The Great Dao's Gift

"Tch, boring. Ran off just like that, and I wasn't even done playing." Xuanxiao curled his lip in disdain, watching the direction the Heavenly Dao had vanished.

He muttered under his breath:

"What's the use of you being tough in this Primordial World? When you're out here, you need influence, you need backing. And me, Xuanxiao—Father Dao is my dad, Pangu is my Big Brother. And you, Heavenly Dao, you're just a steward, a two-bit punk. You wanted to strike me with lightning? Dream on."

"Little Heavenly Dao, handled, handled."

But no sooner had Xuanxiao finished speaking than another giant eye appeared in the void.

Seeing this giant eye, his eyes first lit up with joy, thinking the defiant Heavenly Dao had come back. He puffed up smugly and said, "Oh, didn't expect you to have some spine, Heavenly Dao. Guess I underestimated you before."

But Xuanxiao didn't notice that the Aura and pressure radiating from this giant eye were countless times stronger than the previous Heavenly Dao Eye.

Before he could finish basking in his smugness, a long whip flew out of the void without warning. With a sharp crack, it lashed heavily across Xuanxiao's newly born body, leaving a shocking bloody mark in an instant.

The moment Xuanxiao sensed that familiar feeling, his heart jolted. He knew full well that this time, it wasn't the pushover Heavenly Dao who had arrived—it was his "Father Dao."

"Father Dao, I was wrong! I won't be so arrogant again!" Xuanxiao's face went pale with fear as he hurriedly begged for mercy.

But hearing his pleas, the whip didn't stop—it struck even harder.

"Father Dao, I'm Xuanxiao! Your most beloved child! You can't do this to me!" Xuanxiao wailed and begged, all while silently cursing his luck inside.

Yet the Great Dao remained utterly aloof, deaf to Xuanxiao's cries. The long whip kept lashing his body without pause.

The whip clung to him like a shadow; no matter how Xuanxiao dodged, it always found its mark.

"Dad, stop hitting me! I know I was wrong! I won't act up again!"

Xuanxiao begged for a long time before the whip finally vanished.

Now, Xuanxiao's face was a picture of utter despair. His whole body twitched now and then, a pitiful mess.

Just then, a smaller giant eye appeared beside the Eye of the Great Dao. No need to guess—it was the Heavenly Dao.

The Heavenly Dao emerged and silently watched Xuanxiao. Though it remained utterly expressionless, Xuanxiao couldn't shake the feeling that it was gloating.

"How despicable. A Heavenly Dao running to tattle to the parents? Can't take a loss, huh?" Xuanxiao fumed inwardly, muttering under his breath.

The Heavenly Dao seemed quite satisfied seeing Xuanxiao in such a miserable state, then quietly departed.

The Great Dao, too, vanished from the void moments later.

"Hah, you think this'll make me cave? No way. I'll do it again next time." Once the Great Dao was gone, Xuanxiao couldn't help but grumble bitterly in his heart.

Then he waved his hand, and all the injuries on his body disappeared completely. He even felt that his originally unstable Aura, fresh from birth, had now settled down considerably.

Clearly, the Great Dao only meant to give Xuanxiao some physical pain—and even that pain was no small fortune for him. After all, not everyone gets to receive the Great Dao's loving discipline.

But before he could finish venting his discontent, the Great Dao appeared in the void once more.

Seeing the Great Dao return, Xuanxiao panicked. His body twitched instinctively: "No way, I only grumbled one sentence. You're not going to hit me again, are you?"

This time, however, the Great Dao didn't swing the whip as Xuanxiao feared. Instead, it dropped a glowing orb radiating a mysterious Aura from the void, then vanished again.

The orb seemed guided by some force, flying straight toward Xuanxiao before merging into his brow.

"The Primordial Realm! The Great Dao actually transformed my Chaos Pearl into a full Chaos World! Now I have a Chaos World of my own!" Xuanxiao's eyes shone with disbelief and joy as he sensed the information flooding into his body.

Though this Chaos World wasn't as vast as the Primordial World, it was still considerable—far larger than most major worlds. It was filled with boundless Chaos Qi, and as it continued to develop, it would birth countless Chaos treasures. It was practically a small Chaos itself.

"Father Dao, I really misjudged you before. I knew I was your favorite child." Xuanxiao's heart brimmed with delight, and his attitude toward the Great Dao did a complete one-eighty.

Just as Xuanxiao was reveling in joy, another figure appeared in the void.

This figure was faint and indistinct, radiating an ancient and powerful Aura.

Once the phantom appeared, it looked at Xuanxiao and said with a laugh, "Hahaha, Little Brother, surprised to see me?"

"Big Brother, did you not fall?!" Xuanxiao could hardly believe his eyes and asked excitedly.

Hearing this, Pangu's phantom first shook his head, then nodded, and spoke slowly:

"Our earlier guess was right. The Primordial World is my Dao Fruit. As for my current state, you can think of it as seclusion or sleep. Unless something unexpected happens, I won't awaken until the Primordial World is completely shattered or ascends to a higher dimension."

"That's good, that's good." Hearing that Pangu hadn't fallen, Xuanxiao finally let out a long, relieved sigh, the heavy weight lifted from his heart.

"The Great Dao must have given you the Primordial Realm, right?" Pangu's phantom said with a smile.

Xuanxiao was taken aback, then it clicked, and he exclaimed joyfully, "So the Primordial Realm was something Big Brother got for me!"

Seeing Xuanxiao's puzzled face, Pangu explained with a chuckle, "Not exactly. You were originally the Sea of Lightning, and you helped me perfect the world's evolution. The Great Dao was bound to reward you.

But you did mention before that you liked treasures. Before I transformed my body into the Primordial World, I specially discussed with the Great Dao and had your Chaos Pearl modified.

We also placed some innate spiritual roots in the Primordial Realm, along with plenty of other surprises. I'm sure you'll love them."

"Big Brother, you're incredible!" Xuanxiao's face flushed with excitement as he shouted, "I knew Big Brother was the one who dotes on me the most."

Xuanxiao never expected that something he'd casually mentioned once would be remembered by Pangu all this time.

"Alright, I should be going now. I'm leaving the Primordial World in your hands. But the most important thing is to protect yourself." After saying this, Pangu's phantom gradually faded into the void.

"Big Brother..." Xuanxiao stared at the spot where Pangu's phantom had vanished, a wave of loss washing over him, his spirits sinking.

But he quickly pulled himself together and muttered to himself, "Let me see what treasures Big Brother prepared for me."

With that, Xuanxiao's figure flickered, and his body disappeared.

Xuanxiao's first feeling upon entering the Primordial Realm was familiarity—it was as if he had returned to the Chaos.

But when he looked toward the center of the Primordial Realm and saw the scene before him, he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath: "Sigh... a Chaos Spirit Root, the Chaos Great Dao Tree, the Chaos World Tree, the top-grade innate spirit root Yellow Middle Plum, and the Immortal Apricot. And so many high-grade innate spiritual roots."

Among them, the fruits borne by the Chaos Great Dao Tree each contained various fundamental Powers of Law; every single fruit corresponded to a single Great Dao Law. By consuming a leaf, one could instantly comprehend the Great Dao Law within it, allowing a living being's mastery of the Dao to reach the Golden Immortal of the Origin realm.

The Chaos World Tree was also quite extraordinary. It could nurture three thousand fruits, each representing a great world. If all the World Tree's fruits fully ripened, it could even give birth to a world comparable to the Primordial World.

These two Chaos Spirit Roots were the most supreme of spirit roots, comparable to the existence of supreme treasures.

As for those top-grade and high-grade innate spiritual roots, they were somewhat inferior—but if they appeared in the Primordial World, they would still be fought over by every living being.

As for why there were no mid-grade or low-grade spirit roots, Xuanxiao guessed that they simply couldn't catch Pangu's eye.

At the very center of the Primordial Realm stood a palace, above which three characters written in Dao Script read: "Primordial Hall."

Xuanxiao casually pushed open the hall's doors. Inside the Primordial Hall, vast amounts of Great Dao Merit filled the air. The moment Xuanxiao entered, this Merit transformed into a golden wheel of merit that directly entered his Sea of Consciousness.

In the center of the hall sat a purple lotus.

At this moment, Xuanxiao's mind was completely captivated by a thirty-six-petal lotus at the center of the Primordial Hall. This lotus was practically a replica of the Chaos Green Lotus—the only difference between them was probably their color.

"A Chaos Supreme Treasure... the Chaos Purple Lotus!!!"

Xuanxiao swallowed hard as he stared at the Chaos Purple Lotus.

This was a Chaos Supreme Treasure—a treasure that only Pangu, Father Dao's own son, had ever possessed before.

And now it appeared alive and real before Xuanxiao.

The Chaos Pearl, as a damaged Chaos Supreme Treasure, naturally couldn't have been merely transformed into a Chaos World. Most of its power had been used to create the Chaos Purple Lotus before him.

"Father Dao, you really do love me. From now on, I'll definitely take care of you in your old age and see you to your end," Xuanxiao said happily.

But just as Xuanxiao finished speaking, a whip appeared once again from the void.

Moreover, Xuanxiao inexplicably sensed a gaze watching him from beyond the void—a gaze filled with disdain.

Seeing that whip, Xuanxiao's body twitched instinctively. A wise man knows when to submit; the moment he saw the whip, Xuanxiao followed his heart.

"Stop, stop, stop! Father, I was wrong. Please, be magnanimous and spare me."

With Xuanxiao's plea, the whip vanished. Only after he no longer felt that watching gaze did Xuanxiao sigh in relief.

It was only then that Xuanxiao noticed floating above the Chaos Purple Lotus was a ruler-type spirit treasure.

"A Treasure of Merit... the Primordial Measure Ruler?"

"I didn't expect this treasure to be given to me too. Too bad it's useless to me—but I can reward it to a junior later," Xuanxiao said casually.

With the Nine Heavens Destruction Halberd, a half-step Chaos Supreme Treasure, as his weapon, Xuanxiao naturally looked down on the Primordial Measure Ruler.

But if the living beings of the Primordial World ever heard Xuanxiao say this, they would surely die of jealousy. This was one of only two Treasures of Merit in the Primordial World, and the only offensive Treasure of Merit at that.

Even the saints of the later Primordial World couldn't obtain such a precious treasure—yet in Xuanxiao's hands, it was merely something to give away.

After strolling through the entire Primordial Realm, Xuanxiao left and returned to Thunder Marsh.

"Right. There's also a supreme-grade innate spirit treasure in Thunder Marsh—I think it's called the Nine Heavens Thunder Punishment Mirror. This should count as my companion spirit treasure, since I was born in Thunder Marsh. It can see through the karma of Primordial World beings and reflect a cultivator's good and evil deeds. Of course, it's a bit weak for me, but it's still an extraordinary spirit treasure." As Xuanxiao thought this, he reached out and beckoned. A mysterious, glowing mirror appeared in his hand.

"I should be the most extravagant living being in the entire Primordial World, right?" At this moment, Xuanxiao's face was brimming with joy, and his heart was full of pride.