What is order?
The Sky-Piercing Rat provided the answer: "From the time I could remember, the name Order has always existed."
"Order is faith, the supreme being that established the rules of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths. Even though that entity has been gone for countless ages, the name of Order still persists."
"It is Order that gave rules to chaos."
As he spoke, reverence filled the Sky-Piercing Rat's eyes.
He had never seen Order, only heard the name in legends.
These two words had spanned the Sky-Piercing Rat's entire life.
His voice grew deeper: "In the current Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, only the word Order still represents rules."
"Without Order, the entire chaos would likely be overrun by humans, and other beings would be unable to survive."
"It is Order that has forged this land, that has forged chaos."
...
No one spoke.
The Heaven-Splitting Great Emperor frowned; he had never heard of the name 'Order'.
Listening to the Sky-Piercing Rat's reverent narration, Chen Fan finally understood what faith was.
A supreme existence.
Perhaps beyond the ninth rank.
Ninth-rank beings could not establish rules, yet 'Order' could.
It was Order that protected this chaos.
The Nine Heavens and Ten Earths were created by Order.
Order.
Chen Fan remembered these two words.
This was a supreme being worthy of being recorded in the annals of chaos history.
"Then where is the person of Order?" Chen Fan asked again.
"I don't know."
"Hmm?"
"There are many legends."
The Sky-Piercing Rat did not hide anything.
Since someone asked, he would not hold back: "There are rumors that after Order created the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, finding it meaningless, they entered Nirvana within chaos."
"Is that possible?"
Chen Fan retorted, he certainly wouldn't do that.
If it was meaningless, they could have slept.
They could have sealed their memories and lived ordinary lives multiple times.
He would never do that anyway.
Whether it was possible or not, the Sky-Piercing Rat didn't elaborate.
He began to speak of the second rumor: "Others say that some beings did not approve of a chaotic world with Order, so some powerful entities joined forces and assassinated Order."
"Some beings?"
Chen Fan raised an eyebrow: "Who does 'some beings' refer to?"
The Sky-Piercing Rat: "..."
"Heh."
Chen Fan sneered: "It must be the ninth rank."
The ninth rank, as overlords of a region, controlled the life and death of countless beings.
With their absolute power, they could kill anyone they pleased, destroy anyone they wished.
The sudden arrival of Order, establishing rules, was essentially a shackle placed upon them.
What do powerful beings cultivate for?
Freedom, unbound existence.
Having roamed chaos for countless years, suddenly Order appears to restrain them.
Who would be willing?
"There is also a third explanation."
"What is it?"
"The third rumor is... Order felt that chaos was sick, so they went to construct the Six Paths of Reincarnation to heal the diseased world of chaos."
Three explanations.
Which was true and which was false, the Sky-Piercing Rat did not know.
Perhaps someone knew, surely the ninth rank.
"Chaos is sick."
Chen Fan pondered, then sighed after a long while: "Yes, chaos is indeed sick."
"You see it too?" the Sky-Piercing Rat asked curiously.
Chen Fan nodded: "Some beings have lived for too long, monopolizing ninety percent of chaos's resources, leaving no opportunities for later generations."
The Sky-Piercing Rat immediately gave a thumbs-up.
He nodded and said, "Indeed, this is sickness. It's just that no one is certain which of the three explanations is correct. I think the second and third rumors are both possible."
"Correct."
Chen Fan also agreed with this assessment.
The first explanation was basically impossible.
Order was either killed, or went to construct the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
Birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural course of life.
Some beings lived too long.
No matter how talented a youth was, they could not compare to a pig that had lived for a million years.
Time alone could crush people.
The simple conversation ended here.
"Let's go."
Chen Fan said, "We... are heading south."
The battle between the Demon Realm and the Five Realms Alliance would likely take a long time to end.
The best outcome would be mutual destruction.
Of course, Chen Fan had no intention of intervening.
He intended to go south, to seek the Yin-Yang Realm.
The overlord of the south, the Great Yin-Yang World.
There, perhaps, lay the opportunity for him to strengthen his Yin-Yang.
Ah, and Ge Ye.
This man had comprehended the Path of Life and Death, and was also an opportunity for his growth.
Excellent.
This excursion had not been in vain.
Indeed, this was a true great world.
This was the real stage of wonders.
The Thunder Domain was too small.
A slight turn and the Thunder Domain reached its end.
Never mind, let's go.
Boom.
On this day, a group of people rapidly traversed the Eastern Great World, charging south.
Time slowly passed.
In the blink of an eye, a month had gone by.
The battle in the east finally concluded.
Communication across chaos was not easy, but news of the battle between the Five Realms Alliance and the Demon Realm had spread throughout the Tenth Earth.
As Chen Fan had predicted, it was a mutual destruction.
The Demon Realm and its subordinates suffered the loss of thirteen Eighth-Rank Great Emperors.
This was an astonishing number.
Given the vastness of the Tenth Earth, this was roughly the number of Eighth-Rank beings lost in the past hundred thousand years.
The Five Realms Alliance was not faring much better, losing five Eighth-Rank beings. The Lord of the Blood Kill Realm was gravely injured and dying, while also severely wounding the Demon Lord. They fled the battlefield with the remaining members of the Five Realms Alliance.
Mutual destruction.
This news swept through the Tenth Earth like a gust of wind.
Another month passed, and a shocking piece of news arrived from the north.
The overlord of the north had emerged.
The Chaos Beast race, the Chaos Demonic Butterfly, had ultimately defeated its enemies and firmly established itself as the overlord of the north.
"Impressive."
Upon hearing the news from the north, even Chen Fan couldn't help but exclaim: "Dragon King is indeed powerful."
Needless to say, the victory in the north must have had something to do with the Dragon King.
This powerful chaos beast possessed formidable combat strength.
Another month passed, and Chen Fan and his four companions finally stepped into the southern region of the Tenth Earth.
The Southern overlord was primarily the Yin-Yang.
Under its command were dozens of Eighth-Rank Great Worlds. Even the Great Light Domain of the west would not easily invade the south. The Lord of Yin-Yang Dao in the Great Yin-Yang World was very powerful.
The Yin-Yang poles were something even the Lord of Light had to be wary of.
Ninth rank was not invincible.
At least not in the Tenth Earth; there were rivals.
Once the Lord of Yin-Yang Dao joined forces with a few Eighth-Rank beings, it was possible to slay a Ninth-Rank.
Therefore, the position of the Lord of Yin-Yang Dao as the Southern overlord was extremely secure.
The Great Light Domain could invade the east because the east was chaotic, lacking an overlord to consolidate all forces, existing in a fragmented state.
"Hoo."
Old Demon Chu inhaled the air of the southern Tenth Earth.
After a moment, he opened his eyes and sighed: "The air here isn't as fresh as the Demon Realm's."
The Demon Realm was too perfectly suited to Old Demon Chu.
"Don't worry."
Chen Fan smiled: "We'll fight our way back. Then, everything in the Demon Realm will be yours. Don't worry, no one will fight you for it."
Old Demon Chu immediately became happy and said with a smile, "City Lord's words count."
After thinking for a moment, still slightly uneasy, he added: "Just don't let Overlord and Mad Emperor out."
Those two had left a deep impression on Old Demon Chu.