Shichen Is Born, Fate Watches from the Shadows

"Roar!!"

The Chaos, silent for untold ages, was suddenly torn apart by a long howl.

Cracks spread across the enormous azure egg in an instant. The cracking sounds fused into one, and in the next moment, the shell exploded apart.

A figure in azure robes stepped out from the shattered light.

His black hair fell to his waist, and the hems of his robes stirred without wind. Fine streams of temporal light lingered between every fold, while fragments of the past and future flickered in and out at his side.

His features were handsome and refined, with a trace of laziness between his brows. Yet deep in his eyes lay a surging river—the manifestation of the laws of time, flowing between past and future.

He raised a hand and swept his fingertips through the void, leaving behind a faint ripple. As it spread, the movement of the Chaos currents slowed wherever it passed, as though someone had pressed a slow-motion button.

"I am the Ancestor of Time—"

Instinctively, he had wanted to announce the name from his previous life. But as the words reached his lips, an icy warning suddenly erupted from the depths of his soul.

It was as though a pair of supremely exalted eyes were staring coldly at him through the Chaos. The moment the name "Su Yun" left his mouth, it would be an affront to the imprint of the Great Dao, and punishment would descend at once, annihilating even his true spirit.

Shichen.

This name was engraved deep within his origin, bound to the Dao of Time. It was the sole mark bestowed upon him by Chaos.

He understood at once, and his gaze darkened slightly.

Su Yun of his previous life had already died on that late night of overtime work.

From this day onward, he was Shichen.

He raised his head, his voice surging like a tide and sweeping through the entire Chaos.

"I am the Time Demon God, master of the Dao of Time—Shichen! Today I am born. Let the Great Dao bear witness!"

The instant his words fell, a vast Dao voice resounded from the depths of Chaos, cold and supreme.

"Granted."

At the very center of Chaos, an Origin Bead of crystalline azure appeared out of thin air. An ancient character for "Time" was carved upon it, while countless Dao marks spread outward from its surface like an invisible net cast across all of Chaos.

"From this day forth, Chaos shall possess time."

The Dao voice descended once more.

In the next instant, the originally beginningless, endless, motionless Chaos qi suddenly gained a course of flow. Three invisible threads—past, present, and future—quietly unfolded, and the embryonic form of the River of Time slowly took shape in the depths of Chaos.

For the first time, Chaos had the concept of passage.

Shichen lowered his gaze over the boundless Chaos. Thousands upon thousands of enormous eggs still lay dormant, far from the day they would hatch.

"Still early," he murmured. "Perfect. I can use the time to cultivate."

He turned his awareness inward and sensed the power within his body.

Eighth level of Primordial Unity.

In the era of Chaos, none of the realm classifications of later generations existed. Concepts such as Golden Immortal and Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal would only emerge after Hongjun preached the laws of immortality in the Primordial World.

The Chaos of this time recognized only Primordial Unity.

So-called Primordial Unity meant eternity and indestructibility, transcending birth, death, decay, and ruin. It was divided into nine levels, each one an impassable chasm.

Above Primordial Unity was the Heavenly Dao Realm: one could control the laws of a region, and one's words would become law—the ruler of a universe.

Above the Heavenly Dao Realm was the Chaos Realm: its laws were complete and flawless, and one could personally create an entire greater universe. These were the true giants of Chaos.

Above the Chaos Realm was the Great Dao Realm: one became the Great Dao itself, standing above all laws and controlling the birth and death of countless universes. With a single word, one could alter the workings of the cosmos. It was the legendary supreme realm.

As for the Sage positions that the living beings of the later Primordial World would fight tooth and nail to obtain, in the Chaos epoch, they were merely the entry level of Primordial Unity.

Shichen laughed. "All roads lead to Rome, but some people open their eyes and find themselves standing at Rome's summit."

Joking aside, he did not dare relax in the slightest. The shadow of Pangu splitting open Heaven and Earth still weighed heavily on his heart. With the strength of the eighth level of Primordial Unity, he would not even be able to withstand a single axe strike from Pangu.

His figure flickered, and he sat cross-legged beneath the Time Origin Bead. Azure light flowed around him as he sank once more into cultivation.

This meditation lasted two hundred Chaos epochs.

One epoch contained three thousand yuanhui. By that calculation, a hundred trillion years had already passed.

Time slipped silently through Chaos until, one day, another clear howl shook the void.

"I am the Space Demon God, master of the Dao of Space, Yang Mei! Today I am born. Let the Great Dao bear witness!"

As his words fell, an Origin Bead carved with the character for "Space" hung high above Chaos.

The originally shapeless and intangible Chaos seemed to be framed within clear boundaries. For the first time, the concept of space covered the entire void.

Chaos was no longer a vague, murky expanse, but a territory that could be measured.

Shichen opened his eyes from meditation, glanced at the Dao marks of space in the heavens, and the corner of his lips lifted slightly before he closed his eyes again.

The second one—Yang Mei had been born.

Another three hundred Chaos epochs passed.

On this day, terrifying pressure suddenly erupted from the center of Chaos.

With Shichen as its origin, space across billions of light-years collapsed inch by inch, while Chaos qi surged backward into a raging tide. Yet the shattered space existed for only an instant before it was smoothed over by invisible power of time, as though the destruction had never happened.

Between collapse and restoration, Shichen's aura broke through the shackles of Primordial Unity, rising all the way until he firmly entered the Heavenly Dao Realm.

Over this long span of time, the brief memories of his previous life from several decades ago had long since been buried by Shichen at the very bottom of the River of Time. He had considered erasing them; after all, several decades were but a drop in the ocean compared to the hundreds of Chaos epochs that had passed, too insignificant to mention.

But in the end, he chose to preserve them. As his cultivation rose ever higher in the future, he did not know whether divinity would turn him into a being without any emotions.

At this moment, at the distant other end of Chaos, Yang Mei, who was in seclusion tempering the laws of space, abruptly awoke.

Feeling that unfathomable aura, the corner of his mouth twitched violently.

"Shichen... actually broke through directly into the Heavenly Dao Realm?"

He lowered his head and looked at his own cultivation, which had only just stabilized at the seventh level of Primordial Unity, and his teeth ached.

Being born two hundred Chaos epochs later had put him so far behind.

"No." He gritted his teeth. "How can my Dao of Space be left so far behind by time?"

Just as he was about to close his eyes and resume his bitter cultivation, the third long howl exploded through Chaos.

"I am the Fate Demon God, master of the Dao of Fate, Mingyuan! Today I am born. Let the Great Dao bear witness!"

A dark-golden Origin Bead carved with the character for "Fate" rose into the sky. Threads of fate extended from the bead, silently reaching toward every dormant giant egg, as well as toward Shichen and Yang Mei.

Mingyuan's white robes fluttered fiercely. His face was cold and stern, his tone carrying an arrogance born with him.

"I declare that all things lie within fate."

The instant his words fell, a transparent thread appeared above the heads of Shichen and Yang Mei alike. It trembled faintly, seeking to bring the origins and Dao paths of both Demon Gods under fate's control.

Shichen and Yang Mei abruptly opened their eyes, a trace of coldness flashing within them. Their furious shouts rang through Chaos.

"You court death, Fate Demon God! You dare attempt to control the fate of us Demon Gods!"