The Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree was not large, only seven chi and seven cun tall, about as thick as an infant's arm. It had seven branches, each bearing several crystalline leaves, but no roots—only most of its body remained.
"Vmmm!"
Under Zhun Ti's full power and the infusion of Grand Unity Magic Power, the Seven Treasures—gold, silver, and colored glaze among them—burst with dazzling divine radiance. Each precious leaf traced a profound path of laws through the void, trying to stop the streak of light that shot toward it like a comet racing toward the moon.
Though the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree had been refined after the creation of the world, it was an innate object, a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure. It was said to brush away anything, and was suited to both attack and defense.
However, the Zhentian Arrow had been formed from Pangu's Ribs. It belonged neither to the innate nor to the post-creation category, and so it was an exception.
"Crack!"
The instant the arrowhead touched the rainbow barrier, a brittle sound like shattering glass rang through heaven and earth.
The Earthly Fiend Tainted Qi and Earth Veins power Xuanyuan had poured into the arrow gnawed at the barrier relentlessly. Spiderweb cracks spread across the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree's colorful shield, and its countless rays of treasure-light were forced back by the earthen arrow.
"Urgh!"
Daoist Zhun Ti groaned, spraying golden blood from his mouth as he was hurled away like an arrow snapped from its string. His Sixteen-Foot Golden Body had gone dim, and he was gravely wounded, on the brink of death.
And that was only because, at the critical moment, a force from the Western Land had silently protected his soul.
Otherwise, Xuanyuan's arrow would have killed him on the spot, leaving him utterly annihilated!
"Junior Brother!"
In the distance, Daoist Jie Yin cried out in alarm and hurriedly abandoned Kuafu to come to his aid. But when he looked up, the enemy was nowhere to be seen. He turned around, only to find that the two Great Witches had vanished as well.
"Senior Brother, we can't stay here. Let's go!"
Daoist Zhun Ti, his face pale as gold paper, put away the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, now dimmed of its radiance, and urged him to hurry.
"Alas."
At that, Daoist Jie Yin's already sorrowful expression grew even more mournful. He picked up his junior brother and turned into a stream of Qi of Light, fleeing toward the Western Land.
The two brothers fled in a sorry state, seething with resentment. They blamed Kuafu and Da Yi for the trouble and planned to settle the score with them when they got the chance.
"Fellow Daoist, my actions have disturbed your precious domain."
After sending Kuafu and Da Yi to a safe place thousands of miles away, Xuanyuan withdrew his Earthly Fiend Tainted Qi and returned to his normal size. He clasped his hands toward Zhen Yuanzi in apology.
“Think nothing of it. I command the Earth Book and am connected to the Earth Veins here. Even if the Demon Dao Struggle happened again, it wouldn't destroy my Longevity Mountain.”
"I've heard of those brothers from the Western Land, but I don't know who they took as their master. You should be careful, Fellow Daoist."
Zhen Yuanzi waved a hand, not minding the matter. He didn't ask about Xuanyuan's Ancestral Shaman True Form, but instead offered a warning.
Zhun Ti and Jie Yin were no weaklings. Like Zhen Yuanzi, they were Mid Stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals. Could such mighty cultivators have a master as powerful as Yin-Yang Ancestor or Qiankun Ancestor?
"Thank you for the warning, Fellow Daoist. I'll be careful."
Xuanyuan nodded.
That arrow had been terrifyingly powerful. He had combined his Late Stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal cultivation and Ancestral Shaman True Form, drawn on the Earth Veins' power across thousands of miles, and driven two unusual treasures formed from Pangu's Ribs.
Under normal circumstances, even a Late Stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal with shallow foundations and no protective treasure might have died on the spot. Even one protected by an Innate Spiritual Treasure would have been gravely wounded.
And yet what about Daoist Zhun Ti?
A Mid Stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal had been gravely wounded by a single Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, and no more.
This, too, put Xuanyuan on his guard.
These mighty cultivators destined to become Heavenly Dao Saints were no simple figures. He absolutely could not afford to be careless.
Fortunately, he hadn't shown himself directly, and Zhen Yuanzi had sealed off Longevity Mountain with the Earth Book. As long as he didn't use the Qiankun Bow and Zhentian Arrow in front of Daoist Zhun Ti, the latter would have no way to recognize him.
Otherwise, being targeted by those two shameless brothers would bring him needless trouble in the future.
After exchanging a few words with Zhen Yuanzi, Xuanyuan learned that he planned to visit a friend at Huoyun Cave in the Eastern Land. Xuanyuan did not linger, and left Longevity Mountain with Tongtian to continue their travels through the Primordial World.
They said they were traveling through the Primordial World, but in truth they were still wandering around the Western Land. They never found traces of Daoist Zhun Ti or Daoist Jie Yin again.
The Witch Ancestor Tribe, meanwhile, had grown even more prosperous. By mending the broken, chaotic Earth Veins of the Western Land, its people continually earned Heavenly Dao merit, and both the Great Witches and Lesser Witches had grown significantly stronger.
As they traveled through the Western Land, Xuanyuan realized that an Eon had passed since they left Kunlun Mountain.
Over the years, Tongtian and Xuanyuan had made some gains. They had come across several emerging Innate Spiritual Treasures, but they were all low- or mid-grade, too unimpressive to be of much use. They kept them to bestow on their disciples in the future.
"The Western Land is barren, and Zhun Ti and Jie Yin have gone Hidden World. Older Brother, why don't we return to Buzhou Mountain first, then travel to the other lands?"
Xuanyuan took a single step, crossing thousands of miles of void, then turned to Tongtian and spoke.
"Whatever you say, Fourth Brother."
Tongtian naturally had no objections.
To him, the Eon he had spent away from the mountain had been far more carefree than his time on Kunlun Mountain.
And so the brothers changed course and headed east.
One day, just after Xuanyuan and Tongtian returned to the foot of Buzhou Mountain, countless rays of azure light suddenly burst across the northwestern horizon.
Dense spiritual energy gathered into a vortex, as if heaven and earth were turning upside down. A lotus seed rippling with Chaos patterns slowly appeared from the void, its surface reflecting the sun, moon, and stars, along with a vision of Pangu Opens Heaven.
"Hahahaha! Fourth Brother, a treasure has emerged just as we've returned to Buzhou Mountain. Doesn't that mean heaven and earth favor us? This must be our good fortune!"
Tongtian beamed, delighted.
From the extraordinary celestial phenomena accompanying its emergence, he could tell that this was an exceptional treasure.
"Creation Green Lotus Seed!"
The moment Xuanyuan saw the lotus seed, his pupils contracted.
So the Creation Green Lotus he had searched for in vain on Buzhou Mountain last time had finally reached the moment of its emergence.
The Creation Green Lotus had quite an extraordinary origin. It was a mature lotus seed from the shattered Chaos Green Lotus. Like the Chaos Pearl and Sky-Opening Axe, the Chaos Green Lotus had been a Chaos Supreme Treasure with fifty Chaos restrictions!
After Pangu Opens Heaven, the Chaos Green Lotus shattered. Its lotus pod became the Cauldron of Fortune, while its stem absorbed the Malevolent Qi of heaven and earth and transformed into the God-Slaying Spear. Both were Innate Supreme Treasures.
The former could turn post-creation things into innate ones and was used to refine Innate Spiritual Treasures;
the latter inflicted immense damage on Spiritual Sense. It could even harm the souls of Saints entrusted to the Heavenly Dao.
The five leaves of the Chaos Green Lotus became the Five Innate Directional Flags: the eastern Azure Lotus Treasure Color Banner, the southern Flame-Light Banner from the Ground, the western Plain-Colored Cloud Realm Banner, the northern Xuanyuan Water Control Banner, and the central Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner.
Every one of them was a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure. Together, the five flags rivaled an Innate Supreme Treasure. They could also form the Innate Five Elements Five Directional Formation, capable of trapping five Saints!
Besides these, there were the five lotus seeds.
The four that were only half-matured became the Twelve Petaled Karma Fire Red Lotus, the Twelve Petaled Merit Golden Lotus, the Twelve Petaled World-Destroying Black Lotus, and the Twelve Petaled World-Purifying White Lotus. They were all Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures as well.
But the lotus seed now appearing on Buzhou Mountain was the only mature one of the five.
"Rumble!"
The mature lotus seed floated in midair, devouring Chaos Residual Qi. In an instant, it blossomed into a twenty-four-petaled lotus throne. Creation Qi flowed across every petal, and its might seemed capable of suppressing all the heavens. The entire Buzhou Mountain trembled beneath its power.
The Twenty-Four Petaled Creation Green Lotus!
Yet the firmament suddenly split with spiderweb cracks, and nine bolts of Purple Heaven Divine Thunder crashed down.
"Heaven itself is jealous."
Xuanyuan sighed inwardly.
Though the Creation Green Lotus Seed had used the Chaos Residual Qi of Buzhou Mountain to grow into the Twenty-Four Petaled Creation Green Lotus, its power surpassed that of an ordinary Innate Supreme Treasure by a considerable margin.
But its origin was too extraordinary, its potential too great. The Heavenly Dao would not tolerate it, and so it sent down Heavenly Punishment.
Each bolt of Heavenly Punishment Divine Thunder unleashed by the full might of the Heavenly Dao possessed the power to annihilate a Primordial Grand Unity Golden Immortal.
The Twenty-Four Petaled Creation Green Lotus was powerful, but it was a rootless duckweed, and could not withstand the suppression of the Primordial World's Heavenly Dao.
When the first bolt struck the lotus throne, heaven and earth fell silent across a radius of hundreds of millions of miles, centered on Buzhou Mountain. Chaos patterns on the petals cracked apart, inch by inch;
the second bolt fell, and fine cracks appeared across the lotus throne;
and when the ninth bolt pierced the heart of the lotus, the Twenty-Four Petaled Creation Green Lotus let out a clear, mournful cry and exploded!
Amid the radiance that filled the sky, the lotus throne split into three:
The blood-red petals became the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch, three chi and three cun long. A dragon's head formed its handle, its mouth held the Hunyuan Pearl, and the cloud script for "Dao and Virtue" was carved into its tail. Yimu Green Qi wound around its body;
The deep green lotus leaves condensed into the Qing Ping Sword, three chi, six cun, and five fen long. Its scabbard was entirely black, overlaid with an azure lotus flower. A green lotus wound around the hilt, giving off a faint, lingering fragrance. A Yin Yang Fish pattern flowed across the blade. With a slight tremor, its edge tore through space and released a soul-shaking dragon's roar;
The lustrous white lotus root transformed into the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi. Its head was shaped like a celebratory cloud and set with three Infinite Treasure Pearls, corresponding to the three lights of "sun, moon, and stars," the three realms of "heaven, earth, and man," and the Three Treasures of "essence, energy, and spirit";
At the end of its handle were nine Five-Clawed Golden Dragons, rising and descending at different heights. The tip was shaped like a lingzhi mushroom, marked with the Five Blessings, and radiated Five-Colored Radiance and rosy light.
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