Volume 1, Chapter 36: The Progenitor possesses the virtue of cherishing life and has no desire to commit further slaughter.

He is seeking instruction!

This old servant is seeking instruction from that legendary existence on how to respond!

A full ten breaths passed—ten breaths that felt longer than ten epochs to the Ancestor of Taiyi. Only then did Old Fu slowly straighten his back. His cloudy, aged eyes swept over the Ancestor of Taiyi, then over Lei Qianjue, who lay paralyzed on the ground, before finally looking up at the sky with a long, weary sigh.

"The Primordial Ancestor did not come in person."

Old Fu's voice was soft, yet it reached everyone’s ears with absolute clarity.

Upon hearing this, the Ancestor of Taiyi felt a wave of relief, his back already soaked in cold sweat. Had that being truly descended, his birthday banquet today would surely have become his funeral. But immediately following that relief, a much greater terror surged in his heart.

He did not come in person?

A mere servant, having learned only a fraction of his teachings and performing a simple opening gesture, was enough to command all weapons to bow and force the entire Void God Realm to submit?

This... this was even more terrifying than the Primordial Ancestor coming in person! It spoke to the unfathomable depth to which that being’s Dao had permeated reality!

"Then... then who is this fairy?" The Ancestor of Taiyi’s voice was even more humble; he dared not even look directly at Ye Qingxian.

Old Fu ignored his question, instead turning his gaze toward Lei Qianjue.

"A descendant of the Zixiao Daoist, is your name Lei Qianjue?"

Lei Qianjue shuddered, as if a prisoner awaiting execution had just heard his own name. He scrambled to his knees, kowtowing frantically. His forehead struck the arena floor—forged from star fragments—with dull, heavy thuds.

"Spare me, Senior! Spare me, Ancestor! This lowly one has eyes but failed to recognize Mount Tai. My crimes are worthy of death! I beg you, have mercy and let me go like a fart!" He was incoherent, tears and snot streaming down his face, stripped of all the arrogance of a young master of the Zixiao God Sect.

"I said before, for the sake of your elders, I could let everything slide," Old Fu said calmly. "It is a pity that you threw that chance away."

He paused, a hint of pity in his tone. "Do you know why your master has been unable to break through the Immortal King realm and step into a higher state?"

Lei Qianjue looked up abruptly, his face a mask of confusion.

Old Fu did not wait for an answer, continuing to speak to himself: "It is because the Zixiao Daoist was rejected by the Dao and grew resentful. Though he later founded a sect, his Dao was crooked from the very root. The lightning arts he passed down, while seemingly fierce and overbearing, are actually filled with malice and paranoia, capping their own potential. By practicing such methods, your master is destined never to transcend the Immortal King realm."

These words struck like a thunderbolt in the minds of every Zixiao God Sect disciple.

Above the clouds, the figure of an ancestor wreathed in lightning trembled violently, the chaos energy surrounding him spiraling into disorder. He was the Sect Master of the Zixiao God Sect, Lei Qianjue’s own master! Every word Old Fu spoke pierced the deepest secret and the greatest pain of his cultivation path. He had indeed been trapped at the peak of the Immortal King realm for countless years, unable to glimpse the path ahead. So, the root cause lay in the inheritance of their founding patriarch!

In that moment, rather than feeling anger at the insult to his founder, he felt a chilling, enlightened clarity.

Who was this old servant? How could he know such ancient secrets?

Old Fu ignored the shock of the crowd and continued to Lei Qianjue: "The Primordial Ancestor is a being of great benevolence and does not wish to shed unnecessary blood. However, you disturbed the Ancestor’s peace and offended the Ancestor’s servant. You may be spared from death, but you cannot escape punishment."

He stretched out a withered finger and tapped lightly toward Lei Qianjue.

There was no surge of magic, no manifestation of laws.

Yet, Lei Qianjue let out a scream so wretched it no longer sounded human.

The very source of the lightning arts within him seemed to encounter a natural nemesis, or perhaps a primal origin, and began to violently reverse, collapse, and dissipate. The Lightning Dao Sacred Body he was so proud of deflated like a punctured balloon. His earth-shaking cultivation was reduced to nothing in less than three breaths.

He did not die, nor did he bear a single physical wound.

But he was in a state far worse than death. He had become a mortal—a complete, utter mortal incapable of condensing even a shred of spiritual energy.

To a genius accustomed to standing above all others, this was a punishment far crueler than death.

"Many thanks... for the Primordial Ancestor’s mercy in sparing his life." High above the clouds, the Sect Master of the Zixiao God Sect bowed deeply toward Old Fu. His voice was filled with bitterness and... gratitude.

To lose a mediocre, arrogant young master, yet have the shackles of the entire sect's path broken—for the Zixiao God Sect, this was a profitable trade.

Having finished, Old Fu brushed his hands as if dusting off a speck of dirt. He turned to Ye Qingxian and Ji Ruxue and said, "Lady Ye, Lady Ji, we should return. The Young Master must be hungry."

"Yes, Old Fu," they responded respectfully.

"Senior, wait!" The Ancestor of Taiyi hurriedly stepped forward, his posture incredibly low. "The Genius Tournament has not yet concluded, and this fairy is the undisputed champion. By tradition, the Taiyi Imperial Dynasty must present the champion's reward. I pray you... grant us the honor of staying, so we may show our appreciation."

Joking aside, if such an existence had descended, and he let them leave just like that, how could the Taiyi Imperial Dynasty continue to stand among the heavens and myriad realms? He had to exhaust every resource to forge this connection!

Old Fu thought for a moment and seemed to agree. The Young Master had said not to make a wasted trip.

He nodded. "Very well. But we are in a hurry, so be quick."

"Yes, yes, of course!" The Ancestor of Taiyi felt as if he had been granted a pardon. He roared toward the clouds: "What are you standing there for! Hurry! Dig up the 'Origin Divine Spring' from the imperial treasury! And the 'Dao-Enlightenment Immortal Tea' we’ve treasured for nine epochs—bring all of it! Move!"

...

Tianyuan Realm, Gu family courtyard.

Gu Changsheng rolled over on his lounge chair, his stomach grumbling even louder.

He could wait no longer, so he stood up and ambled into the kitchen.

The kitchen was empty; not even a leaf of vegetable could be found.

"What is this..." Gu Changsheng muttered, feeling dejected. He pulled open a simple, antique-looking food box, hoping to find some snacks.

The box opened, revealing no pastries, only a pile of something that looked like soil but emitted a strange, alluring fragrance.

"Is this... chocolate-flavored dirt?" Gu Changsheng pinched a bit and sniffed it; the aroma was mouth-watering, making his appetite flare.

Without much thought, he grabbed a handful and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Hmm... tastes alright, just a bit dry. A bit choking."

He reached out and grabbed a pitch-black stone from a nearby vat used for pickling vegetables.

This stone was a "Chaos Source Stone" that an ancestor of the Gu family had casually fished out of the Chaos Sea; it contained the entire history of a great universe from birth to destruction. At this moment, Gu Changsheng was using it to... crack walnuts.

He fished some shriveled fruits from the corner of the food box, cracked them open with the Chaos Source Stone with a few "clacks," and ate the kernels along with the "chocolate dirt."

If Old Fu were here, he would have been scared out of his wits.

For that "chocolate dirt" was the "Primordial Breath Soil" used to cultivate the "World Tree."

And those shriveled fruits were the final few "World Fruits" borne by the previous generation of the World Tree before it withered.

Any single grain, any single fruit, would be enough to trigger a war between Immortal Dynasties, causing Immortal Kings to fight to the death.

But now, they were all being treated by Gu Changsheng as... a snack to tide him over.

"Burp... I'm full. If Old Fu and the others don't come back soon, we're going to miss dinner." Gu Changsheng patted his belly, stood up, and wandered back to his lounge chair, ready to continue his afternoon nap.

He remained completely unaware that within his body, the trace amounts of the Primordial Ancestor's origin had become slightly more active after "digesting" these snacks.