Refining the Spirit Root

Seven colors—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—flowed and shifted, casting all of Mount Wuyi into a dreamlike immortal realm.

The Dao rhythm of Haotian's Imperial Great Dao intertwined with the innate Dao laws of the Treasure Dropping Gold Coin, its Dao patterns spreading through the void like creeping vines.

This refinement lasted thirty thousand years...

When the final imprint was engraved into the core of the Treasure Dropping Gold Coin, Haotian let out a long breath. Delight shone in his eyes, though the exhaustion on his face was impossible to conceal.

"As expected of a Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure. Its profundity is truly extraordinary."

With his initial refinement of the Treasure Dropping Gold Coin complete, he had already grasped its many wondrous uses.

For any spiritual treasure below the rank of an Innate Supreme Treasure, one need only present the Treasure Dropping Gold Coin and shout, "Drop," to sever that treasure's connection to its owner and temporarily seal This Treasure's spiritual essence.

Yet doing so did not come without a price.

Because such an act violated the balance of heaven and earth, every use would consume one's own fortune.

The higher the grade of the treasure dropped, the greater the damage to one's fortune.

But to Haotian, this drawback was almost negligible.

There were two reasons for this.

First, he was Boy to Dao Ancestor Hongjun, sheltered beneath a Saint's protection, and his fortune was already boundless and enduring.

Second, he bore the Fate of the Heavenly Emperor. In the future, he would rule the Three Realms and Six Paths; the abundance of his fortune could be called inexhaustible.

Therefore, so long as Haotian did not commit evils like Luohu's—destroying heaven and earth and slaughtering all living beings—

his fortune would have little fear of ever running dry.

"This Treasure truly gives me wings like a tiger!" With a thought, Haotian stored the Treasure Dropping Gold Coin within his own Great Dao Space.

Then he looked toward the crimson Tea Tree.

The Great Red Robe Mother Tree was a High-Grade Innate Spiritual Root.

The Tea Leaves it produced could refresh the mind, clear the head, temper one's aura, and sharpen both hearing and sight.

Beyond that, they could help Cultivators increase their cultivation, calm their hearts, and dispel desire.

Long-term consumption could even aid one's comprehension of the Dao.

Thus, while it was not as precious as the Treasure Dropping Gold Coin, it was still a rare treasure.

Haotian walked to the tree, and his Imperial Great Dao manifested once more.

The Dao rhythm of ruling all things spread outward. The Great Red Robe Mother Tree immediately lowered its branches and leaves, radiating submission.

He slowly channeled Dao laws into the tree, intending to follow the same method and leave behind his own imprint.

This process lasted only nearly ten thousand years, far faster than refining the Treasure Dropping Gold Coin.

As the final imprint took shape, the Great Red Robe Mother Tree completely quieted. Its branches and leaves unfurled, conveying a sense of closeness.

At the same time, Haotian suddenly felt his entire body grow lighter, as though something intangible had been added to him.

He immediately closed his eyes and sensed it.

After a long while... realization dawned upon him!

His fortune had increased!

"I never expected refining an Innate Spiritual Root could actually increase one's fortune." Haotian was overjoyed.

He also knew the locations of several ownerless Innate Spiritual Roots. If he could refine them all, his fortune would surely grow by no small amount.

At this thought, Haotian's heart surged with excitement.

The reason he had failed to notice the increase in fortune immediately was that his own fortune was simply too immense.

The fortune increase provided by a single high-grade spiritual root was but a cup of water against a cartload of firewood compared to the fortune he already possessed—too little to stir even the slightest ripple.

Yet though the increase granted by this spiritual root was not obvious, Haotian did not disdain it.

He deeply understood the principle that soil piled up becomes a mountain, and water gathered becomes an abyss.

The path of cultivation in the Primordial World was long. Even the smallest bit of accumulation, after endless years, could forge a Dao reaching the heavens.

After refining the Great Red Robe Mother Tree, the opportunities upon Mount Wuyi could be considered fully claimed.

The remaining Spiritual Materials, Immortal Herbs, Exotic Beasts, and Rare Birds in the mountain were still too young to be of much use to a Golden Immortal Cultivator like Haotian, so he did not take them.

Moreover, the Primordial World had its own way of maintaining balance.

If one acted too ruthlessly, draining the pond to catch all its fish, one would surely incur the loathing of heaven and earth and suffer a backlash of fortune.

"The Great Red Robe Mother Tree is rooted in the Earth Veins and cannot be moved for now." Haotian pondered for a moment before reaching a decision. "I should first pick the mature Tea Leaves, then set up an array to protect this place. I can make further plans another day."

Having made up his mind, he lightly swept his sleeve. Three thousand six hundred Tea Leaves containing Dao rhythm drifted down from the mother tree in unison and entered the Great Dao Space within his body.

Haotian then circulated his Imperial Great Dao and began setting up a protective array around Mount Wuyi.

The process was not slow.

In merely a thousand years... the array was complete.

It was not because Haotian's attainments in the Array Dao were particularly profound.

Rather, the Dao Method Hongjun had imparted contained no inheritance of profound arrays.

Thus, what Haotian had learned was limited, leaving him utterly unable to set up any overly complex or mysterious array.

"With this array protecting it, there should be no cause for concern." Haotian glanced at the faint Light Screen that had already enveloped all of Mount Wuyi, then turned and departed in a Rainbow Transformation.

Only a little over fifty thousand years remained until the Purple Firmament Palace began its lectures. Time was pressing, and he had to make good use of it.

The Great Desolation was vast, and there were indeed quite a few ownerless treasures.

The Gourd Vine beneath Buzhou Mountain, the Creation Green Lotus within the Kunlun Ruins, the Mysterious Origin Water Control Banner of the Netherworld Blood Sea... all would leave behind illustrious names in later generations.

Yet though there were many treasures, very few suited Haotian's current realm.

The Mysterious Origin Water Control Banner lay hidden deep within the Netherworld Blood Sea.

That was Styx's Dao Field, where Sha Qi soared into the heavens. Anyone below the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm who entered would certainly die.

As for a spirit root of the Innate Supreme Treasure grade like the Creation Green Lotus, with Haotian's current strength, there was absolutely no possibility of subduing it.

One had to know that in his Previous Life, the Three Pure Ones had joined forces to subdue This Treasure.

And at that time, all three were already at the peak of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

As for the Gourd Vine, it had not even fully taken shape yet...

After pondering for a long while, Haotian ultimately decided to choose an opportunity that was less dangerous and easier to acquire.

The first target that surfaced in his mind was the Wind Lightning Immortal Apricot located within Jade Pillar Cave on Zhongnan Mountain.

This Treasure was a Top-grade Innate Spirit Root, ranked among the Top Ten Spiritual Roots of the Primordial World.

When the Great Desolation first opened, it had been formed through the mutual stirring of the Wind Lightning Great Dao and the power of creation, nurtured over immeasurable years.

This Treasure bloomed once every Yuanhui, bore fruit once every Yuanhui, and ripened once every Yuanhui, producing only two fruits at a time.

The fruits were the Wind Apricot and the Lightning Apricot, respectively.

The Wind Apricot was green and contained the Law of Wind, while the Lightning Apricot was blue and contained the Great Dao of Lightning.

Those below the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm who consumed them could condense a Wind Lightning Dao Seed and comprehend the Wind Lightning Law.

When Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals consumed them, they could increase their magical power and cultivation realm, gain sudden enlightenment into Supernatural Powers, and comprehend their Dao Heart.

More rare still, This Treasure posed no danger.

In his Previous Life, Lei Zhenzi had been able to consume it before even reaching the Golden Immortal realm.

Though consuming it had caused his body to mutate and his appearance to become ugly, he had also gained powerful Supernatural Powers to protect himself.

Now that Haotian had already reached the Golden Immortal realm, consuming the Wind Lightning Immortal Apricot naturally would not bring any side effects.

Having made up his mind, Haotian left Mount Wuyi and headed toward Zhongnan Mountain.

Just as when he had searched for Mount Wuyi, he did not know Zhongnan Mountain's exact location.

He only knew that it lay southeast of Buzhou Mountain, on the northern bank of Chishui.

Buzhou Mountain was the Pillar of the Great Desolation, standing at the center of heaven and earth.

By that reasoning, Zhongnan Mountain ought to lie in the same southeastern region as Mount Wuyi.