Primordial Era: The Three Senior Brothers of the Taiqing Clan

Above Penglai Island, Chen Qing moved slightly and disappeared from the spot.

He didn't disturb anyone; even Xuanming only felt a gentle breeze. When he looked up again, the stone bench was empty.

Deep within the chaos, the Purple Cloud Palace still stood in that familiar location. The palace gates were tightly closed, and the halls were surrounded by a dense power of the Heavenly Dao, like an invisible barrier separating the entire palace from the chaos.

Chen Qing landed in front of the palace gate, stood still for a moment, and was about to speak when the palace gate opened to both sides on its own.

"Come in." Hongjun's voice came from the palace, still in that calm and even tone, revealing no emotion.

Chen Qing stepped into the Zixiao Palace. Inside the main hall, Hongjun sat cross-legged on the cloud platform, his eyes slightly closed, with the power of the Heavenly Dao faintly flowing around him.

He looked no different from before, but Chen Qing's current height was completely different from back then. He could feel the subtle fluctuations of the power of the Heavenly Dao around Hongjun. It was an extremely delicate balance, as if Hongjun himself was the bridge between the Heavenly Dao and the Chaos.

"Sit down," Hongjun gestured with his hand.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged on the futon beneath the cloud platform. A quiet space separated the two, and the Daoist aura of Zixiao Palace flowed between them like an invisible stream.

"During my journey to the depths of chaos, I saw relics left behind by Pangu," Chen Qing said bluntly. "I also saw a wisp of Pangu's disciple's remnant will and learned some past events related to chaos and Pangu's creation of the world."

Hongjun kept his eyes closed, but nodded slightly: "Speak."

Chen Qing then recounted in detail the gray stone tablet, the purple chaos, the dark gold giant gate, the three Pangu marks, and the sealing of "Devouring" deep within the Ruins of Return. He did not omit any details, from the lingering thoughts of Pangu's disciples to the insights gained from the dark gold giant gate, and then to the loosening of the seal at the edge of the Ruins of Return and the permeation of the aura of "Devouring," all of which were clearly presented to Hongjun.

The Purple Cloud Palace remained silent for a long time. Hongjun did not open his eyes until Chen Qing finished speaking the last word. Only then did he slowly open his eyes, his gaze falling on Chen Qing with a profound, almost scrutinizing calm.

"Did you meet Pangu's disciple?" Hongjun asked.

Chen Qing nodded: "Yes. Although it was just a wisp of remnant spirit, he did mention that Pangu had traveled through the chaos for a long time before creating the world, and had also taken in several disciples."

Hongjun was silent for a moment, then spoke: "I have heard some things about Pangu's disciples, but I am not sure if they are true. Chaos is too deep and too vast; not every corner has light. There are some places that even I have not yet touched."

After Hongjun merged with the Dao, he theoretically coexisted with the Heavenly Dao. There was nothing in the world that was related to the Heavenly Dao that he could not perceive. However, the location of the gray stone tablet deep in the chaos was clearly not within the scope of the Heavenly Dao's coverage.

"Is the loosening of the Guixu seal related to the Demon God Realm?" Chen Qing asked the question that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.

Hongjun did not answer directly. His gaze passed over Chen Qing and looked towards the hazy chaos outside Zixiao Palace, as if looking in some extremely distant direction.

After a long silence, he slowly spoke: "There is no direct connection between the Demon God Realm and the Ruins of Return. But all existence in the Chaos is within the same great net."

When a crack appears in one place, the pressure in another place will change.

The loosening of the seal on the Void may be related to the expansion of the Demon God Realm, or it may simply be the erosion of time.

Chen Qing frowned slightly and pressed on, "When I saw that door, the patterns on the doorposts said that Pangu's message at the third mark was interrupted. What is that third mark?"

The atmosphere in the hall froze slightly for a moment. Hongjun remained silent for a while before slowly speaking: "I am not clear about the contents of the third mark either. What that door carries is a relic left by Pangu himself, not recorded by the Heavenly Dao. There is no record of that information in the Heavenly Dao."

Chen Qing remained silent for a moment. Hongjun's answer was calm and sincere, not perfunctory. But that interrupted memory was like a thread hanging over his heart, something he could never ignore.

He suppressed his thoughts and steered the conversation back to the main topic: "I have made another discovery on this trip. Although the sealing method left by Pangu is complete, with my current strength, I am still far from being able to cast a seal of that scale on my own. I would like to ask the Dao Ancestor to take action and reinforce the Guixu Seal."

Hongjun did not respond immediately. He looked at Chen Qing for a while, his gaze deep, as if looking at a slowly growing forest. "After I merged with the Dao, the number of times I can take action is limited, and each time it will have a corresponding impact on the Heavenly Dao."

"Strictly speaking, the location of Guixu is not within the coverage of the Heavenly Dao. To unleash the sealing power in that area, I need to borrow your strength."

Chen Qing's expression hardened slightly: "How can we get help?"

"You gained Pangu's complete understanding of the Dao of Creation within that door. Those insights are not the same as my Dao, but they share the same origin as the sealing power deep within the Ruins of Return."

If you can transform a portion of those insights into tangible power, using your inner world as a medium, I can extend that power to that area through the energy within your inner world.

Chen Qing pondered for a moment. His understanding of Pangu's creation of the world was indeed deeply rooted in his Dao foundation and inner world. Although he had not yet fully digested and absorbed it, he could indeed become a bridge between Hongjun and Guixu by relying on that shared aura.

"This disciple is willing to give it a try," Chen Qing said.

Hongjun nodded slightly, but did not get up immediately: "No rush. Although the seal of Guixu has cracked, it will not completely collapse in the short term. You have just integrated Pangu's insights and need time to consolidate your foundation. It is not too late to go to Guixu after you have fully digested these insights."

Chen Qing thought about it and agreed. Although the seal of Guixu had weakened, the temporary seal he had set up could at least last for a considerable period of time. Before that, it was more important to solidify the foundation.

"This disciple understands." Chen Qing stood up, cupped his hands in a salute to Hongjun, and said, "This disciple will take his leave now. Once my foundation is solid, I will come back to seek further guidance from the Dao Ancestor."

Hongjun nodded slightly, watching him turn and walk towards the palace gate.

Just as Chen Qing was about to step out the door, Hongjun's voice came from behind him, still in that calm tone, but with a hint of weight: "The depths of chaos are far more vast than you can imagine. The further you go, the more you will find that what you have seen is only the tip of the iceberg."

Chen Qing paused for a moment, but did not turn around. He simply said, "This disciple will remember," and then walked out of Zixiao Palace.

As he passed through the chaotic air currents outside Zixiao Palace and flew back towards the primordial world, he repeatedly recalled the words spoken by Hongjun.

This is both a hint and a reminder. The gray stone tablet, the purple chaos, the dark gold gate, and the seal of the Void that he saw may only be the tip of the iceberg, while the main body of that iceberg is hidden in the deeper shadows.

On a clear morning on Penglai Immortal Island, Chen Qing sat cross-legged on a giant rock, surrounded by a faint golden halo. His understanding of the creation of the world by Pangu was slowly flowing through his Dao foundation.

Before long, the golden halo around Chen Qing suddenly trembled slightly, and the halo began to slowly shrink, merging little by little into his brow, and finally disappearing completely under his skin.

He slowly opened his eyes, and for a fleeting moment, countless fine golden lines flashed across his pupils. These lines were like a map of the world being quickly outlined in a very short time before returning to calm.

"Seventy percent," Chen Qing murmured to himself. He had digested about seventy percent of his understanding of Pangu's creation of the world. Although he had not yet fully mastered it, the most core part had become closely integrated with his Dao foundation: the relationship between the Great Dao of Power and the Three Thousand Laws, the transformation between chaos and order, and the grand and exquisite balance in the process of creating the world.

He stood up and walked to the seaside. The sea breeze, carrying the scent of salt, rushed towards him, making his robes flutter loudly. He already had his next plan.

Return to the Void. The monster "Shi" mentioned by Pangu's disciples, and the secret of that seal.

He needed to see for himself what the seal had become, and whether the information Pangu left in his consciousness contained any other crucial information.

Several days later, Chen Qing stepped into the chaos again, passing through the area where the gray stone tablet was located, and through the purple chaos that was still slowly rotating.

At the edge of the Ruins, the temporary seal he had previously set up was still operating quietly. However, as he approached, he sensed something was amiss.

The aura of that temporary seal was weaker than when he left, though not by much, but it was clearly under some kind of continuous pressure.

The once smooth golden light on the seal's surface now had a very shallow indentation, as if something unseen was constantly pushing against that spot, trying to force the seal open.

Chen Qing landed at the edge of the seal, squatted down, and carefully examined the indentation.

The seal itself was not broken, but the depth of the indentation indicated that something was indeed slowly seeping outward from inside the Ruins.

The penetration is extremely weak, like water deep underground spreading upwards through pores in the rock strata that are almost invisible to the naked eye. It is not enough to cause any substantial damage in a short period of time, but if left unchecked, it will eventually turn into an uncontrollable situation.

Instead of reinforcing the seal, he carefully probed the dark edge of the Ruins of Return into the darkness, slowly extending his divine sense along the edge of the seal.

The moment his divine sense passed through the seal, a viscous and cold aura came towards him. That aura was exactly the same as the "desire" he felt when he first came to Guixu, but it seemed to be slightly clearer than then, as if that aura was slowly awakening and beginning to consciously probe outward.

Chen Qing's consciousness lingered in the darkness for a moment, sensing the general outline of that aura.

It was an extremely complex structure, like a large net woven from countless layers of fine silk threads. Each thread was vibrating slightly, with extremely thin gaps between them. The outermost layer of threads was already somewhat loose, and the temporary seal he had set up earlier was placed on top of the loose outermost layer of threads, temporarily suppressing it.

He frowned slightly, withdrew his divine sense, and took out several refined Chaos Stones from his sleeve.

This time, he carved the sealing patterns in the raw stones in greater detail, incorporating almost all the parts of the sealing techniques left by Pangu that could be used independently. Then he placed the raw stones around the depression one by one, connecting them with the original sealing array.

Golden light shone at the edge of darkness, and the newly added sealing runes slowly intertwined and connected with the original seal, covering the depression with a new layer of seal and suppressing the penetrating power back.

Chen Qing straightened up, checked the stability of the seal, and only after confirming that there were no problems did he slowly take a few steps back.

He had confirmed the details that repeatedly appeared in the vague fragments mentioned by the remnant will of Pangu's disciple. "Shi" was a monster that fed on the world and was suppressed by Pangu in the depths of Guixu. It had some kind of common connection with the patterns on the dark gold giant gate pillars in that purple chaotic area. Those patterns did indeed come from Pangu, but some of their aura had a very subtle commonality with the scent in the depths of Guixu.

He needed to return to the Dark Gold Gate to confirm what the patterns on the gateposts pointed to and to figure out if the full picture of those patterns still concealed the part of the record he hadn't read.

He turned and left the Ruins of Return, passing through the purple chaos and flying towards the dark gold giant gate.

The giant gate still stood silently in the center of that purple chaos, its dark golden surface shimmering faintly in the swirling chaotic air currents, and the ancient patterns on both sides of the gateposts undulated slowly in the dim chaotic light, like some kind of unseen breath.

Chen Qing landed in front of the door, placed his palm on the edge of the doorpost's pattern once more, and urged his divine sense to extend deeper along the lines of those patterns, more focused and meticulous than before.

The previously blurry fragments in the patterns gradually emerged with clearer outlines in Chen Qing's consciousness.

He saw Pangu's figure carving open the chaos in the void, saw the door, and saw the ocean of golden light behind the door.

However, at the very edge of the image, the lines suddenly stopped, at exactly the same point where he had last read it, as if the end of the lines had no follow-up and simply ended there.

Chen Qing withdrew his hand, stood in front of the giant door, and stared at the broken pattern on the doorpost.

He couldn't be sure whether the interruption was intentionally cut off, worn down by time, or because Pangu himself hadn't finished speaking.

The unfinished third mark was like a thread hanging deep in his consciousness; he couldn't untangle it for the time being, yet he couldn't ignore its existence either.

He took one last look at the massive, dark gold door, then turned and left.

As he traversed the gray chaotic region and returned to the common chaos leading to the primordial wilderness, a message talisman flew swiftly from afar, exploding before him and transforming into Lao Tzu's usual calm and gentle voice.

"Qing'er, hurry back to Shouyang Mountain, I have important matters to discuss."

Chen Qing stopped in his tracks. The tone of the message talisman was not entirely consistent with Laozi's usual speaking habits. Although the content was brief, it carried a solemnity that was different from usual.

Without hesitation, he immediately changed direction and sped towards Shouyang Mountain.

Shouyang Mountain remained exactly as it had been when he left, shrouded in spiritual mist and covered with lush ancient trees. Chen Qing landed in front of the Eight Views Palace, where Xuan Du was already waiting at the entrance. Upon seeing him, Xuan Du quickly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Senior Brother, Master has been waiting in the hall for quite some time."

Chen Qing nodded slightly and stepped into the main hall. Laozi sat on a futon, with a water mirror floating in front of him. The water mirror reflected a shimmering area, which, judging from the scene, was the entrance to the Demon God Realm.

"Master, this is..." Chen Qing walked closer.