"Third Brother, I've only just stabilized my cultivation too. How is yours?"
Xuanyuan waved his hand, and a jade table and meditation cushion appeared. He invited Tongtian to sit.
"Ah, don't ask. I stabilized my cultivation three Eons ago. Like you, I'm at the early stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm. Though we're both among the Four Pangu Purities, you and I have weaker foundations than Eldest Brother and Second Brother."
Tongtian shook his head and sighed.
Hearing this, Xuanyuan fell silent.
Among the Four Pangu Purities, he and Tongtian had shared one tenth of the Heaven-Opening Merit, half a tenth each.
Compared with the Twelve Ancestral Witches, who had divided three tenths of the Heaven-Opening Merit among themselves, the two of them had indeed received much more.
But beside Tai Qing Lao Zi and Yu Qing Yuan Shi, they paled in comparison.
Each of those two had received one tenth of the Heaven-Opening Merit. Their foundations and cultivation after taking form and entering the world both surpassed his and Tongtian's.
Originally, Xuanyuan, the Fourth Purity of Pangu, should never have been born. The full tenth of Heaven-Opening Merit should have belonged to Tongtian.
"Eldest Brother and Second Brother stabilized their cultivation after only three Eons in seclusion. I took six Eons, and you, Fourth Brother... Never mind. Nine Eons isn't that long, and it's not as if anything important is happening."
Tongtian had assumed Xuanyuan's foundation was even weaker than his own. A look of sympathy flickered in his eyes, and he was about to offer some consolation. But then he realized that his so-called consolation might only wound Fourth Brother, so he hurriedly stopped himself.
"Third Brother, our foundations are only a starting point. You and I may yet prove no weaker than our two elder brothers."
Xuanyuan felt a little warmth in his heart and offered his own reassurance.
In truth, his circumstances were somewhat better than Tongtian's.
Although he had also inherited half a tenth of the Heaven-Opening Merit, the Primordial Measure Heaven Ruler, a Houtian Merit Supreme Treasure, contained another tenth of the Heaven-Opening Merit.
All told, he had one and a half tenths of the Heaven-Opening Merit to his name.
Besides, a humble birth was no disgrace. A starting point could influence the destination, but it could not determine it.
"What Fourth Brother says is true."
Tongtian nodded, but his gaze wandered as if he were thinking about something. He seemed somewhat distracted.
"Third Brother, why did you zone out?"
Xuanyuan raised an eyebrow.
"Huh? That was discourteous of me!"
"Ah, Second Brother recently found an Immortal Apricot on Kunlun Mountain. It's a rare Top-grade Innate Spiritual Root, and one of the Ten Great Spiritual Roots. I can't help but envy him."
"Eldest Brother has a companion treasure, and Second Brother has an Innate Spiritual Root. Now you and I are the only brothers without anything to our names."
Tongtian came back to himself, quickly apologized, then explained.
"A treasure? What's so difficult about that?"
"Heaven and Earth have only just formed, and the Primordial World has just settled. Innate Treasures are appearing everywhere. As the saying goes, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures belong to the virtuous. You and I bear the Heaven-Opening Merit. Why not leave the mountain and travel for a while? Surely we can find some treasures."
Xuanyuan smiled.
He'd thought it was something serious.
Though Tongtian and Yuan Shi had possessed no treasures when they took form, they carried great fortune and merit. Once the time was right, they would obtain the Innate Supreme Treasure Pangu Banner and the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation.
"But Second Brother said our foundations are shallow and our strength is weak, and that we must not leave the mountain without Eldest Brother's permission."
Tongtian looked tempted. He hesitated for a moment, then shook his head helplessly.
"We're all Four Pure Ones. We respect him as our elder because he's older, but Eldest Brother and Second Brother have done nothing for us beyond bearing the titles of elder brothers."
"Why should we put ourselves beneath them and obey their orders?"
"If you don't dare go, Third Brother, I'll go down the mountain by myself."
Xuanyuan stood up. His gaze passed through the barriers of the palace, as though he could see the indifferent old man and the cold-eyed middle-aged man.
They owed me nothing, and had no obligation to look after me.
Likewise, I owed them nothing. There was no reason to bow and scrape or let them order me around!
"I dare! Why wouldn't I?"
"Fourth Brother is right. Second Brother is a real nuisance, and Kunlun Mountain is so boring. Let's head down the mountain now!"
At Xuanyuan's words, Tongtian's blood surged. He glared, then wrapped both brothers in his Grand Unity Magic Power and turned into a streak of light, flying out of Xuan Qing Palace without a backward glance.
In Eight Sceneries Palace, Laozi, who was refining the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Exquisite Pagoda, glanced up slightly and sighed before continuing to refine its restrictions.
In Jade Void Palace, Yuan Shi was studying the Wind and Thunder Dao Patterns on the Immortal Apricot. When he saw a streak of light carrying two auras of the same origin flying away, he merely gave a scornful sneer.
"With an inferior Innate Foundation, they still refuse to strive for improvement. Instead of devoting themselves to bitter cultivation and accumulating magic power, they go wandering. Truly, rotten wood cannot be carved! Innate Spiritual Roots and Innate Spiritual Treasures are not so easily obtained. They're only wasting their time!"
"Fourth Brother, we were so eager to leave the mountain that we didn't decide where to go."
Tongtian carried Xuanyuan at speed across the Primordial World Earth, then suddenly blurted out the question.
"Let's go to Buzhou Mountain. It's the Pillar of Heaven, formed from Father God Pangu's spine. Kunlun Mountain lies east of Buzhou Mountain, so fly west, Third Brother."
After a brief moment of thought, Xuanyuan quickly decided.
If they were to ask where the most treasures in the Primordial World could be found, Buzhou Mountain would certainly rank near the top.
Where else could the Red Flower, White Lotus Root, and Green Lotus Leaf have come from? They had been found on Buzhou Mountain, and were all treasures formed from the shattered Twenty-Four Petaled Creation Green Lotus!
The Thirty-Six Petaled Chaos Green Lotus had shattered when Heaven and Earth were opened. Its lotus pod became the Innate Supreme Treasure Universe Cauldron, its stem became the Innate Supreme Treasure God-Slaying Spear, and its five leaves became the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Five Innate Directional Flags.
It had five seeds: one mature and four half-ripe.
The four half-ripe seeds 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.
The mature seed landed on Buzhou Mountain and gave birth to the Twenty-Four Petaled Creation Green Lotus. It was comparable to an Innate Supreme Treasure and had the potential to grow into a Chaos Green Lotus. But Heaven envied it, so it was split into three, becoming the brothers' Treasures for Proving the Dao—
the Red Flower, the White Lotus Root, and the Green Lotus Leaf.
The Red Flower became Laozi's flat crutch, the White Lotus Root became Yuan Shi's Three Treasures Jade Ruyi, and the Green Lotus Leaf became Tongtian's Qing Ping Sword. All three were Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures!
Besides that, Buzhou Mountain held many other treasures, including the Gourd Vine, one of the Ten Great Spiritual Roots, and the Banana Plant, whose four leaves embodied Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind...
In short, for their first trip away from the mountain, Buzhou Mountain was undoubtedly the best choice!
"Eh, Fourth Brother, wait. Something in that valley ahead seems to be calling to me."
The two brothers had been flying for who knew how long. They were passing through the Broken Mountains at the Western Extremity of Kunlun Mountain, where the rocks resembled beasts and Chaos Residual Qi still lingered, when Tongtian suddenly stopped and exclaimed in surprise.
"If so, it may be your destined opportunity, brother. We should take a look."
Xuanyuan glanced at the dense thunderclouds above the valley, then at the bolts of heavenly lightning roaring down like purple lightning dragons. He had a vague guess.
"Hahaha! I'll take your word for it, Virtuous Younger Brother. I'll go have a look."
Sect Master Tong Tian laughed heartily and darted into the valley.
"Rumble!"
In the next moment, it was as if he had provoked the endless thunderclouds. Bolt after bolt of purple lightning, charged with destructive force, rained down on Tongtian as if to annihilate the world.
"Upper Clarity Divine Thunder!"
Though Tongtian had no treasure with him, he was of the Pangu Orthodox Lineage and possessed the cultivation of a Grand Unity Golden Immortal. How could he fear a mere heavenly tribulation?
He immediately drew on the Upper Clarity Qi between Heaven and Earth to form Upper Clarity Divine Thunder, meeting the purple lightning bolt for bolt.
In the blink of an eye, eighty-one day-and-night cycles passed. At last, Tongtian blasted apart the purple lightning and the vast thunderclouds.
"Rumble!"
As the thunderclouds dispersed, a streak of purple light came crashing down.
Where it landed, thunder boomed like the collapse of Heaven and Earth. Amid flying rubble, a short hammer appeared, its head wrapped in a mass of purple lightning.
"Crack, crack—"
As soon as the hammer appeared, Purple Firmament Qi formed into a winding dragon and coiled around its body. The thunder patterns on its face seemed ready to break free, each line exhaling an edge sharp enough to tear through the void.
The lightning swept over the surrounding rocks, reducing them to dust. Even the air was singed with a faint, charred smell!
"Whoosh!"
A sharp glint flashed in Tongtian's eyes as he strode through the air. As though sensing him, the Purple Lightning Hammer shot toward him.
Tongtian reached out and caught it. A violent force of thunder rushed up his arm and straight toward his spiritual platform, but then it fused with the Upper Clarity Qi in his primordial spirit.
"What an Innate Spiritual Treasure! What a Purple Lightning Hammer!"
With a low laugh, Tongtian lightly ran a finger over the hammer. The unruly lightning was instantly tamed, leaving only a flickering purple spark at the head.
"Ding, ding—"
As he admired it, another clear chime rang out from a deep ravine nearby, blasted open by the lightning.
Its crystalline ring, like jade striking jade, rose above the fading thunder.
"There's another treasure?"
"Hahahaha, Fourth Brother, you were right! These are Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and they belong to the virtuous! Good thing we didn't listen to Second Brother. Otherwise, wouldn't we have missed out on this treasure?"
Before you continue