X-Dragon Era

The fourth item to emerge was a flagpole with a long banner. As soon as the flagpole left the tower, it instantly dispersed into twelve black banners. Then, with a spin, they merged back into one piece, still a fabric banner.

The fifth and last to come out was a small, patterned dark cauldron, slowly rotating, primitive and majestic.

Pleased with the treasures before him, the figure waved his hand and, with a flick of his sleeve, the eight treasures flew out in all directions, guarding the world. Then... the figure lowered his head, looking towards the axe shadow formed by the Five-Colored Radiance, frowning tightly.

Facing his gaze, the axe-shaped light shadow began to hum violently, seeming to express unwillingness and helplessness, with a deep sorrow that couldn't be articulated.

"Ah..." With a long sigh, the figure holding the Treasure Pagoda waved his sleeve, and the axe shadow formed by the Five-Colored Radiance instantly flew out, traversing billions of miles of space, and disappeared under the feet of the sky-high giant.

As the light shadow merged into the feet of the giant, Xin Yun's vision darkened, and he lost consciousness once again. When he regained consciousness, Xin Yun found himself back in the mine, gripping the trembling axe shadow still formed of the Five-Colored Radiance in his hand.

Staring blankly at the battle-axe in his hand, Xin Yun's face was full of bitterness. It was clear...that sky-high giant was likely Pangu. The three points of light that burst forth while absorbing the Xuanhuang Qi were probably the Three Corpses cut by Pangu, corresponding to good—Laozi, evil—Tongtian, and self—Yuanshi Tianzun!

The reason Xin Yun came to this conclusion was based on the evidence. "Shi" means the origin, the first and foremost, naturally Pangu, thus representing the self-corpse.

After the three flew away, the person who came out holding the Linglong Tower was truly Pangu. The so-called attainment of sainthood by Soul Severance only occurs after the Three Corpses are cut away. Pangu successfully severed his Three Corpses and transformed into that person. If not unexpectedly, that would be Hongjun Daozu! The Three Pure Ones were his severed Three Corpses.

As for the remnants of the Pangu Axe, they were likely the Zhu Xian Four Swords, Taiji Diagram, Pangu Banner, Chaos Bell, Qiankun Cauldron, forged from the axe blade, axe body, axe handle, axe mallet, and the joint of the handle and body, respectively—these are the Innate Five Great Treasures.

Of course, in later transmission, only the Four Great Innate Treasures are mentioned, not including the Qiankun Cauldron, because it neither defends, attacks, nor suppresses. Its sole function is to harbor a chaotic world, capable of nurturing innate substances—even refined treasures placed inside can become innate under refinement by chaotic Qi. Discover hidden content at My Virtual Library Empire

The other four treasures can be used for offense if not for defense, but the Qiankun Cauldron is solely auxiliary, hence it's not counted among the Four Great Innate Treasures; however, in truth,

Innate Supreme Treasures mean those treasures that are the most supreme among all innate treasures. In this world where strength is paramount, the Chaos Cauldron, which cannot attack nor defend, was somewhat unjustly relegated to Innate Spiritual Treasures.

Looking at the Five-Colored axe-shaped radiance in his hand, Xin Yun knew...this was the soul of the Pangu Axe. After all, an axe is not a living being, so it has a soul but no spirit, lacks consciousness, and due to the cause and effect of creating the heavens, it could not avoid being shattered to pieces.

However, there was originally a glimmer of hope, which was forcefully stripped away by Hongjun.

After creation, Pangu stabilized the heavens and earth with his hands and feet, but from all sides, there was no protection, and the chaotic Qi rushed into the world, attempting to revert everything back to chaos.

Hongjun didn't wish to treat the Sky-opening Axe this way, since...if this world could be created, the Pangu Axe accounted for at least half of the effort. Without the axe, the heavens and earth would never have opened. After creation, eighty percent of the celestial Xuanhuang Qi was absorbed by the remnants, illustrating its great contributions.

Even though it couldn't be spared, if the fragments of the Pangu Axe were united, the souls of the five metals could be dispersed. After merging with the public virtues, it would become a Saint Level existence. However, if that were to happen, the heavens and earth would lose their guardians, and the world would soon be engulfed by chaotic currents; all efforts would have been for naught.

After the successful creation, Pangu severed his Three Corpses and, with the aid of celestial Xuanhuang Qi, achieved Taoism, also calculating the cause and effect. As they say, every cause has its effect—the world was opened because of the Sky-opening Axe, and it would inevitably be destroyed because of it as well.

Therefore, allowing the eight remnants of the Sky-opening Axe to unite would likely lead to the destruction of this newly created world, which obviously didn't align with Hongjun's plans.

Thus, Hongjun acted in time, using the Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda formed from Xuanhuang Qi to suppress the Axe Soul of the Sky-opening Axe. Then, he absorbed the eight fragments, refining them with Xuanhuang Qi, imprinting them with his own seal, and used them to guard the eight directions of the world.

Eight treasures in total, the Zhu Xian Four Swords guarded the four sides, while the other four treasures took care of the rest. The chaotic Qi couldn't enter, so the world would not be destroyed.

Yet, after laboriously creating the heavens, with his body shattered from the effort, the Sky-opening Axe bore great cause and effect, especially when it helped Pangu block the chaotic energy, taking on even more cause and effect onto itself. Now, treated this way by Hongjun, naturally, the Sky-opening Axe was deeply resentful.

But, Hongjun had already achieved enlightenment, only not yet fully comprehended, and the Sky-opening Axe, having lost its physical form, could do nothing to him, not even capable of crying out without a mouth.

In the face of the reproach from the Sky-opening Axe, Hongjun also felt deeply guilty. He truly owed the Sky-opening Axe too much. Without its help, not to mention creating the heavens, even if the heavens had been opened, the energy tugs after creation would have instantly torn Pangu's True Form to shreds. How could he have attained anything?