The years passed in silence.
Tens of thousands of Chaos Eras slipped by in a blink.
The three thousand Demon Gods emerged one after another, each breaking out of its shell and claiming a Domain of Dao as its home.
Through the efforts of Yang Mei, Mingyuan, and the other earliest Demon Gods to keep in touch and hold the rest in check, they reached an unspoken understanding: no more reckless battles of origin, and as little consumption of Chaos Origin as possible.
They all knew Chaos Origin was finite.
And so, a rare calm settled over the Chaos World.
Every Demon God waited.
They waited for the birth of the last Demon God.
Meanwhile, Shichen sat deep within the Time Domain.
The azure glow around him had long since faded inward. He resembled a smooth, warm stone, with no trace of power to be seen. But anyone who drew close would discover that time itself seemed to lose meaning around him. Past and future overlapped, until it was impossible to tell what moment this was.
The peak of the Ninth Heaven of the Heavenly Dao Realm.
He had lingered at this level for a very, very long time.
So long that even he could no longer remember how many Chaos Eras had passed.
The road ahead was hidden from him.
Shichen opened his eyes. The phantom River of Time was reflected in them. He could see all that had happened and fragments of what was to come, but not the direction he himself should take.
"The peak of the Ninth Heaven of the Heavenly Dao Realm... Why can I still not find the road ahead?"
He murmured to himself, a hint of confusion in his voice.
"What is that road?"
He closed his eyes and sank his mind into the River of Time.
Its waters surged endlessly from past to future.
He was the embodiment of the Dao of Time and master of the River of Time. He could travel upstream or drift downstream, seeing countless possibilities and countless endings.
Yet his own path alone remained invisible.
He had tried to break through the bottleneck countless times, and failed every time. It was as though an invisible wall stood before him. No matter how much force he used, he could not break it.
"Where exactly am I going wrong?"
Shichen began retracing the path he had taken.
From awakening inside the egg to comprehending the Law of Time, breaking into the Heavenly Dao Realm, and finally reaching his present peak, he had advanced step by step through hard cultivation and steady accumulation.
But at this point, hard cultivation seemed useless.
What he needed was not more accumulation, but something more fundamental.
Shichen rose and paced slowly through his domain.
The phantom River of Time flowed beneath his feet, while fragments of the past and broken glimpses of the future flickered around him.
He saw the births of countless Demon Gods, the evolution of the Chaos World, and countless possible paths of development.
He stopped and looked down at the River of Time beneath his feet.
Suddenly, he noticed something.
The River of Time flowed from past to future. Yet as the Time Demon God, he had always followed its current, observing and using it. He had never thought to change its direction.
"I've only been following time, not controlling it."
Shichen murmured.
He suddenly realized that the difference between the Heavenly Dao Realm and the Chaos Realm was not accumulated power, but depth of understanding of the laws.
The Heavenly Dao Realm meant controlling the laws.
The Chaos Realm meant transcending them.
"I always thought the Law of Time was the River of Time, and that controlling the river was enough."
Shichen spoke softly.
"But the River of Time itself is only one expression of time. True time should be..."
He extended a hand. A point of azure light appeared at his fingertip.
It was tiny, yet held a strange power. He had not drawn it from the River of Time. It had sprung into being from nothing.
"Time should not merely flow from past to future."
Shichen's eyes shone brighter and brighter.
"Past, present, and future are one in essence. They exist at the same time."
"Today, I shall forge a road ahead for the Demon Gods!"
He raised his head, fierce light bursting from his eyes. The point of azure light at his fingertip exploded.
A terrifying aura erupted from his body and swept across the entire Chaos World.
At that moment, every Demon God jolted awake from cultivation.
They stared in shock toward Shichen, feeling that vast, boundless pressure as stormy waves surged through their hearts.
"Is that... Shichen's aura?"
"He broke through?"
"Beyond the Heavenly Dao Realm... the Chaos Realm!"
Within his domain, Shichen slowly closed his eyes.
He could feel that he had changed.
Before, he had been a man standing beside the River of Time, watching it flow. Now he was the river.
Past, present, and future were no longer separate fragments to him, but one complete whole.
He opened his eyes. The phantom of the entire River of Time was reflected within them.
"So that's it."
He spoke softly to himself.
"The Heavenly Dao Realm uses rules while remaining within them. The Chaos Realm steps beyond rules and creates them."
Deep in the Chaos World, within the Space Domain.
Yang Mei leaned against a towering Willow Tree, toying with one of its leaves. As he sensed that violent aura, a sharp light flashed in his eyes.
"Shichen, so you've finally taken this step before me?"
He murmured, a faint smile touching his lips.
After tens of thousands of Chaos Eras, he too had reached the peak of the Ninth Heaven of the Heavenly Dao Realm. He had likewise been trapped in the fog shrouding the road ahead, unable to find his way.
And now Shichen had broken through.
More importantly, Yang Mei could feel that the moment Shichen broke through, the road ahead had grown clearer for him as well.
It was as if a layer of fog had been swept aside, revealing the path beyond.
"As expected of the first Demon God to emerge."
Yang Mei smiled lightly, closed his eyes, and began following that path.
The azure light gradually subsided.
Shichen slowly opened his eyes and clenched a fist. The power within him was unimaginably vast. Compared to the Heavenly Dao Realm, it was as different as heaven and earth.
"The Chaos Realm. At last."
He murmured, feeling more confident than before.
With the power of the Chaos Realm and his foreknowledge of the future, his plans for the Heaven-Opening Calamity now stood a much better chance.
"Pangu... you should be emerging soon, shouldn't you?"
Just then, a steady woman's voice came from the entrance to the domain.
"Shichen. Forgive my unannounced visit. May I see you?"
Shichen looked up and lifted a hand to dispel the domain's grand formation. The Order Demon God then walked in.
She wore a neatly arranged pink robe. Not a strand of hair was out of place, and even her steps seemed measured. Faint phantoms of Order Chains hovered around her.
"Order?"
Shichen raised an eyebrow. "It's rare for you to come to me of your own accord."
The Order Demon God approached without wasting words on pleasantries and went straight to the point.
"I've come to ask you to help me perfect my Dao."
"Help you?"
"I am the Order Demon God. My Dao lies in rules and laws." Her voice was calm, though it carried a barely perceptible gravity.
"If I took the path of Creation of Heaven to manifest my Dao, establishing order in a new world would follow naturally. But you said Creation of Heaven might not be the only path. So I intend to establish order here in the Chaos World first."
She paused and looked Shichen straight in the eye.
"But every Chaos Demon God is proud and unruly. Who would willingly submit to rules? Without anyone to obey it, order is empty talk. I have thought it over, and only you can help me."
"Why me?"
"Because you are the oldest Demon God and, at present, the strongest." She held his gaze.
"You are the only one the other Demon Gods fear. If you wish to impose order in the Chaos World, none will dare oppose you openly."
When she finished, she bowed slightly and spoke with solemn resolve.
"If you will help me complete my Dao, I am willing to swear a Great Dao Oath and bind myself to you in an everlasting alliance. From this day on, I will obey your commands without the slightest thought of betrayal."
Shichen paused in surprise.
He had not expected the Order Demon God to offer such terms.
"You should know I don't need an alliance with you," Shichen said.
"I know." She nodded. "But you do need allies."
After a moment's thought, she continued. "You know as well as I do that every Chaos Demon God has a temperament of their own. Though you've reached the Chaos Realm, many still refuse to accept your authority.
"I don't know what your plans are, but you need allies. And I am willing to become your most reliable ally."
Shichen fell silent.
He had to admit she was right.
Breaking into the Chaos Realm did not mean every Demon God would obediently fall in line. Those ranked near the top, in particular, were each prouder than the last. How could they submit to him so easily?
Shichen remained silent, tapping a fingertip lightly against his knee.
He did need allies.
The Order Demon God was meticulous and rigid, with an exceptional talent for management and coordination. With her help, uniting the Demon Gods would be countless times easier.
As for swearing an oath to the Great Dao, he did not think much of it. The Chaos Demon Gods had all been nurtured by the Great Dao. It was like a child swearing an oath to his mother. Even if he broke it, what could she do besides give him a beating?
But Shichen had the absolute strength to enforce that oath.
"Very well."
Shichen looked up and gave his answer.
A gleam flashed in the Order Demon God's eyes. She immediately stepped back half a pace and raised a hand to swear.
"Great Dao above, I, the Order Demon God, swear this oath: from this day forth, I shall be forever allied with Shichen, the Time Demon God. Should I betray him, may my True Spirit dissolve into the Dao."
As her oath fell, a grand voice resounded from the depths of the Chaos World.
"Granted."
Just then, a clear declaration rang out from the edge of the Chaos World, carried through time in every direction.
"I am the Immortal Demon God, Hongjun of the Dao of Immortality. Today I emerge. May the Great Dao bear witness!"
Shichen froze for a moment, then a smile curved his lips.
Hongjun.
The Immortal Demon God, ranked two thousand nine hundred and ninety-eighth, had finally emerged.
In Shichen's memories of his previous life, Hongjun had been the renowned Dao Ancestor of the Primordial World, presiding over the Investiture of the Gods and scheming against all the heavens.
"Interesting."
Shichen chuckled. The Law of Time spread beneath his feet.
The next instant, he vanished from the domain. The Order Demon God watched the spot where he had disappeared and blinked in confusion.
Across the Chaos World, the Demon Gods sensed that fleeting ripple of time and wondered what had happened.
In the Fate Domain, Mingyuan turned the Fate Compass with his fingertips, his brow tightly furrowed. Its needle spun wildly, unable to catch the slightest trace of Shichen's path.
"Hongjun has merely emerged. Why is he in such a hurry to get there?"
Shichen had now broken into the Chaos Realm. Why would he care so much about a minor Demon God ranked near the bottom? There had to be something going on that Mingyuan did not know.
Before you continue