White Names, Red Names, and the Blacklist

As soon as Xiang Dong opened household registration management, a spreadsheet-like interface unfolded before him. The long, densely packed list of names made his scalp tingle.

Earth alone had seven billion people. Add the six kinds of domestic livestock—chickens, ducks, geese, cattle, horses, and pigs—as well as animals like cats and dogs, and a careful count would put the total at several hundred billion living beings at least.

In the vast Primordial World, where everything was currently flourishing, there were even more living beings—and not just more of them, but a greater diversity of species as well.

So they needed to be sorted into categories by region, faction, race, and status.

Among them was a close-observation list that caught Xiang Dong's attention. He opened it without hesitation.

A string of names appeared before his eyes: some familiar, some unfamiliar, and some he only vaguely recognized.

[Grand Pure One Laozi (Pangu's direct descendant): status: active, cultivating in seclusion on Eastern Kunlun Mountain]

[Jade Pure Yuanshi (Pangu's direct descendant): status: active, cultivating in seclusion on Eastern Kunlun Mountain]

[Supreme Pure Tongtian (Pangu's direct descendant): status: active, cultivating in seclusion on Eastern Kunlun Mountain]

[Nuwa (Innate Divine Beings): active, at her cultivation abode on Buzhou Mountain]

[Dijun (Innate Divine Beings): status: active, traveling the Primordial World and bringing factions under his control]

[Eastern Emperor Taiyi (Innate Divine Beings): status: active, accompanying Dijun]

These future great figures of the Primordial World were all under the Heavenly Dao's surveillance, without a single exception. For now, though, they were not on the close-observation list; at most, they were being given special attention.

Those actually marked in red were the ones who required close observation and constant attention. They all had a label after their names: [reincarnated Chaos Demon Gods].

Hongjun and Luohou were on the whitelist because they were candidates for merging with the Dao. That was some preferential treatment.

As for Yangmei, Heaven and Earth, Yin-Yang, and the others, Xiang Dong took a look and thought they were much like players with red names in a game.

They had not been completely blacklisted and shut out, but neither were they protected. If you killed one of them, the Heavenly Dao would even cheer and set off firecrackers in celebration, then send down merit as a reward.

All of them were being targeted, though not too harshly yet. The following few were the ones truly blacklisted, too afraid to show their faces.

[Shi Chen (Time Demon God): status: whereabouts unknown. Note: suspected of hiding in the long river of time; heavenly secrets cannot lock onto him]

[Mingyun (Fate Demon God): status: whereabouts unknown. Note: suspected of hiding in the long river of fate; heavenly secrets cannot lock onto them]

[Yinguo (Cause and Effect Demon God): status: whereabouts unknown. Note: suspected of hiding among the karmic threads of the countless trillions of living beings in the Primordial World; heavenly secrets cannot lock onto them]

As the saying went, whereabouts unknown and fate uncertain meant they were not dead. These were all beings who had given even Pangu trouble.

Before the Heavenly Dao emerged and locked down the realm of Chaos Great Unity Golden Immortal, these old monsters had never shown themselves. They had kept an extremely low profile, like turtles hiding in their shells.

After the Heavenly Dao emerged, they vanished without a trace. Even the Heavenly Dao could not find them; there was not the slightest clue to their whereabouts.

They were like giant beasts lurking in the deep sea, quietly waiting for an opportunity to overturn the entire Primordial World.

Xiang Dong was not very clear on the outcome either. These few were simply too patient, too good at lying low and playing it safe. Even during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, when the six Heavenly Dao Sages fought until their heads were broken and bleeding, they remained as steady as old dogs and never showed their faces.

And judging by the Heavenly Dao's notes, the places where they could hide were either beyond its reach or too difficult to search. The Heavenly Dao wanted to catch them but lacked the means, leaving it no choice but to give up.

His Primordial Spirit's power was being consumed at a frightening rate. In just a short while, it was nearly depleted, and its status had begun flashing red, so Xiang Dong had no choice but to turn off the phone and prepare to rest.

Just as he was about to close the page, a name that flashed past suddenly caught Xiang Dong's eye.

[Bai Xuan (Light and Darkness Demon God): current status: Dao has tainted the Moon Star; showing signs of revival.]

"Bai Xuan?"

When Xiang Dong saw the name, his alternate account, Taichu, felt a powerful stirring.

It was the excitement of resonance between the origins of their Principles, and it also gave Xiang Dong a faint sense of a fortuitous opportunity.

He could feel that a subtle connection had already formed between him and Bai Xuan in the Unseen. They would probably cross paths in the future.

Whether they would be enemies or friends remained unknown.

The Light and Darkness Demon God was not particularly strong among the Chaos Demon Gods, ranking only in the upper-middle tier.

As one of the Light Ancestral Witches, Taichu had been given his name by Pangu, and his core Principle was the Light Principle. So Bai Xuan could also be considered Taichu's Dao master.

Light and darkness were two sides of the same whole, somewhat like his current state of two souls sharing one body. Was that why he had sensed a fortuitous opportunity?

"Dao has tainted the Moon Star..." Xiang Dong turned his gaze toward the Moon Star. "Is Bai Xuan on the Moon Star?"

"Tsk, forget it. No point thinking about this now. I'll deal with it if we meet someday."

"This phone is nice, but I can't use it for too long. After playing with it for a while, I have to walk around and look into the distance to give my eyes a proper rest."

Xiang Dong turned off the phone. His Primordial Spirit's power was nearly depleted, and a weakened Primordial Spirit brought a slight feeling of dizziness. After grumbling, he decided to walk around, change his mood, and sort out his thoughts.

If he were merely courting death, he would not need to consider causes and consequences; he could simply do as he pleased.

But now, Pangu's "I'm counting on you" was a glaringly clear objective, forcing Xiang Dong to think carefully and consider every step ahead.

He had to be cautious about where and how he went, looking three steps ahead with every step he took.

Nuwa was not cultivating. She was tending to Spirit Plants and Spirit Roots in the spirit field, just like the girl next door.

But the Creation Dao resonance she gave off was a little stronger than before. She was probably close to grasping its basics.

"The Creation Green Lotus..."

In the hands of the Three Pure Ones, the Creation Green Lotus, an innate supreme treasure, could only be dismembered. But in Nuwa's hands, it would be a perfect match.

If possible, Xiang Dong did not want Nuwa to take the path of becoming a sage through merit. If she could become a sage through the Creation Principle, the Human Race might have an entirely new beginning.

The stronger Nuwa was, the stronger the Human Race would be. And the stronger the Human Race was, the greater Nuwa's power and status would become. The two were bound tightly together, sharing glory and disgrace alike.

At that thought, Xiang Dong became even more determined to seize the Creation Green Lotus first.

"Fellow Daoist Nuwa, I see the Dao resonance around you has grown stronger again. Why not enter seclusion and cultivate while the effects of the Enlightenment Tea are still present, so you can strive to break through your bottleneck sooner?"

Hearing him, Nuwa wore a faint, helpless smile on her beautiful face.

"It is not that I don't want to, but that I cannot."