Azure Nether Island

Xuan Qing organized some information from modern humans and implanted it into their minds.

"From now on, we'll communicate this way. When we encounter outsiders, we can treat them differently."

Xuan Qing had no desire for them to address him with honorifics all day. He was only a young man in his twenties; he did not want to turn into an old man.

Qing Ya had yet to react much.

"Master, you're so good!" Qing Ling leaped up and shouted loudly.

She loved these rules too much. Mischievous by nature, she did not want to be like her sister and overthink every why and wherefore.

"There's something even better."

He brought them to the Heart Nurturing Hall and said, "Go pick a room each. From now on, they'll be your own private spaces."

Qing Ya and Qing Ling fell into deep thought at the sight of a room full of furniture that was all Innate Merit Spirit Treasures. It took them a long while to recover.

Qing Ya thought for a long time without knowing what to say, finally managing only one sentence: "Master, your fortune is truly profound."

Qing Ling did not care about any of that. She ran over and touched this, then that, like a child who had received new toys.

"Master, you're awesome!"

She had learned internet slang that quickly.

"No need to envy it. Your rooms have some too." Hearing this, Qing Ling hurriedly grabbed Qing Ya and ran off to choose rooms. Before long, cries rang out from within.

"Hahahaha ╭(╯ε╰)╮!"

"Thank you, Master." Qing Ya returned with her sister, whose face was brimming with excitement.

He then brought them to the kitchen. "Whenever you have free time, make food here. You can fetch the ingredients from the Dao field."

In any case, he had already passed on modern human habits to them. They would slowly learn them all.

At this, Qing Ling wanted to go look for ingredients. "Don't rush. Let me finish explaining everything first." Xuan Qing quickly stopped her.

Xuan Qing led them to the Three Lights Divine Water pool. Because they possessed the Great Dao's inherited knowledge, they recognized what it was from its characteristics.

"From now on, take good care of these spiritual roots. Usually, just water them with a little Three Lights Divine Water. Once the spiritual roots mature, gather their fruits.

"There are still several hundred Innate Spiritual Roots throughout the Dao field. When I grow stronger in the future, I'll plant them all together. For now, you only need to tend to those around the cave abode."

"There's also a wine pool beside it. Keep a portion of the spiritual fruits you collect, and toss the rest in to brew wine. Research the rest yourselves, but consume them cautiously."

After explaining the Dao field's affairs, Xuan Qing prepared to enter seclusion. His cultivation could now break through, and he still needed to comprehend the Formation deeply enough before he could pass it on to them.

Entering the Enlightenment Palace, Xuan Qing casually made a meditation cushion and sat cross-legged upon it. He did not care whether it was useful or not; he was simply going with the flow. After all, it was time to get serious.

Nearly a hundred Kalpas passed. This was the longest stretch of time he had spent since taking form.

With the Three Lights Divine Water containing dense Innate Water Origin Essence Qi, he quickly condensed Innate Water Qi. Metal Qi and Water Qi could slowly transform into each other, and after successfully linking them with Wood Qi, Xuan Qing's cultivation successfully broke through to the Mid-stage Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

The breakthrough alone took more than seventy Kalpas. No wonder those great powers of the Prehistoric Era broke through so slowly—time was measured in Kalpas.

Even with Innate Origin Essence Qi, he had spent so long. How much time would others need to condense the Innate Five Qi normally?

During the remaining time, Xuan Qing comprehended another small portion of the Formation and finally obtained inherited information from the Formation Stele.

He was currently on a Chaos Fragment that had been swept away by the Dao Coffin of Time and Space.

Back then, this Chaos Fragment fell at the boundary between the East Sea and South Sea of the Prehistoric Era. Most of it shattered and dissolved, absorbed by the earth, while the remaining portion evolved into this island.

This island was roughly one-third the size of Penglai Island and contained an Ancestral Vein. The Ancestral Vein was the Formation Stele, directly beneath the Island Stele.

During the island's evolution, it absorbed the Dao resonance of the Green Lotus of Creation and was influenced by a Chaos Spiritual Root and Chaos Breathing Soil. That was why the Formation it generated could condense Three Lights Divine Water and transform Chaos Qi.

The island possessed so many Innate Spiritual Roots mainly because of the Green Lotus of Creation and the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree. Otherwise, it definitely would not compare to the Three Immortal Islands that emerged later.

With their existence, Azure Nether Island's foundation rivaled all of Kunlun Mountain. It was like a small county possessing the wealth of a great nation—and it was still growing.

Because many Chaos Fragments had been absorbed by the Prehistoric Era, Xuan Qing should originally have received a great deal of Great Dao Merit.

However, the Green Lotus of Creation needed to survive and nurture him, so it directly offset that merit, causing the Great Dao to loosen its restrictions on them. The lotus also generated fifty Chaos Restrictions.

Under normal circumstances, it should have generated Innate Restrictions. Thus, it took eight Measure Tribulations for him to take form, making him two Measure Tribulations later than the first batch of Heaven and Earth Demon Gods.

Where there was gain, there was loss. He had traded time for foundation. This was a bloody profit—he had once again plucked the Great Dao's wool. That was why the Great Dao ignored him after he took form.

After sorting through all the information, Xuan Qing took out the Merit Jade Book and continued inscribing all his gains onto it. As his cultivation rose in the future, these books might evolve into Great Dao Jade Books.

He then took out two fine pieces of Spirit Jade and refined them into Jade Hairpins. Linking the Formation's aura to the Jade Hairpins, he made them into Keys to the grand formation.

Opening the Enlightenment Palace's doors, Xuan Qing found Qing Ya actually standing guard outside.

"Why aren't you cultivating? The Dao field has a grand formation. What is there to worry about in your own home?"

"Master, we were afraid that if something happened to you, we might not be able to find you in time, so we take turns keeping watch."

A warm current passed through his heart. Now this feels like a home!

"You don't need to address me so formally. Didn't I say to be more casual? After a hundred Kalpas, have we become strangers?"

Xuan Qing teased her, then added, "From now on, when I enter seclusion, it'll be enough to check on me once every ten Kalpas. The higher one's cultivation, the longer it takes. You two need to hurry up and cultivate as well."

He quickly had Qing Ya call Qing Ling back. Xuan Qing returned to the Heart Nurturing Hall and hurriedly brewed himself a cup of Enlightenment Tea. Ever since successfully nurturing the tea tree last time, he had not properly brewed a cup of tea even once.

Then he handed the two Jade Hairpins to them. Qing Ling accepted them with a wide grin, stared at them for a long while, and only then chose one for her sister.

The two were actually identical. "These are the keys to the Formation. You can use them to enter and leave freely, but you'll need to refine them first."

They were even Postnatal Spirit Treasures. The two women were overjoyed. Master treated them so well.

"Oh, right, Master. These are the gains from our tending of the Dao Field over the years. There are only high-grade Spiritual Fruits; we brewed all the rest into wine."

Qing Ya took out all the harvests, piling them throughout the room. Spiritual energy even leaked from some of them.

"Damn, I forgot to prepare storage Containers for you." Without special means, there was no way to store the fruits of a High-Grade Innate Spiritual Root. Qing Ya and the others could not manage it yet.

Spirit Jade could only preserve Spiritual Fruits of mid-grade or below. Only by refining it into a Spirit Treasure could it do so.

Xuan Qing hurriedly took out the Green Lotus of Creation. After all this time, the Green Lotus of Creation had solidified its final restriction and returned to normal.

"Master, what kind of Spirit Treasure is that?" Qing Ya asked curiously.

"The Green Lotus of Creation."

Xuan Qing did not hide it from them. After all, he could not keep it hidden from them, and he would have to use it often.

"Ah!"

The two women cried out. Though they did not recognize the Green Lotus of Creation, their inherited memories contained descriptions of certain information about the green lotus.

Qing Ling immediately pressed, "Then is it an Innate Supreme Treasure?"

Xuan Qing smiled mysteriously. "You guess."

"Then it definitely isn't. If it were an Innate Supreme Treasure, Master, you would definitely say so. That strange smile of yours means it definitely isn't!"

Oh? This little girl was that clever?

Xuan Qing smiled without answering. Their inherited memories contained nothing more powerful than Innate Supreme Treasures; the strongest things they knew of were the Three Treasures of Heaven-Opening.

"Is it even more powerful than an Innate Supreme Treasure?" Qing Ya guessed. These two little girls were each sharper than the last.

"Can't say, can't say. You'll know in the future."

One could not learn such information without reaching a certain realm. Even if one did learn it, it would vanish and conceal itself within the mind, unless one encountered such information again someday—only then would one realize that one had forgotten it.

The two little girls understood that this was not something they could know at present, so they stopped asking.

After putting away the Spiritual Fruits, Xuan Qing took out some Spirit Jade and began refining it before them. A hundred years passed, and two Boxes were refined. He then took out Great Dao Merit and tossed in a small clump.

The two girls stared, dumbfounded. Two Mid-grade Postnatal Merit Spirit Treasures had appeared. Since they had not been bestowed directly by the Great Dao, the Postnatal Spirit Treasures could not become innate.

"These two Spirit Treasures—the Box is for storing Spiritual Fruits, and the Jade Bottle is for storing Spiritual Wine." Though the brewed wine could remain directly in the pool—the pool had layered spaces within it—they could hardly drink straight from the poolside.

"Master actually has Great Dao Merit." Qing Ya truly had not expected Master to be this formidable.

"In the future, you can take the Spiritual Fruits for yourselves as you please. Just don't waste them." In Xuan Qing's view, rather than storing fruits he could not finish eating, it was better for everyone to use them to improve their cultivation.

Xuan Qing took out four jade books. "These contain the cultivation insights and some divine abilities that I have organized. You can study them more in your spare time."

"Hurry and get me something to eat. I haven't had a meal in hundreds of Kalpas," Xuan Qing urged Qing Ling.

If he did not eat soon, Xuan Qing felt as if he would cease to be human. In the future, he might simply forget this habit altogether.

Qing Ling hurriedly brought over a plate of Beast Meat. "Master, your luck is so good. I just finished making it and hadn't had time to eat any yet."

This little girl truly was a mischievous imp. She had learned modern living habits so quickly; while he had been in seclusion, she must have done plenty of sneaking food.

There were many wild beasts on the island, but they had not developed spiritual intelligence, so Qing Ling and the others occasionally caught them to cook.

And so, Xuan Qing spent several tens of thousands of years with them in the Dao Field. Once his cultivation had completely stabilized, he prepared to set out and travel.