Bai Ze of Kunlun Mountain

In the Primordial World, there was no measure of years; when the cold faded, none knew how much time had passed.

Upon Kunlun Mountain, mist and rosy clouds scattered their colors, while sun and moon cast shifting light. A thousand ancient cypresses and ten thousand joints of lush bamboo adorned the slopes.

The towering mountain rose myriad fathoms high, its verdant pines thick and vibrant. From afar, it resembled a jade-green pillar piercing straight through Heaven and Earth, facing the Big Dipper high in the sky from a great distance.

Weak Water encircled it on all sides, leaving ordinary living creatures nearly extinct in the area.

Only within a cave abode at the mountain's foot, concealed by green pines, did countless rays of rosy light shine. Boundless innate spiritual energy surged toward a white giant egg at the center of the cave.

The years drifted by. The silver patterns inscribed upon the eggshell grew ever more dazzling, their flowing movements revealing profound Dao essence.

"Crack—"

A crisp sound rang out. A fissure appeared on the eggshell and spread downward at an astonishing speed.

"Crack, crack, crack—pop."

A white head, crowned with a pair of small horns and bearing whiskers beneath its chin, neither quite dragon nor tiger, pushed through the eggshell and emerged.

Beneath its silver-white fur, a pair of deep-blue eyes flashed with bewilderment before it began gnawing on the surrounding eggshell by instinct.

Only after swallowing the final piece did those confused blue eyes gradually become utterly clear.

I've been reborn as Bai Ze?!!!

I transmigrated to the Primordial World?!!!

My drunken boasts came true—I really won't be human in this life!!!

Bai Ze looked at his furry paws, on the verge of tears.

In his previous life, he had been nothing more than an office drone, with little worth mentioning beyond his love of reading.

Yet in this life, he had been reborn as Bai Ze and transmigrated to the Primordial World. It was both an opportunity and a crisis.

Having devoured the Classic of Mountains and Seas and all manner of Primordial World novels, Bai Ze knew very well that he was one of the Innate Divines of this world—Bai Ze!

His most obvious talent was understanding all things, knowing them from birth.

Yet what astonished him was that he had actually begun life by hatching from an egg.

For a moment, his emotions were incomparably complicated.

Bai Ze had been born after the opening of Heaven and Earth, before the Dragon-Han Primordial Calamity. He was an Innate Divine born on Kunlun Mountain through the resonance between innate clear qi and mysterious laws.

During the Tribulation of Lich, Di Jun and Donghuang Taiyi entrusted him with a heavy responsibility: assisting the Demon Emperor in unifying the scattered forces of the Demon Race, establishing the Heavenly Court, fighting for destiny, and opposing the Wu Clan.

However, after the Wu-Demon war ended in defeat, he had suffered grievous wounds while covering Di Jun's tenth son, Lu Ya, as he fled. His Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown had been stripped away, and his Zenith Heaven Dao Fruit severed.

He later led the remaining Demon Race tribes to seek the protection of Nuwa, the Demon Race Saint. She revealed that because the Wu-Demon war had shattered the Primordial World, the Demon Race had to submit to the Human Race and obtain a portion of its destiny in order to preserve itself from extinction and repay part of its karmic debt.

Yet after Lu Ya learned of this, he refused to bow his head to the frail Human Race. In his fury, he led the remaining Demon Race away on his own.

However, for the greater survival of the Demon Race, Bai Ze burned away his lifelong cultivation and vital blood to write the Classic of Bai Ze, presenting it to the Yellow Emperor. In the end, he died.

Yet afterward, not only did he receive no gratitude from the Demon Race, he was instead branded with an eternal infamy for betraying them.

He became the greatest laughingstock in the entire Primordial World.

His origins had been profound, his blessings long-lasting, and his wisdom soaring to the heavens—second only to the likes of the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa—yet in the end, everything he possessed merely became another's wedding dress.

Meanwhile, Innate spirits with origins inferior to his, those transformed from Innate spiritual treasures, and even certain foul, baleful beings could all attain righteous fruition.

But he, Bai Ze, possessed deep blessings and fortune. Yet because his talent did not excel in battle, after being severely wounded by the Wu Clan, he fell and died over nothing more than a small Classic of Bai Ze.

Such an absurd and hasty death left him sighing without end.

With his origins and potential, if he had devoted himself to cultivation and ignored worldly affairs, attaining Quasi-Sainthood would not have been impossible.

Even if he could not compare to second-generation elites like the Three Pure Ones, born from Pangu's Primordial Spirit, in this Primordial World—

he would still have counted among the outstanding figures of the third generation. Yet because he was not skilled at combat, he had ultimately become ash in a calamity.

It was as though he had been born solely to complete a great calamity, insignificant and unworthy of note.

"The Dragon-Han Primordial Calamity, the Dao-Demon Conflict, Nuwa becoming a Saint, the Three Pure Ones founding their teachings..." A trace of contemplation flashed through Bai Ze's eyes.

Everything had begun with the Dao-Demon Conflict. Hongjun preached the Dao, Nuwa became a Saint, and the Demon Race's ambitions swelled beyond measure.

In the end, under the influence of the great calamity and Kunpeng's instigation, Di Jun and Donghuang Taiyi ignored Bai Ze's counsel and met an end where all their destiny was lost and karmic flames consumed their bodies.

Knowing his own fate, Bai Ze naturally would not tread that same path again.

But the Chan Sect valued origins and blessed fortune above all else. With his origins, that naturally would not be a problem. Yet during the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, the Twelve Golden Immortals had the Three Flowers atop their heads cut away by the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation, and the Five Qis in their chests dissipated.

Some entered the Investiture of the Gods list, while others were taken west by the Western Saints.

Their outcome appeared victorious, but in truth, their losses were catastrophic.

As for the Jie Sect... the great calamity began because of it. Though the Jie Sect was extremely protective of its own and upheld the principle of teaching without distinction, cutting out a thread of life for all—

after the battle of the Myriad Immortals Formation, its disciples were divided among the Heavenly Court, the West, and every major power. Tongtian Cult Master was even imprisoned within the Purple Heaven Palace. Just thinking of that miserable end made one shudder.

Though several great calamities still remained before the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, he truly did not dare touch such karma.

As for the Western Teaching... it was entirely outside his consideration. After all, even Diting, who possessed talents similar to his, was still in the underworld gnawing bones.

If Bai Ze went there, he would be nothing but a tool.

Moreover, looking across the entire Primordial World, the Western Teaching seemed to have its shadow in nearly every great calamity.

After the Dragon-Han Primordial Calamity, Zhunnti and the other man had taken advantage of the chaos to plunder quite a few members of the Dragon Race.

During the Wu-Demon calamity, the Western Teaching had used the pretext of offering protection to convert many demons into their dirty gloves.

And in the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, they had eaten until their mouths dripped with grease!

If he went there, they would likely devour even his bones without leaving a scrap behind.

Human Teaching's Taiqing did not allow his personal disciples to enter great calamities, but Taiqing's standards for accepting disciples... were far too difficult to fathom.

After turning it over and over in his mind, no faction seemed ideal.

Hongjun sat high within the Purple Heaven Palace, while the Six Saints occupied the heavens beyond heaven.

The Saints played chess, all living beings were pieces, and the Primordial World was the board.

"Those beneath Saints are all ants—those are no empty words. If I want immortality and freedom, the only path is to prove the Great Dao! To transcend Chaos!"

Bai Ze rose to his feet and walked before a stone wall carved with mysterious patterns. His thoughts became increasingly clear.

The path of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal—over the course of his entire life, his highest achievement would be no more than severing the Three Corpses and reaching the realm of Quasi-Saint.

As for becoming a Saint through merit... he would still remain constrained by the Heavenly Dao, unable to attain true freedom.

Proving the Dao through strength was the hardest path, but also the strongest!!!

This was the beginning after the opening of Heaven and Earth, when all things were being born and each sought its own Great Dao.

In terms of strength, he certainly could not compare to Chaos Demon Gods like Hongjun, much less second-generation supreme elites like the Three Pure Ones, who had the Heavenly Dao practically cheating for them.

But! He was Bai Ze, the divine beast who knew the future!

In this era, when Innate spiritual treasures could be picked up at will and Innate spiritual roots could be eaten whenever one pleased.

So long as he, who knew the future, lay low, planned carefully, developed steadily, and avoided karma, proving the Dao through strength was not impossible either!!!

Bai Ze gazed at the naturally formed mysterious patterns on the stone wall, where boundless Dao essence flowed, his eyes gleaming.

"This great formation is an Innate formation with powerful concealment effects. I'll first comprehend it completely, then leave the cave abode to seek opportunities!"