Li Anran had had this doubt a long time ago. Pangu was the first living being born from the Green Lotus of Creation, so where did the three thousand demons that besieged him come from?
Now it seems that these three thousand gods and demons are actually the powerful ones from the last era!
"If I hadn't traveled through time, Tathagata and the others would have also figured out the function of the Hongmeng Purple Qi, opened this space-time tunnel, and become the Three Thousand Demon Gods of the next era! At most, it would have been a little later!"
"Daozu Hongjun really has a good plan! He has spanned so many years and set up such a big game! Awesome! Awesome!"
Li Anran couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Daozu Hongjun has merged with the Way of Heaven and can no longer interfere in human affairs. But before he merged with the Way, he left behind this ray of Hongmeng purple energy as a backup!
If you lose, just turn the table over, recreate the earth, water, fire and wind, and create the world again. It is really unreasonable, but it does turn the situation around!
"No wonder Daozu Hongjun favors Patriarch Tongtian the most. These two are really cut from the same cloth!"
"No wonder he wants to take the Six Saints away from the Three Realms. If the Six Saints were still there, Pangu would not be their opponent at all!"
Li Anran was just thinking when suddenly a ripple surged in the void beside him. It turned out that Yang Jian noticed the movement in the Heavenly Prison and hurried over.
"Tathagata penetrated the primordial purple energy and opened a space-time tunnel."
Li Anran had just checked the life experiences of the powerful people in the Book of Punishment, and knew the whole story. He said, "It can lead to the chaotic world before the creation of the world."
"ah?!"
Yang Jian was shocked, he also knew that the great men in the Heavenly Prison were trying to comprehend the Hongmeng Purple Qi, but he did not expect that this Hongmeng Purple Qi could actually reverse time and space, spanning endless years and reaching before the creation of the world.
Yang Jian quickly opened his third eye and looked inside.
I saw a burly giant standing on a green lotus, swinging a huge axe vigorously.
Countless great Dao symbols formed golden flames and surrounded it. The earth, water, fire and wind that were raging around were instantly dispersed, and the entire chaos began to tremble violently.
The terrifying power, even though it was separated by a world, made Yang Jian feel a chill down his spine, and he instinctively wanted to dodge backwards.
This is especially true for those ancient powerful beings who faced the Axe of Creation head-on!
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Seeing that the situation was not good, the ancient mighty ones tried their best to escape into the distance, but they soon realized that something was wrong!
This seemingly casual axe actually broke through time and space and chopped them down, leaving them with nowhere to hide!
In desperation, they could only bite the bullet and use their protective magic weapons.
However, the power of the Axe of Creation far exceeded their imagination!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
In just a moment, nearly a hundred magical protective weapons of the powerful were chopped into pieces, and he himself was followed closely by being reduced to ashes and died.
These powerful men who had once been guests of the Zixiao Palace and had roamed the three realms for countless years were like ants trying to stop a chariot at this moment. They were crushed in an instant, leaving only their understanding of the Dao that they had carefully honed for countless years, which turned into flowing light and merged into the Jade Disc of Creation, forming lines of Dao patterns, indicating that they once existed.
"It's over! We are dead! We can't be a match for Pangu the Great!"
There were ancient great men who could not accept that they would die like ants. Their hearts collapsed, and they knelt on the ground, begging for mercy with their spiritual consciousness: "Great God Pangu, I know I was wrong! Please, forgive me..."
boom!
The Axe of Creation swept past, the fluctuations of his spiritual consciousness came to an abrupt halt, and his body shattered into ashes.
When Pangu was just born from the Green Lotus of Creation, his mind was still blank. He had no concept of anything, including himself, let alone understanding such complicated things as admitting mistakes and sparing one's life.
He simply felt the threat of evil thoughts and greed from these ancient powers, and instinctively picked up the Axe of Creation at his side and fought back.
The reactions of the powerful people were not within his consideration!
Boom, boom, boom, boom…
The Axe of Creation was swung continuously, and in just a few breaths, most of the three thousand demons had fallen.
But, those who stayed were the strongest among the strong!
"My fellow Taoists, we have no way to retreat now. The only way to survive is to join forces!"
The Tathagata is sitting cross-legged on the golden lotus of merit, with six pure bamboos on his left side emerald green and crystal clear, and a blue lotus precious color flag swaying gently on his right. Behind him is a six-foot-tall golden body of Buddha's light, and within the Buddha's light there are countless virtual shadows of Buddha, Bodhisattva, and Samanera Vajra.
"Whether you become a saint or die, it's now!" Taiyi Tianzun responded loudly.
He held the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi in his left hand and the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Cover in his right hand. The lights of the Jade Void Palace were shining brightly behind him. The good corpses and evil corpses on both sides also appeared, some holding whisks and some holding glass bottles, and they were already at full firepower.
The Holy Mother Wu Dang nodded slightly, took out the Qingping Sword and other magic weapons, and shouted loudly: "We have practiced hard for thousands of years, just to achieve enlightenment and become saints. Now, the opportunity to achieve enlightenment is right in front of us. How can we shrink back and give up easily? Kill!"
The remaining powerful men were mostly disciples of the Xuanmen and Buddhist sects. When the three of them spoke, the others shouted loudly: "Kill!"
At that moment, Holy Mother Wu Dang, Zhao Gongming, Sanxiao, Chi Jing|zi, Jade Ding Zhenren... all took out their magic weapons and attacked Pangu.
In an instant, the sky was filled with shining light, and countless strange phenomena appeared and disappeared. The terrifying momentum suppressed the Axe of Creation.
But, this suppression is just an illusion!
Pangu, as the first living being in this world born from the Green Lotus of Creation, was born with strength close to that of a saint. With the innate treasure, the Axe of Creation, which was transformed from the fragments of lotus seeds, his strength is already comparable to that of a saint.
Although Tathagata and others have many people and magic weapons, some of them have high cultivation, such as Wu Dang Sheng Mu, Taiyi Tianzun, and Tathagata, who have already killed two corpses, and are only one step away from achieving enlightenment and becoming a saint.
However, this one step is like a chasm, with a world of difference between the inside and the outside!
Below the saint, we are all ants!
Pangu stood up and stood on the Green Lotus of Creation. He swung the Axe of Creation fiercely. The axe blades surged out, and wherever they passed, the earth, water, fire, wind, and even chaos itself were shattered.
Even with the combined efforts of Tathagata and other powerful beings, they could only barely maintain an undefeated situation.
In terms of defense, the only things that can block the attack of the Xiatian Axe are the Qingping Sword, the Sanbao Jade Ruyi, the Hunyuan Golden Bowl, the Hetu Luoshu, the Haotian Mirror and other top-grade innate spiritual treasures.
Common innate spiritual treasures like the Golden Dragon Scissors, Yin-Yang Mirror, Dragon Escape Pillar, Male and Female Swords were directly knocked away as soon as they came into contact with it. Their light dimmed, and some even shattered on the spot.
Their masters were either mentally traumatized or vomiting blood, and were knocked flying backwards.
If it weren't for the time when Pangu wielded the Axe of Creation, which greatly expanded the chaotic world, and the rescue by Taiyi Tianzun, Wudang Shengmu, Tathagata and others, and the use of numerous elixirs and magical fruits to heal their wounds, they would have probably died on the spot.
In terms of attack, the twelve ancestor witches transformed from Pangu's essence and blood can rely on their physical bodies to resist the innate magic weapons, let alone Pangu!
The Qingping Sword, the Sanbao Jade Ruyi, the Hunyuan Golden Bowl, the Liugen Qingjing Bamboo... these top-grade innate spiritual treasures hit Pangu all at once, but only made Pangu stagger a few steps and suffer some minor skin injuries, which he recovered instantly. They could not cause any effective damage at all.
As for those ordinary innate magic weapons, their effects are even worse. Not only can they not break Pangu's defense, but they will also hurt themselves.
"Hmm? This space-time tunnel has gotten bigger!"
At this moment, Li Anran suddenly noticed that as Pangu swung his giant axe, the world he opened up in the chaos became larger and larger, and the space-time vortex in front of him also expanded a bit. Everything touched by the space-time tunnel was sucked into the chaos and became part of the chaos.
If this continues...
No, it should be said that when Pangu created the world, the three realms were completely devoured!
"The catastrophe of the end of the Dharma, so this is it!" A light bulb went off in Li Anran's head, and he suddenly realized.
He originally thought that it was a struggle between humanity and the way of heaven during the catastrophe of the Dharma Ending Age.
Humanity will prevail, all things will be silent, and the destiny, fate, merit, fortune, etc. that those who practiced in the past pursued will no longer exist. Everything in the world will be determined by the living beings themselves.
The Way of Heaven will prevail and the Way of Man will perish. All things will become puppets of the Way of Heaven, just like a shadow play, which can only be performed according to the established plot and cannot be changed in the slightest.
It was not until he saw the scene before him that he realized that this was not the case!
The decisive battle between humanity and heaven is not in the Three Realms, but in this primordial purple energy, before the creation of the world!
Before Hongjun Daozu merged his body into the Tao, he used the Hongmeng purple energy as a guide and his great supernatural powers to break the boundaries between the past and the future, connecting the past and the future together, forming an endless cycle.
All living beings, whether they are ancient powers or mortal beasts, are just pawns, puppets, performing their own parts under the control of heaven!
So……
What about the saint?
The saints say that they can withstand countless calamities without being worn out, be untainted by cause and effect, be neither born nor destroyed, and transcend time and space. However, they use the Hongmeng purple energy bestowed by the ancestor Hongjun as the basis for their proof of the Tao. Can they really break free from the control of the Taoist ancestor Hongjun?
"What about me? What about the Book of Punishment?"
Li Anran thought of himself and the Book of Punishment again.
The entire Three Realms is a chessboard controlled by Daozu Hongjun, so what is he? What is the Book of Punishment that can view people's past experiences, gain experience rewards, and allow them to easily become saints?
variable?
Or is it the variable you think you are?
As Li Anran was thinking, the battle was still going on on the other side of the time tunnel.
After realizing the huge gap between the two sides, Zhao Gongming, Chi Jing|zi, Huanglong Zhenren, Guanyin and Puxian no longer thought about attacking, but began to use various magic spells to entangle Pangu, creating opportunities for the strongest ones such as Tathagata, Taiyi Tianzun and Wudang Shengmu.
This tactic is very effective!
However, as the fight between the two sides continued, Pangu's fighting skills improved rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the balance of victory quickly tilted towards Pangu.
Li Anran previously thought that whether there was a time traveler like him or not, Tathagata and the others would be able to comprehend the secret of the Hongmeng Purple Qi and step into this reincarnation in just a few days!
In fact, it is not the case at all!
His influence is far greater than he imagined!
Because of his existence, Jiejiao lost its Chaos Bell, Chenjiao lost its Four Swords of Zhuxian and Wu Ji Xinghuang Flag, Lingshan lost its Six Soul Banner and Twelve-Rank World-Destroying Black Lotus, and their strength was greatly reduced.
In the original prehistoric history, Pangu went through untold hardships to kill all three thousand demons, and he himself was seriously injured, so he died of exhaustion during the creation of the world.
But now, obviously this is not the case!
"Fate...variables..." Li Anran chewed over and over again.
Just two simple words, yet so magical.
As long as he doesn't take action, or even gets more ruthless and helps Pangu deal with Tathagata and the others, Pangu will not be able to die!
In this way, the cycle of reincarnation will be broken!
With the help of the Chaos Bell and the Zhuxian Formation, he can hide and survive. Even Pangu may not be able to find him and kill him!
After the world reopens, he can still search for a large number of innate magic weapons and innate spiritual roots according to the life stories he has browsed, and imprison a large number of innate creatures, and he can easily become a saint!
In the future, he may not be weaker than Hongjun Daozu!
In this sense, he is the biggest variable!
but--
Could he just sit back and watch?
Allowing Pangu to kill three thousand gods and demons to create the world means recreating the earth, water, fire and wind, and starting all over again!
His friends and brothers, Yang Jian, Nezha, Monkey, Boss Kang... although they will still appear, they are no longer the brothers and friends he knows!
He helped Yang Jian to make plans, and the Three Realms, which were already striding towards the prosperous development of the future world of cultivation, will no longer exist!
Instead, there is a chaotic and primitive world.
Li Anran felt bored just thinking about it.
And if he took action, it seemed that he would be on the road to fate again.
"Could it be that I was also there in the last reincarnation? Did I make the decision to take action, which led to Pangu being seriously injured and Kaitian dying?"
Li Anran didn't know the answer, but he knew what he wanted.
"Second..." Li Anran was about to speak when Yang Jian suddenly turned around and asked, "Brother Li Anran, I remember you said before that you are sure you can achieve enlightenment and become a saint within ten thousand years?"
Li Anran was slightly stunned, and instantly understood what Yang Jian meant. His heart warmed and his determination became stronger.
He saw the truth about the catastrophe of the end of the Dharma, and Yang Jian naturally saw it as well.
However, this is different from the fact that he has a book of punishing evildoers in his hand and does not take the saint too seriously.
In Yang Jian’s opinion, saints are not affected by cause and effect and are beyond everything. All living beings in the three realms are ants and pawns, but saints are not!
If Li Anran could achieve enlightenment and become a saint, there would be no need for him to get involved in this mess!
The next reincarnation will be the time for Li Anran to show his skills!
“It used to be possible, but not now!”
Li Anran saw Yang Jian's puzzled expression and said, "My chance is in the prison and in the prisoners there. Now that the prison has been destroyed and the prisoners have all escaped, I am afraid that if I want to become a saint, I will..."
As he was talking, Li Anran suddenly noticed a point that he had always overlooked, and he instantly became excited: "Second brother, I have a way to kill Pangu and break the reincarnation cycle!"
Yang Jian's eyes lit up: "What method?"
Li Anran: "Turn the entire Three Realms into a big prison!"
The "Book of Punishment for Evil" states that as long as he participates in the capture of criminals who are guilty and imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison, they will be registered and will bring him certain benefits. There is no restriction on the size of the Heavenly Prison!
What if he turned the entire Three Realms into a prison?
The experience points that a single living being can provide cannot be compared with those of the ancient powerful beings. What if there are tens of millions or trillions of them?
No one else could do this, but Yang Jian is now the Emperor of Heaven who holds power over the three realms. Wherever he says the Heavenly Prison is, there it is!
"Is this really okay?"
Yang Jian had some doubts in his heart, but he did not hesitate at all in his actions. He immediately issued an imperial edict according to Li Anran's instructions.
The Three Realms were renamed "Tianlao", and 365 sky-reaching pillars were built and erected at the edge of the Three Realms to imprison the Three Realms. At the junction of the Three Realms and the chaos outside the domain, a plaque was hung with the words "Tianlao" inscribed on it.
All the creatures in the three realms thought that Yang Jian was crazy, except Li Anran, who looked at the Book of Punishment that was adding pages crazily, with the smile on his face growing bigger and bigger, turning from a smile into a wild laugh towards the sky.
"This is the struggle between humanity and heaven! It's not a few gods, Buddhas, or ancient great powers, but all living beings in the three realms!"
The experience points in the Book of Punishment were increasing rapidly. In just thirteen years, the experience points that would have taken tens of thousands of years to accumulate had been accumulated!
Li Anran didn't hesitate at all and put all his energy into his cultivation.
The seventh level of Daluo Jinxian!
The eighth level of Daluo Jinxian!
The ninth level of Daluo Golden Immortal!
Hunyuan Daluo Jinxian!!!
In just a few breaths, Li Anran overcame a hurdle that many Golden Immortals would never be able to overcome in their entire lives.
In an instant, the entire Three Realms were filled with falling flowers from the sky, golden lotuses emerging from the ground, endless fairy music, vast purple air coming from the east, misty purple air rising, and boundless rosy clouds lingering.
At this moment, the whole world has become different from before. The road that was once hazy as if covered by a layer of gauze is now displayed before our eyes without reservation and is within reach.
"Greetings to the Saint!" All living beings in the three realms felt the connection and knelt on the ground, congratulating in unison.
Wu Tian, ​​Zhen Yuan Zi, Monkey, Yang Jian, Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, Lu Ya, Randang...these few Daluo Golden Immortals who were still left in the Three Realms were also alarmed by the noise and rushed to where Li Anran was in an instant.
Some were happy, some were envious, and some were jealous...the expressions were different.
But in the end, they all turned to respect and bowed, saying, "Congratulations to Daoist Fellow Li on achieving the Hunyuan Daluo fruit position."
Li Anran raised his hand and helped everyone up. He just nodded slightly towards Yang Jian, then disappeared and went out of the time and space tunnel.
In thirteen years, the empty tunnel that once had a diameter of half a meter has now expanded to a radius of one hundred miles, and half of the Tianlao Star has been swallowed up.
If it weren't for the Zhoutian Xingdou formation set up by Li Anran outside the Tianlao Star to cover it, the entire Heaven would be able to see this huge out-of-control tunnel.
Correspondingly, the chaotic world expanded to an area of ​​millions of miles in radius during the fight between Pangu and a group of powerful beings.
The expansion of space also gave Tathagata and his companions more room for maneuver.
However, this little wiggle room is nothing compared to the growth of Pangu's strength!
The number of ancient powerful beings who died at the hands of Pangu has exceeded two thousand!
Among them even include Bixiao, Huanglong Zhenren, Puxian, and Yaoshi Buddha, the second-generation disciples of Xuanmen and Lingshan!
However, with the arrival of Li Anran, all of this became no longer suspenseful!
Pangu’s strength is comparable to that of a saint, but he is only comparable, not a true saint!
Li Anran is a true saint!
Pangu has the Axe of Creation, while Li Anran has the Chaos Bell, the Immortal Execution Formation, the Wu Ji Xinghuang Flag and many other innate treasures and top-grade innate spiritual treasures!
Pangu’s body is strong, and Li Anran is no worse!
With a similar fighting style, Li Anran has stronger skills, more methods, and richer experience.
This resulted in Li Anran suppressing Pangu almost the entire time during the fight between the two, but it was extremely difficult for him to kill Pangu.
However, Pangu was alone, while Li Anran had the entire Three Realms as his backing. His constant experience allowed him to improve his strength much faster than Pangu.
With the help of Tathagata and others, he finally killed Pangu after fighting for 372 years!
The powerful men who had managed to survive did not even have time to catch their breath and hurriedly flew towards the Green Lotus of Creation. Their comrades who had just fought side by side were now ready to draw their swords against each other.
At the same time, everyone was staring at Li Anran.
Li Anran is the key to killing Pangu and is the strongest among all people. They are all worried that Li Anran will snatch it away.
But what they didn't expect was that Li Anran just stood there quietly and had no intention of moving forward.
As everyone was puzzled, they saw a crack appear on the Green Lotus of Creation, and then it shattered with a "bang".
And this is just the beginning!
Snap! Snap! Snap!
The Axe of Creation, the Jade Disc of Creation, the Lotus Seeds... tiny cracks kept appearing.
"What's going on?" The faces of the powerful people changed drastically and they flew over desperately to try to stop it.
But, there is none at all!
The crack started from the Green Lotus of Creation and quickly spread in all directions.
The chaotic world that had been difficult to destroy no matter how hard they fought was now as fragile as ice crystals. In just a moment, cracks spread throughout the entire chaotic world.
Next second.
The entire chaotic world seemed to shatter and disappear like a mirage, without leaving any trace.
"The cycle of reincarnation has ended, the link between the past and the present has been broken, and the shadow of the past naturally no longer exists!"
Li Anran turned around and walked out of the chaotic world that had changed from half true and half false. He was about to report the matter to Yang Jian, but suddenly he stopped, turned around abruptly, and his face changed drastically.
In the time and space tunnel that was about to disappear, a middle-aged Taoist priest in a purple Taoist robe was looking at him indifferently.
Hongjun Daozu!
Li Anran's pupils suddenly shrank, and he was about to sacrifice the Chaos Bell, but he saw Hongjun Daozu bowing to him.
"Thank you for helping me get rid of it."
Before Li Anran could react, the figure of Hongjun Daozu turned into a stream of light and crashed into his sea of ​​consciousness.
Li Anran was startled and looked inside, only to find that the Book of Punishment in his sea of ​​consciousness had turned into a jade pendant!
"The Jade Disc of Creation?!" Li Anran stood there in a daze.
Variable? Constant?
A time traveler? Or... a chess piece?
Countless thoughts flashed through Li Anran's mind.
"Brother Li Anran!"
"Brother Li!"
"Li Anran! Li Anran!"
"What's the situation? Are you okay?"...
Outside the Tianlao Palace.
When Yang Jian, Nezha, the Monkey King, and the Three Holy Mothers saw Li Anran appear, they hurried over to greet him, all talking in a flurry of concern.
In an instant, Li Anran's complicated mood relaxed.
Compared to his previous life, he now has so much more!
Even if I'm being used as a pawn, what's there to be dissatisfied about?
If you don't want to in the future, the worst that can happen is that both sides will be destroyed, and you will die!
Why bother being so hesitant and fussy here!
"Done! Let's go drink!"