Pangu Opens the Heavens

The Way of Heaven did not yet exist. At the beginning of Hongmeng, Heaven and Earth passed through the Five Phases. The Great Dao revived, its principles simple to the extreme, transforming into Hundun, within which the Three Thousand Gods and Demons were conceived.

The Chaos Green Lotus gave birth to Pangu. With the Creation Jade Butterfly above his head and the Sky-Opening Axe in his hand, he battled the Chaos War God Demon to open Heaven and Earth!

"Where am I? Why do I feel like my whole body is floating?" Hundun churned as a living True Spirit drifted within it. "Sure enough, I shouldn't have drunk so much. What time is it now? I still feel a little lightheaded."

Zhou Jun wanted to rub his forehead. "Wait, something's wrong! Where are my hands?!" Terror seized Zhou Jun. He could clearly see his surroundings, yet he could not feel his body at all. Only after examining himself closely did he realize that he was no different from a ball. "Have I... become a Main God?"

Before Zhou Jun could figure out his situation, he heard a thunderous roar. "I am Pangu! I open the heavens to prove the Dao!" As soon as the words fell, the space around Zhou Jun began to churn. In an instant, lightning flashed and thunder roared, Clear and Turbid Qi separated, and earth, wind, water, and fire evolved around him.

The world that had once been indistinct finally gained color and light, allowing him to see into the distance. Zhou Jun snapped out of his daze at the sound and looked upon the scene around him in silent shock. "So I've arrived at the time when Pangu opened the heavens! This is a little dangerous!"

At that moment, Zhou Jun's gaze seemed drawn toward the center. There stood a being as tall as the heavens, wielding an axe and hacking at all directions. Enormous corpses lay everywhere. With every swing, a terrifying arc of axe light spread outward; wherever it passed, the Four Symbols arose and Clear and Turbid Qi split apart. Above Pangu's head, a jade butterfly absorbed the clear qi and the multicolored radiance emitted by the corpses, transforming it into a web-like membrane that spread in every direction.

Beneath Pangu's feet, a Thirty-six Petal Chaos Green Lotus absorbed the turbid qi. Its roots pierced the surrounding corpses and devoured their flesh, transforming it into a stretch of Netherworld-colored earth that spread wherever the axe light passed.

"So this is Pangu opening the heavens! Without seeing it firsthand, no amount of imagining it through books could convey such a shock." Zhou Jun stared at Pangu, overwhelmed beyond words. While he remained lost in the process of Heaven-Opening, his True Spirit gradually absorbed the Heaven-Opening intent pervading the surroundings. It was useless for now, but once he reached a certain level in the future, he could comprehend the divine essence of Heaven-Opening from it and turn it into the foundation of his own strength.

After an unknown amount of time, Pangu stopped. Only then did Zhou Jun return to his senses. Before he could understand why Pangu had stopped, a message came from between Heaven and Earth: Pangu had opened the heavens; Ninety-nine Eighty-one had reached completion.

Yet before Zhou Jun could marvel at it, he saw the boundaries closing inward, threatening to revert into Hundun. The newly opened Heaven and Earth were still unstable. Without a Sky-Supporting Object, they would only return to Hundun. Then Pangu suddenly released the Sky-Opening Axe and used both hands to hold up this land. The released axe split into three. Its blade transformed into the Pangu Banner, which sent streams of light at the surging Chaos Energy, turning it into Clear and Turbid Qi.

The axe handle transformed into the Chaos Bell, ringing throughout the surroundings and fixing space and time, preventing space from continuing its upheaval. The back of the axe transformed into the Taiji Diagram, separating Clear and Turbid Qi and driving them farther and farther apart. Pangu, meanwhile, grew ever larger.

No one knew how many years passed after Heaven and Earth first opened. In Zhou Jun's eyes, Pangu went from being fully visible to having only his body in sight, his limbs no longer visible. The sky rose ever higher, the earth gradually thickened, and the distance between them grew farther and farther. Heaven and Earth slowly stabilized. Throughout the process, Zhou Jun drifted through this world, merging with the water and earth of the Four Symbols. Along the way, he encountered several drops of some unknown Demon God's blood, which he absorbed. He also picked up a Willow Branch and several Broken Stones.

"Now that Heaven and Earth have just opened and I have no body, I'll use these things to nurture a new one. After all, that would make me the first life besides Gods and Demons since Heaven-Opening." Zhou Jun looked at the things around him. "Perhaps a Companion Magic Treasure might even evolve from them. I don't know whether I can have one. It would be awkward if I ended up like Old Ancestor Hongyun and had nothing at all."

As Zhou Jun pondered this, Heaven and Earth suddenly shook. The Heaven-Opening Supreme Treasures also ceased their movements, and a message came from Heaven and Earth: Heaven and Earth had reached perfection. Before Zhou Jun could finish marveling, a voice descended from the heavens. "This is the Primordial Wilderness!" Zhou Jun looked up and saw Pangu release the hands supporting the sky after speaking. Pangu slowly fell. As he did, his hair scattered and transformed into stars filling the sky; his eyes flew out and became the sun and moon; his brows scattered across the heavens and became the Milky Way, separating the starry sky.

The sweat on Pangu's body became the first rain, nourishing the earth and transforming into the Vast Ocean. The wind he exhaled became the Nine Heavens Gang Wind, sweeping across Heaven and Earth. A Nascent Soul flew from between his brows and split into three. His body became Mountains and Rivers, his spine became Mount Zhou, the Primordial Wilderness's first divine mountain, twelve drops of Essence Blood flew from his heart, and his navel became the boundless Blood Sea. The resentment of the Gods and Demons spilling through the sky also surged into it.

Mysterious Yellow Qi filled Heaven and Earth, and the aura of the Great Dao appeared. Though Zhou Jun did not understand it, the message from Heaven and Earth said that the Great Dao had appeared. Boundless Great Dao Merit emerged between Heaven and Earth. Thirty percent went to the three Nascent Souls, another thirty percent went to the twelve drops of Essence Blood, and ten percent merged with the Mysterious Yellow Qi of Heaven and Earth, becoming the Merit Supreme Treasures—the Primordial Measuring Ruler and the Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda. The remaining thirty percent scattered throughout Heaven and Earth and was received by all things. Zhou Jun also obtained a share of Heaven-Opening Merit.

That was because he was the first True Spirit since the Primordial Wilderness reached completion. Though he came from a later age, he was still a Primordial World Being, so he received a share. As the first True Spirit, he was also favored by the fortune of the Primordial Wilderness.

The Eye of the Great Dao appeared, and a bolt of Divine Thunder of the Great Dao struck the Creation Jade Butterfly. The Creation Jade Butterfly shattered into countless pieces beneath that divine thunder. Most of them fused into the sky, while some smaller fragments flew in all directions. One larger fragment flew toward Mount Zhou, but halfway there, it was intercepted by a lingering remnant thought and sent flying into the distance. The Eye of the Great Dao merely glanced at it, then ignored it and vanished.

That lingering remnant thought was Hongjun, wasn't it? The Creation Jade Butterfly Fragment... merging with the Dao? Zhou Jun watched the scene before him. Now that the Great Dao is gone, can I intercept some things too, just like Hongjun did earlier? Zhou Jun looked at the Innate Supreme Treasures and Merit Supreme Treasures in the sky.

At that moment, a sound like something shattering rang out, interrupting Zhou Jun's fantasies. Looking over, he saw the Thirty-six Petal Chaos Green Lotus break apart. Before he could examine it closely, it had already turned into countless fragments and flown in every direction.

Just then, the three Nascent Souls swept up the Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda and flew away. Pangu's Heart also carried the twelve drops of Essence Blood and a strand of Mysterious Yellow Qi deep into Mount Zhou. The Chaos Bell flew into the sky, heading toward the heart of the sun, while the other supreme treasures each flew elsewhere.

Zhou Jun instantly panicked and hurried after them. Then he saw the Heaven Measuring Ruler, which had been flying beyond the heavens, suddenly stop. It turned around and flew toward Zhou Jun. Zhou Jun froze, then was overjoyed. He quickly stepped forward and caught it. Turning around, he waved it at the scattered fragments of the Chaos Green Lotus and managed to intercept some of them. Just as he wanted to continue, an unknown force of attraction suddenly pulled him away, and he vanished without a trace.