Traveling Again, Target: Three Immortal Islands of the East Sea

After Gou Mang and Houtu broke through, the other Ancestral Witches did not gain as much as they had, but each still obtained something.

As for Di Jiang, his gains in Space Law and bloodline excavation were far greater than the benefits brought by the Ginseng Fruit. After discussing the Dao with Xuanyuan for ten thousand years, he devoted himself to secluded cultivation.

According to Xuanyuan's estimation, by the time Di Jiang next emerges from seclusion, he should be able to break through to Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection.

Such a rate of growth was far faster than before.

One must know that great divine powers like Zhen Yuanzi, Laozi, Yuanshi, and Zhun Ti were still only at the Mid Stage of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.

After discussing the Dao with Di Jiang, Xuanyuan also made great gains in the Space Great Dao, and the power of his Chaos World Projection grew even stronger.

Yet after this discourse, he had no intention of leaving Pangu Hall. Instead, he decided to stay with Tongtian and focus on refining several treasures.

Generally speaking, a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal could fully refine the Innate Restrictions of Low-grade and Mid-grade Spiritual Treasures, while High-grade and Top-grade Spiritual Treasures required a more powerful Golden Immortal of the Origin or a Quasi-Sage to completely refine.

As for Supreme Treasures...

Innate Supreme Treasures and Postnatal Supreme Treasures could still be fully refined by a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin, but something like the Chaos Pearl, which possessed fifty Great Dao restrictions, was beyond their power.

Time flowed like water; spilled water could not be reclaimed.

In the blink of an eye, one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred years passed on the Primordial World Earth—exactly one Eon.

"It should be enough. Now, at the Beginning of Heaven and Earth, is the best time to seize opportunities. By the time of the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, obtaining treasures will be far more difficult."

On this day, Xuanyuan opened his eyes. All over his body, Great Dao Laws of Yin and Yang, Three Powers, Four Symbols, Five Elements, Thunder, and Space swirled around him, and Xuanyuan's Nascent Soul had grown slightly stronger.

After this entire Eon of secluded cultivation, the restrictions of the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler had been refined to twenty-four, the limit of what a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal's mana could handle.

As for the Chaos Pearl, because it was a Chaos Supreme Treasure, its Great Dao restrictions were even harder to refine than Heavenly Dao restrictions. Only two new ones had been refined, bringing the total to ten Great Dao restrictions.

The newly acquired White Tiger Token and Three Treasures Jade Ruyi were different. After initial refinement, they were placed inside the Chaos Pearl to stabilize the foundation of the Chaos World, requiring no further effort.

The Qiankun Bow and Zhentian Arrow were exotic treasures and did not fall into this category.

As for the seed of creation, it had been planted in the Chaos World, absorbing Chaos Qi.

"Fourth Brother, you've emerged from seclusion?"

Sensing Xuanyuan's movement, Tongtian also awakened from his cultivation.

He had four treasures to refine: the Purple Lightning Hammer, the Fishing Drum, the Qing Ping Sword, and the Coiling Dragon Flat Crutch—all Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures. This time, he focused on refining the latter two, which he had recently obtained. Though he had not refined them to twenty-four restrictions, they were sufficient for use at the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

"Stillness breeds a desire for movement. Prolonged seclusion may allow more treasure restrictions to be refined, but it does not benefit personal cultivation growth or Law comprehension."

"Brother, I plan to travel and explore. What do you think?"

Xuanyuan stood up from his cushion, glanced at the twelve Ancestral Witches still in seclusion, and had no intention of disturbing them.

"If Fourth Brother wishes to travel, I will naturally follow. But where shall we go this time?" Tongtian nodded without hesitation, then asked.

Following Xuanyuan was far more carefree than staying on Kunlun Mountain.

Besides, Tongtian no longer enjoyed spending time with his two elder brothers.

"We have already traveled through the Western Land and the Central Land. You and I have been born for over ten Eons, yet we have never seen the Primordial World Four Seas. This time, let us head to the Eastern Sea."

Xuanyuan had clearly planned this long ago.

At this time in the Primordial World, aside from Buzhou Mountain, the Three Immortal Islands of the Eastern Sea held the most treasures.

Moreover, when he planted the seed of creation, the spiritual essence of the Creation Green Lotus gave Xuanyuan a hint: the Twelve Petaled World-Purifying White Lotus was located in the Eastern Sea and was destined to be connected to him.

Of course, this hint was not strictly necessary—Xuanyuan already knew that the Twelve Petaled World-Purifying White Lotus was on the Three Immortal Islands of the Eastern Sea.

"That's true. We haven't seen the Primordial World Four Seas yet. Let's go take a look." Tongtian had no objections.

And so, the two brothers left Kunlun Mountain once more and flew eastward toward the Eastern Sea.

Though they had a destination, they were in no hurry to rush. Along the way, everything they saw was the Dao. Even without other gains, simply contemplating the myriad things of heaven and earth and nature brought Xuanyuan considerable benefits.

For the Chaos World to evolve into a complete world, using the Primordial World as a reference was a good choice.

However, though Xuanyuan and Tongtian did not use the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler to tear through space and travel directly, their Late Stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal mana allowed them to reach the shores of the Eastern Sea in thirty thousand years.

"Fourth Brother, we've reached the Eastern Sea. Shall we wander freely or pick a direction?"

Gazing at the vast, boundless sea and feeling the surging water spiritual energy, Tongtian was momentarily stunned.

"When Father God opened Heaven and Earth, five Chaos Fragments fell into the Eastern Sea, forming the Five Immortal Islands, corresponding to the Heaven and Earth Five Elements and Five Directions. However, only the Three Immortal Islands should remain now."

"On the Three Immortal Islands, there are treasures and opportunities. Let us follow the flow of the Eastern Sea's water veins and search for the Three Immortal Islands that have not yet emerged." Xuanyuan said.

In this era, the Three Immortal Islands were not the San Xiao's Three Immortal Islands from the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, but rather Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang.

After the Witch-Demon Tribulation, the Three Immortal Islands became widely known, but few—even among great divine powers—knew of the Five Immortal Islands.

To the east of the Bohai Sea, hundreds of millions of miles away, there was a great chasm, truly a bottomless valley. Its depths had no end, named the Return to Ruins. The waters of the eight extremities and nine wilds, and the flow of the Heavenly River, all poured into it without increasing or decreasing it. Within it were five mountains: the first called Dai Yu, the second Yuanqiao, the third Fanghu, the fourth Yingzhou, and the fifth Penglai.

Fanghu was Fangzhang.

Beneath the Eastern Sea lay the Return to Ruins, and the two islands of Dai Yu and Yuanqiao had fallen into the Return to Ruins during the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity, or even earlier, during the Fierce Beast Calamity.

Beneath each of the Five Immortal Islands were three Golden Ao, fifteen in total, taking turns carrying the islands as they drifted through the Eastern Sea.

At the Beginning of Heaven and Earth, among the Hundred Innate Races, there was a race called the Dragon-Kin Giants. To divine the Heavenly Mechanism, they fished up six Golden Ao from the Eastern Sea and used their tortoise shells to question Heaven's will. This caused two islands to lose their support, and they were swept into the Return to Ruins by Chaos Residual Qi and Space-Time Turbulence.

The Five Immortal Islands had never emerged; they had always been carried aimlessly by the Golden Ao as they drifted across the Eastern Sea, shielded by Innate Restrictions that cut off Heavenly Mechanism and karma. Even most great divine powers could not calculate their location.

Yet they had to come face to face with the Dragon-Kin Giant Clan—perhaps it was fate.

But after that, no trace of the Dragon-Kin Giants remained on the Primordial World Earth. Could they have gone extinct?

"Five Chaos Fragments left from Father God's creation of the world? If so, then there must be treasures within those immortal islands." Tongtian's eyes lit up, but he did not press further.

In his view, Xuanqing's knowledge of this came either from the innate creation memories within his Primordial Spirit or from the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler itself—no need to dig deeper.

Thus, the two brothers ventured deep into the East Sea, pausing now and then to sense shifts in the water currents or to use the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler to detect spatial anomalies.

The Three Immortal Islands, carried on Golden Ao's back, drifted endlessly across the East Sea. Though they had no fixed position, Golden Ao's movements would inevitably stir the vast, boundless ocean, creating subtle ripples.

And those ripples were the flow of the water currents.

"Oh? A celestial anomaly? Could a treasure be emerging?"

That day, Xuanqing and Tongtian stood side by side above the East Sea. The sea wind carried a salty, briny tang as it swept past them, and surging waves churned beneath their feet.

As they extended their Spiritual Sense to perceive the shifts in the water currents, the sky suddenly began to change violently without warning:

One moment, it was a bright, sunlit day, radiant with light. The next, night fell like a black curtain, stars twinkling and moonlight cold.

But in just a few breaths, sunlight burst through the darkness once more, and the sea returned to brightness.

This cycle repeated, dizzying and mesmerizing, yet profoundly mysterious—far beyond ordinary celestial phenomena.

The two brothers looked up at the sky. There, a crimson sun blazed with scorching light, while not far away, a silvery moon hung high, radiating a cold, clear glow.

The Sun and Moon Shining Together, Complementing Each Other, yet each independent, undisturbed by the other—a strange and magnificent sight.

Tongtian stared intently at the sky, brows furrowed, eyes gleaming with sharp light, lost in thought.

After a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up, as if a realization struck him, and he exclaimed in surprise: "I see! This is a Great Divine Power imitating Father God's eyes transforming into the sun and moon, seeking to refine the Taiyin Eye and Sun Eye into a divine eye technique!"

Xuanqing's expression shifted as well, for he knew exactly which Great Divine Power was at work here.

After the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity Era, the Dragon Race had retreated to the Four Seas, but a dying camel is still bigger than a horse. As former rulers of heaven and earth, the Dragon Race naturally still had Great Divine Powers among them.

The rapid alternation of day and night—this could only be the Candle Dragon.

"Xuanqing Xuanyuan, this is my elder brother, Upper Pure Tongtian. I ask the Daoist friend to show himself."

Putting aside his thoughts, Xuanqing made a bow and called out loudly toward the sky.

His voice was clear and resonant, echoing across the East Sea.

"Boom!"

As his words fell, the space around them began to tremble violently. An overwhelming pressure spread from the void, as if invisible giant hands were squeezing the surrounding heavens and earth.

Then, a crimson light emerged from the space in the sky, growing brighter and brighter, illuminating the entire East Sea.

A massive figure slowly materialized from the light, its body a fiery red like blazing flames, its form coiling for thousands of miles, like a crimson mountain range Stretching Across the heavens and earth.

Its eyes were like the sun and moon, radiating a strange light filled with boundless majesty and mystery. The aura it exuded was far stronger than that of Xuanqing and Tongtian.

"I am the Candle Dragon. Greetings to you both, Daoist friends."

With a flicker of his form, the Candle Dragon transformed into a human-shaped Innate Dao Body and nodded slightly to Tongtian and Xuanqing.

As a Great Divine Power from the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity Era, his cultivation naturally surpassed that of Xuanqing and Tongtian, who had only Formed and Been Born a dozen or so Eons ago.

Though he had not yet stepped into the realm of Golden Immortal of the Origin like the Ancestral Dragon, he had reached Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection, only One Step Away from that level.

"Meeting is fate, Daoist Candle Dragon. How about a spar?"

Xuanqing smiled faintly, his interest piqued.

Though the Candle Dragon cultivated the divine eye technique of Taiyin and Sun, his path was not the Great Dao of Yin Yang, but the Great Dao of Time—the flow of ages.

Xuanqing had once exchanged insights with Zhu Jiuyin, the Time Ancestral Witch, but his understanding of the Time Law was still in its infancy, just a sprout.

If he could spar with the Candle Dragon now and personally experience the power of the Time Law, it would be like using a Stone from Other Mountains to Polish Jade.

"You wish to spar with me?" The Candle Dragon frowned.

He had never been fond of conflict. Even during the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity, he had rarely Made A Move, thus avoiding much killing intent or Calamity Qi, allowing him to retreat unscathed and become one of the few remaining Great Divine Powers of the Dragon Race.

Now, Xuanqing's immediate request to spar caught him off guard.

"Indeed. A Stone from Other Mountains can Polish Jade. If I am not mistaken, Daoist friend is imitating Father God Pangu's eyes transforming into the sun and moon, are you not?"

"To be honest, I too have some insights into the Great Dao of Yin Yang. If we could spar, I believe it would benefit your cultivation of this divine technique."

Xuanqing explained with a smile.

He was not naturally combative, but Great Divine Powers who cultivated the Time Law were exceedingly rare, and this truly piqued his interest.

"Very well, a spar is not out of the question."

Hearing this, the Candle Dragon finally nodded.

At the mention of Father God Pangu, he had also guessed Xuanqing's origins.

Though the Candle Dragon had been in Secluded Cultivation in the East Sea ever since the Dragon Race retreated to the Four Seas, that did not mean he was completely unaware of events on the Primordial World Earth.

The matter of the Four Pure Ones being born from a single breath on Kunlun Mountain had spread to the ears of various Great Divine Powers as Laozi and Yuanshi traveled far and wide.

Xuanqing and the Candle Dragon faced off above the East Sea, and the Wind and Clouds themselves changed color.

Towering waves surged beneath the two figures' feet, yet were forcibly suppressed by an invisible pressure, freezing mid-air like a still ink-wash painting.

Candle Dragon's crimson body coiled across the sky, his thousand-li frame shrouding half the heavens, sun and moon revolving in his eyes, while crimson light surged around him like molten lava, exuding a heart-stopping aura.

"Daoist Xuanyuan, are you ready?"

Candle Dragon's deep voice carried echoes of antiquity, causing the void itself to tremble faintly.

Xuanyuan's expression was solemn, Daoist resonance flowing around him as he formed hand seals and called out softly: "Daoist, make your move. Yin and Yang are the Origin of Taiji—go!"

In an instant, the Great Dao of Yin Yang swirled, and the Yin Yang Qi of heaven and earth converged madly, condensing before him into a massive Yin Yang Fish diagram.

Black and white light complemented each other, radiating a mysterious and powerful aura.

"Boom, rumble!"

Seeing this, Candle Dragon's eyes flashed with brilliance, sunlight and moonlight flickering as a beam of light erupted forth. Within that beam was boundless time force; wherever it passed, space shattered inch by inch, and the flow of time became chaotic.

And so, two Great Divine Powers clashed above the Eastern Sea.

Xuanyuan was at the Late Stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, a rank lower than Candle Dragon in cultivation, but after manifesting his Ancestral Shaman True Form of one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred zhang, he was in no way disadvantaged.

Moreover, neither wished to harm their goodwill, so neither employed any treasures.

Candle Dragon did not activate the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Fire Essence Candle, held in his mouth, nor did Xuanyuan summon the Houtian Merit Supreme Treasure, the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler. They simply exchanged blows through laws and divine abilities alone.

"Fourth Brother's strength still surpasses mine."

Tongtian watched from afar, observing Xuanyuan fighting evenly with Candle Dragon, and could not help but sigh with emotion.

His fourth brother had only been formed and born for a little over ten eons, yet he could already spar with an ancient Great Divine Power like Candle Dragon.

This sparring session lasted forty-nine days, and in the end, both gained something, parting as equals.

"Daoist Xuanyuan, since you wish to comprehend the true essence of time, I shall gift you a drop of essence blood, containing some insights into time."

After some exchange, seeing that Xuanyuan and Tongtian were about to take their leave, Candle Dragon pondered for a moment, then forced out a drop of heart essence blood. It transformed into a crimson bead, carried by his spiritual sense and delivered before Xuanyuan.

And as he forced out the essence blood, nine powerful and ancient auras flickered briefly in the unfathomable seawater below.

"This... I am grateful for your kindness, Daoist. I shall accept it without shame."

Xuanyuan paused briefly, his gaze sweeping subtly beneath the Eastern Sea, then accepted it.

The Dragon Race's foundation was indeed formidable. Even in decline, aside from Candle Dragon, there were still nine Great Divine Powers.

If his guess was correct, these should be the Nine Sons of the Dragon, born of the Ancestral Dragon.

The Dragon Race still had some reserves now. Later, when Dong Wang Gong established his Immortal Court in the Eastern Sea, they would likely join it and become his support.

"Haha, Daoist, there is no need for courtesy." Candle Dragon laughed heartily.

The Dragon Race was in decline. Though Candle Dragon disliked conflict, he still had to consider his clan's interests.

Xuanyuan's origins were extraordinary. Being able to match him evenly at the Late Stage of Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal made it worthwhile to forge a good connection.

Perhaps in the future, he might be able to help the Dragon Race.

"Daoist Candle Dragon, we part here. When your cultivation is about to take a further step, you may come to Kunlun Mountain or Buzhou Mountain to discuss the Dao—there may be an opportunity."

Before leaving, Xuanyuan offered a reminder.

It would be fine for Candle Dragon to prove his Dao by law, but if he attempted to sever the Three Corpses, he would fall into a trap again.