"Process lies in 'birth.'"
"It is the... manual for the operation of the Heavenly Dao."
Chen Changsheng's words fell like a speck of dust into the deathly silent sea of Dao known as "Wuwei."
They did not stir the slightest ripple.
The entire thatched hut sank into an even deeper, purer stillness.
Grand Supreme Elder Lao remained with his eyes closed, as though his spirit had long wandered the great void, utterly unaware of everything outside.
Yet Zhao Gongming, standing behind Chen Changsheng, felt his primordial spirit being crushed inch by inch.
It was not pressure, but the dissolution of "Dao."
Before this ultimate "Wuwei," all his Divine Abilities, all his mana, all his thoughts seemed so superfluous, so undeserving of existence.
He even had the illusion that if he remained for one more breath, he would be completely assimilated by this silence, turned into a wisp of smoke and returned to the Great Dao.
Even Grand Master Xuandu beside him had a trace of gravity rise in the depths of his placid eyes.
As he watched his young junior brother, who still stood straight-backed as though fused with this silence, yet also somehow apart from it, the words "beyond comprehension" arose in his heart for the first time.
The only person in the entire space unaffected was Chen Changsheng.
He stood calmly and waited.
As though awaiting the final result of an interview.
He knew he had already submitted the ultimate answer sheet called the Process Dao.
Now, it was time to wait for the examiner's review.
Time lost all meaning within that tiny thatched hut.
Perhaps only an instant had passed.
Or perhaps a Yuanhui had already gone by.
At last.
The old man seated cross-legged upon the Prayer Mat slowly opened his eyes.
What kind of eyes were those?
There was no turning of sun and moon, no birth and death of stars.
There was only a chaotic emptiness, a void that seemed to contain everything and yet seemed to contain nothing at all.
The instant those eyes opened, Zhao Gongming felt his crushed primordial spirit reassembled in a single moment.
He suddenly sucked in a breath. The Daoist robe on his back had long been drenched in cold sweat.
Grand Supreme Elder Lao's gaze did not fall upon Chen Changsheng.
Instead, it turned toward the half-man-tall pill furnace in the corner, where a gentle flame was still burning.
"Your 'manual' is quite interesting."
Grand Supreme Elder Lao's voice was as still as an ancient well, as though it came not from his throat but from the very origins of the Dao in every direction.
"However, Dao must ultimately unite knowledge and action."
He extended a withered finger and pointed from afar at the pill furnace.
"There is a furnace of Nine-Turn Golden Elixir within it, soon to reach completion."
"This elixir is not for cultivation. It is meant to settle an old karma between the Heavenly Court and Duke of the East's former subordinates, a karma that has been delayed for three Yuanhui."
"Yet at the moment of completion, the proper time, place, and people must come together, with the three powers united as one. Its 'process' is exceedingly complex. The slightest error will ruin the entire furnace and trigger a karmic backlash."
Grand Supreme Elder Lao's gaze finally shifted slowly onto Chen Changsheng's face.
"The people are not yet in harmony. One final link is still missing."
"Can your process complete it?"
This was a test.
A seemingly plain test that contained boundless killing intent.
If Chen Changsheng boasted and spoke of Supreme Principles of the Great Dao, it would be empty talk, reducing him to an inferior level.
If he showed off by discussing pill-refining methods, it would be even more laughable—using his own weakness to challenge a Sage's strength.
Zhao Gongming's heart instantly leapt into his throat.
Grand Master Xuandu's breathing also paused imperceptibly for a moment.
Yet Chen Changsheng merely bowed respectfully to Grand Supreme Elder Lao once more.
"In reply to Senior Uncle-Master."
"This disciple does not understand alchemy."
"But this disciple understands process."
After saying that, he did not walk toward the pill furnace. Instead, he turned to Grand Master Xuandu.
"Grand Master, may I borrow a Jade Slip and jade brush?"
Surprise flashed through Grand Master Xuandu's eyes, but he still nodded and took out a set of blank Jade Slips and a jade brush from his sleeve, handing them over.
Chen Changsheng accepted them but did not begin writing at once.
Instead, he turned toward Grand Supreme Elder Lao and began gathering requirements with the rigor of a Project Manager.
"May I ask Senior Uncle-Master, does this pill refinement have a project codename?"
Grand Supreme Elder Lao: "..."
Grand Master Xuandu: "..."
Zhao Gongming nearly failed to catch his breath and fainted on the spot.
Even Grand Supreme Elder Lao's eternally unchanging face seemed to show an extremely subtle, fleeting... bewilderment.
But he was Grand Supreme Elder Lao, after all.
He fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
"Let it be called 'Karma Resolution.'"
"Understood."
Chen Changsheng tapped the jade brush lightly and wrote a large heading on the Jade Slip: [Regarding the Standard Operating Procedure for the Final Phase of the "Karma Resolution" Project].
"What is this project's core objective? Can it be quantified?"
"To resolve karma and calm the ripples of the Heavenly Dao."
"Good."
Chen Changsheng recorded it swiftly.
[KPI: Heavenly Dao karma pacification rate 100%; all related karmic debt cleared.]
"Who are the project stakeholders? And who is the final acceptance party?"
"This poor Daoist, the Jade Emperor, and the Heavenly Dao."
"Good."
Chen Changsheng's brush moved like a dragon and serpent.
[Project Initiator (Party A): Grand Supreme Moral Heavenly Venerate. Project Executor (Party B): Eight Views Palace. Project Supervisor: Heavenly Dao.]
One name after another—names that could make even Grand Unity Golden Immortals tremble in the Primordial World—became Party A and Party B in a standard project document beneath Chen Changsheng's brush.
Zhao Gongming was already numb.
He even felt that if his junior brother took out a Project Outsourcing Contract the next moment and asked Senior Uncle-Master to sign it, he would not find it strange in the slightest.
For the time it took an incense stick to burn.
Chen Changsheng conducted this utterly shocking "question-and-answer" session.
He broke down the final step of pill refinement into dozens of standardized process nodes.
From "confirmation of final pill furnace pressure readings," to "inspection of ambient spiritual qi purity before opening the furnace," to "three emergency response plans for contingencies: A, B, and C."
Every item was clear, rigorous, and filled with the cold beauty of logic.
At last, he stopped writing.
A thick Jade Slip, gleaming with a faint mysterious light, had been fully inscribed.
He did not touch the pill furnace.
He merely held the Jade Slip in both hands, walked before Grand Supreme Elder Lao, and respectfully presented it.
"Senior Uncle-Master."
"The process has been completed."
"Whether this elixir succeeds now depends on one final step."
"The project's highest authority must... sign and approve the end of this Standard Operating Procedure Execution Confirmation."
The entire thatched hut fell deathly silent.
Grand Master Xuandu looked at the "confirmation" presented before his master, its format standardized to an outrageous degree, and felt his Dao heart buzzing.
Zhao Gongming had already given up thinking.
He only wanted to know whether, after today, Senior Uncle-Master would stuff him and his junior brother into the Eight Trigrams Furnace to refine them, or whether this experience would provoke him into severing the Three Corpses on the spot and attaining Quasi-Sainthood.
Grand Supreme Elder Lao looked at the Jade Slip before him.
For the first time, a true smile—one that seemed capable of seeing through eternity—appeared in his chaotic eyes.
That smile was faint, yet it seemed to brighten the entire thatched hut a little.
He said nothing.
He merely slowly extended one finger.
At its tip, a wisp of supreme Taiqing Immortal Light silently gathered.
He did not brush the pill furnace, nor did he employ any Divine Ability.
He simply tapped lightly upon the signature field at the end of that "confirmation."
An ancient, rounded character containing boundless Dao Charm—"Good"—appeared upon the Jade Slip.
The instant that character took shape!
Bzzzz—!
In the corner, the pill furnace that had lain silent for so long suddenly emitted an incomparably clear hum!
The furnace lid shot into the sky!
Nine dazzling golden rays flew out from the furnace, transforming into nine golden elixirs the size of dragon eyes, each perfectly round and naturally imbued with Dao Charm, floating in midair!
Every golden elixir was wreathed in a pure, auspicious aura, as though it could cleanse all karmic debt from the world.
At that moment, the Heavenly Dao bestowed boundless Mysterious Yellow Merit Qi, enveloping all nine golden elixirs.
It was done!
The elixir had actually succeeded just like that!
Not because of any incantation, nor because of any Divine Ability.
Merely because a process had received its final "approval"!
Grand Master Xuandu's pupils suddenly contracted.
Zhao Gongming felt his worldview completely shattered by the supreme power known as "process," then pieced back together in a more absurd yet more solid fashion.
"Your process truly lies beyond one, two, and three."
Grand Supreme Elder Lao slowly withdrew his finger, his voice carrying a faint trace of approval.
"The Great Dao is fifty, Heavenly Derivation is forty-nine, and humanity escapes into the one."
"This one is variable, vitality, and also... order."
"Today, it seems that it is 'process.'"
He looked at Chen Changsheng, and within those chaotic eyes seemed to be reflected the future of countless worlds.
"Since you are a Flow Official, this poor Daoist shall entrust a 'project' to you as well."
Chen Changsheng's heart tightened, and he hurriedly bowed.
"Please instruct me, Senior Uncle-Master."
Grand Supreme Elder Lao stretched out his hand and lightly brushed toward the nine golden elixirs.
The golden elixirs instantly became nine streams of light and vanished.
Only then did he leisurely speak, though his words nearly made Zhao Gongming, who had just calmed himself, suffer another out-of-body experience.
"The Investiture of the Gods Tribulation was ordained by the Heavenly Dao. It is also the greatest 'project' jointly approved by this poor Daoist, your master, and your martial uncle."
"Yet now, it appears this project's process is chaotic, its risks are out of control, and its KPIs are unclear. It is destined to become a complete mess."
Grand Supreme Elder Lao looked at Chen Changsheng and slowly spoke in a tone as calm as if discussing the weather.
"Go."
"Write a... Standard Operating Procedure for this Investiture of the Gods Tribulation as well."
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