Pangu Comprehends the Dao

The Book of Poetry says: "Before heaven and earth were divided, chaos reigned. Vast and boundless, nothing could be seen. Ever since Pangu shattered the primordial void, creation began, and clear and turbid were distinguished." —Excerpt from Journey to the West

The chaos stretched endlessly, filled with immeasurable currents of black and white qi. They seemed both clear and turbid, drifting peacefully and intertwining softly. There was no up or down, no left or right—only primordial simplicity and desolation.

In the stillness, invisible ripples abruptly appeared throughout this chaotic world. Little by little, they stirred the boundless chaos, and a faint trace of a soul's aura drifted out from among them.

In the chaos, time had no meaning. The soul slowly changed and grew, while the boundless chaotic qi seemed to circle around it. The ripples set the black and white qi turning slowly. At their center, Chaos Origin Qi arose from the void, growing from a speck to a wisp, then swelling into a surging torrent. The Chaos Origin Qi poured into the soul without pause. Gradually, a vast vortex formed around it, churning the chaotic qi and greedily swallowing the streams of black and white qi that rushed in. More Chaos Origin Qi emerged, growing denser until it wove itself into the shape of a gigantic "cocoon," floating quietly in the boundless chaos.

"Mm..."

A voice suddenly rang out in the endless chaos, then promptly faded away. In a place without space or time, the sound could not last long, but it had at least brought a trace of life to this desolate, boundless world.

"Crack."

A faint sound appeared and vanished. A fissure had formed in the cocoon, and the great cocoon began to tremble. With each tremor, the crack grew wider.

With a BOOM, the cocoon shattered, forming a lotus-shaped platform and boundless fragments.

The fragments shot rapidly in every direction, their deafening crash churning the boundless chaotic qi. The black and white qi separated slightly, and Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire sprang into being. Perhaps this was the birth of primordial space and time.

A living being stood in this primordial space. He possessed an Innate Dao Body, the form of a human. Humans were uniquely favored by nature, their bodies aligned with the principles of heaven and earth: the twenty-four sections of the spine corresponded to the twenty-four qi; the twelve sections of the trachea were known as the Twelve-Storied Tower. The navel was the Ancestral Palace, within it the Yellow Court; the heart was the Crimson Palace, the lungs the Canopy, and beneath the tongue lay the Flowery Pool. The soles of the feet were called Bubbling Springs; one inch and three tenths below the navel was Fengdu. The eighteen winding turns of the small intestine were the Eighteen Hells; the urinary tract was the Earth Gate, and the anus the Nether Gate. The human body was subtly aligned with the positions of heaven and earth and the principles by which all things were nurtured. Knocking the left teeth eight times produced the sound of a golden bell; knocking the right teeth eight times, a jade chime; and knocking the front teeth eight times, a ritual drum. Three sets of eight made twenty-four strikes, corresponding to the twenty-four qi. For these and many other reasons, cultivators of different kinds—demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters—made attaining human form their foundation. Only then could they absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth at the fastest rate and seize the blessings of creation.

The young man stood three thousand six hundred and fifty zhang tall—three thousand six hundred and fifty zhang, corresponding to the three hundred and sixty-five degrees of the celestial sphere. His muscles were like evenly proportioned hills, and blue veins bulged across his body. Beneath his feet, a Chaos Green Lotus revolved quietly. The young man calmly surveyed his surroundings as boundless streams of gray qi swirled around him.

"Ah..."

A flash of purple light, carrying immeasurable information, shot into the young man's mind. Memories surged through his consciousness like a tide, filling it densely. Startled, he soon calmed and sat down in the void. After a long while, he opened his eyes, now shining with profound light.

"This boundless black and white qi is chaos. I am Pangu, born to split this boundless chaos. Why must I split it? I don't know. How am I to split it? I don't know that either." Pangu shook his head. Suddenly, his heart gave a shudder. Fate—his inborn fate. Could his destiny already have been ordained?

RUMBLE, RUMBLE! A series of thunderous roars rolled through the chaos. At the same time, Pangu felt something stir within him, and a stream of information entered his mind. He sighed. "What is meant to come will come."

Each peal of thunder marked the birth of a Chaos Demon God. At least three thousand Demon Gods would be born in this chaos, and their mission was connected to his own.

The three thousand Chaos Demon Gods were all products of the Heavenly Dao's evolution. Each Chaos Demon God was born in the chaos with innate control over one of the laws beneath the Great Dao. The three thousand Chaos Demon Gods each corresponded to one of the Three Thousand Great Daos and their laws. He was one of them, too.

He calmed himself and sat cross-legged in the chaos, comprehending the memories inherited from the Great Dao. A profound, ineffable feeling arose in Pangu's heart. As these thoughts surfaced, boundless chaotic qi rushed toward him, where it was refined into Chaos Origin Qi and increased his power. The Chaos Green Lotus, a primordial treasure that had accompanied him from birth, also drew in and released the chaotic qi.

In the chaos, time had no meaning. In the blink of an eye, dozens of eras passed. Pangu's cultivation advanced rapidly, from Heavenly Immortal to Golden Immortal, then all the way to the middle stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, where it finally stopped. He was only a step away from entering the Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, and had nearly reached the threshold of a Heavenly Dao Saint.

Cultivation Realms: Heavenly Immortal, Golden Immortal, Grand Unity Golden Immortal, Grand Unity Golden Immortal, Quasi-Saint (beheading one corpse or two corpses), Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal (at the peak, one can draw infinitely close to Sainthood), Heavenly Dao Saint (one becomes a Saint by entrusting one's Primordial Spirit to the Heavenly Dao, and can wield the Heaven and Earth Rules), Primordial Saint, Great Dao Saint (can create or alter the Heaven and Earth Rules, existing as the Great Dao itself). Each stage is further divided into upper, middle, and lower realms.

The Heavenly Dao was actually an aggregate of various rules. Only by comprehending the rules could one enter the realm of a Heavenly Dao Saint. Understanding which rule one cultivated—or even mastering it—might require a great opportunity.

Pangu walked through the boundless chaos, the lotus concealed within his body. An unseen force seemed to be drawing him onward. Ever since his last insight, he had been unable to calm his mind, so he had no choice but to travel through the chaos.

The world was filled everywhere with boundless chaotic qi. Black and white remained indistinct. The chaos seemed peaceful, but Killing Intent lurked everywhere. Water, Wind, Earth, and Fire arose in the rifts; countless Gale Force Winds and Lightning Fires filled the chaos. But to the Chaos Demon Gods, they might have been no more than a trivial nuisance.

"Hm! Chaos Stone. What pure Chaos Spiritual Qi!" Pangu gazed at a huge, hazy-gray boulder. He had no idea how many years it had taken to condense from the chaotic qi.

Gazing at the incomparably hard Chaos Stone, Pangu sat cross-legged and contemplated the opportunity it contained. Unknowingly, he roused the hazy-gray Primordial Spirit Fire within him. This Chaos Origin Fire scorched the Chaos Stone.

Gradually, an era passed. The Chaos Stone revolved steadily in the Chaos Origin Fire. Two, three, then four eras passed, and the stone began to show signs of melting.

Pangu's eyes flickered. Guided by his Primordial Spirit, his hands rapidly formed one seal after another. Profound incantations flowed through his mind. Formations, spells, and divine abilities—all the incantations and formations that surfaced were infused into the Chaos Stone. Its original hazy gray gradually transformed into a lustrous, glimmering sheen.

Ten eras passed. The Chaos Stone, which had once been enormous, had been refined until only a man-sized piece remained. At last, a mass of nine-colored liquid floated in the Chaos Origin Fire.

Opening his eyes, Pangu looked at the mass of nine-colored liquid before him and rapidly formed seals with both hands. Countless Great Dao Runes entered the liquid. As they poured in, it slowly changed shape, and a gray axe gradually took form. An ancient, desolate aura filled the air.

"How did it become an axe? An axe represents strength. Could my Dao lie in power? Perhaps this is fate, unseen but ordained."

Pangu felt a stir in his heart and realized that his cultivation had already broken through the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, reaching the Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. He was only one step away from becoming a Saint.

Sitting cross-legged in the chaos, he circulated his Primordial Spirit and contemplated his inheritance. Perhaps because he had reached the Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm and drawn close to the Heavenly Dao, he sensed that his Dao was connected to power. The law that would make him a Saint seemed to be the Law of Power, allowing him to command every kind of "power" in the world. To shatter the heavens with a single force—how grand, how mighty!

Time flew by in the blink of an eye. Pangu's cultivation had now stabilized at its peak, and one of his feet had already crossed the threshold of Sainthood. Perhaps, when the opportunity arrived, he would become a Saint. He had also cultivated several divine abilities; all that remained was to comprehend the Dao.

Just then, Pangu's Primordial Spirit trembled. It had sensed danger. He opened his eyes, and two dazzling rays shot from them, sweeping his Spiritual Sense across a radius of countless billions of li.

At that moment, a dragon's roar rang out, and countless enormous blocks of ice flew toward Pangu.

Pangu swept his Primordial Spirit over them and was instantly shocked.

This was no ordinary ice. It was the most primordial ice in heaven and earth: Origin Ice. It was so cold that the chill alone could freeze a Primordial Spirit—or even kill one outright. Pangu hurriedly manifested the Chaos Green Lotus. An invisible force radiated from it, shielding his entire body. The stone axe in his hand swept out with the divine ability SWEEP ACROSS THE THOUSAND ARMIES. A beam of light, stretching ten thousand li, surged forward in an arc. Though there were countless blocks of ice, this attack was keen and forceful; the ice shattered one after another and vanished. Just this simple attack from his opponent had already caused him so much trouble. Which Chaos Demon God could be taken lightly?