Chapter 29 — Fourth Brother Is Still Alive

"Run."

Lu Chen did.

For once—

immediately.

He turned.

Took one step.

Then remembered his current physical strength too late.

BOOM!

The ground exploded.

Lu shot backward like an arrow.

He crossed the courtyard.

Passed the disciple residences.

Passed Jian Wuchen, who had just opened his door.

"Senior Brother!"

Jian watched him disappear.

Then looked toward the Primordial Chaos Valley.

Black energy erupted into the sky.

Jian drew Clear Wind.

"Of course."

Shen Yuan arrived before Lu Chen stopped moving.

One hand caught the back of his robe.

Lu continued running in midair for two steps.

Then realized.

"Master!"

"What did I tell you?"

"Don't cultivate."

"And?"

"Don't explode."

"And?"

Lu thought.

"Don't enter the Chaos Valley?"

"I didn't say that."

"You were going to."

"I am now."

The mountain shook.

A second wave of black Chaos Qi erupted.

Cloudveil's formations activated.

The energy struck the Hidden Mountain Domain.

Space folded.

The shockwave vanished before it could leave the peak.

Shen Yuan looked toward the valley.

"Stay behind me."

Lu nodded rapidly.

Then Guest Nine appeared.

No spatial fluctuation.

One moment absent.

Next—

there.

Their face was pale.

"Fourth Brother."

Xuankong arrived.

Then Gu Jian.

Lin Yue.

Jian Wuchen.

Chen An came last.

He looked at the black pillar of energy.

Then at Shen Yuan.

"Should I evacuate the attendants?"

"Yes."

Chen An nodded.

No questions.

Good man.

The Primordial Chaos Valley had changed.

Yesterday—

it had been empty.

Colorless.

Silent.

Now—

black mist filled the basin.

Not demonic Qi.

Not death Qi.

Not ordinary Chaos.

Something heavier.

Older.

The newly restored facility trembled.

Ancient pillars emerged from the ground.

Nine.

Eight were broken.

One remained.

At the center—

a person stood.

Or something wearing one.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Dark hair reaching the waist.

Ancient gray robes torn nearly to nothing.

Chains wrapped around both arms.

Half his chest was missing.

Not wounded.

Missing.

Inside the cavity—

stars moved.

Lu Chen stared.

"That's not normal."

Jian looked at him.

"Excellent observation."

The figure raised its head.

Its eyes were black.

Then colorless.

Then black again.

Guest Nine whispered:

"Fourth Brother."

The figure looked at them.

For one moment—

humanity returned.

"Nine."

Guest Nine took one step.

Shen Yuan caught their shoulder.

"Wait."

"That's him."

"Maybe."

Guest Nine turned.

"I know my brother."

"You haven't seen him in eight thousand years."

Silence.

Harsh.

Necessary.

Shen Yuan activated the system.

[Analyzing target.]

Long pause.

[Analysis obstructed.]

Again.

[Partial information available.]

Name: Unknown

Possible Identity: Ji Cang's Fourth Disciple

Original Dao: Primordial Chaos

Current State: Residual body / fragmented consciousness / foreign occupation

Cultivation: Unable to determine

Soul Integrity: 9%

Body Integrity: 23%

Foreign Presence: YES

Threat Level: Extreme to current disciples

There.

Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed.

"He's not alone."

Guest Nine froze.

Xuankong's expression hardened.

Gu Jian whispered:

"Listener?"

The figure smiled.

Wrong smile.

Guest Nine immediately stepped backward.

"No."

The figure looked at them.

"Still running?"

Guest Nine's face went white.

Shen Yuan understood.

Not Fourth Brother speaking.

Something else.

The figure tilted its head.

Then looked at Lu Chen.

The smile widened.

"Replacement."

Lu Chen frowned.

"I'm Lu Chen."

The figure laughed.

"You always did like names."

Lu looked at Shen Yuan.

"Is it talking to me?"

"No."

Guest Nine answered.

"It's talking to me."

The figure's eyes turned completely black.

"Nine."

Cloudveil trembled.

"You came home."

Shen Yuan raised one finger.

Heaven-Severing Dao appeared.

The smile vanished.

The figure stared at it.

Then at Shen Yuan.

"You."

"Me."

"The new one."

"Apparently."

The foreign presence inside the body shifted.

Black threads spread.

Not karma.

Not exactly.

Shen Yuan activated the Primordial Fate-Severing Silk.

Nothing.

Interesting.

No karmic connection.

No destiny structure.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

No causal thread.

Just like Guest Nine.

The Unwritten Deep.

The figure stepped forward.

Cloudveil's ground cracked.

Guest Nine shouted:

"Don't let it touch you!"

Shen Yuan disappeared.

The figure's hand passed through empty air.

Shen Yuan appeared beside it.

Two fingers touched its shoulder.

The foreign presence reacted instantly.

The arm vanished.

Not severed.

Erased from interaction.

Shen Yuan's fingers passed through.

His expression changed.

Guest Nine shouted:

"It can choose what exists to it!"

The figure's other hand struck.

Shen Yuan caught the wrist.

This one was solid.

The entire valley collapsed.

BOOM!

A crater formed.

Lu Chen's mouth opened.

Jian Wuchen dragged him backward.

Lin Yue raised Moonfrost.

Silver barriers formed.

Xuankong and Gu Jian moved simultaneously.

"Don't!" Guest Nine shouted.

Too late.

Xuankong struck from the left.

Space Dao.

Gu Jian from the right.

Sword Dao.

Both attacks passed through the figure.

No interaction.

The thing smiled.

Then flicked one finger.

Xuankong vanished.

Gu Jian vanished.

Guest Nine's face changed.

"Third! Seventh!"

Shen Yuan looked upward.

Two spatial distortions appeared several kilometers away.

Xuankong and Gu Jian crashed into separate mountains.

Alive.

Good.

The figure looked at Shen Yuan.

"You stayed."

"You moved them."

"They were inconvenient."

"Rude."

The figure laughed.

Then attacked.

No one on Cloudveil could follow the exchange.

Not properly.

Lin Yue saw fragments.

Jian saw more.

Guest Nine understood the mechanics.

But only Shen Yuan matched it.

The figure's power wasn't overwhelming.

That was the strange part.

Its attacks were not stronger than Shen Yuan's.

Its speed wasn't absurd.

Its cultivation pressure barely existed.

Instead—

rules failed around it.

A fist became intangible before Shen Yuan blocked.

Then solid at impact.

Space refused to constrain it.

Cloudveil's suppression formation attempted to lock it.

The formation forgot the target existed.

Sword Intent passed through.

Yin energy failed to recognize it.

It wasn't resisting laws.

Laws simply lacked jurisdiction.

Guest Nine shouted:

"That's how Unborn fight!"

Shen Yuan caught another strike.

This one solid.

"What weakness?"

"Choice!"

Shen Yuan threw the figure through three ancient pillars.

"What?"

"It has to choose what it interacts with!"

The figure twisted in midair.

The pillars passed through its body.

Then its feet became solid against empty space.

It stopped.

Guest Nine continued.

"It can't reject everything and still attack!"

There.

A limitation.

Shen Yuan smiled.

The figure saw it.

"No."

"Yes."

It attacked.

Shen Yuan did not block.

Everyone froze.

The hand approached his chest.

Guest Nine shouted.

At the last instant—

Shen Yuan's Heaven-Severing Dao changed.

Not cutting the hand.

Not cutting the arm.

He cut the decision.

The choice connecting the foreign presence to Shen Yuan.

The figure's hand passed through him.

Its eyes widened.

Shen Yuan grabbed its throat.

Solid.

"Found the rule."

Then slammed it into the ground.

BOOM!

Cloudveil shook.

The Primordial Chaos Valley cratered.

The foreign presence screamed.

Not from pain.

From surprise.

Shen Yuan raised one finger.

"Leave."

The thing laughed.

"Or?"

"Or I remove your relationship with that body."

Silence.

Guest Nine stared.

Xuankong had returned.

Blood on his forehead.

He stared too.

Gu Jian landed beside him.

"Can he do that?"

Xuankong wiped blood away.

"I don't know."

Shen Yuan looked at the system.

"Can I?"

[Probability of successful conceptual severance: 64%.]

Good enough.

The figure's smile disappeared.

"You don't know what you're holding."

"Neither do you."

"I know that body."

"Not yours."

"It invited us."

Guest Nine froze.

"What?"

The figure looked at them.

"Fourth opened the door."

"No."

"He did."

"You're lying."

The figure smiled.

"Ask him."

Then—

its eyes changed.

Black disappeared.

Color returned.

Dark brown.

Human.

The body convulsed.

"Nine..."

Guest Nine rushed forward.

Shen Yuan did not stop them this time.

The foreign presence had retreated.

Temporarily.

Guest Nine knelt.

"Fourth Brother."

The man looked at them.

Recognition.

Real.

"You're..."

His breathing broke.

"...still ugly."

Guest Nine froze.

Then hit him.

Weakly.

On the shoulder.

"You bastard."

The man laughed.

Coughed.

Black mist escaped his mouth.

Xuankong stopped several meters away.

His face crumpled.

"Fourth?"

The man looked over.

"Third."

Xuankong's knees almost gave out.

Gu Jian stood beside him.

The man's eyes moved.

"Seventh."

Gu Jian said nothing.

Then:

"You look terrible."

The Fourth Disciple smiled.

"So do you."

Gu Jian laughed.

Then covered his face.

Shen Yuan maintained Heaven-Severing Dao around the body.

The foreign presence remained inside.

Watching.

He could feel it.

Not karma.

Not soul possession.

Something occupying spaces where the Fourth Disciple's existence had collapsed.

The system updated.

[Original consciousness temporarily dominant.]

[Estimated duration: 4 minutes, 12 seconds.]

Not much.

Shen Yuan spoke.

"Name."

The man looked at him.

"You're direct."

"Time."

The man smiled.

"True."

He tried to sit.

Guest Nine helped him.

"Mo Tian."

The name hit Cloudveil.

The Chaos Valley rang.

Lu Chen's Primordial Chaos Root pulsed violently.

System:

[Historical identity confirmed.]

Mo Tian

Fourth Disciple of Ji Cang

Path: Primordial Chaos

There.

Xuankong whispered:

"Mo Tian."

Memory returned.

Not fully.

A name.

A laugh.

A huge man stealing food.

Chaos explosions.

Xuankong's eyes filled.

"You destroyed Master's kitchen."

Mo Tian looked offended.

"Once."

Gu Jian snorted.

"Six times."

"Allegedly."

Guest Nine laughed through tears.

Lu Chen whispered:

"I like him."

Jian pulled him farther back.

Shen Yuan crouched.

"Why did you tell Lu to run?"

Mo Tian looked at the boy.

His expression changed.

"Chaos Root."

"Yes."

"Pure?"

"Primordial."

Mo Tian closed his eyes.

"Of course."

Lu Chen frowned.

"Why does everyone say that?"

No one answered.

Mo Tian looked at Shen Yuan.

"Don't let it take him."

"The thing inside you?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

Mo Tian's face tightened.

"A mouth."

Guest Nine froze.

"A mouth?"

"Not the Listener."

"Part of it."

"Like an extension?"

"Closer to an organ."

That was unpleasant.

"The Listener doesn't enter worlds whole."

"It grows interfaces."

"Eyes."

"Mouths."

"Hands."

"Dreams."

"Whatever the world can tolerate."

Shen Yuan remembered Xue Ming's corpse.

A mouth.

Remote speech.

Interesting.

"You're carrying one."

Mo Tian nodded.

"By choice."

Guest Nine stood.

"What?"

Mo Tian looked at them.

"Sit."

"No."

"Nine."

"You let that thing inside you?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"To trap it."

Silence.

Better.

Mo Tian continued.

"After Master cut the bridge, fragments of the Listener were stranded."

"Most retreated."

"Some couldn't."

"One tried to enter Cloudveil."

"I caught it."

"In yourself?"

"Chaos can contain contradictions."

He smiled faintly.

"Even things Heaven doesn't recognize."

Lu Chen's eyes widened.

Mo Tian noticed.

"Don't copy me."

Lu immediately nodded.

"Wasn't planning to."

Good.

Guest Nine grabbed Mo Tian's robe.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"We were busy."

"Eight thousand years!"

"I was asleep for most of it."

"That's not better!"

Mo Tian smiled.

Then coughed.

The black mist thickened.

System:

[Original consciousness dominance: 2 minutes, 48 seconds.]

Shen Yuan interrupted.

"How do we remove it?"

Mo Tian looked at him.

"You don't."

"Wrong answer."

"It has replaced too much of me."

"How much?"

"Most."

The system agreed.

Soul nine percent.

Body twenty-three.

The rest—

foreign occupation and Chaos.

"If you pull it out, I die."

Guest Nine's grip tightened.

Mo Tian looked at them.

"That's fine."

"No."

"Nine."

"No."

Mo Tian sighed.

"You always were difficult."

"You literally swallowed part of an ancient horror."

"Contained."

"You swallowed it."

"Technically."

Xuankong covered his face.

Some things survived eight thousand years.

Sibling arguments, apparently.

Shen Yuan asked:

"If we restore you first?"

Mo Tian looked at him.

"Impossible."

The system chimed.

Shen Yuan's eyes moved.

[Statement conflicts with available Host resources.]

Oh?

Shen Yuan smiled.

Mo Tian noticed.

"Why are you smiling?"

"You're probably wrong."

"About?"

"Impossible."

The system opened a list.

[Potential compatible restoration resources detected.]

Primordial Chaos Body Seed residue — Low relevance

Primordial Autonomous Dao Body refined essence — Moderate relevance

Cloudveil Primordial Chaos Valley — High relevance

Disciple Lu Chen's Primordial Chaos Scripture — Extremely High conceptual relevance

Shen Yuan's smile faded.

No.

He was not using Lu Chen as medicine.

The system added:

[Disciple sacrifice not required.]

Good.

"Explain."

[Host may use disciple investment mechanism.]

Interesting.

[A suitable gift to Disciple Lu Chen may produce a returned resource capable of restoring Primordial Chaos-origin damage.]

There it was.

Cashback.

Mo Tian's eyes narrowed.

"You just thought of something."

"Maybe."

"What?"

"Investment."

Xuankong groaned.

"He's doing it again."

Guest Nine looked confused.

"Doing what?"

Gu Jian answered:

"Giving disciples absurd things until reality rewards him."

Guest Nine stared.

"That is not how reality works."

Shen Yuan looked at them.

"Usually."

The system displayed Lu Chen's mission.

[Create first stable cultivation foundation for Primordial Chaos Spiritual Root.]

[Progress: 71%.]

The Chaos Valley.

Residual inheritance.

Mo Tian.

Perfect timing.

But dangerous.

Shen Yuan looked at Lu.

"Come here."

Lu approached carefully.

"Am I in trouble?"

"No."

"Good."

"You're cultivating tomorrow."

Lu's eyes lit up.

"Really?"

"Yes."

Then Shen Yuan looked at Mo Tian.

"You're teaching him."

Mo Tian stared.

"I have two minutes of consciousness."

"We'll extend it."

"How?"

"Complicated."

Xuankong laughed.

Guest Nine looked between them.

"Does he always answer that?"

"Yes," everyone said.

Shen Yuan ignored them.

He inspected his storage.

Pills.

Treasures.

Immortal resources.

He needed something appropriate.

Not too powerful.

Lu's foundation still needed process.

Not instant completion.

Then—

he found it.

A resource obtained years ago.

Before the system.

Before disciples.

Something he had never needed.

Five-Element Origin Crystal.

Heaven-grade.

A rare treasure containing balanced Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.

Excellent for stabilizing complex spiritual roots.

For ordinary cultivators—

valuable.

For Chaos—

interesting.

The system analyzed.

[Compatibility with Lu Chen: 91%.]

[Potential function: Provide structured elemental framework for initial Chaos conversion.]

Exactly.

Shen Yuan held it out.

Lu took it.

The moment his fingers touched the crystal—

all five colors disappeared.

The crystal turned gray.

Mo Tian's eyes widened.

"Perfect conversion."

The system chimed.

[Disciple investment detected.]

[Five-Element Origin Crystal.]

[Grade: Heaven — High.]

[Compatibility: 91%.]

[Current need relevance: Extreme.]

Multiplier.

100×.

500×.

1,000×.

3,000×.

Then—

[5,000× Cashback activated.]

[Reward obtained.]

[Primordial Chaos Genesis Pearl.]

Shen Yuan's expression changed.

Primordial Chaos Genesis Pearl

Grade: Transcendent — Dao Embryonic

A condensed seed of ordered Primordial Chaos capable of restoring collapsed Chaos structures without erasing existing identity.

Functions:

— reconstruct damaged Chaos meridians.

— restore Primordial Chaos Dao foundations.

— stabilize conflicting energies.

— repair partially collapsed bodies.

— nourish fragmented souls if original identity remains.

Special property:

Can separate foreign structures from a compatible Chaos host during restoration.

There.

Mo Tian stared at the pearl.

His face went blank.

Guest Nine felt it.

Xuankong felt it.

Gu Jian felt it.

Even Lu Chen felt it.

Mo Tian whispered:

"Where..."

Shen Yuan answered:

"Investment."

Mo Tian looked at Xuankong.

Xuankong shrugged.

"I stopped asking."

Smart.

The foreign presence woke.

Immediately.

Black flooded Mo Tian's eyes.

The smile returned.

"No."

Shen Yuan looked at it.

"Yes."

The Mouth tried to retreat deeper.

The Genesis Pearl reacted.

Chaos Valley roared.

The entire facility awakened.

Ancient formations ignited.

Mo Tian's body rose into the air.

Black mist erupted.

Guest Nine stepped forward.

Shen Yuan raised a hand.

"Stay back."

The Mouth screamed through Mo Tian.

"THAT DOES NOT BELONG HERE!"

Shen Yuan looked at the pearl.

"Apparently it does."

He pressed it into Mo Tian's chest.

The world turned gray.

Chaos was not destruction.

Lu Chen understood that for the first time.

He watched the valley.

Metal.

Wood.

Water.

Fire.

Earth.

Yin.

Yang.

Lightning.

Wind.

Space.

All distinctions dissolved.

But they did not vanish.

They returned to possibility.

Chaos was not nothing.

Chaos was before choosing.

Mo Tian's damaged body entered that state.

Not erased.

Unfixed.

His missing chest reappeared as gray mist.

Broken meridians became possibilities.

Soul fragments became points of light.

The Mouth screamed.

It tried to remain undefined.

The Genesis Pearl did the opposite.

It forced everything within Mo Tian to answer one question:

Are you Mo Tian?

His body—

yes.

His soul—

yes.

His Chaos Dao—

yes.

The ancient scars—

yes.

The Mouth—

no.

For the first time in eight thousand years—

it had been distinguished from its host.

Shen Yuan smiled.

"Found you."

The Mouth tried to flee.

Guest Nine shouted:

"Don't let it leave the valley!"

Shen Yuan closed his hand.

Cloudveil folded.

The valley became isolated.

The Mouth struck every boundary.

Failed.

Why?

Because the Primordial Chaos Genesis Pearl had given it a temporary definition.

Foreign.

Not Mo Tian.

Once defined—

Cloudveil could see it.

The system could see it.

Heaven could—

The sky changed.

Shen Yuan looked up.

Outside Cloudveil—

thunder gathered.

Xuankong's face changed.

"Heaven noticed."

Guest Nine stared.

"Impossible."

The Mouth screamed.

For the first time—

the Heavenly Dao recognized an Unborn fragment.

Tribulation clouds formed.

Lu Chen's eyes widened.

"Is Heaven helping?"

Shen Yuan considered.

"Probably offended."

A bolt descended.

Not toward Mo Tian.

Toward the Mouth.

BOOM!

The valley became white.

The Mouth screamed.

Another bolt.

Then another.

Nine.

Eighteen.

Thirty-six.

Guest Nine stared.

"I've never seen Heaven this angry."

Xuankong laughed.

"It hates paperwork."

Shen Yuan almost agreed.

The Mouth tried to return to Mo Tian.

The Genesis Pearl rejected it.

Then—

a final bolt descended.

Black-gold.

Heavenly Punishment.

The Mouth looked upward.

For the first time—

fear.

"NO!"

BOOM!

It shattered.

Not destroyed.

Shen Yuan saw fragments.

Colorless.

Trying to escape.

Heaven-Severing Dao appeared.

He cut every relationship between those fragments and Mo Tian.

The Mouth vanished from the valley.

The system chimed.

[Foreign structure successfully separated.]

[Target restoration initiated.]

[Mo Tian soul integrity: 9% → 31% → 46%.]

[Body integrity: 23% → 52% → 68%.]

[Original Dao Foundation reconstruction underway.]

Not full recovery.

Good.

Eight thousand years shouldn't vanish instantly.

Mo Tian fell.

Guest Nine caught him.

His eyes opened.

Brown.

Human.

He looked at Shen Yuan.

Then at the restored chest.

Then at the sky.

"What..."

Shen Yuan smiled.

"You're wrong less now."

Mo Tian stared.

Then laughed.

Weakly.

"Third."

Xuankong approached.

"What?"

"I like him."

Xuankong sighed.

"Everyone does eventually."

Shen Yuan looked at Gu Jian.

Gu Jian nodded.

"Unfortunately."

The system wasn't finished.

[Disciple Lu Chen observed complete Primordial Chaos separation and reconstruction process.]

[Primordial Chaos Scripture comprehension increased.]

[Chaos Spiritual Root awakening: 7% → 19%.]

[Primordial Chaos Body Embryonic: 3% → 8%.]

[Mission progress: 71% → 84%.]

Excellent.

Not complete.

Process remained.

Lu Chen looked at his hands.

Gray Chaos Qi flickered.

For the first time—

stable.

Only for a second.

Then it vanished.

Mo Tian saw.

His expression changed.

"Again."

Lu tried.

Nothing.

"Again."

Tiny gray spark.

Gone.

Mo Tian smiled.

"Terrible."

Lu's face fell.

"Really?"

"Excellent."

Lu stared.

"Which?"

"Both."

Shen Yuan understood why Ji Cang had accepted him.

The Heavenly Tribulation dispersed.

Cloudveil returned to calm.

Then Guest Nine froze.

Shen Yuan noticed.

"What?"

They stared toward the sky.

"No."

The color drained from their face.

"The Mouth didn't die."

Shen Yuan's eyes narrowed.

"I know."

"One fragment escaped."

"Where?"

Guest Nine looked upward.

Not beneath the world.

Up.

Toward the Severed Barrier.

The system flashed.

[Foreign fragment detected crossing weakened realm boundary.]

[Destination: Immortal Realm.]

Xuankong's expression changed.

"Who is there?"

Guest Nine closed their eyes.

Then whispered:

"Someone just gave the Listener a mouth in Heaven."

Immortal Realm.

Celestial Registry Palace.

Ji Wushang was halfway down the palace steps when he stopped.

Something landed behind him.

Wet.

Small.

He turned.

A drop of black liquid rested on white jade.

Ji Wushang frowned.

No aura.

No Qi.

No demonic energy.

Nothing.

He stepped closer.

The drop moved.

Ji Wushang froze.

It formed a mouth.

Tiny.

Black.

Smiling.

Then whispered:

"Shen Yuan."

Ji Wushang's face changed.

The drop leapt.

He moved instantly.

Immortal Qi erupted.

The palace formations activated.

The black fragment ignored all of it.

It crossed the distance.

One inch from his forehead—

a golden hand caught it.

Everything stopped.

Immortal Emperor Taihuang stood beside him.

His expression was no longer calm.

The black fragment writhed in his palm.

Then laughed.

"I remember you."

Taihuang's face went pale.

Ji Wushang had never seen that expression on his emperor.

"Your Majesty?"

Taihuang stared at the thing.

Eight thousand years disappeared from his eyes.

He was a child again.

Gold robes.

Broken sky.

A swordsman standing above Heaven.

And something faceless behind him.

Taihuang whispered:

"No."

The Mouth smiled.

"Little emperor."

Taihuang crushed his hand.

The entire Celestial Registry Palace shook.

The fragment did not die.

It laughed.

Then—

every ancient ascension altar in the Immortal Realm lit at once.

Thousands.

Tens of thousands.

Across sects.

Clans.

Dynasties.

Forbidden regions.

The same message appeared.

Not from the Mortal Realm.

Not from the Sword Tomb.

From inside the Immortal Realm itself.

I FOUND THE ROAD.

Taihuang stared.

Ji Wushang swallowed.

"What road?"

The Mouth answered through every altar.

THE ONE YOU CUT.

The Severed Barrier screamed.

And for the first time in eight thousand years—

something in the Immortal Realm began trying to descend.