“Uncouth warrior…” The Nine-Tailed Fox’s expression turned slightly coquettish as she cast a bewitching sidelong glance at him.

Xu Qi An was indeed suffering from his “lack of education.” These profound theories and philosophy were completely beyond his grasp—his previous life’s nine years of compulsory education hadn’t covered such topics either.

In these matters, he was truly deserving of the title “uncouth warrior.”

“The Supreme Way of Forgetting Emotions is Heaven, and the Virtue of Bearing All Things is Earth,” the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox gave a concise answer.

*Quite clever*, Xu Qi An thought, secretly nodding at how she skillfully used the Heavenly Sect’s heart method to summarize “Heaven.”

“That’s the Heaven and Earth you see now. In truth, the rules of Heaven and Earth are constantly changing, just as the mortal world transforms from seas to mulberry fields. Every thousand years brings a new state of affairs,” the Supervisor sighed and added, “This is the moment that calls for a jar of wine.”

“You can’t even drink,” Xu Qi An retorted irritably.

The Supervisor’s face fell in disappointment upon hearing this.

Xu Qi An turned to the alluring beauty beside him, with her silver hair and fox ears: “But we can drink.”

He promptly retrieved a jar of wine from the Ground Scripture fragment, and they began sharing it, taking turns drinking.

The Supervisor’s expression of disappointment instantly transformed into anger.

Sighing, he turned his gaze away from the couple and looked into the distance, speaking slowly: “When Heaven and Earth first opened, all was primitive and barren. Besides the vast, high sky and the desolate, lifeless earth, the Nine Provinces had nothing. Perhaps it was too desolate, for, after countless years, the first Divine Demon was born.

“Then, more and more Divine Demons were conceived, and thus life appeared. Each Divine Demon possessed terrifying power, controlling certain domains of Heaven and Earth.

“The source of this power is what you call Spirit Essence.

“This realm seemed to find its own ‘future’ and began to birth living beings, and so more and more races appeared.

“But if you’re familiar with ancient history, you’d know that the human and demon races of prehistoric times possessed no supernatural abilities. They couldn’t cultivate and could only obtain meager power by observing and stealing bits of Spirit Essence from the Divine Demons.

“Or they would sacrifice women to breed with Divine Demons, producing offspring with partial Spirit Essence.”

“Couldn’t cultivate?” Xu Qi An keenly caught the unusual element in the Supervisor’s words.

He had long known that in prehistoric times, humans and demons learned to control supernatural powers by studying and imitating the patterns of Divine Demons’ Spirit Essence. This was because humans and demons were latecomers who hadn’t yet discovered their cultivation methods, so they could only learn from and imitate the Divine Demons.

It wasn’t until later that they gradually developed cultivation systems, starting with “Martial” and “Dao,” followed by “Buddhist,” “Shamanic,” “Confucian,” and “Craft” paths.

But the Supervisor had said they “couldn’t cultivate”—not that they “didn’t know how to cultivate.”

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox frowned; she had noticed this distinction as well.

The Supervisor looked at both of them and asked, “You’ve encountered Huang, how powerful is this prehistoric Divine Demon?”

*What a pointless question…* Xu Qi An replied, “Very powerful, terrifyingly so.”

The Supervisor continued, “Their Spirit Essence was damaged in the ancient war, no longer at its peak. For countless years, they’ve been painstakingly trying to repair their Spirit Essence, only now seeing hope. Haven’t they ever considered cultivating through the human system to strengthen their foundation?”

Before either could answer, the Supervisor provided the answer himself: “Because Divine Demons cannot cultivate. Whatever realm they’re born into, that’s where they remain.”

Xu Qi An froze for a moment, then looked at the Nine-Tailed Fox, finding an expression of sudden realization on her face.

He recalled how the fox spirit had once told him that Divine Demon descendants cultivated differently from humans and demons.

Understanding this point, Xu Qi An combined it with the Supervisor’s earlier words and speculated: “In that era, only Divine Demons born of Heaven and Earth could control supernatural powers. Humans couldn’t cultivate no matter what method they tried unless they imitated Divine Demons?”

The Supervisor nodded: “At that time, the forces of Yin and Yang, the Five Elements, and other powers of Heaven and Earth were in chaos. Sometimes the sun would hang in the sky for decades or centuries, sometimes the moon was the only light source in the sky.

“Some places lacked the power of fire, never able to light a flame, while in others, fires burned in every space for eternity, never extinguishing—this was the prehistoric era.”

*No wonder other beings couldn’t cultivate*, Xu Qi An realized. *The chaotic and disordered spiritual power couldn’t be utilized. Only Divine Demons, born with control over natural laws, could wield supernatural power, but their strength was innate, fixed from birth…*

Then he heard the Nine-Tailed Fox murmuring: “From the desolation after Heaven and Earth opened to the chaos of prehistoric times, to today’s ordered Yin and Yang and differentiated Five Elements…”

The Supervisor smiled: “This realm we live in wasn’t created instantly; it evolved step by step.”

“From the moment a being is born, it inevitably moves toward aging; from the moment a dynasty is established, it inevitably moves toward destruction.

“This realm is the same. The barrenness at the opening of Heaven and Earth, the chaos of the Divine Demon era, and today’s cycle of sun and moon, the order of four seasons—all are results of evolution.

“‘Evolution’ is a law of the Great Dao, and everything must follow this law.

“From the opening of Heaven and Earth to the Divine Demon era was this realm’s first evolution, but when it tried to evolve to the second stage…”

At this point, Xu Qi An and the Nine-Tailed Fox exchanged glances, sensing the true revelation was coming.

The Supervisor spoke softly: “It failed.”

Question marks flashed through their minds, unable to comprehend: “Failed?”

The Supervisor nodded gently: “Because Heaven and Earth were incomplete, they couldn’t transition from chaos to order. In other words, this world should have stopped at the chaotic prehistoric era and remained that way until now.”

The Nine-Tailed Fox frowned in contemplation: “Why would this happen?”

The Supervisor looked at them both and asked: “Heaven and Earth were incomplete—what was missing?”

After a brief pause, Xu Qi An and the Nine-Tailed Fox’s pupils contracted, their breathing quickened, and they exclaimed in unison: “The Divine Demons?!”

The Supervisor nodded: “Correct. Divine Demons were born of Heaven and Earth, controlling parts of the natural laws. Therefore, this world’s Heavenly Dao was incomplete, with some authority in the hands of Divine Demons. To continue evolving, it needed to reclaim the Spirit Essence to complete what was missing.

“This is part of the truth behind the First Great Tribulation.”

*So this was why the Divine Demons ended*, Xu Qi An’s thoughts raced. *No wonder the Netherworld Silkworm said that one day, the Divine Demons suddenly went mad and began killing each other. No wonder Huang finds it so difficult to repair their Spirit Essence—because that lost portion has already returned to this realm…*

*The end of Divine Demons was because Heaven and Earth reclaimed Spirit Essence to repair itself…* The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox felt sudden clarity, as longstanding questions found answers.

But more questions immediately arose.

Just as she was about to speak, Xu Qi An asked: “Part of the truth? Also, are you saying the Divine Demons were influenced by Heaven and Earth’s laws, went mad, killed each other, and their Spirit Essence returned to Heaven and Earth after death?”

After Xu Qi An finished, the Nine-Tailed Fox quietly added: “And what does this have to do with that gate of light?”

The Supervisor considered his words carefully: “Your understanding isn’t quite accurate. Heaven and Earth’s laws don’t possess such initiative, and won’t consciously influence Divine Demons to reclaim Spirit Essence. There was another reason for the Divine Demons’ mutual slaughter, which is why I said reclaiming Spirit Essence was only part of the truth.”

Xu Qi An and the Nine-Tailed Fox both held their breath, listening intently.

The Supervisor continued: “I said evolution is a law of the Great Dao, unavoidable for all things. Heaven and Earth were incomplete, making it difficult to continue evolution. So, at the end of prehistoric times, a ‘gate’ appeared.

“It was this gate that drove all Divine Demons mad.”

The Nine-Tailed Fox instinctively said: “The gate on Divine Demon Island.”

Xu Qi An glanced at the Paradise Blade lying across the Supervisor’s knees.

*What does this gate symbolize? Why did it drive the Divine Demons mad?* He had a feeling that what the Supervisor would say next would be the most crucial information.

The Supervisor sighed: “This gate was condensed from Heaven and Earth’s laws. It was the conceptual manifestation of reclaiming Spirit Essence—through this gate, Spirit Essence could return to Heaven and Earth, completing what was missing. But this also meant that through this gate, one could touch the most core aspect of this realm.”

“The most core aspect?!” Xu Qi An and the Nine-Tailed Fox’s hearts jumped simultaneously, inexplicably feeling their blood flow quicken and hearts race.

The Supervisor’s tone suddenly turned somber as he slowly said: “You could understand it as becoming the master of this realm, becoming… the Heavenly Dao!”

Boom! Like thunder exploding in their minds, the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox’s beautiful face paled, as if unable to accept this revelation. With a trembling voice, she said: “How is this possible…”

The Supervisor said gravely: “The Divine Demons were qualified for this because they were manifestations of Heaven and Earth’s laws. More accurately, the laws of Heaven and Earth had given birth to consciousness, becoming living beings.”