The "True Fragrance" Law That Cannot Be Escaped

Who knows how long had passed—perhaps an instant, perhaps ten thousand years. In the Primordial Chaos, the concept of time had always been a mess.

Xiao Kuang slowly stirred awake.

His first sensation wasn't the exhilaration of gaining supreme power, but rather...

"Headache... feels like my brain's about to explode..." He groaned, clutching his head, feeling as if a Primordial Chaos server running at overclocked speed with no cooling had been crammed into his skull. Countless laws and Heavenly Dao runes he couldn't comprehend were rampaging through his sea of consciousness like wild dogs off their leashes.

[Heavenly Dao: ...Awake... Go quickly... Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens... Open... the Purple Firmament Palace... Prepare... the first sermon... Drive... the Primordial Chaos process...]

That vast, icy will echoed directly in the depths of his soul once more. Though it was no longer the frantic, glitchy frenzy of the first time, it still carried an unquestionable urgency, like a heartless boss spamming him on DingTalk.

Xiao Kuang shook his buzzing head, barely managing to suppress the torrent of information for now. He looked down at himself, still floating above the massive pit, where the two "2D Pancakes" below remained frozen in eternal shock.

Dao Integration?

Just like that, he was a top-tier big shot of the Primordial Chaos?

He tried to sense the so-called Heavenly Dao Authority and boundless Dharma power within him...

Mm, it felt a bit like dreaming you were a billionaire, only to wake up and find you were holding ghost money—the stuff seemed to be there, but how to spend it, or whether it could even be used, was completely unclear.

Use this power to open some Purple Firmament Palace? Preach some profound, esoteric Great Dao?

No way!

He, Xiao Kuang, outstanding graduate of a third-rate diploma mill (with failing grades), whose majors were slacking off and lying flat, could turn a lecture on advanced math into a lullaby. Now he was supposed to lecture a bunch of Primordial Gods and Devils on the Heavenly Dao?

"Lecture my ass!" Xiao Kuang rolled his eyes and chose to lie flat. He even adjusted his posture, floating midair, crossing his legs, striking a pose of "I'm a lump of mud, deal with it." "Not going! No time! Don't know how! Big Bro Heavenly Dao, whoever wants this crappy job can take it—find someone else! Old Man Hongjun and Bro Luohu are already plastered into murals by me, so one more slacker won't hurt."

[Heavenly Dao: !!!] Above the sky, the translucent glitchy symbol [((′--)--)-_-)] flickered violently again, clearly furious at this salted-fish attitude.

[Heavenly Dao: ...Defying... Heavenly Dao Authority... Punishment!] Boom-crack!

A thick, pure, majestic purple thunderbolt tore through the void, carrying the destructive majesty of the Heavenly Dao, and struck mercilessly at the lounging Xiao Kuang!

Purple Firmament Divine Thunder! The Heavenly Dao's exclusive enforcement tool! Even an ordinary Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal would be annihilated body and soul by a single strike!

Xiao Kuang flinched at the sudden thunderclap, his crossed legs dropping in fright. The thunder was too fast to dodge, so he instinctively shrank his neck.

"Bam!"

The tribulation thunder slammed solidly into his forehead, sparks flying and crackling.

The smoke cleared.

Xiao Kuang blinked and touched his forehead.

Uh... nothing?

Not only nothing, but it felt a little... tingly? Like a cheap electric massage, not even as strong as the blind masseur on the street corner.

That's it?

Xiao Kuang was stunned for a moment, then grinned. He roughly understood—his current state seemed to be bound to the Heavenly Dao? This Purple Firmament Divine Thunder sounded scary, but it was essentially an "internal company disciplinary action." For him, the "company's sole designated scapegoat and legal representative," it was all bark and no bite—couldn't kill him at all!

His confidence shot up instantly!

Hands on his hips, he taunted the glitchy symbol in the sky: "What's the matter? Didn't eat enough? Big Bro Heavenly Dao! That's it? Purple Firmament Divine Thunder? Tickling me! Got anything stronger? Hit me with something fierce! Like... uh... what's it called? Du Tian Divine Thunder? The one Great God Pangu used—sounds badass! Come on, hit me here!" He pointed arrogantly at his forehead. "Right here! If you don't kill me today, you're my grandson!"

[Heavenly Dao: ((′--)--)-_-)... (Violent flickering)] The glitchy symbol flashed wildly, clearly its code was about to explode! It had never seen such a shameless, Dao-integrated being who begged to be struck and even haggled!

The air froze for a few breaths.

That terrifying Du Tian Divine Thunder, enough to reforge earth, water, fire, and wind, never fell.

Clearly, the Heavenly Dao Authority probably didn't include a "strike your own spokesperson with Du Tian Divine Thunder" option. Or if it did, it was useless—a pure waste of energy.

That vast will seemed to fall into some extreme frustration and deadlock. The glitchy symbol's flickering slowed, exuding a powerless, stifled vibe of "Damn, I've run into a tough nut."

Seeing this, Xiao Kuang grew even more smug, ready to spew more trash talk.

Just then, the icy will rang out again, its tone seeming... different? No longer forceful, but carrying a weird, coaxing... temptation?

[Heavenly Dao: ...Since... you have no interest... in authority... no ambition... fine...] [Heavenly Dao: ...Then... the Western Spirit Mountain... Zhunti Jieyin... in that bitter, cold land... let them be...] [Heavenly Dao: ...Kunlun Mountain... the Three Pure Ones... have Pangu's legacy...] [Heavenly Dao: ...Sun Star... Di Jun Tai Yi... ambitious...] [Heavenly Dao: ...Blood Sea Styx... lying low...] [Heavenly Dao: ...Northern Darkness Peng... quickly surrendering...] [Heavenly Dao: ...These... have nothing to do with you anymore...] [Heavenly Dao: ...Pity... at the foot of Buzhou Mountain... Nuwa's Cave... scenery unmatched... peerless beauty... divine creation...] [Heavenly Dao: ...And in... Pangu Hall... Houtu Ancestral Witch... graceful figure... compassionate and resolute... unique charm...] [Heavenly Dao: ...Sigh... since you don't want it... forget it... I'll... find someone else... perhaps... that Western Zhunti... though his roots are poor... but... diligent...]

The Heavenly Dao's voice was like a creepy uncle luring a little girl with a lollipop, each word hitting the one bright spot in Xiao Kuang's barren brain!

Especially the words "Nuwa," "Houtu," "peerless beauty," and "graceful figure"—they were like a key, instantly unlocking the rusty, exam-tormented part of his mind where the few memories of Primordial Chaos novels, all filled with beautiful women, were stored!

He'd been so busy being scared and lying flat that he'd almost forgotten the biggest perk of this Primordial Chaos world!

Xiao Kuang's eyes lit up with a "ding," rivaling the Sun Star!

The "kill me and I won't work" tough-guy expression vanished instantly, replaced by an extremely fawning, enthusiastic smile, like a husky spotting a bone.

"No! No, no, no! Big Bro Heavenly Dao! Dear bro! Don't! Don't do that!"

He tried a carp leap (failed, turning into a salted-fish flip), flailing his limbs to stabilize midair, bowing and scraping at the glitchy symbol in the sky, his tone dripping with honey:

"Misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding! Little bro was just groggy from sleep, joking with you! Livening up the mood!"

"Dao Integration! Preaching! Driving the Calamity! Maintaining Primordial Chaos peace! Such a glorious and arduous task—who else but me?! Rest assured! Leave it to me!"

"Old Man Hongjun... pfft! Senior Hongjun's unfinished work, I, Xiao Kuang, will carry on! I'll expand and glorify it! Won't drop the ball!"

"That Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, right? The Purple Firmament Palace? Wait a moment! I'll go open it up for you right now! Guaranteed to be grand! Guaranteed to match the Heavenly Dao's style!"

"And don't worry about the sermon content! Slacking off... ah, no! It's 'governing by non-action'! Lying flat... is 'mindfulness of nature'! I've got it all down! I'll make sure those Primordial Gods and Devils are completely bamboozled!"

He slapped his chest, spittle flying everywhere, his change in attitude so swift it was a marvel to behold.

[Heavenly Dao:...((′--)--)-_-)...(the flickering slowed, as if sinking into an extreme speechlessness)] That vast consciousness fell silent for a good while, seemingly stunned by this fellow's sheer shamelessness.

In the end, it appeared to give up entirely, weakly transmitting one final message:

[Heavenly Dao:...Go quickly...] Then, the sky-filling mess of garbled symbols vanished completely, as if even a single glance longer would corrupt its core code.

Xiao Kuang instantly perked up—his back no longer ached, his legs no longer hurt, and the information stream in his mind didn't seem so annoying anymore.

He felt the vast power within him, which he had no idea how to finely control, locked onto the direction of Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, and clumsily, like a child who had just learned to pilot a toy plane, wobbled crookedly—whoosh—turning into a streak of light (occasionally leaking a few sparks) as he shot off.

As he flew, he hummed and hawed under his breath, rubbing his hands together in excitement: "Purple Firmament Palace... hehe... Empress Nuwa... Sister Houtu... hehehe... Primordial Chaos, your Kuang Ye is here! This crappy job... doesn't seem so bad after all!"