Eternal Time and Space

Chapter 1: Chaos Unfolds, Gods and Demons Clash, Time and Space Reign Supreme in Struggle

Before chaos was created, there was no sky or earth, no light or darkness, no past or future, only a vast, boundless void, a state of utter confusion and obscurity.

In the chaos there is no matter, no energy, only an indescribable and intangible chaotic substance, which is both the beginning and the end of all things, neither born nor dying, neither increasing nor decreasing.

After countless eons, a slight fluctuation suddenly appeared in the chaos, and the first wisp of consciousness was born in the deepest part of the chaos: the Time God and Demon.

The Time God has no form, no face, but is a torrent of light without beginning or end. It surges out of chaos, flows forward, and never looks back. Wherever it passes, the concept of "before and after" comes into being in the chaos. This moment is different from that moment, this instant is different from that instant, and time is born.

After countless eons, the second god-demon awoke in the chaos. The space god-demon Yang Mei transformed into an invisible tension that spread throughout the chaos. Wherever he passed, the concept of "near and far" came into being in the chaos. This place was separated from that place, and this side was bounded to that side. Space was born.

Time and space intertwined, and order began to emerge from chaos. Subsequently, the third god-demon awakened, becoming the God-Demon of Creation.

The appearance of the Creation Gods and Demons brought life. For the first time, life appeared in the chaos. Wisps of consciousness drifted in the chaos, which were the prototypes of other Chaos Gods and Demons.

Three thousand chaotic gods and demons were born one after another over a long period of time. Some were shaped like mountains, some like flowing light, some were formless and intangible, and some were ever-changing. They wandered, slept, and fought in this chaotic world without heaven or earth, unaware of the passage of time or the beginning and end.

Zi Chen was one of them. He was the original Time God and Demon, whose true form was a torrent of light without beginning or end, surging from the depths of chaos and rushing toward the unknowable future. He had no fixed form, yet he was more real than any tangible thing, because as long as there was a "past" and a "future," he existed. As long as time did not perish, he would not perish.

Zi Chen remained in the chaos for countless eons before a loud noise startled him awake.

Pangu separated heaven and earth.

With a single axe stroke, chaos was torn apart, purity and turbidity separated, and wherever the axe's light passed, chaotic matter was cleaved apart, time and space were cleaved apart, and the past and the future were cleaved apart.

This axe strike is not mere force, but a mighty force that transcends all other forces. It is the great way of power, the root of Pangu, the essence of Pangu, and everything about Pangu.

Zi Chen awoke the instant the axe light appeared. His instincts as a god of time allowed him to sense the axe light unleashed by Pangu. This was not just axe light, but also the end, the end of the chaotic gods and demons.

Without time to think, Zi Chen transformed into a torrent of light, surging into the depths of chaos, flowing against the river of time, and fleeing into the past.

It should have been safe in the past, before Pangu's axe had struck.

However, the axe light followed, covering time, swallowing space, and severing the boundary between the past and the future.

The axe light transcended everything—transcending time, space, cause and effect, and even existence itself.

When Zi Chen escaped to the past, the axe light appeared there; when Zi Chen escaped to the future, the axe light shone in the future; when Zi Chen escaped to the end of time, the axe light was already waiting for him there.

In an instant, the axe light struck Zi Chen's body.

The torrent of light was cleaved open, time fractured in that instant, and Zi Chen's consciousness blurred amidst the excruciating pain. He felt himself dissipating, being crushed, erased, and reduced to nothingness by a power that surpassed everything.

Zi Chen struggled, using his last bit of strength to piece together his shattered body, and fell toward the direction where the chaos had been split open.

Pangu died. After completing the great task of creating heaven and earth, Pangu's body transformed into the heavens and earth, his left eye became the sun, his right eye became the moon, his hair became grass and trees, and his blood became rivers...

The pure air rises to become the sky, and the turbid air sinks to become the earth. When heaven and earth were first formed, all things began to be born.

Zi Chen fell from the heavens and crashed into a vast land. His body shattered and his consciousness blurred. He slept for countless years, letting the world change and the seas turn into mulberry fields.

The era of chaotic gods and demons has passed. After Pangu separated heaven and earth, the primordial world was born, and a new order is taking shape.

Time flies, and countless millennia have passed.

Zi Chen awoke and emerged from the depths of the earth, dressed in white, with black hair flowing down his shoulders. His face was so handsome it was almost otherworldly, and his eyes were as deep as an abyss, as if reflecting the entire river of time.

Feeling the power within his body, Zi Chen smiled bitterly.

The Golden Immortal realm, once a realm of chaotic gods and demons that controlled time and transcended the past and future, now only exists in the Golden Immortal realm.

Pangu's axe severed too much from him, but fortunately his origin was intact and his aptitude remained. As long as his origin was not damaged, his cultivation would be able to recover sooner or later.

Zi Chen raised his right hand, his five fingers loosely clenched, and a clear, melodious bell rang out between heaven and earth, long and resonant, like an echo from ancient times.

A silver-white bell emerged from Zi Chen's palm, its surface adorned with countless flowing light patterns, dazzling and exquisite, reaching the pinnacle of magnificence.

Where the bells echoed, time seemed to slow down.

The Eternal Bell, a supreme treasure from the heavens.

This is a treasure that Zi Chen created after falling into the primordial world. Its own origin intertwined with the essence of Pangu, and it absorbed the essence of the Great Dao of the newly formed world. It was born on its own over countless years. When the bell tolls, it can set time in place; when it tolls again, it can reverse the flow of time.

Zi Chen held the Eternal Bell in his hand, remained silent for a long time, and looked up into the distance. The sky was low, the earth was vast and desolate, and the mountains and rivers were filled with a wild and untamed atmosphere. The world had just been created, and everything was still in turmoil. The spiritual energy was violent, the Great Dao was not yet stable, and this world was still very young.

"The Great Dao of Time... is not enough."

Zi Chen muttered to himself, "The Great Dao of Time is indeed powerful, but the Great Dao of Pangu's Power is even stronger. The immense power of that axe strike is still etched deep in my consciousness and cannot be erased."

A single moment of time can never surpass Pangu. Zi Chen must merge time and space, uniting the two great paths into one. Only then can he truly transcend Pangu.

To merge with time and space, Zi Chen must first master the Great Dao of Space.

Zi Chen closed his eyes, and the Eternal Bell slowly turned in his palm. The bell tolled, time flowed backward, and Zi Chen's consciousness passed through layers of time, seeing the scene before chaos was created.

Three thousand gods and demons roamed in the chaos. Pangu stood holding an axe, and when the axe light fell, heaven and earth were separated. In this process, Zi Chen saw gods and demons fall in the axe light, some turning into ashes, some falling into the primordial wilderness, and some disappearing without a trace.

Soon, Zi Chen saw Yang Mei.

The spatial deity Yang Mei, at the moment the axe light struck, used the Great Dao of Space to teleport himself to the far west of the primordial land. Severely injured, he fell into a vast mountain range, his fate unknown.

Zi Chen opened his eyes. The Eternal Bell stopped turning, its tolling subsided. He looked westward, his gaze piercing through endless mountains and rivers.

"Yang Mei..."

Zi Chen murmured something, then his figure transformed into a torrent of light and disappeared into the horizon.

In the far west of the primordial wilderness, mountains rise like swords, piercing the clouds. The sky hangs low, thick with clouds, from which lightning occasionally strikes, exploding into bursts of blazing white flames. The earth is crisscrossed with ravines, and magma gushes from the cracks, illuminating the entire world in a dark red hue.

In the early days of creation, everything was still in turmoil, the Way of Heaven was not yet stable, and order was being conceived.

Zi Chen stood atop a high mountain, his white robes fluttering in the wind, looking down at the vast mountains below. The Eternal Bell slowly turned beside him, its sound echoing and ripples of time spreading in all directions.

Space gods and demons are masters of concealment. As long as they don't want to be found, even gods and demons of the same level would find it difficult to locate them. But Zi Chen is different. He has the Eternal Bell. Wherever the bell tolls, time flows backward, and all hidden traces will be exposed in the past.

found it.

Zi Chen's gaze sharpened, and the Eternal Bell suddenly trembled. The sound of the bell surged into the depths of the mountains like a tide, freezing time and stilling everything in its path.

The mountain wind stopped, the thunder stopped, even the flow of lava stopped, and the world was deathly silent, with only the sound of bells echoing.

Deep within the mountains, a cold snort rang out, shattering the stillness between heaven and earth. The mountain winds howled again, lightning struck again, and lava flowed again. A tall, slender figure rose from the mountains and stood in mid-air.

This person was dressed in a green robe, with long hair flowing down his back. His face was cold and aloof, and his brows held an air of indifference that kept people at a distance. His eyes were as deep as an abyss, as if reflecting endless space, layer upon layer, bottomless and boundless.

Space God and Demon, Yang Mei.

Yang Mei looked at Zi Chen with a calm gaze, carrying a hint of scrutiny.

"Zi Chen".

Yang Mei's voice was clear and cold, like a mountain stream.

"What grudge do we have against each other?"

Zi Chen looked at Yang Mei, equally calm.

"no."

"Then why have you come?"

Zi Chen remained silent for a moment before speaking, "I want your spatial origin."

Yang Mei's eyes narrowed slightly, then returned to calm.

"Time and space are two sides of the same coin. If you take my essence, you can unify time and space and surpass Pangu." Yang Mei looked at Zi Chen, a faint smile appearing on his lips: "That's a good idea."

Standing with his hands behind his back, Yang Mei's aura surged, and the space between heaven and earth began to twist, displace, and fold. The mountains beneath his feet deformed, the sky above his head spun, and the earth behind him cracked open with bottomless ravines.

Layers of space danced around Yang Mei, each reflecting a different scene: some reflected chaos, some reflected the primordial wilderness, and some reflected an unknown void.

"But what gives you the right?"

Zi Chen did not answer. He raised his hand, and the Eternal Bell rose up, hanging above his head. The sound of the bell reverberated, and time flowed by.

The two exchanged a glance and moved simultaneously.

With a flick of his sleeve, Yang Mei caused the world to change drastically. The mountain peak beneath Zi Chen's feet, along with the hundred-zhang space beneath it, was completely stripped away, like a piece of cake that had been cut off, and moved thousands of miles across the sea.

The world around Yang Mei transformed into countless chaotic pages. One page was the primordial mountains, the next page was the chaotic void, and the next page was the fierce winds of the nine heavens. Yang Mei's figure shuttled between these pages, sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, sometimes in front, sometimes behind, seemingly omnipresent yet nowhere to be found.