Xuan Qing's Record of Seeking the Dao

Xuan Qing had no idea how much time had passed before he finally woke up. He rubbed his head, his mind still somewhat muddled.

He circulated his magic power, trying to dispel the drunken haze, but it had no effect at all.

"This wine is strong!"

This was the first wine to appear between heaven and earth. It had been brewed with countless Innate Spirit Fruits and nourished by Great Dao Merit. Without comprehending the laws, one simply could not withstand its intoxicating force.

He suddenly discovered that his magic power had grown much more profound. His Innate Wood Qi was nearing completion, and before long, he would reach the completion of the Early Stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

He suddenly remembered that he still had the Green Lotus of Creation. Wondering what changes it had undergone, he hurriedly inspected it, only to find that even his Divine Sense could not enter its interior. It appeared to be undergoing a transformation, so Xuan Qing did not dare disturb it.

Breaking through to the Golden Immortal realm required condensing the spiritual radiance of laws, granting the True Spirit an immortal quality. So long as one was not killed, one could share heaven and earth's lifespan. Thus, they were also called Immortal Golden Immortals.

Therefore, what people called seeking the Great Dao of Longevity was becoming a Golden Immortal.

To advance as a Golden Immortal, one needed to condense Innate Metal Qi. Once Innate Metal Qi had completely solidified, one would reach Golden Immortal Perfection.

Metal gave rise to water. When Innate Metal Qi began transforming into Innate Water Qi, one would break through to the Early Stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

Xuan Qing had been at the Early Stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal upon taking form. However, because he had been nurtured by the Green Lotus of Creation, he had been born with Innate Wood Origin Essence. Thus, what he condensed at the Early Stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal was Innate Wood Qi.

He could only be called an anomaly. In the Prehistoric Era, such anomalies existed only among the ten Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Roots, yet Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Roots could not give birth to intelligence.

After replenishing his Innate Water Qi, he could break through to the Middle Stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal. Wood gave rise to fire, fire gave rise to earth, corresponding respectively to the later stage and peak.

During the transformation process, Innate Five Elements Essence could accelerate the conversion of the five qi. Using Five Elements Origin Essence could further accumulate one's foundation and strengthen one's roots.

When the Innate Five Elements Qi within one's body reached completion and could transform into one another, with the Five Elements cycling endlessly, one could nurture the Three Flowers.

Breaking through to Grand Luo Golden Immortal required two conditions. First, one had to refine an Indestructible True Spirit and leap out of the River of Destiny. Second, one had to comprehend a thread of law and then open the Three Flowers.

Opening the Earth Flower and inscribing one's comprehended law upon it meant breaking through to the Early Stage of Grand Luo Golden Immortal. Likewise, opening the Heaven Flower led to the Middle Stage of Grand Luo Golden Immortal, while opening the Dao Flower meant reaching the later stage.

When the Earth Flower, Heaven Flower, and Dao Flower merged as one, one reached the Grand Luo Peak. Condensing a Dao Seed upon the Three Flowers meant Grand Luo Perfection.

The Three Flowers were divided into twelve grades. Those whose Three Flowers bloomed below three grades could only remain Grand Luo Golden Immortals for life, unable to advance further. Their potential was simply too poor.

If the Three Flowers could bloom to six grades, there was hope of breaking through to Primordial Golden Immortal or becoming a Quasi-Saint. With Three Flowers Nine Grades, there was hope of attaining the Dao as a Primordial Golden Immortal.

With Three Flowers of ten or eleven grades, one could attain an even higher realm. Three Flowers of twelve grades were even more heaven-defying, representing limitless potential and an unpredictable future.

Most of the first batch of Demon Gods born in the Prehistoric Era had Nine-Petal Bloom or higher. Their potential had been immeasurable, but unfortunately, nearly all of them had died.

Some said Great God Pangu had Three Flowers of twelve grades. That was impossible. Those born in Chaos were at least Primordial Golden Immortals, so where would they get Three Flowers?

Thus, if one wanted greater potential, one had to lay a solid foundation in the Golden Immortal, Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, and Grand Luo realms. Primordial Spirit, magic power, and physical body all had to be perfected as much as possible.

Not a single living being in the entire Dao Field besides himself had developed intelligence. This puzzled Xuan Qing greatly. The Dao Field spanned hundreds of millions of miles, so how could not even one living being be born?

Having taken form and entered the world for so long without anyone to accompany him, he had begun to feel lonely. He had to find a way to enlighten some living beings.

To enlighten living beings, he needed to know the divine ability Manipulate Creation. He would have to study some techniques, or else he would be unable to display his full strength in battle.

He then returned to Heart Nurturing Hall. Since the hall was filled with Innate Merit Spirit Treasures containing Great Dao Merit, it was easier to comprehend the Great Dao there, so he did not go to Xuan Qing Dao Palace.

After brewing a cup of Enlightenment Tea, Xuan Qing lay back in his chair and began comprehending the Great Dao and understanding divine abilities.

Who said cultivation and comprehending the Dao required sitting cross-legged? Who had invented that? Those people merely did it to improve their concentration, though he did not know whether it actually worked.

Manipulate Creation mainly turned nothing into something and death into life. Since he possessed Creation Origin, it was much easier for him to comprehend.

In the blink of an eye, ten Kalpas passed. Xuan Qing not only comprehended Manipulate Creation, Soaring Earth Golden Light, and Flying Body and Tracing, but also created two offensive divine abilities and several minor utility divine abilities.

One was the exact opposite of Manipulate Creation. It could turn enemies from life to death, Transform Solid into Void. The other could banish enemies into a different space and trap them within it.

He had originally wanted to create a cultivation technique, but he could not manage it. Even combining the Dao Scriptures and Buddhist scriptures from his previous life was useless. Those were things cultivated after Heavenly Dao Emergence.

Under the Great Dao, everyone comprehended the Great Dao. What use were cultivation techniques? They were useless and could not help one comprehend the Great Dao.

It seemed that those claims in the novels of his previous life, where protagonists could casually create cultivation techniques and comprehend the Great Dao, had all been lies. How could one create a cultivation technique without understanding laws?

Over the years, he had also organized his insights from refining the great formation, gaining many realizations regarding formations and artifact refining.

He compiled everything he knew, mixed in some understanding of the Dao rhythm of the human body and humanity, and bound it all together. Then he took out several pieces of jade and began inscribing Dao Patterns upon them.

Xuan Qing organized four volumes of scriptures: Chapter on Formations, Chapter on Artifact Refining, Chapter on Divine Abilities, and Divinity and Humanity. Together, they formed Xuan Qing's Record of Seeking the Dao.

The moment he finished inscribing them, another stream of Great Dao Merit descended. The jade pieces Xuan Qing had inscribed floated into the air as the Great Dao Merit directly transformed the four jade pieces into four jade books.

The living beings of the Prehistoric Era had grown accustomed to it. This display was not even as imposing as the previous one. Since they could not find its source anyway, they simply let it be.

Innate Dao Patterns were not something jade could normally bear. Because he had inscribed them while building his cave dwelling, he had assumed divine abilities and such could be recorded as well.

Had the Great Dao not permitted it, the jade would have shattered the moment he began inscribing. It could only be said that the experiences of his previous life had brought him endless luck.

The first scriptures in the Prehistoric Era to record insights and divine abilities had taken the first step toward enlightening the Prehistoric Era.

Xuan Qing put away the merit and jade books. Seeing that the Green Lotus of Creation still showed no response, he walked out of the Great Hall. This seclusion had not only brought his realm to the completion of the Later Stage of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, but his cultivation had also reached a point where it could advance no further.

He could go enlighten some attendants now. That was standard equipment for a great power.

Xuan Qing searched through his Dao Field. These attendants had to possess good aptitude, or he would not have the heart to abandon them in the future. His search lasted an entire Kalpa, and he finally found two flowers at the outermost edge of the great formation.

Because the Green Lotus of Creation had nurtured him, none of the spiritual roots in this Dao Field could develop intelligence. After he took form, the Dao rhythm no longer suppressed them.

He had missed these two spiritual roots last time, and they had only just developed intelligence.

Xuan Qing placed them atop the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, watered them with Three Lights Divine Water, and then began using Manipulate Creation.

Three thousand years passed, and the two spiritual roots transformed into human forms. The taller one had bright eyes and white teeth, dignified and elegant. The other was delicate and charming, lively and mischievous.

"Greetings, Master!"

The two women both bowed respectfully.

"Don't be so restrained. This Dao Field has no life in it. There are only the three of us, so don't be so formal. Just relax."

Xuan Qing did not possess much divinity. Unlike the arrogant living beings of the Prehistoric Era, he was extremely easygoing toward his own people.

"Thank you, Master!"

One of the girls jumped up and shouted happily. The girl beside her had intended to pull her back, but she did not react in time.

"Do you have names?"

"No. Master, please give us names."

Xuan Qing thought for a moment, then said to the taller girl, "My name is Xuan Qing. You are the elder sister, so you will be called Qing Ya." He then turned to the mischievous one. "You will be called Qing Ling."

He had originally intended to enlighten two attendants, but they had become two maidservants instead. So he used the Qing from his Daoist title to name them.

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"

The two women were delighted. To be named after their Master's Daoist title, they could sense how highly Xuan Qing regarded them.

Qing Ling happily asked, "Master, is this our cave dwelling?"

Xuan Qing thought for a moment, then looked strangely at Qing Ling.

"The area within hundreds of millions of miles is all our Dao Field."

"Wow, why is it so big? Are there only the three of us?" Qing Ling asked in astonishment.

Xuan Qing said gloomily, "Your Master has been in this world for many Kalpas. You are the first living beings I have encountered, and I even had to painstakingly enlighten you."

"That's amazing! Master, what is your cultivation?"

Qing Ling stuck out her tongue and looked at Xuan Qing with a face full of curiosity.

Qing Ya hurriedly grabbed Qing Ling. "Please do not take offense, Master. Qing Ling did not mean anything by it." She was afraid Xuan Qing would blame her, because in the Prehistoric Era, one could not casually ask about another's realm.

Xuan Qing waved his hand. "It's fine, it's fine. I won't blame you.

We are family. What is there to be afraid of asking? Right now, I am a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal."

They had both taken form from High-Grade Innate Spiritual Roots and had been Golden Immortals from birth. However, because they had been enlightened, their minds were not yet mature.

Xuan Qing planned to instill modern values in them, allowing them to follow their own hearts. Only then could they walk farther upon the path of seeking the Dao.

It would also make daily life more comfortable. He did not want to follow the rules of the Prehistoric Era even within his own Dao Field.

In truth, he did not have many ambitions. He only wanted to watch the evolution of the Prehistoric Era and, along the way, make up for the regrets from the novels of his previous life.

If possible, it would be enough if he could see his parents again.

Xuan Qing's aspirations were not complicated. He would change whatever he could; if something could not be changed, he would let it go. So long as his thoughts were unburdened, that was enough.