The Real and False Haotian

"What??? You want me to be a child attendant??"

The young man was stunned. Why did Hongjun want him to be a child attendant?

If an ordinary person who had just taken human form suddenly encountered a Saint, and that Saint offered to take him on as a child attendant, he'd probably be so happy he'd jump for joy.

But the young man knew the plot.

He knew Hongjun would only take on one boy and one girl: Haotian and Yao Chi.

Could he actually be Haotian?

That would explain everything!

No wonder his cultivation had progressed so slowly, no matter how hard he tried.

His fate might have been in Hongjun's hands from the very beginning.

He'd heard that Haotian's original form had been a Chaos Spirit Stone from before Heaven and Earth had been created. But because his fate was to serve as Hongjun's child attendant, that Chaos Spirit Stone had become a Chaos Stubborn Stone.

Bound by fate, Haotian cultivated at an incredibly slow pace. His roots had deteriorated, and he was also dull-witted and difficult to teach.

That was why the Haotian of later generations had done so many foolish things, becoming the most pathetic of all Heavenly Emperors.

In the end, Xing Tian even cut him down, and he reincarnated to undergo trials as the Jade Emperor.

By rights, someone like him shouldn't have been able to become the Heavenly Emperor.

But he had been the first Chaos Spirit Stone to fall into the Primordial World, and had absorbed innate energy, becoming the one and only Chaos Spirit Stone.

His fate must originally have been to become the Heavenly Emperor. Hongjun had most likely simply gone along with it and raised him up as a puppet emperor.

Yikes!

That explained it. The general course of the Primordial World couldn't be changed, though minor details could. Haotian had ultimately become the Heavenly Emperor, just a rather pathetic one, so the overall course of the Primordial World hadn't changed at all!

No wonder. No wonder Hongjun had come looking for him as soon as he'd taken human form!

Hongjun had probably tampered with his true form long ago. The moment he took human form, Hongjun would know.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help growing wary of Hongjun.

As expected of the future spokesman of the Heavenly Dao, who would overpower the Six Saints of the Heavenly Dao. He really was terrifying!

Just then, the system's voice rang out in Haotian's mind.

[Beep. Detected that Hongjun wishes to take the host as a sweeping attendant. Please choose.]

[1. Accept Hongjun's offer. Receive the God-Beating Whip and the Investiture of the Gods.]

[2. Refuse Hongjun. Receive the Heavenly Emperor Seal and tenfold comprehension talent.]

[3. Refuse Hongjun and curse him as a sinister villain. Receive instant annihilation.]

"What is the Heavenly Emperor Seal?"

Haotian asked.

[The seal representing the authority of the Heavenly Emperor. A supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.]

"What?"

Haotian was startled.

"A supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure?"

[Correct. It is the accompanying spiritual treasure of Haotian Shangdi. It can control Heaven and Earth and preside over the affairs of the Primordial World beneath the Thirty-Three Heavens.]

The system answered.

"What???"

"So there's a supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure like that, and it's supposed to be my accompanying spiritual treasure?"

"Then why have I never heard of it before?"

"Why is the system offering my own accompanying spiritual treasure as a reward? Has someone already taken it?"

"Is this Hongjun's scheme? In the original story, I didn't have this treasure. I only had the Haotian Pagoda!"

"Yikes! Hongjun really is terrifying. But this makes sense, too. Eastern Emperor Tai Yi was born clutching the Chaos Bell, and Laozi had the acquired Merit Supreme Treasure, the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda. How could I, Haotian, not have an accompanying spiritual treasure?"

With that thought, Haotian regarded Hongjun with even greater wariness.

Of course, he'd hide it well and wouldn't let Hongjun find out.

At that moment, two paths lay before him. The first was to become Hongjun's child attendant, then spend tens or hundreds of millions of years becoming a pathetic Heavenly Emperor.

The second was to walk his own path and seize the opportunities of the Primordial World!

No matter how he looked at it, even a fool would know which one to choose, right?

He had a system and knew the plot of the Primordial World. If he still went and became Hongjun's child attendant, wouldn't that disgrace all transmigrators?

So he chose to refuse without hesitation.

Of course, he wasn't stupid. He had no power to defy Hongjun right now, so he wasn't about to foolishly choose option three.

Instead, he said tactfully:

"Great Saint, I'm grateful for your favor, but I prefer to be free."

In other words, he didn't want to be under someone else's thumb.

He'd just seen Hongjun annihilate a trillion members of the Dragon Race in an instant. Even Cheap Dragon and Candle Dragon hadn't been able to withstand a single move from him. But... a transmigrator with a system and one without a system were two entirely different things!

If Haotian didn't have a system, he might have already been groveling at Hongjun's feet. But now he had a system! How could someone with a system possibly live under another's roof and act like their lackey?

Besides, he firmly believed that with his system, he'd become a Saint someday. So he refused!

"Mm."

Hongjun nodded.

Sigh. Another transmigrator. If he weren't one, how could he refuse a Saint's offer?

In ordinary Honghuang genre novels, people would even mock and look down on Hongjun before he displayed a Saint's power.

But once Hongjun revealed his power, everyone who saw a Saint had to kneel.

Now he'd offered to take someone on as a child attendant, and the young man wasn't even interested?

What else could he be but a transmigrator?

He should've kept Great Dao perception active. Nowadays, even a system could conceal itself from the power of the Heavenly Dao.

Hongjun was certain this was a transmigrator with a system.

He'd used the Heavenly Dao's authority when killing Ancestral Dragon, so he'd turned off Great Dao perception.

Now, with the Heavenly Dao's authority active, he couldn't see the young man's thoughts... What else could that be but a system?

Could anyone from the Primordial World sense the power of the Heavenly Dao?

"If you're unwilling, then so be it."

Faced with the refusal of someone he'd already confirmed was a transmigrator, Hongjun wasn't angry.

If someone wasn't willing, he wouldn't force them.

Just as those systems said, the Great Dao was impartial and treated everyone equally. Even transmigrators were treated no differently.

Of course, that was provided you didn't go looking for death like Pangu or defy Heaven like Ancestral Dragon.

As long as you didn't court death, Hongjun wouldn't interfere.

Hongjun turned his gaze to another Stubborn Stone. After a moment's thought, he sent a stream of chaos energy toward it.

"Haotian, why haven't you taken human form yet?"

With a wave of his hand, the Stubborn Stone, now infused with chaos energy, was enveloped in a glow of spiritual light. Amid flashes of profound radiance, a man's figure gradually emerged.

The man stood tall and was exceptionally handsome, with striking features.

"Haotian pays his respects to the Great Saint. Thank you for helping me take human form."

With the chaos energy, Haotian had successfully taken human form, just like the innate gods and demons, and had awakened his intelligence.

He bowed to Hongjun, knowing that Hongjun had helped him take human form.

And, just like the other innate gods and demons, he had reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm as soon as he took human form. His roots were just as exceptional!

And beside him stood another person... someone who looked exactly like him: the transmigrator Haotian, who was also a Great Luo Golden Immortal!

"!!!!!"

The transmigrator Haotian was dumbfounded.

I just merged with Haotian's identity, and now you're telling me I'm not Haotian???