After escaping from the bottom of the crystalline, dazzling Blood Sea, Di Jiang appeared before Minghe once more.
Minghe had been cultivating there all along. Seeing Di Jiang return with a steady aura and no apparent injuries, he felt relieved. He was even more curious about what opportunity Di Jiang had found below, but he had the good sense not to ask.
"Fellow Daoist Minghe, the opportunity beneath the Blood Sea has run its course. I'll take my leave now. The gates of Mount Buzhou are always open to you. You can use this token to pass through the Five Elements Great Array guarding the mountain."
Di Jiang gave Minghe a slight nod, honoring his promise. As he spoke, he flicked a finger, sending a silver seal containing a trace of his bloodline law aura flying toward Minghe. The seal was both a pass through the Five Elements Great Array and a token of Di Jiang's promise.
Minghe took the seal and felt the pure, profound Five Elements Power within it. Delighted, he hurriedly cupped his hands. "Many thanks, fellow Daoist! I'll be sure to visit you one day!"
Di Jiang nodded. His gaze swept over the roiling Blood Sea below, and with a thought, he also casually drew out a large mass of pure Blood Sea baleful energy, compressed it into a dark red bead, and stored it away. This baleful energy would be useful in mastering the Great Formation of the Myriad Heavens.
With that done, Di Jiang lingered no longer. After telling Minghe that they would meet again, he took a single step, merged into the ripples of space, and vanished in an instant, beginning his journey back to Mount Buzhou.
Watching Di Jiang leave, Minghe rubbed the Law Seal in his hand and glanced in the direction Di Jiang had disappeared before turning toward the Blood Sea.
"There are many cultivators listening to the Dao at the Purple Skies Palace. Once they return, their cultivation will surely have advanced greatly. Since I've chosen not to follow the usual path, I can't afford to slack off in the slightest! Otherwise, how can I live by my creed of 'being no weaker than anyone else'?"
Minghe suppressed the faint ripple in his heart at having missed the Dao lecture at the Purple Skies Palace. Turning into a streak of blood-red light, he sank deep into the Blood Sea and decided to enter seclusion at once to improve his strength.
Meanwhile, beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, inside the Purple Skies Palace wreathed in Chaos energy.
Dao Ancestor Hongjun sat high on his Cloud Bed. His countenance was ancient and his gaze indifferent, yet it held the endless mysteries of the Heavenly Dao. His calm eyes swept over the mighty figures of the Primordial World, seated upright on the three thousand meditation cushions below.
The six purple cushions in the front row stood out in particular. Seated upon them were Taiqing, Yuqing, Shangqing, Nuwa, Jieyin, and Zhunti. Behind them sat a host of renowned figures, including Di Jun, Taiyi, Zhenyuanzi, and Hong Yun. All held their breath, waiting for the Saint to expound the Great Dao.
Yet when Hongjun's gaze, as if it could pierce cause and effect, passed over a certain area, it paused for the briefest moment.
"Di Jiang, born from Pangu's blood essence, and Minghe, nurtured by the Blood Sea. Neither of them came?"
These two beings, both burdened with ties to Pangu and endowed with extraordinary origins, had both missed the first Saint's lecture on the Great Dao in the Primordial World. It was indeed somewhat beyond Hongjun's expectations. Di Jiang in particular was one of his candidates for settling his karmic debt to Pangu. Fortunately, the Three Pure Ones had come, so it made no difference whether Di Jiang attended or not.
This small surprise stirred only the faintest ripple in Hongjun's heart before fading away.
"The Great Dao has fifty paths, the Heavenly Dao derives forty-nine, and one escapes. Each has its own destined fate; it cannot be forced."
Hongjun remained unperturbed. If they had not come, then they lacked the destined connection—or perhaps each had their own path. He gave the matter no further thought. As the first Saint of the Primordial World and the Dao Ancestor of the Profound Gate, his gaze had long since risen above individuals, fixed instead on the workings and perfection of the Primordial World Heavenly Dao as a whole.
Putting the matter aside, Hongjun no longer paid attention to the two who were absent. His distant, impassive voice, like the music of the Great Dao, began to echo through the Purple Skies Palace as he expounded its supreme mysteries.
The Saint's lecture on the Great Dao had officially begun! Purple mist filled the air, golden lotuses bloomed, and countless profound Dao patterns appeared in the void. Below, the listeners were utterly entranced, immersed in an ocean of the Great Dao.
After leaving the Netherworld Blood Sea, Di Jiang was eager to return. He wanted to get back to Mount Buzhou as soon as possible and begin arranging the embryonic Netherworld and planning the establishment of Reincarnation. He traveled through the layers of space at great speed, while the land of the Primordial World raced past far below.
As Di Jiang passed over Mount Sumeru, his figure could not help but pause slightly. The Five Elements Law he had already cultivated to a minor level—especially his keen perception of the Five Elements' spiritual energy—had instinctively detected an extremely pure and abundant source of innate Wood Element energy, tinged with a distinctive flavor of "seven emotions and six desires"!
"Oh? Such pure innate Wood Element energy is rare in the West, where the spiritual veins are nearly exhausted."
Curious, Di Jiang put aside his plans to return at once. He turned and descended from the sky, appearing precisely at the source of the Wood Element energy: the shore of a bitter sea at the foot of Mount Sumeru.
The area was strewn with strange rocks and had barren soil. Only a stretch of water, exuding a bitter aura, rippled gently nearby. Beside the bitter sea stood an area of ordinary-looking stone forest, but space there was unnaturally distorted, as though some invisible force separated the inside from the outside.
An innate formation! Di Jiang saw through it at a glance. The formation had taken shape by drawing on the scant spiritual energy remaining in the area and the spiritual root's own aura. It was fairly mysterious and could conceal its contents from anyone below the Golden Immortal level. But before Di Jiang, it was as good as nothing.
Di Jiang could not be bothered to study the formation's structure or figure out how to break it. To him, who wielded the Space Law and possessed the strength of a Primordial Origin Golden Immortal, an innate protective formation of this level was no obstacle.
An invisible force of spatial compression sprang into being, pressing down on the formation's entire barrier. The formation runes, which had been circulating without pause and held the powers of defense and illusion, rippled violently like a lake struck by a stone. Their light flickered erratically.
In less than three breaths, a crisp crack rang out. The innate formation's barrier shattered, dissolving into specks of spiritual light in the air. The formation was forcibly broken without the slightest hint of commotion.
As the formation dissipated, it revealed the treasure it had protected: a small patch of pure land. At its center grew a golden bamboo, its segments clearly defined!
"Bitter Bamboo! So it's one of the ten great Innate Spiritual Roots!" A flicker of surprise and understanding crossed Di Jiang's eyes.
This was a treasure indeed! Legend had it that the Bitter Bamboo could help one comprehend the Dao and calm the mind. It could also be used to refine Magic Treasures. More importantly, it could be used to set up the Seven Emotions Great Formation, sealing off a cultivator's six senses!
"What an unexpected surprise!"
Di Jiang smiled faintly. He naturally wasn't going to pass up such a treasure. The West was barren, and leaving it here would be like hiding a pearl in the dirt. Some fortunate passerby might take it one day.
He swept out a hand, and the power of space surged again. Along with the Bitter Bamboo, he effortlessly uprooted the small patch of innate Spirit Soil it grew in and the remnants of the formation's foundation, moving the whole thing intact into his possession.
Having acquired a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Root, Di Jiang was in an even better mood. He glanced at the still-desolate Western Land, lingered no longer, and merged into space once more, speeding toward Mount Buzhou.
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