For a time.
A furnace materialized in Chaos!
Time passed.
Here, Lei Jun still hadn't finished refining it.
Meanwhile, Yang Mei arrived with a nervous heart at a place even the Dao of Space could not detect.
A Small Courtyard that looked like a garden.
Then...
He was stunned.
He blurted out,
"Whose residence is this?"
"Could it be..."
"Some Chaos Demon God who survived Kaitian? And one of the higher-ranked ones, at that?"
What did "higher-ranked" mean?
At the very least, someone on the level of the Space Demon God!
But the problem was, an existence like that should have perished during Kaitian!
At that moment.
Yang Mei stared at the Small Courtyard, utterly dumbfounded.
In front of the courtyard.
Yang Mei looked uncertain, his heart uneasy.
His earlier guess.
Had left him completely unable to calm down.
What?
A Chaos Demon God had survived Kaitian?
And one of the higher-ranked ones, at that?
In fact.
If they had survived the Tribulation Period of Kaitian, they couldn't possibly have been low-ranked.
After all, those who ranked low.
Couldn't even withstand a single strike from Pangu.
Besides.
The Three Thousand Chaos Gods and Devils weren't ranked according to the level of their Great Dao, but according to their strength.
The Great Daos weren't stronger or weaker than one another.
The only thing that determined strength was the one who wielded them.
So...
"Which one could this be?"
There were many Chaos Demon Gods, but only a few were famous enough to have possibly survived Kaitian.
Yang Mei couldn't help guessing.
"Time? Fate? Karma? Creation?"
"It shouldn't be any of them!"
"They weren't much stronger than this old man!"
"If even I am in this state, then even if they survived, they couldn't possibly be as they are now—almost... at their peak?"
At that thought.
Yang Mei shook his head again and again.
His two long, trailing eyebrows trembled along with him.
He was deeply puzzled.
As a cultivator formed from a remnant wisp of the Space Demon God's Spiritual Light, Yang Mei had not only mastered the Dao of Space quickly, but also learned many of Chaos's Secrets.
So he was certain.
Even if the one who had created the Small Courtyard before him really was a Chaos Demon God.
It couldn't be any of the ones he had just guessed.
Because their strengths weren't that far apart.
For a time.
He began to doubt his earlier guess, muttering to himself.
"Could this old man be wrong?"
"It's not a Chaos Demon God?"
"Then where did this place come from, with Daoist Rhyme that seems even more profound than the Heavenly Dao?"
"Could it be..."
"Born from nature... no, born from the Dao?"
The courtyard before Yang Mei.
Was inside the Primordial Wilderness.
Yet it also existed beyond the Primordial Wilderness.
It was truly wondrous.
If Yang Mei hadn't touched the Hunyuan realm and mastered the Dao of Space.
Then even if this place had given off fluctuations.
He might not have sensed them.
As it happened.
At first, he had intended to ignore the fluctuations and leave the Primordial Wilderness for Chaos.
But in the depths of his mind.
A premonition had told him that if he left just then and headed for Chaos.
He would miss a great opportunity.
And so.
Yang Mei had hesitated.
Opportunity.
Yang Mei yearned for one, because of his unusual origins, he had never received any proper opportunities since taking human form.
All he had found were insignificant little trinkets.
As a result.
When he helped Hongjun deal with Luo Yan, he hadn't even had a Spirit Treasure.
It could be said that, if not for that.
Hongjun, Luo Hou, and the others would have had to stand aside.
Moreover.
That was also why he had no choice but to leave the Primordial Wilderness, because it was obvious that the Heavenly Dao didn't welcome him.
It even rejected him!
And so.
After Hongjun attained sainthood, Yang Mei had only just stepped into the Hunyuan threshold, and was forced to leave the Primordial Wilderness.
Otherwise...
He might have suffered a tribulation?
That was Yang Mei's premonition.
It was also why he was in such a hurry to leave the Primordial Wilderness.
Unexpectedly.
Now he had stopped because of a fluctuation.
And arrived before a Small Courtyard brimming with Daoist Rhyme, one that made him want to cry out in astonishment just by standing at its entrance.
"Could it really have been born from the Great Dao..."
"Wouldn't that mean..."
"It's even more powerful than the Heavenly Dao? At the very least, it's on the same level!"
At that thought.
Yang Mei couldn't help clicking his tongue in amazement.
His brow furrowed even deeper.
At that moment.
He was faced with a choice.
The gate to the Small Courtyard wasn't shut. It stood wide open.
But some unknown force blocked his view, so he couldn't see what was inside.
Still, he could choose whether to enter.
Standing in place.
Yang Mei thought it over for a long time.
Finally.
He made up his mind.
He thought to himself.
"Whatever the reason this Dojo came into being..."
"Since I could come here, it means there's a connection between us! This didn't happen without cause!"
"If this place was born from the Great Dao, then whether I step inside or not, the risk is the same. After all, if the Great Dao wanted to target me, it wouldn't need to go to such trouble!"
"And if it really was the work of some Supreme Existence..."
"Then there's even less reason to worry!"
"The gap in our realms is right there. If that existence wanted to deal with me, wouldn't it be effortless?"
"Besides, with that existence's abilities, it might already know I'm here!"
That was highly likely.
With such power.
It would be no surprise if it could perceive everything.
As Yang Mei thought this.
He gritted his teeth.
And stepped inside.
"This is..."
In an instant, Yang Mei's eyes widened.
He stared at the surroundings in disbelief, then couldn't help looking at himself.
His heart grew even more unsettled.
He had so much to say that, for a moment, he didn't even know where to begin.
"It really was born from the Great Dao!"
"This place actually contains the purest Dao of Space!"
"It's even clearer than what I inherited from the Space Demon God!"
"If I can comprehend even a little of it, I'll be able to officially enter the Hunyuan realm!"
"Not only that, this place... actually contains other Daos as well!"
At that moment.
Yang Mei was utterly astonished.
He had never imagined that he would find such a fortune after entering.
Or see something so incredible.
He had to know.
Even the Heavenly Dao only contained three thousand laws and some Dao Principles.
But this place.
Contained not only the Dao of Space, but also the Dao of Yin-Yang, the Dao of Time, and the Dao of Creation.
And more.
It contained everything!
It contained not three thousand laws, but three thousand Dao Principles!
That meant.
This place was on a higher level than the Heavenly Dao, and even more profound.
If he could comprehend the Dao here.
His gains would surpass what he could gain from comprehending the Heavenly Dao!
Laws.
Were part of the Dao Principles—in other words, fragments.
In other words.
Compared with this place, the Heavenly Dao could even be called incomplete!
"Great Dao above!"
"What kind of place have I come to?"
Yang Mei was shocked.
Suddenly.
A guess came to him.
And he couldn't help feeling
even more shocked.
"Could it be..."
"Is this another Pangu?"
"Or..."
"Did Pangu never truly perish? Is this Pangu himself?"
In an instant.
Yang Mei broke out in a cold sweat, even feeling somewhat terrified.
A shudder from the depths of his Spiritual Light left him too frightened to move.
It was hard to imagine.
That a cultivator who had already entered the Hunyuan realm
could actually feel this way.
But there was nothing he could do.
Yang Mei's current cultivation
was inferior even to that of the weakest Chaos Demon God.
So what if he was Hunyuan?
Compared to Pangu's might, he was nothing!
As for why he had such a thought...
The reason was simple.
It was said that Pangu had mastered three thousand Dao Principles!
Just like this!
Perhaps Pangu had never perished. Or perhaps he had been reborn!
As he was thinking,
Yang Mei's Dao Body suddenly lurched to one side. It seemed as though something had "tripped" him, and he even fell straight to the ground!
That thing was incomparably hard.
Its hardness had even reached the level of concepts. It could break through space itself!
Taking a closer look,
he saw that his Dao Body had even been damaged!
At once,
Yang Mei was aghast.
However, before he could cry out,
a cry of pain
came before him.
Then
came a string of bewildered exclamations.
"Ahh~"
"That hurt like hell!"
"Hey, Daoist! Don't you watch where you're going? Do you even know where you are? How dare you wander around so carelessly?"
At that moment,
Yang Mei was dumbfounded.
At first, he couldn't even process what had happened.
What was going on?
A pebble?
And...
Hadn't it tripped the old man?
Why was it the first to cry out in pain?
Something wasn't right!
Yang Mei couldn't help saying,
"I was tripped by an utterly ordinary pebble? And it even broke through my Dao Body?"
As soon as the words left his mouth,
the voice from earlier sounded again,
clearly displeased.
"Old man, who are you calling utterly ordinary?"
As it spoke,
the pebble actually jumped up.
Its speed was astonishing.
It surpassed space-time, and Yang Mei couldn't react in time.
Thud!
A muffled impact.
The pebble hit Yang Mei right on the forehead again!
At once,
Yang Mei's Dao Body was damaged once more, and blood even trickled from the spot where he'd been struck!
Now,
even Yang Mei, slow as he was, knew the stone was strange.
Or rather...
It was not to be trifled with!
It was constructed from the purest Dao Principles!
"The Way of Hardness?"
Yang Mei couldn't help raising his brows, utterly taken aback. "Forgive this old man for his poor eyesight. I failed to recognize your Dao. Please forgive me!"
"Forgive you?"
A ripple of consciousness came from the pebble.
"I'm just a pebble. Even if I forgive you, you'll still have to see whether the master here will forgive you for trespassing!"
"The master here?"
Yang Mei was puzzled.
He asked ingratiatingly,
"May I ask, fellow Daoist, whose Dojo is this? Who could turn a Hunyuan cultivator like you... into a stone?"
The moment he finished speaking,
a voice came from inside the pebble again.
"Hm?"
"Who says I was turned into a stone?"
"I chose this myself!"
As it spoke, it jumped up,
looking quite displeased.
Yang Mei hurriedly backed away, afraid of being hit again.
Just then,
the stone spoke again.
"Open your eyes wide and take a good look around. Don't foolishly sit there comprehending the Void. How much fortune could that bring you? You're so dull! I don't know how you cultivated your way to Hunyuan, let alone made it here."
"Could it be..."
"Fools really do get lucky? The Celestial Venerable didn't throw you out!"
At those words,
Yang Mei was even more speechless.
Was that any way to talk? It was downright infuriating!
Oh!
It was just a stone.
In that case, never mind.
But what the pebble had said caught Yang Mei's attention.
The surroundings?
Don't just comprehend the Void?
Come to think of it,
since entering this Small Courtyard, Yang Mei hadn't properly looked around.
Instead, he'd instinctively started by comprehending the Void.
Just as cultivators in the Primordial Wilderness comprehended the Heavenly Dao, and Chaos Demon Gods comprehended the Great Dao.
Yang Mei had instinctively
done the same thing, unconsciously ignoring his surroundings.
And then...
He was shocked once again.
Only now did he understand why the stone had called him a "fool."
Even he himself thought so.
Before you continue