"You and I each received one-tenth of the Heaven-Opening Merit, while Third Brother and Fourth Brother shared one-tenth between them. Though we are all Grand Unity Golden Immortals, there are still differences between us."
"This is no great matter. Let us each go into seclusion."
As soon as he finished speaking, Laozi flew off to one side to establish his own Daoist abode.
With a Merit Supreme Treasure in hand, he could naturally sense how much Heaven-Opening Merit the four brothers had possessed when they took form.
"Half a tenth of the merit? So that's how it is."
"Third Brother, Fourth Brother, remember Eldest Brother's instructions. Go into seclusion and stabilize your cultivation. Don't go wandering about."
At this, Yuanshi didn't even look properly at his two younger brothers. He left them with a single remark, then rode off on a cloud, apparently eager to establish his Yuqing Daoist abode.
"Fourth Brother, how can our two elder brothers be so... This... Sigh!"
Tongtian's face flushed red and then pale, his heart filled with indignation.
Though they were all Four Pure Ones and members of the same family, their innate merit had given them different foundations. An invisible yet sorrowful barrier had already sprung up between them.
"It's all right, Third Brother. Let us also go into seclusion and stabilize our Grand Unity realm."
Xuanyuan shook his head, suppressing the ruler that wanted to fly out from the depths of his Primordial Spirit.
"Very well, Fourth Brother. Let's build our Daoist abodes next to each other. An elder brother should look after his younger brother. If you were too far away, I wouldn't feel at ease."
"Kunlun Mountain is divided into East and West Kunlun, and there are other great beings with supernatural powers here, too."
Tongtian watched the two figures disappear into the distance, then took Xuanyuan along to build their Daoist abodes side by side.
"That sounds good."
Xuanyuan smiled. He had no objection.
Was one-tenth of the merit really more promising than half a tenth?
Not necessarily!
Xuanyuan named his Daoist abode Xuan Qing Palace. It stood right next to Tongtian's Upper Pure Palace.
As for why he called it Xuan Qing Palace...
He simply couldn't be bothered to come up with a name. If he really wanted to, Chaos Palace or Measure Heaven Palace would have worked, too.
"Laozi has a Companion Treasure, but Yuanshi and Tongtian don't. They probably never imagined that another Acquired Merit Supreme Treasure would accompany me."
Xuanyuan's thoughts stirred, and a radiant treasure light burst from his Primordial Spirit. A ruler wreathed in purple light and Primordial Qi appeared in his hand.
It was neither long nor short, measuring exactly one chi. It carried the aura of the Great Dao, and countless runes depicting the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers were carved into its body. Amid their cycles of birth and destruction, two innate divine characters—'Measure Heaven'—were inscribed upon it.
This was the other Acquired Merit Supreme Treasure. It matched the peerless defensive power of the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda with peerless offensive power.
The Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler!
This treasure had been nurtured from one-tenth of the Heaven-Opening Merit fused with Primordial Qi. Its killing power could rival that of Innate Supreme Treasures such as the God-Slaying Spear and the Pangu Banner.
It could also kill without incurring karmic consequences and allow its wielder to travel through space!
"I carried half a tenth of the Heaven-Opening Merit from birth. Add the one-tenth in this Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler, and even if I'm slightly behind Laozi, I'm still far beyond that fellow Yuanshi."
"Compared with the Chaos Pearl, the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler should actually be a little easier to refine."
Thinking of Yuanshi's contemptuous attitude not long ago, Xuanyuan shook his head with a faint smile, then prepared to refine both treasures.
The Chaos Pearl was a Chaos Supreme Treasure. Even a Heavenly Dao Saint couldn't completely refine its fifty Chaos restrictions.
The Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler was an Acquired Supreme Treasure, so it was somewhat easier to refine. Even so, only a Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal or a Heavenly Dao Saint could fully refine it.
Treasures in the Primordial World fell into three categories: Chaos, innate, and acquired. The difference lay only in the conditions under which they were formed.
Chaos treasures were born in Chaos;
Innate treasures were born before Heaven and Earth took shape, or began to be nurtured before then;
Acquired treasures, meanwhile, were only nurtured after Heaven and Earth had been created, or were crafted by living beings.
In general, Chaos treasures ranked above innate treasures, and innate treasures above acquired treasures—but that wasn't always the case.
Take the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler and the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, for example. These two Acquired Supreme Treasures were no weaker than Innate Supreme Treasures.
The Heaven-Overturning Seal, refined from half of Buzhou Mountain, was no weaker than an Innate Supreme Treasure either.
What truly determined a treasure's strength was the number of restrictions it contained.
A Low-grade Spiritual Treasure contained one to twelve restrictions;
A Medium-grade Spiritual Treasure contained thirteen to twenty-four restrictions;
A High-grade Spiritual Treasure contained twenty-five to thirty-six restrictions;
A Top-grade Spiritual Treasure contained thirty-seven to forty-eight restrictions.
Innate Supreme Treasures and Acquired Supreme Treasures contained forty-nine restrictions.
The Great Dao is fifty; Heaven's Evolution is Forty-Nine.
Beneath Chaos, forty-nine restrictions were the limit for Innate Supreme Treasures and Acquired Supreme Treasures.
Xuanyuan didn't expect to completely refine the Chaos Pearl and the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler in a short time, but he could still manage to refine them to some extent.
And so, all Four Pure Ones went into seclusion on Kunlun Mountain. After partially refining the Chaos Pearl, Xuanyuan entered its inner world with the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler, refining its restrictions as he comprehended the Great Dao.
The emergence of the Four Pure Ones was only one part of this great tribulation.
The Sun Star had been formed from Pangu's left eye. It was supremely yang and unyielding. On this day, beneath the Fusang Tree, a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Root, two Golden Crows took form: Di Jun and Tai Yi.
The Moon Star had been formed from Pangu's right eye. It was supremely yin and gentle. Beneath the Osmanthus Tree, following Wang Shu, who had vanished without a trace in the previous Kalpa Tribulation, two Moon Jade Rabbits took form: Xi He and Chang Xi.
On Buzhou Mountain, formed from Pangu's spine, the Qi of Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang gave rise to a brother and sister named Fuxi and Nuwa.
The Western Land was desolate. Its last traces of spiritual energy and fortune gave birth to two great beings: the Qi of Light became Jie Yin, while one of the Ten Great Spiritual Roots, the Bodhi Tree, became Zhun Ti.
Within the Netherworld Blood Sea, Ming He appeared, cradling Yuan Tu Abi, seated upon the Twelve Petaled Karma Fire Red Lotus, and holding the Xuanyuan Water Control Banner...
Figures from every corner of the world had emerged. A Kalpa Tribulation had now begun!
Outside the Primordial World, in the midst of Chaos.
Inside Purple Heaven Palace, Hongjun sat upon a lotus platform as the Jade Disc of Creation revolved slowly above his head, revealing the mysteries of the Three Thousand Laws.
"Strange. Why have Pangu's Heaven-Opening Merit and fortune changed? Why can't I see them clearly all of a sudden?"
Hongjun pinched his fingers as he calculated the secrets of Heaven. His fingers moved so quickly they left afterimages, and the more he calculated, the more wrong it all seemed.
Four Pure Ones?
Three Pure Ones?
Four Pure Ones?
How could there be more one moment and fewer the next?
Neither three nor four?
"Never mind. Beneath the Heavenly Dao, minor trends may change, but the major trend cannot. After I finish lecturing on the Dao, I'll know how many Pure Ones Pangu's Primordial Spirit split into. His Heaven-Opening Merit and fortune are destined to be connected to me."
"All I need to do is take them in as disciples and establish a karmic bond between master and disciples. Then their fortune and merit will fall into place..."
After calculating for tens of thousands of years without getting a definite result, Hongjun finally gave up.
It didn't matter.
After the Dao-Devil War, no one in the Primordial World could threaten him. It didn't matter how many Pure Ones Pangu's Primordial Spirit had split into. Once he established a master-disciple bond with them all, he could naturally redirect Pangu's fortune.
Time passed like flowing water during the Primordial World's Beginning. There was no such thing as dying of old age, and time was the most meaningless thing of all.
On Kunlun Mountain, inside Xuan Qing Palace.
"After nine Eons of bitter cultivation, I've stabilized my early Grand Unity Golden Immortal cultivation. I've also managed to partially refine both treasures."
Xuanyuan emerged from the world inside the Chaos Pearl after nine Eons in seclusion. The aura of the Great Dao surrounded him before quickly receding.
He had refined nine restrictions of the Chaos Pearl.
He had refined eighteen restrictions of the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler.
That was enough for him to use at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!
"Hmm? Tongtian's here?"
Xuanyuan casually put away the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler. Just as he was about to leave seclusion, he sensed a familiar aura rapidly approaching.
"Fourth Brother, you've finally come out of seclusion! I've come looking for you several times. Kunlun Mountain is so boring. Eldest Brother and Second Brother are both taciturn, and they won't discuss the Dao with me."
His voice arrived before he did.
In the next instant, Sect Master Tong Tian, a black-robed man with sharp brows and bright eyes, strode into Xuan Qing Palace.
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