Pangu's voice faded into the void, but Zhou Ming remained motionless for a long time.
The extinction of the Great Dao.
Proving the Dao anew.
These words echoed within his true spirit, each one as heavy as Chaos.
He had only just broken free of the tribulation of proving the Dao, and knew full well how difficult that final step was.
Yet Pangu had experienced utter failure, fallen from the lofty heights of the Great Dao Realm, and then climbed back up again.
Zhou Ming could not imagine the perseverance, the Dao heart, that such a feat required.
He had originally thought that proving the Dao marked the end of cultivation, the attainment of true freedom and eternity.
But Pangu's experiences had unveiled before him another panorama, far grander and far more dangerous.
A "Chaos Sea" composed of countless chaoses.
The "Nine Great Chaos," partitioned off to serve as battlefields for proving the Dao.
A group of "native" powerhouses who had long since proven the Dao, and a group of "foreign" Great Dao Realm cultivators of unknown origins.
A silent war that had lasted countless epochs, using the cultivation of new Dao Provers as its chess pieces.
He, Zhou Ming, had just won his own victory in one tiny corner of this war, earning the right to enter the arena.
Yet how insignificant that victory was in this boundless Chaos Sea.
Only after a long while did Zhou Ming raise his head again and look at Pangu.
"Fellow Daoist."
"Yes?"
"Those Great Dao Realm powerhouses who came from outside the Chaos Sea—what exactly did they come here for?"
He voiced the greatest question weighing on his mind.
"If they only wanted to invade the Chaos Sea, they could have simply gone to war with you."
"Why expend so much effort