The Shangqing Tongtian Daoist's Sudden Whim (Seeking Collection, Seeking Follow-up Reads, Seeking Votes!)

Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, Purple Firmament Palace.

When everyone came back to their senses, the cloud bed was utterly empty. Dao Ancestor Hongjun was nowhere to be seen.

It was no wonder the Three Thousand gods and demons who had listened to the Dao felt "terribly uncomfortable." While Dao Ancestor Hongjun expounded the Dao, the Great Dao, once lofty and unfathomable, had become extremely clear.

Even though Dao Ancestor Hongjun's lecture this time had only covered the Dao at the Great Luo Dao Lord level, it had rapidly elevated their cultivation.

Every minute and every second, lofty and wondrous truths of the Dao surfaced in their minds, allowing them to comprehend many profound divine abilities and methods.

Yet now, the lecture had abruptly come to a halt!

How could the Three Thousand gods and demons of Purple Firmament Palace, immersed in that wondrous realm of the Dao, not feel unbearably ill at ease?

Still, before Dao Ancestor Hongjun, the Three Thousand gods and demons of Purple Firmament Palace were all mere ants. They did not dare voice any dissatisfaction.

With the lecture over, the Great Luo Dao Lords and Great Divine Ability Users within Purple Firmament Palace departed in groups of two or three, preparing to return to their Daoist grounds and cultivate in seclusion, comprehending the gains they had obtained from listening to the Dao at Purple Firmament Palace.

In the blink of an eye, the once bustling Purple Firmament Palace became empty, leaving only the two gatekeeping children, Haotian and Yaochi.

Within the boundless chaos, Dao Ancestor Hongjun, whose figure had vanished from Purple Firmament Palace, appeared in a region of chaotic space.

A wisp of a Hunyuan Sage's aura leaked forth, crushing the chaotic qi until it scattered away, stripping it of its ferocious power to assimilate all things!

Standing shoulder to shoulder with Dao Ancestor Hongjun, the imposing existence wearing a blue robe looked at his old friend, his expression solemn. "Daoist Hongjun, I must leave. Having proven the Dao as a Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, I must venture into the chaos and contend for that glimmer of hope...

"After all, for Hunyuan Sages such as ourselves, the day the Immeasurable Tribulation descends may seem distant, but it is in truth very near.

"The Primordial World, the inheritance of the Immortal Dao, and Daoist Jieyin, Yin-Yang, Heaven and Earth, Stars, and Firmament—I entrust all these trifling matters to you!"

Though Hongjun had already proven the Dao and become a Sage, plucking the Primordial Dao Fruit, and his Dao heart should have been free of all blemishes, a trace of inexplicable sorrow rose within him at this moment.

After all, Yangmei before him was one of his few remaining Daoist friends!

Since his Manifestation and Birth before the Fierce Beast Calamity, he had passed through three great eras, personally witnessing the rise, zenith, decline, and burial of the World of Gods and Demons. Secretly fanning the flames, he had brought the Three Clans' hegemony to its close.

He had even personally fought a Decisive Battle against Demon Ancestor Luohu at Western Mount Sumeru, shattering Luohu's ambition to demonicly contaminate the Primordial World and sending him into the Land of Eternal Tribulation!

During the Process, the few Daoist friends he had either been buried with the World of Gods and Demons, broken and defeated in the Three Clans Tribulation, or fallen at Luohu's hands.

By now, in this Primordial World, Yangmei before him was his only Daoist friend.

But now, Yangmei was leaving as well!

After silently grieving for a moment, Hongjun gave a faint sigh. "This journey into chaos is fraught with unfathomable danger. Brother Yangmei, you must be cautious.

"I gleaned a trace of secret knowledge from the Jade Disk of Creation. This Immeasurable Tribulation may be connected to the Primordial World and Great God Pangu.

"The living beings within chaos have been beguiled by 'fate' and are deeply hostile toward the Primordial World..."

Daoist Yangmei, wearing a blue robe, looked utterly calm and carefree. "I am a Primordial Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal who cultivates the Great Dao of Space. Even if I cannot defeat some supreme existences within chaos, they will not be able to keep me!"

As Hongjun looked at Daoist Yangmei before him, a surge of fighting spirit suddenly rose within his heart. With a solemn expression, he said, "Since proving the Dao of Hunyuan, the two of us have yet to discuss the Dao.

"Brother Yangmei, this journey of yours into chaos may require you to wait until the Immeasurable Tribulation before returning.

"Before you leave, let us discuss the Dao once more and see which of us possesses the higher skill!"

Daoist Yangmei, wearing a blue robe, smiled. "Very well. I too wish to witness Daoist Hongjun's Hunyuan Saintly Dao.

"You have always been as still as water in a deep well. Who would have thought you possessed such a desire for victory?

"This truly surprises This Poor Daoist..."

The instant his words fell, these two imposing existences who had attained the Primordial Dao Fruit began to clash within the chaos.

Just as the Three Thousand gods and demons of Purple Firmament Palace crossed the chaos, passed through the world membrane, and returned from beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens—

At Buzhou Mountain, within a ruined divine hall, Lu Yuan, who had been seated cross-legged by the spirit pool and continuously refining the "Profound Yellow World-Generating Bead," opened his eyes.

"Phew..."

Exhaling a breath of turbid air, a complicated expression flashed across Lu Yuan's face as he sighed inwardly, "After spending three or four thousand years, I've only refined nine Innate Divine Prohibitions. It truly deserves its name as a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure."

After reflecting for a moment, Lu Yuan swept his sleeve and put away the "Profound Yellow World-Generating Bead." The Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure was far too formidable; although it was fated to be his, it was not something he could refine in a short time.

However, refining this top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure of the Profound Yellow path had greatly deepened his comprehension of the Profound Yellow Great Dao.

Lu Yuan's gaze shifted slightly. A deep and ethereal yet incomparably weighty aura flowed around him. A thread of profound yellow spiritual light evolved within his eyes as Profound Yellow Qi intertwined and separated, while illusory worlds cycled through creation and destruction.

This was the power of the Profound Yellow Great Dao!

A smile appeared on Lu Yuan's face. Having condensed the power of the Profound Yellow Great Dao, he was now capable of charging into the Golden Immortal realm and plucking the Dao Fruit!

Gold meant indestructibility!

Pluck the Golden Immortal Dao Fruit, condense an immortal primordial spirit, gather an Indestructible True Spirit, and refine an imperishable Dao body!

At this level, one had already taken the first steps upon the path of transcendence. Among the cultivators of the Primordial World, one had also entered the middle ranks.

Yet Lu Yuan did not immediately charge into the Golden Immortal Dao realm to pluck the Dao Fruit. Instead, he intended to settle and consolidate himself a while longer.

The path of cultivation and seeking the Dao was strewn with thorns. To reach the end of the Great Dao, one had to forever harbor caution and reverence.

After all, since his Manifestation and Birth, he had traveled throughout the Primordial World and constantly discussed the Dao with living beings. Yet these beings generally possessed low cultivation and attainments, and those who had plucked the Golden Immortal Dao Fruit were few and far between.

Moreover, his innate inheritance contained only a few scant, exceedingly rudimentary descriptions of the Golden Immortal Dao Fruit!

In any case, before he had figured out the taboos within, Lu Yuan had no intention of rashly charging into the Golden Immortal Dao Realm to pluck the Dao Fruit.

After putting away the Profound Yellow World-Generating Bead, Lu Yuan moved, turning into a streak of light as he left this spiritual pool within the earth veins.

Walking through this ruined divine hall, Lu Yuan carefully searched every inch of the place. Even if it was merely a temporary palace casually established by Earth Emperor Yuejian, it could not possibly contain only the Profound Yellow World-Generating Bead as its sole treasure.

Lu Yuan did not dare hope to find another Innate Spiritual Treasure, but finding some Innate Spiritual Items or Postnatal Immortal Roots was highly likely.

After all, during the World of Gods and Demons in the First Epoch, the Primordial World had been in an age when Great Dao Rules clashed and chaotic qi rapidly dissolved. The innate objects nurtured by the World Origin must surely have far surpassed those of the present era!

Just as Lu Yuan continued searching the ruined divine hall, Sanqing had already returned to the Primordial World and arrived at a divine mountain on Buzhou Mountain.

The three rode auspicious clouds as they walked through the divine mountain. Suddenly, Shangqing Tongtian Daoist felt a sudden stir in his heart.

He stopped, calculated on his fingers, and a faint smile appeared on the face of Shangqing Tongtian Daoist, clad in a green Dao Robe, straight as a pine and brimming with heroic spirit.

"So that's how it is. Within Buzhou Mountain's heavenly pillar, there is actually a living being fated with me—one who ought to enter beneath my tutelage..."