Chaos Unleashed, Hongjun's Dharma Form Subdues the Heavens

That night, no one in the myriad worlds slept.

In the depths of the Ziwei Star Domain.

The great array sealing the Heavenly Frost Immortal Sect glowed faintly. Countless elders huddled inside the sect's protective formation, still shaken.

Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of miles from the Ziwei Star Domain, within immortal powers such as the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect, the Primordial Ji Family, and the Nine Nether Demon Sea, countless Tribulation Transcendence Stage monsters who had slumbered for ages sat in their ancestral halls. With grave faces, they discussed the terrifying scene of the Netherworld claiming souls the day before.

Suddenly.

Every one of those old monsters, every Primordial Sect Master, jerked their head up at almost the same instant!

"What's happening?! Why is my soul... trembling?!" shrieked a Primordial Ancestor who had lived nine thousand years and stood half a step from the threshold of True Immortal.

It was not because he sensed killing intent, nor was it panic at his approaching death.

It was an instinct from the deepest reaches of the soul, rooted in the very order of life and the source of the Great Dao—an instinct to submit and worship!

"Rumble—!"

An ancient, weathered sound that seemed to transcend time and space exploded at once in the depths of the cosmic Heavenly Dao across the Three Great Star Domains and Thirty-Seven Great Thousand Worlds!

At that moment, the stars lost their color, and the sun and moon lost their light.

Under the stunned gazes of countless beings throughout the myriad worlds, the starry sky above the nine heavens suddenly looked as though an invisible hand had wiped it away!

The stars vanished. The Milky Way disappeared. Even the cold, black vacuum of space melted and broke apart in an instant, reverting to the most primal, most violent Chaos Qi!

Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind raged!

Clear qi did not rise. Turbid qi did not sink!

There was no concept of time, no direction in space—only boundless Chaos Lightning churning and roaring!

"Wh-what is that?!"

In the Heavenly Demon Great Realm, a Primordial Demon Emperor whose body was larger than a planet stared at the sky, now transformed into a sea of chaos. His scales stood on end, and his enormous blood-red eyes filled with disbelieving despair:

"Has the universe... been destroyed?! Have heaven and earth returned to chaos?!"

"No! Look! There's something deep inside the chaos!"

Within the Ziwei Star Domain, the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect's supreme Sect Leader cried out, pointing at the sky with a trembling hand.

Every living being throughout the myriad worlds followed his gaze.

There, at the center of that world-destroying chaos, a strange light appeared—faint, yet eternal and inextinguishable.

It came from a broken Ancient Jade Tablet that radiated an unimaginable aura of creation!

The jade tablet turned slowly. With every rotation, it brought forth a Supreme Great Dao that transcended every rule known to the myriad worlds.

Three thousand Great Daos circled and danced around the broken tablet!

Then.

Above the Primeval Holy Land in the Canglan Realm, at the very summit of the Ziwei Star Domain, in the depths of the Nine Netherworlds within the Heavenly Demon Great Realm...

A majestic dharma form in dark robes, its face indistinct, slowly rose from beneath the broken jade tablet. Its aura seemed capable of crushing the myriad worlds and bringing forth all things in the universe!

The dharma form was not enormous. It even looked like an ordinary old Daoist.

Yet as he sat quietly amid the raging chaos, the Chaos Lightning and Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind—forces that could tear a Tribulation Transcendence Stage monster to pieces in an instant—grew as docile as sheep and lay at his feet!

He subdued chaos!

He brought forth all methods!

The instant that majestic dharma form appeared, every cultivator throughout the myriad worlds—from mortals at the Qi Condensation Stage to mighty experts at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage—found the circulation of their cultivation techniques forcibly halted!

The so-called Laws of Heaven and Earth they had cultivated all their lives seemed as insignificant as scribbles in the sand before the old Daoist's dharma form!

"Heavenly Dao above..."

On the Primeval Main Peak of the Canglan Realm.

Ji Changkong dropped to his knees. He stared at the dark-robed old Daoist subduing chaos in the sky, tears streaming down his aged face as his whole body shook with excitement:

"That's no Great Emperor... That's no Immortal!"

"That is... the source of the Laws! The beginning of the Myriad Daos! The master of the Great Dao who taught this entire universe's Heavenly Dao!"

Beside Ji Changkong, Lin Qiye stood with the Broken Sword on his back, his eyes bloodshot. The Golden Mark deep within his forehead blazed more fiercely than ever, while the words of the Eight-Nine Profound Art in his mind resonated violently with the dharma form overhead!

"True Lord... is this the 'Primordial World' you spoke of?!" Lin Qiye gripped his sword hilt, his heart pounding.

And deep within the starry sky.

The old Tribulation Transcendence Stage monsters who had hidden in the shadows and lorded over others for tens of thousands of years had lost every trace of their lofty dignity.

Thud!

Thud!

One renowned expert after another dropped to the ground—in midair, in ancestral halls—and prostrated themselves before the dharma form overhead, bowing with utmost reverence!

Crushed by its superior standing in the Great Dao, they could summon no thought of resistance. Their hearts knew only worship.

Just as all the myriad worlds fell into deathly silence and reverence.

The dark-robed old Daoist's dharma form, seated deep within the chaos, slowly raised a hand.

"Hum—"

Behind the old Daoist, the void beyond the nine heavens split open. An immense Daoist temple, ancient and solemn, built entirely from purple-gold crystal and chaos stone, gradually emerged from the Chaos Qi.

Above the temple hung an utterly plain signboard. It bore only three simple ancient characters, yet they contained the ultimate mysteries of the Great Dao:

[Zixiao Palace]!

The old Daoist's dharma form did not open his mouth. Yet a supreme voice of the Dao, ethereal and distant, pierced through countless ages, washed over the souls of billions throughout the myriad worlds, and thundered in every mind:

"I lie above the ninefold clouds, upon a cushion I grasp the Dao's truth." "Beyond heaven and earth's primal hues, I stand supreme as master of the teachings." "Pangu birthed Taiji; the Two Forms and Four Symbols followed." "One Dao passed to the Three Friends; the Two Teachings split into Chan and Jie." "The leader of all Xuanmen, from a single breath came Hongjun."

"From a single breath... came Hongjun?!"

"Dao Ancestor Hongjun?!"

Those five verses threw the entire myriad worlds into an uproar!

Old monsters who had lived for tens of thousands of years heard lines such as "Beyond heaven and earth's primal hues, I stand supreme as master of the teachings" and "Pangu birthed Taiji." The scale of those claims left their scalps tingling and their souls reeling!

The supreme master who governed the Heavenly Dao?!

The source of the Two Forms that brought forth Taiji?!

What did that mean? It meant the Heavenly Dao they had spent their entire lives cultivating was merely one of the orders this Dao Ancestor Hongjun had brought forth long ago!

Yet before the mighty experts of the heavens could recover from their shock.

The vast voice from Zixiao Palace rang through the myriad worlds once more:

"I am Hongjun. Today, I have brought forth the great Primordial World. From Zixiao Palace, Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, I shall impart the supreme Immortal Dao." "Those among the heavens who possess Great Destiny, great perseverance, and great insight may carry a Zixiao Dao-Hearing Edict and send their souls Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens to hear me teach the Dao." "In my first lecture... I shall reveal the three thousand Great Daos and guide you along the Ascension Path!"

Boom—!!

Those final words struck like an ancient divine thunderbolt of boundless power, shattering the composure of every mighty expert throughout the myriad worlds!

A guide along the Ascension Path?!

The revelation of the three thousand Great Daos?!

The old monsters whose lifespans were nearly spent, who had been trapped at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Stage for thousands of years, felt their eyes burn red. Their breathing rasped like bellows!

"Ascension! It's the path to ascension!"

"The Dao Ancestor has manifested! The lectures at Zixiao Palace are beginning!"

"Hahahaha! The heavens haven't abandoned me! They haven't abandoned me!"

Countless old Tribulation Transcendence Stage monsters threw back their heads and laughed within their sects, tears of excitement spilling from their eyes.

The Netherworld's appearance had shown them the terror and cruelty of death. Now, the sudden emergence of Dao Ancestor Hongjun and Zixiao Palace had laid a broad road to immortality and the supreme Immortal Dao right before them!

"An edict! I need a Zixiao Dao-Hearing Edict!"

"Whatever the cost, I must claim a place at that lecture!"

The entire universe plunged into a frenzy of competition unlike anything in its history!