Since Great God Pangu created the heavens and the earth, the Great Desolation Continent had endured two great tribulations, the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation and the Dao-Devil War. At last, the karmic energy gradually dissipated, life returned to the land, and all races flourished.
After being nurtured for countless long eons, countless Innate Beings chose to take form in this era. The most exceptional among them were known as Innate Divine Saints, every one of whom was connected to Great God Pangu's origin.
The records of heaven and earth in the Primordial World told that after Great God Pangu exhausted his strength creating the heavens, his body transformed into all things, while his Primordial Spirit and blood essence drifted through the world.
His Primordial Spirit fused with the three streams of pure qi that had arisen during the creation of heaven, giving rise to three beings who emerged into the world at this time. They called themselves Taishang Taiqing, Yuanshi Yuqing, and Tongtian Shangqing;
His blood essence fused with the twelve streams of turbid qi that had descended during the creation of heaven, becoming tainted by the baleful energy of the earth's veins and giving rise to twelve beings who called themselves the Twelve Ancestral Witches;
And the Sun Star, foremost among the stars of the Primordial World, nurtured two Golden Crows. Born with the destiny of emperors, they called themselves Di Jun and Tai Yi...
Yet apart from them, there was another Innate Divine Saint with an exceptionally unusual origin. He had neither been formed from Great God Pangu's essence nor taken shape from a single stream of innate qi.
Instead, when heaven and earth first emerged in the Primordial World, he had felt gratitude for Great God Pangu's creation. To commemorate him, he had condensed into the first Mysterious Coffin in the Primordial World.
Though it was only a Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, it had gained the protection of a strand of Great God Pangu's destiny in the unseen. And since Great God Pangu had created heaven and earth in the Primordial World, the Mysterious Coffin naturally qualified to join the ranks of the Innate Divine Saints.
At the boundary between the eastern and western regions of the Primordial World,
Spirit Vulture Mountain, Yuanjue Cave.
The mountain range looked unremarkable from the outside. It might not even have ranked among the finest places in the West, where the earth's veins had been damaged. Yet an Innate Great Formation enveloped it.
Beyond the formation's restrictions, the cave concealed another world of its own, a small realm unto itself. Pure Chaos Qi, nearly extinct in the outside world, could be found everywhere here, filling the entire grotto-heaven.
A black stone coffin appeared and disappeared amid the dense, mist-like Chaos Qi. On one side of it, a carving of Pangu Creating Heaven radiated boundless Dao aura, so sharp it could not be resisted. The other side bore the Great Desolation Myriad Things Diagram, which encompassed all things. One glance was enough to draw the viewer into it.
With a faint tremor of the coffin, the sentience that had slumbered atop the Mysterious Coffin for countless ages finally awoke. The surrounding Chaos Qi roiled like boiling water.
Has my origin finally finished gestating? It seems it's time to take form and witness this Great Desolation Era, an age in which the Sages will emerge together. It's a misfortune, but also an opportunity.
As it turned out, this sentience had not arisen naturally. It was a Modern Soul from a later age.
Deng Ran had once been nothing more than an ordinary overworked office drone. After working overtime one evening, he had been sent to the Primordial World by a dump truck on his way home.
It had been at the very beginning of creation, when heaven and earth in the Primordial World had just condensed the first Mysterious Coffin amid Chaos. Great God Pangu, having completed the creation of heaven, had drawn Deng Ran into the coffin. To adapt to the laws of the Primordial World, he had fallen into a deep slumber—and only now had he awakened.
Meanwhile, as Chaos Qi around him poured madly into the first Mysterious Coffin in heaven and earth, a dazzling Innate Undying Spiritual Light suddenly burst forth from the center of Yuanjue Cave. The black stone coffin vanished, transforming in the blink of an eye into an Innate Dao Body in the form of a young man in his twenties.
Eight feet tall, with swordlike brows and bright eyes, he wore a black robe. He resembled Deng Ran from his previous life by seven parts, but was even more flawless. With every gesture, Annihilation Dao Intent swirled around him, profound and wondrous, his bearing extraordinary.
There is no more Deng Ran in this life. I am Randeng!
The instant he took form and emerged into the world, he received the inheritance of an Innate Divine Saint and understood the Dao name bestowed upon him by this Primordial World.
That's right—he was Daoist Randeng, of the same generation as the Three Pure Ones, who would eventually fare worse than even the second-generation disciples of the Chan and Jie sects. He ingratiated himself with all sides, yet took flak everywhere, always living under someone else's roof.
According to the original course of events, Randeng would not take form and emerge into the world until shortly before the third sermon at Purple Skies Palace. By then, many resources, including Spiritual Treasures and spiritual roots, had already been claimed by the Innate Divine Saints. He would barely make it in time for the Third Sermon at Purple Skies Palace. But his cultivation would be too low for him to understand the path to Sainthood, and he would leave Treasure Distribution Cliff empty-handed.
But since he had emerged early this time, Randeng intended to claim spiritual roots and Spiritual Treasures, destiny, and even merit.
He turned to look at the two companion Spiritual Treasures floating where the Mysterious Coffin had once been.
One was the Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Spirit Coffin Lamp. It contained forty-two Innate Restrictions. Netherworld Ghost Fire burned atop its gray-bronze base, encircled by a faint Annihilation Law.
The other was the Mid Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Qiankun Ruler. It contained eighteen Innate Restrictions and was wreathed in the Space Law. It held a world within and weighed ten thousand jun. It was a pure weapon of attack.
From his Innate inheritance, Randeng knew that Innate Spiritual Treasures were born from the creative power of heaven and earth, nurtured together with a strand of Innate Undying Spiritual Light. They contained Innate Restrictions and were divided into Low Grade, Mid Grade, High Grade, Supreme Grade, and Innate Supreme Treasures.
Low Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures contained one to twelve Innate Restrictions, Mid Grade ones contained thirteen to twenty-four, High Grade ones contained twenty-five to thirty-six, and Supreme Grade ones contained thirty-seven to forty-eight.
Above those, treasures with forty-nine Innate Restrictions were Innate Supreme Treasures. There were only a handful of them in the entire Primordial World.
Randeng spent a hundred years refining nine Innate Restrictions in each of the two treasures, gaining a rudimentary command of them. Then he took them into his Spiritual Platform to nurture them carefully, hoping to attune them to his will as soon as possible.
Randeng's cultivation was only at the late Taiyi Golden Immortal stage, so he could not bring out the full power of a Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.
The Spirit Coffin Lamp was said to possess a divine ability in later ages that could illuminate the past and present lives of living beings. It also had countless ties to reincarnation. Perhaps he would one day have to rely on it to scheme for the Earth Dao.
Looking at the still fairly abundant Chaos Qi around him, Randeng sat cross-legged, unwilling to waste this energy, almost extinct in the Primordial World and a level above Innate Spiritual Qi.
He circulated the cultivation formula from his inherited memories. The Chaos Qi around him formed a vortex and poured into his body as he devoured it like a whale.
The Golden Crow flew; the Jade Rabbit ran.
By the time Randeng awoke again, ten thousand years had passed. Not a drop of Chaos Qi remained in the cave abode. Only Innate Spiritual Qi seeped slowly through the formation.
His cultivation had reached the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal stage. He gently exhaled a breath of turbid qi, and a Five Elements Light Wheel rose behind him, flowing ceaselessly in an endless cycle. It was the sign of Five Qi Towards Origin. One more step, and he would condense a Grand Unity Dao Fruit.
With two Spiritual Treasures in his possession, he had more than enough for the Taiyi stage—he was even wealthier than most Innate Divine Saints.
What he lacked was simply destiny, merit, and power.
In Randeng's view, destiny meant Heaven's favor. The victor of a tribulation would have the great momentum of the Primordial World gathered upon him, naturally enabling him to attain Hunyuan Grand Unity.
Merit was a universal panacea in the Primordial World. It could improve one's cultivation, help one break through a realm, and even wear away karmic power. No one ever thought they had too much of it.
Power was the foundation for obtaining the other two. The Three Pure Ones were the clearest example. As the strongest faction in the Primordial World, they had never lacked destiny or merit.
As for the Primordial World of today, there really was a place that perfectly met Randeng's needs.
That was the West!
At this time, great powers were emerging one after another in the East. Nearly every renowned grotto-heaven and blessed land had already been claimed. More importantly, it would one day become the main battleground of the Witch-Demon Tribulation.
As for the West, its earth's veins were shattered, making merit easy to obtain. The Innate Divine Saints had also almost all perished in the Dao-Devil War. Only two survivors had slipped through the net, and they were probably still gestating on Mount Sumeru.
The West—
It was truly fated to be mine, Randeng's!