 'devouring'." The boy nodded, a hint of fear appearing on the illusory figure's face. Though that fear had transcended countless years, it remained clearly discernible. "That creature feeds on worlds. It roams the depths of chaos, specifically seeking out newly formed, unstable nascent worlds, then devouring them bite by bite."

"It devours the world?" Chen Qing's voice was filled with disbelief.

The boy smiled wryly: "When Pangu explained it to me back then, I also found it unbelievable. The world in the chaos is so rare. How many chaotic years would it take to conceive a prototype? Yet it treated them like snacks."

Pangu said that the creature's body contained a chaotic, devouring space, and all the worlds it swallowed would be shattered, decomposed, and transformed into part of its own power.

The more it eats, the stronger it becomes. The stronger it becomes, the more it can eat. That is the most vicious cycle in chaos.

Chen Qing took a deep breath. He had thought the greatest dangers in the chaos were the chaotic air currents, energy storms, or the remaining chaotic demons, but he never expected there to be such a terrifying existence.

"So Pangu fought a great battle with it?" Chen Qing looked down at the crack. "This axe blow was made by Pangu?"

The boy nodded: "The battle raged for three thousand days and nights. Pangu suppressed it with the power of the Great Dao, swinging his axe at the monster. That axe not only cleaved the monster's body but also struck this world that was almost fully formed with its remaining force. Look at this crack—"

He pointed to the smooth, mirror-like cross-section, "This is the residual power of Pangu's axe."

Chen Qing stared silently at the crack. He had previously felt that the surface was too smooth to be naturally formed, and now that he knew the truth, he was even more shocked.

With just the residual force of a single axe stroke, a nearly formed world was split in two. Just how powerful was Pangu?

"What happened to that monster called 'Shi'? Was it killed by Pangu?"

The boy shook his head, a complex expression on his face: "It can't be killed. Or rather, Pangu didn't have the ability to kill it."

"What?"

He looked up at Chen Qing, his gaze suddenly becoming extremely serious: "It's true, even Pangu couldn't kill that monster, or rather, he couldn't harm it at all."

The boy turned his gaze back to the chaotic gray in the distance. "Later, after Pangu fought a great battle with 'Shi' here, he went through countless hardships to seal Shi in a certain place in the chaos."

This nascent world, which he had painstakingly cultivated for three thousand chaotic years, was no longer suitable for creation.

Why?

"Because of the cracks left by the battle," the boy pointed to the abyss beneath his feet, "the residual power of Pangu's axe cleaved an irreversible fissure in the foundation of the world."

Although it may seem like just a scar, that rift leads all the way to the origin of the world.

After examining it, Pangu said that even if this prototype were forcibly evolved into a complete form, the rift would remain in the world forever, becoming an eternal hidden danger.

One day, the cracks will widen, the world will shatter, and the entire world will collapse from within.

Chen Qing gasped. He could imagine Pangu's feelings at that moment. Three thousand years of primordial chaos, the foundation he had painstakingly built inch by inch, had all been destroyed in a single fierce battle with a monster. That sense of defeat and regret would probably be enough to crush any powerful being.

"Pangu must have been very disappointed back then, right?" Chen Qing asked in a low voice.

The boy nodded, a look of reminiscence appearing on the illusory face: "He sat by this crack for a very, very long time. I watched him from afar, not daring to approach."

He sat there for a full hundred chaotic years, without uttering a single word. I once thought he would abandon his idea of ​​creating the world and return to the chaos to continue his travels.

But he didn't.

"He didn't." The boy looked up. "A hundred years later, he stood up and said something to me. I'll never forget those words."

"What did he say?"

The boy imitated Pangu's tone, deep and resonant, with a resolute quality like the clash of metal and stone: "'Since this land can no longer bear my Dao, I will start anew in another place.'"

But all the hard work here can't be wasted. After I leave, you'll take care of this place for me.

When someone comes here someday, tell him everything you know.

After saying this, the boy's illusory figure trembled slightly, and the light dimmed a bit. He seemed to be on the verge of being unable to sustain this consciousness that had survived for countless years.

Chen Qing stood there, speechless for a long time.

"And what about you?" Chen Qing looked at the boy. "How did you end up dying here?"

The boy lowered his head, his unreal gaze falling on the crystal-clear skeleton at his feet. His expression shifted, revealing pain, regret, but mostly a strange sense of relief.

"I have been guarding this place for Pangu for a very, very long time," the boy said slowly. "In the beginning, everything was peaceful."

Although this unfinished world has cracks, the Daoist principles left by Pangu still nourish it, allowing it to slowly repair itself.

I had thought that perhaps one day it would heal itself, and that all the effort Pangu had put in wouldn't have been wasted.

"But then something happened?"

The boy nodded: "Later, another group of visitors came from the chaos. After those chaotic demons died, their power condensed into a world, from which several new demons were born."

They discovered the nascent form of this world, the remnants of Pangu's Daoist essence, and swarmed around it like sharks smelling blood.

His voice turned icy: "They want to devour this world. Although it's only a half-finished product, it was still nourished by Pangu's essence and blood for three thousand chaotic years. The power within is enough to greatly benefit those surviving demon gods. They want to steal what Pangu left behind, to destroy his hard work here."

"You fought them?"

"We clashed." The boy's illusory figure curled into a proud smile. "Although I am only Pangu's youngest disciple, the long years I've spent by his side have taught me enough to deal with those worthless fry. I fought three against one and slew all three demon gods. But in that battle, I was also severely injured, damaging my foundation."

He looked down at his own skeleton, his voice as calm as if he were describing someone else's story: "Before they died, those three demon gods poured their remaining chaotic power into the cracks in this world."

Although I killed them, I couldn't stop them from corrupting Pangu's Dao. The origin of this world was eroded by the turbid energy of the Chaos God, and began to decay little by little.

"I did my best to expel the turbid energy, but the price was that it consumed almost all of my life force. The Dao seed that Pangu left me shattered in that battle."

Knowing my days were numbered, I gathered my last strength into this remnant soul, leaving it within this skeleton, awaiting the arrival of the one Pangu spoke of.

A wave of sorrow washed over Chen Qing. This young man, Pangu's youngest disciple, had guarded the legacy left behind by his master for countless years, only to die here in battle.

His remnant soul continued to wait, waiting for countless chaotic years, until it finally arrived today.

"How long have you been waiting?" Chen Qing asked.

The boy shook his head: "There is no concept of time in chaos. I only know that even after I expelled the turbid air from that world, it was still slowly decaying."

The rock turned from gold to gray, its Daoist aura fading away bit by bit. I watched it die, die day by day. But there was nothing I could do, only wait.

His voice suddenly became urgent, and his illusory figure floated in front of Chen Qing, staring intently at him: "You've come. You possess an aura similar to Pangu. Your inner world has taken shape and is extremely stable."

You are the only person I have seen since Pangu who is qualified to inherit his mantle.

Chen Qing was slightly taken aback: "Inherit the mantle?"

The boy nodded heavily: "When Pangu left this place to find a new place to create the world, he left something behind."

He said that if anyone ever comes here and listens to him finish speaking, he will give that thing to that person.

"What is that?"

The boy did not answer, but slowly fell back to the ground, placing his illusory hand on the chest of his own crystalline skeleton.

With a soft cracking sound, the skeleton's chest cavity slowly split open, revealing a fist-sized golden crystal inside.

The crystal was perfectly round, with golden patterns flowing across its surface like those of a living thing, radiating an extremely ancient and pure Daoist charm.

Chen Qing only glanced at it, but felt a slight tremor in his inner world, as if he had encountered a kindred spirit.

"This is the 'foundation of the Dao' left behind by Pangu." The boy's voice became extremely solemn. "He originally intended to use this as the core of his new world. Later, he moved to another place to create the primordial world and forged a new foundation of the Dao, which he left here."

He raised his head and looked at Chen Qing: "This thing contains Pangu's complete understanding and enlightenment of the creation of heaven and earth."

"If you integrate it, you will be able to truly understand all the mysteries of Pangu creating the primordial world."

Although your inner world is at the level of countless great worlds, it is still a long way from the realm of Pangu. And this Dao Foundation is that stepping stone.

Chen Qing stared at the golden crystal, his heart filled with turmoil. He truly felt that although his inner world had undergone a transformation, there were still some inexplicable deficiencies on certain levels.

It's like a magnificent building; although the whole structure is completed, some minor joints are still not tight enough.

And this Pangu Dao Foundation in front of us may be the key to making up for those deficiencies.

"Pangu...why did he leave something so important here?" Chen Qing asked. "Since he has already moved to another place to create a new world, why didn't he take it with him and use it in the primordial world?"

The boy was silent for a moment, then said softly, "I asked him that question too. He didn't say, perhaps it's because he misses this place."

Chen Qing slowly walked to the skeleton, squatted down, stretched out his hands, and solemnly picked up the golden crystal.

The crystal felt warm to the touch, as if it were alive, and a grand yet gentle Daoist aura flowed into his inner world through his palm.

In that instant, he seemed to hear a distant sigh, vast and long, yet carrying a certain expectation.

That was the voice left behind by Pangu.

Chen Qing absorbed the Dao Foundation into his inner world, stood up, and bowed deeply to the crystal-clear skeleton.

"Thank you for guarding me for so long." He looked at the boy's illusory figure. "Now that I have accepted your Dao foundation, your mission is complete. Would you like to... leave this place with me? Perhaps there is a way to restore your life."

The young man smiled and shook his head. His smile held no regret, only a relieved ease: "My life force was exhausted in that battle. This remnant soul has only survived until today thanks to the protection of the Dao Seed left behind by Pangu. Now that the Dao Foundation has been handed over to you, the Dao Seed has naturally dissipated."

His illusory form began to become transparent from the edges, like the morning mist gradually dissolving in the sunlight: "I've been guarding for too long, it's time to rest."

Young friend, as you journey onward, if one day you encounter the true footprints of Pangu, remember to tell him for me—your disciple has protected them, preventing anyone from squandering his life's work.

Chen Qing watched his figure gradually disappear, her throat tightening, and nodded heavily: "Definitely."

The boy gave him one last look, and a glimmer of life finally appeared in those stagnant eyes.

He smiled slightly, like a young man who had been relieved of a heavy burden, turned around, and took a step towards a distant place.

His figure vanished completely into the chaos. At the same moment, his crystalline skeleton transformed into specks of starlight, merging into the desolate earth beneath his feet.

It was as if the disciple who had guarded this land for countless years had finally become one with it, never to be separated again.

Chen Qing stood alone in the center of that nascent world, remaining silent for a very long time.

All around him was a chaotic grayness and deathly silence. But he didn't feel lonely; instead, a strange warmth welled up inside him.

He touched his chest, where the Pangu Dao Foundation was peacefully suspended at the core of his inner world, slowly merging with his own Dao energy.

He could feel that as the Dao Foundation gradually merged into him, his understanding of chaos, the world, and the creation of heaven and earth was rapidly deepening.

Many previously vague concepts became clear, and many long-standing doubts were resolved.