Inside the Purple Heaven Palace, time seemed to have frozen.
The Three Pure Ones, Jieyin, Zhunti—the five Heavenly Dao Saints—all had blank minds at that moment.
What had they seen?
A person walking out of Junior Sister Nuwa's body?
A young man they had never seen before, yet who made their hearts tremble?
And that unheard-of, unseen fleet of steel outside the window?
All of it completely overturned everything they had known for countless ages.
Primordial Heavenly Venerate in particular had always prided himself on the Chan Sect following Heaven and responding to humanity, on the disciples he taught being the noblest and most orthodox.
But now, looking at those Human Civilization warriors outside wearing "mecha" and wielding "Light Spears," he suddenly felt that his so-called "orthodoxy" was a joke.
Lord of the Heavens' eyes gleamed even brighter. From those fleets and mechas, he sensed something that strangely echoed his own teachings of the Jie Sect: no discrimination in instruction, and all things could form arrays.
It was a violent aesthetic that fused "artifacts" and "arrays" to the utmost extreme!
As for the Two Saints of the West, Jieyin and Zhunti, even amid their shock, their minds were racing.
The human race... had actually grown this powerful?
Then perhaps their Western Sect could...
Hongjun's gaze locked tightly onto Chen Ran.
He was not examining Chen Ran's cultivation, because Chen Ran's current form was merely a phantom condensed from Civilization Power, with no realm to speak of.
He was examining Chen Ran's "essence."
He did not belong to the Primordial World, was not within the Heavenly Dao, and bore no karma.
He was a complete and utter "variable"!
The greatest variable, one sufficient to overturn everything Hongjun controlled!
"Are you an Outer Realm Demonic God?"
For the first time, Hongjun's voice carried a bone-chilling coldness.
In his view, only the legendary Outer Realm Demonic Gods that eroded the myriad worlds could possess such traits.
"Demonic God?"
Chen Ran smiled.
"Dao Ancestor, your perspective is still too narrow."
"I am neither a Demonic God nor a god or Buddha. I am merely a witness, a guide."
"What I have brought is not destruction, but... rebirth."
He spread his hand, and a brilliant Fire of Civilization rose from his palm.
"This is the Fire of Civilization. It represents limitless possibilities, the entire process of a race rising from ignorance to glory."
"And the human race chose the path I showed them."
"Dao Ancestor, you see this as heresy. But in my eyes, it is merely one of countless paths. It may not conform to your 'Heavenly Dao,' but it conforms to the 'Human Way.'"
His words rang out with force.
Hongjun fell silent.
Having merged himself with the Heavenly Dao, he considered matters from the standpoint of the stability and balance of the entire Primordial World.
In the script he had laid out, the immortal path reigned supreme, the Mystic Gate stood first, Saints governed on behalf of Heaven, all races cycled through their turns, and calamities swept everything clean.
It was a perfect closed loop.
Yet Chen Ran and the human race had forcibly smashed a breach into that loop.
They cultivated neither Nascent Souls nor the Great Dao, yet through another method, they had gained power sufficient to contend with Saints.
They were digging at the foundations of the Heavenly Dao!
"Fine words."
Hongjun spoke coldly. "No matter where you come from, disrupting the order of the Primordial World warrants eradication."
As his words fell, he extended a finger and lightly pointed it at Chen Ran.
This finger carried no earth-shaking might.
Yet it seemed to gather the power of the entire Heavenly Dao.
Karma, Spacetime, fate, laws... everything was locked down beneath that finger, defined as "destruction."
Below the level of a Saint, no one could withstand it.
Even a Saint would have to go all out against that finger, and might still be injured.
Yet Chen Ran remained where he was, utterly motionless, even wearing a smile.
Because he did not need to move.
Nuwa moved.
She took a step forward and stood before Chen Ran.
She likewise extended a slender jade finger.
At its tip were no Heavenly Dao laws, no divine resonance of the Great Dao.
There was only pure, absolute "power," strengthened countless times by the [Civilization Parasite System], overwhelmingly mighty and unmatched!
And the supreme defense of the Human Way Canopy, which had gathered the entire development of human civilization.
Boom!
The two fingers lightly collided in the void.
There was no sound, no light.
Yet the entire Purple Heaven Palace, along with the surrounding chaotic space, twisted violently.
The Three Pure Ones and the Two Saints of the West groaned in unison as if struck by a massive blow, their blood and qi churning from the shock.
They stared at the center in horror.
Hongjun's figure swayed slightly.
Meanwhile, Nuwa staggered back three steps, a trace of golden Saint Blood spilling from the corner of her lips.
She was injured.
But she had blocked it!
By herself, she had directly withstood a strike from Hongjun after his union with the Dao, suffering only minor injuries!
This result made everyone suck in a cold breath.
Junior Sister Nuwa... had already become this powerful?
A flicker of surprise also crossed Hongjun's eyes.
He withdrew his finger and did not continue attacking.
Because he knew that if they continued, he might severely injure Nuwa, but he himself would inevitably pay a price as well.
Moreover, that human fleet outside, watching like tigers eyeing their prey, was no mere decoration.
Most importantly, from that clash just now, he had sensed something unprecedented.
Nuwa's power was very "pure."
So pure that it followed no logic whatsoever.
The Heavenly Dao's suppression over her was negligible.
That was what was truly terrifying.
It meant she had embarked upon a path that could truly "step beyond the Three Realms and remain outside the Five Elements."
"Good. Very good."
Hongjun gave Nuwa and Chen Ran a deep look.
"It seems the future of the Primordial World has indeed gained a few more variables."
His tone returned to indifference.
"The matter of the Investiture of the Gods shall be set aside for now."
"As for the human race, I shall also refrain from intervening for now."
"But beneath the Heavenly Dao, all things have their ordained fate. Take care of yourselves."
With that, Hongjun's figure slowly vanished.
A confrontation capable of overturning the Primordial World's entire order came to an end just like that.
But everyone knew that this was only the beginning.
A new game centered on the "Heavenly Dao" and the "Human Way," the "old order" and "new civilization," had officially begun.
When Chen Ran and Nuwa left the Purple Heaven Palace and returned to the human fleet's flagship,
the Three Sovereigns immediately came forward to greet them.
"Greetings, Holy Mother Empress! Greetings... Sir!"
They did not know Chen Ran's identity, but they knew that someone who could stand beside the Holy Mother Empress and face the Dao Ancestor directly was undoubtedly the human race's greatest supporter.
Chen Ran smiled and nodded.
"No need for such formalities."
He turned to Nuwa and found her staring blankly at the blood on the corner of her lips.
"Holy Mother Empress, are you all right?" Chen Ran asked with concern.
Nuwa came back to herself and shook her head. Saint Power flowed through her, and her injuries instantly healed.
She looked at Chen Ran, her gaze somewhat complicated.
"I was only thinking that this is the first time I have been injured since becoming a Saint."
"But..."
A breathtaking smile curved across her lips.
"This feeling is not bad."
Because she was no longer that lofty, lonely, helpless Saint.
At her side, she now had a companion who could fight alongside her.
Behind her stood a race that was steadily rising, one that filled her with pride.
This feeling made her feel more fulfilled than simply gaining greater power.
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