Chapter 532: with translation of chapter title

Sun Star.

Gu Yuan, or rather the Great One, slowly opened his eyes.

He had no physical form, merely a cluster of consciousness fire, yet he could clearly see everything around him.

This golden ocean was where he was nurtured, and also the source of his power.

Every drop of golden liquid contained enough energy to drive even an immortal king mad.

And not far away, another cluster of consciousness fire, sharing the same root and origin as his, lay quietly asleep.

That was his elder brother, Emperor Jun.

Gu Yuan could feel that he and his brother were like double-yolked eggs nurtured in this golden ocean, their breaths linked, their origins shared.

Very good.

Starting identity: top-tier innate deity, three-legged golden crow.

This was better than any starting point he had imagined.

According to the system, his natal spirit treasure should be that item hailed as an innate supreme treasure, the Chaos Bell, also called the Eastern Emperor Bell.

Gu Yuan's thought stirred, and he began trying to establish a connection with that legendary supreme treasure.

Soon, he saw it.

In the deeper part of the golden ocean hung an ancient, heavy bronze great bell, floating silently.

On the bell's body, images of sun, moon, stars, earth, water, fire, and wind circled, as if bearing the weight of an entire universe.

Eastern Emperor Bell.

Gu Yuan's consciousness attempted to approach, wanting to refine it as easily as controlling his own arm.

However, the moment his divine sense touched the bell's body, an indisputable will rebounded from within the bell.

That will carried no hostility, but rather a natural affinity.

But that was all there was.

Gu Yuan discovered that he simply could not refine it.

This bell seemed to have its own life, its own pride.

It acknowledged his identity as the Great One, willing to draw near, but to become its master he was still far from qualified.

Why?

Gu Yuan analyzed calmly.

The Eastern Emperor Bell was transformed from the blade of Pangu's axe, a supreme weapon of slaughter for cleaving heaven and earth.

To have such a supreme treasure acknowledge a master, one either needed saint-level cultivation to forcefully refine it by strength,

or, like the true Great One, be born alongside it, sharing origin and entrusting lives, making one its destined master by heaven's decree.

And frankly, he was a counterfeit.

A transmigrator who had taken over another's nest.

The Eastern Emperor Bell did not reject him, already out of respect for Pangu the Great's genetic legacy.

To have it serve him as naturally as an arm or finger was utterly impossible.

That was quite troublesome.

Gu Yuan's original plan was, once he was born, to clutch the Eastern Emperor Bell and hide in a corner no one could find.

Never mind the Witch-Demon Calamity, never mind the protagonist of Heaven and Earth—none of it concerned him.

After the calamity ended and the saints returned to their stations, he would come out to pick up scraps, gather fragments of innate spirit treasures, or dig some soil from Mount Buzhou to bring back to his inner world.

That would be the perfect vacation.

But now, his greatest reliance—the Eastern Emperor Bell—was unusable.

An Eastern Emperor the Great One without his bell, in the future calamity that would sweep the entire wilderness, was no different from high-grade cannon fodder.

The ending, still, was death.

Gu Yuan did not like this ending.

Since the conventional path was blocked, he had no choice but to take another.

Gu Yuan's thoughts began to race.

The system's issued task was to make his own choice in the Witch-Demon Calamity.

Choose to aid the witches, support the demons, or pacify the calamity.

These three options all pointed toward one path—enter the calamity.

As long as one entered the calamity, there was the risk of bodily death and dao annihilation.

Even though this was merely a divine soul, he did not want to take that risk.

So, was there a fourth option?

For example, overturn the chessboard, or have someone else play this game in his stead?

His gaze fell upon the cluster of consciousness fire not far away that was quietly sleeping.

Emperor Jun.

His dear, simple-minded innocent one, who in the future was destined to devote himself to the demon clan, bowing his head and exhausting himself until death… a good older brother.

A bold plan gradually took shape in his mind.

He, Eastern Emperor the Great One, why must he necessarily be that charging sovereign?

Why couldn't he be one who, from behind the scenes, points out the rivers and mountains, enjoying the fruits as a retired emperor?

Emperor Jun's character was steady, bearing the demeanor of an emperor; he was born to be emperor material.

And what about him?

He was merely a salted fish who wanted to come to the wilderness for a vacation and, incidentally, scoop up some benefits.

In that case, let's do a good deed.

Push all the halos, all the glory, all the responsibility and risk onto my good older brother.

As for me, I just need to stay behind him, be a strategist who occasionally advises on his future path, a carefree younger brother— isn't that nice?

Must realize this plan.

First, Di Jun must be strong enough.

Strong enough to suppress all dissent, strong enough to make those twelve muscle-brained Ancestral Witches feel troubled, strong enough to make the lofty sages dare not lightly treat him as a pawn.

Then this younger brother of his can rest easy.

How to make Di Jun stronger?

Gu Yuan looked at his own origin.

That is, as a three-legged golden crow, his innate origin, utmost yang and utmost rigid, vast and boundless.

This is his potential as an innate being.

But now, Gu Yuan decides to give all this potential and this opportunity entirely to his older brother.

This is not sacrifice; it's investment.

He wants to bundle the heavy karma borne by the identity of Donghuang Taiyi, together with this heaven-defying origin, and transfer it all to Di Jun.

And he himself must free himself from the imperial shackles.

The plan is set.

Gu Yuan hesitates no longer.

He begins to mobilize his consciousness, drawing that vast, brilliant origin fire, slowly flowing toward Di Jun's slumbering consciousness.

This process is very slow and arduous.

It's like an ordinary person trying to push a mountain.

But Gu Yuan's will is extremely steadfast.

A thread, a filament.

The golden origin fire was forcibly stripped from his consciousness, like a warm little stream, silently merging into Di Jun's sea of consciousness.

The slumbering Di Jun seemed to feel something.

His consciousness, silent for countless aeons, for the first time, stirred a ripple.

A warm, friendly, vast power is enveloping him, nourishing him.

This is…… the younger brother's aura?

Why…… would he do this?

……