Just as Di Jiang felt the system's "network latency" had become absurdly high, as if it were locked in a "tug-of-war" with some indescribable entity—
Ding-dong! Your limited-edition Primordial World Chaos Bell has arrived! Please check your delivery! And remember to leave us a five-star review, dear customer! (The system's notification chime carried a faint, barely perceptible weakness!)
A phantom ancient bell wreathed in Chaos Qi forcibly tore through the space inside Pangu Divine Hall. It shuddered as if deeply reluctant, then crashed down beside Di Jiang's giant egg with a clang. Its toll rang clear and sonorous, radiating supreme authority enough to suppress the primordial chaos, yet it seemed to carry the grievance of something that had just been "kidnapped" and dragged over.
"Holy crap! It really got it!"
The eggshell surrounding Di Jiang glowed with excitement, and he couldn't wait to hatch and give the bell a couple of kisses. The Chaos Bell! From now on, they could call him Di (Ultimate Edition)!
However, Di Jiang's joy lasted less than three seconds. An indescribable, cold, vast, supreme will descended abruptly upon Pangu Divine Hall, like an invisible weight of billions of tons!
This will held no emotion. It seemed to be nothing more than a collection of pure rules, yet it was more suffocating than any killing intent. It locked directly onto Di Jiang's giant egg and the Chaos Bell that had just been "delivered."
"I've—I've been spotted!"
Half of Di Jiang's eggshell went cold in an instant, and his consciousness seemed to freeze. This was the Primordial World Heavenly Dao! The real administrator of the Primordial World!
Di Jiang could feel the Heavenly Dao's gaze sweep over the Chaos Bell first, as if confirming something. Then, like the coldest scalpel, it pierced precisely into the bond connecting his consciousness to the system.
WARNING! High-dimensional rule countermeasure detected! System core undergoing irreversible... static... Take care, host... Under the Cross-Plane Gig Economy System Rights and Benefits Protection Regulations... I... I'll definitely come... come back...
The system's electronic voice stuttered like a radio signal under interference, then cut off amid a burst of piercing static! The connection between it and Di Jiang—unreliable though it was, it had existed—was severed completely!
The Heavenly Dao had formatted the system right there on the spot! Before leaving, it had even delivered Hui Tailang's classic line, but Di Jiang felt a chill in his heart. This time, it seemed they might truly be saying goodbye forever.
Having dealt with the system, that virus program and foreign plug-in, the Heavenly Dao's cold gaze fell without obstruction upon Di Jiang's egg—the true culprit.
Di Jiang's hair stood on end. He felt like a fish on a chopping block—no, an egg waiting to hatch! He was doomed! Had he just transmigrated, only to be purged as a bug by the Heavenly Dao? Was the retribution for devouring his younger siblings coming so soon?
Just as he thought his egg would shatter and his Dao would be destroyed the next second, the rich power of Pangu's bloodline within him, along with the thirty percent of the Heaven-Opening Merit that had merged into the Ancestral Witches' essence when the world was created—usually hidden and unrevealed, but now stirred into action by the Heavenly Dao's pressure—erupted with a roar!
Hummm—!
A vast, ancient aura filled Pangu Divine Hall, carrying the karmic merit of the Primordial World's creation. Like the strongest shield, it firmly protected Di Jiang's giant egg. The golden Xuanhuang light of the Heaven-Opening Merit was even purer and heavier than the Xuanhuang Qi of the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler!
Sensing the rich Pangu bloodline, the Chaos Bell immediately transformed into a streak of light and entered Di Jiang's Primordial Spirit!
The Heavenly Dao's will, that cold collection of rules, visibly paused the moment it touched the rich Pangu bloodline and Heaven-Opening Merit.
If the system had been a "hacker" who had sneaked in, then Di Jiang was one of the legitimate shareholders who held the Primordial World's original stock (Pangu bloodline) and a special allowance from the founding team (Heaven-Opening Merit).
Although this shareholder had just ordered the hacker to steal an important company asset (the Chaos Bell), his status was recognized and protected by the source of the Primordial World!
Logical conflict. Target: Pangu's True Lineage. Great Merit detected. Cleanup order conflicts. Chaos Bell cannot be returned. Recalculating!
Di Jiang seemed to hear the Heavenly Dao's rules making a buzzing sound as they ran—almost like they were about to crash. The cold will scanned his eggshell back and forth, apparently trapped in some kind of infinite loop!
This guy's a problem, but he has a get-out-of-death-free card. Would harming him destabilize the foundations of the Primordial World? What about the backlash from the merit?
This frozen state lasted as long as an entire primordial epoch. At last, the suffocating will slowly withdrew like the tide, leaving behind a trace of barely perceptible frustration—and the sense that the incident had been recorded—before vanishing without a trace!
Pangu Divine Hall returned to peace. Only the Chaos Bell trembled faintly, beside an egg that had nearly been scared senseless.
"Phew—I'm... I'm alive!"
It took Di Jiang a long time to recover. His consciousness trembled inside the eggshell. It was all thanks to Pangu's protection and the merit shielding him! Otherwise, he'd have been completely done for!
Once he had recovered, Di Jiang tried calling out in his mind: "System? Bro System? Big Brother System? Are you still alive? Make a sound!"
Dead silence. There was no response. The unreliable system that had brought him here, given him a starter pack, and even sacrificed itself to help him snatch the Chaos Bell seemed to have truly been erased by the Heavenly Dao, leaving behind only the empty echo of its promise: "I'll definitely come back."
Di Jiang felt a little hollow inside. The system might have been a bit of a scammer, but it had been the only fellow countryman he had in this unfamiliar Primordial World.
"Farewell, brother System. I'll inherit your legacy and take good care of it!" Di Jiang stood in silence for three thousand years to mourn his bro System—if he could have stood.
Then his consciousness turned eagerly toward the Chaos Bell inside his Primordial Spirit, as well as the Five Directional Flags and Five Elements Spirit Pearls in the system's storage space.
The system was gone, but all the "spoils of war" won through its epic showdown with the Heavenly Dao were still there! He was now a super-enhanced Ancestral Witch egg, with Di Jiang's own essence, the potential to wield the laws of the other eleven Ancestral Witches, the Chaos Bell, the Primordial Sky Measuring Ruler, the innate Five Directional Flags, the innate Five Elements Spirit Pearls, and thirty percent of the Heaven-Opening Merit!
"The Heavenly Dao can't touch me for now, so doesn't that mean I can..."
A sly, infuriating grin seemed to appear on Di Jiang's eggshell!
"Relax and keep cultivating until I hatch and shock the entire Primordial World! Hahaha!"
Feeling the surging power within him and the supreme treasures by his side, Di Jiang looked forward to stirring up trouble. Only this time, there would be no system to bail him out. He would have to rely on himself.
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