When the Black Tortoise Patriarch emerged from the deepest part of the Xuan Ming Abyss in the North Sea, the surface of the entire Xuan Ming Abyss sank three inches. It wasn't a receding tide; rather, the water was being held up from below by something. Simultaneously, the Black Tortoise Clan ice at the bottom of the abyss, which had lain submerged for countless Eon, emitted a faint hum. The hum traveled upwards along the watercourses, transforming into a pillar of light, a mix of gray and black, at the abyss's mouth, shooting straight into the sky. After the Xuan Turtle clan repaid its karmic Causality to the Primordial Wilderness world, their fortune had been steadily improving. However, the Black Tortoise Clan was slow by nature, and their fortune progressed slowly, like an old turtle crawling on a beach—seemingly motionless, but each step was firmly planted. With the Black Tortoise Patriarch's ascent, the clan's fortune truly shifted from "paying off debts" to "exerting effort."
As he stepped onto the platform at the mouth of the abyss via the icy steps, Black Tortoise, Xuan Bie, Xuan Ao, Xuan Yuan, Xuan Jia, Di Gui, Golden Ao, and Xuan Ji were already standing in a row. Black Tortoise was enveloped in grayish-white aura of dark water, its feet resting on a phantom of a tortoise and snake intertwined; grayish-white swamp patterns floated on the shell of Xuan Bie, warm mud bubbles emanating from within the patterns; Xuan Ao was the largest, its presence causing the stone steps to sink half an inch; grayish-white longevity patterns were carved on the shell of Xuan Yuan, the patterns resembling rings or ripples; Xuan Jia was covered entirely in grayish-white plates, each plate fitting perfectly; Di Gui lay at the lowest point, its plastron pressed against the stone surface, beneath which the earth's veins seemed to pulsate; Golden Ao's shell gleamed with grayish -Jinguang, the light concealing extremely fine, sharp patterns; Xuan Ji was the smallest, yet its shell was densely covered with grayish-white reef patterns, the patterns so hard they could hurt one's hand.
The Black Tortoise Patriarch took out the Black Tortoise Clan's command flag from the stone box on the platform and planted it in the ground. The flag unfurled, revealing an embroidered map of five continents and the four directions of Chaos. He turned to the eight Black Tortoise Patriarch and said, "The Supreme Lord Taiqing has issued a summons. It's time to collect the Pangu in the Chaos. The Black Tortoise Clan has now cleared its Causality and accumulated merit, so it's time for them to contribute. This time, we'll go out into fifteen Universe World. I'll choose the largest one, and each of you eight will choose one. The remaining six will be collected by other Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal Black Tortoise Clan cultivates bearing weight and carrying capacity; we prioritize stability over speed. When the patterns on the shells are spinning wildly, don't rush to use the shell to push against them; first, find the sparse patterns in the center of the shell."
Another point is that the Black Tortoise Clan has a heavy shell; if you press down on them, they might not be able to get back up. You should stop a beat early when it's time to back down.
Black Tortoise gathered the illusory tortoise and snake beneath his feet. "I'm heading due north. The Xuan Water Qi is heaviest in the Chaos to the north. There should be someone cultivating the Nether Water within that shell. I'll go and meet them."
The Xuan Bie's carapace bulged with swamp-like markings. "I'm heading due east. There's a smell of swampy sediment accumulating in the Chaos to the east; I'll go check it out."
Xuan Ao shrank back. "I'll head due south. The pressure is heaviest in the Chaos to the south, which suits my path perfectly."
The longevity pattern on the Xuan Yuan's shell turned. "I'm heading due west. There's an aura of longevity and immortality in the Chaos to the west; I'll go take a look."
Xuan Jia closed his armor plates. "I'll go to the center. The center is the safest place in the Five Directions; I'll guard the central route."
The Di Gui raised its plastron from the rock surface. "I'm heading northeast. The earth's veins are deepest in the Chaos northeast; I'll go there to suppress them."
The golden Jinguang on the Golden Ao's carapace faded. "I'm heading northwest. The metallic and stone energy is strongest in the Chaos northwest; I'll go and block it."
A rough edge appeared on the shell of the Xuan Ji: "I'm heading southeast. The reefs are hardest in the Chaos southeast; I'll go and withstand them."
The Black Tortoise Patriarch nodded, tucked the command flag into its sleeve, and headed southwest towards the Chaos direction. Before leaving, it added, "Those Dao Venerables inside the shell have cultivated for tens of thousands of years; each of them has their trump Causality. Don't think you can just sweep through everything just because you've settled your karmic debts. Be careful when you need to be, don't be overconfident. The Black Tortoise Clan has thick shells and can withstand attacks, but being able to withstand attacks doesn't mean you have to take them. If you can explain things clearly, then speak first; if you can't explain, then take action."
The nine Black Tortoise Patriarch warriors split into nine groups and plunged into the Chaos. Within the Chaos, a hazy, swirling current of energy surged ceaselessly, and world shells of varying sizes floated and sank within. As the Black Tortoise Clan's command flag unfurled in the Chaos, the five continents and the four cardinal directions on the flag would slightly shift according to the direction each person was heading. The corners of the flag pointed to the points where members of the same clan would respond to each other. Some of the floating world shells had patterns that moved slowly across their surfaces, as if something was grinding its teeth inside; some were wrapped in a layer of half-withered, half-flourishing vines; and some had patterns that would pause and jerk every now and then, as if something had bumped into them from the inside.
The Black Tortoise Patriarch traveled southwest for forty-nine days, collecting over three hundred Great Thousand World and over a thousand Middle Thousand World. Unlike others, the Black Tortoise Patriarch didn't rush to break its shell. Instead, it first attached its carapace to the shell's surface, using the Black Tortoise Clan's unique "listening to the shell" method to listen to the opening and closing of the pools within. If the opening and closing of the pools was rhythmic, it would summon the world seal; if the rhythm was chaotic, it would act. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag in its sleeve rolled up by itself, its corner shifting three inches to the southwest. The Black Tortoise Patriarch went forward and saw a gigantic shell floating deep within the Chaos, five times larger than any shell it had seen along the way. The shell's surface was covered with gray-white abyss patterns, arranged in concentric circles from the shell's core to the surface, each pattern representing a complete abyss sea law. Every three zhang (approximately 13 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a crystal of abyss pattern, each crystal sealing an Origin the abyss sea. From afar, it resembled the entire carapace shed by a Black Tortoise Patriarch that had been coiled for countless Eon.
The Black Tortoise Patriarch pressed its hand against its shell, and a tearing sensation from the Abyss Sea surged through its palm. The Abyss Patterns on the shell suddenly accelerated their rotation, converging on its palm from all directions. When they reached the center, they transformed into nine chains of Abyss Patterns that wrapped around its five fingers, each chain pulling outwards at its Abyss Sea power. It withdrew its hand, and a gray-white Abyss Pearl appeared in its palm, containing a complete Abyss Sea Law. It crushed the Abyss Pearl, and from the fragments floated an extremely deep and slow divine thought, "The Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable is here. Who comes?"
The Black Tortoise Patriarch flicked away the debris. "Black Tortoise Patriarch, the abyss patterns on your shell are quite impressive. They can spin on their own and even actively entangle people in their hands. Unfortunately, what's entangled is your own abyss sea. Even if I crush you, you'll sink even deeper."
A long, resounding murmur echoed from within the shell, and the abyssal patterns on its surface simultaneously exploded, transforming into a greyish-white phantom of a Black Tortoise Patriarch that enveloped the giant shell. From within the phantom emerged an old man in a greyish-white abyssal robe, coiled around him by nine abyssal pythons, each holding a rotating abyssal pearl in its mouth, each pearl sealing a complete abyssal sea law. The Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable spoke, his voice like a muffled boom from the depths of a deep trench. "This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million abyssal patterns, each one formed from a wisp of abyssal sea law that I have released. For every abyssal pearl you crush, I will release ten more wisps of abyssal sea law."
The Black Tortoise Patriarch did not resist. As a master of the Dao of the Abyss, he knew best that the abyss's nature was deep and slow, and where there was slowness, there was bound to be stagnation. He circled half of the shell and saw that although the abyss patterns were dense, they all converged towards the center of the shell; where they converged the most tightly, a small patch of sparse patterns, about the size of a palm, remained, the shell beneath which was dark, as if something had thinned it from the inside. He pointed to the sparse patch, and a drop of Black Tortoise Patriarch's Origin abyss blood seeped from his fingertip. As the blood fell, a small section of the shell collapsed, revealing a bottomless abyss cave, from which came a muffled groan from the Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable.
"All ninety-nine million abyss patterns on your surface are connected to the 'Pool of Ten Thousand Abysses' at the core of your shell." The Black Tortoise Patriarch withdrew its finger. "You nurture the patterns with abyss seas; the more patterns you have, the larger the pool becomes, and the larger the pool, the more abyss seas you can hold. But there's an 'abyss eye' at the bottom of your pool. When the abyss eye is blocked, the pool can hold the abyss seas; once the abyss eye opens, all the abyss seas in the pool leak out. I just dripped a drop of Black Tortoise Patriarch's Origin abyss blood onto your abyss eye, and now it can't be blocked anymore."
Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable's expression changed, and a gurgling sound of water leaking from within the shell came from within. The abyss patterns on the shell peeled off layer by layer from the center outwards, and fine cracks crawled all over the shell. Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable pressed nine abyss pythons onto the shell, and the pythons transformed into nine abyss pillars to support the shell; but the abyss pillars could support the shell, but not the abyss eye, and the Pool of Ten Thousand Abysses was still leaking. The Black Tortoise Patriarch slapped the area where the shell had peeled off, and a crack appeared. It crawled into the crack and landed on the Pool of Ten Thousand Abysses.
Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable was squatting on the bottom of the pool, trying to block the abyss's eye with his hand. If he blocked it once, two drops would leak out; if he blocked it twice, four drops would leak out.
"Don't block it." The Black Tortoise Patriarch squatted by the pool and looked down. "That 'abyss eye' is the counterweight hole of your shell. It's a counterweight hole on the debris that Pangu threw out when he created the world. You built the shell into the Pool of Ten Thousand Abysses, and that counterweight hole became the abyss eye. The abyss eye leaking is the shell's self-regulation—if there's too much abyss in the pool, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens the abyss eye to release the abyss and reduce its weight. You've blocked the abyss eye, no wonder the shell is collapsing."
Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable looked up. "Then what should we do?"
"Open the abyss eye halfway, and let half of the abyss sea be contained in the pool; the weight of the shell is just right. Don't cover all those abyss patterns on the shell surface; leave 30% inside as the abyss reservoir, and 70% on the surface is enough. The abyss is deep; 70% on the surface blocks external turbidity, and 30% inside nourishes the pool's roots. With the abyss eye half-open and half-closed, the shell won't crack."
Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable squatted on the plate at the bottom of the pool for a long time, then let go. The abyss eye leaked for a while and then stopped on its own. The abyss sea in the pool dropped from full to half, and the abyss patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell stopped falling off, and the abyss patterns stopped going crazy. He jumped up from the plate at the bottom of the pool and handed the nine abyss pearls to the Black Tortoise Patriarch: "You can take this world. But I will go back with you, and I can borrow your adjustment method for three days. I have cultivated the Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I have turned my shell into a leaky pool. I don't even know when I blocked it."
The Black Tortoise Patriarch accepted the Abyss Pearl: "I'll lend you the method. You can collect the worlds. Once you've collected them all, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. Break through the first ten thousandth level, the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you can adjust the weight of the worlds without using the Abyss Eye, you'll have graduated."
Black Tortoise traveled due north for forty-nine days, collecting over two hundred Great Thousand World and over eight hundred Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches due north. Floating deep within the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered with gray-white Netherworld patterns. The patterns, arranged in a tortoise-snake intertwined pattern from the shell's core to its surface, each pattern representing a complete Netherworld Water Law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a Netherworld pattern crystal, each crystal sealing a Netherworld Water Origin. From a distance, it resembled a giant Netherworld Water mirror spanning countless Eon. Black Tortoise pressed his palm against it, and the Netherworld Water tore through him. The Netherworld patterns accelerated their rotation, converging into nine Netherworld Pattern chains that bound his five fingers. He withdrew his hand and crushed the Netherworld Pearl. The divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Netherworlds Venerable sank from the fragments, slowly and deeply, like the muffled sound at the bottom of the Styx.
Black Tortoise didn't pry it open forcefully. He mastered the Dao of Netherwater and knew that the nature of the Netherworld was deep and cold, and where there was coldness, there was bound to be condensation. He circled the shell three times and saw that the Netherworld patterns, where the tortoise and snake intertwined, were extremely dense, yet within the intertwined gaps, there was a line of stagnation; this stagnation converged at the center of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. He dripped a drop of Black Tortoise's Origin Netherworld blood into this sparse area, and a small Netherworld hole appeared on the shell's surface. The Myriad Dao of Ten Thousand Netherworlds Venerable groaned inside. Black Tortoise followed the seam and saw that the Netherworld Eyes on the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Netherworlds were tightly blocked, the pool overflowing with Netherworld water, and only then did the Netherworld patterns on the shell become more and more intertwined. Urgent. After the Netherworld Eye was half-opened, the Netherworld Water in the pool dropped back to half its original size, and the Netherworld Patterns on the shell stopped spinning wildly. Dao of Ten Thousand Netherworlds Venerable, whose hair and beard were all black, stared at the bottom of the pool for a long time and said, "The Netherworld Water stagnates on its own. When I blocked the Netherworld Eye, I was actually blocking my own breathing." Black Tortoise explained the method of adjustment, "The Netherworld nature is deep. Seventy percent of the shell should block the external cold, and the other three-tenths should nourish the abyss within the shell. Only when the Netherworld Eye is half-open and half-closed will the shell not solidify. Come with me to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and soak this dead knot open." Dao of Ten Thousand Netherworlds Venerable handed over the Netherworld Pearl and the World Seal.
Xuan Bie traveled due east for forty-nine days, collecting over two hundred Great Thousand World and over seven hundred Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches due east. Floating deep within the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered with gray-white swamp patterns. The patterns were arranged in a silt-like pattern from the core to the surface, each one a complete swamp silt law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 Eon) on the shell's surface was embedded a swamp pattern crystal, each crystal sealing a swamp silt Origin. From a distance, it looked like a giant swamp silt field covered with countless eons of sludge. Xuan Bie pressed his palm against it, and the swamp silt tore at him. The swamp patterns accelerated their rotation, converging into nine swamp pattern chains that bound his five fingers. He withdrew his hand and crushed the swamp bead. The divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Marshes Venerable emerged from the fragments, slow and sticky, like the muffled sound of a swamp bubble bursting.
The Xuan Bie didn't force it open. Knowing the way of swamps and silt, it understood that swamps were sticky and stagnant, and where there was stagnation, there was silt. It circled the shell, finding the swamp patterns extremely dense where the silt had accumulated, yet a loose thread emerged from the gaps. This Xuan Bie converged at the center of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. It dripped a drop of its Origin swamp blood into this sparse area, causing a small swamp hole to appear on the shell. The Dao of Ten Thousand Marshes Venerable groaned inside. The Xuan Bie followed the thread and saw that the swamp holes at the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Marshes were tightly blocked, with swamp silt flowing in but not out, and the swamp patterns on the shell... The silt grew thicker and thicker. After the swamp eye partially opened, the silt in the pool receded to half its original size, and the number of swamp patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The Dao of Ten Thousand Marshes Venerable, his hair and beard covered in mud, squatted on the bottom of the pool and pondered for a long time before saying, "Silt will naturally clog itself over time. I thought that clogging meant stability." The Xuan Bie said, "Swamps are sticky. Seventy percent of the shell's surface blocks external silt, while the inside of the shell nurtures the swamp. Only when the swamp eye is half-open and half-closed can the shell not become rigid. Since you understand silt, come with me to City of Ten Thousand Crafts to break through the Naturalness Pass." The Dao of Ten Thousand Marshes Venerable handed over the Swamp Pearl and the World Seal.
Xuan Ao traveled due south for forty-nine days, collecting over three hundred Great Thousand World and over nine hundred Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches due south. Floating deep within the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered with gray-white heavy patterns. The patterns were arranged in layers from the core to the surface, each a complete law of immense pressure. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a heavy pattern crystal, each crystal sealing an Origin immense pressure. From a distance, it resembled a giant pressure platform spanning countless Eon. Xuan Ao pressed his palm against it, and the immense pressure tore at him. The heavy patterns accelerated their rotation, converging into nine heavy pattern chains that bound his five fingers. He withdrew his hand and crushed the heavy bead. The divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Weights Venerable Venerables pressed down from the fragments, heavy and dull, like the muffled thud of a mountain pressing down on the earth.
Xuan Ao did not resist head-on. He mastered the Dao of Heavy Pressure, knowing that heaviness is profound and substantial, and that even substantial things have gaps. He circled the shell three times, finding the layers of heavy patterns extremely dense, yet within the gaps, there was a sliver of space; this space converged at the core of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. He dripped a drop of Xuan Ao's Origin heavy blood into this sparse area, causing a small heavy hole to appear on the shell's surface. The Dao of Ten Thousand Weights Venerable groaned inside. Xuan Ao followed the hole and saw that the heavy eye on the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Weights was tightly sealed, the heavy pressure within only accumulating without dissipating, and the shell surface... The heavy patterns grew thicker and thicker. After the heavy eye was half-opened, the pressure in the pool decreased to half, and the heavy patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. Dao of Ten Thousand Weights Venerable Zun, his hair and beard all gray, sat on the plate at the bottom of the pool and thought for a long time. He said, "Heavy pressure sinks by itself. I thought sinking meant stability." Xuan Ao said, "Heavy nature sinks. Seventy percent of the shell's surface blocks external pressure, and the other threety percent nourishes the pool's weight. Only when the heavy eye is half-open and half-closed can the shell not crack. Stability is not dead sinking, but rising and falling." Dao of Ten Thousand Weights Venerable handed over the Heavy Pearl and the World Seal.
The Xuan Yuan traveled due west for forty-nine days, collecting over two hundred Great Thousand World and over six hundred Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches due west. Floating deep within the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered in gray-white longevity patterns. These patterns, arranged in a ring-like pattern from the shell's core to its surface, each represented a complete law of longevity. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was inlaid with a longevity pattern crystal, each crystal sealing an Origin longevity essence. From a distance, it resembled the entire carapace shed by a Xuan Yuan that had coiled for countless Eon. The Xuan Yuan pressed its palm against it, and a tearing sensation of Dao of Ten Thousand Longevities Venerable slowly seeped from the fragments, as slowly as the last grain of sand in an hourglass. "The Myriad Dao of Ten Thousand Longevities Venerable is here. This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million longevity patterns, each formed from a strand of longevity essence I released. For every longevity bead you crush, I release ten more strands of longevity essence."
The Xuan Yuan didn't pry it open forcefully. Knowing the Dao of Longevity, it understood that longevity was slow and prolonged, and that stagnation was inevitable. It circled half the shell and noticed that while the longevity rings were dense, one ring was three-tenths thinner than the others; this thinner ring converged at the center of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. It dripped a drop of its Origin Xuan Yuan into this sparse area, causing a small longevity hole to appear on the shell's surface. The Dao of Ten Thousand Longevities Venerable groaned inside. The Xuan Yuan followed the hole and saw that the longevity eye at the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Longevities was completely blocked, the life force within accumulating without dissipating, and only then did the longevity rings on the shell begin to form. The pressure was applied in circles. After the Longevity Eyes were half-opened, the lifespan in the pool dropped to half its original size, and the number of lifespan lines on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The Dao of Ten Thousand Longevities Venerable, with his white hair and beard, sat on the plate at the bottom of the pool and pondered for a long time before saying, "Longevity stagnates with age. I thought living a long time meant stability." The Xuan Yuan said, "Longevity is slow. Seventy percent of the shell's surface is used to prevent external death, while the remaining thirty percent nourishes the pool's lifespan. The Longevity Eyes must be half-open and half-closed to prevent the shell from becoming rigid. Longevity is not about stubbornly clinging to life; it's about breathing." The Dao of Ten Thousand Longevities Venerable handed over the Longevity Pearl and the World Seal.
Xuan Jia guarded the central path, traveling for forty-nine days to the deepest part of the Chaos directly below, collecting over two hundred Great Thousand World and over seven hundred Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches downwards. Floating in the deepest part of the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered with gray-white armor patterns. The patterns were arranged in layers from the core of the shell towards the surface, each pattern representing a complete Armor Defense Law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded with an armor pattern crystal, each crystal sealing an Origin of Armor Defense. From a distance, it resembled a... A colossal armored city, spanning countless Eon, stretched out. Xuan Jia pressed his palm against it, and the armor's protective force tore and ripped. The armor patterns spun rapidly, converging into nine chains that bound his five fingers. He withdrew his hand, crushing the Dao of Ten Thousand Armors Venerable emanated from the fragments, hard and brittle, like the crisp sound of armor plates clashing, "The Dao of Ten Thousand Armors Venerable is here. My shell is covered with ninety-nine million armor patterns, each formed from a strand of armor I released. For every armor bead you crush, I release ten more strands of armor."
Xuan Jia didn't engage in a direct confrontation. He mastered the art of armor defense, knowing that armor was both hard and brittle, and that where there was brittleness, there was bound to be a gap. He circled the shell three times, noticing that the layers of armor were extremely dense, yet within the gaps between the layers was a thin crack; the crack converged at the core of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. He dripped a drop of Xuan Jia's Origin armor blood into this sparse area, causing a small hole to appear on the shell's surface, from which the Dao of Ten Thousand Armors Venerable groaned. Xuan Jia followed the crack inwards, finding that the armor holes at the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Armors were tightly sealed, the armor defense within the pool accumulating without leaking out, and the armor on the shell's surface... The patterns crumbled outwards layer by layer. After the armor eyes half-opened, the armor in the pool dwindled to half its original size, and the number of armor patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. Dao of Ten Thousand Armors Venerable, whose hair and beard were made of iron, squatted on the bottom of the pool and pondered for a long time before saying, "The armor is hard and will crumble on its own. I thought hardness meant stability." Xuan Jia said, "The armor is hard. Seventy percent of the shell's surface is used to block external evils, while the remaining threety percent is used to nurture the tank armor. Only when the armor eyes are half-open and half-closed can the shell not break. Hardness is not about stubbornly resisting; it's about knowing how to deflect force." Dao of Ten Thousand Armors Venerable handed over the Armor Pearl and the World Seal.
The Di Gui traveled northeast for forty-nine days, collecting over one hundred Great Thousand World and over five hundred Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches to the northeast. Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered in gray-white earth patterns. These patterns, arranged like earth veins from the shell's core to its surface, each one a complete earth vein law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface, a crystal of earth pattern was embedded, each crystal sealing a source of earth vein Origin. From a distance, it resembled a giant earth vein map spanning countless Eon. The Di Gui pressed its palm against it, and the earth veins tore apart. The earth patterns accelerated their rotation, converging into nine chains that wrapped around its five fingers. It withdrew its hand and crushed the earth beads. The divine sense of the Ten Thousand Earthly Dao Venerable sank from the fragments, steady and heavy, like the muffled thud of an earth vein pulsating. "The Ten Thousand Earthly Dao Venerable is here. This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million earth patterns, each formed from a strand of earth vein I released. For every earth bead you crush, I will release ten more strands of earth vein."
The Di Gui didn't pry it open forcefully. Knowing the way of the earth's veins, it understood that the earth's nature was thick and heavy, and where there was heaviness, there was stagnation. It circled the shell, finding the earth veins extremely dense, yet a loose thread emerged from the gaps; this loose thread converged at the core of the shell, forming a sparse vein. It dripped a drop of Di Gui Origin blood into this sparse area, causing a small hole to appear on the shell's surface. The Ten Thousand Earthly Dao Venerable groaned inside. The Di Gui followed the seam and saw that the earth's eye on the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Lands was completely blocked, the earth veins within the pool accumulating without dissipating, and the surface of the shell... The earth veins pressed inward layer by layer. After the earth eye half-opened, the earth veins in the pool dropped back to half-pool size, and the earth veins on the shell surface decreased from one billion to sixty million. Ten Thousand Earthly Dao Venerable, with his yellow hair and beard, sat on the plate at the bottom of the pool and thought for a long time. He said, "Thick earth is inherently suffocating. I thought that thickness meant stability." The Di Gui said, "Thick earth is inherently good. Seventy percent of the shell surface blocks external turbidity, and the other threety percent nourishes the pool's earth. The earth eye is half-open and half-closed, so the shell won't collapse. Thickness isn't about dead pressure; it's about the formation of veins." Ten Thousand Earthly Dao Venerable handed over the Earth Pearl and the World Seal.
Golden Ao traveled northwest for forty-nine days, collecting over two hundred Great Thousand World and over six hundred Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches to the northwest. Floating deep within the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered in gray-white golden patterns. The patterns, arranged in a sharp, blade-like pattern from the shell's core to its surface, each pattern a complete Metal Dao Law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was inlaid with a golden crystal, each crystal sealing a Golden Dao Origin. From afar, it resembled a giant golden city paved with countless Eon. Golden Ao pressed his palm against it, and the Golden Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable emanated from the fragments, sharp and piercing, like a blade brushing against his ear. "The Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable is here. This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million golden patterns, each formed from a strand of Golden Dao I released. For every golden bead you crush, I release ten more strands of Golden Dao."
Golden Ao didn't confront it head-on. Knowing the nature of gold as sharp and brittle, and that where there's brittleness, there's bound to be a gap, he circled the shell three times. He observed that the areas where the gold patterns complemented each other were extremely dense, while those where they clashed had a thin gap; this gap converged at the center of the shell, forming a sparse pattern. He dripped a drop of Golden Ao's Origin gold blood onto this sparse area, causing a small golden hole to appear on the shell's surface. The Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable groaned inside. Golden Ao slipped through the hole and saw that the Metal Eye at the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Metals was completely blocked. As soon as the Metal Eye opened, the gold energy in the pool flowed down from its full volume. Halfway through the pool, the golden patterns on the shell stopped growing wildly. Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable, whose hair and beard were all golden, still spoke with a hint of defiance, "I have cultivated the Dao of Ten Thousand Metals for tens of thousands of years, and now I want to learn from a Golden Ao how to breathe with Metal Eye." The Golden Ao only said, "Gold is sharp. Seventy percent of the shell's surface is used to block external evils, and the other threety percent is used to nurture the pool's blades. The Metal Eye must be half-open and half-closed to prevent the shell from collapsing. It's fine if you're stubborn, but hand over the World Seal first." Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable was silent for a moment, then handed over the nine golden beads, and the World Seal fell down with them.
Xuan Ji traveled southeast for forty-nine days, collecting over one hundred Great Thousand World and over four hundred Middle Thousand World. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the command flag shifted three inches to the southeast. Floating deep within the Chaos was a gigantic shell, its surface covered in gray-white reef patterns. The patterns, arranged like stacked reefs from the core to the surface, each pattern a complete reef law. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a reef crystal, each crystal sealing a reef Origin. From afar, it resembled a giant reef city built over countless Eon. Xuan Ji pressed his palm against it, and the reefs tore apart. The reef patterns accelerated their rotation, converging into nine reef chains that wrapped around his five fingers. He withdrew his hand and crushed the reef beads. The divine sense of the Dao of Ten Thousand Reefs Venerable emerged from the fragments, hard and rough, like the muffled sound of reefs grinding against each other, "The Dao of Ten Thousand Reefs Venerable is here. This shell of mine is covered with ninety-nine million reef patterns, each formed from a strand of reef I released. For every reef bead you crush, I will release ten more strands of reef."
Xuan Ji had no hard top. He mastered the Dao of Reefs and knew that reefs were hard and rough, and where there was roughness, there were bound to be gaps. He circled the shell three times and saw that the reef patterns were extremely dense where they were stacked, but there was a loose line in the gap between the stacked patterns; the loose line converged at the core of the shell, which was a sparse pattern. He dripped a drop of Xuan Ji's Origin reef blood into the sparse area, and a small reef hole appeared on the shell surface. The Dao of Ten Thousand Reefs Venerable groaned inside. Xuan Ji followed the seam and saw that the reef holes on the bottom of the Pool of Ten Thousand Reefs were tightly blocked, and the reefs in the pool only accumulated without leaking out, and the reefs on the shell surface... The patterns crumbled outwards layer by layer. After the reef eye was half-opened, the reef in the pool receded to half its original size, and the number of reef patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. Dao of Ten Thousand Reefs Venerable, whose hair and beard were all made of stone, squatted on the bottom of the pool and pondered for a long time. He said, "A hard reef will crumble on its own. I thought hard meant stable." Xuan Ji said, "The nature of a reef is hard. Seventy percent of the shell is used to block external waves, and the other threety percent is used to nurture the reef in the pool. Only when the reef eye is half-open and half-closed can the shell not break. Hardness is not about stubbornly resisting, but about being able to deflect waves." Dao of Ten Thousand Reefs Venerable handed over the Reef Pearl and the World Seal.
The remaining six groups of the Black Tortoise Clan elders split up and went in six directions, encountering several hard shells along the way. Some shells were covered with wind patterns, some with thunder patterns, some with ice patterns, and one shell was even covered with half-withered and half-flourishing life and death patterns. At first, the six groups of elders each tried to resist with their own abilities, causing the patterns on the shells to spin wildly. The Dao Venerables inside the shells were also stubborn, preferring to block the pool's eye rather than let their world be taken away. Later, the clan message from the Black Tortoise Patriarch in the command flag, which was interwoven with gray and black, arrived. The six groups of elders stopped resisting and first looked for the sparse patterns in the shell's core, then for the counterweight hole at the bottom of the pool. They explained the method of "half-open pool eye, three-tenths of the inner treasury, and seven-tenths of the shell surface," and the Dao Venerables inside the shells let go on their own.
The fifteen Universe World were collected. As the Black Tortoise Patriarch led all the participating Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal of the Black Tortoise Clan to move the worlds back to the Primordial Wilderness, fifteen Xuan Jade Stone Tables were set up before the mouth of the Xuan Ming Abyss in the North Sea. Nine Dao Venerables—Wan Yuan, Wan Ming, Wan Zhao, Wan Chong, Wan Shou, Ten Thousand Lands, Dao of Ten Thousand Metals Venerable, Wan Jin, and Wan Jiao—stood beneath their flags, each followed by the remaining Dao Venerables and beings of their respective worlds. The Black Tortoise Patriarch looked at each table, then turned to the Taiqing True Venerable and said, "One Universe World each in the southwest, north, east, south, west, center, northeast, northwest, and southeast, and one in each of the remaining six directions, for a total of fifteen. Where should we place these worlds after they are moved back?"
Taiqing himself peeked out from halfway up Kunlun Mountain: "The one in the southwest will be placed in the Northern Julu Continent of the Western Ox Continent; the one in the north will be placed in the north of Beijulu Continent; the one in the east will be placed in the east of the Eastern Victory Divine Continent Southern Continent of Jambu; the one in the south will be placed in the south of the Western Ox Continent will be placed in the west of Xiniuhe Continent; the one in the center will be placed at the Kunlun Mountain on the Central Continent; the one in the Northern Julu Continent will be placed in the northeast of Beijulu Continent; the one in the northwest will be placed in the northwest of the Western Ox Continent; and the one in the southeast will be placed in the southeast of Southern Continent of Jambu. The remaining six will be placed at the corners of the five continents according to the directions the elders traveled. Once the worlds are brought back, they will be dismantled first, and then classified by size: the large worlds will be merged with the continents, the medium worlds will be dismantled for materials, and the small worlds will be used to feed the ley lines."
The Black Tortoise Patriarch nodded and assigned the fifteen worlds to the eight Black Tortoise Patriarch and the six elders, each taking a Dao Venerable to see the worlds, dismantle them, and compile teaching materials. The nine Dao Venerables each received their tasks and borrowed the adjustment method for three days. After three days, they all went to City of Ten Thousand Crafts to find Yin Xi to break through their barriers.
The Black Tortoise Patriarch, seated before the mouth of the Xuan Ming Abyss, sent a message to the Human Dao Heavenly Net: "The Black Tortoise Patriarch, leading the Black Tortoise, Xuan Bie, Xuan Ao, Xuan Yuan, Xuan Jia, Di Gui, Golden Ao, Xuan Ji, and all the Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal of the Xuan Black Tortoise Clan, divided into fifteen routes to collect fifteen Universe World. The fifteen Primordial Daluo Golden Immortal within these worlds have already returned to the Primordial Wilderness. Any Black Tortoise Clan disciple who wishes to learn how to collect worlds may go to the southwest of the Western Ox Continent, the north of the Northern Julu Continent Eastern Victory Divine Continent, the east of Southern Continent of Jambu, the Western Ox Continent, the Kunlun Mountain in the Central Continent, the northeast of the Northern Julu Continent, the northwest of the Western Ox Continent, and the southeast of Southern Continent of Jambu to view the worlds."
The message had been sent out for about half a cup of tea's time when Yin Xi replied from below, "Lord Black Tortoise Patriarch, the nine Dao Venerables have arrived at City of Ten Thousand Crafts and are squatting in front of the first level, the Character Recognition Pass. Dao of Ten Thousand Abysses Venerable said he will start from the first level and work his way up to the ten thousandth level. The other eight said they will borrow their respective runes to practice for three days before attempting to break through."
The Black Tortoise Patriarch replied, "Let them break it. Once they're done, come find me in the Xuan Ming Abyss, and I'll assign them tasks."