I Am Unworthy of the Pangu Orthodox Lineage

What followed was Pangu's opening of the world, no different from what Tongtian had seen before. Yet Lu Xuan sensed something slightly off.

When the scene shifted and Pangu swung his first axe, Lu Xuan vaguely glimpsed a familiar figure vanish into the depths of chaos.

Lu Xuan knew that if he wanted to see a more complete image, he had to find the other three people capable of unsealing the Pangu World-Opening Map and use the blood from their fingertips to complete it.

The Pangu World-Opening Map's depiction of Pangu opening the world was not a playback in the temporal sense. Otherwise, wouldn't the process take thousands upon thousands of yuanhui?

It was a special method that transcended time and space, allowing one to witness the entire process and even feel as though one were within it. Yet scarcely any time had passed.

When the Three Pure Ones opened their eyes again, Primordial Heavenly Venerable slapped himself across the face. "Foolish! We, the Pangu Orthodox Lineage, did not cultivate the Pangu Dao, yet went to cultivate that Slaying the Three Corpses—and in the end, we did not even learn it completely."

"If Father God Pangu learned of this, would he not curse us all as unfilial sons? What right do we have to call ourselves the Pangu Orthodox Lineage? If the Pangu Orthodox Lineage abandons even the Pangu Dao, is it still the Pangu Orthodox Lineage?"

Although Laozi was not as agitated as Primordial Heavenly Venerable, his face was filled with gloom as he continually shook his head and sighed.

Compared to Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable, Tongtian was much calmer, since this was not his first time witnessing Pangu's great feat of opening the world.

More importantly, unlike Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable, he had not abandoned the Pangu Dao. Naturally, the guilt in his heart could not compare to theirs.

Yet for a time, he did not know how to console his two elder brothers. In the end, he could only voice to Lu Xuan the concern that had troubled him during this period.

Tongtian waved his hand, and a strand of Primordial Purple Qi appeared before him. Only then did he speak to Lu Xuan.

"Brother Lu Xuan, following your guidance, I took the path of Law-Proven Dao. I have now attained the Primordial Dao, so this Primordial Purple Qi is no longer of use to me."

"Brother Lu Xuan, you once said that not everyone is one of the Three Pure Ones. The Three Pure Ones' starting point is a height that countless cultivators of the Primordial World can never reach, even as their ultimate destination."

"That means this Primordial Purple Qi is useless to us Three Pure Ones, but to other cultivators of the Primordial World, it is truly the foundation for attaining the Dao."

"Thus, I have considered more than once passing it on to one of my disciples. But I have never been able to make up my mind, because I cannot guarantee that this Primordial Purple Qi does not still contain Master's hidden safeguard."

Tongtian's words also caught Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable's attention. In fact, the two of them were even more worried than Tongtian.

After all, Tongtian was worried whether this Primordial Purple Qi would affect whoever inherited it. But Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable had truly absorbed Primordial Purple Qi themselves.

Thus, they both turned their eyes toward Lu Xuan, hoping to receive a definite answer from him.

Fans of the Primordial World in later generations had once compared Primordial Purple Qi to a computer virus from later eras.

Before a computer virus was activated, it had no effect whatsoever. But once activated, it could seize complete control of the computer's operations.

Primordial Purple Qi was the same. Before Hongjun activated it, it was beneficial and harmless to the Six Heavenly Dao Sages.

But once it was activated, it could potentially control the Six Heavenly Dao Sages and make them act according to his will.

Therefore, Lu Xuan still leaned toward the belief that Primordial Purple Qi was Hongjun's final means of controlling the Six Heavenly Dao Sages. However, he had no concrete proof.

He could not possibly spread hearsay from later generations as truth in the Primordial World. That would harm far more than just himself.

Just as Lu Xuan did not know how to answer the Three Pure Ones, the Primordial Purple Qi before him suddenly changed. Amid the purple aura appeared a trace of golden radiance.

Though this golden radiance was extremely faint, concealed within the Primordial Purple Qi like a golden thread, Lu Xuan could see it clearly.

He could even sense that this trace of golden radiance contained immense Heavenly Dao power. Once activated, it might even dye the entire strand of Primordial Purple Qi gold.

This allowed Lu Xuan to fully understand that the analogy later generations had made about Primordial Purple Qi was not wrong in the slightest. It was a virus Hongjun had implanted within the Six Heavenly Dao Sages.

Thus, he said directly, "As long as you obey Hongjun for your entire lives, Primordial Purple Qi will be beneficial and harmless to all of you Sages."

Lu Xuan did not continue, but the Three Pure Ones already understood exactly what he meant.

If they dared defy Hongjun, this Primordial Purple Qi would be the key to controlling them. Therefore, this Primordial Purple Qi was poisonous.

Tongtian did not even dare draw the Primordial Purple Qi back into his body. He feared that in the next instant, Hongjun would use it to turn him into another person.

Laozi and Primordial Heavenly Venerable's expressions darkened even further. Even though Hongjun was the lofty spokesperson of the Heavenly Dao, they were unwilling to hand over their lives and deaths for him to control.

At that moment, a bold idea arose in Lu Xuan's heart. Could he find a way to extract that strand of golden radiance from the Primordial Purple Qi?

If he could do so, it would be equivalent to completely severing Hongjun's hidden safeguard—and doing it without Hongjun's knowledge.

After all, Hongjun would not inspect the Primordial Purple Qi for problems without cause. He would only activate the Heavenly Dao power within it when necessary.

Only then would Hongjun discover that the Heavenly Dao power within the Primordial Purple Qi had already been extracted. By then, he would be completely helpless, with no time left to remedy it.

But as for exactly how to extract the Heavenly Dao power from the Primordial Purple Qi, Lu Xuan could not yet find a clue.

As for doing it without Hongjun noticing, Lu Xuan did not find that difficult. As long as it was done within the Pangu World-Opening Map, he could conceal it from the Heavenly Dao and from Hongjun.

Seeing Lu Xuan's thoughtful expression, Tongtian could not help asking, "Brother Lu Xuan, could it be that you are thinking of a way to solve this problem?"

Lu Xuan nodded, then explained his thoughts to the Three Pure Ones. Primordial Heavenly Venerable's eyes immediately lit up.

But Laozi's next words were like a basin of cold water, instantly leaving Primordial Heavenly Venerable as deflated as a punctured ball.

"Handling Third Brother's strand of Primordial Purple Qi would not be difficult. The difficult part is that the Primordial Purple Qi in Second Brother's and my bodies has already merged with our Sage Foundations."

"Once the Primordial Purple Qi is removed, our Sagehood will become unstable. We may even fall directly from Sagehood."

"Falling from Sagehood is not even the most terrifying outcome. What is terrifying is that once we fall from Sagehood, it will alert Master."

"If Master learns that we are extracting the Heavenly Dao power from the Primordial Purple Qi, how could he possibly stand by and watch us succeed?"

Primordial Heavenly Venerable sighed. "Eldest Brother, we cannot blame anyone else. If blame must be assigned, it can only be placed on how desperately we sought Sagehood when we attained the Dao."

"If we had been able to calm ourselves and comprehend it as steadily as Shan Di, how would we have ended up where we are today? Perhaps this is the fate of us brothers."

Tongtian could not help feeling alarmed. After all, if he had not encountered Lu Xuan, he would now be just like his two elder brothers.