What is chaos?
It is the Great Dao, not yet refined.
The energy within a world is much more docile than the energy in chaos.
Compared to the situation before him, the chaotic energy that Chen Fan had found uncomfortable before was as docile as a cat.
"What on earth is going on?"
Chen Fan couldn't understand. "Have I traveled back to the age of primordial chaos?"
Only then could the situation before him be explained.
Chaos, after evolving over eons, would gradually become more docile in its power.
This was because as humans absorbed energy, their souls returned to chaos upon death.
This was a refining process, a refinement over countless generations of cultivators that made the energy more docile.
...
Unfamiliar.
Everything was utterly unfamiliar.
Chen Fan dared not absorb energy and could only cautiously navigate through the chaos.
Boom.
Suddenly, flames erupted ahead.
Even from a distance, Chen Fan felt a stinging sensation from the scorching heat.
"Gulp."
He swallowed involuntarily.
Whoosh.
A great river flowed.
Crackling.
A vast sea of lightning exploded.
And it was not far from Chen Fan.
"Not good."
Chen Fan's face changed, and he quickly dodged.
But a bolt of lightning still struck him, nearly killing Chen Fan.
"How can this be?" He was stunned.
Was chaos this dangerous in the past?
It was too terrifying.
If the Lightning Domain was like this, who would dare to leave their world?
As he was thinking, in the distance... a great world appeared.
"A world? There are worlds here?" Chen Fan was shocked.
He didn't know how long ago this was, but one thing was certain: this era was at least a million years before his own time, possibly tens of millions.
This place was too dangerous.
Just as he was thinking...
Boom.
Another sea of lightning erupted.
That great world was directly engulfed by the sea of lightning.
Endless thunderbolts burst forth, directly shattering the world.
"Holy crap."
Chen Fan was dumbfounded.
Too dangerous.
It was utterly too dangerous.
Terrifying.
A great world, just like that, obliterated by lightning.
Time slowly passed, and Chen Fan cautiously wandered through the chaos.
During this time, he saw worlds.
He saw humans.
He saw... Hmm? Chaotic beasts?
Not adult chaotic beasts, but a chaotic beast that was gestating in the chaos.
The chaotic beast was a ball of flesh.
After the flesh ball appeared, the violent chaotic aura actually became much more docile.
"This..."
Chen Fan was shocked. "Could it be that the emergence of chaotic beasts made the chaotic energy docile?"
He felt as if he had discovered a monumental secret.
There were no years here.
With nothing to do, Chen Fan slowly approached the flesh ball.
The flesh ball had spirit but no intelligence.
As if sensing Chen Fan's presence, the chaotic beast immediately swam over and nuzzled affectionately against Chen Fan.
"This..."
He placed his hand on the flesh ball and gently stroked it.
Hmm, it felt very comfortable.
Chaos was too dangerous, and coupled with the flesh ball's docility and its ability to calm the chaotic energy, for safety's sake, he decided to stay with the chaotic beast for a while.
Thus, he began to wander in the chaos.
During this time, more and more chaotic beasts appeared.
Chen Fan discovered that only where there were chaotic beasts did the chaos become gentle. Once they left, that place would once again become dangerous.
He witnessed the destruction of too many worlds.
He had entered some worlds.
But there were no living beings inside.
Not even a single person.
"Are there no humans at this time yet?" Chen Fan could only think so.
After a very, very long time...
Chen Fan felt that at least tens of thousands of years had passed.
Sometimes, he would sleep for thousands of years.
Bored, so bored.
At this point, the flesh ball had grown to the size of a house, and Chen Fan sat on it.
One person and one ball had become the best of companions.
Finally, one day, Chen Fan arrived at a world. Within this world, he actually saw a person, no... not quite a person.
It should be... an ape?
"The evolution of humans."
Chen Fan's eyes shone with divine light.
He wasn't in a hurry to leave and stayed in this world with the flesh ball.
After a long time, humans had appeared in this world.
Boom.
Suddenly, an aura of destruction descended.
"Not good."
Chen Fan's face changed drastically.
The next moment...
Boom.
He rushed out of the world directly. "Flesh ball."
Hearing his call, the flesh ball's body instantly grew to an immeasurable size and swallowed the world in one gulp.
Chen Fan himself, on the other hand, attacked the lightning.
He wanted to protect this world.
It had been too long, too long since he had encountered humans.
This battle against the destructive lightning lasted for tens of thousands of years. Chen Fan, scarred and battered, finally returned.
"Wuwu."
The flesh ball seemed to be crying.
"It's alright."
Chen Fan comforted the little one.
He felt that he was about to die.
He entered this world that he had fought for ten thousand years to protect.
By then, the world had already entered an era of rapid development.
But these people were all ordinary people.
Chen Fan was dying.
The battle with the lightning had pushed him to the end of his lifespan.
The flesh ball sensed it, and a sense of reluctance enveloped Chen Fan.
Chen Fan happily petted the flesh ball. This little fellow had remained the same round ball of flesh after all these years.
"This cannot continue."
Chen Fan thought for a moment and finally decided to pass down his Daoist teachings in this world.
It was not until the first Emperor Venerable appeared in this world that Chen Fan's mission was complete.
Even though he knew it was all fake, he was still very happy.
"Flesh ball, I'm leaving." His life had reached its end.
"Wuwu."
The flesh ball cried.
"Don't cry."
Chen Fan comforted the flesh ball. "You little thing, after all these years, you still can't speak. Sigh..."
He had taught the flesh ball, but alas... it just couldn't learn.
Helpless, he could only let it be.
But now, he was truly leaving, his lifespan at its end, his body exuding the aura of death.
"Live well."
He didn't want the flesh ball to suffer. "I've told you everything. Live a long life, and we will surely meet again someday."
"Master."
A young boy with a simple and honest face entered the room.
Tears welled up in the boy's eyes.
The Emperor Venerable.
The young boy before him was the first Emperor Venerable to appear in this world.
After Chen Fan left, he was to be entrusted with the protection of this world.
"Xiao Qi."
Chen Fan smiled. "After master leaves, you must take good care of the flesh ball."
Chen Qi was the name he gave the boy.
"Mm."
The boy nodded vigorously.
Finally, Chen Fan closed his eyes peacefully.
"Time to return."
It was all an illusion.
All fake.
But this life, he had lived it happily.
For some reason, Chen Fan always felt that his arrival here was, in some mysterious way, connected to the real world.
He would definitely figure it out in the future.
His consciousness gradually returned, and he opened his eyes once more.