341: Chapter 341 Don't Be the First to Stick Your Head Out

Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged by the lakeside, casually brushing away the withered leaves that had fallen on his Daoist robe.

Old monsters playing chess, using their cauldrons to swallow one another—this was the standard drama that unfolded after the arrival of a great era.

He rested one hand on his knee, his knuckles tapping rhythmically and lightly.

That cluster of crimson flame could counter-attack the primordial wood Death Qi; it was definitely not a Foundation an ordinary Purple Mansion could possess.

It must be some veteran True Lord who cultivated Li Fire or Bing Fire, secretly infusing it with their Law of Origin.

"Chen Mu."

The indifferent voice followed the Karma line and crashed directly into Chen Mu's Sea of Consciousness.

"Avoid him."

On the Zhongzhou wilderness, Chen Mu knelt on one knee, his single eye filled with extreme confusion.

The charred, foul-smelling vines were still dripping with black blood.

"Old Ancestor, that kid has a heavy treasure in his hands. If I give it my all, I can definitely take him down!"

"Fool."

Gu Changsheng interrupted the mad dog's barking.

"That is meat in someone else's pot; the heat isn't right yet."

"If you rush in now, you'll only end up covered in filth."

Chen Mu's whole body trembled, and his fanatical mind was instantly doused with a bucket of cold water.

The Old Ancestor's words were an absolute iron Law.

Since the Old Ancestor said it was meat in someone else's pot, it meant there was a sky-reaching giant of the same level standing behind that kid.

"I understand!"

Chen Mu's forehead slammed heavily into the scalding rock ash.

Gu Changsheng's decree continued to flow along the Karma line.

"As long as he doesn't touch our territory, let him kill as he pleases."

"Just keep a watchful eye on him."

"Zhongzhou's waters are murky; don't be the one to stick your head out."

The transmission was cut off cleanly.

Chen Mu slowly stood up, his single eye staring fixedly at the scorched earth dozens of miles away.

How could a frog at the bottom of a well like him speculate on the Old Ancestor's vision?

With the arrival of the great era, this game of chess in Zhongzhou was simply too vast.

As a mad dog, he only needed to bite to death whoever the Old Ancestor told him to.

Chen Mu pulled out a pitch-black long blade and cleanly sliced off a piece of rotten flesh on his left arm that had been eroded by fire poison.

With a muffled groan, the Wither and Flourish Death Qi circulated, stopping the bleeding instantly.

He stood up, transformed into a streak of bluish-black light, and dove into the depths of the Luoyan Mountain Range without looking back.

He would avoid Cao Yun's sharp edge and continue to hunt those Loose Cultivators and Bandit Cultivators who had no background.

This was the most secure task.

Inside the Grotto-heaven.

Gu Changsheng closed both eyes, cutting off his perception of the outside world.

In the struggle for the great era, what mattered was who lived the longest, not who jumped the highest.

Time was the one thing he did not lack right now.

The scale of time was forcefully accelerated.

One day outside, one year in the Grotto-heaven.

The transition of sun and moon turned into a rapidly flickering light above his head.

Year one thousand five hundred.

The monotonous chirping of insects was rudely broken.

At the edge of the lake, a four-legged amphibian covered in thick scales clumsily crawled onto the muddy beach.

It opened its large mouth full of sharp teeth and cleanly crushed a water strider the size of a washbasin.

Deep blue juices splattered everywhere.

The ecological chain began to sprint toward more Advanced forms.

In the dense primeval forest, massive beasts began to tear at each other.

An Armored Earth Dragon, surrounded by a faint turbid Ji Earth Qi, rampantly crashed through and broke a dozen towering ancient trees.

It lowered its head to graze on a cluster of mutated poisonous mushrooms.

A massive shadow fell from the sky.

A winged bird of prey dove down, its sharp claws cleanly piercing the Earth Dragon's spine.

Blood stained the earth red, and the carcass turned into nutrients, re-nourishing this world.

Gu Changsheng hovered above the Pure Qi of the Nine Heavens, his ash-colored Daoist robe hanging quietly.

He silently watched this savage slaughter.

He did not use even a hint of magic power, nor did he send down any so-called miracles of enlightenment.

Pulling up seedlings to help them grow would only destroy the Foundation of the Law's evolution.

The depth of life must be built with long years and countless bones.

Year two thousand.

Deep within the thick roots of the Jianmu, a group of primates covered in black hair poked their heads out and emerged from a cave.

Ape-men.

Their backs were hunched, and they held crude wooden sticks in their hands.

They cautiously surveyed this world full of hidden dangers.

A young ape-man tried to pick a brightly colored spiritual flower.

It was a Man-eating Flower mutated from the scattered seeds of the nine-aperture spirit-communication grass.

A poisonous stinger suddenly shot out from the stamen, cleanly piercing its throat.

The young ape convulsed and fell, its body instantly shriveling.

The troop of apes erupted in terrified shrieks and fled frantically back into the dark cave.

Death taught them reverence.

It also forced them to begin observing the rules of this world.

They discovered that as long as they stayed near the lake emitting a faint blue light, those terrifying beasts did not dare to approach easily.

The pressure from the ren water Origin became their natural sanctuary.

The ape troop began to migrate toward the lakeside.

Year two thousand three hundred.

A sudden thunderstorm swept through the Grotto-heaven.

This was a product of the Grotto-heaven's Laws perfecting themselves.

Zhen Wood Divine Thunder exploded violently in mid-air, igniting the withered wood at the edge of the forest.

The soaring fire drove away the herds of beasts.

The Ape-men huddled deep in their caves, shivering.

After the fire died down, several brave adult Ape-men stepped out of the cave.

They found a charred wild boar in the ashes.

The aroma of roasted meat rudely tore through the gamey smell of raw food.

A strong ape-man tore off a piece of cooked meat and stuffed it into his mouth.

He held up a branch that had not yet gone out, dancing with excitement.

The seeds of fire were brought back to the tribe.

Cooked food promoted gastrointestinal absorption and stimulated the rapid development of the brain.

The Ape-men began to shed their thick body hair, and their backs gradually straightened.

Year two thousand five hundred.

On the plains by the lake, rows of crude wooden fences were erected.

A primitive tribe had suddenly taken shape.

They learned to polish spears with animal bones and to weave fishing nets with vines.

The prototype of language was born within the tribe.

A few simple syllables represented water, fire, trees, and prey.

Every time night fell.

The tribal chief would lead the clansmen to prostrate beneath the massive shadow of the Jianmu.

That was the most prominent totem in this world, and the absolute supreme existence in their hearts.

They neatly arranged the skulls of the giant beasts they had hunted on the soil.

They lit bonfires and performed a rugged sacrificial dance.

The chief held high a bone staff stained with beast blood, letting out indistinct chants from his mouth.

Buzz.

The Golden Core within Gu Changsheng's Dantian suddenly vibrated.

An extremely faint yet pure golden thread, free of any Impurities, drifted up from the tribe below.

It cleanly merged into the surface of the Golden Core.

Power Of Will.

It was not the kind of mixed faith from the outside world, tainted with greed, fear, and desire.

This was the most instinctive reverence and worship of the Grotto-heaven's creatures for their Creator.

Gu Changsheng clearly sensed that the Primordial Wood Dao Patterns on the Golden Core became increasingly profound and heavy under the nourishment of this Power Of Will.

Without the need for deliberate Cultivation, his cultivation Foundation was rapidly rising in a subtle, imperceptible way.

Mortals in the outside world prayed to gods and Buddhas for promotions, wealth, and longevity.

That kind of Power Of Will was tainted with too much Mortal Karma; absorbing too much of it could easily cloud one's spiritual terrace.

But this group of primitive people in the Grotto-heaven.

They worshipped the heavens simply because the heavens were there.

Pure.

Clean.

Coal Ball lay on the clouds, letting out a bored yawn, his dark-gold royal markings flickering slightly.

In the tribe below, two strong male Ape-men were engaged in a tragic fight for the position of chief, brandishing bone spears.

Blood gushed out as one of them was cleanly pierced through the chest by a spear.

His internal organs spilled across the ground.

The victor stepped on the corpse, pounding his chest and letting out an ear-splitting roar.

The surrounding clansmen knelt one after another, showing their submission to the new chief.

Gu Changsheng's expression remained calm, without even a ripple of emotion.

There was no pity, nor was there any intervention.

Birth, aging, sickness, death, and survival of the fittest were the iron Laws of the world's operation.

If he were to step in and save the loser, the evolution of this Grotto-heaven would come to a complete standstill.

The Creator should be as unfeeling as heaven and earth.

Only by treating all things as straw dogs can all things be allowed to grow wildly.

Year three thousand.

The scale of the tribe expanded rapidly, splitting into three different clans.

They reclaimed crude farmland from the earth, trying to plant low-level variants of the scattered nine-aperture spirit-communication grass seeds.

Although what grew was just a pile of weeds without any Spiritual Qi.

But the seeds of agricultural civilization had been completely ignited on this wild land.

The prototype of writing began to spread across the stone walls.

They used beast blood mixed with mud to draw hunting scenes on the rock walls of the caves.

They drew the moment lightning struck and ignited the trees.

They drew that massive Jianmu that supported the heavens and the earth.

The altars were renovated to be even more magnificent.

Massive bluestones were piled into towering steps, reaching toward the roots of the Jianmu.

Every full moon night, the chiefs of the three clans would gather at the altar.

They would offer the plumpest prey, cut their wrists, and spill their blood on the earth.

Using a sharp stone flake, the chief carved a crude circle on the outermost bark of the Jianmu.

That was the "Heaven" in their understanding.

It was also the concrete symbol of Gu Changsheng in this world.

More and more golden Power Of Will turned into a continuous drizzle, flowing steadily into the clouds.

Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged within the Pure Qi.

He was surrounded by a dense world power.

With a casual grasp, he kneaded a ball of pure Power Of Will into his Golden Core.

This power carried no Impurities and transformed directly into the purest Law Foundation.

His cultivation progressed steadily toward the Middle Stage of the Golden Core.

All of this happened silently.

There was none of the wretchedness of fighting to the death for a few Spirit Stones in the outside world.

Nor were there any schemes or power struggles.

There was only the composure and indifference of one who ruled a world.

He finally understood why those old monsters of ancient Daoist lineages could stay cooped up in their Immortal Caves for thousands of years.

Watching a world take shape beneath one's feet.

Watching civilization rise from nothing, from savagery to order.

This experience of being a Creator, standing above all living beings, was far more intoxicating than any slaughter.

But he still maintained absolute clarity.

No matter how good the Grotto-heaven was, it was still just an appendage to the Major Thousand Worlds.

To truly transcend, it was still far from enough.