Zhou Yuan stared at the Wei River Water God's Golden Seal before him in pleasant surprise.
"Presumably, that Dao Lord Tianshui had misjudged it as well."
"He thought this Water God's Golden Seal was merely a divine seal formed from the ordinary authority of the Wei River. Though precious and capable of allowing a living being to step once more onto the path of an Innate Ancient God, it was ultimately only a position at the level of an Innate Great Sage."
"As an Innate Dao Lord, he naturally had no use for it."
After all, now that the Heavenly Dao had manifested, all authority had to exist within the framework of its rules.
If you held the Wei River Water God Venerable Seat, then you could only be the Wei River Water God Venerable Seat.
It was unlike the Ancient Era, when one could still devour other Water Element Positions to elevate one's own authority.
That was no longer possible now.
Even if the Eighteenth Prince successfully became the Wei River Water Lord and thereby occupied the Huai River,
he would only become the Huai River Water Lord in name.
The Huai River's authority and origin would not be usurped by him.
At most, he could use it to gather the great momentum of heaven and earth, gathering the fortune of heaven and earth.
By cultivating with that fortune, he would also have a chance to glimpse the realm of an Innate Dao Lord.
"But this Water God's Golden Seal is more than just a Water God's Golden Seal."
All sorts of thoughts flashed through Zhou Yuan's mind.
"This golden seal merely fell from an exceedingly lofty position, yet its essence remains that of the supreme Water Element of heaven and earth. It was formed from an unrivaled position that had once touched the Black Emperor's Position. In theory, it can inherit the authority of the Black Emperor."
After all, Ancestor Dragon was already dead as a doornail.
If I do not inherit this Black Emperor authority, who else could claim it more rightfully?
"As long as I continue expanding the golden seal's Water Element authority, I will command more of the Great Dao of Water Element."
"As long as I restore the golden seal's grade, I may even prove the Dao as the Water Element Black Emperor in a single step."
Gods in name, who had not condensed their origin authority, could only use the territory they controlled to gather fortune before borrowing authority from the Heavenly Dao to comprehend it. This was a false Innate Divine Path. It could only accelerate cultivation and could not let one ascend to the heavens in a single step.
After all, that authority belonged to heaven and earth, not to an individual living being.
As for true Innate Ancient Gods, once their positions were attained, their cultivation would naturally follow.
After all, the authority belonged to them.
The incense gods conferred by the Heavenly Court in later generations were even more miserable.
The authority they possessed was merely the divine office granted by heaven and earth, neither increasing nor diminishing. They had no possibility of cultivating on their own.
Yet the servants of the Heavenly Emperor's household in later generations could decide their life or death with a single word.
"If I ascend to the Innate Dao Lord realm through the path of an Innate Ancient God, or even reach the higher Saint realm..."
"Then, if I return to cultivate the Mystic Gate Immortal Path, would I not have a chance to overtake others on a curve by building from such a lofty foundation?!"
The older one was, the more powerful one was.
In the Primordial World, this was an unshakable truth.
The ancient possessed profound foundations. They had existed at the beginning of the world's creation and grown unchecked.
As heaven and earth evolved and the Great Dao retreated, not only did cultivation resources become increasingly scarce, but comprehending the Great Dao Laws also grew ever more difficult.
Thus, it was exceedingly difficult for later generations to surpass those ancient beings.
But the Water Ancestor's legacy had given Zhou Yuan a chance to overtake them on a curve.
"Perhaps one day, I too will have the chance to play a game with those Great Divine Ability Users."
To step beyond the chessboard and become a player.
Zhou Yuan's gaze burned.
This trip to the water estate had truly left him overflowing with gains.
What was more, a supreme treasure was hidden beneath this water estate.
According to the information within the Water God's Golden Seal, that thing was what could truly defy fate and change his destiny.
Thinking of this, Zhou Yuan delayed no longer.
With a casual gesture, he destroyed the cavern-heaven sea of qi within the unconscious Eighteenth Prince, then stirred up the sea of consciousness between his brows, cutting off any chance of him playing tricks.
This fellow could not yet be casually killed, lest Dao Lord Tianshui sense the decline of his offspring and awaken from the fog of heavenly secrets.
Even with an Innate Supreme Treasure concealing the heavenly secrets and altering karma, Zhou Yuan still feared unforeseen complications.
Forget it. He was merely a cripple now.
After proving the Dao as a Grand Unity Great Sage, Zhou Yuan would settle the matter.
Zhou Yuan stripped the Eighteenth Prince of every last treasure.
Only then did he store him within the Pot-Heaven Magical Treasure.
Afterward, he set down an array to protect the Water God Palace, just in case.
Once everything was done and he had carefully checked that there were no oversights,
he came to the center of the main hall, formed hand seals, and began chanting an incantation.
Rumble, rumble.
One array pattern after another lit up and flashed without end. With a single glance, Zhou Yuan recognized them as seal script from the Archaic Era.
A moment later, the center of the hall rumbled, and an opening appeared before Zhou Yuan.
"The Heaven-Shielding Great Array of One Qi laid down by the Archaic Water Ancestor truly is extraordinary."
Even while standing within the Water God Palace, Zhou Yuan had failed to notice the slightest trace of it.
Still, the Water Ancestor had been a formidable figure of the Archaic Era. Although his divine abilities had ultimately been no match for fate, and he had died with bitter resentment, this being was an ancient relic who had survived since the beginning of the era.
What did a bit of hidden foundation amount to?
Zhou Yuan suppressed the emotions in his heart.
He transformed into a streak of light and entered the underground.
The instant he vanished, the opened gateway closed once more.
The entire Water God Palace fell utterly silent.
Beneath the Water God Palace lay another world.
The moment Zhou Yuan entered the underground palace, he sensed an intense Innate Water Element aura.
That aura was incomparably vast, supreme and noble.
Faintly, he seemed to hear the rumbling chant of the Great Dao.
Zhou Yuan raised his eyes and looked over. At the center of the underground palace, an Innate Water Eye billowed with boundless spiritual qi.
Streams of clear spring water flowed from the Water Eye, nourishing the entire water estate secret realm.
If the water estate secret realm was the central hub of the entire Wei River,
then this Innate Water Eye was the most important place within the water estate secret realm.
It was the nexus of the Wei River's Water Element circulation.
It was the source of all spiritual qi throughout the Wei River.
It had been born from the creation of heaven and earth.
If an ordinary living being found an Innate Water Eye and cultivated beside it, their cultivation speed would be more than ten times faster.
Yet what truly stunned Zhou Yuan was not the Innate Water Eye, but a Primordial Dao Embryo floating above it.
"A heaven-sent blessing."
"A heaven-sent opportunity."
Zhou Yuan gazed fervently at that Primordial Dao Embryo, clapping his hands in endless praise, his heart filled with joy and excitement.
For within the Primordial Dao Embryo, a small tree nine inches and nine-tenths tall floated amid Chaos Aura.
The treasure tree's aura was ethereal, as though it embodied the Great Dao in perfect unity. Boundless divine radiance enveloped it.
Dense Jia Wood aura suffused the rosy clouds, while all manner of wondrous phenomena appeared without end.
"Innate Jia Wood, Yellow Middle Plum."
Zhou Yuan let out a sigh.
Innate Divine Beings were nurtured by the Great Dao, and every Innate Divine Being was born from a Primordial Dao Embryo.
The first wisp of Innate Jia Wood Qi, combined with the origin of the Primordial World's Great Dao of Wood, had also nurtured an Innate Divine Being: the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Root, Yellow Middle Plum.
"Unfortunately, it is exceedingly difficult for Innate Spiritual Roots to attain the Dao."
Within the Primordial World, vegetation already found cultivation incomparably difficult.
They were often plucked or swallowed by living beings before they could even properly develop intelligence.
Innate Spiritual Roots were no different.
Since World Creation, the Primordial World had produced a total of ten Top-grade Innate Spiritual Roots.
Yet now, only a scant few divine beings had revealed themselves to the world, such as Daoist Zhunti, formed from Innate Geng Metal Qi,
Daoist Jieyin, formed from Innate Bitter Bamboo,
and Zhen Yuanzi, formed from Innate Wu Earth.
The remaining spiritual roots had either been taken by certain Great Divine Ability Users through various methods and kept as foundations to suppress their lineages,
or had suffered misfortune before taking form, damaging their origins and making it difficult for them to develop intelligence, much less become Innate Divine Beings.
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