Primordial Wilderness in Chaos, Eleven Golden Immortals Resort to Any Means!

Kunlun Mountain, the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Mountains that had stood since ancient times, seemed especially desolate today.

The sacred golden light that had once shrouded its peak had somehow dimmed away. In its place was a layer of gray mist, imperceptible to the naked eye yet able to penetrate straight into one's soul.

It was the Tribulation Qi of the Tribulation, the death warrant issued by the Heavenly Dao.

"Rumble—"

The heavy gates of the Jade Void Palace slowly opened.

Immediately afterward, eleven streamers of light shot out through the gap.

They did not pause in the slightest, nor did they retain their former carefree ease as they roamed heaven and earth. Instead, like startled birds that had just escaped a hunter's trap, they scattered in haste, each carrying his own panic and calculations.

Guangchengzi, Chijingzi, True Man Huanglong, Juliusun... these Chan Sect Golden Immortals, once renowned throughout the Primordial Wilderness and revered by Ten Thousand Immortals, now cut indescribably bedraggled figures from behind.

At the far western edge of the Primordial Wilderness lay a secluded mountain village called "Qingshi Village."

Far from the prosperous Central Plains and surrounded by mountains on all sides, it was difficult to reach. Yet because of that, it had escaped the years of warfare.

As the sun set, golden-red afterglow spilled over the ancient trees at the village entrance. Wisps of cooking smoke rose gently, accompanied by a few distant barks, painting a tranquil and peaceful mortal scene.

Beneath the thousand-year-old locust tree at the village entrance, several children were playing and chasing a startled wild rabbit.

Yet among those children was one who seemed entirely out of place.

He was a boy of five or six, dressed in coarse hemp cloth. Though his little face was somewhat dirty, a closer look revealed delicate features and a broad forehead. Especially his eyes—they lacked the innocent ignorance of children his age, instead carrying a composure wholly unsuited to his years, along with a faint melancholy.

He did not chase the rabbit, nor did he play in the mud.

He simply sat alone on a smooth blue stone, holding a dead branch as he absentmindedly drew something in the sand.

It was a diagram.

The crisscrossing lines appeared chaotic, yet they faintly conformed to some profound principle of heaven and earth.

Anyone knowledgeable enough to see it would have been shocked—this was clearly the embryonic form of the Innate Eight Trigrams!

"Alas..."

The boy suddenly stopped moving the branch and let out a long sigh.

He did not know why he was drawing these things, nor did he know where that hollow feeling deep inside him—like he had lost everything—came from.

He only felt that he did not belong here, nor did he belong to this name.

Right then.

A crack suddenly split open in the sky.

A dazzling golden light descended like a falling meteor, instantly tearing through the tranquility of dusk and landing with absolute precision before the boy.

"Buzz—"

When the golden light faded, there was no earthshaking explosion. Only a breeze swept past.

Within the wind appeared a Daoist clad in the Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe of the Eight Trigrams, holding a whisk and wearing a treasured sword at his waist.

It was Guangchengzi, foremost among the Chan Sect's Twelve Golden Immortals.

The surrounding children were frightened into loud sobs by the sudden change and scattered in every direction. Only the boy seated on the blue stone showed no fear at all. Instead, he slowly rose, raised his head, and stared fixedly at Guangchengzi with those deep eyes.

"Are you an immortal?" The boy's voice was childish, yet it carried an inexplicable dignity.

Guangchengzi looked down at the tiny child before him, an immensely complicated expression flashing through his eyes.

There was regret, there was relief, but more than anything, there was an almost obsessive fervor.

This child was the reincarnated body of that fragment of True Spirit left behind after Marquis of the West Ji Chang's death.

Although Primordial Lord of Heaven could not reverse life and death to directly resurrect Ji Chang—the price was difficult for even a Saint to bear—

Protecting a fragment of his True Spirit from extinction and helping him reincarnate with the "Past Life Wisdom" and "fortune" of his previous life was merely effortless for a Saint.

"I am Guangchengzi, a qi cultivator of the Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain."

Guangchengzi concealed the sharpness in his eyes and smiled faintly, trying his best to appear kind and benevolent, like an enlightened master:

"Little one, I see that your bones are extraordinary, and a spiritual light rises from your crown straight toward the stars. You are a cultivation prodigy unlike any in ten thousand. I happened to wander here today, and since we are fated, I have come to guide you into the immortal path and teach you the Art of Longevity and Eternal Vision. Are you willing to take me as your master?"

The boy tilted his head, seeming to ponder the meaning of those words.

Had he been an ordinary child, upon hearing that an immortal wanted to accept him as a disciple, he likely would have immediately bowed in worship.

But the boy hesitated for a moment before asking, "If I cultivate immortality, can I recover what I lost?"

Guangchengzi's heart skipped a beat, followed by immense delight. This was precisely proof that his Past Life Wisdom had not faded!

"Yes!"

Guangchengzi answered without hesitation. "Not only can you recover what you lost, you can gain even more! All things beneath heaven and earth will lie within a single thought of yours!"

A glimmer flashed through the boy's eyes. He threw down the branch, straightened his tattered clothes, and respectfully knelt on the ground, performing a formal bow.

"Your disciple is willing!"

"Good! Excellent!"

Guangchengzi nodded in satisfaction. With a wave of his large sleeve, a gentle breeze swept up the child and turned into a golden streamer of light, vanishing beyond the horizon in an instant. Only the dumbfounded mortal children remained, still staring foolishly at the sky.

Several days later, within a hidden Cave Mansion veiled in clouds and mist.

Guangchengzi did not hurry to teach the child any profound Dao arts, nor did he teach him how to absorb spiritual energy.

At that moment, an enigmatic formation had been laid within the Cave Mansion.

At the center of the formation stood only a solitary lamp, emitting a faint blue glow.

The boy sat cross-legged in the center of the formation, his eyes tightly shut and his expression pained, as though he were suffering through some terrifying nightmare.

Guangchengzi stood to one side, constantly forming hand seals and murmuring incantations.

He was using a secret Chan Sect technique—the Soul Searching Wisdom Unsealing Technique.

Only this time, he was not searching a soul, but "unsealing" and "reshaping" one.

He was unlocking a fragment of the memories sealed by reincarnation. At the same time, he was deeply imprinting images that he had carefully "edited" and "processed" into the boy's soul.

"Ah..."

The boy suddenly clutched his head and let out a shrill scream.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through his clothes, and his tender little face twisted into a knot.

Countless fragmented, bloody scenes surged through his mind like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam—

"Rumble!"

It was the sound of Xi Qi City's majestic walls collapsing.

"Kill them all! Leave none alive!"

Those were the savage faces of the Shang Army, the sight of icy butcher's blades cutting down women and children.

Fire—fire filling the sky. It burned the Prime Minister's Mansion, burned the Marquis's Mansion, and burned every beautiful memory to ashes.

At last, the scene froze on a face.

It was a stern, ruthless face with three eyes—Wen Zhong!

"Old bastard, die!"

That Golden Whip carrying an aura capable of destroying heaven and earth rapidly enlarged in the boy's vision. Carrying endless Killing Intent and contempt, it smashed down viciously.

That was the feeling of death.

"I am... Ji Chang?!"

The boy abruptly opened his eyes. His formerly clear black-and-white eyes were now covered in bloodshot veins.

The innocence and confusion in his eyes rapidly faded, Replaced By an unforgettable hatred, as well as fear and fury arising from the depths of his soul.

"Correct."

Guangchengzi stopped casting his technique. His expression was solemn, while his voice was low and full of temptation. "Disciple, you have finally awakened."

"In your previous life, you were Marquis of the West Ji Chang. You were a benevolent ruler, a sage revered by all people. You loved the people as your own children and obeyed the Heavenly Dao. You should have overthrown the tyrannical regime and accomplished a great undertaking."

"But..."

Guangchengzi paused. His tone turned sorrowful and impassioned, every word like a heavy hammer striking the boy's heart.

"That Great Shang was without virtue! That Di Xin was lustful and incompetent! That Wen Zhong was cruel and merciless! To preserve their rotten, dark rule, they did not hesitate to defy heaven, summon demons, massacre West Qi, and brutally kill you!"

"Great Shang... Di Xin... Wen Zhong..."

The boy clenched his fists tightly. His nails dug deep into his palms, blood dripping through his fingers, yet he was utterly unaware.

His body trembled, not from fear, but from fury.

"I will take revenge..."

The boy forced out those words through clenched teeth. His voice was childish, but it brimmed with chilling Killing Intent. "I will kill them! I will tear them into ten thousand pieces!"

"Good! You have ambition!"

A glint flashed through Guangchengzi's eyes. He reached out and stroked the boy's head, as though caressing a peerless weapon of slaughter he had painstakingly crafted. "Your master will teach you supreme immortal arts, help you rebuild your body, and even grant you power beyond mortals!"

"In this life, you are no longer the powerless mortal Ji Chang, helplessly slaughtered by others."

"You are the master of Heaven's Mandate! You are the new Human Emperor destined to change dynasties!"

"One day, your master will have you lead a great army into Chaoge. You will trample underfoot all those who once humiliated and murdered you, making them wail before your throne!"

The boy raised his head, and the blood-red color in his eyes gradually solidified into icy resolve.

Within that dark Cave Mansion, a new "Ji Chang" was born. He was no longer kind, no longer weak. Only one thought remained in his heart—revenge.

And that was exactly what Guangchengzi wanted.

Meanwhile, in the south of the Primordial Wilderness, at Luoxia Mountain.

This immortal mountain, once quiet, elegant, and rich in spiritual energy, had now become as noisy and bustling as a mortal marketplace.

On the plaza halfway up the mountain, a dense crowd knelt on the ground.

Among them were white-haired elders on the brink of death; young boys still full of childishness and hope; strong martial wanderers covered in muscle; and even several desperate fugitives with shifty eyes who clearly carried blood debts on their hands.

In the past, mortals with such mediocre aptitude and poor character would not have been worthy of joining the Chan Sect. They would not even have been worthy of carrying shoes for the Chan Sect's gatekeeper spirit beasts.

The Chan Sect had always been particular about accepting disciples with proper roots, exceptional aptitude, and deep immortal affinity.

But now...

Immortal Official Nanji sat cross-legged atop an enormous blue stone. His aged face, usually adorned with a gentle and kindly smile, now seemed strangely sinister and cold beneath the sunlight.

"Master, please accept your disciple's bow!"

"Immortal grandpa, accept me! I am willing to serve you even as an ox or horse!"

"I can cook! I can chop firewood! I can kill!"

The crowd below shouted over one another, their eyes full of yearning for longevity and greed for power. They did not know where they were. They only knew immortals lived here, and immortals could bring them glory and success.

Immortal Official Nanji stroked his beard and smiled. Looking at this rabble, he showed not the slightest disdain. Instead, he looked at them as if they were piles of priceless treasure.

"Good, good, good! I'll take them all! Every last one!"

Immortal Official Nanji waved his hand, his voice loud and clear. "There are three thousand paths to the Great Dao, and teachings make no distinctions. From today onward, you are registered disciples of Immortal Official Nanji! Once you enter my sect, you become members of the Chan Sect and receive the Saint's protection!"

"Thank you, Master!"

"Master is merciful!"

The crowd was ecstatic. One after another, they kowtowed like pounding garlic, as though they had already seen the day they attained immortality and the Dao.

As Immortal Official Nanji watched these jubilant "disciples," an utterly emotionless cold gleam flashed deep in his eyes.

Aptitude?

Did that matter?

They were all expendable "materials" to be sent onto the Investiture of the Gods List, sacrificial pawns meant to shield him from disaster. What did their aptitude matter? If their aptitude were too good, he would not even bear to send them away!

"Disciples, the path of cultivation is long. You must seize every moment."

With a casual wave of his hand, countless jade slips emitting faint fluorescence fell like raindrops, landing precisely in every person's hand.

"Your master possesses a rapid cultivation art called the Spirit Gathering Art, an ancient secret technique. Take it and cultivate diligently. Within three years, you will transform completely and gain the power to move mountains and fill seas!"

That Spirit Gathering Art was not an orthodox immortal technique at all. It was an evil method that overdrew one's life potential and burned one's blood essence in exchange for magical power!

Those who cultivated it advanced rapidly and possessed formidable power in the early stages, but their foundations were exceedingly unstable. They could easily suffer Cultivation Deviation, and their lifespans would be drastically shortened. Once they encountered a true strong person, they would be utterly unable to withstand a single blow.

Yet in the eyes of these shortsighted mortals desperate to become immortals, it was a supreme heavenly scripture, a staircase leading to paradise.

"Thank you, Master, for granting us this art!" The crowd treated the jade slips as precious treasures, clutching them tightly with fanaticism filling their eyes.

"This Tribulation Qi is too heavy. I have no choice either..."

Immortal Official Nanji sighed inwardly, though that kindly smile remained on his face.

"Disciples, do not blame your master for being cruel. If you must blame someone, blame the heartless Heavenly Dao. Blame the Investiture of the Gods List for not being full. Your lives can be exchanged for the Chan Sect's continuation, so your deaths will not be in vain."

If Guangchengzi was "creating a rebellion," and Immortal Official Nanji was "raising venomous insects," then Juliusun's method was even simpler and more brutal.

At the edge of the Western Pure Land lay a barren land of yellow sand.

This was Western Sect territory. Although spiritual energy was sparse, quite a few Western Sect disciples practicing ascetic cultivation lived here.

At that moment, a short, plump figure was furtively moving swiftly through the depths underground.

It was Juliusun, the Chan Sect's Twelve Golden Immortals' foremost expert in Earth Escape.

He no longer possessed the lofty, righteous demeanor of a Chan Sect Golden Immortal.

He concealed his entire aura like an assassin walking through darkness. His small, shifty eyes peered through cracks in the earth, constantly searching for prey.

In his hand, the Immortal Binding Rope renowned throughout the Primordial Wilderness had already been prepared, emitting dangerous golden light.

"Heh, there's one alone here."

Juliusun suddenly halted, a cruel grin curling across his lips. He sensed that above ground, a Western Sect cultivator with Heavenly Immortal cultivation was traveling alone while tapping a wooden fish and chanting scriptures.

There was no pointless talk, nor any declaration of battle.

"Go!"

Juliusun formed a hand seal, and the Immortal Binding Rope instantly turned into a golden dragon, silently breaking through the earth.

The Western Sect cultivator was still chanting. Before he could even understand what was happening, golden light swept around him and bound him firmly. Even the magical power and Nascent Soul within him were instantly sealed.

"Who?! What rat dares to ambush me?!"

The cultivator screamed in terror and struggled desperately, but like an insect trapped in a spiderweb, the more he struggled, the tighter it became.

"Hehe, the one sending you onto the list!"

Juliusun let out a cold, strange laugh and abruptly emerged from underground. He gave the other man no chance to see his face clearly. Seizing a Bintie Cudgel covered in runes, he smashed it viciously down upon the cultivator's crown.

"Bang!"

A dull thud rang out.

The cultivator's brains burst apart. Before he could even scream, he died on the spot.

A faint True Spirit drifted out unsteadily, drawn by an invisible force toward the Investiture of the Gods Platform on Qi Mountain.

"Phew..."

The instant that True Spirit flew away, Juliusun clearly sensed that the wisp of gray Tribulation Qi wrapped around his Nascent Soul seemed to loosen ever so slightly.

Though it was faint, so faint it could almost be ignored, it was undeniably effective!

"It really works! Master did not deceive me!"

Juliusun was overjoyed, greed and madness flashing in his eyes. "As long as I kill enough people, as long as I fill the Investiture of the Gods List, this Killing Tribulation will naturally disappear!"

"Besides, those two old bald donkeys, Jieyin and Zhunti of the Western Sect, are no good either. They've constantly come to the East to freeload and poach from us. Killing their disciples is acting on behalf of Heaven—it is eliminating a menace for the Eastern Xuan Sect!"

Juliusun found himself the perfect moral high ground and instantly cast the last trace of guilt in his heart beyond the clouds.

He skillfully looted the cultivator's Storage Bag, then used Earth Escape once more, burrowing underground to continue his hunt.

That day, at the border of the Western Sect, more than ten disciples who had gone out to train vanished mysteriously one after another. Neither alive nor dead, they could not be found, leaving the entire border region gripped by panic.

The other Golden Immortals were also using every trick they had to stay alive.

Chijingzi infiltrated a chaotic region of the mortal world and secretly established a mysterious organization called the "Yin Yang Cult."

The organization specifically recruited desperadoes and rogue cultivators, teaching them incomplete Yin-Yang Killing Arts. Under the banner of eliminating demons and upholding the Dao, it was actually meant to create slaughter and stir up conflict, allowing him to fish in troubled waters.

Grand Master Lingbao, meanwhile, set his sights on marketplaces where rogue cultivators gathered.

He took on different faces and moved among the major factions, secretly sowing discord and spreading rumors, triggering massive brawls among the rogue cultivators.

Then he hid in the shadows and reaped the rewards, harvesting heads to fill the vacancies on the Investiture of the Gods List.

True Lord Qingxu Daode's methods were even more outrageous—utterly deranged.

He directly disguised himself as a wandering physician. Wherever he went, water sources became contaminated and plagues ran rampant. Then he would appear as a "savior," dispensing medicine and healing the afflicted.

If mortals who died of illness possessed some foundation in cultivation, their souls would be secretly guided by him toward the Investiture of the Gods Platform;

As for those who survived, they became deeply grateful to him, providing him with an endless stream of Incense Wish Power to help him resist the Tribulation Qi.

For the sake of survival, for the sake of freeing themselves from that Tribulation Qi clinging to them like gangrene.

These Chan Sect Golden Immortals, who usually preached benevolence, righteousness, morality, and integrity, who prided themselves on their loftiness and viewed all things as straw dogs, had now completely torn off their disguises.

They had become more like demonic cultivators than demonic cultivators, more cruel and bloodthirsty than the Demon Race.

The so-called "Following Heaven and Responding to People" had become a colossal joke at this moment, a bloody irony.

Kunlun Mountain, Jade Void Palace.

Upon the lofty Cloud Bed, Primordial Lord of Heaven sat upright with his eyes half-closed. His Saint divine sense spread like a great net, covering the entire Primordial World.

Guangchengzi's "rebellion plan," Immortal Official Nanji's "raising gu and recruiting disciples," Juliusun's "assassination campaign," Qingxu's "plague salvation"...

Every action of his disciples, even every subtle thought, lay beneath his gaze, with nowhere to hide.

If this had happened in the past, seeing his disciples commit such despicable acts that disgraced their school, Primordial Lord of Heaven would likely have flown into a rage long ago, struck them with divine lightning, and expelled them from his sect.

It was simply too shameful, too disgraceful, and completely betrayed the Chan Sect's purpose of "expounding the Heavenly Dao."

But now...

Primordial Lord of Heaven merely watched in silence. His dignified Saintly face bore no expression, only a deathly calm.

When he saw Juliusun nearly have his aura discovered during an assassination by a passing Grand Unity Golden Immortal of the Western Sect, he even quietly extended a finger and tapped the air, disturbing the chaotic heavenly calculations to conceal Juliusun's tracks and erase the Karma.

When he saw that the plague spread by True Lord Qingxu Daode might provoke backlash from the Human Race Destiny, he secretly cast a spell to blur the Karma Threads, preventing Huoyun Cave from noticing.

He was indulging them.

He was shielding them.

He was aiding evil.

Because he understood better than anyone that the Chan Sect no longer had a way out.

If he did not want the remaining Eleven Golden Immortals to die out entirely, if he did not want to become truly alone, then he could only resort to any means necessary, even if it meant falling into the demonic path.

"What propriety, righteousness, integrity, and shame? What moral essays..."

After a long while, Primordial Lord of Heaven slowly opened his eyes. Within those eyes, which seemed to contain the birth and death of the universe, were reflected the chaos, blood, and fire across the Primordial Wilderness. His voice was low and cold as it echoed through the empty Great Hall:

"In this Tribulation, survival is the only truth."

"As long as we are the ones who win in the end, history will be written by the victors. Countless people will naturally help us whitewash those dark deeds and dress them up as heroic feats of 'following Heaven's Mandate.'"

"As for how filthy the process was, how despicable the methods were..."

The corners of Primordial Lord of Heaven's lips rose slightly, revealing a curve full of mockery and cold indifference:

"Who cares?"

With this Saint's tacit approval and active encouragement, an even more chaotic, bloodier, darker storm was spreading from the Chan Sect Golden Immortals to the entire Primordial World.

And this was only the beginning.