Golden Crow Ling Xiao

The third golden egg shattered, and a figure strode out with a thunderous crash.

Long black hair fell gracefully to his waist. He wore the Crown of Primordial Heaven and Earth and the Robe of Primordial Sun, Moon, and Stars.

He was a young man, with a Heavenly Dao Imperial Mark between his brows and a hint of arrogance about him. His eyes were like stars, his slanted brows swept toward his temples, and he was peerlessly handsome.

"I am a Three-Legged Golden Crow. Today, I take human form, and my name is Ling Xiao!"

Heaven and earth resonated together, and the Dao's voice boomed, as if fully acknowledging the young man's identity.

Thunderous tribulation filled the sky and crashed down, only to be entirely absorbed by the cauldron above the young man's head.

This person was Lin Xiao. Before he emerged from the egg, he had already gained consciousness. On a whim, he changed his name from Lin Xiao to Ling Xiao, a name with the same pronunciation.

Otherwise, everyone else had names like Di Jun and Tai Yi, so majestic and imposing, while he'd suddenly end up with a name like "Ergou"—it would have been wildly out of place.

From that day on, his name was Ling Xiao.

The thunder tribulation dispersed, and heaven and earth cleared.

Ling Xiao looked at Di Jun and Tai Yi, who were smiling as they sized him up. He gave them a slight bow and said with a smile,

"Big Brother, Second Brother, Ling Xiao pays his respects!"

"Hahaha, no need for formalities!"

Di Jun and Tai Yi smiled and nodded, thoroughly pleased.

Looking at Di Jun and Tai Yi before him, Ling Xiao felt a warm current pass through his heart. It was a sense of closeness that came from their very essence, as if they had been born of the same mother.

The Primordial World was fraught with danger. The two before him would be his own people from now on.

With a beckoning gesture, he called the cauldron hovering above his head into his hand. It was his companion treasure, and from the memories passed down to him, Ling Xiao learned its name.

The Primordial Cauldron!

What Ling Xiao hadn't expected was that it was actually an Innate Supreme Treasure, on the same level as Tai Yi's Chaos Bell.

Although it was called "Primordial," it hadn't reached the level of a Chaos treasure, which left Ling Xiao a little disappointed.

"Big Brother, Third Brother, we've only just taken human form. What should we do next?" Tai Yi asked with a smile, glancing at his two brothers.

The moment he took human form, he had understood the mysteries of heaven and earth. Born bearing the merits of the world's creation, he nevertheless had no idea what to do next.

Di Jun, however, was forthright by nature and full of lofty ambition. He immediately spoke with great fervor.

"The three of us are quite powerful. The Primordial World is vast and boundless, with countless heroes, but it won't be difficult for the three of us to join forces, make a great name for ourselves, and accomplish something extraordinary."

"In my view, we should first venture out into the Primordial Land, seek out some heavenly treasures, and then decide what to do next."

Di Jun made a fair point. Although they had each taken human form with a companion treasure, they still had very little. Apart from the Sun Star, they had nothing else.

Tai Yi pondered for a moment, then nodded lightly, thinking his elder brother made good sense.

Then the two of them turned to Ling Xiao, waiting to hear his opinion.

"Big Brothers, I was born with the divine ability to see what's yet to come. Let me make a prediction first," Ling Xiao said seriously, without giving them an immediate answer. The moment Di Jun had suggested leaving the Sun Star, the system had sprung into action again.

At this, Di Jun and Tai Yi's eyes lit up. Their Third Brother had been extraordinary from the moment he took human form, and was remarkably powerful. They hadn't expected him to possess an innate divine ability as well.

So they said nothing and waited quietly.

Ling Xiao began to make a show of divining the future, while turning his attention to the system.

[Host has successfully taken human form. You now face your first choice in life. Please choose one of the following.]

[Choice One: Leave the Sun Star and display your brilliance to the living beings of the Primordial World. Reward: one wisp of Primordial Violet Qi.]

[Choice Two: Play it safe and stay put. Go nowhere. Reward: the acquired Merit Supreme Treasure, the Primordial Measuring Ruler.]

Ling Xiao didn't choose right away. First, he needed to understand the situation.

"System, what period is it now?"

He couldn't be sure. He had just used his divine sense to survey the surrounding world, but the Primordial World was simply too vast. He hadn't gleaned anything useful.

"The Dao-Devil War has ended," the system replied mechanically.

Ling Xiao froze. According to the Primordial World novels he'd read in his previous life, Di Jun and Tai Yi had taken human form around the end of the Dragon-Phoenix Catastrophe, or at the latest during the Dao-Devil War.

But now the Dao-Devil War had already ended, and they had only just taken human form!

Hongjun would attain sainthood before long, after the Dao-Devil War, and then lecture at the Purple Heaven Palace.

By the time Di Jun and Tai Yi attended those lectures, they would already have been at least Daluo Golden Immortals.

But now, freshly transformed Di Jun and Tai Yi were only Early-stage Taiyi Golden Immortals, while he himself had only reached the Mid-stage Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.

That was quite a gap!

"System, why did we take human form so late?" Ling Xiao asked, at a loss.

Wasn't this just screwing him over?

By this point, all the great powers with a name in the Primordial World had already grown strong, while they had only just taken human form.

Especially their future archenemies, the Witch Clan. The Twelve Ancestral Witches had at least reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.

Any one of them could pin all three brothers down and beat them.

"That is because your arrival caused you to divert some of the Sun Star's energy, delaying the time it took to take human form," the system explained.

Ling Xiao felt as if he'd just seen another version of himself—because he'd split apart.

After all that, it had still been his own fault.

He'd lifted a rock only to drop it on his own foot. He'd thought having more people would make things easier, and planned to band together with Di Jun and Tai Yi to face the future Witch-Demon Catastrophe.

Now the three of them had ended up far behind everyone else in cultivation.

Ling Xiao recalled the events of the Primordial World. As far as he knew, a hidden hand had been pushing the Witch-Demon Catastrophe forward.

The one behind that hidden hand was Hongjun.

Of course, that could just be some conspiracy theory.

It was too soon to say what was right or wrong.

Ling Xiao pondered to himself, searching for a solution. Suddenly, an idea surfaced in his mind, and everything became clear.

The Witch-Demon Catastrophe, in essence, was just the two clans fighting until they destroyed themselves.

As long as he took Di Jun and Tai Yi and lay low on the Sun Star, keeping a low profile and quietly building their strength—

could anyone really drag them out to start a catastrophe?

Even if Hongjun was scheming behind the scenes, every scheme would be like drawing water with a bamboo basket if it targeted a bunch of layabouts.

The Demon Clan? Let whoever wanted to manage it do so.

The Demon Court? Let whoever wanted to build it do so.

What did the Demon Clan's affairs have to do with them, the Golden Crow Clan?

No matter what happened, they would quietly develop their own strength first. They'd stay out of anything to do with the catastrophe.

As long as they didn't unite the Demon Clan or establish the Demon Court, nothing would happen.

All of that was like passing clouds. In the Primordial World, strength reigned supreme. Once they became powerful enough, they could smash through any scheme with sheer force.

Having thought it all through, Ling Xiao felt much better. This plan was a little too cautious, but it was the best one he could come up with.

He had the system. As long as he had time to grow, one day he'd be able to control everything.

With that in mind, Ling Xiao already knew what to choose.