Primordial World

Biodata

Geography and Realms

The early Primordial World contains vast seas, continuous mountain ranges, forests, and territories inhabited by competing races. Battles between its strongest inhabitants can collapse mountains, rupture oceans, and ultimately fracture the world itself 6 30.

History

Creation

Pangu opened the primordial chaos and created heaven, after which his body became all things. Countless living beings began awakening, and the Primordial World gradually took shape over tens of thousands of years 1.

Mu Chen arrived during this creation era as an insubstantial spirit. The aftershock of witnessing Pangu's work nearly destroyed him, prompting his retreat to a pool above the southern sea of clouds 1.

First Dragon-Han Tribulation

The Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin Races fought for supremacy in battles involving Quasi-Sage-level powers. Their warfare devastated the landscape and severely depleted all three races 1 6 10.

As the dragons and phoenixes declined, Demon Ancestor Luohu rose to prominence. Seeking Sagehood through slaughter, he plunged the world's inhabitants into bloodshed even worse than the preceding racial wars 6.

Following Mu Chen's suggestion to unite Luohu's victims, Hongjun gathered the world's great cultivators into a coalition. At Mount Sumeru, they confronted Luohu and eighty million demon warriors, broke the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, and killed him. Luohu's final vow established the Demonic Dao as one of the world's Great Daos 6 10.

Hongjun's Sagehood and the Six Sages

Hongjun received the Heavenly Dao's favor after defeating Luohu and became the world's first Heavenly Dao Sage. He subsequently preached at Purple Cloud Palace three times, with each sermon lasting three thousand years 10 11 13.

Peace after the tribulation allowed living beings to multiply and new innate powers to awaken. The Twelve Ancestral Witches, formed from twelve drops of Pangu's Essence Blood, emerged alongside the expanding Demon Race led by Di Jun and Eastern Emperor Taiyi 10.

Nuwa created the Human Race and became the first of Hongjun's disciples to attain Sagehood. Laozi, Tongtian, Yuanshi, Zhunti, and Jieyin also attained Sagehood while founding their sects. Together, the six Sages governed the world in Hongjun's stead 15.

Great Witch-Demon Catastrophe

The Demon Race established the Heavenly Court and became the world's largest race, extending its influence across all four seas. Only the Witch Race could rival it, but the witches' smaller population and internal disputes weakened their position. Humans remained comparatively fragile and were preyed upon by demons 16 17.

Conflict intensified after Gonggong rammed Mount Buzhou. Great witches, great demons, and eventually the leaders of both races entered the fighting. The Sages initially avoided intervention because they recognized the war as the Heavenly Dao's second tribulation 22.

Guided by Mu Chen, Houtu established the Six Paths of Reincarnation and became a Sage of Merit. Her achievement temporarily deterred the demons, producing a division in which demons governed heaven and witches governed earth 23 24 26.

The respite ended with renewed conflict surrounding Di Jun's Golden Crow sons. Nine Golden Crows scorched the land; Kuafu died pursuing them, and Hou Yi shot them down. Di Jun killed Hou Yi and declared war on the Witch Race 29.

The final war shattered the ancient world into the Three Realms. Fighting continued for more than a hundred years: Eastern Emperor Taiyi detonated the Chaos Bell and died with opposing Ancestral Witches, while Di Jun was beaten to death by the witches surrounding him 30 31.

Recovery and Human Ascendancy

Fewer than one in ten living beings survived the catastrophe. The Witch and Demon Races lost the strength to compete for supremacy; survivors hid or pledged allegiance to the Sages. The Witch Race disappeared from the Primordial World, while surviving demons became enemies of humanity 31.

The Sages supported the Human Race's rise and deliberately used conflict with demons to strengthen it. Although the world became quieter overall, the newly divided Three Realms remained disordered, and sects spread their teachings throughout the mortal world 31 34.

Violence persisted outside protected territories. Mu Chen's peaceful residence attracted so many refugees that he formally established the Endless Sea sanctuary. When demons resisted its administration, he destroyed the instigators and left its management to Prime Minister Turtle 49 50.

Heavenly Dao and Reincarnation

Heavenly Dao

• Tribulations and destiny: Mu Chen understands major victories, defeats, and racial struggles as events ordained by the Heavenly Dao. He regards the witches and demons as its pawns after their catastrophic war 9 31.
• Providence: Defeating Luohu earned Hongjun the Heavenly Dao's favor and the opportunity to become its first Sage 10.
• Limits of Sagehood: The claim that becoming a Sage makes one a puppet of the Heavenly Dao is presented as a rumor, not an established certainty 5.
• Demonic Dao: Luohu's dying oath bound demons and the Dao into an opposing relationship: as one waxes, the other wanes 10.

Six Paths of Reincarnation

• Before their establishment: Lonely souls and wandering ghosts remained in the world, contributing to its balefulness. Mu Chen proposed reincarnation as a means of dispersing that accumulation 23.
• Function: The Six Paths allow the dead to enter Yellow Springs and be reborn rather than continue wandering the mortal world 24.
• Cosmic significance: Their creation completed a missing link in the Heavenly Dao and earned Houtu boundless merit 24.
• Effect on the Witch Race: Houtu's merit protected the race against complete extermination and prompted the Three Pure Ones to abandon their plans within it 25.

Cultivation System

The world's cultivation hierarchy extends from Earth Immortal to Sage. The following realms are listed in ascending order 5.

• Early-world power standard: A Heavenly Immortal is considered extremely weak compared with the great beings active during the first tribulation 2.
• Daluo standing: Daluo cultivators can act as regional overlords when Sages and Quasi-Sages stay out of conflicts 24.
• Cultivation and enlightenment: At Daluo level, advancement depends heavily on sudden comprehension rather than secluded cultivation alone 31.
• Natural aptitude: Many beings are born immortal. Humans have much shorter lives but are naturally capable of cultivation without first attaining humanoid form 15 27.
• Timescale: Cultivation and seclusion commonly span tens of thousands of years; a hundred thousand years is unexceptional to some ascetics 14.

Major Sects

Customs

• “Gang fighting” became an accepted practice after Hongjun publicized Mu Chen's advice to unite against Luohu. Cultivators subsequently invoked Hongjun's example when gathering allies to overwhelm stronger opponents 11.
• Seeking immortals overseas became an aspiration among early humans as the six Sages spread their teachings and legends of immortals circulated 17.