Chessboard Mountain Marketplace

Chessboard Mountain.

The fiery red maple trees gleamed beneath the sunlight.

At the center of the maple forest lay an enormous medicinal garden.

Several hundred bizarre Mountain Spirits and Wild Monsters carried water and pulled weeds, creating a bustling scene.

A pig-headed monster snorted as it greeted the Ox-headed Monster beside it:

"Big Horn, in a few days, the master will reopen the Chessboard Mountain Marketplace. How about the two of us go take a look?"

After using a minor spell to kill a Spirit Devouring Insect, the Ox-headed Monster slowly replied:

"The master gives us Spiritual Medicine Pills and other cultivation sustenance every year. It is enough not only for our own cultivation, but also to support our clans a little."

"I have no use for most of the things in that marketplace. Besides, if I go, I will have to ask the steward for leave. They will deduct Spiritual Medicine Pills for that."

Hearing this, the pig-headed monster shook its head.

"Big Horn, you've got a point."

"Then I won't go either."

Hearing this, the dog-headed monster nearby could not help whispering:

"Brothers."

"I heard the elders in the mountain say that, for this reopening of the marketplace, the master has brought out over ten thousand Spiritual Treasures and Magical Treasures, along with hundreds of thousands of spirit pills."

"There is no need to mention spirit pills. The master rewards us with them every year, so they are nothing unusual."

"But Magical Treasures and Spiritual Treasures are good stuff."

"With what we have accumulated over the years, we should forget about Spiritual Treasures. But Magical Treasures are not entirely beyond our reach."

"They are all lifesaving treasures for battle."

After hearing the dog-headed monster, the pig-headed creature's eyes lit up.

"Wangcai, don't lie to me."

"The master has been settled on Chessboard Mountain for over two thousand years. Ever since he opened the Chessboard Mountain Marketplace once a thousand years ago, it has never reopened."

"Why would I lie to you?"

The dog-headed creature shook its head as it spoke:

"Some of my clan elders work in the Pill Hall and Artifact Hall."

"Over the past thousand years, the master has trained quite a few Pill Masters and Artifact Masters. Chessboard Mountain will not lack Magical Treasures or Spiritual Treasures in the future."

"I also heard from my clan ancestor that this marketplace will remain open from now on."

The ox-headed and pig-headed creatures exchanged glances. Wangcai, like them, had been born into one of Chessboard Mountain's Twelve Great Clans.

However, Wangcai was a direct descendant of the dog clan, so his information was far more reliable than theirs.

If the master truly intended to reopen the marketplace,

then they needed to make proper plans and prepare more mystical arts and daoist books.

That way, they might exchange them for a Magical Treasure.

Who did not know that the master loved collecting such things the most?

Over the past two thousand years, the Myriad Laws Pavilion atop the mountain had collected an unknown number of Divine Abilities and Mystical Arts from the various clans of the Myriad Spirit Mountain Range.

"What are you three brats whispering about?"

"The master did not reward you with wages so you could slack off."

"If you won't do this work, plenty of other creatures would gladly take it."

Not far away, the Rabbit Steward, dressed in beast-hide clothing, swept his lightning-sharp gaze over the three brats coldly.

The dog-headed creature and his two companions were so frightened that they hurriedly lowered their heads and got back to work.

Tending spiritual herbs was highly sought-after work.

If they had not been born into great clans, and if their families had not given several spiritual herbs to the clan stewards,

this job would never have fallen to them.

Inside the cave dwelling atop Chessboard Mountain.

Zhou Yuan sat cross-legged.

Rosy light swirled around him as Yin and Yang Qi evolved.

An ancient Book of the Great Dao rose and fell within his sea of consciousness.

Great Dao Proverbs resounded through his Mud Pill Palace.

After a long while, Zhou Yuan opened his eyes and sighed faintly:

"The Great Dao is difficult to comprehend, and laws are difficult to form."

"To attain the Grand Unity Great Sage Realm, one must grasp at least one law."

"I thought that after mastering the Greater Divine Ability, Innate Yin-Yang Primordial Chaos Divine Light, I would have a chance to glimpse the mysteries of the Yin-Yang Law."

"But I still underestimated the profundity of the Yin-Yang Law."

After claiming Chessboard Mountain as his dojo and painstakingly managing it for two thousand years, a steady stream of Cultivation Techniques and Daoist Arts had gathered from the myriad clans of the Myriad Spirit Mountain Range into Chessboard Mountain's Myriad Laws Pavilion.

In return, a constant supply of Dao Rhyme Sustenance nourished the Myriad Dao Book.

Yet even with the Myriad Dao Book's help, although his Divine Abilities and Spells had undergone earth-shaking changes, the Grand Unity Great Sage Realm still remained far beyond reach.

"But it was not without gains."

Zhou Yuan's gaze was deep. The bamboo staff in his hand gave off Pure Spiritual Light as he pointed it into the void.

Boom—

A speck of spiritual light flashed, and Yin and Yang Qi then emerged.

"One Qi Gives Birth to Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang give birth to the Three Powers. The Three Powers give birth to the Four Symbols. The Four Symbols evolve into the Five Elements."

The Five Elements evolved into a vast world within the void.

Five phenomena of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth shone throughout the cave dwelling.

Had there not been an array concealing it, such a disturbance would certainly have shaken the countless creatures of Chessboard Mountain.

Seeing the evolution of the Five Elements, Zhou Yuan merely nodded slightly.

Then the Five Elements in the air dispersed. The Four Symbols reappeared, the Three Powers stood together, and the dualities of Yin and Yang stretched across boundless time and space.

The Yin-Yang Great Dao concerned the foundations of heaven and earth, the origin of the cosmos.

Its difficulty needed no explanation.

"But the Five Elements Great Dao is different."

Although the Five Elements Great Dao was also an innate Great Dao and involved the Heaven and Earth Origin, Zhou Yuan knew this clearly.

He did not need to fully prove all Five Elements.

He had been born innate, as the Primordial Ren Water Pure Spiritual Bamboo. Occupying a portion of the Water Element position, he had been naturally close to the Great Dao of Water.

"Since the birth of all things in heaven and earth, clear qi has risen to become heaven, while turbid qi has descended to become earth. Heaven and earth are thus the foundation of the primordial world. The path of water governs the cycle of heaven and earth, driving the transformation of heaven and earth's qi."

"Water gives birth to Wood, Wood gives birth to Fire, Fire gives birth to Earth, Earth gives birth to Metal. At the Extreme of Water, it becomes Greater Yin; what is called Greater Yin evolves into the sun."

As Zhou Yuan expounded upon the Dao, the Myriad Dao Book turned over, and a hazy Pure Spiritual Light unexpectedly enveloped all beneath the heavens.

Immeasurable Light, Immeasurable Lifespan, Immeasurable Wisdom, Immeasurable Great Dao.

Countless sparks of wisdom flickered unceasingly in Zhou Yuan's eyes.

At last.

Among the myriad Great Daos, he chose a path.

"I found it!"

Zhou Yuan was overjoyed.

At that very instant, the Dao Rhyme of the Myriad Dao Book was exhausted. As if drained after excessive exertion, it languidly curled up within his sea of consciousness and ceased moving.

Clearly, this wave had been too intense. The essence accumulated over countless years had vanished just like that.

Zhou Yuan, on the other hand, looked radiant, as though he had received nourishment.

"Water is one of the Five Elements, yet it is not merely one of the Five Elements."

"By the era of Dharma's End, the path of water will become the fundamental cycle of heaven and earth, representing both beginning and end."

"It is where all things return to nothingness."

"With my current Dao Cultivation, I cannot yet expound the Great Dao of Water Element, much less elevate it to stand equal with the Heaven and Earth Duality."

Zhou Yuan waved his bamboo staff confidently.

"But now that I have a direction, things will be much easier."

Use Water Element to prove pure yin, use pure yin to derive pure yang, and use yin and yang to evolve the Cycle of All Things and World's End.

Then return to the origin, One Yuan Begins Anew, and return once more to the Great Dao of Water Element Cycle.

The path of seeking the Dao was arduous. If one chose the wrong direction, everything else was wasted effort.

With the Myriad Dao Book, Zhou Yuan had gained insight into himself and evolved the myriad Daos. In the unseen depths, he possessed great opportunity and Great Creation. That was why, while still in the True One Realm, he could clearly discern his own path.

His path was not one that others could replicate.

Setting aside his thoughts.

Zhou Yuan calculated on his fingers.

"The Chessboard Mountain Marketplace can open."

Over the years, he had already thoroughly harvested the myriad clans of the Myriad Spirit Mountain Range.

By now, the reputation of Chessboard Mountain Marketplace should have spread to the surrounding Divine Demon Tribes and imperial dynasties.

This way, he could replenish another batch of Dao Rhyme.

Thinking this.

Zhou Yuan lightly raised his bamboo staff and struck the Jade Chime.