Chapter 124: Original Sin

It turned out that the claims about being unable to walk and needing to absorb vast quantities of primordial energy for treatment had all been lies fabricated by Lotus.

And she had only one purpose in doing so: to make Pangu leave.

Why had she been so determined to trick Pangu into going away? That was a long story.

Lotus began by explaining her origins. The Chaos Green Lotus was a sacred immortal plant with the power to protect and purify. Thus, after her master obtained this Chaos Space, he planted a Chaos Green Lotus inside it.

Who was her master? A mighty being known as a god. Beyond the Chaos Space existed a still higher world—a world of gods. Lotus’s master was one of them.

Like her master, she fed on the primordial energy within the space. Compared with her master, however, her appetite was tiny. She needed to consume only a single wisp of primordial energy each day. The amount of primordial energy in the Chaos Space was enormous to begin with, and it could even split and produce more of itself, so her consumption was utterly insignificant.

Of course, that was assuming she did not advance.

Whenever she advanced, she would emit a multicolored auspicious radiance. To primordial energy, that radiance was a deadly weapon—touch it and die.

To her master, she was merely a tool for asserting his ownership, purifying the environment in which his food lived, and restraining the natural evolution of primordial energy. A tool was not the same thing as an immortal pet. Therefore, her master had deliberately stripped away her spiritual nature, making it impossible for her to advance. Once her natural lifespan was exhausted, she would wither and die. At that time, her master would plant another Chaos Green Lotus to replace her.

Yet one careless mistake by her master changed her fate.

On that occasion, her master opened the space to feed as usual. But while his attention wandered for a brief moment, a wisp of immortal aura slipped in from the outside world and entered the Chaos Space.

The instant it entered, the immortal aura dispersed.

It was a stroke of tremendous fortune. The Chaos Green Lotus devoured more than half of it, while the rest was accidentally consumed by a mass of primordial energy that was in the process of splitting.

Before long, that mass successfully split off a smaller mass of primordial energy. The latter was Dijiang.

Because of the immortal aura, it underwent a mutation. The poor creature was born without the seven orifices, looking like a huge sack that had been tied shut. A mass of primordial energy was at its weakest immediately after splitting. When it saw such a monster, it was frightened to death on the spot.

The Chaos Green Lotus, meanwhile, had much better luck. That small amount of immortal aura repaired her, restoring her spiritual nature.

If her master found out…

The Chaos Green Lotus was both wildly excited and terrified out of her wits.

She was excited because she could cultivate now. The Chaos Space had been created specifically to nurture primordial energy. It contained an incomparably abundant supply of it, and time passed much faster there than in the outside world, making it an ideal place for cultivation. Here, she was confident that she could assume human form very soon. When that happened… Heh heh, she would find a way to escape.

If she encountered some great opportunity in the outside world, she might even become a god!

After all, members of the Chaos Green Lotus clan always repaid every grudge. If having her spiritual nature cruelly stripped away did not count as a profound hatred, then what in this world could possibly be called hatred or vengeance?

Heh heh!

She was terrified because if her master found out…

Wah wah wah! Her life would be over!

Fortunately, her master was a supreme god, and supreme gods were the most confident of all. He had never imagined that anything could change beneath his very nose.

Later, the Chaos Green Lotus miraculously advanced and produced a flower bud.

It was another stroke of luck. At that exact moment, her master had accepted a mission and gone away on a long journey.

Then the flower bud grew smoothly and blossomed. The Chaos Green Lotus successfully advanced and transformed into human form, becoming Lotus.

Moreover, after advancing, the Chaos Green Lotus could alter the shape of her true form at will. She could even change back into the tiny green lotus she had originally been and deceive her master’s eyes.

In short, from that moment onward, she no longer had to worry about being exposed and losing her life. So long as she found the right opportunity, she would certainly be able to escape.

That was when Pangu came looking for her.

As the guardian of the Chaos Space, Lotus naturally knew that Pangu was Dijiang’s son. She also knew why Pangu had been born in human form and looked so different from the other manifestations of primordial energy.

As a higher-order life-form, Lotus did not take her food seriously. But Pangu was different.

In Lotus’s eyes, within the entire Chaos Space, only he and she belonged to the same side. For one thing, Pangu also possessed immortal aura within his body. For another, his appearance was almost identical to that of the great gods outside.

Besides, cultivation was an intensely lonely pursuit. Having someone to talk to and dispel the loneliness was not necessarily a bad thing.

Thus, Lotus abused her position for personal gain. Not only did she accept Pangu’s existence, she also developed a deep interest in him.

Why did this fellow possess the physique of a great god yet remain unbelievably weak?

Why did he absorb primordial energy through his lower abdomen?

Oh, and the way he spoke was so childish…

In short, the days spent with Pangu were filled with happiness. They were the happiest days Lotus had ever known.

Slowly, Lotus realized that her feelings had changed. She seemed to have begun liking Pangu.

Whenever she imagined her master discovering his existence and killing him without hesitation, her heart ached.

Furthermore, with Pangu around, her master would sooner or later discover that something was wrong with her. At present, her powers were not even enough to defeat one of her master’s fingers.

After thinking it over again and again, Lotus came up with a pack of lies to send Pangu far away.

The Chaos Space was vast, and the scent of primordial energy concealed Pangu’s presence. Her master should have great difficulty discovering him. Besides, Pangu possessed immortal aura within his body and had excellent innate potential. Who knew? Perhaps he would achieve something remarkable in the future.

What was more, she needed an assistant.

Of course, Lotus had no idea what constituted a good deed or a kind person. In her worldview, such painstaking intentions had to be explained to Pangu himself. Otherwise, would all her effort not have been wasted?

She left a trace of her divine consciousness inside the empty box as proof that she had indeed done Pangu a favor.

“But Pangu, I never imagined that these would become my last words to you.”

After speaking for so long, only a vague outline remained of Lotus’s phantom.

“Pangu, my master died while carrying out a mission. The moment the divine consciousness he had placed on the space and on me disappeared, I became free. I left my divine consciousness within the Chaos Space, and according to our agreement, the space became mine.

“But another great god tried to take it from me. Yet agreements are meant to be honored by everyone, and even he could not violate one. So he threatened me and forced me to become his immortal pet. Everything belonging to an immortal pet belongs to its master. In this way, he would be able to obtain the Chaos Space.

“Pangu, what do we cultivate for? Is it not for freedom, ease, and happiness? Become an immortal pet? Bah! What a shameless bastard. He can forget it! I have had more than enough of those days when I could not control my own fate.

“I would rather self-destruct than let him succeed.

“Pangu, you are my only friend. I am giving the space to you now. The scent of primordial energy on you will conceal your presence, so that great god will not be able to find you for some time. Therefore, you must hurry and cultivate. Remember, only after you become powerful will you be able to protect this space.

“Finally, I wish you an early attainment of the Great Dao.”

After saying this, Lotus’s phantom dispersed.

The empty box transformed into a streak of golden light and shot into Pangu’s brow. It was not an ordinary empty box, but one condensed from Lotus’s magical power. Before self-destructing, Lotus had taken advantage of the great god’s carelessness to connect with the trace of divine consciousness inside the box. She had attached the transfer contract and her cultivation insights to it as well.

Pangu felt a flash of golden light in his mind, followed by a flood of information.

He had received the Chaos Space and Lotus’s inheritance.

“Green Lotus!”

Gently touching his brow, his gaze became incomparably resolute.

He would become a god. He would find that despicable god and avenge Green Lotus!

At that moment, several changes took place within the Chaos Space, drawing his attention. Once the contract took effect, he had become the master of the space. Thus, no change within it could escape his notice.

Some of the primordial energy had mutated!

Some grew four limbs. Some sprouted a pair of wings. Some developed sharp spikes along their backs…

In short, they took every imaginable bizarre form.

Why had the primordial energy suddenly mutated?

Remembering that Lotus had just said his father, Dijiang, had been a mass of mutated primordial energy, Pangu felt his heart tighten. He raised his battle-axe and hurried over.

The moment they saw Pangu, greedy and savage light shone in the creatures’ eyes, accompanied by sinister, cackling laughter.

“This fellow is so ugly!”

“He’s too thin. He’s nothing but bones. He’ll hurt my teeth!”

“Oh my, that little stare of his is pretty fierce!”

“Like the Chaos Green Lotus, he also has immortal aura!”

And so on.

Pangu raised his right hand and pressed his index and middle fingers against his brow, focusing his mind as he examined them closely.

Each of the creatures had a glittering foreign object the size of a fingernail inside its head. Though those objects differed in shape and color, they looked strangely familiar.

He concentrated and added half of his divine consciousness. Instantly, his eyes turned as red as blood.

Those foreign objects had been formed from fragments of Green Lotus.

These creatures had escaped from the box and fought over the fragments left behind after Lotus self-destructed. It was precisely because of this that they had mutated.

“Monsters, prepare to die!”

Pangu’s heart was filled with hatred and had nowhere to vent it. He charged forward, swinging his battle-axe.

The mutated primordial energy had grown dramatically stronger, but it was still no match for Pangu. After a few exchanges, some were dead and others wounded. Several creatures with enough sense to recognize the danger fled in all directions as fast as they could.

By the time Pangu had his hands free, not a trace of them remained.

From that day onward, he came to hate those creatures, along with their descendants. He named them the Monster Clan.

After reading this cultivation diary, Feng Ke’er could only sigh.

The dead fox had always complained about the unfair treatment suffered by the Monster Clan. Little did he know that, in the eyes of the Great God Pangu, the Monster Clan had been born with original sin.

Heh heh. The Monster Clan had been blamed in anger from the very beginning.

Feng Ke’er flipped through the skill records again. There were indeed new skills, but the pages had been covered in a chaotic mass of markings, making the contents impossible to recognize.

Deliberate destruction!

Feng Ke’er was stunned.

At that moment, she heard the fierce sounds of battle coming from outside the space.

To be continued.

The Great Codex, Volume 124: Chapter 124—Original Sin, updated.