Primordial Era

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Primordial Era
Original Name	洪荒时代
Alias(es)	Primordial Era World; Primordial World
Type	The primordial world and historical age in which the novel takes place
First Appearance	Chapter 1

History

Creation and the first golden age

The Primordial Era was created when Great God Pangu opened heaven and earth, giving rise to countless living beings. Its first generation of innate beings lived amid abundant Origin Power, Innate Spiritual Roots, and Innate Spirit Treasures; cultivation was described as exceptionally easy in this period. 366

As the beings of the world consumed its finite Origin Power, heaven and earth weakened. Seeking to reclaim strength, the nascent world opened subterranean passages and sea eyes connecting it to Chaos, allowing fierce beasts from outside to enter. 366

The resulting Fierce Beast Calamity was the first calamity of the Primordial Era. The innate divine spirits defeated the invaders and sealed the passages and sea eyes, but nearly ninety percent of those innate spirits perished; their deaths replenished the world's Origin Power. 367

Rise of the ancient races

The Dragon, Phoenix, and Kirin Clans rose after the Fierce Beast Calamity. Ancestor Dragon, Primal Phoenix, and Primal Kirin became the era's foremost innate divine spirits and were among the principal forces that had driven out the fierce beasts. 367

As the three clans expanded, heaven and earth again became strained. Their conflict escalated into the Dragon-Phoenix-Kirin Calamity, a war so destructive that it shattered the Primordial Era's world. 79

During the later crisis involving Rahula, Dao Ancestor Hongjun comprehended the method of severing the Three Corpses, slew Rahula, merged his Three Corpses into one, and attained a state comparable to Pangu. 367

Establishment of the Heavenly Dao order

After attaining Dao, Hongjun merged with the Heavenly Dao and established the Immortal Path through his sermons at Purple Heaven Palace. He appointed Heavenly Dao Saints and directed them not to directly interfere in the Primordial Era's affairs. 367

The Saints nevertheless shaped the world order. The Witch-Demon conflict became another immense calamity, killing ninety-nine percent of the Primordial Era's living beings and returning vast Origin Power to heaven and earth. 367

The novel presents the Investiture of the Gods Calamity as part of this recurring system: a conflict arranged by the Saints to preserve the Origin Power of heaven and earth. 367

Humanity's rise

Nuwa proved her Dao in the Primordial Era and created the human race beneath Buzhou Mountain. The first three thousand innate humans were removed from the sight of other beings, while Nuwa's edict protected humanity for ten epochs. 1

Following the Witch-Demon War, the defeated Witch Tribe withdrew to the Underworld and the Demon Tribe retreated northward. Jiang Haofeng identifies this power vacuum as the point from which humanity becomes the protagonist of the Primordial Era. 63

Humanity's position later becomes anchored through the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, who suppress Humanity's Destiny from Fire Cloud Cave. The arrangement makes humanity the eternal protagonist of heaven and earth, though it requires its greatest rulers to remain secluded. 177 183

Cosmology

• Main world — The Primordial Era's central body consists of the Primordial Continent and the Four Seas. 109
• Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds — Numerous lesser worlds scattered through the Chaos Sea; they evolved from fragments of the Primordial Era and are subordinate to its main world. 109
• Relative quality — The Primordial Continent surpasses the Three Thousand Great Thousand Worlds in Great Dao laws, spiritual energy, treasures, materials, cultivation methods, and opportunities. 109
• Chaos boundary — The world was originally difficult even for ordinary Quasi-Saints to breach from Chaos. The subterranean passages and sea eyes created during the Origin crisis opened vulnerable routes until they were sealed after the Fierce Beast Calamity. 366 367
• Underworld — Houtu's transformation into Samsara established the Six Paths of Reincarnation and the Underworld, which receives the resentful spirits of all races. 55 56

Spiritual Environment

The early Primordial Era was an innate environment: mountains, rivers, plants, animals, and even ordinary objects contained innate spiritual energy. This environment could awaken intelligence in all things and naturally nourish the physical bodies of living beings. 154 366

After the Witch-Demon War and the breaking of Buzhou Mountain, Jiang Haofeng detects the beginning of a transition from innate spiritual energy to acquired spiritual energy. From that point onward, no new innate spiritual energy is produced. 65

The change is described as dilution rather than simple depletion: acquired spiritual energy is continuously born while the concentration and effectiveness of innate energy fade. 73 74

By the later human eras, innate spiritual energy has disappeared from the void, land, oceans, mountains, and natural objects. The Primordial Era has fully become a post-celestial environment equivalent to that of the Investiture of the Gods period. 185

• World essence — Hongmeng Purple Qi is described as the essence and Origin Power of the entire Primordial Era. 185 366
• Cost of Sainthood — Seven portions of the world's essence were refined into Hongmeng Purple Qi, leaving only two-ninths of the original Origin Power for the world and its living beings. 186 200
• Cultivation decline — By the era of Shennong, the remaining cultivation environment is said to be less than one percent of its primordial level. 200

Major Powers

Faction or group	Position in the Primordial Era
Dragon, Phoenix, and Kirin Clans	Ancient powers that rose after the Fierce Beast Calamity; despite karmic burdens, each retains formidable ancestral experts. 273
Witch Tribe	One of the two dominant forces of the Witch-Demon period; its survivors relocate to the Underworld after defeat. 63
Demon Tribe	The Witch Tribe's mortal enemy and the other principal force of the Witch-Demon War; its remnants retreat to the far north. 63
Human race	Created by Nuwa and initially protected by her edict; it rises into a top power after the Witch-Demon War and eventually becomes the protagonist of heaven and earth. 1 63 183
Heavenly Dao Saints	Powers established through Hongjun's system whose existence and actions are central to the Primordial Era's balance, calamities, and decline. 367
Three Teachings and Western Teaching	Major sectarian powers competing for influence during humanity's later rise and the approach of the Investiture of the Gods Calamity. 149 160 200

Timekeeping

• An epoch equals 10,800 years; twelve epochs form one larger unit of 129,600 years. Nuwa's original protection of humanity lasts ten epochs. 1
• The narrative repeatedly notes that the Primordial Era does not ordinarily count time in years, reflecting the immense lifespans and long periods of seclusion of its inhabitants. 31 247
• Major developments may span kalpas, Yuan Hui, or entire calamity periods rather than mortal lifetimes. 24 74 177

Story Role

Jiang Haofeng transmigrates into the Primordial Era with knowledge of a future in which humanity becomes the nominal protagonist of heaven and earth while remaining divided, dependent on outside sects, and politically weak. 1 2

His intervention changes humanity's trajectory: he reunites a race that would originally remain fragmented, establishes the Human Ancestral Pavilion and the Visible and Hidden Veins, and helps create an independent human foundation within the Primordial Era. 20 167

The world's decline from innate to acquired spiritual energy motivates Jiang's promotion of the Martial Dao, which offers humanity a cultivation path suited to the changing environment. 65

The Primordial Era's cyclical calamities remain the central danger behind the novel's later conflicts. Humanity's growing Destiny, its alliances with ancient races, and the approaching Investiture of the Gods Calamity determine whether it can retain genuine power rather than repeat its original fate. 165 273 319 367