Qing Lan hid his identity and lurked around Hongjun.
He pretended to be lazy, outwardly indifferent to everything.
He harbored no ambitions, nor any desire to become a saint.
He simply wanted to avoid drawing attention, so he could act in secret.
His acting was superb, deceiving all the saints and Hongjun.
No one suspected that Qing Lan was a clone of the primordial chaos essence that had birthed them.
Qing Lan had been searching for the chaos qi that had vanished after Pangu split the heavens.
For he was merely an essence of chaos, and when he transformed into Qing Lan,
to avoid being noticed, he had retained only a fraction of his power.
The majority of his strength remained with Kong Wu, who possessed only divine consciousness,
but no physical form.
Only by merging with Kong Wu could he wield the power to destroy everything and return to chaos.
After his secret search, he finally found Kong Wu in the silent depths of the universe.
However, due to Pangu's act of splitting the heavens, Kong Wu had suffered severe damage.
By the time Qing Lan found him, Kong Wu was on the verge of dissipating.
Even if they merged, they would not achieve the power level required for his revenge plan,
let alone recover their former peak state.
Thus, he decided to take a long-term approach, starting by restoring Kong Wu's strength.
Leveraging his position as the acting supervisor of the Time and Space Monitoring Division, he traversed various realms,
collecting the scattered chaos qi from the Three Thousand Great Worlds, and finally prevented Kong Wu from dissipating.
Initially, he was repulsed by the position of supervisor,
considering it a waste of his precious time and a hindrance to his revenge plan.
But gradually, he discovered the unique nature of the Time and Space Monitoring Division,
and how the supervisor's position greatly benefited his revenge plan.
He could use the guise of undertaking missions to travel between realms,
doing as he pleased without arousing suspicion.
However, he considered that if Ji Shiyou or Ming Yue completed their reincarnations,
his position would be lost, so he outwardly feigned
an eagerness for Ji Shiyou and Ming Yue to return soon and take over the Time and Space Monitoring Division.
His true objective in accompanying Ji Shiyou into the hundred reincarnations was
to ensure Ji Shiyou and Ming Yue would never return.
Furthermore, he employed a two-pronged strategy, sending the chaos beasts, condensed from chaos qi, to Celestial Dragon Star.
This was not only to absorb the power of Celestial Dragon Star and restore Kong Wu's strength,
but also to destroy Celestial Dragon Star and cut off their retreat.
At that point, he could utilize the Time and Space Monitoring Division
to destroy several worlds, allowing Kong Wu to devour them and fully recover his power.
Then, he would merge with Kong Wu to become primordial chaos essence, and kill Hongjun.
He would devour the Three Thousand Great Worlds and return to chaos.
He had almost succeeded; under his influence,
Ming Yue's soul had been scattered, and Ji Shiyou had fallen into the mortal world forever.
But unexpectedly, the two gained the recognition of the Heavenly Dao.
Not only did they return to the apocalypse, but Ming Yue also successfully took over the position of supervisor.
At that moment in Zixiao Palace, he felt dejected, but the situation reversed.
Unexpectedly, after a series of twists and turns, he became an inspector again.
And Ming Yue seemed uninterested in the supervisor's position,
leaving the Inspectorate to him and granting him full authority.
Thus, he used the Time and Space Gate of the Inspectorate to secretly aid Kong Wu,
transforming chaos qi into grey-clothed figures who infiltrated several worlds,
intending to restore Kong Wu's power to its peak.
However, they were inadvertently thwarted by Ming Yue and Ji Shiyou.
Not only did his power fail to recover, but his attempt to steal a chicken resulted in losing the rice.
Fortunately, he had made a deal with Yue Zan back then, arranging the Mystic Realm as a contingency.
Although Yue Zan had employed the "Burning Both Ends" technique that day,
he had not perished with Kong Wu as Qing Lan had hoped.
For Qing Lan had rushed over quickly, and in the midst of the crisis, Qing Lan and Kong Wu merged into primordial chaos essence.
Although severely injured, it was a blessing in disguise.
After Yue Zan and the destruction of the Mystic Realm, he absorbed the power emanating from its destruction.
The Mystic Realm was originally a fragment of chaos, and the power it released was far greater than that of ordinary worlds.
Coupled with the power of the mystic patterns from the thirty-six hundred and fifty ancestors of the Mystic Realm,
it allowed the merged Qing Lan to recover eighty percent of his strength.
This also gave him the confidence to contend with Hongjun, but Qing Lan was a cautious individual.
He did not choose to confront Hongjun head-on but instead lured the saints to Zixiao Palace,
controlled them by surprise, and then threatened Hongjun with the safety of the saints,
forcing Hongjun to willingly be bound by his "Mountain Wind Lock" and controlled by him.
To increase his chances of victory, he compelled Hongjun
to assign Ming Yue a mission to destroy thirty worlds.
After Ming Yue destroyed the worlds, he transformed the world power he devoured
into primordial chaos essence, finally returning to his peak state.
Thus, he no longer tolerated restraint and directly destroyed worlds of the past and future.
As long as he destroyed the current world and finally devoured Hongjun and the saints,
his revenge plan to return to chaos would be a complete success.
However, he was unaware that Ming Yue had repaired the Pangu Banner and saved the Three Thousand Great Worlds.
Therefore, he directly killed his way to the Celestial Mystic Realm to settle the score with Ming Yue.
"So, Patriarch Hongjun helped me restore the space within Ju Huan Yan,
and gave me the Qian Kun Ruler, he had already foreseen this day."
Ming Yue looked at the smug Qing Lan and thought to herself.
"Qing Lan, I will not let you succeed."
"Chaos Banner, tear him apart!"
Ming Yue, having understood the cause and effect, did not wish to waste more words with Qing Lan.
She directly drove the Chaos Banner and attacked Qing Lan.
She believed that if the Chaos Banner could tear apart chaos and split the heavens in the past,
it could also kill Qing Lan and destroy the primordial chaos essence today.
Under Ming Yue's urging, the three-zhang-tall Chaos Banner shone with a brilliant red light.
Under its illumination, the grey mist enveloping the Celestial Mystic Realm dissolved like ice and snow.
Especially around Qing Lan, the concentrated red light intensified.
But Qing Lan did not dissolve like the grey mist, nor did he suffer any harm.
For golden light flickered around him, protecting him.
It was precisely the mystic patterns that had absorbed the power of the Mystic Realm ancestors.
"Mystic patterns? You are not worthy of using them."
Seeing the mystic patterns flashing on Qing Lan, Ming Yue's face darkened.
Being tricked by Qing Lan into losing the mystic patterns and causing the destruction of the Mystic Realm
was an eternal source of guilt for her uncle Yue Zan.
It was for this reason that Yue Zan had chosen to perish with his enemy back then.
Therefore, seeing the mystic patterns flashing on Qing Lan, Ming Yue was enraged.
With a soft cry, the Jade Linglong flew out from between her brows.
Spinning rapidly, its golden light dazzling, the thirty-six hundred and fifty mystic patterns flew out,
entering the red light emitted by the Pangu Banner, and paired with Qing Lan's mystic patterns,
they fused together.
"Explode!"
Ming Yue shouted, and explosions continuously sounded in the sky.
All the mystic patterns exploded one after another, vanishing instantly.
However, the explosion of the mystic patterns did not harm Qing Lan.
Although the golden light disappeared, he still stood there leisurely.
Grey shadows surged around him, resisting the red light shot by the Pangu Banner.
"Do you think I relied on the mystic patterns to resist the Pangu Banner?
Do you think the Pangu Banner can truly destroy me? You are truly ignorant!
You are wrong! That fellow Hongjun is also wrong!
You both believe the Pangu Banner is my nemesis.
But if the primordial chaos essence had not split into two back then,
how could Pangu have broken through chaos? Today, I have merged with Kong Wu.
Even if Pangu were reborn, he would not be my match.
Besides, your Pangu Banner is merely a facade.
It's just a bluff, nothing to fear. Watch me shatter it with a punch!"
Qing Lan roared to the heavens, then threw a punch.
The fist shadow was like the wind, filled with the power of nothingness.
It expanded continuously in the air, and the vast red shadow instantly dissipated.
This punch landed directly on the Pangu Banner.
The Pangu Banner, originally three zhang tall, creaked and groaned under the impact,
shrinking to three feet in length, instantly reduced tenfold.
And Ming Yue, who was spiritually connected to it, also suffered a critical blow.
She spat out a mouthful of blood, plummeted from the sky, and her body crashed heavily onto the ground.