Demon Gods Convene Again

Beyond the barrier of the Chaos World, two figures stepped inside.

The instant they crossed into Chaos, the long-silent Dao of Time and Dao of Strength suddenly became active.

Countless Demon Gods opened their eyes from cultivation and looked toward the Chaos barrier.

"Shichen and Pangu are back."

After Shichen and Pangu returned to the Time Temple, Shichen waved a hand and summoned the origin essence he had obtained from the Tianyuan Divine World. He separated half of it and merged it into the Chaos World.

He then split the remaining half into three portions, tossing the largest one directly to Pangu.

"Absorb this."

Pangu took the origin essence and froze for a moment. "You don't want it?"

Shichen sat down on a Prayer Mat, his tone casual.

"Yang Mei was injured because of me back then, so this share is for him. I promised Fate a share, and I cannot go back on my word. As for you, you're about to break through to the fourth heaven of the Chaos Realm. Breaking through sooner will let you protect Chaos better, won't it?"

Pangu scratched his head, somewhat hesitant. "Aren't you close to breaking through to the fifth heaven of the Chaos Realm as well? It seems like you need this origin essence more than I do."

Shichen shot him a glance. "Since when did you become so wishy-washy? If you consider me a friend, take it."

At that, Pangu grinned and stopped refusing. He put away the origin essence. "Then once I break through, I'll definitely have a proper spar with you."

Shichen smiled and shook his head without replying. Raising his head, he transmitted his voice throughout all of Chaos.

"All three thousand Demon Gods, including the lower Demon Gods, are to gather in the Council Hall of the Hall of Gods within ten Chaos epochs for deliberation."

As the Dao voice fell, Chaos immediately erupted.

The radiance of countless laws lit up across every corner, spatial rifts were torn open one after another, and Demon Gods began converging upon the Hall of Gods from all directions.

Within the Karma Temple, the Karma Demon God was sitting cross-legged, healing his injuries. Upon hearing Shichen's Dao voice, his body jolted, and he nearly suffered a deviation in his breathing. "Shichen isn't going to settle scores with me after the autumn harvest, is he?"

He paced back and forth, his expression constantly shifting. "But I swore a Great Dao oath, and I even gave up half the origin essence of the Dao of Karma... He shouldn't cause trouble for me, right?"

Thinking of this, he immediately grew angry again. "That little brat, the World Demon God, stole a wisp of my Karma Dao mark while I was injured! Once I recover completely, let's see if I don't tear down her World Tree!"

Curse as he might, he still had to attend the deliberation.

He patted down his robes and rose, muttering, "Go, then! Above the Karma Demon God's head is only one word... courage!"

Inside the Council Hall of the Hall of Gods, several Demon Gods who had arrived early because they were nearby had gathered in twos and threes, speaking in low voices.

A wave of law fluctuations suddenly came from the hall entrance. A figure in a long pink dress slowly walked in, and the surrounding Demon Gods all turned to look.

"Order is back!"

"Looks like she was gone for quite a while. Seems she gained quite a bit!"

"Didn't Destruction go out too? He was only dealing with one world, yet he still hasn't returned. Don't tell me he's having too much fun!"

Shichen and Pangu happened to arrive just then as well. Seeing Order, they walked over. "You're back? Judging from your aura, your Dao has advanced considerably. Why were you gone so long?"

"Shichen, thank you." The Order Demon God stepped forward and bowed, gratitude in her eyes.

"The world I visited this time was called the Supergod Universe. It was ruled by a race of angels, and the Dao they practiced happened to align with Order. They helped me greatly, allowing my Dao to advance another step."

"But that universe's foundation was still too shallow. The moment I reached its edge, I nearly burst it apart.

"I had no choice but to descend through a projection and spread the Dao with great care, which delayed me for some time. Should that universe... have an ascension passage established and be connected to the surroundings of the Primordial World?"

"They're too weak, so there's no need for now." Shichen shook his head slightly. "Connecting them rashly would only harm them. Once we find worlds of a higher level, we can plan it all together."

As they spoke, a crisp female voice rang out from beyond the hall.

"Ah! Sister Order, you're back! I missed you so much!"

The World Demon God skipped into the hall and threw herself into Order's arms.

Order was somewhat helpless from the embrace. "You're still so unruly."

Seeing this, Shichen smiled and stopped disturbing their reunion. He and Pangu walked farther away and began discussing the Dao.

The World Demon God tugged at Order's sleeve, her face the picture of innocence and purity. "Sister Order, could you lend me a little of your Order Dao mark?"

Order's brows furrowed slightly at those words.

The Dao marks of laws and Great Daos were no ordinary things. They were fundamental to the unique characteristics of a Demon God's own Dao.

"What do you need that for?" Order asked.

The World Demon God blinked, her face earnest.

"Doesn't Sister Order always say I have no sense of order? I want to establish order in the worlds on my World Tree, and learn some rules myself too, so people won't always criticize me. Just lend me a wisp."

Order looked into her clear eyes and fell silent for a moment.

It was only a wisp of an Order Dao mark. Nothing should go wrong.

She nodded. "All right. Since you have such intentions, I'll lend you some. But don't use it recklessly."

Order raised a hand and condensed a thread of silvery-white Order Dao mark, gently sending it toward the World Demon God.

The World Demon God accepted the Dao mark, and her face immediately blossomed with joy.

No one saw the faint glint that flashed through her lowered eyes.

The Karma Dao mark, the Order Dao mark... both were in hand.

Once she found the right opportunity to merge those two Dao marks into the World Dao for deduction and analysis, then suppress and fuse them with the three thousand great worlds upon the World Tree, the status of her World Dao would surely rise another step. Its ranking would at least enter the top few—perhaps even the top five.

The World Demon God raised her gaze toward the head of the hall. Shichen and Pangu were standing in the distance, discussing the Dao in low voices. They seemed not to have noticed this side.

The corners of her lips curled up slightly before she swiftly resumed that innocent, cheerful appearance.

To Chaos Demon Gods, ten Chaos epochs were merely the flick of a finger. (As mentioned before, the flow of time in the Primordial World and the Chaos World had been adjusted when the Great Dao opened the heavens, lest some great experts forget and get hung up on the matter of time.)

Within the Council Hall of the Hall of Gods, all three thousand Demon Gods had arrived and taken their seats. The lower Demon Gods stood separately along both sides of the hall.

The Fate Demon God sat in his seat, glanced at Shichen in the seat of honor, and spoke. "Shichen, what exactly is this about? You summoned every Demon God for deliberation the moment you returned. You're making it awfully formal."

Shichen did not answer. His gaze slowly swept across the hall, and only after confirming that every Demon God was present did he speak.

"This deliberation is being held because I believe that each of us going out alone to search for worlds and obtain origin essence is far too inefficient and wastes too much time."

"Furthermore, there are increasingly more anomalies in the Primordial World. We Demon Gods need to remain in Chaos to better control the overall situation."

The Demon Gods nodded one after another.

Shichen raised his voice slightly. "Therefore, I propose opening the coordinates of the Primordial World and actively drawing in other worlds, as well as more system invasions."

The moment those words fell, low murmurs immediately arose throughout the hall.

Shichen raised a hand to signal for quiet, then continued. "This would not only spare us the hardship of constantly traveling abroad and give us more time to cultivate, but also make it easier for us to obtain clues about the God of Systems behind those systems."

The instant he said this, Pangu was the first to raise his hand. "I agree!"

Though the other Demon Gods did not dare show anything on their faces, inwardly they complained without restraint. You and Shichen are practically wearing the same pair of pants. Even if you said nothing, we'd know you agree.

The Karma Demon God sat in his place, stroking his chin in thought. After a moment, he suddenly spoke. "I agree as well. However..."

A glint flashed in his eyes. "If we are opening the Primordial World, why not open it while disguising the Primordial World as the Chaos World?"

The discussions in the hall abruptly stopped.

Every Demon God turned their gaze toward the Karma Demon God.

The Karma Demon God continued.

"The temptation of the Chaos World is something nothing can resist. All kinds of Great Dao laws permeate this place, and its origin essence is abundant. Even the downgraded Chaos spiritual energy is a treasure among treasures in other worlds.

"If those systems and world wills learned of the Chaos World's existence, they would surely swarm here like bees."

The hall sank into a brief silence.

Then, the eyes of the Demon Gods lit up one after another.

Even Shichen looked at Karma with surprise on his face.

That was right!

How had he not thought of that?

Opening the Primordial World would at most attract worlds and systems interested in the Primordial World.

But if they opened it disguised as the Chaos World, then higher-level worlds and advanced systems would likely seek it out of their own accord. Not only could Chaos origin essence be replenished more effectively, advanced systems would likely know more clues about the God of Systems as well.

The Fate Demon God looked at the Karma Demon God with a complicated expression.

"Not bad, Yin the Fifth. I knew no one was more sinister than you. When it comes to coming up with dirty tricks, I bow to no one but you! How about, after you merge with the Dao, you become the Demon God of Deception?"

Among the crowd, the Demon God of Deception sat there awkwardly, the corner of his mouth twitching.

How did he get hit while lying down?

If Karma became Deception... then what would he become? Karma?

Hmm... that did not seem impossible.

The Karma Demon God glared at the Fate Demon God. "Fate the Fourth, stop speaking in that sarcastic tone. When you sleep in the future, you'd better keep one eye open."

"Enough, stop arguing." Shichen spoke to halt their bickering. He looked at the Karma Demon God with a trace of approval in his eyes.

"Karma's proposal is excellent. Then let us vote as Karma suggested."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

Without question, it passed unanimously.

Shichen nodded and added, "In the days ahead, if possible, each of you three thousand Demon Gods should explain the Dao to the lower Demon Gods under your command and offer them some guidance. Help them raise their realms as quickly as possible. When the number of invaders grows too great, they will be able to provide assistance."

Shichen's gaze swept over the lower Demon Gods. "Moreover, raising them will benefit your own Great Daos as well."

At those words, every lower Demon God was overwhelmed with emotion. Their gazes toward Shichen were filled with gratitude.

Normally, the three thousand Demon Gods were incomparably proud. Other than their fellow three thousand Demon Gods, they regarded nothing else with any importance. These lower Demon Gods rarely even received a proper glance from them, much less guidance.

Now that Dao Venerable Shichen had personally spoken and granted them the chance to receive instruction, they felt as though they were dreaming.

The Chaos Demon Ape sat in his seat, scratching his head with a troubled expression. "Huh? I have to explain the Dao too? I only know how to beat people up..."

The lower Demon Gods of the Dao of Battle immediately fell grim-faced.

It was over.

Other people cultivated by listening to the Dao. They cultivated by getting beaten up.

Their future days would likely be far more miserable than they had imagined.

The deliberation ended, and the Demon Gods began leaving one after another. Shichen stopped Fate and Yang Mei, tossing them the origin essence from the Tianyuan Divine World.

Yang Mei weighed the sphere of light in his hand. After accepting it, he said nothing, merely nodded and smiled at Shichen before turning to leave. Too much of his origin essence had been consumed in exchange for the Great Dao Prohibition Decree, and he needed to recover quickly.

The Fate Demon God, however, was somewhat surprised. Turning around, he waved to Shichen. "I thought you'd fooled me. After all, Demon Gods don't have much morality. But I still won't admit defeat to you."

The moment he walked out of the hall, the Karma Demon God saw the enormous mass of origin essence in Fate's hand, and his eyes instantly went wide.

"Shichen gave you that much origin essence, Fate the Fourth... No, Brother Fate, my Fourth Brother, could you share some with me? Look, my origin essence was badly damaged. I need some to recover."

Fate glanced at him. Seeing Karma's shameless expression, he laughed.

"Well now, isn't this little brother Yin the Fifth? Why are you calling me brother? That's far too distant. Fate the Fourth sounds much better.

"Sigh, I had planned to give you some, but since you're being so distant and polite, I won't. This origin essence should be enough for me to break through!"

After saying that, Fate wore a regretful expression as he shook his head and left.

At those words, Karma collapsed onto the ground, clutching his head with both hands as he screamed in agony. "No~~~ How can you be about to break through?! Throw it away! Throw it away!!"

Inside the hall, Shichen could only feel helpless as he watched the two clowns—one was a tsundere, the other shameless.

"The battle between Hongjun and Luo Hou in the Primordial World is about to begin. After that will come Hongjun's preaching of the Dao. Speed up the opening of the coordinates."

As though recalling something, Shichen suddenly smiled.

"With such an iconic scene as Hongjun preaching the Dao, those systems will probably emerge in even greater numbers!"