Desperate howls echoed through Chaos, filled with unimaginable terror and disbelief.
They had given it everything they had, yet they could not even withstand the residual strike Pangu had casually unleashed, after already withdrawing ninety-nine percent of its power!
Pfft! Pfft!
Two soft sounds, like a breeze snuffing out candles.
Before the two backhand axe lights Pangu had casually swung, each possessing less than a tenth of their original power, the Western Two Sages' all-out resistance was as fragile as a mantis trying to stop a chariot.
Their Bodies of Sages, along with the protective treasure banner, wonderful tree, and Sarira phantoms, were like remnants of snow thrown into the great furnace of Heaven and Earth.
Before even a violent explosion could occur, they silently crumbled inch by inch, turning into the finest, most primordial... ashes!
Saints had fallen!
And not just any Saints—two Heavenly Dao Saints had been unable to withstand even a trace of Great God Pangu's residual power before being reduced completely to ashes!
Only at this moment did the Western Two Sages truly and profoundly understand once more what Pangu was!
What the Creation of Heaven was!
What... true despair was!
That was power from an entirely different dimension!
The saintly power they had been so proud of was smaller than dust before Father God!
The two clouds of ash containing a Saint's Origin and shattered Dao Principles were not entirely scattered by the violent Chaos Gas Flow.
In the unseen currents of fate, they were faintly drawn by the lingering aura of their own Spiritual Treasures—the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree and Jieyin's Treasure Banner.
They were also drawn toward the "target" they had previously locked onto so firmly.
Drifting as if alive, they fell toward Pangu's chest—the direction of Western Mount Sumeru in the future Prehistoric World!
Specks of ash silently merged into the vast, weighty prototype of mountain ranges that was transforming from Chaos into the land of the Prehistoric World.
Carrying the unwillingness, schemes, and a negligible imprint of origin belonging to the two Saints, they branded themselves deeply into the core of this future ancestral vein of the Western Lands.
In the instant before their consciousnesses sank completely into boundless darkness and fell into eternal slumber, an enlightenment originating from the source of space-time cleaved through their fading awareness like cold lightning.
So that was it!
They had been destined from birth to be linked with the Western Lands, with Sumeru as their foundation. It had not been a coincidence!
All Karma began at "this moment"!
If they had not "fallen" here today and imprinted their origins upon this place, their future foundations would not have become so deeply entwined with this ancestral vein of the Western Lands. They might even have broken free of it!
Today's cause forged the future result of the Western Teachings!
This... was eternal Karma, the entanglement of past and future!
At the same time, intense regret surged into their hearts. Had they known that this "mandate of Heaven" of the Western Lands stemmed from their own cleverness at this moment, why had they stubbornly fixed their sights on this barren land of the future?
Perhaps... perhaps there had been better choices?
Yet what followed was even deeper confusion and dread. Without today's "fall" and imprint, could they... still successfully attain that Heavenly Dao Saint position that was Ten Thousand Calamities Indestructible?
Was every drink and every peck truly ordained by Heaven?
This karmic mandate was truly profound and unfathomable, enough to make one shudder!
Seeing the Western Two Sages instantly turn to ashes beneath Pangu's casual strike and completely merge into the prototype of the future Mount Sumeru's earth veins,
the trace of contempt on Primeval Lord of Heaven's face became icy indifference. The Jade Purity Immortal Light around him rippled faintly, as though he intended to retreat.
Chaos was perilous, and Pangu's divine might was unfathomable. Even beings as powerful as the Western Two Sages had fallen instantly; there was no benefit in staying.
Saints were Immortal and Indestructible. Once they returned, perhaps the Western Two Sages would already be revived.
But he had no desire whatsoever to experience such a "meaningless" death.
This time, they had returned to the past and reached places they had never reached before, witnessing sights they had never seen before. That was enough.
If they returned and comprehended what they had seen and felt this time, their understanding of the Great Dao would surely advance further.
However, just as Yuanshi was about to suggest leaving, Laozi, who had remained silent like a mountain and seemed fused with the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda, suddenly raised his eyes.
For the first time, Pangu's Creation of Heaven—the magnificent spectacle of Chaos first dividing and laws arising and perishing—was clearly reflected in his calm, ancient eyes, as though endless Dao Rhythm flowed and evolved within them.
He slowly spoke. His voice was not loud, yet it was like the first Dao Sound at the birth of Chaos, instantly overwhelming the roaring River of Time and resounding clearly in the ears of the other three Saints.
"I... understand now."
"Eldest Brother, what do you understand?" Sect Master Tongtian was the most impatient by nature and immediately pressed him.
Though he was shocked by Pangu's divine might, what he felt more strongly was unwillingness and fighting spirit. Since Laozi had suddenly spoken, there had to be a deeper meaning.
Laozi's gaze was deep, as though it pierced through endless torrents of chaotic space-time and stared directly at the core of the Opening of Heaven and Earth. His voice was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable resolve.
"We should also make a trip to the time of the Creation of Heaven."
The moment those words were spoken, they exploded like a Chaos Thunderclap!
Primeval Lord of Heaven's pupils contracted sharply, and the icy indifference on his face was instantly replaced with disbelief. "Eldest Brother. You... what did you say?"
He thought he had misheard.
The Western Two Sages' corpses were not yet cold... well, their ashes were not yet cold. Their fate was right before his eyes!
Go to the time of the Creation of Heaven?
How was that any different from seeking death?
Empress Nuwa also abruptly withdrew her gaze from the prototype of the Prehistoric World. Her stunning face was full of shock as she cried out.
"Senior Brother! You want to visit the time of the Creation of Heaven? Aren't you afraid of dying? The fate of those two Dao Friends from the Western Lands is still right before us!"
Her worries deepened even further. If the Three Pure Ones also fell here, the Great Desolation Landscape would be completely overturned. What would become of her children then?
Sect Master Tongtian was stunned as well. He loved battle, but he was by no means a brainless brute.
Face Pangu directly?
How was that different from challenging the Heavenly Dao?
Yet Laozi slowly shook his head. His gaze swept over Yuanshi and Tongtian before finally settling briefly on Nuwa, his tone carrying the clarity of one who had seen through illusion.
"Afraid? Of course I am. But we must make this journey."
He paused, his gaze becoming incomparably firm once more as he looked at Yuanshi and Tongtian. "Follow me."
Before his words had faded, the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda above Laozi's head shone with boundless radiance. Hundreds of millions of strands of Mysterious Yellow Qi descended, protecting his entire body completely.
At the same time, an ancient scroll flowing with Chaos Yin and Yang and encompassing all things flew from his sleeve. It was the Innate Supreme Treasure, the Taiji Diagram!
The Taiji Diagram spread beneath his feet and transformed into a Golden Bridge, stabilizing the chaotic Earth, Water, Fire, Wind and opening a relatively stable passage.
"Yuanshi, wield the banner!" Laozi's voice was steady and beyond question.
Although Primeval Lord of Heaven's heart was in turmoil, his trust in his Elder Brother over hundreds of millions of years had long been carved into his instincts.
He almost instinctively summoned the Pangu Banner!
The banner flapped fiercely as Chaos Sword Qi surged and receded. A terrifying aura of rending spread outward, echoing with the Golden Bridge of the Taiji Diagram and further stabilizing the passage.
"Tongtian, form the formation!" Laozi ordered again.
Sect Master Tongtian took a deep breath, suppressing all doubt and horror in his heart as a resolute light burst from his eyes.
"Good! Eldest Brother, Second Brother, today we brothers shall venture together into this forbidden land of the Creation of Heaven!"
With a long howl, the Four Swords of Zhu Xian rang out sharply and shot into the sky!
The Lu Xian Sword, Xian Xian Sword, Jue Xian Sword, and Zhu Xian Sword instantly took their positions in the four directions.
Terrifying Sword Qi of slaughter intertwined into a net, evolving into Chaos's foremost killing formation—the Zhu Xian Sword Formation!
The radiance of the sword formation enveloped the Three Pure Ones, granting them the strongest offensive and defensive power.
The Three Pure Ones were one entity, and the might of four supreme treasures manifested at once!
An aura of Creation of Heaven, born from the same source yet each containing different profundities, erupted with a roar, temporarily forcing open a domain that belonged to them amid the violent Chaos!
Three streams of light, guided by the Golden Bridge of the Taiji Diagram, with the Pangu Banner opening the way and the Zhu Xian Sword Formation slaughtering all in their path,
charged boldly toward a region deeper than where the Western Two Sages had gone, closer to the core of Pangu's Creation of Heaven!
Great God Pangu's heaven-supporting figure seemed to pause slightly.
He had just "driven away" two "flying insects" from the future, yet now he sensed a stronger, more familiar presence—one that made him feel even more watched—rapidly approaching the world he was creating!
An indescribable irritation surged in his heart.
The Opening of Heaven and Earth was the great undertaking into which he had poured his entire life and Dao Principles. No interference could be tolerated!
Instinctively, he was about to wave his hand again and erase this new disturbance completely, just as he had driven away the Western Two Sages!
The phantom of the Heaven Opening Divine Axe condensed in his hand, and that terrifying aura capable of severing all past and future spread once more...
At that critical moment!
Laozi, standing at the foremost end of the Taiji Diagram's Golden Bridge, suddenly raised his head.
His gaze pierced through layer upon layer of Chaos, staring directly at Pangu's boundless, majestic figure. With the full extent of his cultivation, he let out a cry that shook space-time, filled with filial yearning and reverence:
"Father God!!!"
Before you continue