"Creation! They're all Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures!"
The thunderclouds dispersed, and Tongtian's eyes lit up.
Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures had emerged, and aside from the two brothers, there were no other mighty cultivators around. What else could this be but a gift of creation?
The three Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures belonged to the two of them!
"Fourth Brother, you only have the White Tiger Token. Take this Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch and Three Treasures Jade Ruyi. I like this Qing Ping Sword."
The moment the Qing Ping Sword entered his hand, Tongtian felt his soul resonate with it. The feeling was just like when he had obtained the Purple Lightning Hammer and Fishing Drum earlier. It was as if the treasure suited Upper Clarity Qi and had been destined to be his.
"Eldest Brother, you're mistaken. This Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch is a Top-grade Innate Merit Spiritual Treasure. It can kill without incurring karma and suppress one's fortune. It's clearly fated to be yours."
Xuanyuan shook his head and pushed the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch toward Tongtian.
Red Flower, White Lotus Root, Green Lotus Leaf. Of these three treasures, only the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch, which had transformed from the red flower, contained all the merit of the Creation Green Lotus. It was a rare Merit Treasure in the Primordial World.
In the original timeline, Sect Master Tong Tian had been powerful indeed. The Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation, Six Souls Banner, Qing Ping Sword, Purple Lightning Hammer, Fishing Drum... His arsenal brimmed with lethal treasures, maximizing his offensive power. At his peak, he could take on four opponents at once.
Alas, though he was powerful, his glory was like flowers embroidered on brocade or oil poured onto a blazing fire. It could not last.
How imposing had the Interception Sect been, with Ten Thousand Immortals Come to Court?
And how domineering had Sect Master Tong Tian been, someone whom even Four Saints had needed to defeat?
If he had possessed a treasure to suppress his fortune, how could he have met such a tragic end?
"A Merit Treasure? If that's the case, then I really can't take it. You don't have a Merit Treasure to protect you yet. How could I take what should be yours?"
Tongtian was tempted, but still shook his head and declined.
"Haha, Eldest Brother, who told you I don't have a Merit Treasure? I'm simply low-key by nature and don't like showing off. Look..."
Xuanyuan laughed, and with a movement of his Profound Clarity Nascent Soul, a ruler appeared in his hand.
The ruler was exactly one foot long. Primordial Qi swirled around it, faint purple light glimmered across its surface, and it radiated a powerful, mysterious aura of the Great Dao.
"This is... Heaven-Opening Merit?!"
Tongtian stared intently at the ruler in Xuanyuan's hand, sensing the familiar power of Heaven-Opening Merit at once.
"That's right. This is the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler. After Father God Pangu opened Heaven and Earth, one part of his Heaven-Opening Merit combined with a wisp of Hongmeng Purple Qi to form this Houtian Merit Supreme Treasure. Its killing power is unmatched, and it's even a little stronger than the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch."
Xuanyuan made no attempt to hide its mysteries, explaining them in detail.
The Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch was a Top-grade Innate Merit Spiritual Treasure. It held an intense killing intent and was a weapon of slaughter, able to cleave through all things. Killing with it incurred no karma, and it was inscribed with the Great Dao of Strength Law. When it struck an enemy, it could unleash Samadhi True Fire to burn their soul. Its power was formidable.
During the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, it had struck Sect Master Tong Tian.
But though this treasure was mighty, it paled in comparison to Xuanyuan's Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler.
Xuanyuan had no shortage of Merit Treasures. By contrast, once Tongtian obtained this one, it would make up for his weakness and keep him from being trapped in a desperate situation because of the Mysterious and Profound nature of fortune.
"Wonderful, wonderful! I never knew Fourth Brother had been hiding his strength. Like Eldest Brother, you have a Houtian Merit Supreme Treasure accompanying you!"
"With this Merit Treasure at your side, your foundation shouldn't be any weaker than Eldest Brother's. If you spar with him someday, I expect you'll have the upper hand!"
Tongtian clapped his hands and laughed, sincerely happy for his younger brother's good fortune.
After Xuanyuan revealed the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler, Tongtian accepted the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch into his soul. After hesitating briefly, he offered the Qing Ping Sword to Xuanyuan.
In his view, Fourth Brother already had a treasure, but three treasures had emerged in all. How could he, as the eldest brother, take the lion's share?
Since the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch could suppress fortune and couldn't be parted with, he might as well give Fourth Brother the Qing Ping Sword!
"Ah, no. Eldest Brother, when have we ever needed to divide things so carefully between us? I only want this Three Treasures Jade Ruyi." Xuanyuan shook his head with a laugh.
Tongtian was just like a parent back in Xuanyuan's previous life, always worrying that he hadn't eaten his fill or dressed warmly enough. Even though he already had treasures, he still insisted on giving him more.
With that, Xuanyuan reached for the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi and firmly pressed the Qing Ping Sword into Sect Master Tong Tian's hands.
The treasures transformed from the Twenty-Four Petaled Creation Green Lotus were precious to other mighty cultivators, enough to spark a battle among them. But to Xuanyuan, they were nothing special.
If the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi hadn't benefited his cultivation, so what if he let Tongtian have all of them?
The Three Treasures Jade Ruyi was an offensive spiritual treasure of tremendous power. It could be hurled at enemies, striking them squarely on the crown of the head; it could drain their magic power or even kill them outright.
Yet its real use wasn't in combat.
Its greatest value lay in the three Infinite Treasure Pearls set into it, corresponding to the Three Luminaries of "sun, moon, and stars," the Three Powers of "Heaven, Earth, and Man," and the Three Treasures of "essence, qi, and spirit."
The three Infinite Treasure Pearls resonated with the origin of the Three Powers Law. They were excellent treasures for comprehending the Dao.
Xuanyuan nurtured Chaos with the myriad Daos, then used Chaos to give rise to the myriad Daos, bringing the nonexistent into being and turning the unreal into the real.
Chaos was the beginning of the One Origin; the Two Forms formed the threads of Yin Yang. He had comprehended water, fire, earth, and wind, as well as the four seasons and Four Symbols. The only thing missing was the Three Powers, to serve as the link connecting them.
This Three Treasures Jade Ruyi belonged in the Chaos World, which he was still perfecting, as his Treasure for Proving the Dao.
Xuanyuan's Treasure for Proving the Dao was different from the one used for Severing Three Corpses to Prove Dao.
Aside from proving the Dao by Severing Three Corpses, one could naturally possess a Treasure for Proving the Dao through other methods as well.
Moreover, Xuanyuan's treasures for proving the Dao wouldn't be limited to just one or two. As long as he wished and they were a good fit, every Dao within his Chaos World could have a corresponding treasure for proving the Dao!
Venerable Yuanshi had used the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi in battle, staining it with a great deal of tribulation and killing qi until its spirituality faded and its power diminished. It was undoubtedly a waste of a treasure.
"Then I'll accept it, even though I don't deserve it."
Seeing this, Tongtian smiled and took back the Qing Ping Sword. He really couldn't bear to part with a treasure so perfectly suited to him.
"Hum!"
Just after the brothers had taken the Three Green Lotus Treasures into their souls, Xuanyuan's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints. The Chaos Pearl in the depths of his soul quivered, and countless mysterious star charts appeared across its gray surface, devouring all the spiritual energy within a radius of ten million li.
"Fourth Brother!"
Tongtian immediately noticed the anomaly in Xuanyuan.
"It's nothing. There's another treasure here. The Creation Green Lotus left behind a fourth treasure."
Xuanyuan let out a roar. His soul emerged from his body, and his Profound Clarity Qi resonated with Pangu's Residual Might. In an instant, his Ancestral Shaman True Form manifested at a height of 129,600 zhang, then surged to two hundred thousand zhang. A projection of the Chaos World appeared around him.
That was right. Pangu had a Fourth Purity, so it made sense that this Twenty-Four Petaled Creation Green Lotus, following the great trends of Heaven and Earth, would produce a fourth treasure.
At the thought, joy flashed in Xuanyuan's eyes.
The first three treasures had corresponded to the Three Pure Ones. And by rights, this fourth treasure, not yet emerged, corresponded to him, the Fourth Purity of Pangu!
However, this fourth treasure, suspended between the real and unreal, clearly wouldn't be easy to obtain.
Xuanyuan therefore urged the Chaos Pearl, a Chaos Supreme Treasure, to its limits. Grand Unity Magic Power surged through the nine Great Dao restrictions he had already refined.
"Rumble!"
Countless stars flickered in and out within the Chaos World Projection. Mountains and rivers appeared and vanished, and an overwhelming pressure, powerful enough to suppress the heavens, spread outward.
Under that pressure, Tongtian, also in the Late Stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, turned pale and couldn't help retreating ten thousand li.
Then, with a lift of Xuanyuan's hand, Chaos Residual Qi churned and Pangu's Residual Might raged. Drawing upon the power of Pangu's spine, he twisted the space-time above Buzhou Mountain. Space shattered inch by inch like a mirror, revealing a point of faint light floating in the endless reaches of Time and Space.
Within that faint light, a lotus seed radiating a hazy green glow slowly emerged.
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