Within the water residence, time seemed to stand still. Xuan Wazi completely calmed his mind and devoted himself to deep secluded cultivation. The bountiful gains from the Dragon-Han Initial Tribulation needed time and effort to be digested and transformed into a foundation of strength truly his own.
He first focused his mind on the [Chaos Bead] floating above his head. It was a Chaos Supreme Treasure containing an unopened realm of chaos, endlessly profound and mysterious. With his Great Perfection of Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation, completely refining it was naturally a fool's dream. However, performing an initial refinement and gaining control over a portion of its power was possible.
His divine sense stretched out like threads, carefully entering the gray, hazy chaotic space within the Chaos Bead, a place without up, down, left, or right. The moment it entered, he felt a vast, primordial, chaotic power surging within, repelling all orderly existence. Xuan Wazi steadied his mind and circulated the Nine Revolutions Primordial Profound Art, slowly using the origin aura of his Primordial Dao Body to make contact with, adapt to, and even guide this chaotic power.
This was painstaking work and enormously draining on the mind. Chaos Qi was violent; the slightest carelessness could cause it to backlash against him. Fortunately, the Dao rhythm of the Creation Green Lotus scattered showers of creation light beside him, constantly soothing his Spirit Soul whenever it wavered from exhaustion and preserving the clarity of his spiritual platform.
Who knew how long passed—perhaps several hundred years, perhaps over a thousand. At last, Xuan Wazi felt a wisp of his divine-sense imprint painstakingly take root deep within the core of the Chaos Bead. Though it was only an initial refinement, not even one ten-thousandth complete, its effects had already appeared.
With a thought, the space around him twisted slightly. An invisible film of chaos enveloped him, completely cutting off all his aura and karma, even making the traces of his existence indistinct. If he left the water residence now, unless a Saint personally arrived and inspected the area carefully, no one would likely discover his whereabouts.
"Good! With the Chaos Bead protecting me, where in the Primordial World can I not go?" Xuan Wazi's heart settled, and his sense of security greatly increased.
After initially refining the Chaos Bead, he shifted his focus toward consolidating and advancing his cultivation.
He took out a drop of [Ancestral Dragon Blood Essence] and a drop of [First Kirin Blood Essence]. The moment the blood essences appeared, dragon might surged forth while kirin majesty weighed heavily upon the surroundings. The two powerful auras filled the water residence; if not for the Chaos Bead suppressing them, they would have long since stirred the phenomena of the outside world.
Xuan Wazi opened his mouth and inhaled, swallowing both drops of blood essence. The Nine Revolutions Primordial Profound Art circulated madly, while his Primordial Dao Body, like the most precise furnace, began refining the two powerful origins from peak Quasi-Saints.
The Ancestral Dragon Blood Essence contained the ultimate laws of strength and control over water, violent and domineering. The First Kirin Blood Essence contained the earth's capacity to bear all things and the vitality of Wutu Earth, steady and weighty. The attributes of the two powers differed and even conflicted somewhat, yet under the harmonization of the Primordial Dao Body and the tyrannical refinement of the Nine Revolutions Primordial Profound Art, their pure origins were forcibly stripped out and fused into his limbs, bones, organs, and entrails.
Intense pain swept through him, as though his body were being torn apart and reassembled. Yet his gaze remained incomparably firm. He guarded his mind tightly and guided the two powers.
The lungs belonged to metal, corresponding to the White Tiger and governing slaughter! The peerlessly sharp will and power within the Ancestral Dragon Blood Essence were guided into his lungs. A strand of platinum Innate Geng Metal Qi slowly condensed, carrying the majesty and killing intent of the Dragon Clan.
The spleen belonged to earth, corresponding to the kirin and governing transformation! The vast, weighty Wutu Earth essence of the First Kirin Blood Essence continuously poured into his spleen. A dense, peaceful earthen-yellow Innate Wutu Earth Qi emerged, bearing all things and stabilizing his foundation.
As these two types of Five Elements Qi initially condensed, Xuan Wazi clearly felt his connection to the laws of metal and earth between heaven and earth become much closer. With every breath, he could draw upon the metal spiritual qi and earth power within a radius of ten thousand miles. The mana within his body also became more condensed, carrying a trace of the flavor of laws.
"I have already obtained two of the Five Elements. I still lack Liver Wood, Heart Fire, and Kidney Water!" Xuan Wazi felt his own progress, his heart filled with joy. Condensing the Five Qi within the chest was a crucial step toward entering the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. Only when the Five Qi were complete could they return to unity, condense the Three Flowers Above the Head, and attain the Grand Unity Golden Immortal Dao.
He did not rush to continue refining the Primordial Phoenix Blood Essence to condense Heart Fire. The path of cultivation required a balance between tension and relaxation. Instead, he immersed his mind within the Dao-rhythm phantom of the [Thirty-Six-Grade Creation Green Lotus].
The Dao rhythm of this Creation Green Lotus contained the most fundamental vitality and power of creation, the foundation from which all things began. It did not directly increase one's mana, but it could fundamentally improve a cultivator's comprehension and Dao realm.
As his mind sank into the phantom of the budding green lotus platform, Xuan Wazi seemed to witness the time before heaven and earth were formed. Within chaos, a green lotus nurtured Pangu, who opened heaven and earth and evolved all things. It was a principle of creation beyond the Five Elements, above all laws—grand, boundless, and encompassing everything.
Nourished by this Dao rhythm, the obscure points he had encountered when refining the blood essences and initially condensing the metal and earth qi suddenly became clear. His understanding of his own Dao of "mischief" also seemed to deepen by another layer.
"Mischief is not merely reckless troublemaking. It is also a Dao heart that refuses convention, breaks free from restraints, seeks possibility within impossibility, and finds variables within the predestined number!" Xuan Wazi gained an insight. "Perhaps my path to the Grand Unity Golden Immortal should take root in this 'mischievous' heart—using primordial chaos as the foundation, taking all methods for my use, and walking a path unlike any other!"
The instant this thought arose, it was as though thunder exploded within his sea of consciousness. His Spirit Soul became clear, and the direction of the road ahead had never been so distinct. He was still far from truly condensing his Dao Fruit, but at least he had seen where the doorway lay.
Time passed unnoticed in seclusion. When Xuan Wazi opened his eyes again, his temperament had already undergone a subtle change. His cultivation was still at Great Perfection of Grand Unity Golden Immortal, yet the depth of his foundation far surpassed that of his peers. His aura was restrained, but it faintly resonated with the Five Elements of heaven and earth. In particular, his metal and earth qi had taken initial form. Deep within his eyes, beyond that signature lively mischief, there was now an added depth born of comprehending the Great Dao.
He performed a calculation with his fingers and discovered that nearly three thousand years had passed outside during this period of seclusion.
"Three thousand years... The Primordial World should be much livelier now, right?" Xuan Wazi rose to his full height and stretched his body. His joints crackled like thunder.
He removed the restrictions around the water residence and, with the aid of the Chaos Bead, cautiously extended his divine sense outward.
Sure enough, after three thousand years of recuperation, the tribulation aura of the Primordial World had dispersed by more than half, and vitality had begun to recover. Yet the overall situation had already changed drastically.
The Three Clans had completely become background figures. One occasionally heard of some Dragon Clan member being captured by a mighty cultivator to pull a carriage, or some Phoenix Clan member becoming a mount. Even "dragon liver and phoenix marrow" had become delicacies at certain top-tier banquets. Kirins were even rarer; it was said that descendants of their bloodline were often taken in as Auspicious Beast mounts. The former overlords had fallen to such a state—it was truly lamentable.
Meanwhile, the new generation of powers flourished. The reputation of the Three Pure Ones of Kunlun Mountain grew ever greater, and it was said that all of them had entered the peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. On the Solar Star, the brothers Di Jun and Taiyi integrated the remaining forces of the Demon Clan, their influence growing by the day. Mighty cultivators such as Nuwa, Fuxi, Zhen Yuanzi, and Hong Yun also cultivated in seclusion, their Dao attainments steadily advancing.
Yet the most eye-catching development was the faint confrontation between the west and east.
The western land was thick with demonic qi. The demonic disciples and descendants under Luo Hou were frequently active, stirring up conflict everywhere and feeding upon slaughter and negative emotions. Even across endless time and space, the baleful aura of the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation could make mighty cultivators feel a warning rise in their hearts.
At Jade Capital Mountain in the east, immortal qi flourished. Though Patriarch Hongjun had not formally appeared, the aura of his Mystic Gate Orthodox Path was like a pillar stabilizing the sea, standing in opposition to the western demonic path. Rumors faintly circulated that Patriarch Hongjun was contacting mighty cultivators from all sides, seemingly preparing to deal with the western demonic threat.
"The Dao-Devil War is about to erupt!" Xuan Wazi stroked his chin, excitement gleaming in his eyes. "How can this Daoist be absent from such a spectacle?"
His strength had improved greatly, and with the Chaos Bead protecting him, he was brimming with confidence. It was time to leave seclusion and have another proper round of "mischief" in this Primordial World that was about to welcome a new storm!
"Where should I go first?" Xuan Wazi pondered. "The west has too much demonic qi. It would be easy to get ambushed. Jade Capital Mountain in the east—Hongjun, that old earthworm, is probably watching it... How about taking a stroll through Kunlun Mountain first? I hear the Three Pure Ones have quite a few good things at home. While I'm there, maybe I can instill some 'Primordial Unity' ideas into Fellow Daoist Tongtian ahead of time?"
Having made up his mind, Xuan Wazi once more revealed that signature mischievous grin, the one that gave all beings of the Primordial World headaches. His figure flashed, and he had already left the water residence. The aura of the Chaos Bead flowed naturally, completely concealing his form as he leisurely headed toward Kunlun Mountain.
A new storm was about to arrive, and at the eye of every storm, there was never any shortage of that figure who delighted in Not Being a Person.
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