Before the dawn of the Primordial World, all that existed was Chaos. Chaos was the embodiment of everything and a manifestation of the Grand Dao—it was order and disorder, existence while simultaneously being non-existence. It had no concept of time; in one moment, all things aged by countless years, and in the next, time was meaningless. It had no concepts of directions or dimensions. Nobody knows for how long this reality persisted.
After countless eons, divine yet demonic beings were born in the heart of Chaos, each in accordance with a specific Dao law. These beings were akin to the incarnations of the Dao through their respective laws and would later be referred to by future eras as the Chaos Demon Gods.
The first Chaos Gods to emerge were the Monarch of Time, followed by the Lord of Space, then Destiny, Karma, Cause and Effect, Creation, Destruction, Yin-Yang, Samsara, and the Five Elements. Following the birth of these ten Chaos Lords, countless other Demon Gods were born as well. The Monarch of Time later created an artifact called the Hourglass of Time, used to measure the flow of time in Chaos. Each time the hourglass completed its movement, it indicated the end of a cycle.
Countless cycles passed, and due to the paradoxical nature of the Chaotic Era, older Demon Gods descended into madness. Fights broke out constantly. New Demon Gods banded together to hunt the older ones or simply to avoid being hunted by those who had completely lost themselves to the madness. Even the Chaos Lords were not exempted from this erosion, as the paradoxical nature of Chaos itself was rewritten every passing moment, gradually corrupting them, albeit at a slower rate.
Each passing cycle grew more destructive, with countless Chaos Gods fighting each other. The survivors of each cycle grew immeasurably stronger through their deeper control over the Dao. Three thousand cycles later, the immeasurable Chaos only had three thousand survivors left, who were now hailed as the 3000 Chaos Venerables. The madness of the Chaotic Era was also at its peak.
Right when the greatest calamity in all of existence was about to begin, a variable was born—someone whom the remnants of Chaos feared to their core because of what he represented. He was their Anathema, the Bringer of Order, the one destined to end the Chaotic Era and forge the New Era. He is revered across the ages through countless names, but he is most commonly known as the Primeval Heavenly King, Pangu.
Right after his awakening, the Heavenly King Pangu manifested a great axe and split apart the Chaos. He then solemnly proclaimed, "I, the Primeval Heavenly King, in accordance with the Grand Dao, vow to end the madness of the Chaotic Era and forge a new Era!"
Hearing this, the Chaos Demon Gods were all enraged. As an integral part of the Chaos Era, its end would also signify their ultimate demise, and they immediately started attacking Pangu.
Seeing the resistance of the Demon Gods, Pangu merely struck them with his axe, instantly wiping out over a thousand of the Demon Gods. Seeing this, one of the remaining figures shouted, "Pangu! You are courting your own death! The end of Chaos would also signify your end!"
Pangu merely attacked them once more, eliminating most of the remaining host. Seeing that they posed no threat to Pangu himself, the surviving Demon Gods started attacking the new Era that was still being created. This act enraged Pangu, and he attacked the remaining survivors of Chaos one last time, shattering their true spirits. Only a few managed to escape into the nascent world.
Pangu then took a look at the newly forming Era and shattered the Axe of Creation into three supreme artifacts: the Tai Chi Diagram, the Pangu Banner, and the Chaos Bell.
He then looked at the remnants of the Chaos Era, which was rapidly being assimilated into the new world. He created a gold plate and inscribed the Dao of the Chaos Era upon it, integrating these ancient paths into the new Era. He then scattered the gold plate across the world. This artifact came to be known as the Jade Disk of Good Fortune and is said to contain the 3000 Dao Laws.
Finally, Pangu looked at the new Era, which was still in its infancy, and solemnly declared, "You shall be the beginning of the new Era: the Primordial Era!" He then transformed his very being into the heaven and earth, completing the evolution of the new reality.
As his essence faded, his mighty breath became the wind and the clouds that swirled across the sky. His voice transformed into the echoing thunder that rumbled across the vast expanse. His left eye shone as the Sun, and his right eye became the luminous Moon, forever lighting the new world.
His great four limbs and five extremities solidified, becoming the Four Cardinal Directions and the Five Great Mountains that stabilized the world's foundation. His life-giving blood flowed out to become the rivers and seas, while his meridians became the paths and roads that threaded across the land.
His tremendous muscles and flesh turned into the fertile soil of the fields, providing sustenance. His hair and beard were transformed into the stars that speckled the night sky. His skin and body hair became the grass and trees, covering the surface with life. Finally, his teeth and bones became the metals and rocks, and his marrow became jade and pearls, treasures hidden within the earth.
Thus, the Primeval Heavenly King completed the evolution of heaven and earth by sacrificing his very existence. Pangu's sacrifice anchored the new reality, giving birth to the Primordial World and ushering in the age of order.