[Spacetime Coordinates: ???]
[Plane Attribute: Primordial Chaos (Initial Chaos, All Things Undetermined).]
[Warning: Extremely high concentration of primordial malevolent energy detected. Technological rules are ineffective. Spiritual energy concentration: Liquefied level.]
...Falling.
An endless fall.
There was no formula for gravity acceleration here, only chaotic gales that seemed to tear the soul apart.
Shen Qingqiu felt as if he had been thrown into a giant, churning washing machine, except that what was being churned inside wasn't water, but fragments of shattered time and raging earth, fire, water, and wind.
"Hold on tight!" Seventeen's voice was fragmented in the storm.
The thrusters on his back had long since shut down, and the "Red Hare" armor, indestructible in the interstellar era, was now being stripped away layer by layer by this savage force.
It was the rejection of the rules.
The ironclad armor of technology was heresy here.
"Seventeen..." Shen Qingqiu clung tightly to his waist, burying his face in his chest.
She could feel his body temperature rising rapidly; it was the core reactor making its final struggle.
BOOM—!!!
A muffled, deafening roar, as if Pangu had cleaved the chaos with his axe.
The two finally reached the bottom.
It wasn't solid earth, but a viscous, warm liquid with a strong, rusty smell.
Red waves surged thousands of feet high, staining the ten suns hanging in the sky blood-red.
[Location: Netherworld Blood Sea.]
[Source: Formed from the foul blood of Pangu's navel.]
Shen Qingqiu choked on the sweet-smelling liquid, struggling to surface.
What she saw was a despairing red.
The sea was red, the sky was red, even the mist floating in the air was a bloodthirsty crimson.
"Seventeen!"
She wiped the blood from her face, searching for the figure in terror.
"Splash—" Not far away, a tall figure broke through the water.
Shen Qingqiu's pupils contracted slightly.
That was Seventeen.
But he had changed.
His crisp black trench coat had long since turned to ash, revealing his muscular upper body.
The silver-white bionic coating that had covered his skin was gone, replaced by bare, pale, jade-like skin.
And that black-gold **[Starry Right Arm]** was undergoing an astonishing transformation.
The "bloodthirsty aura" here was too heavy.
Like piranhas finding an outlet, it frantically burrowed into Seventeen's mechanical arm, corroding the intricate circuits and chips.
Sizzle— Circuits burned out, nano-divine metal reformed.
The once technologically advanced, streamlined mechanical arm was losing its metallic luster, growing layers of black-red, dragon-scale-like demonic patterns.
He no longer resembled a warrior from the future.
Now, he was disheveled, shirtless, and his right arm was grotesquely demonic.
He looked more like an ancient Asura who had just crawled out of the depths of hell.
"Qingqiu..." Seventeen gasped for breath.
His voice became hoarse and rough, as if he had swallowed burning embers.
It was the excruciating pain brought on by the baleful energy entering his body.
"Don't come any closer..." He took a step back, his once clear mind in his purple eyes being eroded by a violent crimson.
"Something...is wrong here. I'll...lose control."
Shen Qingqiu didn't back down.
Looking at his pained state, her heart ached.
She knew this was assimilation by the rules.
Seventeen possessed a "Divine Metal" body; in this primordial world where "body refinement" was paramount, he was the perfect magnet, frantically absorbing the most domineering baleful energy in the world.
"Losing control is losing control." Shen Qingqiu waded through the sticky blood, step by step, towards him.
Her long purple gothic dress, now stained dark red with blood, trailed heavily behind her like a fish with a severed tail.
"Seventeen, look carefully."
"There are no gods here, no programs."
"No matter what you become, you're mine."
She walked up to him, stretched out her arms, ignoring the intense heat emanating from his demonic arm, and tightly embraced his waist.
"Roar—" A low growl escaped Seventeen's throat.
He was enduring.
Enduring the primal, bloodthirsty instinct to tear everything apart.
Just then.
Hiss—hiss— A chilling hissing sound came from the depths of the sea of blood.
The surface of the water exploded.
A massive shadow, the size of a small mountain, loomed over the two of them.
It was a giant serpent with nine heads—a primordial alien species, the Nine-Headed Sea Serpent.
Its scales were dark green, each as large as a shield. Eighteen lantern-like yellow eyes greedily stared at these two "foreign species." It smelled it.
The man carried the scent of the "divine metal" it craved most. Eat Specific, and it could transform into a dragon!
"Get lost!!!" Seventeen abruptly looked up.
In that instant, the purple in his eyes was completely replaced by scarlet.
He shoved Shen Qingqiu aside, a black and red aura erupting from his body.
No laser cannons, no plasma blades.
He had lost all ranged attacks.
But he still had his fists.
And this body that was evolving into the **[Chaotic Demon God Body]**.
Boom!
Seventeen shattered the water's surface, like a black cannonball, charging directly at the colossal creature.
The nine-headed sea serpent contemptuously spewed out a mouthful of poisonous mist.
But the poisonous mist was instantly vaporized by the baleful aura surrounding Seventeen upon contact with his body.
Seventeen leaped onto the serpent's back.
His fully demonized right arm, its five fingers forming claws, pierced fiercely into the giant serpent's hard scales.
*Thud!*
Like a hot knife through butter.
The seemingly indestructible scales of the primordial alien species were as brittle as paper before the combination of "nano-divine gold + blood sea aura."
"Awooo—!!!" The giant snake screamed, its nine heads twisting wildly, trying to shake off the flea.
Seventeen remained motionless.
He was like a madman, a wild beast.
He used no skill, only primal violence.
Tearing, pounding, plucking scales.
Blood rained down.
It was the giant snake's blood, mixed with the water of the Blood Sea, creating a bloody storm.
Shen Qingqiu stood below, looking up at this scene.
She saw the man who was usually elegant, restrained, even his killings were an art.
Now, covered in blood, like an ancient beast, he rode on the dragon's neck, forcefully…plucking off one of its heads.
*Snap!*
The sound of a blood vessel rupturing was like thunder.
A massive snake head crashed down, creating a colossal wave.
Then came the second, the third…
It was a one-sided massacre.
When the last snake head was crushed by Seventeen, the enormous snake body finally collapsed with a deafening roar, sinking into the depths of the sea of blood.
Seventeen stood atop the snake corpse.
He was covered in blood, his long hair plastered wetly to his back. His demonized right arm still dripped black blood, radiating a chilling red light.
He slowly turned around, looking at Shen Qingqiu.
The red light in his eyes flickered intensely, as if trying to identify the person before him.
"Seven…?" Shen Qingqiu called softly.
The man, exuding a murderous aura, trembled violently.
The red light in his eyes receded like a tide, revealing once more that deep and gentle purple.
His legs gave way, and he collapsed from the snake corpse.
"Qingqiu…"
Before losing consciousness, he instinctively reached out to her.
"I'm here!" Shen Qingqiu rushed forward, catching him before he fell into the bloody water.
...At the foot of Mount Buzhou, in the nameless Beast Bone Cave.
Long distanced from the shore of the Blood Sea, this was a natural haven formed by the skeletons of giant dinosaurs.
Outside the cave, ten suns took turns baking the earth, distorting the air into waves of heat.
Inside the cave, Shen Qingqiu lit a campfire.
Seventeen lay on a huge animal hide (skin peeled from a nine-headed serpent; though tough, it was waterproof).
He had a fever.
His temperature was frighteningly high, his skin as red as if dripping blood. The Blood Sea's malevolent energy was altering his genetic code.
"So hot..." Seventeen murmured in his unconscious state, his brow furrowed, seemingly enduring immense pain.
Shen Qingqiu knelt beside him, holding a damp cloth (a torn piece of her skirt), constantly wiping his body.
But the water turned to steam the moment it touched his skin.
"It's useless…" Shen Qingqiu bit her lip, looking at his right arm, which had completely turned black and red.
The demonic patterns on it were spreading towards his heart.
If the malevolent energy attacked his heart, he would completely transform into a demon who only knew how to kill, forgetting her, forgetting everything.
"There are no antibiotics here, no healing fluid." Shen Qingqiu looked around. This wild world was filled only with harsh winds and blood-stained earth.
Her gaze fell on the cave entrance.
There grew several alluring red flowers—the Lycoris radiata (Red Spider Lily).
These flowers grow in the underworld, and in the primordial world, they grow by the sea of blood, absorbing the resentment of Pangu.
They are highly poisonous.
But poison is also an antidote. Fighting poison with poison might suppress the malevolent energy within him.
Shen Qingqiu walked over and picked a few Lycoris radiata.
She didn't crush them.
Instead, she put them directly into her mouth and chewed them.
Bitter.
The bitterness was so intense it numbed her tongue; the chilling poison seeped into her stomach, causing a spasm.
She endured the discomfort and crawled back to Seventeen's side.
She bent down, pried open his mouth, and slowly fed him the chewed flower juice.
Seventeen instinctively wanted to resist the bitter taste.
But Shen Qingqiu's tongue carried a hint of sweet spiritual energy (she still possessed a faint foundation in cultivation), soothing his agitation.
One sip, two sips.
The red flower juice flowed down his throat.
It was the most poisonous flower in the primordial world, and also the most affectionate medicine.
Slowly.
The intense heat on Seventeen's body began to subside.
The red light on his raging right arm gradually stabilized, turning into a restrained dark gold. The demonic runes stopped spreading and instead, like tattoos, were deeply imprinted on his skin.
He calmed down.
His breathing became steady and deep, like a dormant volcano.
Shen Qingqiu collapsed weakly beside him.
Her lips were slightly purple from the poison, but her eyes were incredibly bright.
She turned to look at the man, whose brow was furrowed even in his sleep.
She reached out, her fingertips tracing the newly formed demonic markings on his arm.
"Fool."
"Others cultivate immortality for longevity, but you came here to cultivate demonic arts."
She pulled out the **[Bronze Fragment]** from her bosom.
The fragment was unusually active here, emitting a buzzing sound, as if cheering to return to its homeland.
Shen Qingqiu held the fragment, feeling the ancient and desolate Daoist aura emanating from it.
She looked up at the towering mountain outside the cave, connecting heaven and earth—Mount Buzhou.
That was Pangu's spine.
The pillar of heaven and earth.
And the loneliest and most resilient existence in this primordial world.
"Seventeen." Shen Qingqiu rested her head against his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat.
That was a true, flesh-and-blood heartbeat, unlike any mechanical core.
"In this chaotic world, in this era where gods and demons roam freely."
"You don't need to become a Buddha, nor a saint."
"You only need to be my...Mount Buzhou."
"If the sky falls, you'll hold it up."
"If the earth sinks, you'll bear it."
"And I..."
She closed her eyes, a gentle smile playing on her lips, their fingers intertwined.
"I will plant countless spider lilies for you at the foot of this mountain."
"I will accompany you...to witness the sunrise and sunset of this primordial world." Outside the cave, the wind howled, and giant beasts roared.
Inside the cave, two souls from the future, in this wild and untamed age, for the first time truly...took root.