I Don't Want to Be the Vice Sect Master, Can I Borrow the Pangu Banner for Two Days!

The white jade main doors of the Jade Void Palace silently closed behind him.

Boom.

That wasn't a sound, it was an isolation.

One door apart, and it was two worlds.

Outside the door was the immortal wind and spiritual energy of Kunlun Mountain, the gazes of Chi Jingzi and the others mixed with terror, humiliation, and boundless hatred.

Inside the door was absolute deathly silence.

A silence of order, cold, that did not permit any extraneous noise to exist.

Yang Chen's footsteps were the first almost inaudible sound on the floor tiles, smooth as a mirror, in the grand hall.

He raised his head, taking in this legendary Saint's dojo.

Very tall.

Very empty.

The dome of the grand hall had no beams or pillars, only a mass of Chaos-colored clouds slowly flowing and circulating.

Within it, billions of stars were born and died, and the trajectory of each star followed a profound principle so precise it was suffocating.

The spiritual energy here did not flow.

It was forcibly solidified into fixed forms by a supreme will.

It became walls, it became floor tiles, it became those jade pillars carved with the teachings of the Heavenly Origin Sect.

The entire grand hall was a giant cage constructed from "rules."

Exquisite, majestic, yet devoid of life.

Yang Chen's gaze finally landed on the deepest part of the grand hall.

There, on a cloud bed.

Seated upon the cloud bed was a figure.

Primal Celestial Venerable.

He was there, yet he also wasn't.

His existence was perfectly integrated with the entire Jade Void Palace, the entirety of Kunlun Mountain, and the Heavenly Dao order that followed the heavens.

He was order.

He was rules.

He was the undisputed, sole truth of this world.

His eyes were tightly shut, his face expressionless, his Saintly might like a prison, suppressing the entire space to the point of near solidification.

He did not look at Yang Chen.

It seemed that from the moment Yang Chen stepped into the grand hall, he had not received even the slightest bit of attention.

This was extreme arrogance.

A complete disregard for a lower existence, originating from a difference in life levels.

Yang Chen didn't care.

He even found it somewhat uninteresting.

This pressure, this Saintly might, was laughably light compared to the weight of the Immeasurable Tribulation karma deep within his Divine Soul.

He took a step, walking unhurriedly towards the center of the grand hall.

One step.

Two steps.

Each step broke the eternal, unchanging deathly silence of this place.

Each step was like a pebble thrown into the stagnant water called "order."

Finally, the eyelids of Primal Celestial Venerable, seated high on the cloud bed, which had been as unmoving as an ancient glacier, trembled slightly.

He opened his eyes.

What kind of eyes were they?

No pupils, no whites, only endless Great Dao Runes flickering in and out of existence within them.

They were the eyes of the Heavenly Dao, the embodiment of order.

Cold, merciless, devoid of any emotion belonging to a living being.

"Yang Chen."

His voice rang out, neither loud nor soft, yet it directly impacted the origin of the Divine Soul, as if the Heavenly Dao was delivering the final judgment.

"Your origin, your roots, I already know everything."

Primal Celestial Venerable's gaze finally fell upon Yang Chen.

That wasn't an examination, it was an dissection.

It was as if he wanted to completely decompose Yang Chen from the most minute particle level, to understand all his secrets.

"You are burdened with immeasurable karma, the greatest variable in the Primordial World."

Every word he spoke resonated with the laws of the entire hall, transforming into invisible shackles meant to firmly pin Yang Chen in place.

"A mistake that should not exist."

Primal Celestial Venerable's voice remained calm, yet it carried an undeniable tone of judgment.

He paused.

The pressure in the entire hall reached its peak at that moment.

That will, originating from a Heavenly Dao Saint, was no longer mere pressure but had transformed into a form of "gift."

A condescending, charitable gesture from on high.

"I have invited you here today to give you a choice."

"A choice to correct your mistake and return to the righteous path."

Primal Celestial Venerable spoke slowly, his voice carrying a seemingly heartfelt "compassion."

"What I said last time still stands."

"If you are willing to join my Heavenly Origin Sect, I will enfeoff you as Vice Sect Master, above Guang Chengzi."

"And I will personally intervene to sort out your karma, help you sever your karmic force, and guide you onto the righteous path."

"From this day forth, you will be a legitimate disciple of our Xuanmen, protected by the Heavenly Dao, and enjoy boundless blessings."

His words possessed a peculiar magic.

It was as if a simple nod would instantly elevate one from hell to heaven, transforming from a sinner hunted by the entire Primordial World.

A leap to the heavens, becoming the most honored existence beneath a Saint.

This was an immense fortune.

This was a temptation no living being could refuse.

After speaking, Primal Celestial Venerable fell silent.

He simply watched Yang Chen, awaiting his choice.

Awaiting the decision of this "mistake," the only "correct" decision.

He believed no one could refuse.

However.

Yang Chen smiled.

A light chuckle, which sounded incredibly abrupt and jarring in the deathly silent, majestic hall.

He was not rendered immobile by the Saint's might.

Nor was he overcome with gratitude for the immense "gift."

He simply surveyed his surroundings, then.

Among the neatly arranged meditation cushions for the Heavenly Origin Sect disciples to listen to teachings, he casually picked one and plopped down.

He even lazily crossed his legs.

This action instantly shattered the precise, symmetrical, and sacredly inviolable "rules" of the Jade Void Palace.

It was like splashing a large blob of ink onto a flawless painting.

Upon the cloud bed, the eyes of Primal Celestial Venerable, formed from Great Dao Runes, showed a minuscule pause in their flow.

"Fellow Daoist Primordial."

Yang Chen spoke, his tone as relaxed as if chatting with a neighbor.

"Your calculations are quite loud, aren't they."

He looked at the Heavenly Dao Saint enthroned above, a playful smile on his face.

"Vice Sect Master? Sounds impressive, but put simply, you just want a high-ranking thug, and someone to discipline those arrogant disciples of yours?"

"I'm not interested."

"Severing my karmic force? That's practically asking for my life."

Yang Chen extended a finger and tapped his temple.

"This karmic force I carry is my protective charm."

"Without it, you'd probably be the first to want to turn me into ashes, right?"

"Do you take me for a three-year-old child, so easily fooled?"

His words held no trace of reverence.

Every word was the most direct, most naked mockery.

Primal Celestial Venerable remained silent.

But the chaotic energy swirling in the dome of the great hall began to move faster.

The countless stars being born and dying within it grew sharper in their brilliance.

The temperature of the entire Jade Void Palace was dropping at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Yang Chen, however, seemed oblivious.

He even shifted into a more comfortable position, leaning against a jade pillar behind him, and continued speaking:

"Last time, outside the Purple Heaven Palace, you were calling me 'Dad' so affectionately."

"What happened? Now that you're home, you've changed your tune to 'fellow Daoist'?"

"A Saint's face is truly a marvelous thing, isn't it? They can change it in an instant, without even needing a draft."

BOOM!

As soon as he spoke, the cloud bed beneath Primal Celestial Venerable, the eternally still cloud energy, surged violently for the first time.

A killing intent, cold to the extreme, flashed and vanished.

It was so fast that even a Quasi-Saint couldn't have captured it.

But Yang Chen did.

The smile on his face grew even more radiant.

"However..."

He changed his tone, extending a finger and shaking it at Primal Celestial Venerable.

"Since you're showing so much 'sincerity,' I can't exactly refuse without giving face."

"Your conditions are worthless to me."

"How about this."

Yang Chen's gaze shifted away from Primal Celestial Venerable's face, beginning to scan the hall.

His eyes swept over the jade pillars carved with doctrines, over the chaotic stars on the dome, and finally, landed behind Primal Celestial Venerable.

There, a simple, ancient banner floated.

Chaotic energy swirled on the banner's surface, and the energy of all the heavens' divine fiends flickered within. Just looking at it felt like witnessing the supreme power of Great God Pangu splitting the heavens and earth, tearing through chaos.

The Pangu Banner!

"Lend me your Pangu Banner for a couple of days."

Yang Chen retracted his gaze and looked back at Primal Celestial Venerable, a perfectly sincere smile on his face.

"If I have fun with it..."

"I might consider giving you a 1% discount on protection fees in the future."

As the words fell.

The entire Jade Void Palace, whose temperature had just plummeted to freezing, instantly solidified.

Time, space, laws, spiritual energy...

Everything was forcefully put on pause at that moment by an indescribable, terrifying will.

This was naked provocation!

This was the most shameless, most insane act of extortion, right in front of a Saint!