The Primordial World was a place where countless currents surged.
Above the North Sea, waves towered into the heavens.
A green-shelled, black-armored giant tortoise, its body spanning hundreds of millions of miles, floated atop the sea like a canopy covering heaven and earth.
The giant tortoise slowly opened its eyes. Divine light flowed from its pupils, swallowing the sun and moon, while its sovereign aura overshadowed the vast sea.
With the slightest parting of its jaws, the blue sea surged for thousands of acres, and countless sea creatures scattered in retreat.
"A tortoise! I, Beichen, crossed over into the Primordial World and became the North Sea Black Tortoise!"
Beichen cried out in shock, but his voice transformed into a series of strange tortoise cries!
Rumble!
Thunder rolled. The sky turned crimson as countless beams of dark light poured down. Mountains collapsed, the earth split, and all living things wailed.
Across the Four Seas and the Eight Wastelands, countless mountains toppled and endless waves shattered. People cried out in agony, corpses littered the ground, and the sky and earth turned a deep red, like a hellish apocalypse.
At the edge of the sky, rays of light in every color spilled down. A giant five-colored stone slowly rose into the air, filling the breach and blocking the flood.
The thunder gradually faded. Seven-colored clouds filled the heavens and earth, and life returned—but the world was left in utter ruin.
"Nuwa is Mending the Heavens!"
Beichen looked up at the woman with a serpent's tail, towering hundreds of millions of feet high in the far northern sky, and trembled violently inside.
A flood of information swept through Beichen's mind, and his terror suddenly intensified.
From what he knew of the Primordial World, at the end of the Witch-Demon Tribulation, heaven would collapse and the earth would split apart. Nuwa would refine the Five-Colored Stone to mend the sky, then sever the four limbs of the North Sea Black Tortoise to support the Four Poles and stabilize the heavens!
He, Beichen, had only just crossed over, and his time was already up!
"Just like those Primordial World novels say, should I sever my own limbs and volunteer to support the sky, hoping to earn Great Dao Merit, cling to life, and figure out what to do next?"
Beichen's first thought was to volunteer to support the sky and save himself.
But he hesitated!
Would volunteering to support the sky really draw the Heaven and Earth Great Dao to bestow merit upon him and let him survive?
There was no guarantee!
The Mysterious Turtle had indeed earned immeasurable merit by supporting the sky, but only at the cost of his life. Whether Nuwa severed his four limbs to support the heavens or he volunteered to do it himself, the outcome was the same: his Dao would dissipate, and he would die!
"I absolutely cannot support the sky! I, the North Sea Black Tortoise, will never support the sky!"
Beichen let out one anguished cry after another, though all that emerged were strange tortoise calls.
"Heaven and Earth Great Dao, is there not a shred of justice in this Primordial World?" Beichen's tortoise cries rolled through the sky. "The Heavenly Dao is unkind and treats all things like straw dogs. But the Heaven and Earth Great Dao should be merciful! Pity me, a tortoise, and do not let me die unjustly!"
"Heaven and Earth Great Dao, if you can hear me, could you grant me a method to support the heavens and clear me of the injustice of having my limbs severed and losing my life? Let justice be done in accordance with the Great Dao!"
"I, the Mysterious Turtle, have lain quietly in the North Sea and never provoked trouble. Yet I am to have my limbs severed and die on the spot for no reason at all—a great injustice without equal in the Primordial World! If I am guilty, then please grant me a method so I can atone through good deeds. Would that be possible?"
Beichen's plea shook heaven and earth, startling the entire cosmos.
It made heaven and earth grieve to hear it, and all living beings weep.
"Such a mournful cry—who is calling out across heaven and earth?"
The woman with the serpent's tail, towering hundreds of millions of feet high, turned her gaze slightly. Her features were exquisite, her bearing extraordinary, and her voice boomed like thunder. She possessed the dignity of a mother to all under heaven.
"Junior Sister, it's the Mysterious Turtle above the North Sea!"
Beside her stood a Daoist with a halo above his head, a red pill in his hand, and robes of eight or nine colors. His aura suppressed the boundless chaos. He was none other than Empress Nuwa's second senior brother, the Daoist Primordial Lord of Heaven.
Primordial Lord of Heaven smiled with divine light in his eyes. "The North Sea Black Tortoise is destined to undergo this tribulation. You must sever his four limbs and use them to support the Four Poles, completing your feat of Mending the Heavens!"
Another Daoist stood nearby, dressed in multicolored cloud robes and surrounded by countless beasts. Purple qi rippled around him, his imposing aura stretching for tens of thousands of miles. He was the Grand Pure Lord of Morality.
At that moment, the Grand Pure Lord of Morality looked puzzled. "Strange. The North Sea Black Tortoise should be muddleheaded and unaware of anything. Why does he seem to know his fate in advance and wail over his role in Mending the Heavens?"
"Eldest Senior Brother, what is he saying?"
Nuwa was shrouded in five-colored divine light, as if surrounded by the tolling of a great bell. She could not make out the Mysterious Turtle's cries.
"He's begging the Heaven and Earth Great Dao to grant him a method, hoping to change his fate. It's utterly delusional!"
The Grand Pure Lord of Morality dismissed the idea.
"Indeed. That Mysterious Turtle is destined to sacrifice himself to support the sky, completing Junior Sister Nuwa's feat of Mending the Heavens!"
"He's nothing but a lowly creature beneath the Heavenly Dao, yet he dares talk about changing his fate. What a fantasy."
This Daoist had five-colored golden light above his head and red lotuses beneath his feet, which stretched for countless miles. Purple qi surrounded his Eight Trigrams Immortal Robes, and his three-pointed treasure sword was called Qingping. He was Sect Master Tongtian.
But as soon as he finished speaking, the distant sky changed abruptly. Countless rays of golden light spread out, piercing across hundreds of millions of miles and flowing toward them.
In an instant, the golden light blazed with dazzling brilliance. Even the four Destined Saints could not look directly at it and could see nothing clearly.
They were left bewildered, with no idea what had happened.
Beichen, however, was overcome with excitement. Countless green rays of light spilled from his tortoise eyes. "The Heaven and Earth Great Dao is merciful! It heard my plea!"
The Heaven and Earth Great Dao stood a hundred million feet tall, towering between heaven and earth. Its aura suppressed the cosmos, and its face bore a look of compassion.
It slowly approached Beichen, its voice echoing in waves, dreamlike and unreal, as though drawing him into a dream.
Above the North Sea, a divine voice rang out, heard only within that region.
"The Mysterious Turtle has suffered a grave injustice. Today, I, the Heaven and Earth Great Dao, grant you a method and alter your fate. I hope you will remain steadfast, shoulder the great duty of upholding justice, and not disappoint me."
It took a step and entered Beichen's body. The golden light faded, and the North Sea fell still.
"Ding! Heaven and Earth Great Dao System bound to host Beichen!"
"Wonderful! The Heaven and Earth Great Dao split off a form to create a system for me. My fate of having my limbs severed is about to change!" Beichen rejoiced inwardly. "The Heaven and Earth Great Dao is fair after all!"
"Ding! Heaven and Earth Great Dao System rewards host Beichen with one Universe Great Dao Mystic Turtle Shell!"
"Ding! System rewards host Beichen with the Boundless Immortal Body of the Great Dao!"
Beichen carefully sensed the two rewards. Though they were acquired Dao Treasures, they exuded an extraordinary aura, surpassing even countless Innate Spirit Treasures he had once known. "The items bestowed by the Great Dao are truly extraordinary! These are the two foundations that will let me survive!"
Beichen quickly gathered his thoughts. "Nuwa is Mending the Heavens, and she's about to sever my four limbs. What should I do now? Will the system give me any guidance?"
As soon as the thought crossed Beichen's mind, the system offered him two choices.
"First, volunteer to support the sky. Reward: the supreme-grade Innate Treasure, Jade Plate of Creation!"
"Second, absolutely refuse to support the sky. Reward: the Great Dao Fragment Domain and the Three Islands of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou, a top-grade paradise. You can hide within the chaotic currents, where even the Saints of Heaven and Earth will be unable to discover your whereabouts!"
"Second! Second! I choose the second! I, Beichen, will never support the sky!"
Beichen cried out. The second choice was exactly what he wanted.
"Congratulations, host. You have chosen the second option!"
A mysterious aura appeared over the North Sea. Three boundless immortal islands, formed from Dao Fragments, materialized before Beichen.
Without hesitation, Beichen leapt onto them, and his figure vanished on the spot.
The three immortal islands disappeared without a trace from the North Sea. No one could tell where they had gone.
"Hmm? The North Sea Black Tortoise is gone? Did he escape?"
The four Destined Saints arrived above the North Sea together, their faces full of confusion. "What happened?"
Before you continue