After Pangu split open the heavens, the Fierce Beasts ran rampant, and the Dragon-Han Calamity passed, the Primordial World entered a brief period of peace.
At that moment, on the Sun Star.
"How many times have I told you? The Eastern Emperor Bell is a Xiantian Supreme Treasure with both offensive and defensive capabilities, not something you stupidly throw at people!"
"Dijun, stop laughing! You too!"
"Is that any way to use the River Chart and Luo Writing?"
"The River Chart and Luo Writing contain the Great Dao of the Stars and the Great Dao of Heavenly Secrets. Using them like that is a criminal waste of heavenly treasures!"
The speaker was a young man wearing a black robe and a jade crown. He berated the two men before him, looking as though he was on the verge of exploding.
Seeing his two younger brothers, Dijun and Taiyi, standing there at a complete loss, Daochen could not help feeling a surge of emotion.
As a young man raised in the socialist society of a later era, he had never imagined that simply falling asleep from exhaustion after working overtime would transport him straight into the Primordial World.
Not only had he transmigrated into the Primordial World, he had actually become the elder brother of the men who would one day be renowned as Demon Emperor Dijun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi.
At first, Daochen had wanted nothing to do with this identity.
The reason was simple.
In the history he knew, not a single person connected to Dijun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi had met a good end.
They had either perished in the War of the Liches or concealed their identities and scraped by under assumed names.
Faced with this hellish starting position.
Daochen had only one thing to say: Motherfucker! Though I'm not sure whether I should say it!
But as time passed, Daochen discovered that the Dijun and Taiyi of the present were different from the figures he knew from later history.
As innate beings born and nurtured by heaven and earth, they had an almost instinctive dependence on Daochen, their elder brother.
For Daochen, who had been an orphan in his previous life, that dependence touched him in the deepest reaches of his heart.
Once upon a time, he too had envied the familial affection rooted deep within the blood.
And in this life, that longing left unfulfilled in his previous life had actually been answered.
Daochen did not know whether all of this was a blessing or a curse.
"I, the Daoist Hongjun, have attained Sagehood today. Three thousand years from now, I shall teach the Great Dao within the Purple Heavens Palace. All those with an affinity may attend."
Just as Daochen stood lost in thought, an aged voice suddenly rang out.
As the voice resounded, wondrous signs erupted. Purple qi came from the east for thirty thousand li, its hazy currents washing over heaven and earth. Immortal cranes cried in unison, golden lotuses sprang from the ground, and endless auspicious energy blossomed between heaven and earth.
"Is the War of the Liches about to begin?"
Daochen gazed at the boundless auspicious energy beyond the Sun Star, his brows drawing together slightly, his voice heavy.
Hongjun attained Sagehood, and his first lecture at the Purple Heavens Palace established the six seats of Sages ordained by heaven.
Unwilling to accept that the seats of Sagehood were beyond their reach, Dijun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi sought to attain Sagehood through fortune.
And so the curtain fully rose on the War of the Liches.
"Elder brother, now that Hongjun has attained Sagehood and will be teaching at the Purple Heavens Palace, why don't the three of us go take a look? If we win the Sage's favor and he teaches us how to attain Sagehood, wouldn't that be wonderful?"
On the Sun Star, Dijun stood clad in gold, the River Chart and Luo Writing circling him. He looked toward the source of the voice, a trace of eagerness deep within his clear eyes.
Though Taiyi was somewhat more reserved than Dijun, his expression told Daochen that he wanted to go as well.
But without Daochen's permission, neither dared make the decision himself.
"We're not going."
Daochen naturally understood what Dijun and Taiyi were thinking.
After all, to them, this was an opportunity as vast as the heavens.
In the Primordial World, the myriad paths of cultivation had yet to unfold, and countless innate beings could only grope blindly for a way forward.
The three thousand Great Daos were profound and intricate. Exploring alone, when would they ever be able to realize the Dao and attain Sagehood?
Now, a supreme mighty being was offering to teach the Dao.
Not only Primordial Gods like Dijun and Taiyi, who had been born as Grand Unity Golden Immortals with exceptional innate foundations and blessings, but even ordinary innate beings with shallow foundations yearned fiercely for this chance.
But could they really go?
Of the three thousand guests from the mortal world who attended the Purple Heavens Palace, how many remained after several calamities?
Let alone Dijun and Taiyi, the central figures of the War of the Liches.
Going would only lead them down a road to death.
"Elder brother seems to be acting rather strangely today."
Though Daochen had always been strict with them, he had never lost his temper without cause as he had today.
"He certainly is acting strangely."
Taiyi was puzzled as well.
Should we go or not?
What they did not know was that Daochen himself was wrestling with that very question.
In the War of the Liches, the Demon Race and the Twelve Ancestral Witches could batter each other's heads into bloody pulp, and Daochen would not give a damn.
But no matter what, he could not stand by and watch his two younger brothers enter the War of the Liches to meet their deaths.
If we don't go, can we really avoid the War of the Liches?
Daochen had no confidence in the answer.
How could the course of the Primordial World change because of him alone?
Even if they did not go today, fate would work unseen another day, drawing Dijun and Taiyi into the calamity.
After all, compared with the grand course of the Primordial World's Heavenly Dao, Daochen was truly insignificant!
Will I ultimately end up all alone in this life, just as I did in my last?
No!
He did not want that!
Nor would he accept it!
In this life, he would protect his two younger brothers, no matter what.
Even if heaven collapsed and earth split apart!
Even if he had to punch straight through the Primordial World!
Even if he had to trample the Heavenly Dao to pieces.
"Ding! The host's state of mind matches the system. Activating the divine-level choice system!" "Option one: strive to cross, strive to cross-without striving, how can you reach the other shore? Lead Dijun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi off the Sun Star and attend the lecture at the Purple Heavens Palace. Reward: ten drops of Pangu Jade Marrow and the Houtian Merit Supreme Treasure, the Heaven Measuring Ruler!" "Option two: what does the course of the Primordial World have to do with me? Enter secluded cultivation on the Sun Star and never take a single step beyond it. Reward: the high-grade Xiantian Spiritual Treasure, the Earth-Splitting Awl."
Just as these thoughts raced through Daochen's mind, a mechanical voice suddenly sounded beside his ear.
The voice had appeared without warning, leaving Daochen startled and uncertain.
After searching all around for a long while, he discovered that the voice had actually sounded inside his mind.
"A system? A cheat?"
In an instant, Daochen understood.
Then delight surged through his heart.
Just as with every transmigrator, a cheat was an indispensable part of the package.
The divine-level choice system was Daochen's cheat!
Daochen was overjoyed.
The usefulness of a system needed no explanation.
At that moment, all his attention was fixed on the two options the system offered.
The first choice: strive to cross, strive to cross. Leave the Sun Star and enter the Purple Heavens Palace, with ten drops of Pangu Jade Marrow and the Houtian Merit Supreme Treasure, the Heaven Measuring Ruler, as the rewards!
The value of Pangu Jade Marrow needed no explanation.
A single drop of blood essence could become a mighty Ancestral Witch comparable to a cultivator at the late Quasi-Saint stage, let alone the even more precious Pangu Jade Marrow.
If Daochen merged this Pangu Jade Marrow into his body, his innate foundation as an Innate Golden Crow would surely rise to another level, directly rivaling that of the Chaos Gods and Demons.
After all, among those whose mighty names resounded throughout the Primordial World, which of them did not possess an exceptional innate foundation?