Entering the Immortal Island, the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure Five Elements Pagoda

"Good steel should be used where it counts." Xuanyuan shook his head.

Using Merit Power to protect himself would be a waste. With his current strength, unless he faced Hongjun, who in all the Primordial World could kill him?

And if he truly went up against Hongjun, this little bit of merit wouldn't be enough to make Hongjun hesitate. He would still attack.

In that case, condensing it into a Merit Golden Wheel would be little more than dead weight.

Tongtian didn't try to persuade him. He trusted Xuanyuan to have his reasons.

Looking at the remaining twenty percent of Heavenly Dao merit, Xuanyuan thought for a moment, then poured it all into the three Infinite Treasure Pearls set in the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi.

As a treasure for comprehending the Dao, strengthening it could never be a waste.

The Three Treasures Jade Ruyi embodied the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Man; the Three Lights of the sun, moon, and stars; and the Three Treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

The stronger it became, the more stable the Chaos World would be, and the firmer Xuanyuan's foundation in the Great Dao would grow.

At Xuanyuan's gesture, the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi blazed with golden light. Innate Dao Rhyme and Merit Power intertwined and reflected one another, while golden characters of creation appeared between the warm white jade's veins.

"Ding!"

With a clear, ringing chime, the light flowing over the ruyi rapidly condensed into substance, and forty-eight streams of golden merit radiance descended. It had astonishingly advanced into a Top-grade Innate Merit Spiritual Treasure.

Wherever its light passed, the baleful aura of the Return to Ruins vanished of its own accord. Faintly, countless phantoms of the Creation Green Lotus appeared.

"A Top-grade Innate Merit Spiritual Treasure? Then the Heavenly Dao merit wasn't wasted after all."

Seeing this, Tongtian understood.

One could never have too many merit treasures like the Three Treasures Jade Ruyi. They could stabilize one's fortune and kill without incurring karmic consequences, making them absolutely the best offensive treasures during a Kalpa Tribulation.

"It has indeed added another treasure for attacking," Xuanyuan said with a smile.

The original Three Treasures Jade Ruyi was prone to absorbing Karmic Force and baleful energy, which gradually wore away its spiritual nature and weakened its might.

But once refined into a Top-grade Innate Merit Spiritual Treasure, it was different. Being untouched by Karmic Force and karmic consequences was the most basic trait of a merit treasure.

"Time is meaningless in the Return to Ruins. Gaining Heavenly Dao merit has already been a great harvest, but there's still an opportunity here that we can't afford to miss."

Xuanyuan looked toward Yuan Jiao Immortal Island, which lay closer to them. He channeled the power of the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler to see through illusions into his eyes, and his gaze pierced through Time and Space and the Innate Restrictions.

Beneath the barrier, he saw an island shaped like a mountain. Its slopes stretched for thirty thousand li, and its flat summit spanned nine thousand li.

"The Innate Restrictions around this immortal island circulate through the Five Elements. I can't break through them, so Fourth Brother will have to use the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler."

Tongtian extended his Spiritual Sense to examine the Innate Restrictions surrounding Yuan Jiao Immortal Island. After striking them once, he could only shake his head helplessly.

The barrier shimmered with blue, red, yellow, white, and black light. The power of the Five Elements followed the principle of mutual generation and restraint, forming a closed loop.

Blue wood gave rise to red fire, red fire gave rise to yellow earth, yellow earth gave rise to white metal, white metal gave rise to black water, and black water gave rise to blue wood. The endless Five Elements Cycle guarded the island completely.

The sword energy Tongtian unleashed with the Qing Ping Sword struck the restrictions and vanished like a rock sinking into the sea, accomplishing nothing.

That was only natural. If these Innate Restrictions could be broken so easily, the Dragon-Kin Giant would have claimed the island long ago. How else could it have remained untouched until now?

"I'll do it." Xuanyuan nodded.

Tongtian had many treasures, but he was lacking when it came to breaking restrictions.

As soon as he spoke, Xuanyuan flipped his right hand, and the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler appeared.

Amid the dark-yellow merit power coiling around the ruler, the Innate Dao characters formed by the words "Measure Heaven" shone brightly. As Xuanyuan infused it with Grand Unity Magic Power, a clear light that penetrated to the origin radiated from it.

Xuanyuan had activated its twenty-four Innate Spiritual Treasure Restrictions, bringing forth its ability to see through illusions and tear through Time and Space.

Boom!

Xuanyuan struck once with the ruler. It expanded to ten thousand zhang, instantly unleashing a dual force:

The divine light that saw through illusions pierced the gaps in the circulating Five Elements like an invisible sword. In an instant, it exposed the hidden truths within the Innate Restrictions, revealing the five concealed formation cores and the paths along which the Five Elements' power flowed.

Then its power to tear through space erupted. Following the flaw revealed by the divine light, it burrowed straight into the restrictions and detonated with a thunderous blast.

Crack, crack—boom!

The Five Elements Cycle was broken. The Innate Restrictions could no longer hold back the two of them and shattered with a crash.

"Brother, let's go in."

Once they entered Yuan Jiao Immortal Island, the scenery opened up before them, and a dense wave of Innate Spiritual Qi washed over them.

The island had been protected by Innate Restrictions for countless years and had continually absorbed Chaos Residual Qi. As a result, its Innate Spiritual Qi was even denser than that of Kunlun Mountain.

"There are quite a few Innate Spiritual Roots here."

Tongtian extended his Spiritual Sense and discovered Innate Spiritual Roots scattered all over the island.

Most of those he had detected so far were Low-grade Innate Spiritual Roots and Medium-grade Innate Spiritual Roots. They offered little benefit to cultivators at Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection.

"Let's look deeper into the island. We can gather these Innate Spiritual Roots before we leave," Xuanyuan said calmly.

Though Low-grade Innate Spiritual Roots and Medium-grade Innate Spiritual Roots were of little use to cultivators at their level, they could still take them back and plant them at their own cultivation grounds.

If they were fortunate enough to take on disciples in the future, the roots could serve as cultivation resources for their juniors.

At the very least, they could bring some verdant life to Pangu Hall.

Unfortunately, perhaps because the island had been sealed away for too long, hidden from the light of day and overlooked by Heaven and Earth,

though there were many Innate Spiritual Roots on the island, not one had given birth to a living being like Zhun Ti.

And so Xuanyuan and Tongtian rode on clear qi toward the center of Yuan Jiao Immortal Island.

The farther in they went, the denser the Innate Spiritual Qi in the air became. It even contained wisps of Innate Five Elements Essence Qi.

"If Sister Houtu and brothers Zhurong and Gonggong could cultivate in this blessed land, they'd be able to reach Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection several times faster," Tongtian said regretfully, casually catching a wisp of Innate Five Elements Essence Qi.

It was a pity that the Twelve Ancestral Witches were all in seclusion at Pangu Hall.

It was also a pity that the Return to Ruins had no entrance, and one could only enter through a chance encounter.

At this, Xuanyuan stirred slightly. He looked within the Chaos World inside the Chaos Pearl, then at Yuan Jiao Immortal Island, which was only tens of thousands of li across, and made a decision.

As the two reached the heart of the island, a cloud of five-colored auspicious light suddenly came into view.

The cloud was formed from pure Innate Five Elements Essence Qi. It was emerald green, crimson as rosy clouds, yellow as congealed fat, white as fresh snow, and black as polished jade. As the five colors circulated, they radiated the mysterious, unfathomable Dao Rhyme of the laws.

"A Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure!"

Feeling the might faintly radiating from the tower, Tongtian's eyes lit up.

A nine-zhang, nine-chi, nine-cun tower floated silently above the Five-Colored Auspicious Clouds. It had nine stories, and its body was carved with Five Elements Dao Patterns. A colored pearl was set at each of its four corners and at its peak.

"The Five Elements Pagoda?"

Xuanyuan extended his Spiritual Sense, looking thoughtful.

The Five Elements Pagoda was the Companion Treasure of the Five Elements Demon God, one of the foremost among the Three Thousand Demon Gods.

When the Five Elements Demon God fought Father God Pangu, the Sky-Opening Axe split his body in two and shattered the Five Elements Pagoda, reducing it from a Chaos Spiritual Treasure to a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure. It then became the Companion Treasure of Old Ancestor Five Elements, who was born from the Five Elements Demon God's True Spirit.

The tower contained nine worlds and nurtured the power of the Five Elements. Five pearls rested at its top, radiating Dao Rhyme and corresponding to the Five Elements. They possessed immense might, capable of suppressing all things and taking anything into the tower, as well as providing peerless defense.

Though it was only a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, it was the finest of its rank, possessing forty-eight Innate Treasure Restrictions.

"The Five Elements Pagoda? If so, this is Old Ancestor Five Elements' treasure. How did it end up here?"

Tongtian was surprised.

The Dragon-Kin Giant had fished for Golden Ao before the Demon Dao Struggle.

Could it be that Old Ancestor Five Elements hadn't brought even his Companion Treasure with him when he fought Luohu?

That still didn't make sense. Had Old Ancestor Five Elements been to Yuan Jiao Immortal Island?

Tongtian couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"The Five Elements Pagoda suppresses the Five Elements, while the Five Needles Pine nurtures them. Both were nourished by Five Elements Essence Qi. They complement each other, and both lie in the Return to Ruins. Once the time is right, they can replace one another and fill the void in the Primordial World's Five Elements Origin. Old Ancestor Five Elements certainly planned well."

As he spoke, Xuanyuan looked beneath the clouds, forming a few guesses about Old Ancestor Five Elements' arrangement.