"Fellow Daoists, Nuwa pays her respects. I didn't expect you to obtain this opportunity before me. I'm afraid I've intruded."
Nuwa entered, her body that of a woman and her lower half that of a serpent. Her beautiful eyes glanced at the purple-green Monster Summoning Gourd. Though reluctant to part with it, she still inclined her head slightly to Xuanyuan and Tongtian, her manner warm and friendly. She made no move to fight them for it.
"Fellow Daoist Nuwa, this..." Tongtian put away the Qing Ping Sword, at a loss for words.
That was simply how he was. If someone came at him aggressively, it didn't matter whether he knew them or not—he'd cut them down without a second thought.
But Nuwa had been so gracious, making it clear as soon as she arrived that she wouldn't contend for the opportunity. Tongtian didn't know what to do.
In short, Tongtian yielded to gentleness, not force.
"Since we've met, it must be fate. There's no need to be so formal, Fellow Daoist Nuwa."
"Since you've come here, you must have a connection with this treasure. A gentleman doesn't take what another favors. You may take the gourd and the Gourd Vine. My brother and I won't interfere."
Xuanyuan thought for a moment, then said with a smile.
To be honest, he wasn't short of one or two Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures. Unless one suited his own Great Dao, like the Chaos Gourd, the rest were merely embellishments—nice to have, but dispensable.
By comparison, he had already been thinking about how to help Nuwa create humanity, so he certainly wouldn't take the Gourd Vine.
The Monster Summoning Gourd was a fine treasure, but it didn't yet contain the Monster Summoning Banner. Its value was nowhere near that of the Kongtong Seal.
Since it was of little use to him, he might as well do her a favor and give it all to her.
Tongtian was a little surprised by these words, but said nothing. Nuwa, meanwhile, was delighted. She even collected the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil beneath the Gourd Vine.
Afterward, Nuwa mentioned that Fuxi was waiting outside and invited Xuanyuan and Tongtian to visit their new home, Phoenix Perch Mountain.
Xuanyuan and Tongtian had set out this time intending to hone themselves and meet with fellow Daoists to exchange ideas, thereby perfecting their own Great Daos. So when Nuwa invited them, they readily agreed.
And so the three left the now-empty pocket of space, greeted Fuxi outside, and headed toward Phoenix Perch Mountain in the Eastern Land.
Not long after they had departed, two streams of pure qi pierced into the pocket of space where the Gourd Vine had been concealed: Grand Pure Qi and Jade Pure Qi.
As the two streams intertwined, the figures of Laozi and Yuanshi gradually appeared.
The two had just returned from the depths of Chaos. Its lingering aura still swirled around them, and on their way back, a sudden inspiration had led them to sense the Gourd Vine's innate spiritual charm. They had followed it here.
"The Innate Restriction remains, but the treasure's spiritual light is gone. What a pity." Laozi swept a hand across the air and released his Spiritual Sense, taking in the lingering Dao Resonance within the space. Regret colored his voice.
Yuanshi's gaze sharpened as he looked over the hole where the Gourd Vine had stood. His brow furrowed. "A mighty cultivator must have taken the spiritual gourd just moments ago. My brother and I have returned from Chaos, but we were a little too late and missed this opportunity for nothing."
"Whoever it was, they stripped the place bare. Truly shameless!"
The two exchanged a glance, and each saw a trace of regret in the other's eyes.
"Never mind. We benefited greatly from listening to the Dao in the Purple Sky Palace this time. Besides, we also obtained some Lesser Star Fruits, which will make fine rewards for our disciples."
Yuanshi shook his head, but thought of Xuanyuan and Tongtian, whom he hadn't encountered in a long while.
The two of them had missed the Purple Sky Palace Preaching. Surely they hadn't obtained top-grade innate spiritual roots like the Star Fruit Tree and the Immortal Apricot either?
Thinking of this, the little regret he had felt at arriving too late vanished.
"Since we're here, we may as well make the best of it."
Although he hadn't obtained the spiritual gourd, the lingering Innate Restriction here was still worth studying. Laozi simply sat cross-legged beneath the vine and continued to research the Great Dao, drawing on the spiritual root's lingering aura.
"Very well."
Yuanshi nodded and closed his eyes to meditate as well.
Meanwhile, Xuanyuan and Tongtian had already followed Fuxi and Nuwa to the Eastern Land. They naturally had no idea that Laozi and Yuanshi were still on Buzhou Mountain, making do with what little remained.
The four mighty cultivators set foot on Phoenix Perch Mountain. The mountain resembled a phoenix spreading its wings and soaring into the sky. Above, it reached the clear heavens; below, it rested upon Houtu. Its slopes stretched so far that their beginning and end were impossible to discern. The mountain held the mysteries of Yin and Yang and the principles of creation. Mountain springs trickled through the valleys, while ancient Wutong trees blotted out the sky. Innate Spiritual Qi swirled like clouds and mist. It truly deserved its reputation as one of the Primordial World's rare Top-level Blessed Lands.
They found a platform of blue stone and sat cross-legged. Stirred by the four cultivators' auras, the Spiritual Energy of Heaven and Earth converged of its own accord, forming an invisible barrier of Dao Resonance that shut out the disturbances of the outside world.
Fuxi was the first to raise his hand. His fingertips traced through the air as Black and White Qi intertwined, forming a vision of the Innate Eight Trigrams.
The eight trigrams—Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, and Dui—shimmered as the Yin and Yang lines flowed, tracing the patterns by which Heaven, Earth, and all things moved. Yet something always seemed to be missing.
Fuxi ran his fingertips across the diagram and let out a helpless sigh. "Though my Innate Eight Trigrams contain the ultimate principles of Heaven and Earth, I lack a treasure to bear their origin and harmonize Yin and Yang. I've never found the opportunity to complete them."
At these words, Xuanyuan considered the matter and began to form a few guesses.
Though Fuxi had created the Innate Eight Trigrams and would one day become Xi Huang of the Yao Race Heavenly Court, his Great Dao was incomplete, and he could not achieve perfection. Thus, a tribulation was destined to befall him.
He would later perish in the Witch-Demon War. Only after surviving that calamity would a turning point arrive: a fragment of his true spirit would be reborn among humanity, and in his second life he would become one of the Three Sovereigns of humanity, enjoy the fortune of the human race, and attain the rank of Sub-Saint.
If he could use the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the River Diagram and Luo Book, to stabilize the Heavenly Court's fortune before the final battle broke out and it collapsed, he would surely have a more secure path. He might not need to endure a second tempering.
Nearby, Nuwa heard Fuxi's words and knitted her willow brows. Lesser Yin Qi flowed from her fingertips into the trigram diagram, blending with Fuxi's Lesser Yang Qi.
As the two kinds of qi wound around one another, the trigram symbols glowed softly. The mystery of Yin and Yang giving rise to each other flowed through the air and began to merge, revealing the wonder of their mutual generation.
Yet without a Treasure for Proving the Dao to bear it, the missing piece remained unfilled, and the vision gradually faded.
"When Chaos first opened, the Two Forms emerged; the Four Symbols flow and shape the foundation of the Dao."
"Yin Essence gathers, reflecting the moon's soul; at the utmost cold, its hidden mysteries abide."
"The sun blazes across the world, scorching the heavens; the Golden Crow rides its flames, subduing all beneath the sky."
"Lesser Yang first rises, stirring the wood qi; the Azure Dragon dives and leaps, setting life in motion."
"Lesser Yin gradually gathers, holding the essence of metal; the White Tiger rests in solemn stillness, guarding the void."
"Extreme prosperity declines by Heavenly Law; waxing and waning, fullness and emptiness—the Dao does not shift."
"Yin and Yang mutually aid, generating all things; the Four Symbols shine together, stabilizing the Primordial."
At that moment, Tongtian's aura suddenly surged. Eyes closed, he felt Grand Unity Magic Power and Yin Yang Qi intertwine wildly within him. Observing Fuxi and Nuwa's demonstration of Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang, he had suddenly attained Sudden Enlightenment!
He was about to use Yin and Yang to derive the Four Symbols and advance further along his Dao Path!
"Wonderful, truly wonderful!" Xuanyuan laughed, clapping his hands.
Tongtian had already reached the threshold of the Primordial Golden Immortal realm. He had only been lacking some opportunity and time to consolidate his foundations.
Earlier, he had obtained the Water Fire Gourd, which embodied Yin Yang Mutual Aid, atop Buzhou Mountain. Now, Fuxi and Nuwa's joint demonstration of Lesser Yin and Lesser Yang had stirred his understanding.
When he awoke, he would likely have entered the Primordial Golden Immortal realm.
Boom!
A Yin Yang Ancestral Witch True Body, 129,600 zhang tall, rose from the ground. Black and White Dao Patterns coiled around it; its left eye reflected the gentleness of Lesser Yin, while its right eye revealed the force of Lesser Yang.
The aura of the Yin Yang Law and the Ancestral Witch's bloodline had fused almost perfectly. The shock sent Wutong leaves fluttering down across Phoenix Perch Mountain.
"He actually used the deductions of my sister and me to attain Sudden Enlightenment. Fellow Daoist Tongtian's Dao Affinity is truly profound!"
Fuxi looked at Tongtian's Ancestral Witch True Form, his eyes filled with astonishment. Nuwa nodded gently as well, the Lesser Yin Qi around her trembling faintly. She, too, was clearly amazed by this sudden enlightenment.
They were equally astonished by Tongtian's cultivation. He had reached the very peak of Grand Unity Golden Immortal Perfection.
Among the three thousand Purple Sky Guests who had listened to the Dao in the Purple Sky Palace, not one of the mighty cultivators born in this era could match such cultivation—not counting ancient beings like Candle Dragon!
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