Before Heaven and Earth were separated, the Chaos was without light.
There was no sky, no earth, no alternation of day and night. Only endless streams of Origin Qi churned and collided in the void. At times, the streams condensed into solid Chaos Crystals, their edges sharp and distinct before disintegrating in an instant; at others, they transformed into liquid Rivers of Origin, surging for thousands of miles before abruptly evaporating. Countless innate particles drifted and sank within the streams, attracting and repelling one another. The slightest collision would unleash energy ripples capable of destroying Heaven and Earth, yet in this boundless Chaos, they could not leave behind even the faintest echo.
In this silent yet violent space, Xuan Fu was curled up deep within a relatively stable mass of Chaos Qi.
He was not made of flesh and blood. His true form was a cyan-golden rune no larger than a fingernail, its surface covered in patterns so fine that even Spiritual Sense could not perceive them. They were the Dao Trajectories that had accompanied the birth of Chaos. From the day his consciousness awakened, Xuan Fu had known how small and fragile he was—in this Chaos, any stray stream of Origin Qi could shred his rune body, let alone the Chaos Demon Gods that dominated entire regions and could overturn rivers and seas with every move.
"Creee—"
A sharp screech tore through the Chaos, making the mass of Qi around Xuan Fu tremble violently. He did not dare release his Spiritual Sense to investigate. Relying only on his rune's instinctive perception of danger, he determined that Yanhuang Demon God in the southern region was battling another unknown Demon God. Terrifying Fire Origin Power swept toward him. Even across billions upon billions of miles of Chaos Qi, Xuan Fu could still feel the heat capable of incinerating everything. The patterns on his rune surface instinctively tightened, compressing his aura to the extreme.
In the Chaos, the strong preyed on the weak. That was the only law. The Demon Gods fed on Origins and reveled in slaughter. The strong occupied the Core Area, absorbing the purest Origin Power, while the weak struggled to survive on the fringes, becoming someone else's nourishment at the slightest misstep. Xuan Fu had neither the formidable body of a Demon God nor divine abilities capable of overturning rivers and seas. His only reliance was his innate instinct to "seek fortune and avoid disaster," along with his rune body's extraordinary affinity with the Dao.
Three thousand Chaos hours had passed since his awakening. Xuan Fu had never revealed his presence of his own accord, always hiding in relatively safe masses of Chaos Qi or the gaps between fragments. He was like a parasitic vine, silently absorbing the faint Origin Power drifting around him and tempering his rune. At the same time, he extended his perception to the limit, recording every subtle change in the Chaos—the trajectories of Demon God battles, the patterns in which Origin Qi flowed, and even the Dao insights scattered by dying Demon Gods.
These fragmented pieces of information were imprinted one by one deep within him. Like trickling streams, they slowly yet steadily nourished his consciousness and power.
Just then, an entirely different aura quietly spread from the very center of the Chaos.
It was not the ferocity and violence of a Demon God, but an immense and majestic power containing the extremes of creation and destruction. When it first appeared, it was like a breeze brushing past, yet it caused the entire Chaos to halt. Yanhuang Demon God, who had been locked in battle, abruptly stopped and stared suspiciously toward the core. Xuan Fu, billions upon billions of miles away, felt an intense tremor radiate from his rune body. It was instinctive awe and fear, as if he were facing the ruler of the entire Chaos.
The patterns on Xuan Fu's rune whirled rapidly, locking onto the aura. He could sense the Origin Qi at the heart of the Chaos frantically converging, forming a towering phantom. The figure was indistinct, but he could vaguely see it holding a giant axe imbued with the meaning of Heaven and Earth Creation. Chaos Streams coiled around the axe, while Dao runes flashed across its surface. Every slight movement caused layers of ripples to spread through the surrounding Chaos Space.
"Pangu..."
An ancient and sacred name naturally surfaced within Xuan Fu's Spiritual Sense. He did not know what the name meant, but he could clearly sense that the phantom's existence was brewing an event capable of changing the fate of the entire Chaos. The Aura of Destruction on the giant axe grew denser and denser, as if it would cleave apart the boundless Chaos in the next moment. Yet within that destruction lay a faint but tenacious vitality, like a firefly in the darkness, heralding new life.
Xuan Fu's sense of crisis instantly rose to its peak.
He could guess that once the phantom struck, the power capable of destroying Heaven and Earth would be far beyond anything he could withstand. Even if he hid within this mass of Chaos Qi in a remote region, he would probably be shredded into ashes by the shockwaves. His rune body trembled violently, instinctively wanting to flee toward the distant fringes, but Xuan Fu's consciousness remained clear at that moment. The Chaos was vast, yet there was no truly safe place left. The phantom's power was destined to sweep across the entire Chaos.
"Hide. The only place to hide is in the narrowest 'gap' at the very core."
As his Spiritual Sense turned, Xuan Fu made his decision. He no longer restrained his aura. Instead, he urged his rune body to transform into an almost imperceptible cyan-golden stream of light and slowly approached the direction of Pangu's phantom along the trajectories of the Chaos Streams. The closer he drew to the Core Area, the more violent the Origin Qi became. He could even see many Chaos Crystals instantly crushed into powder by the streams. But Xuan Fu paid it no heed. His target was not the Core Area itself, but the gaps between the Chaos Fragments formed by the convergence of Origin Qi around its outskirts.
Those fragments were ancient matter that had existed since the birth of Chaos. They were incomparably hard and could barely withstand some of the Origin's impacts. Their gaps were also narrow enough to conceal his rune body.
After enduring countless hardships, Xuan Fu finally found a Chaos Fragment the size of a millstone, billions of miles below Pangu's phantom. Its surface was covered in cracks, clearly the result of an earlier Demon God battle, but its core remained stable. Without hesitation, Xuan Fu urged his rune power and, like a drop of water merging into the sea, slipped into a crack thinner than a strand of hair in the fragment.
The moment he entered, he immediately ceased all movement. His rune body pressed tightly against the fragment's inner wall, its patterns resonating with the fragment's Dao Trajectories as if they had merged into one. He gathered his Spiritual Sense to the extreme, leaving behind only the faintest sliver of perception as he peered through the crack at the towering phantom.
By then, Pangu's phantom had fully taken shape. His body was majestic, like a pillar supporting the Chaos, with endless Origin Qi swirling around him. The giant axe was raised high above his head, and the light on its blade grew brighter and brighter, almost illuminating the entire Chaos. The surrounding Demon Gods had long since fled in all directions. Only a few of the most powerful remained standing in the distance, watching with eyes filled with wariness and greed.
Xuan Fu's heartbeat—no, the trembling of his rune—grew faster and faster. He could feel that Pangu's power had accumulated to its peak. The moment of Heaven and Earth Creation was about to arrive.
He had no intention of seizing the merit of Heaven and Earth Creation—that would be courting death. Nor did he intend to launch a sneak attack—that was pure delusion. The only thing he could do was bring his rune's traits into full play, hide himself firmly within the Chaos Fragment's crack, and simultaneously mobilize all the power of his rune body to record the Dao Trajectories manifested in the instant Pangu created Heaven and Earth.
That would be the most primordial and purest manifestation of the Dao in the Chaos, an opportunity no Demon God battle could possibly compare with.
The axe light grew brighter and brighter, while the flow of the Chaos Qi became increasingly violent. It even began to spin in reverse. Xuan Fu could hear a hum rising from the depths of the Dao, like a prelude to the birth of Heaven and Earth. The patterns on his rune whirled rapidly, prepared to face everything—whether the destructive aftermath of Heaven and Earth Creation or the Dao insights capable of transforming him completely.
Just then, Pangu's phantom moved.
The raised giant axe slowly descended. There was no earth-shaking boom, but it carried the rhythm of the Dao, as if time and space had frozen in that moment. Wherever the axe blade passed, the Chaos Qi parted like a receding tide. A Brilliant Axe Light spread outward from the heart of the Chaos. Everywhere it passed, all Chaos matter was mercilessly cleaved apart and crushed.
The Chaos Fragment where Xuan Fu hid trembled violently, its crack on the verge of collapsing at any moment. He clenched down hard—his rune tightening—as he pushed his connection with the fragment to the limit. At the same time, he widened his "eyes"—his Spiritual Sense perception—and greedily recorded the Dao Trajectories contained within the axe light.
Those trajectories were the Dao of "Separation," the Dao of "Life," and the Dao of "Destruction."
Just as the axe light was about to reach the fragment, Xuan Fu suddenly felt the fragmented Dao information he had recorded over countless days begin to resonate with the trajectories within the axe light. A faint cyan-golden radiance quietly lit up across his rune body.
And at that moment, the axe light capable of destroying Heaven and Earth was already within reach.
Before you continue