If he had not intended to make this place his future dojo, he truly would have dug three feet into the ground.
As for those spiritual herbs and fruits that were of little use to him, he collected them all without hesitation.
After all, his status was different now.
If distinguished guests came calling in the future and he could not even produce a spiritual fruit to entertain them, would that not make him a laughingstock?
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Tongtian had spent two hundred years on the Three Immortal Islands.
Those two hundred years had brought him both joy and sorrow, too much to put into words.
The joy was that the Three Immortal Islands had truly lived up to their reputation. Treasures were everywhere; only their grades differed.
The worry was that although there were countless spiritual roots and exotic herbs, not a single one could truly serve as a centerpiece.
The ten great spiritual roots of the Primordial Wilderness? He had not even seen a shadow of one!
Had he not obtained the Primordial Measure-Heaven Ruler and this blessed land, he might have collapsed long ago.
"What a damn scam! Those novels from my previous life praised the Three Immortal Islands to the heavens, and this is all there is?"
"I haven't overlooked a single corner. Other than the Primordial Measure-Heaven Ruler, I haven't found anything worthwhile. And this is supposed to be the Three Immortal Islands?"
Muttering complaints under his breath, he turned his gaze toward the last unexplored area.
Feeling uneasy, he took several deep breaths and steadied himself.
Then he stepped forward and slowly proceeded onward.
An hour later, a pool of water glowing with strange light appeared before him, and Tongtian was instantly overjoyed.
The gloom that had weighed on him for days was replaced by a radiant expression.
For above that pool of water flickered the lights of the sun, moon, and stars!
Beside the pool stood a massive tree hundreds of zhang tall.
Nine fruits hung from its branches, and on every one of them, the two characters "Yellow Central" were clearly visible.
"It's actually Three Lights Divine Water and Yellow Central Plum! This trip was worth it, hahaha!"
Tongtian was so excited that he forgot all concern for his image and threw back his head in laughter.
As a longtime fan of the Primordial Wilderness, he was already thoroughly familiar with the effects of Three Lights Divine Water.
It was a top-tier healing medicine in the Primordial Wilderness. Below the Saint realm, whether one's body had been shattered or one's Primordial Spirit damaged,
as long as one had not completely perished, a single drop could bring one back from the dead.
Calling it capable of reviving the dead and regenerating flesh from bones was simply underselling it!
Its preciousness could be seen from the fact that after the Investiture of the Gods, Guanyin always carried it whenever she went out.
Of course, although Three Lights Divine Water was rare, it was not impossible to obtain.
If a Quasi-Saint acted, he could refine it from the lights of the sun, moon, and stars, though it would take time and effort.
Furthermore, while Three Lights Divine Water was coveted by cultivators, it also made many people fear it.
Once separated, Sunlight Divine Water could corrode flesh, blood, sinews, and bones.
Moonlight Divine Water could erode the Primordial Spirit and soul.
Starlight Divine Water, meanwhile, could devour true spirits and Spiritual Sense.
Its power was enough to make anyone shudder.
As for Yellow Central Plum, one of the ten innate spiritual roots, it satisfied him even more.
This tree bore fruit only once every thirty thousand years. Flowering, fruiting, and ripening each required ten thousand years, producing only nine fruits in total.
Merely catching a trace of its fragrance could add ten thousand years of cultivation.
If one could consume a single fruit, one could enter the realm of Grand Unity Golden Immortal in an instant.
Even if the Grand Unity Golden Immortal attained this way was somewhat weak, with future cultivation becoming extremely difficult.
It was still a Grand Unity Golden Immortal, standing among the top combat powers of the Primordial Wilderness.
As long as one was not slain, one's lifespan could be as enduring as heaven and earth.
More importantly,
it allowed cultivators of mediocre aptitude, who originally had no hope of advancing to Grand Unity Golden Immortal, to see a sliver of hope.
Tongtian selected suitable places to plant the high-grade spiritual roots, exotic flowers, and rare herbs he had gathered from the island. He casually sprinkled a scoop of Three Lights Divine Water over the Yellow Central Plum, then waved his hand and collected all nine fruits.
Next, he began setting up formations around the area.
Only after spending a long while to complete them did he enthusiastically begin a massive construction project on the island.
Before long, an exquisite and elegant palace had been completed.
Three large characters were prominently written above its gates:
Biyou Palace.
He carefully inspected the palace from all around, nodded in satisfaction, and continued with his next grand construction plan.
This time, he planned to build the Divine Ability Hall, Three Thousand Great Dao Tower, Treasure Pavilion, and Trial Tower.
As its name implied, the Divine Ability Hall was a place for storing all manner of divine abilities and secret techniques.
The Three Thousand Great Dao Tower was a place where disciples could choose paths suited to themselves.
Aside from storing materials for artifact refinement and pill refinement, the Treasure Pavilion also housed many spiritual treasures and medicinal pills.
As for the Trial Tower, it was an important place for tempering the combat strength of disciples.
He envisioned that once someone entered the tower, they would be transported into an independent space, where a phantom with exactly the same cultivation, Dharma treasures, and divine abilities as the entrant would appear.
Only by defeating the phantom could one leave.
Of course, in addition to that, he also established a ranking board divided into the Heaven, Earth, Profound, and Yellow tiers.
They corresponded respectively to Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples, True Inheritor Disciples, and Core Disciples.
The higher one ranked on the board, the more abundant the cultivation resources one would receive.
At the same time, there would also be a mission board.
Disciples could accept all kinds of missions.
Completing missions would earn contribution points.
Contribution points could be exchanged for spiritual treasures and medicinal pills, or used to ask elders for assistance in refining artifacts and pills.
Excess Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures could also be exchanged for contribution points through the Treasure Pavilion.
It sounded complicated, but Tongtian had merely copied the sect system commonly seen in novels from his previous life.
Compared to the loose management methods of other sects in the Primordial Wilderness, this system was clearly more organized and efficient.
Not only could it encourage his disciples to strive forward, it could also strengthen their overall power.
Of course, building all of this was not something that could be done in a single day.
Fortunately, in the Primordial World, time was what they lacked least.
A thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.
Around Biyou Palace, majestic and magnificent buildings rose from the ground one after another.
After completing his great work, Tongtian did not stop there.
He sat cross-legged within the palace, holding a Yellow Central Plum in his hand.
That was right, he intended to use this opportunity to break through.
Years of continuous expenditure and recovery of mana had already brought his cultivation to the threshold of Quasi-Saint.
A breakthrough was only a matter of time.
Now, with the aid of the Yellow Central Plum and the dense heaven-and-earth spiritual qi on the island,
he naturally had no intention of missing this rare opportunity.
He swallowed the Yellow Central Plum in one bite, closed his eyes, focused his mind, and began circulating the Primordial Supreme Merit.
The spiritual qi of heaven and earth within a million li seemed like birds returning to their nests, continuously gathering above his head.
Before long, a spiritual qi vortex spanning a million zhang slowly took shape.
As the power of the Yellow Central Plum and spiritual qi continually poured into him, his aura rose steadily.
Before long, he sensed a thick barrier blocking the path within his body.
Without hesitation, he mobilized all his mana and fiercely struck at the barrier.
Every impact brought agonizing pain that tore at his heart and lungs.
He endured the pain as though his soul were being ripped apart alive, gritted his teeth, and continued driving his cultivation technique without retreating.
A terrifying aura erupted from within him.
Had the Three Talents Grand Formation not suppressed the island, such a disturbance would likely have alarmed many great powers across the Primordial Wilderness long ago.
Time quietly passed.
Under repeated impacts, the barrier gradually began to loosen.
"Break!"
Sensing that the barrier was on the verge of shattering, Tongtian roared. All his mana surged forth like a flood, delivering the final blow.
Pop—
A sound like a bursting bubble rang out within his body.
In the next instant, beneath the unceasing bombardment of spiritual power, the barrier shattered with a thunderous crash.
"Roar—!"
Along with his furious roar of breakthrough, Tongtian's already vast and majestic aura abruptly soared, as though it had multiplied several times over!
That overwhelmingly domineering pressure caused even the void between heaven and earth to tremble faintly.
The violent spiritual qi vortex scattered and collapsed in an instant beneath the pressure of that heaven-shaking power.
"I never expected that final step to cost me more than three thousand years."
After estimating the time, Tongtian could not help sighing softly.
Sure enough, time in the Primordial Wilderness was truly worthless.
After briefly sensing his own realm, he felt confidence well up within him.
If he encountered East King Duke again, there would be no need to use the God-Slaying Spear.
One finger would be enough to poke him into dust!
Shaking his head, he adjusted his breathing for a moment and stabilized his newly attained realm.
Then he turned his gaze toward the Primordial Measure-Heaven Ruler, Twenty-Four Petaled Green Lotus of Creation, and Chaos Gourd.
These were not treasures granted by the system; he had to refine them personally.
Since there was still time before the Purple Heaven Palace's second lecture, Tongtian simply began refining them.
However, while he was engrossed in refining his treasures, storms were once again gathering across the Great Desolation Continent.
First, Dijun and Taiyi, the two brothers, recruited quite a number of subordinates.
They collectively referred to creatures born from moisture and eggs, those covered in fur and bearing horns, as well as plant spirits and other strange beings, as the "Demon Race," while proclaiming themselves the Heavenly Emperor and Eastern Emperor.
For a time, many rogue cultivators and spirits came to pledge allegiance to them.
Then there was East King Duke.
Although his Primordial Spirit had been injured, after noticing the actions of the Dijun brothers, he could not help becoming extremely anxious.
Left with no choice, he restored only most of his physical injuries before using Dao Ancestor Hongjun's name to widely recruit cultivators and win over great powers.
Some who were unwilling to submit even suffered catastrophic destruction because of it.
It was worth mentioning that, without the opportunity of Penglai Immortal Island, East King Duke still established himself on another island.
Though it was not a top-tier blessed land, it could still be considered above average.
Thus, after gathering a group of followers, he founded the Purple Mansion lineage.
The only one who remained still was West Queen Mother.
Though she had been appointed by Dao Ancestor as the leader of the female immortals of the Primordial Wilderness, she had never taken action.
She merely guarded her corner of West Kunlun.
She neither accepted disciples nor established any power.
Other than Closed Door Meditation, she did nothing but Closed Door Meditation.
In cultivation, the years passed without a sound.
In the blink of an eye, another five thousand years had passed.
Tongtian had refined more than half of the three supreme treasures, then stopped the process of refinement.
His own realm was still insufficient. Forcing the refinement would only mean slowly grinding through it with time.
Naturally, that was not what he wanted.
He stepped out of the Three Immortal Islands and sensed faint Calamity Qi gathering over the Great Desolation Continent.
His heart jolted.
Though the Calamity Qi was still thin, he understood what it signified.
Before long, the Wu and Yao Races would likely face their first conflict.
And that also meant the great calamity was about to begin.
Before you continue