The Jade Terrace Immortal Gathering finally came to an end amid a glittering golden atmosphere (merit glowing) and utter chaos (talent show chaos). The championship, without any suspense, went to the Qingqiu White Fox who performed the "Glittering Tail Dance" (Xiao Kuang's personal preference), winning a mass of Heavenly Dao Merit enough to make even Quasi-Saints jealous. She wept tears of joy.
The female immortals dispersed, some delighted, some regretful, some still wanting more. They returned to digest the merit they had gained and consider how to more effectively "compete" their way past their rivals next time. Purple Cloud Palace finally regained its peace, leaving behind only flower petals scattered across the ground (spell effects had yet to fade) and a pile of "participation prize" gifts Xiao Kuang had tossed around carelessly.
Xiao Kuang slumped into the massage chair, feeling completely drained.
"Phew... organizing events is pretty tiring too..." he muttered, though a satisfied smile remained on his face. "But watching pretty young ladies work hard at their performances was definitely easy on the eyes! Next time, maybe I can hold a 'Primordial Chaos Strongest Tough Guy Tournament'? Let Gong Gong and Di Jun go up there and arm-wrestle or something?"
That thought made him grin foolishly for quite a while.
But before long, he grew bored again. The emptiness after an event swept over him, and he urgently needed to find some new amusement.
His gaze drifted aimlessly across the hall before finally landing on the backyard—there, Houtu Ancestral Witch sat quietly upon a bluestone, watching the Kirin lounging leisurely in the zoo. Her eyes held a trace of compassion and contemplation utterly at odds with the other Ancestral Witches.
Xiao Kuang's mind began stirring again.
He vaguely remembered that in some Primordial Chaos novels he had read before, there seemed to be settings involving the Heavenly Dao, Earthly Dao, and Human Dao? They said that only with the three Daos advancing side by side could the Primordial Chaos be complete?
"That's right!" He slapped his thigh, his eyes gleaming brightly. "Right now, it seems like only the Heavenly Dao is doing any work? What about the Earthly Dao? What about the Human Dao? That's way too unfair! No wonder you, Heavenly Dao, keep urging me to work every day until I'm tired as a dog. So you're short on help!"
He felt he had discovered the heart of the problem!
[Heavenly Dao: ...???]
The Heavenly Dao Will, which had only just calmed down somewhat after unexpectedly obtaining Great Dao Merit, was instantly blown out by this shocking notion!
[You... what are you trying to do?!]
Even the Heavenly Dao's thought carried a tremor.
"What am I trying to do?" Xiao Kuang said righteously. "I'm finding you two coworkers! Look, the Primordial Chaos is so huge, and you're the only Heavenly Dao running around handling everything. How exhausting! Bring out the Earthly Dao and Human Dao too, and everyone can divide the work and cooperate. You manage the heavens, the Earthly Dao manages the land, the Human Dao manages people... or divide it however you like. Wouldn't that make things easier for you? Maybe you could even take annual leave or something!"
Heavenly Dao: [!!!!!!]
If the Heavenly Dao had a physical form, it would definitely have spat a mouthful of blood thirty feet away by now!
[Scoundrel! Absurd! Ignorant fool!] The Heavenly Dao's thoughts roared through Xiao Kuang's sea of consciousness like a tsunami. [The three Daos of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity are the foundation of the Primordial Chaos. How can they be treated as a joke?! The Earthly Dao remains hidden, and the Human Dao has not yet reached its time. This is destiny! Furthermore, the authorities of the three Daos are separate and mutually restrain one another. The slightest misstep could bring about the destruction of the Primordial Chaos! Every Dao Ancestor throughout history—though there has only been one—has acted with utmost caution, fearing that authority might fall elsewhere. Yet you... you actually want to hand it out on your own initiative?!]
The Heavenly Dao was practically going mad with rage!
It had seen people afraid of not having enough power, but never someone who thought they had too much power and wanted to give it away! What on earth was this salted fish's brain made of?!
Xiao Kuang shrank his neck from the shouting, but he still muttered under his breath, "Why are you being so fierce... more people means more strength... even three cobblers can outwit Zhuge Liang... besides, if the authority gets divided, wouldn't the work get divided too? Then wouldn't I be even more justified in slacking off? When the time comes, Heavenly Dao, you can handle the macro-level coordination, the Earthly Dao can manage the land and rivers, the Human Dao can oversee the proliferation of living beings, and I'll be responsible for... for supervising them while they work! Right! That's it! Perfect!"
The more he spoke, the more he felt that his idea was sheer genius! In one stroke, it solved both the problem of work efficiency and the problem of his own slacking off!
Heavenly Dao: [...]
It was so furious that its code was trembling chaotically, its logic modules thoroughly fried.
It finally understood this salted fish's core logic—not for the good of the Primordial Chaos, nor for any balance of the Great Dao. He simply wanted to slack off! To slack off more righteously, he was even willing to throw away his own authority and responsibilities!
[You... you...]
The Heavenly Dao's thoughts briefly lagged from overwhelming fury and speechlessness.
[Over the countless ages of the Primordial Chaos, how did someone as... bizarre as you ever appear?!] [Absolutely not! The Earthly Dao is no trivial matter! As for Houtu—]
In its panic, the Heavenly Dao seemed to have nearly leaked some heavenly secret, then abruptly stopped itself.
[In short, this is absolutely impossible! Don't even think about it! Be a good Heavenly Dao spokesperson! You are not allowed to entertain such crooked ideas again!]
The Heavenly Dao was so enraged that it wished it could immediately bring down one hundred and eight thousand bolts of Purple Cloud Divine Thunder and reduce this salted fish to ashes. But remembering that it could not kill him, that he might only make it angrier, and that there was even the chance that he might blindly mess around and somehow succeed by accident again... the Heavenly Dao could only force this fury back down, suppressing it until its core code nearly suffered internal injuries!
Seeing the Heavenly Dao react so intensely, Xiao Kuang curled his lips. "Fine, if it won't work, it won't work. Why get so angry... you miser, always knowing how to squeeze this one worker dry..."
He muttered to himself and temporarily gave up on the idea, but his gaze involuntarily drifted once more toward the quietly seated Houtu in the backyard. Clearly, the little calculations in his heart had not completely stopped.
"Earthly Dao... Houtu... they seem to be somewhat connected?" he thought vaguely. "But the Heavenly Dao won't let me do it, so forget it... ah, boring. I should just think about what to eat tonight..."
He turned his attention back to Chaos barbecue.
Meanwhile, the Heavenly Dao stared fixedly at Xiao Kuang and Houtu, still shaken, afraid that this salted fish might someday suddenly be inspired and tinker the Earthly Dao, which was not meant to emerge early, into existence.
For the first time, it felt that guarding a spokesperson who constantly dreamed of "dividing authority so he could slack off" was even more exhausting than facing ten great calamities!
The future of the Primordial Chaos was truly fraught with disasters!
The Heavenly Dao's light slowly dimmed amid extreme gloom and vigilance, continuing its "stakeout-style hibernation."
Zzz... (Alert mode activated... Monitoring target: Xiao Kuang... Monitoring target: Houtu... Preventing unauthorized Dao formation...)...
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