The shield looked intangible, yet it contained the weight and immortality of Chaos. This was the innate divine ability of the Chaos Spiritual Root—the Chaos Shield!
It activated passively, allowing him to withstand any attack below the Late Golden Immortal level!
It was practically another lifesaving trump card!
Before he could fully recover from the immense surprise, the 7,200 Primordial Points, added to the 2,800 remaining from his earlier kills of vicious beasts, brought the total to a full ten thousand!
[Primordial Points: 10000]
Looking at that perfect number, Zhao Gongming's heart began to pound uncontrollably.
Ten thousand Primordial Points!
This was enough for him to conduct an unprecedentedly ambitious deduction!
His gaze immediately settled on the Sea-Calming Divine Pearls!
"System, deduce the Twenty-Four Sea-Calming Divine Pearls!"
[The host possesses the High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure—the Twenty-Four Sea-Calming Divine Pearls. Upgrading them to the Innately Supreme Treasure level will consume 5,000 Primordial Points. Confirm?]
An Innately Supreme Treasure!
Zhao Gongming's breath caught, but he confirmed without hesitation!
"Confirm the deduction!"
Buzz—
Five thousand Primordial Points vanished. The twenty-four azure Sea-Calming Divine Pearls flew out of his sleeve on their own and hovered in midair inside the cave dwelling.
In an instant, an innate divine light even more brilliant and vast than before burst forth, illuminating the entire cave dwelling as a sacred realm of azure!
Within each pearl, the starry seas that had once been indistinct now appeared astonishingly real! Great stars burned, and galaxies revolved, as if twenty-four true, vast worlds were being nurtured and evolving within them!
The Dao of Water contained within them surged wildly as it was infused with the Primordial Source. It broke through the boundary between acquired and innate in one fell swoop, becoming the true... Innate Dao of Water!
At that moment, the auras of the twenty-four Sea-Calming Divine Pearls merged into one. Their pressure had already surpassed the realm of High-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, radiating the might of an ultimate treasure that could suppress the heavens and define the universe!
Their offensive and defensive power increased tenfold!
Zhao Gongming beckoned, and the pearls, now transformed into an Innately Supreme Treasure, landed in his palm. They felt warm as jade, yet weighed as heavily as a universe.
He could clearly feel that his connection to the pearls had reached a perfect state of mutual understanding, as if they were extensions of his own limbs!
With ten thousand Primordial Points in hand, he now had five thousand left. He possessed the Chaos Spiritual Root and an Innately Supreme Treasure at his side. Zhao Gongming felt stronger and more confident than ever before. He left Jin'ao Island once more, this time with a clearer goal: to seek opportunities in the Primordial World, temper himself, and turn his surging strength into his own Dao!
Several months later, Zhao Gongming arrived at a perilous place known as the Profound Water Black Marsh.
The water-elemental energy here was exceptionally dense, yet it was mixed with endless resentment, baleful energy, and the stench of blood. Clearly, this was the lair of a water-element vicious beast.
The moment he approached, the vast black marsh below exploded. A Qilin as large as a mountain, covered in black scales and bearing a single horn, strode out over the water. Its blood-red eyes fixed on him.
"Late Golden Immortal peak... a Profound Water Qilin!" Zhao Gongming saw through its strength at a glance and sensed the resentment left behind by countless fallen cultivators clinging to it.
"Another fool come to die! I'll claim your flesh and blood!" The Profound Water Qilin spoke in a voice filled with savagery and greed. It opened its mouth and unleashed a black bolt of Profound Water Divine Thunder, imbued with the power to corrode all things, at Zhao Gongming.
Faced with a strike capable of gravely wounding an ordinary Late Golden Immortal cultivator, Zhao Gongming did not even lift an eyelid.
"Beast, you've committed countless evils. Today, you are destined to fall."
His voice was calm. He simply couldn't be bothered to say more. With a single thought, a Sea-Calming Divine Pearl flew from his sleeve, transforming into a faint streak of blue light.
A thick curtain of water appeared around the Profound Water Qilin. It was its innate divine ability, and it was confident it could withstand a full-force strike from a cultivator of the same level.
But the blue streak descended.
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out, like glass shattering. Before the Innately Supreme Treasure-level Sea-Calming Divine Pearl, the seemingly indestructible water shield was as fragile as a sheet of paper. It was pierced and shattered in an instant!
"N-no... Impossible! What kind of magic treasure is that?!" For the first time, boundless terror filled the Profound Water Qilin's blood-red eyes.
But Zhao Gongming gave it no chance.
"Suppress!"
He flicked his finger again, and three more Sea-Calming Divine Pearls shot out. Taking up positions on three sides, they instantly formed a small domain of the heavens, trapping the Profound Water Qilin completely!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The three pearls were like three vast worlds, crashing down with an irresistible force of suppression!
The Profound Water Qilin's mountain-sized body didn't even have time to let out a scream before the terrifying force pulverized it completely, body and Nascent Soul alike!
The black marsh was calm again, as if nothing had happened.
[Ding! Slain the wicked vicious beast Profound Water Qilin, Late Golden Immortal peak. Obtained Heavenly Dao merit and 3,000 Primordial Points!] [Ding! Obtained one Profound Water Qilin Inner Core (Innate Level)!]
Zhao Gongming casually took the Inner Core, which contained a vast power of water, his expression as still as an ancient well. He opened his mouth and swallowed it. The Chaos Spiritual Root trembled slightly and refined all the energy within.
An extraordinarily pure surge of magical power flowed through his limbs and body, bringing him within a single step of the Late Golden Immortal realm.
He raised his head and gazed toward the depths of the Primordial Continent, his eyes calm and profound.
This was only the beginning.
As Zhao Gongming tempered himself in the Profound Water Black Marsh, slowly consolidating his surging cultivation and the power of his magic treasures into his own foundation, another scene was unfolding in the Jade Void Palace on Kunlun Mountain, billions of miles away.
Two battered figures staggered into the great hall and fell to their knees. One had lost an arm; the other's robe was torn across the chest, and his aura had weakened to the extreme.
They were Chi Xiazi and Daoist Mingguang, who had fled from Fallen Immortal Ridge.
At that moment, they were weeping and complaining to the Daoist seated above them on a cloud bed, a cold-faced man with features as handsome as jade.
"Senior Brother! Senior Brother, you have to stand up for us!" The Golden Immortal with the severed arm wept bitterly, his voice full of grievance and malice. "Junior Brother and I went to Fallen Immortal Ridge on your orders to investigate the strange disturbance in the baleful energy. We never expected to run into Zhao Gongming of the Interception Sect!"
"He... He attacked us without a word! If we hadn't acted quickly, we would have perished, and our Nascent Souls wouldn't have made it back!"
"That Zhao Gongming even said that the Chan Sect Disciples were no better than chickens and dogs, and couldn't withstand a single blow! And he said... he said that in his eyes, you, Senior Brother, were nothing special either!"
They embellished the story, twisting Zhao Gongming's coldness and strength into arrogance and humiliation. The last accusation, in particular, was completely fabricated—and aimed directly at the Daoist on the cloud bed: True Lord Yuding!
Before you continue