Second Lecture at Purple Cloud Palace, Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner

In the Primordial Wilderness, years went uncounted. In the blink of an eye, three thousand years had passed.

In the time since Dao Ancestor Hongjun's first lecture at Purple Cloud Palace, another three thousand years had flown by.

Over those three thousand years, the Primordial Continent had been swept by storm and turmoil.

First, Dao Ancestor had personally appointed Duke of the East as the leader of the male immortals, establishing the Immortal Court and riding roughshod across the Primordial Wilderness through campaigns north and south.

Immediately after, the Witch Clan rose beneath Buzhou Mountain and stood against the Immortal Court as an equal.

In the end, the Twelve Ancestral Witches formed the Pangu True Body and suppressed Duke of the East with a turn of their hands.

Duke of the East and the Immortal Court faction he had established vanished into the River of Time like a meteor streaking across the sky.

Then Dao Ancestor Hongjun's saintly Divine Sense Incarnation carried Duke of the East's remnant soul to Kunlun Mountain and bestowed the Dragon-Head Golden Staff upon Laozi of the Three Pure Ones.

This series of changes was truly dazzling, leaving many Primordial Powerhouses feeling completely at a loss.

They could not make sense of the shifting heavenly secrets of the Primordial World at all.

At that time, the Primordial Continent's energies were in chaos, while a fog of fate shrouded the land. No matter how profound one's cultivation or Dao attainment, no one could calculate the evolution of their own destiny.

Many Primordial Powerhouses with sharp senses began seeking out fellow Daoists to compare insights and devise ways to avoid disaster.

Three thousand years after the first lecture, nearly every one of the Three Thousand Purple Cloud Guests had made tremendous progress in cultivation and Dao attainment.

Most Purple Cloud Guests had advanced to the late Grand Luo Golden Immortal stage, or even the peak Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm.

Thus, under their influence, the Primordial Continent had taken on a wholly renewed appearance, brimming with vitality.

As the point in time for Purple Cloud Palace's second lecture drew near, the Three Thousand Purple Cloud Guests set out for the Chaotic Purple Cloud Palace—all except Duke of the East, who had already perished in calamity, and the Twelve Ancestral Witches, who disdained attending the lecture.

Just then, as Taiyi diligently cultivated within the Sun Palace and refined the Twenty-Four Sea Stabilizing Divine Pearls, that familiar voice sounded in his mind once more.

"Ding! Purple Cloud Palace's second lecture is about to begin. At this crucial moment, please make the correct choice in accordance with the Homebody Choice System."

"Choice One: Leave the palace immediately and attend Purple Cloud Palace's second lecture. Become a saint's disciple. Reward: Dao Ancestor Hongjun's Three Corpses Severing method."

"Choice Two: Stay home, lie low in the Sun Palace, and remain safely indoors as a quiet, handsome homebody. Reward: Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner."

"Choice Three: Go out and have fun, meet the Lunar Star's two moon goddesses, Changxi and Xihe, secretly father the ten Golden Crows, then shock Elder Brother Dijun. Reward: the title of Primordial Wilderness's Most Handsome Man, as well as Love You, One Stick—Advanced Version. Wherever you go, you will become a humanoid walking aphrodisiac. Any female who sees you will be unable to resist you and will desire to join you in Wushan Cloud and Rain."

Seeing the rewards offered by the Homebody Choice System, Taiyi was dumbfounded once again.

System, are you serious?

The damage isn't high, but the insult is immense!

Am I, Taiyi, that kind of person?

Would I steal Elder Brother Dijun's wife?

Slander!

This is outright slander!

I just like eating dumplings, that's all!

Taiyi's face darkened like the bottom of a pot as he roared madly in his heart.

Then, without the slightest hesitation, he chose Three... as if!

"System, I choose Two."

Taiyi declared loudly with a face full of righteous solemnity.

As though only this could prove his innocence.

Once Taiyi made his choice, the reward was deposited into the system storage.

Taiyi did not hesitate either and directly took it out.

"So this is the Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner? Not bad."

Gently stroking the silky, smooth yellow banner, Taiyi could not bear to put it down.

This was a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure!

If he gathered a complete set of Five Direction Banners, he could summon a divine dragon... ah, no, that was wrong. He could condense the power of the Five Direction Great Dao of Five Elements Laws.

Especially since Taiyi had previously obtained the Primordial Spiritual Root, Five-Needle Pine, eaten five Innate Five Elements Spiritual Fruits, and comprehended the Innate Five Elements Laws.

If he could gather all five Five Direction Banners, Taiyi could continue comprehending the Five Direction Five Elements Laws hidden within them and deepen his mastery of the Innate Five Elements Laws.

The Innate Five Elements Spiritual Fruits had been quite good, saving Taiyi hundreds of millions of years of arduous cultivation, but their limit was only so high. If Taiyi wished to advance further in the field of the Innate Five Elements Law, he could only draw inferences and continue comprehending it by obtaining corresponding Five Elements treasures.

Now, this Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner could perfectly make up for what Taiyi lacked in the Innate Five Elements Laws.

Although it contained only the Law of Earth among the Innate Five Elements Laws, Taiyi was not worried in the slightest.

Since he had already obtained the Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner, could the other four Five Direction Banners still be far away?

How could a cultivator not covet Shu after gaining Long?

Dissatisfaction was the gear that drove one upward.

Taiyi chuckled to himself.

Memories of his previous life surfaced in his mind, granting Taiyi vision far beyond that of the Primordial Powerhouses of this world.

The thought rose and faded in no more than an instant.

The Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner in his hand was instantly enveloped in vast Solar Truefire mana, slowly being refined.

At once, an aura of the Great Dao of the Law of Earth—one that sat at the center and looked down upon the four directions—circulated around him and surged into Taiyi's heart.

"Not bad, not bad. As expected of the Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner. It holds the center and commands the four directions. The other Five Direction Banners probably cannot compare to this Apricot Yellow Banner, can they?"

"No wonder Yuanshi was willing to risk bearing part of the Qilin Clan's karma just to obtain the Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner from First Qilin."

Taiyi gazed at the apricot-yellow triangular banner in his hand and praised it repeatedly.

The level of the Great Dao of the Law of Earth contained within the Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner exceeded Taiyi's imagination.

This was not an ordinary Law of Earth, but the power of the Central Earth Law.

Only the power of the Central Earth Law possessed such might to command the four directions.

An ordinary Law of Earth at most possessed a dense, heavy aura.

Perhaps it was precisely because the Qilin Clan had obtained the Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner that they could occupy central Buzhou Mountain and command the lands in all directions.

The power of the Earth Law was also one branch within the domain of the Law of Earth, but it was an advanced version of the Law of Earth.

Just like the Great Dao of Solar Truefire Law, which, strictly speaking, was also a branch of the Great Dao of the Law of Fire and likewise a high-level law.

Thus, a vague idea formed in Taiyi's heart.

He wanted to merge all the Innate Five Elements Laws into his own Great Dao of Sun Law.

However, this was a massive undertaking. Whether it could truly succeed remained unknown.

Taiyi was merely preparing for the future.

Speaking of the Law of Earth, one could not overlook Goddess Houtu, the Earth Ancestral Witch.

However, what Ancestral Witch Houtu wielded was not a pure Law of Earth, but an inborn Earth Law divine ability.

This was an Innate Divine Ability passed down to the Ancestral Witches through Pangu Blood Essence. It was not bound by the Laws of the Dao; they were born with it and did not need to comprehend it.

Of course, if Houtu could merge her Earth Law divine ability into the Great Dao of Earth Law, thereby controlling the Earth Law and becoming its incarnation, it would not be a bad Dao Proving Method.

Perhaps the later Ancestral Witch Houtu understood this when she became reincarnation.

But by then, it had been too late. The Witch Clan's karma was difficult to erase, and Goddess Houtu was implicated as well. She had no choice but to use most of her merit to fill the Six Paths of Reincarnation and was forbidden from ever leaving the Netherworld Underworld.

In truth, if the Twelve Ancestral Witches could each comprehend the Laws of the Dao that Pangu had passed down to them, they might have been able to become saints through Law Proving Dao.

Within the Primordial World, the Twelve Ancestral Witches and the Three Pure Ones were natural candidates for sainthood.

They possessed the merit of creating heaven and earth, so even the Heavenly Dao had to show them some respect.

Sadly, their minds had all been clouded by the violent and baleful energies of creation. They were merely savage and knew nothing of the Great Dao.

Perhaps everything had its destined course.

Taiyi shook his head and did not dwell on it further, focusing instead on refining his newly acquired Central Earth Yellow Apricot Banner.

With his current cultivation and mana, he would need no more than three thousand years to completely refine and master it.