Chapter 396: Chen Ku mends Heaven and Earth, seizing the giant turtle to establish the four poles!

Although the five-colored stone is also a rare treasure of extraordinary value.

But compared to this Mysterious Yellow Merit Pearl, it naturally falls far short.

Chen Ku contemplated.

If one were to use the Mysterious Yellow Merit Pearl to mend the incomplete Heaven and Earth, could it retain most of the innate spiritual qi?

Moreover, its merit light could illuminate the world, so that beings' cultivation would not be greatly affected.

Thus, he acted in this way.

This pearl is formed from merit, a reward of Heaven and Earth's will, and its essence shares the same origin as the primordial world.

Using it to mend Heaven and Earth is not a blockage, but a "birth".

It lets the damaged Heaven and Earth, using merit as nourishment, grow and heal on their own.

Thus, it not only preserves the remaining innate spiritual qi to the greatest extent, but also lets the merit light shine throughout the myriad worlds, nourishing all things.

The impact on beings' cultivation will be reduced to the minimum.

A single thought entails two utterly different futures.

Chen Ku chose the more arduous yet also more compassionate path.

This decision required no hesitation.

His heart stirred slightly.

Boom!

Invisible law and order, moved by his will, instantly condensed into tangible Great Dao divine fire.

The flame was neither crimson nor golden, but displayed a color of unopened Chaos, within which myriad Dao runes arose and fell, rose and sank.

Such fire could incinerate a Great Luo and melt all things.

He summoned the Heaven and Earth Cauldron, which hovered before him; its ancient casing lit up with patterns of sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and flora, as if a complete universe turned within.

The Great Dao fire fell into the cauldron.

Instantly, flames surged inside the Heaven and Earth Cauldron; the intense heat targeted not the flesh but the soul and true spirit, as if to ignite one's Dao and law together.

Jieyin, Zhunti, and Hongyun stood afar, their expressions grave to the extreme.

They clearly sensed the terrifying power contained in that flame, a primordial Dao fire capable of threatening their saintly bodies.

All three held their breath, daring not to make a sound, lest they disturb Chen Ku.

They all understood that what was unfolding before them carried a significance so great it even surpassed a battle of saints.

It concerned the future of the primordial world and the fate of countless beings between Heaven and Earth.

There was no earth-shaking roar, no violent clash of laws.

The Mysterious Yellow Merit Pearl fell into the flame, yet suffered not the slightest pain or struggle of melting.

It merely hovered silently, its Mysterious Yellow halo growing ever gentler, as if actively accepting and selflessly offering itself.

The Dao fire within the cauldron was no longer violent.

They turned into the gentlest threads, wrapping strand by strand around the merit pearl—not burning it, but dissecting and guiding it.

In Chen Ku's eyes reflected the cauldron's scene, where countless Dao runes flowed and evolved deep within his pupils.

His divine sense, the entire Heaven and Earth Cauldron, the Dao fire inside it, and that merit pearl merged completely.

This was an exquisitely precise control.

A bit more force, and the merit would scatter.

A bit less force, and the divine pearl would not transform.

He had to fully refine the Heaven and Earth merit and world-origin power contained within the merit pearl, then transform it into a form that could perfectly merge with the primordial Heaven and Earth.

This process allowed no margin for error.

At this moment, time lost its meaning.

Perhaps it was an instant, perhaps countless years.

The scene inside the cauldron kept changing.

The originally dazzling Mysterious Yellow Merit Pearl gradually lost its inherent form.

Within the flame's embrace, it first became a pool of liquid Mysterious Yellow slurry, specks of merit golden light flickering within like stars in the night.

Then the slurry began to vaporize, turning into the purest Mysterious Yellow Two Qi.

Mysterious Qi rose, Yellow Qi sank, and within the small cauldron's space, a faint recreation of Heaven and Earth's initial opening emerged.

Finally, the Mysterious Yellow Two Qi mingled, swirled, and compressed.

At last.

At one moment, all light and flame inside the cauldron fully retracted.

Chen Ku's long‑tense expression finally relaxed, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

He slowly exhaled a breath.

That breath was long, carrying the relief after completing a vast undertaking.

Jieyin, Zhunti, and Hongyun felt their hearts tighten, instantly turning their gazes to the Heaven and Earth Cauldron.

All they saw was that the merit pearl and the Dao fire had vanished from within the cauldron.

Only a mass of substance hovered silently.

It was a substance impossible to describe in words, radiant and ever‑changing.

At times it took the form of Chaos, at times it evolved into sun, moon, and stars, at times it condensed into mountains, rivers, and streams.

Its light was supremely gentle yet held the utmost dignity and compassion.

That light, shining on a person, could calm all emotions and heal all wounds.

This is the perfect fusion of the origin of merit and the origin of the world.

Chen Ku's thoughts moved again.

"Go."

He gently uttered a word toward that mass of matter.

That mass of iridescent matter slowly rose from the Qiankun Cauldron and drifted toward the huge rift in the heavens.

It flew slowly, yet carried an irresistible will.

When it touched the rift in the heavens.

The entire primordial world fell utterly silent.

Time and space were paused at this moment.

The wind ceased, the water stilled, the raging earth‑fire‑wind‑water, the howling Nine Heavens Weak Water, all froze at this moment.

Immediately after.

From that mass of matter, countless profound and inscrutable Great Dao runes surged forth like a tide.

Those runes were not acquired later; they were innate, each representing a most fundamental principle of heaven and earth.

They were like golden fish, actively seeking out the broken chains of law between heaven and earth.

They imprinted themselves upon them.

Crack!

A faint yet clear sound spread throughout the primordial world and the hearts of all living beings.

That was the sound of the broken chains of law being reconnected.

The originally fragmented and chaotic laws, under the repair of these Great Dao runes, were being restored and reshaped at a visible speed, becoming even tougher and more perfect than before.

This was not the end.

With the complete integration of that mass of matter.

Within the primordial world, a supremely mysterious power suddenly appeared.

This power was gentle, yet omnipresent.

It seeped into mountains and rivers, into the air, into the bodies of every living being.

Mountains and earth became more stable as a result.

Rivers, lakes, and seas became more vibrant.

All beings between heaven and earth, regardless of cultivation level or race, felt at this moment a peace and tranquility emanating from the world itself.

It was a comfort like that of a mother.

The rift in the sky was healing.

The pouring Nine Heavens Weak Water was flowing back into the Heavenly River.

The violent earth‑water‑fire‑wind, as if smoothed by an invisible great hand, returned to their proper order.

Witnessing this miraculous scene, Jieyin, Zhunti, and Hong Yun had their solemn expressions replaced by shock and delight.

They had imagined countless ways to mend the heavens, but never thought anyone could repair this world's wound so perfectly and effortlessly.

This was no longer merely mending the heavens.

This was… reshaping heaven and earth!

"Good, so good!"

Hong Yun's voice trembled slightly, the utmost excitement.

"As expected of Fellow Daoist Chen Ku, you actually possess such miraculous means to complete the heavens and earth."

His praise came from the heart.

Jieyin and Zhunti beside them also nodded slowly.

Their movements were slight, but their eyes were full of unreserved admiration and relief.

At this moment, their understanding of Chen Ku was raised once again to an entirely new level.

…

On another side.

In Taisu Heaven, within the Nüwa Palace.

This place has been eternally constant, pure and unforced; the aura of the Great Dao flows like breath, each cycle cleansing the vast emptiness of billions of miles.

Deep within the palace, the Holy Nüwa sat exalted on a cloud bed; her surrounding Dao aura formed a realm of its own, insulating against the erosion of time and the staining of karma.

Her eyes were deeper than the most profound star sea, reflecting the rise and fall of all realms.

Yet just moments ago, those ancient‑well‑still eyes of the saint first rippled.

A band of Xuanhuang merit‑golden light spanning heaven and earth actually pierced the barrier of Taisu Heaven and shone upon this eternal tranquil place.

That light did not rudely intrude; it carried the majestic authority of the Heavenly Dao's supreme principle, dignified and upright, causing all Great Daos to yield.

Nüwa's form paused slightly at the instant this merit‑golden light shone upon her.

The perfect Dao aura encircling her showed a faintest hint of stagnation.

On her indescribably beautiful face, a pure look of astonishment first appeared.

Her holy heart, clear and reflecting all things, ought not to have this emotion.

Yet what unfolded before her eyes in the primordial world truly exceeded her calculations and fate.

"This…"

A soft sigh escaped her lips, carrying a hint of astonishment she herself had not even noticed.

"This brat stole the palace's fortune and merit?!"

Nüwa finally could not hold back, turning her thought into a whisper.

This sound echoed in the vast Nüwa Palace, yet was instantly dissolved by the omnipresent Dao aura, as if it had never existed.

Her expression became strange.

That was not anger, nor hatred, but a more complex emotion.

Like a chess player who had already calculated all the variations of the board, prepared to place the decisive piece that would determine heaven and earth, but then discovered a hand appearing out of nowhere on the board, ending the game in a way he had never imagined yet exquisitely skillful.

She had already prepared to refine stones to mend the heavens.

The primordial five-colored stone had been nurtured in her palm, awaiting the moment to act and quell this catastrophe sweeping the primordial world, thereby gaining boundless merit to seek a sliver of survival for the demon race and to advance her own Great Dao.

This is the trend of the Heavenly Dao, her opportunity, and also her responsibility.

But now, this opportunity, this responsibility, this immense merit that should have been hers, has been snatched by a junior.

Any quasi-saint great power, faced with this severing of the path and theft, would likely already be consumed by rage and murderous intent.

But Nüwa is, after all, a saint.

A turn of her thought, and that faint strange emotion quickly settled.

Blame?

No need.

Grudge?

Let alone talk of it.

The act of mending the heavens is none other than saving the world.

This is a glorious orthodox path, impartial and selfless, boundless merit directed at the entire primordial world, not the private property of any person or clan.

The Heavenly Dao acknowledges only merit, not names.

As long as someone can save this heaven and earth, the Heavenly Dao will favor whoever does it.

This was originally a test open to all great powers, but while everyone had yet to react or was still weighing pros and cons, Nüwa perceived the heavenly secret and prepared to act.

And Chen Ku not only likewise perceived the heavenly secret, but his action was even a fraction faster than this Heavenly Dao Saint herself.

This is what astonished Nüwa the most.

Moreover…

Nüwa's saintly divine sense had long spanned boundless time and space, landing upon the substance that bore the trace of the fixed heaven.

Mysterious Yellow Merit Pearl.

At a glance, she saw through its essence.

It was not a mere material filling, but rather used supreme merit as a guide to mobilize the primordial yellow qi of heaven and earth, reshaping the laws of that region.

Its effect far surpassed the forced mending she achieved after melting the primordial five-colored stone.

The five-colored stone is a 'patch', an external binding.

But this Mysterious Yellow Merit Pearl is a 'birth', letting the laws of heaven and earth self-repair and evolve, leaving no flaw, perfectly seamless.

One is a sophisticated surgical procedure, the other is a regeneration that stimulates one's own potential.

The superiority is immediately clear.

Even if she personally acted, in terms of the perfection of heavenly and earthly restoration, she could by no means compare to this.

From this perspective, having Chen Ku mend the primordial world yields greater benefit.

The abundance of merit bestowed by the Heavenly Dao also proves this.

In that case, what reason does she have to quarrel?

Are we to say that because your method is better than mine, you are wrong?

Nüwa would not go that far.

In a brief moment, Nüwa's myriad thoughts had turned over a hundred million times.

In the end, her astonishment and strangeness faded completely, turning into clarity and relief.

Upon the cloud couch, she slightly stretched her body, the stagnant dao rhythm around her began to flow again, even more smoothly and harmoniously than before.

A slight ripple in her state of mind was, for her, also a form of cultivation.

Since the heavens have been mended and the calamity quelled, she naturally is no longer urgent.

Only, a new doubt rose in her heart.

Chen Ku…

Where exactly did that person obtain the Mysterious Yellow Merit Pearl, and how did they get ahead?

In Nüwa's holy heart, she once again developed a strong interest in Chen Ku.

She suddenly thought of something.

Her expression twitched slightly.

Then she took a step forward.

Without moving her form, she vanished from the cloud couch.

The next instant, her figure stepped directly beyond the boundary of Great Simplicity Heaven, crossing the limits of Chaos and heaven and earth, heading into the ever-changing primordial world.

……

The primordial world, all sounds ceased.

The entire world fell into a deathly silence.

The wind stopped, the clouds stagnated, even the surge of the river of time seemed frozen.

Countless beings, wherever they were, regardless of cultivation level, at this moment all performed the same action.

Raise their heads.

Gaze at the sky.

That great rift spanning the entire firmament is the sole image imprinted in the pupils of all beings.

It no longer flows with Chaos, yet remains ferocious, a wound in heaven and earth that cannot heal, seeping despair and lethal qi.

Above the high heavens, that figure, Chen Ku.

He became the sole moving point, the sole focus, in this dead silent heaven and earth.

The gazes of all beings in the Wilderness pierced through endless time and space, converging upon him.

In that gaze, there was no longer the previous shock and bewilderment, only an anticipation almost burning the soul.

They already understood Chen Ku's intention.

The substance transformed from the Primordial Merit Pearl hovering before him was the sole hope.

That substance flowed with a warm, lustrous radiance, an ineffable aura of peace, silently spreading, soothing the trembling souls of beings from fear.

This aura is the purest goodwill between heaven and earth, an acknowledgment by the Great Dao of the act of mending the heavens.

But even so, the fear stemming from the depths of the soul could not be completely eradicated.

"Heavens..."

A Demon Race Great Sage who had just gone through a bloody battle, his body drenched in blood, his voice hoarse and dry, he gazed at that rift, his pupils constricting.

"Senior Chen Ku, can this endeavor succeed?!"

His voice was not loud, yet in this eerie silence it clearly reached the hearts of countless beings, triggering a resonance like mountains collapsing and seas tsunami.

Yeah, can it succeed?

This question is the Sword of Damocles hanging over the heads of all beings.

"If the heavens cannot be mended, then the Nine Heavens Weak Water will still pour down, causing countless beings to suffer calamity."

An elder who had secluded himself for many years emerged from the training hall; he had endured several Great Calamities, was accustomed to life and death, and his tone now was also filled with heaviness.

He knew better than anyone what terrifying existence lay behind the rift in the heavens.

Nine Heavens Weak Water: not even a feather floats upon it, and a soul touching it perishes instantly.

Once it pours down, the entire Wilderness earth will be turned into a dead zone.

"Alas, who could have imagined that this Wu Clan–Demon Race final battle would develop to such a point of mutual destruction."

"Such severe consequences were never reached even by the several Great Calamities of the past."

Voices spoke up from all places.

In these voices there were deep sighs, endless lingering fear, and moreover resentment toward the instigator.

These words are no exaggeration.

After all, in the initial Dragon-Han Calamity, the Dragon, Phoenix, and auspicious beast clans vied for supremacy, staining mountains and rivers with blood, causing heaven and earth to change color.

The Dao-Demon struggle even nearly overturned the Orthodox Profound Gate, causing the future of the entire Wilderness to veer toward another direction.

Those several Great Calamities, though also horribly terrifying, made the heavens dark and the earth dim, the sun and moon bereft of light.

But after all, that was merely a struggle among beings, taking place within the framework of "the Heavenly Dao".

But this time, it was different.

The Heavenly Pillar, broken.

Heaven, collapsed.

This is pulling the fire from under the cauldron, overturning the game board.

The Wu Clan's petty fellows simply wanted all beings of heaven and earth to be buried with them.

Many beings couldn't help but think this in their hearts. Their understanding of the Wu Clan's barbarity and madness became the most direct and brutal cognition.

However, fortunately.

Amidst the watchful gaze of countless billions of beings holding their breath and straining their eyes.

At the moment when that worry and fear were about to peak.

A sudden change arose!

Above the high heavens, the light of Chen Ku's Primordial Merit Pearl before him suddenly blazed a hundred million times brighter.

That light was no longer a warm gold, but transformed into a sacred hue indescribable in words.

Hum—

A sound like the grand Dao tone from the very beginning of heaven and earth's creation echoed throughout the universe.

The substance transformed from the Primordial Merit Pearl disintegrated.

It did not explode, but actively and gently dissolved into vast expanses of sacred substance.

Those substances were flowing light, solidified Dao, the most primal essence of heaven and earth.

They converged into a brilliant river of light, actively pouring backward into that ferocious rift in the firmament.

All beings instinctively widened their eyes, even forgetting to breathe.

In their sight, that sacred river of light was gradually merging into the broken firmament.

Zizzle—

A wondrous sound rang out.

Like hot oil splashed on snow, and like withered wood encountering spring, sprouting new shoots.

Under the filling of the sacred substance, that earlier shocking huge rift, those broken, interlocking barriers of heaven and earth, began to be forged and smoothed.

The rift, at a speed visible to the naked eye, gradually healed.

The icy, dead, ominous Chaos aura seeping from the depths of the rift retreated step by step under the light of the Primordial Merit.

No longer did any aura not belonging to the Wilderness heaven and earth drift downward.

That lethal threat hanging over the hearts of all beings vanished.

The suffocating stillness between heaven and earth was broken.

The first to react was a young human, who stared blankly at the sky and then rubbed his eyes hard.

Immediately after, the old man beside him, his turbid eye sockets, shed two streams of hot tears.

"Success......"

"Heaven...... mended......"

These two words, with a tremble, with a sobbing tone, with a kind of emptiness from having released all pressure.

In an instant, the entire primordial world seemed like a still black-and-white painting suddenly infused with the most splendid colors.

Countless beings were first dazed, then an uncontainable ecstasy burst forth from every pore of theirs.

This let all beings secretly exhale a long breath.

That breath, held for far too long.

Some great demons raised their heads and howled long, their howls full of joy.

Some cultivators collapsed limp on the ground, wailed loudly, tears and snot smearing their faces, yet they didn't care.

Many more embraced and wept, or bowed deeply toward the already blurry figure in the sky.

As of now, Chen Ku seems to have succeeded.

Instantly, the faces of all beings grew even more overjoyed, as if they were survivors after a calamity.

This feeling far surpasses breaking through a major realm, far surpasses obtaining an innate spiritual treasure, being far more intense and profound.

It is the preciousness of something lost and regained, the fortune that their homeland was not destroyed.

They have cultivated in this primordial world for endless ages, long having etched these mountains and rivers, this sea of clouds, this starry sky into their marrow and souls.

If there were a choice, they naturally would not want to watch this realm shatter helplessly.

Above the high heavens.

Jieyin, Zhunti, and Hongyun, the three sages, stood atop the nine-heaven clouds, looking down at the heavenly rift mended by the primordial merit pearl, their expressions varied.

The golden light gradually withdrew, the shattered laws reweaved under the mighty power of merit; a catastrophe capable of burying the primordial world seemed to end just like that.

"Hehe, as a Buddhist disciple, one should have such breadth of mind and courage."

The look of pain on Jieyin's face faded somewhat, replaced by a sense of relief rising from the depths of his heart.

His gaze pierced the void, landing on Chen Ku, then sweeping over the Buddhist disciples below who were chanting sutras on the earth.

The calamitous qi and resentment, the toxins accumulated over hundreds of millions of years of conflict between the demon and witch clans, are being purified by streams of auspicious Buddhist light.

The eastern primordial realm, after this battle, has its vital energy gravely wounded.

Yet his Western Buddhist sect, seizing this opportunity, has planted its foundations deep into this fertile land once hard to tread.

"The merit of mending heaven, the virtue of teaching—this time our Buddhist sect's fortune will surely undergo an unprecedented surge."

Jieyin's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor, the anticipation of his grand plan soon to be realized.

He and Zhunti, for the great rise of the West, have schemed through countless eons, daring to involve any cause and effect, willing to pay any price.

Yet they never imagined that the greatest opportunity would actually be brought about by a disciple of theirs, personally forged in such a heaven-shaking manner.

Such a layout, such a handiwork—even if he and Zhunti personally took the field, they could not possibly do better.

The Witch-Demon Great Calamity was originally the main stage of the Daoist Three Pure Ones and the Demon Race's Heavenly Court; his Western Sect could only be considered a bit player.

But now, the protagonist has become Chen Ku, has become the Buddhist Sect!

Jieyin's words echoed among the clouds, carrying the flavor of a sage whose speech becomes law.

Yet the magnificent phenomenon he had anticipated—merit golden clouds gathering, the Heavenly Dao resonating—has long failed to appear.

One breath.

Ten breaths.

A full incense stick's worth of time passed.

Between heaven and earth, a deathly silence.

Besides the scorched earth and bloody relics left after the battle, there is not a trace of heavenly praise.

The vast merit that ought to have descended, enough to make sages glance askance, vanished without a trace.

The smile on Jieyin's face solidified.

The radiance of Zhunti's Seven Treasure Wonderful Tree flickered slightly, as if he too sensed this strange atmosphere.

Hongyun Patriarch frowned even tighter; as the first red cloud to attain humanoid form in the primordial world, deeply attuned to heaven and earth, he could now only feel a… indifference from the will of the Heavenly Dao.

What's going on?

Zhunti couldn't help but speak, his voice dry.

The three sages' gazes, in unison, turned again to the highest point of the firmament, where the will of the Heavenly Dao resides.

Impossible!

The Heavenly Dao is impartial, rewards and punishments clear.

Chen Ku's act of mending the heavenly rift and saving countless beings of the primordial world carries merit so great it could rival Nüwa's creation of mankind.

With such a tremendous achievement, how could the Heavenly Dao show no sign?

This completely violates the supreme principle of heaven and earth's operation!

The sages' thoughts raced; in an instant they deduced myriad possibilities, only to have each one rejected.

Unless……

Unless this world-saving deed has not yet truly been completed.

Still a flaw!

But where is the flaw? Heaven, already mended.

Just as the three sages racked their brains in bewilderment, a piercing cry mixed with endless fear transmitted from the primordial earth below, shattering this deathly silence.

"Hiss... Heaven... Heaven is falling down!"

This voice was initially weak, but seemed to carry a terrifying contagion, instantly igniting panic among all beings.

Countless survivors instinctively looked toward the sound.

The next moment, across the primordial wilderness, rose and fell the sound of countless gasps of cold air, and countless pupils suddenly constricted!

Exactly!

The sky really is falling!

The firmament just mended by the Xuanhuang Merit Pearl was no longer the boundless lofty azure; it had become a colossal slab of heavy sky-blue glaze.

Having lost the support of Mount Buzhou's heaven-supporting pillar, it now bore the terrifying weight of the Thirty-Three Heavens and the endless star river, sinking at a speed visible to the naked eye yet agonizingly slow… slowly… sinking!

This sinking brought an extreme sense of oppression.

Space was being compressed.

Spiritual energy was being squeezed.

On the land, some fragile ridges, even under this invisible might, began to groan under the burden, their surfaces cracking with ferocious fissures.

The air turned viscous; each breath felt like inhaling mercury.

All living beings felt their bodies, souls, and true spirits being slowly crushed by an irresistible force.

Although this change was slow, its consequence was more terrifying than heaven collapsing and earth sinking.

One day, heaven and earth will fully merge, the entire primordial world will be pressed into a thin 'picture', all things returning to nothing, reverting to Chaos!

By then, not only ordinary beings, even Golden Immortals of the Great Luo cannot escape the fate of being ground to dust!

"So that's how it is!"

Jieyin's eyes flashed with sharp light, instantly piercing all the mist.

So this is the true test!

Mending the heavens is merely the first step.

Supporting the heavens is the key to perfect merit!

Only by propping up this imminently collapsing heaven and earth can one be considered a true savior and receive the Heavenly Dao's final acknowledgment and reward.

But…

How shall we support the heavens?

Should we reforge a Mount Buzhou?

The moment this thought arose, Jieyin himself snuffed it out.

Impossible.

Though sages are called omniscient and omnipotent, even they cannot do it.

Mount Buzhou's strength never came from its material, but because it is the transformation of Pangu's spine, containing a strand of Pangu's heartblood and unyielding will.

That is the source of its ability to uphold the entire primordial world.

Now, Pangu's heartblood was long ago utterly detonated and exhausted in the final battle of the Twelve Ancestral Witches and the Demon Race's Heavenly Court.

Without Pangu's heartblood, even if the three sages joined forces and exhausted all divine metals, they could not forge a pillar to replace Mount Buzhou.

Forcing it would only result in being crushed to powder.

Jieyin's gaze grew exceedingly grave, even hinting at a sense of helplessness.

A deadlock that even sages cannot resolve.

Yet, at the very moment when Jieyin, Zhunti, and Hongyun the three sages felt this thorny and even desperate.

Chen Ku, standing between heaven and earth, however, took action.

From beginning to end, he never glanced at the slowly falling firmament, as if the weight that could crush everything was to him merely a breeze brushing his face.

His expression was calmly terrifying.

In his deep eyes lay no panic of beings, no gravity of sages, only a tranquil insight into all.

It seemed the apocalyptic sight of heaven collapsing and earth sinking before him had long been within his expectations.

He abruptly turned, no longer heeding the sages above nor the wailing beings below.

His gaze pierced the layers of distorted space, looking toward the far north of the primordial world, that dark sea forever covered by endless black ice and weak water.

The next moment, he slowly opened his mouth.

His voice was not thunder, yet it surpassed the thunder of myriad ages.

His sound was not the Dao, yet it contained the principles of heaven and earth.

Each word and sentence clearly reached the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, shaking every being's soul to a hum, momentarily making them forget the fear of the falling firmament.

"Is the North Sea Giant Turtle present?!"

His words fell.

Above the Nine Heavens, all sounds ceased.

The gaze of all beings, whether sage or mortal, locked tightly onto that newly opened, miraculous and peculiar space.

The spatial barriers rippled like water, revealing a boundless expanse.

It was not an ocean, yet it was given the name of a sea.

Heaven beyond Heaven, the North Sea.

This place lies outside the Three Realms of the primordial world, a junction of Chaos and order, a truly exotic domain beyond civilization.

Beings were not surprised; ancient legends had long mentioned it.

What they truly cared about was the terrifying pressure slowly rising from the depths of the North Sea.

A silhouette was materializing.

No, that cannot be called a silhouette.

It is a moving continent, a living universe.

A North Sea Giant Turtle.

Its turtle shell first squeezed out a spatial rift; upon its heavy carapace, not smooth, but covered with naturally formed grooves and patterns.

Those patterns are immeasurably deep, with faint dark-golden mysterious runes flowing within; each flicker exudes an ancientness and vicissitude capable of collapsing myriad ages.

Just this turtle shell alone blocks the heavenly light, casting its shadow upon the shattered Primordial Wasteland.

Next came its four legs.

These are not legs, but four heaven‑supporting divine pillars that extend from the North Sea, easily spanning the universe. The tip of each massive foot sinks into the depths of the cosmic star‑river, stirring nebulae and crushing meteors.

Finally, its skull.

The massive head slowly lifted, its deep‑set eyes, with eyelids opening and closing at an agonizingly slow pace, as if each blink consumed a millennium.

What kind of eyes are these?

Within them there is no divine light, no killing intent—only a dead‑still Chaos, in which the ancient weariness and fatigue left by the scouring of myriad ages have settled.

Its very existence is proof of time.

This giant ao is older than any saint present, possibly having witnessed the scene of the world's creation.

"I am here."

The giant ao opened its mouth; its voice was not the expected thunderous roar but an extremely heavy grinding sound, like two continental plates slowly shifting and crushing.

Each word contains a terrifying power that can shake souls.

"I have seen all the saints, and I have seen Saint Chen Ku!"

It recognizes Chen Ku, and it recognizes the saints.

Chen Ku gave a slight nod, his expression showing no relaxation, his gaze heavy as an abyss.

He stared directly into those eyes that seemed able to swallow all light—Chaos eyes—and spoke each word with perfect clarity.

"Now the Primordial Wasteland suffers calamity, heaven and earth sink!"

"Giant ao, I wish to use your four feet to re‑establish the four poles of heaven and earth."

His voice echoed between heaven and earth, every living thing hearing it clearly.

"Sever its four feet, to prop up heaven!"

Chen Ku's next words made even the heavenly mighty ones feel a pang of alarm.

"With your body, shield all beings of heaven and earth."

"Will you… accept?!"

The final four words, like a heavenly decree, carried an indisputable authority.

In the North Sea Giant Ao's ancient, waveless eyes, a flicker finally appeared.

A hint of struggle, like a stone tossed into a dead pool, sent ripples spreading.

Before Chen Ku even spoke, it already had a premonition.

At its level of cultivation, there is always a faint sense of what fate holds.

But when that premonition became reality, and Chen Ku spoke those words himself, that heaviness still made its soul and spirit pause.

"Prop up heaven and earth?"

"What a tremendous burden!"

This is not a mere lift; it must bear the weight of the entire Primordial Wasteland, endure the pressure of endless time and space, and withstand the violent, unceasing earth‑water‑fire‑wind after the Great Calamity.

"More importantly, why should it be so?"

It has slept in the North Sea for endless ages, watching the rise and fall of eras and the coming and going of beings.

It does not concern itself with worldly affairs, contends with nothing, and has long been a transcendent existence beyond the material realm.

It simply stayed peacefully in the North Sea, never inviting any karma.

"This so‑called Witch‑Demon Great Calamity is just the two clans fighting to the death, a fate set by the Dao Ancestor—what does it have to do with me?!"

"Now heaven has collapsed, yet they want me to mend it?"

"Isn't this just making me, an outsider, bear the final price of the Witch‑Demon war?!"

The giant ao's heart sank a little.

Its immeasurably huge body fell into a death‑like silence.

Silence was its attitude.

Chen Ku seemed to have anticipated its reaction.

He looked at the giant ao, his voice sounding again, this time tinged with pity and grandeur.

"This is an act to save the world!"

"It is also supreme merit!"

The giant ao remained unmoved. Merit? For a being like it, merit is no longer a necessity.

Chen Ku shifted his tone, his voice now laced with an irresistible temptation.

"If you agree, I can promise you this."

"All you need do is prop up heaven and earth for a million years."

"A million years."

To mortals it is an immeasurably long span, but to the giant ao it is merely a brief breath in its slumber.

This time falls within what it can accept.

But the price is still too great.

"After a million years…"

Chen Ku's voice suddenly turned solemn and sacred, as if a chorus of myriad Buddhas' chants echoed behind him.

"I guarantee you will attain the rank of Great Virtue Bodhisattva within the Buddhist School!"

"Enjoy the boundless fortune bestowed by my Buddhist School!"

Boom!

As these words were spoken, like a world-creating thunderclap, they explosively rang in the silent heart-sea of the giant tortoise!

Originally full of entanglement and unwillingness, the giant tortoise, in its pair of Chaos-like eyes, suddenly burst forth two rays of supremely brilliant divine light!

The divine light pierced the universe, illuminating the star river!

A Bodhisattva's position?!

These four words, as if possessing infinite power, made its Dao-heart, silent for a hundred million years, violently beat uncontrollably!

Although it remains hidden from the world, how could it not know the situation outside?

Nowadays, in the Wilderness, who does not know the Buddhist Sect? Who does not know Chen Ku?

This newly promoted Grand Unity Golden Immortal, by his own power, opened a brand-new Great Dao, his prestige so lofty it has long surpassed the Three Realms.

The Buddhist Sect is the foremost orthodoxy of the present age!

To achieve a Bodhisattva position within the Buddhist Sect is the supreme honor countless sentient beings dream of, even dare not imagine!

Moreover, that is not an ordinary fruit position, but a "Great Virtue Bodhisattva"!

It is a fruit position personally promised by Chen Ku!

The meaning contained within is of tremendous importance!

It has already reached the peak of Chaos, only a step away from the ultimate Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.

Yet this step has trapped it in endless ages.

It knows better than anyone that the path ahead is cut off; without a tremendous opportunity, there is no possibility of any progress in this lifetime.

But now, Chen Ku has given it an opportunity.

A hope that can be seen and touched!

Joining the Buddhist Sect and enjoying its endless qi fortune, does that mean one also has a chance to spy upon the supreme Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm?

Or, like Chen Ku, could one break the shackles of Heaven and Earth, achieve true immortality and transcendence?!

Once this thought arises, it spreads like a prairie fire, impossible to contain.

A million years of imprisonment and torment……

Exchange for an opportunity to reach the supreme realm!

This deal……

The giant tortoise's immeasurably huge body first showed a slight tremor.

That is not fear, but excitement rising from the depths of the divine soul.

It felt moved.

It felt moved to the utmost!

The North Sea giant tortoise's eyes, bearing the vicissitudes of endless ages, finally moved away from the shattered firmament and fell upon Chen Ku.

In that gaze, there was no resentment, no unwillingness, only a calm and resolve after experiencing myriad ages of birth and death.

A resolve belonging to the Wilderness's most ancient sentient beings, heavy as a mountain, deep as an abyss.

"Good."

A single word, uttered from the giant tortoise's mouth.

Its sound made no noise, yet it stirred the resonance of Heaven and Earth's laws, as if the immeasurable waters of the entire North Sea froze in this instant, bearing witness to this decision.

"I willingly accept this, using my own body to support Heaven and Earth!"

When the words fell silent, each character turned into a substantial imprint of Dao principle in the void, resounding with a roar, announcing to Heaven and Earth.

The giant tortoise accepted this supreme karma concerning the survival of Heaven and Earth and the future of all beings!

On Chen Ku's face, the ever-present calm finally eased, a faint smile blooming at the corner of his mouth.

In that smile lay approval of the giant tortoise's choice, and even more, mastery over the perfection of his own layout.

He spoke no further word.

All words now seemed superfluous.

Chen Ku merely calmly raised his right hand, extending a finger.

It was an utterly ordinary finger—fair, slender, with distinct joints, showing not a trace of mortal air.

But at the moment it pointed, the entire Heaven and Earth on the verge of collapse—all light and darkness, all laws and energies—seemed to dim beneath that finger.

A beam of light.

A beam of light whose color and essence cannot be described in words, burst forth from Chen Ku's fingertip.

It was neither pure gold nor holy white, but contained a primordial power that opens heaven and earth and remakes the universe.

This beam of light neither tore the void nor emitted any earth-shaking sound; it simply, in a constant, irresistible manner, instantly crossed space and plunged straight into the mountain-like undulating skull of the North Sea giant tortoise.

Buzz——!

A vibration originating from the divine soul, not the material plane, erupted from within the giant tortoise's body.

In an instant, the North Sea giant tortoise's colossal body, large enough to fill a star field, was forcibly lifted by an invisible, supreme power.

The North Sea's waters surrounding it surged up in billion‑foot waves, yet were strangely blocked by an invisible barrier, unable to touch its body in the slightest.

It was rising.

Slow, yet resolute.

It seemed not that it was rising, but that Heaven and Earth were making way for it.

As it rose, its colossal body, coiled for who knows how many aeons, finally unfolded completely between Heaven and Earth—for the first and last time.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four earth‑shaking roars that shook the universe exploded in succession!

Its four legs were no longer flesh and blood, but under the catalysis of that primordial light transformed into four divine‑metal pillars piercing Heaven and Earth!

East, South, West, North!

The four colossal pillars stepped with unmatched precision onto the four extreme directions of heaven and earth; upon their shafts, Great Dao runes flowed ceaselessly, moving earth, water, fire, and wind, and resetting the order of the four extremes.

Thus the earth ceased its trembling, and those bottomless abyssal fissures were, at the moment the four pillars fell, forcibly suppressed and smoothed by a mighty, surging force.

What once supported heaven and earth was the divine mountain named Buzhou.

Now, it is this living North Sea Giant Tortoise that pays with its own body!

Its majesty even surpasses that of the former Mount Buzhou, being grander, vaster, and peerlessly towering.

The four heavenly pillars replaced the single one.

This is an unprecedented stability!

And its vast, boundless shell, etched with myriad ancient marks, now bursts forth with immortal divine light.

Every pattern on its shell lit up, resonating with the countless cracks above the firmament; finally, in a grating 'crack' sound, they meshed together perfectly.

The tortoise's shell became the new heavenly canopy!

It merged with the shattered firmament as one, imparting an eternal, unchanging solidity.

The firmament, which had been slowly descending, bringing endless despair to all beings, finally, at this moment, ceased its fall completely.

Heaven and earth, stabilized!

At this moment, in the Three Realms of the Primordial Wilderness, countless beings, wherever they were and whatever their cultivation, all lifted their heads.

They saw.

They saw that figure standing between heaven and earth, planting its four feet to hold the earth and bearing the firmament on its back—a supreme silhouette.

That silhouette was so majestic, so divine.

It stood silent, bearing the weight of heaven and earth, yet exuding a compassion and sacrifice beyond words.

Reverence!

Gratitude!

These two ultimate emotions frenziedly sprouted in every being's heart, ultimately becoming the most devout worship.

"We... give thanks to Senior Chen Ku!"

"We give thanks to the Buddhist Saints!"

No one knows who spoke first, but that heartfelt roar instantly ignited heaven and earth.

"We give thanks to Senior Chen Ku and to the Buddhist Saints!"

A wave like mountain-shouting and sea-surging rose simultaneously from East Victory Divine Continent to West Ox Harmony Continent, from South Jambu Continent to North Kuru Continent, from the Nine Nether Underworld to the Thirty-Three Heavens.

Countless beings shed tears, prostrating themselves five-limbed to the ground, paying the highest reverence to the figure upholding heaven and also to the white-clad figure that gave the chance to uphold heaven.

And those great powers hidden in the blessed grotto-heavens were now shaken to their core.

They keenly caught a detail.

A detail capable of changing the future pattern of the Primordial Wilderness.

In the beings' chorus of kowtows, the name 'Chen Ku' stood proudly before the Buddhist Saints!

Jieyin and Zhunti, these two who have proven the Dao since ancient times, overlooking beings' endless ages as venerable saints, actually had their names placed behind.

What does this indicate?

It shows that after this event, Chen Ku's prestige in the hearts of beings is no longer merely on par with the saints.

But a true transcendence!

He surpassed Jieyin, surpassed Zhunti, and also surpassed that Holy Person Hongyun who likewise acted to mend the heavens.

His prestige at this moment reached an unprecedented peak, beyond anyone's reach!

As for the Three Pure Ones?

Taishang, Yuanshi, and Tongtian, these three once revered as the orthodox leaders of the Daoist sect and heads of the Mystic Gate, now cannot even be mentioned alongside Chen Ku.

In this heaven-and-earth catastrophe, from beginning to end, they never manifested their true forms.

Not to speak of taking action to save heaven and earth and benefit the beings.

Reward the meritorious, forget the idle.

The Heavenly Dao is impartial; human hearts are like scales!

Just at the moment when the billions of beings' most sincere, most reverent thanks reached their peak.

Above the nine heavens, strange phenomena suddenly arose!

Boom—

A deep, solemn thunder exploded from the depths of the Heavenly Dao's source.

This is not a thunder of destruction, but the Dao sound of order being reestablished and heaven and earth being rewarded!

Immediately after, boundless purple qi surged from the east, flowing over thirty thousand li without cease, dyeing the entire newly born heavenly canopy a noble purple.

Myriad rays of auspicious rosy light burst forth from nothing, illuminating the Three Realms.

Under the bathing of this rosy light, countless beings' injuries instantly healed, and bottlenecks in their cultivation loosened.

A vast, profound, ocean-like, extremely pure Heavenly Dao merit finally tore open the heavenly canopy and slowly manifested.