Chessboard Mountain, Marketplace

Chessboard Mountain.

The fiery red maple trees shimmered under the sunlight.

In the center of the maple forest was an extremely vast medicinal garden.

Hundreds of strangely shaped Mountain Spirits and Wild Monsters carried water and weeded, creating a bustling scene.

A Pig-headed Monster grunted to an Ox-headed Monster beside it:

"Big Horn, in a few days, the Great Lord will reopen the Chessboard Mountain Marketplace. How about we go take a look?"

The Ox-headed Monster used a minor Mystical Art to kill a Spirit Devouring Insect before slowly replying:

"Every year, we receive Cultivation Sustenance like Spiritual Medicine Pills from the Great Lord, which is enough for our own cultivation and can even subsidize our clan a little."

"I don't need most of the items in the marketplace. If I go to the marketplace, I'll have to ask for leave from the steward. That will deduct my Spiritual Medicine."

Upon hearing this, the Pig-headed Monster shook its head:

"Big Horn, you're right."

"Then I won't go either."

A Dog-headed Monster nearby overheard them and couldn't help but quietly say:

"Brothers."

"I heard the adults in the mountain say that the Great Lord is releasing over ten thousand Spiritual Treasures and Magical Treasures for this reopening of the marketplace, and even hundreds of thousands of Spiritual Pills."

"As for the Spiritual Pills, it goes without saying. We receive the Great Lord's rewards every year, so there's nothing particularly special about them."

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

"With our savings over the years, Spiritual Treasures are out of the question. But it's not impossible to hope for a Magical Treasure or two."

"Those are good for combat and saving your life."

The Pig-headed Monster's eyes lit up when it heard the Dog-headed Monster speak.

"Wangcai, don't lie to me."

"The Great Lord has been residing at Chessboard Mountain for over two thousand years. After he opened the Chessboard Mountain Marketplace once a thousand years ago, he hasn't opened it again."

"Why would I lie to you?"

The Dog-headed Monster shook its head and swayed:

"My elders work in the Pill Hall and the Artifact Hall."

"Over the past thousand years, the Great Lord has trained many Pill Masters and Artifact Masters. In the future, Chessboard Mountain will not lack Magical Treasures and Spiritual Treasures."

"I also heard from my clan's ancestor that this marketplace will be open continuously from now on."

The Ox-headed Monster and the Pig-headed Monster exchanged glances. Wangcai, like them, was born into one of the Twelve Great Clans of Chessboard Mountain.

However, they were direct descendants of the Dog Clan, and their news was much more up-to-date than theirs.

If the Great Lord truly intended to reopen the marketplace.

They would have to plan carefully and prepare more Mystical Arts and Daoist Books.

So they could exchange for a Magical Treasure.

Who didn't know that the Great Lord loved collecting such things the most?

Over the past two thousand years, the Myriad Laws Pavilion on the mountaintop had collected countless Divine Abilities and Mystical Arts from the various clans of the Myriad Spirit Mountain Range.

"What are you three brats whispering about?"

"The Great Lord's reward to you is not for you to slack off."

"If you don't do this work, there are plenty of beings who want to."

Not far away, the Rabbit Steward, dressed in animal skins, cast a sharp glance at the three of them.

Scared, the Dog-headed Monster and its two companions quickly buried their heads in their work.

This job of tending to Spiritual Medicine was highly sought after.

If they hadn't been born into a great clan and their families hadn't gifted some Spiritual Medicine to the clan stewards, this job wouldn't have been theirs.

In the cave dwelling on the summit of Chessboard Mountain.

Zhou Yuan sat cross-legged.

Rosy clouds swirled around him, and Yin and Yang Qi evolved.

An ancient Book of the Great Dao floated and sank in his sea of consciousness.

Great Dao Proverbs echoed in his Mud Pill Palace.

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

"The Great Dao is hard to comprehend, and Laws are hard to form."

"To achieve the Grand Unity Great Sage realm, one must master at least one Law."

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

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

For two thousand years, I have occupied this Chessboard Mountain dojo and diligently managed it. Cultivation Techniques and Daoist Arts from the myriad races of the Myriad Spirit Mountain Range have continuously flowed into the Myriad Laws Pavilion on Chessboard Mountain.

Correspondingly, there has been a steady supply of Dao Essence to nourish the Myriad Dao Book.

Yet, even with the Myriad Dao Book's assistance, and despite my Divine Abilities and Mystical Arts undergoing earth-shattering changes, the Grand Unity Great Sage realm still feels infinitely far away.

"But it wasn't without gains."

Zhou Yuan's eyes were deep. The Bamboo Staff in his hand emitted Pure Spiritual Light, and he tapped it in the void.

Boom~

A point of spiritual light flashed, and then Yin and Yang Qi was born.

"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, and the Four Symbols evolve the Five Elements."

In the void, the Five Elements evolved into a great world.

Five kinds of phenomena—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—flashed within the cave dwelling.

If not for the concealment of the formations, such a commotion would surely have shaken the numerous beings on Chessboard Mountain.

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

Then, the Five Elements in the air dissipated, the Four Symbols reappeared, the Three Powers stood side-by-side, and the Two Realms of Yin and Yang spanned the boundless space-time.

The Yin-Yang Great Dao involved the fundamental principles of Heaven and Earth, the origin of the universe.

The difficulty involved was self-evident.

"But the Five Elements Great Dao is different."

Although the Five Elements Great Dao was also an Innate Great Dao, involving the origin of Heaven and Earth, Zhou Yuan had a plan.

He did not need to fully comprehend the Five Elements.

He was born of the Innate Primordial Ren Water Pure Spiritual Bamboo, occupying a corner of the Water Element. Innately, he was close to the Great Dao of Water.

"Since the creation of all things in Heaven and Earth, Pure Qi rose to become Heaven, and turbid Qi descended to become Earth. Heaven and Earth became the foundation of the Primordial Era. The path of Water, however, governs the cycle of Heaven and Earth, driving the transformation of cosmic energy."

"Water gives birth to Wood, Wood gives birth to Fire, Fire gives birth to Earth, Earth gives birth to Metal. The extreme of Water transforms into Great Yin, and Great Yin evolves into Great Yang."

As Zhou Yuan expounded the principles, the Myriad Dao Book rolled, and misty Pure Spiritual Light enveloped the entire universe.

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

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

Finally.

He chose a path among the myriad Great Daos.

"Found it!"

Zhou Yuan rejoiced.

At this very moment, the Dao Essence of the Myriad Dao Book was depleted, as if entering a post-coital state of exhaustion. It listlessly burrowed into his sea of consciousness and ceased to move.

Clearly, this wave of intensity was too high, and the essence accumulated over many years was gone.

In contrast, Zhou Yuan's face was flushed, as if he had been nourished.

"Water is one of the Five Elements, yet it is more than just one of the Five Elements."

"In the Era of Dharma Decline, the path of Water has become the fundamental cyclical Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, representing the beginning and the end."

"It is the place where all things return to the void."

"With my current cultivation, although I cannot fully interpret the Great Dao of the Water Element, nor elevate the Great Dao of the Water Element to be on par with the Heaven and Earth Duality."

Zhou Yuan waved his Bamboo Staff and said confidently:

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

To prove the Pure Yin with the Water Element, to derive Pure Yang from Pure Yin, to evolve the cycle of all things from Yin and Yang, and the world's end.

Then, to return to the origin, for one Yuan to begin anew, and return to the Great Dao of the Water Element Cycle.

The path to enlightenment is arduous. If the direction is not found, everything else is in vain.

Zhou Yuan, relying on the Myriad Dao Book to understand himself and evolve myriad daos, possessed great opportunities and fortune in the unseen. Thus, he was able to clarify his own path in the True One Realm.

His path is one that cannot be replicated by others.

He collected his thoughts.

Zhou Yuan calculated with his fingers.

"The Chessboard Mountain Marketplace can now open."

Over the years, he had already "fleeced" all the races in the Myriad Spirit Mountain Range.

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

This way, he could replenish his Dao Essence once more.

Thinking of this.

Zhou Yuan gently held his Bamboo Staff and struck the Jade Chime.