440: Chapter 440 Severing All Worldly Ties, Standing Firm in the Primordial World

Just then, the chaotic spiritual qi that had not yet fully dissipated between heaven and earth floated quietly, like all rivers returning to the sea, as it was entirely drawn in by the meditating Jiang Chen. He poured out his entire aura, using his body as a furnace and his blood as a catalyst, exerting all his strength to temper his physical form, forcing out, forging, and connecting every inch of the dormant power within the Pangu Bloodline.

Pangu was born from chaos, and to him, chaotic spiritual qi was like sweet rain to parched earth or a hungry tiger meeting a lamb—the moment they touched, he swallowed it all up like a great whale sucking in water. Wherever the spiritual qi reached, bones were reshaped, bloodlines surged, and the skin glowed; a humanoid form gradually approached perfection under the nourishment of chaos, as if crafted by nature itself.

At the same time, the newly born ancient stars seemed to sense something, and they shed their vast starlight, pouring down from the nine heavens like a silver waterfall onto his head, helping him concentrate, strengthen his foundation, and refine his form. Deep beneath the earth where he sat cross-legged, spiritual rhythms surged, and the thick earth energy bubbled up, piercing from the soles of his feet straight to the Baihui Point, polishing his bones and nourishing his internal organs from the bottom up.

With heaven and earth in harmony and yin and yang in balance, all the power of creation flowed unreservedly into Jiang Chen's body. By comparison, the Twelve Ancestral Witches, who were still struggling to be nurtured within the baleful qi of heaven and earth, were nowhere near the chance to take form, let alone such a majestic and pure tempering—the gap was obvious at a glance.

Although the Twelve Ancestral Witches shared the same Pangu Bloodline, they were unfortunately tainted by baleful aura; their bloodlines were clouded, making it difficult to form a Primordial Spirit, leaving them only able to blindly temper their physical bodies. Fortunately, the source of the laws was imprinted deep within the Pangu Bloodline, and once awakened, they could wield it with ease. This path seemed crude and direct, but it came at the cost of sacrificing the Primordial Spirit. Was it worth it? Outsiders could hardly judge; only they knew their own plight.

Now, the path Jiang Chen had embarked upon was the very same solitary road that Pangu had walked back then—as for how far he could go and whether he could reach the peak, it all depended on himself.

The sea of consciousness had been slowly opened with the help of the chaos bead. Although his Primordial Spirit had not yet taken shape, it was like a budding sprout, merely waiting for day and night of tempering. Moreover, this was an era of exploding spiritual qi: the chaotic qi had not yet ended, and the innate breath was abundant, far from being comparable to the Dharma-Ending Age of later generations, where spiritual qi would be exhausted and even the acquired turbid qi would be so thin it was almost a vacuum.

Gains and losses are beyond one's control, but the choice is in the present. He had to firmly grasp this sliver of life and never again let a sense of powerlessness tear him apart—that pain of watching his loved ones vanish while being unable to even lift a finger, he would never taste it a second time. With no distractions, he focused solely on his cultivation.

Fear, trembling, helplessness, shrinking back... if these emotions are allowed to spread, they will only eat away at reason, leaving one trapped deeper and deeper in the mire of "I don't deserve it" and "I can't do it." The true way out is never to just endure, but to calm down and see clearly where you stand, what you have in your hands, and where your next step should land—only with clarity can the situation be broken.

There is no calendar in the Great Desolation, and time leaves no trace. With living beings not yet formed, no one knew how many seasons had passed. For Jiang Chen, it was merely a matter of closing his eyes for a sit, and when he opened them again, an unknown number of winters and summers had cycled through. It wasn't until the aura within his body could no longer advance an inch that he slowly withdrew from his state of cultivation.

His eyes snapped open, a sharp light flashing through his pupils before vanishing into their depths; a moment later, a genuine smile spread across his face—it turned out that this stroke of fortune was so vast that it exceeded all his imagination.

He raised his hand with a light gesture, and the chaos bead quietly emerged in his palm, its shimmering light flowing. He gazed at it for a moment and said softly, "Everything started because of you... and thank you for letting me truly step into the myths. Before, I was just spinning around in chaotic delusions, muddled all day long—perhaps that was my retribution. But now? I truly like this outcome."

The chaos bead trembled slightly, its light brightening as it slowly flew around him, as if responding to that heartfelt joy.

To have the chaos bead recognize him as master so easily was the greatest fortune of his life, and it was also the foundation for him to establish himself and found a sect in the Great Desolation. He smiled and summoned it back; the bead turned into a streak of light, entered his forehead, and sank quietly into the depths of his sea of consciousness, resting peacefully.

His mind was already clear. He stood up and stretched his limbs, feeling light all over; every part of his body felt perfectly aligned. More clearly, he realized that his current realm had already stepped beyond the boundaries of mortal perception—it turned out that cultivation was not an ordeal, but a natural progression; the anxieties that once kept him awake at night now seemed like a false alarm.

The realms of the God Path are unified under the rank of Profound God. Although he had only just entered the threshold, he already firmly surpassed those of the same level in the Immortal Path—if compared to the Immortal Path, he fluctuated roughly between the Mysterious Immortal and Golden Immortal ranks, though it was hard to say exactly where he landed.

God rank sequence: Minor God, Spirit God, True God, Profound God, Taiyi God, Daluo God, Heavenly God, Saint;

Immortal rank sequence: Earth Immortal, Heaven Immortal, True Immortal, Mysterious Immortal, Golden Immortal, Taiyi Golden Immortal, Daluo Golden Immortal, Quasi-Saint, Saint.

As for the Saint realm, there is actually no distinction between them. Ten thousand paths all lead to the same destination; once power reaches its peak, it has long since broken free from the distinction of strength and weakness, with only the starting paths being different. For instance, the God Path begins with the three foundations of God Building, God Transformation, and God Refining; the Immortal Path proceeds from Foundation Building, Qi Refining, Essence Refining, and Spirit Refining, all the way to Returning to Void and Joining the Dao.

This leap filled Jiang Chen's heart with wild joy—crossing countless barriers in one step to reach the realm of Profound God was a fortune he wouldn't have dared to dream of in the past. But he quickly composed himself: the road ahead was long, and it was far from time to relax. After all, this was a world where fists did the talking, and the word 'strength' never allowed for the slightest bit of luck.

He suddenly clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white and his veins bulging, as if he wanted to grasp fate in his palm and crush it. He vowed: never again would he be at the mercy of others, never again would he be controlled; all causes and effects would be held in his own hand, and all choices would be his alone—his gaze was like a blade, sharp and calm.

The first step had been taken, and the second step was already brewing beneath his feet. He was certain that in this life, he would stand tall between heaven and earth, supporting a piece of the universe and leaving his own mark, just as Pangu had when he created the world.

He looked down at the old items he had brought with him, which had long since rotted away—time is silent, yet it is the most ruthless. Those traces that once belonged to modern life had quietly peeled off, weathered, and vanished during his long cultivation.

Jiang Chen sighed softly: time is the most insurmountable opponent. But now, he intended to turn the tables and grasp time and space in his hands, making them obey him. If he truly became the master of time and space, what would he have to fear from the passage of time? Wouldn't that be a huge joke?

With a wave of his hand, the remaining old items scattered into dust with the wind, fluttering away and disappearing in an instant. Fortunately, his robes could be transformed by his will, so he didn't have to worry about being naked—those modern days of drinking coffee and scrolling through a phone were truly over; what lay before him was the vast and unknown scroll of the Great Desolation.

With a light tap of his toes, he rose into the air, Seven-Colored Auspicious Clouds surging up from beneath his feet to carry him slowly higher. The urgent priority was to find a stable Sanctum. He couldn't just hang in the wilderness every day, exposed to the wind and sun, could he? Fortunately, the Great Desolation had just been created, the mountains and rivers had not yet split, and it was vast and boundless, with places to settle down everywhere. He was currently standing in the northeast of the Great Desolation, adjacent to where the North Sea and the East Sea met.

At that time, the Great Desolation was still a single, perfectly formed continent, majestic and boundless. To go around it? He feared he could hardly manage it even if he spent his whole life. For now, the most important thing was to find a mountain and settle down properly.

The Great Desolation was too big; even after flying in the northeast for several days, the distant mountain shadows still seemed to float on the horizon, slow to arrive. It seemed he needed to quickly brush up on his movement techniques—he couldn't rely on stepping on clouds to travel for the rest of his life.

As soon as the thought arose, he touched upon a secret regarding speed from the Hunyuan Spacetime Sutra, and immediately sat cross-legged to adjust his breathing and concentrate on comprehending it.

Piercing through time and crossing space—so that was it! It was simple. The chaos bead came with this technique; one must know its original name was the "Chaos Spacetime Bead," and governing time and space was its very nature. Now, borrowing it to increase his speed, he naturally moved with irresistible force, becoming incredibly fast.