Chapter Thirty-Three: The Jade Disc of Creation

With a loud splash, water sprayed in all directions. Nan Luo sprang forward and dove into the small lake, swimming toward the waterfall with the grace and precision of an expert swimmer—agile and light. Yet, to behold such a massive being, three zhang in height, gliding as effortlessly as a nimble fish, evoked a strange sense of incongruity. Still, as a god-demon of water, swimming was as natural to Nan Luo as breathing, a source of boundless exhilaration.

Crash!

A great shadow blocked the cascade, sending water scattering everywhere. Nan Luo surged up from beneath the surface, hurtling toward the waterfall and breaking through with ease, vanishing into its depths.

"As expected, this mysterious force only serves to prevent prying eyes, not to bar living beings from entry. Otherwise, sealed as my divine power is, I would never have made it inside," Nan Luo thought with a sigh of relief, quickening his pace as he leapt further into the heart of the waterfall.

Crash!

A shimmering curtain of water was smashed aside by a tremendous force, water spraying in wild arcs. Nan Luo pushed through the barrier before him and soared into the stone cavern hidden within the waterfall.

The cave was not large—no more than ten li across. Its walls were formed by veils of water, its floor a mirrored surface, its ceiling a river of stars: a world entirely of water.

At the center of the lake stood a pillar of water, one zhang high, atop which floated a white jade disc radiating gentle, auspicious light that suffused the entire cave.

The moment Nan Luo caught sight of the jade disc glowing atop the water pillar, he knew at once that this was the fateful opportunity he sought.

It was an intuition that came from beyond, a guiding hand of destiny, impossible to doubt.

Fixing his gaze on the white jade disc, blue flames flickering in his eyes, Nan Luo stepped onto the tranquil, rippleless surface, slowly making his way toward it.

Tap, tap, tap...

Though his divine body stood three zhang tall, the water did not stir beneath his tread. Only the sound of his footsteps echoed within this watery sanctuary.

Coming to a halt before the pillar, Nan Luo stared at the jade disc, his blue eyes alight with longing, greed, and a flicker of fear.

He hesitated, then slowly placed his right hand upon the disc, not daring to take it outright.

The instant his hand touched the disc, the auspicious radiance it emitted enveloped him completely.

Bathed in this light, Nan Luo kept his hand upon the disc, blue eyes awash with shifting, prismatic gleams as he absorbed the torrent of information the jade disc imparted.

After some time, the light in his eyes gradually subsided.

Nan Luo gazed calmly at the jade disc before him, yet he did not pick it up; instead, he withdrew his hand.

"It truly is the legendary Jade Record of Creation," he murmured quietly, eyes steady.

From the first moment he saw the jade disc, Nan Luo had suspected it might be the legendary artifact. But he could scarcely believe such a supreme treasure would appear so easily before a mere minor god-king. Even as the future chieftain of the divine race, the one fated to rule, he had no right to possess even a fragment of the Jade Record.

In the chaos there were four supreme treasures: the Heaven-Opening Axe, the Primal Lotus, the Jade Record of Creation, and the Hongmeng Pearl.

The Jade Record was a supreme treasure of chaos, containing the profound mysteries of three thousand great Daos. It was also the companion treasure of the great primordial being, Pangu. It could be said that Pangu’s rise to a realm second only to the Dao itself, that half-step to immortality, owed much to the Jade Record.

Yet, such a treasure could not be tolerated by the Dao. When Pangu cleaved the heavens from the earth, the Jade Record shattered under the immense pressure, its fragments scattered across the primeval wilds.

Whether Nan Luo wished to believe it or not, he had to accept the truth: the white jade disc before him was indeed a broken shard of the Jade Record.

Such a treasure was not easily claimed.

From the information imparted by the disc, Nan Luo could confirm its identity and understand just how precious and significant even this small fragment was.

The Jade Record held the secrets of three thousand Daos, and this particular fragment contained the mysteries of the Water Dao.

All of this forced Nan Luo to think carefully about his next move.

From the very beginning—his soul’s transmigration to the primeval age, seizing the body of a primordial god-demon, devouring its spirit, rising to the position of divine chieftain, the fated sovereign, and now obtaining a fragment of the Jade Record infused with the power of water—Nan Luo could not believe that any of this was mere coincidence. It was surely the design of some supreme existence.

He could accept all that had been arranged for him, but he could not so easily accept this fragment of the Jade Record.

It was a supreme treasure, to be sure.

Especially as it contained the mysteries of water, which, as a god-demon of water, would allow Nan Luo to grow rapidly, catch up with the likes of the ancestral dragon who had a head start of hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps even reach the legendary sovereign realm.

Yet whenever Nan Luo looked at the Jade Record, he could not help but think of that supreme being in violet robes: the Daoist Patriarch Hongjun.

According to later accounts, Hongjun was the one who possessed most of the Jade Record’s fragments. Under the interference of the Dao itself, it was impossible for anyone to ever gather the Jade Record in its entirety. All the fragments that could be obtained had ended up in Hongjun’s hands.

As the leader of the immortals, merged with the Heavenly Dao, lord of the primeval wilderness—Hongjun was no benevolent soul.

Whoever acquired a fragment of the Jade Record would attract Hongjun’s notice.

And for any immortal or god to catch his eye meant only one thing: death, and the loss of the Jade Record.

If Nan Luo claimed the disc before him, he would inevitably draw Hongjun’s attention—and death would surely follow.

Thus, before such a supreme treasure, Nan Luo found himself wavering, torn between desire and dread.

Yet at the same time, he could not bring himself to refuse it.

He needed the mysteries of water within the disc to further his own cultivation, to break through, perhaps even to glimpse the sovereign realm.

Moreover, if he declined to take the disc, he feared he would incur the wrath of that unfathomable being who had aided him from the shadows all this time.

A pawn who refused to play his part could be swept from the board at a whim.

More immediately, if Nan Luo did not claim the Jade Record, he would not be able to leave Buzhou Divine Mountain.

And where was he now? Thirty thousand zhang up—an absolute, forbidden domain, untrodden by mortals, sanctified by the presence of divinity.

Only by relying on this fragment of the Jade Record, a treasure rivaling those of the beginning itself, could he hope to descend from Buzhou Mountain alive.

Refuse it, and he would die now. Take it, and he would die later.

“To hell with it!” Nan Luo growled, blue eyes locked on the Jade Record before him, and slowly reached out his divine right hand.