Lao Tzu is Ji Gong

"After your cultivation is reset, you will face the opening of a new world, and this is irreversible. Do you agree?"

The system kindly reminded me.

"The opening of a new world? Does resetting one's cultivation level also mean facing the trials of a new world?"

Li Xiuyuan thought to himself that his usually calm heart finally stirred with a slight ripple. This was a long-lost excitement. He had never felt this way since he transmigrated. Facing a new world with a completely new self, he was really looking forward to it.

"Sure!"

Li Xiuyuan parted his thin lips slightly, a wicked smile curving his lips. This was exactly the feeling he wanted, and naturally, he was unwavering in his determination.

"Okay, deleting Master's cultivation data, please wait..."

"Your cultivation technique is being deleted."

……

A new world is opening, please wait.

As time passed, Li Xiuyuan felt his memories of the cultivation technique gradually disappearing, and his whole body became light and airy.

Chapter 1272 The Beginning of Heaven and Earth

Li Xiuyuan's consciousness was gradually fading away. He felt his soul becoming lighter and lighter with the mechanical voice of the system. All his supernatural abilities and cultivation were being lost little by little. It was a strange feeling, like an overly full sponge being kneaded and squeezed to remove the turbid water inside.

"Comfortable."

Li Xiuyuan let out a sigh from the depths of his soul. This feeling of emptiness was so comfortable. In a daze, the image of Mount Buzhou flashed vaguely in his mind. The majestic Mount Buzhou stretched as far as the eye could see, and the snow on its peaks was chillingly cold, making his soul shiver.

As he floated, he felt his soul arrive at the core of the Buzhou Mountains. A hazy light enveloped a huge lotus flower, and a blinding light flickered continuously within the lotus's heart, making it impossible for Li Xiuyuan to open his eyes. In a daze, he was drawn to this light and kept moving closer to it.

Suddenly, a tremendous suction force came, and Li Xiuyuan was drawn into the lotus heart by an inexplicable gravitational pull, instantly disappearing into the light.

In a daze, Li Xiuyuan opened his eyes, but he couldn't see the scenery in front of him clearly. Everything was gray and hazy, and he couldn't distinguish between the sky and the ground. There were no insects chirping or birds singing, no sunshine or rain. It was a desolate place with no human presence.

In this endless desolation, Li Xiuyuan had no direction. He had lost all his memories and did not know where he came from, where he was going, or how to get there. Like a puppet, he wandered aimlessly through this chaos, moving forward only by instinct.

Suddenly a huge sphere appeared before his eyes; strictly speaking, it looked more like an egg.

"Crack!"

A crisp, resounding sound rang in Li Xiuyuan's ears, jolting him awake from his dazed state. He stared in disbelief at everything before him.

That sphere—no, to be precise, that egg—had a crack appear on its smooth shell, and the crack kept widening, as if some extraordinary creature was being conceived within it.

"Roar!"

Immediately afterwards, a loud roar came from the eggshell, and a strong hand emerged from the crack in the shell. Every vein on the hand was bulging, the muscles were taut, and it gently slapped the skin.

Click click

Another loud noise rang out, and the giant egg continued to crack open from the massive hand, the gap widening until it split in two.

As the eggshell cracked open, a muscular man wielding a giant axe slowly rose from within. With his ascent, the entire world began to tremble, and space itself rippled.

Li Xiuyuan stared in astonishment at the scene before him, instantly feeling how insignificant he was, like an ant before this giant, utterly worthless.

Could this be the creation of the world by Pangu?

Li Xiuyuan's heart jolted, and he instantly came to his senses. Looking at the chaotic and bewildering world, he immediately guessed that the world he was in was probably in the beginning of time, before the chaos was divided, at the time when Pangu separated heaven and earth.

"Data refresh complete. Congratulations, host, on arriving at the beginning of creation."

The system's cold voice sounded again, confirming Li Xiuyuan's idea.

"My name is Pangu, and I wish to create heaven and earth!"

A loud voice resonated throughout the chaotic world.

Chapter 1273 Descending into Chaos

Looking at the still chaotic world, Li Xiu was somewhat bewildered. He had meant that when he said he wanted to reset his cultivation and transmigrate, he meant to wash away all his worldly impurities, shed all his spiritual power, and start over. It seemed that the system had misunderstood him and had directly brought him to the beginning of this primordial world.

Looking at this primordial chaos, Li Xiu was speechless. He had not lived through a time of great change, nor had he experienced the life of a host soul. What was even more frustrating was that he himself did not know what had happened at the beginning of the world.

Li Xiu stood at the very center of heaven and earth, atop Mount Buzhou, at the foot of Pangu, his thoughts unable to settle for a long time. Looking up at the enormous body of Pangu, which stretched to the horizon, a sense of powerlessness and insignificance overwhelmed Li Xiu's heart.

This time, he only has the memories of himself as a modern person, and the body he is in now is formed from energy stolen by the system from the giant round egg that gave birth to Pangu.

Without any support in this world, Li Xiu panicked a little and couldn't help but complain inwardly, "If I'm all alone in this world, how am I supposed to continue cultivating?"

Having truly run out of solutions, Li Xiu could only place all his hopes on his system, asking in his mind.

"Holy Buddha System, can you give me a different world? This godforsaken place, no, it's a place where there aren't even birds, how am I supposed to live here?"

What evil spirits and unwavering resolve? In Li Xiu's mind, they had all been swallowed up like a bowl of wontons in this chaotic world.

"Sorry, no, please have some self-respect, Master," the system replied coldly.

"Integrity? Can you eat that stuff?" Li Xiu cursed inwardly.

The thought of food made Li Xiu's stomach rumble, and his anger flared even more. He complained to the system, "Transmigration is exhausting! I can barely even get a decent meal now!"

However, all he received in response was the system's cold voice: "I'm sorry, Master, the new world you descend into after your cultivation is reset is random and irreversible."

"What am I supposed to do then? It's not like I'm asking you to reverse it or reset it again." Li Xiu was still trying to calm himself down and was discussing it with the system.

The system's response remained mechanical and indifferent. "I'm sorry, Master, world reset requires you to have over one million merit points. You have not yet met that requirement and cannot initiate world reset."

"Huh? What do I have now?" Li Xiu was completely speechless. Did he have to spend countless years with Pangu, waiting day by day for the world to awaken and sprout?

The system's voice rang out again. "A new world, with a big gift package for you. It all depends on whether you can make good use of it, Master."

"What is my big gift package?" A flame of hope was rekindled in Li Xiu's heart.

The system's cold, emotionless voice continued, "Since I have randomly arrived at the beginning of time, this system does not currently have a specific gift package for adapting to chaos."

"Damn it! Are you trying to kill me?" Li Xiu cursed directly.

The system replied emotionlessly, "However, as compensation, I can grant you three wishes."

"Thank goodness, we're not at our wits' end yet." Li Xiu gasped, but then he immediately realized what those three wishes could possibly do.

Chapter 1274 Obtaining Memories

"Cultivation techniques? There's only one giant, Pangu, in this chaotic world. Even if we defeat him, it won't make a difference."

"Essence pills? To cleanse the marrow and refine the essence, to achieve immortality, and to hold hands and gaze into each other's eyes amidst the chaos with Pangu?"

"Rare treasures? They don't seem to be of much use. We can't eat beans every day."

After thinking it over carefully, Li Xiu felt somewhat numb. At this moment, Li Xiu also felt that he was so lacking in his own opinions.

All those previous transmigrations, to different worlds, even legendary ones, were just coincidences arranged by the system. After descending into a person's body, the system would guide the user through challenges based on the host's circumstances. At least there was something connecting the user to that world. This time, it's really tough.

After all, Li Xiu, as a seasoned otaku in the 21st century, was a writer who just loafed around and did nothing, but he rarely connected with society and never took the initiative to do anything.

After a moment of blankness, Li Xiu snapped back to reality. There was no point in just sitting there and waiting; it seemed he had to rely on himself this time.

Looking around at his surroundings, Li Xiu muttered to himself, "This time, we've truly arrived at the beginning of history."

"No! History!" Upon realizing this word, Li Xiu slapped his forehead hard and exclaimed.

"There are always things I can learn from China's five thousand years of history."

"System, I've made up my mind!" Li Xiu shouted to the system in his mind.

What wish does the owner want to fulfill?

"First, I want to possess the memories of all the emperors, monarchs, and rulers of China from the beginning of time to the 21st century! From the moment they were born!"

System: "Calculating the required space. It has been detected that the master's brain capacity is just enough to accept it. It is estimated that it will temporarily occupy 95% of the master's memory space. Please be patient."

The next moment, without waiting for Li Xiu to be ready, the system rushed into Li Xiu's mind with all its memories of Chinese civilization. Li Xiu immediately felt as if his head was about to be torn apart.

From Yu the Great's flood control, to Qin Shi Huang's unification of the six kingdoms and burning of books and burying of scholars, to the bloody path to the throne of the Tang emperors, to the final struggle of the Qing Empire, and so on, there are many well-known historical records, as well as those unknown secrets. Why did Qin Shi Huang pursue immortality? How did he use his power to control the hearts of the people? And what about his martial arts, military strategies, and many other imperial techniques?

Rubbing his still throbbing head, Li Xiu thought to himself, "This was worth it!"

"What is your second wish, Master?" the system asked indifferently.

With a flood of memories pouring in, Li Xiu had many ideas, such as why not take a shortcut?

Li Xiu also said, "Secondly, I need to be able to possess other people's bodies."

However, the system replied to Li Xiu, "I'm sorry, Master, the body-snatching function is exclusively possessed by the Holy Buddha System, and the right of interpretation belongs to this system."

"Damn it!" Li Xiu had originally planned to take a shortcut and just live a carefree life like Pangu, but the system stopped him.

"What about temporarily possessing another body?" Li Xiu persisted, trying to find a loophole in the system, perhaps by exploiting a bug. "That won't work either," the system coldly rejected him.

"Then transplanting someone else's memories should be possible, right?" Li Xiu asked.

"Yes," the system replied.

Chapter 1275 Copying a Pangu

Upon hearing the system's words, Li Xiu immediately felt hopeful, thinking to himself, "You think you can outsmart me with this system? I'll make you dizzy with all your wordplay."

"This one will do," Li Xiu said to the system in his mind.

"Is the master sure?" the system asked.

"Stop talking nonsense, this is it," Li Xiu said quickly. He wanted to directly copy Pangu's memories into his own mind. Although he couldn't possess someone else's body, he would at least have a way to do what he wanted.

"Okay, loading this feature for the owner."

"Loading complete."