Didn't Expect That? My Identity Is Just That Pure!

Nuwa's breathing grew somewhat rapid, her bright eyes fixed intently on the depths of the layered formations.

Inside the cave dwelling.

Lu Changsheng watched the motionless Nuwa in the water mirror, his heart drumming with anxiety.

No reaction? Did I oversell it? She doesn't believe me?

It makes sense. A setting where you get struck by lightning just by touching something—even in the novels of my past life, that would be the most toxic trope. Who would believe that?

Lu Changsheng gritted his teeth, silently cursing himself for being so absolute with his words earlier.

But the words were already out; he absolutely could not back down now.

Since words alone aren't proof, I'll have to show you the real deal!

Lu Changsheng sat cross-legged on the white jade bed.

He closed his eyes, his divine sense sinking into the deepest part of his dantian.

There, a mass of Great Dao Merit, brilliant as the scorching sun and radiating an endless sacred aura, hung silently in suspension.

Just a wisp.

Lu Changsheng frantically tried to steel himself in his mind.

I absolutely cannot give more. Just leak a tiny, tiny bit of the aura out, just enough for her to get a whiff.

This is all to save my life. This is a strategic investment!

Although he said this, when he actually went to manipulate that mass of Great Dao Merit, preparing to strip away a wisp of its aura, his face still twisted in agony.

That was the treasure he hadn't even been willing to use when he was inside the belly of the Old Earth Dragon!

Hiss.

Lu Changsheng suppressed the urge to bleed.

With extreme caution, he peeled a wisp of aura, ten thousand times thinner than a spider's silk, from the vast mass of Great Dao Merit.

This was not a loss of the merit's origin, merely the dissipation of a trace of its scent.

But to Lu Changsheng, it felt like cutting off his own flesh.

Go on, go open that woman's eyes!

Lu Changsheng formed a hand seal.

Wrapped in his mana, that infinitesimal wisp of Great Dao Merit aura was silently sent out along a hidden spiritual energy channel reserved within the three thousand layers of formations.

At this moment.

Outside, Nuwa was caught in deep doubt and contemplation.

She did not believe that such an absurd existence could exist in this world.

Yet, the lingering aura of the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning and the traces of the Old Earth Dragon being reduced to ashes kept confirming the madman's wild claims from within the formation.

Just as she hesitated over whether to continue probing.

Suddenly.

A faint fluctuation—so faint that she would have almost overlooked it had she not been a peak Primordial Unity Golden Immortal—drifted out from the depths of the formation cluster before her.

The moment this fluctuation touched the outside air.

The spiritual energy in the surroundings, which had become chaotic due to the destruction of the formations, instantly calmed down.

It was not suppressed; it was a submission and reverence born of instinct.

Nuwa jerked her head up.

In that instant, her eyes, usually as still as an ancient well, erupted with unprecedented shock and awe.

She could not help but take half a step back, as if she had seen a terrifying sight capable of overturning her entire worldview.

This aura!

Pure! Vast! Flawless!

It possessed no impurities, no emotions belonging to any living being.

It drifted lightly in the air, yet it seemed to carry the supreme will of the entire Primordial Land since the dawn of creation.

"Great... Great Dao Merit!"

As a top Innate Divine Being born with the mission of creation, Nuwa knew all too well what those four words signified.

In the Primordial Land.

When one saves living beings or mends the ley lines, the Heavenly Dao bestows Heavenly Dao Merit.

That is the reward from the Heavenly Dao for completing the rules of the world; it can raise one's cultivation and ward off inner demons—it is the treasure every cultivator dreams of.

But Great Dao Merit is different.

It is the supreme origin left behind by the majestic will of Pangu when he split the chaos and gave birth to endless vitality while transforming his body into all things.

It does not belong to the Heavenly Dao; in some respects, it is an existence that stands above the Heavenly Dao itself.

In the Primordial Land, who could possess Great Dao Merit?

Even those mighty figures who participated in the Ferocious Beast Tribulation and founded their own sects would be considered overlords, worshipped by countless living beings, if they could possess even a tiny shred of golden merit light.

Yet, the aura leaking from the formation before her eyes was different.

It was pure, vast, and devoid of any trace of acquired impurities.

This meant that the guy hiding inside the formation—the one spouting profanities, acting wretchedly, and constantly talking about insurance fraud—was not some lucky soul who had stumbled upon a fortuitous encounter.

He... he was a living being manifested from a mass of Great Dao Merit!

"How is this possible..."

Nuwa felt as if her breathing had stalled.

Manifested from Great Dao Merit?

This was billions of times more inconceivable than an ordinary stone gaining sentience!

One had to understand that the purer the merit, the heavier the karmic burden it carried from heaven and earth; for such a thing to develop independent intelligence was an act that defied the heavens.

It was as absurd as demanding that a ruler representing absolute justice suddenly develop seven emotions and six desires.

Yet, reality was laid out vividly before her.

She recalled the words Lu Changsheng had shouted earlier.

"Bumping into someone else can cause the Heavenly Dao to descend the highest grade of divine punishment."

Previously, Nuwa had thought this was the raving of a madman, but now, having confirmed his identity, she re-evaluated the statement.

This was no raving.

It was clearly a statement of fact!

Harm an incarnation of Great Dao Merit?

That wasn't just defying the heavens; that was like kicking the lid of Pangu's coffin with one's feet, and doing so with a thunderous bang!

Forget the Purple Heaven Divine Lightning; even if the Heavenly Dao were to directly descend the World-Destroying Millstone to grind that Old Earth Dragon into nothingness, Nuwa would not find it strange in the slightest.

"No wonder..."

Nuwa looked at the hundred-plus layers of outer formations she had broken through, a trace of lingering fear flashing in her eyes.

"No wonder the formations he set up were all for defense and annoyance, with almost no active killing power."

"It's not that he didn't want to kill his enemies; it's that he didn't need to. As long as someone broke his defense and touched him, the Heavenly Dao would naturally do the work for him."

"He is a monster equipped with an absolute damage-reflection shield."

If she hadn't stopped just now, if she had truly relied on her Primordial Unity Golden Immortal cultivation to forcibly break through all three thousand layers of the formation and rushed in to see what was happening.

If she had accidentally touched even a single feather of his...

Thinking of this, even Nuwa, who had one foot stepped into the Zenith Heaven realm, felt a cold sweat break out on her back.

"Gulp."

Inside the cave dwelling, Lu Changsheng stared fixedly at the water mirror.

He saw the astonishment, shock, and the final flicker of lingering fear on Nuwa's face.

It worked! This trick really worked!

The heart that had been stuck in Lu Changsheng's throat finally settled back into his chest, at least halfway.

But his stingy nature immediately regained the upper hand.

Seen enough? Had your fill? Now that you know my trump card, hurry up and quit while you're ahead!

While muttering in his heart, Lu Changsheng hurriedly opened his mouth and took a sharp breath.

"Whoosh—"

That wisp of Great Dao Merit aura, which had finally managed to drift out through the passage, was pulled back as if by an invisible thread, instantly sucked back into Lu Changsheng's dantian and suppressed tightly.

"Phew... good thing I was fast. If that had dissipated into the world, it would have cost me ten years of cultivation."

Lu Changsheng patted his chest, his face full of heartache.

Outside.

As the merit aura vanished, the surrounding spiritual energy, which had been suppressed, began to flow freely once more.

Nuwa recovered from her deep shock.

A being manifested from Great Dao Merit.

For her, as someone who cultivated the Dao of Creation, this was the most perfect object of study in the entire world!

She wanted to understand how such a life form, which defied all common sense, had been born in the Primordial Land.

She wanted even more to know if the pure Great Dao aura radiating from him could complete her final insights into the Law of Creation, thereby allowing her to push open the door to the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

"So that's how it is."

Nuwa took a deep breath, and a smile as gentle as a spring breeze blowing through willow branches bloomed once more on her beautiful face.

She no longer referred to herself as "I" as she had before, nor did she bring up the matter of destroying the formation again.

She folded her hands in front of her, bowed slightly, and performed an exceptionally solemn Daoist salute toward the pile of dilapidated formations before her.

"Fellow Daoist possesses profound fortune and an origin so lofty that it is truly rare in the Primordial Land. Just now, it was this poor Daoist who was blind and caused offense."

Nuwa's voice became incredibly gentle, even carrying a hint of unmistakable goodwill.

"However, since Fellow Daoist possesses such heaven-defying potential, why would you choose to remain in this desolate place, using these... these somewhat crude materials to set up such a complex formation to trap yourself?"

"With Fellow Daoist's status, even if you were to head to Mount Buzhou, you would be treated as an honored guest in the dojos of those great beings."