What's your Process? In 'Life'!

That voice drifted out leisurely from within the Eight Views Palace.

It carried no joy or anger, no cause or effect.

Yet it was like an invisible giant hammer, forged by the Dao itself, smashing heavily against Zhao Gongming's Primordial Spirit.

Xuan Du.

Let this... Flow Official, come in and sit for a while.

Zhao Gongming's entire body froze in place.

He clutched the Official Letter he had just handed over, feeling as though his arm, along with his Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Dao heart, had been utterly frozen solid by that single, brief sentence.

Come... come in and sit?

Senior Uncle-Master himself wanted to personally meet the instigator, his own Wúwéi junior brother?

This had already exceeded all his wildest expectations.

It even surpassed the scope of understanding for all living beings in the Primordial World!

He instinctively turned his head, looking back toward Golden Ao Island, his eyes filled with unprecedented shock and bewilderment.

Almost at the same moment.

Golden Ao Island, Calamity Aversion Department Main Hall.

Sect Leader Tongtian, Daoist Duobao, and all the core disciples of the Calamity Aversion Department held their breath, staring fixedly at the Water Mirror that Zhao Gongming had set up before leaving, capable of real-time image synchronization.

When that ethereal, distant voice came through the Water Mirror.

The entire hall fell so silent that a pin drop could be heard.

The Jade Pen in Daoist Duobao's hand, which he was using to draft a document, clattered onto the desk.

The hand Sect Leader Tongtian was using to stroke his beard jerked abruptly, yanking out a single hair, yet he didn't even notice.

Everyone's expressions froze into statues that would never erode through the ages.

A Sage's personal summons!

And not just any Sage—the Head of the Three Pure Ones, the Senior Uncle-Master who, in theory, never concerned himself with any mundane affairs!

It's over.

These two words simultaneously surfaced in everyone's minds.

In their view, this could only mean that Wúwéi junior brother's set of "processes" had finally gone too far.

That set of tricks used against the Chan Sect and the Dragon Clan was, in the end, nothing but a joke before a truly pure and effortless Sage.

This was... settling accounts after the fact!

The entire hall was shrouded in a deathly stillness named "fear."

Only Chen Changsheng remained.

He still sat in his seat, not a trace of panic on his face.

He even leisurely picked up the teacup in front of him, gently blowing on the non-existent foam floating on its surface.

Under the gazes of the crowd, mixed with shock, worry, and confusion, he slowly raised his head, revealing a calm smile that even carried a hint of "just as I expected."

"It seems the intent for the A-round financing is stronger than we anticipated."

"The chairman of the other company has requested a direct face-to-face meeting with our founder."

"Quite reasonable."

He set down his teacup and stood up.

"Senior Brother Duobao."

"Jun... junior brother, disciple is here!"

Duobao jolted, quickly bowing in response.

"Immediately prepare the final revised edition of the 'Process Dao Core Concepts and Practice White Paper,' V3.0."

Chen Changsheng's voice was calm and clear, instantly dispelling the panic in the hall.

"Focus on printing the two chapters, 'Governing by Non-Action' and 'Systematic Self-Correction,' bound with the highest-specification Purple Gold Jade Slips."

"Also, prepare a 'Feasibility Analysis Report on How the Heavenly Dao Credit System Can Assist the Sage in Teaching and Transformation.'"

"Understood!"

Duobao had no time to think at this moment, instinctively following the orders and quickly throwing himself into the work.

Chen Changsheng's gaze then fell on Zhao Gongming in the Water Mirror.

"Senior Brother Zhao."

He transmitted his voice with his magical power.

"You don't need to return. Stay where you are and serve as the... project assistant for this trip."

On the other side of the Water Mirror, Zhao Gongming's body trembled, and he nodded heavily.

After finishing all this, Chen Changsheng finally turned to Sect Leader Tongtian, who had long been unable to contain himself, and gave a slight bow.

"Master, this disciple's visit is not to demand an accounting, but rather... to report on my work."

"It is to report to Senior Uncle-Master, the most senior 'board member' of the Mystic Sect, on the phased results of my new project, the 'Process Dao.'"

Sect Leader Tongtian looked at his youngest disciple, who always spouted strange jargon yet somehow managed to make it all coherent, and for some reason, the heart that had been in his throat slowly settled back down.

He took a deep breath, and the defiant gleam returned to his eyes.

"Go!"

"Remember, standing behind you is the entire Jie Sect!"

"Your disciple understands."

Chen Changsheng bowed once more, then, without taking any attendants, stepped forward alone.

His figure vanished from within the hall in an instant.

The next moment, he had crossed the boundless void and arrived before the ancient Eight Views Palace, beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens.

He nodded calmly at Zhao Gongming, who had been waiting here for a long time, his face full of shock.

"Senior Brother, sorry to keep you waiting."

Then, he straightened the plain gray Daoist robe he wore, and his gaze fell upon the slowly opening palace gate, which seemed to lead to the very origin of the Dao.

Without a moment's hesitation, he stepped forward and entered.

Hum—

It was as if he had passed through an invisible membrane woven from time and space.

The scene before him opened up, clear and bright.

There was no imagined splendor of gold and jade, nor any endless chaotic space.

Here, it was like the most ordinary thatched cottage in the mortal world.

The room was small, the furnishings simple.

One table, one chair, one meditation cushion.

In the corner, a waist-high alchemy furnace burned with a gentle flame, wisps of medicinal fragrance seeping into the heart and refreshing the mind.

A youth in an Eight Trigrams Daoist Robe stood quietly by the furnace—it was Grand Master Xuandu.

And on the meditation cushion at the very center of the cottage sat an elder with hair and beard as white as snow.

The elder wore the plainest linen clothes, his features ancient, his aura ethereal, as if he might merge into this world at any moment and vanish completely.

His eyes were closed, and he held no magic treasure in his hands, simply sitting there in stillness.

But Chen Changsheng knew.

As long as he sat here, he was the sole "principle" of this world.

"Wuwei, disciple of the Jie Sect, pays respects to Senior Uncle-Master."

Without the slightest breach of etiquette, Chen Changsheng bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle to the elder.

That elder was none other than the Head of the Three Pure Ones, Grand Supreme Moral Heavenly Venerate.

Grand Supreme Elder Lao.

Elder Lao did not open his eyes, nor did he speak.

The entire cottage once again fell into that eternal, unchanging stillness.

Pressure.

An invisible pressure, one capable of crushing even a Sage, began to permeate the air.

This was not a Pressure of might, but a crushing force of the Dao itself.

Before this extreme aura of "Wuwei," any thought of "action," any scheming, any calculation, seemed utterly insignificant, utterly laughable.

Zhao Gongming, standing behind Chen Changsheng, felt as if his very Primordial Spirit was being slowly assimilated by this stillness, on the verge of sinking into eternal silence.

Yet Chen Changsheng remained calm.

His spine was straight as a spear.

His Dao-heart was steady as a rock.

Because his "Process Dao," from the very beginning, had not been built on schemes and tricks.

But on the coldest, most merciless... rules.

A long time passed.

So long it felt like an entire Yuanhui.

Finally, Elder Lao spoke slowly, his voice as calm as an ancient well, as if it came not from a throat, but from the very origin of the Dao.

"Your process is very interesting."

He paused, then asked a question that seemed simple yet struck at the very core.

"The Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, Three begets all things."

"Then, your Process—where does it fall among these?"

This question, like a bolt of Chaos Divine Thunder, exploded within Chen Changsheng's sea of consciousness!

This was the most fundamental inquiry into the Dao!

It was a cross-examination of where his entire system stood—its fundamental position—within the cosmology of the Primordial World!

Answer wrong, and he would be branded a heretic.

Answer off, and it would be deemed a minor path.

Only a perfect answer could allow his "Process" to truly merge with the underlying logic of this world!

Zhao Gongming's heart instantly leaped into his throat.

Behind him, Xuan Du, for the first time, focused his full attention on Chen Changsheng.

Faced with this ultimate Dao inquiry, one that could leave even a Sage at a loss for words.

Chen Changsheng slowly broke into a smile.

He bowed deeply once more to the Elder Lord.

"To answer Senior Uncle-Master."

"The Dao begets One, One begets Two, Two begets Three, Three begets all things."

"This is the 'production' of the Heavenly Dao."

He lifted his head, his gaze clear, his voice not loud but resolute.

"Your disciple's Process lies not within the One, Two, or Three, nor does it rank among all things."

"The Process lies in 'begetting.'"

"It is the instruction manual of the Heavenly Dao's operation."