Nüwa emerged gracefully, her face radiant with joy. Her long hair was coiled up, and a trace of lingering reminiscence flashed through her eyes. In her hand, she held a man's belt.
"Hehe~ Senior Brother, so you have a way to break through the Heavenly Dao's blockade. But you were right—now is not the time yet. We should stabilize our growth first.
I never expected the Dao of Marriage to be my chance at survival, giving me an opportunity to escape this predicament.
And the Dao of Creation has improved so much as well. Yin and yang joining together create creation.
But Senior Brother Tongtian—he likes being beneath..." Nüwa murmured to herself, a smile appearing on her face as she looked at the Red Bridal Ball in her hand. A thread of marriage fate connected the two of them.
Originally, the Heavenly Dao had plotted against and deceived her into opening the Human Dao. She herself had then been bound to the Heavenly Dao's saintly position, losing her freedom.
And the Human Dao was now far too weak to draw back the Primordial Violet Qi that belonged to it, unable to form sufficient strength to oppose the Heavenly Dao.
She had even been driven out of the Primordial World by the Heavenly Dao and forced to establish Nüwa Palace in the Chaos, unable to develop the Human Race in the Primordial World.
Because of that, she had thought she could only lie flat from now on—
Who would have thought that after taking the pill Senior Brother Tongtian had given her, the Red Bridal Ball would react differently? It condensed an image of Senior Brother Tongtian, showing that they had a marriage fate and allowing her to see a thread of hope.
"Senior Brother, you said you were going to fetch pills. Don't take too long—" Nüwa said lightly to the Red Bridal Ball, a smile in her eyes.
She knew that through this thread of marriage fate, she could speak with Sect Master Tongtian. After all, they had already become Dao companions.
At the same time, in a secret place in the far north of the Primordial World, a certain man shuddered violently. He hurriedly set up a pile of array disks and began cultivating the advanced version of the Nine-Nine Mystic Art.
"Ling Er really didn't lie to me. A powerful body gives you confidence no matter when."
Within a secret realm and small world on Mount Buzhou.
Ling Er looked with satisfaction at the newly crafted fishing rod in his hand. Although Third Brother Pan had not returned for a long time, after First Brother Pan and Second Brother Pan came, they actually gave him even more resources.
But thinking about it, it made sense. These two elder brothers were surely even more skilled at the art of robbery.
Still, when he had told the two elder brothers about how Third Brother Pan often robbed people, their expressions had been rather strange.
They seemed somewhat angry, as though Third Brother Pan had gone robbing alone instead of taking them with him.
He said to First Brother Pan and Second Brother Pan, who were diligently studying Daoism's intermediate introductory courses, "There's nothing to do today. It's perfect for fishing.
First Brother Pan, Second Brother Pan!! Let's go fishing for a while. Work and rest should be balanced.
Don't focus only on cultivation. It's enough that you have mastered the introductory beginner courses. You are already elders of Daoism.
You can study this intermediate course later. Let's go—"
Upon hearing that, Zhao Gongming immediately took out his fishing rod, carrying his custom fishing box on his back, looking ready to set off at any moment.
His eyes were filled with excitement. Every time they went fishing like this was his most fulfilling time, because he always caught the most fish.
This was because Supreme Sage, just like Little Master, had never caught a fish from beginning to end.
Yuanshi Tianzun could occasionally catch fish too, but he often came back empty-handed.
The only one who could compare to him was that fatty Li Duobao. But that fellow often took out his child-like magical treasures to cheat, and Little Master frequently beat him up for it.
He said that Li Fatty had insulted the pure spirit of fishing.
Thinking about it, aside from the eldest master, Sect Master Tongtian, he was the best fisherman in all of Daoism.
The key was that fishing was an arena where cultivation level did not matter.
"I'm not going. I've recently been researching the advanced version of One Qi Transforming into Three Purities, and I just had a new idea. You all go ahead." Grand Pure Saint immediately chose to refuse. Fishing could indeed temper one's state of mind, but the problem was that it tempered one's ability to endure blows.
He would rather not.
That Fat Zhao simply did not follow the rules when fishing. At the same spot, Zhao could cast his line and immediately catch something.
Yet he, a dignified saint, could not catch anything.
Most importantly, he had secretly used his divine sense to observe the fish underwater. Those fish acted as though they could not see the bait he had hung.
Once, he had even used a Nine Revolution Golden Pill as bait. No, not a Nine Revolution Golden Pill—his alchemy had improved now, and he had refined Primal Chaos Qi Pills.
Such a huge pill gave off an enticing medicinal fragrance, yet those fish stubbornly acted as if they could not see it.
"Big Brother, that's not right. Let's go fishing first." Yuanshi Tianzun grabbed Grand Pure Saint and pulled him up. There was no helping it—he had studied himself nearly mad.
Even as a dignified saint, he had become somewhat delirious from studying. Furthermore, he felt that the methods and later conjectures were all things people had imagined out of thin air. Yet those imagined things somehow had the faintest trace of logic to follow.
The most terrifying part was that the person who had proposed those conjectures was Ling Er, and he could actually accomplish some of those methods. It was simply unbelievable.
This kind of research was equivalent to leading Dao techniques in another direction. Once they could comprehend it, it could strengthen their cultivation.
Take his artifact-refining methods, for example. Who could have imagined adding the deduction ability of Taiji and the Eight Trigrams to a magical artifact, allowing the artifact itself to possess a certain degree of sentience? No, that was not right—a certain degree of intelligence.
The purpose was to let it protect its owner at critical moments after the treasure was activated, or immediately deal with whatever it faced.
Although the primordial spirits and divine senses of saints were incomparably powerful, allowing them to wield Innate Spiritual Treasures or Innate Supreme Treasures to tremendous effect, they did not need magical treasures to solve problems for them.
But cultivating such methods allowed them to continue tempering their primordial spirits. It was like when they had first seen Fat Zhao—he had directly tempered his primordial spirit into something no different from a physical body.
Most importantly, when they went fishing, if they carefully observed Ling Er's every action, they could actually gain insight into different Great Daos. It was utterly absurd.
"Little Master, using this kind of artificial bait this time shouldn't count as cheating, right?" Duobao walked over from not far away with his fishing rod and fishing box, holding the bait he had mentioned in his hands.
Wudang also came out, carrying her own fishing rod. Her eyes were filled with unwillingness. If no one could catch fish, she would not think there was any problem.
But Senior Brother Zhao, that fatty, was always the most smug one every time they went fishing.
And fishing was precisely about competing in fishing skill.
What depressed her, however, was that it would have been one thing if she simply could not catch fish. Sometimes, she would even snag one or two unusual ores or spirit herbs she had never seen before.
That left her utterly baffled.
Yet Little Master told her that she had now become a true angler.
She had not caught a single fish since she began fishing, so how had she become an angler?
Sixth Crow stood on a small tree nearby, his eyes full of envy. He also wanted to go fishing with everyone. In truth, he could already take human form, but Little Master said he was only sixty percent ready, which was not safe.
He had to wait until he was ninety-nine percent ready before Little Master would let him undergo his tribulation.
Look at Egg Kong. He already had a ninety percent chance of being born, yet he was still striving for the ninety-nine percent Little Master had mentioned.
For that reason, every day he was either struck by Purple Firmament Divine Lightning or burned by all kinds of divine flames. Sometimes they found that he had been roasted to sixty percent done, only for him to activate the Nirvana Flame that seemed like an innate divine ability.
So, in private, the disciples had given him a nickname: Fearless Daredevil.
"It doesn't count. This time, I prepared the fishing spot in advance. Let's go!" Ling Er said with a wave of his hand, taking the lead as he headed out.
Zhao Gongming was the first to follow, full of imposing vigor, like a general heading onto a battlefield.
Yuanshi Tianzun followed as well. In any case, he could occasionally catch fish, so he was not the most embarrassing one. Of course, as he left, he gave his elder brother Grand Pure Saint a provocative look.
It seemed to say, Big Brother, don't tell me you're scared?
Grand Pure Saint's face darkened. He took out the fishing rod he had personally crafted and followed. In just a little over a hundred years here, his Taishang emotionless heart had improved without limit. There was no helping it—this group of bastards was too infuriating.
"Brother Ling Er, Black has been out for so long. Aren't you worried?" Yuanshi Tianzun asked curiously as he walked shoulder to shoulder with Ling Er. The little black dog had been gone for several years.
A few years ago, Black Dog had said he sensed the eldest master's aura, so he went to find the eldest master and bring him back. In truth, Yuanshi Tianzun and Grand Pure Saint did not want Sect Master Tongtian to return at all.
They had also sensed that Nüwa Palace had indeed opened for an instant. Ever since their third brother entered Nüwa Palace, he had not come out for more than a hundred years.
Both he and Grand Pure Saint were very curious. What exactly had their third brother been doing in there for so long?
According to Daoism's courses, Daoists were extremely cautious in their attitude toward women. Their third brother Tongtian had received the true teachings of Daoism's courses here, so he should understand that.
As for the possibility of his third brother returning, he was not particularly willing. Based on what he had learned through chatting, he already knew that Ling Er had known his third brother for less than a few hundred years.
This gap in time was precisely when he could build a super friendship with Ling Er. Ideally, he could pull him into the Chan Sect as Little Master. Then the Chan Sect would definitely flourish.
Of course, his elder brother Grand Pure Saint thought the same way.
Ling Er said indifferently, "There shouldn't be a problem. He sent me a message before saying he had gone to the far north.
Third Brother Pan should be searching for resources. I told him before that the land of extreme cold has special Extreme Ice Flame. It should be especially good for tempering fire."
He had great confidence in Black Dog's strength. During his conversations with First Brother Pan and Second Brother Pan lately, he had also comprehended quite a few new laws. He had grasped a tiny bit of the Law of Space, nearing minor accomplishment.
He had already inscribed divine runes constructed from the power of that law onto Black Dog, allowing Black Dog to improve further in the Law of Space.
Black Dog might not be particularly formidable in a fight, but escaping would definitely not be a problem.
"Brother Ling Er, you really don't treat us like family. If you need any materials, just tell your Second Brother here.
Second Brother can absolutely bring them back for you." Yuanshi Tianzun said with a trace of complaint in his voice. A glint flashed through his eyes as he memorized what Ling Er had said.
He would find time to retrieve this Extreme Ice Flame. Then, when Ling Er refined artifacts, he could gain quite a few new inspirations from watching nearby.
"Tempering fire? Can pills be tempered with fire too?" Grand Pure Saint walked over beside them and asked. A tiny Taiji Diagram flashed in his eyes as he began deducing that possibility.
"Aiya~ Elder Brothers, we're going fishing today. Can we not discuss cultivation?" Ling Er said helplessly, a hint of exhaustion flashing through his eyes.
He had thought he was already diligent enough in cultivation, but First Brother Pan and Second Brother Pan were the true kings of obsessive grinding.
One was obsessed with alchemy and primordial spirit cultivation, while the other was obsessed with artifact refinement and body cultivation.
The secret realm he had developed recently was nearly unable to withstand the havoc those two caused.
"We haven't started yet. We can chat a little first."
Ling Er: ...
Primordial World—Land of the Far North.
Zhunti put away the mid-grade Innate spirit herb in his hand, satisfaction appearing in his eyes. He had searched this place for more than two hundred years and found many spirit herb resources and ore resources.
Furthermore, he had acted with even greater caution and changed his appearance, leaving behind no traces.
"It's time to return. This should be enough for now—huh?? Why is there a fluctuation of karma?
Something is fated with me? And the entanglement is not shallow?" A puzzled look appeared on Zhunti's face. He had spent two hundred years searching this far northern land without sensing anything like this. Why had a karmic fluctuation suddenly appeared just as he was about to leave?
"Should I go take a look? I'm already here!"
In the end, Zhunti decided to take a look. Otherwise, he would not be able to accept it. He had absolute faith in the Dao he cultivated. Something fated with him could not possibly be wrong.
Very soon, following the karmic fluctuation, he found its location.
When he saw the situation there clearly, a sharp gleam erupted from his eyes. Good heavens, there was actually an innate divine rune formation here. It seemed there was an ultimate-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure within. Only Innate Spiritual Treasures of that level would possess formations for protection.
"As expected, it is fated with me!"
After saying that softly, Zhunti began unraveling the innate divine rune formation, his eyes filled with anticipation.
An ultimate-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure could greatly increase the foundation of their Western Sect.
"Huh? What a powerful innate formation. The Five Elements restrain and generate one another in a cycle. Could it be an Innate Spiritual Treasure corresponding to the Five Elements?"
"Something's wrong! This is time and space reversing yin and yang? Hahaha!! This is definitely ultimate-grade!!"
"Ah!! Heavens!! Divine runes of life, death, extinction?? The Dao of Creation?? Could this be an Innate Supreme Treasure?"
Zhunti kept crying out as he unraveled the formation. Every defensive formation revealed by an Innate Spiritual Treasure represented its own attributes.
The formation he was unraveling now already contained the Five Elements, time and space, life and death, creation, extinction...
This was no longer a formation that an ordinary ultimate-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure could display. It had to be an Innate Supreme Treasure of unprecedented power.
If he were not afraid that using saintly power would cause the Innate Supreme Treasure to flee into the void, he would have already opened it impatiently to see what kind of supreme treasure it was.
But he should be almost there!
Just then,
An incomparably furious voice rang out.
"Damn Zhunti!! This Daoist has been hiding here to cultivate!! Yet you still dared to come looking for me!!
You've gone too far!! Die!!"
This was followed by a sword radiance brimming with killing intent that tore through the void and shot straight at Zhunti.
Zhunti instantly dodged the murderous sword strike. Rage surged through him as he shouted.
"Damn Tongtian!!! Compensate me for my Innate Supreme Treasure!!!"
Before you continue