Fangzhang Island

Dao Xuan rode the Five Spirit Qilin, following the star map Zhenyuanzi had given him, and arrived at an unremarkable stretch of sea deep in the East Sea.

The azure waves stretched boundlessly, sea and sky merging into one. Only ordinary reefs, scattered like stars across the waters, dotted the surface. There was nothing unusual in sight.

Yet Dao Xuan knew that hidden mysteries lay within this place.

He descended from the clouds and found a massive reef jutting above the sea, where he sat cross-legged.

Five Spirit obediently lay beside him, drawing in the spiritual energy of sea and sky.

Dao Xuan closed his eyes and focused. The Top Three Flowers flickered above his head, the Five Qi in the Chest circulated within him, and his divine sense silently spread like a spiderweb, merging into the vast sea and endless heavens.

He waited.

He waited for the Stars of the Heavens to slowly shift along their designated paths, waited for the spatial veil concealing the immortal island to disperse on its own.

In the primordial world, years were beyond measure.

Tides rose and fell; stars shifted and revolved.

Dao Xuan sat as still as a reef, his mind communing with heaven and earth.

No one knew how long had passed.

Perhaps ten years. Perhaps a hundred.

On this day, the moon was hidden and the stars were sparse, while sea and sky were dark as ink.

Suddenly!

Dao Xuan's mind stirred, and the primordial spirit within his Mud Pill Palace abruptly opened its eyes!

It's here!

Above the heavens, the handle of the Big Dipper quietly turned. The Ziwei Emperor Star shone brilliantly, echoing the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon in the east from afar.

An incomprehensible spatial ripple quietly spread from somewhere at the center of the sea, like a stone dropped into a still lake!

Dao Xuan suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing like lightning!

Over the stretch of sea before him, once completely empty, space violently twisted and rippled like water!

Misty fog surged forth from nowhere, churning without end.

At the heart of the rolling mist, a tiny glimmer suddenly lit up!

Then, a gigantic black boulder covered in ancient moss marks slowly "squeezed" out from the twisted space, like the head of some slumbering beast awakening!

When it first appeared, the boulder was only several feet high. In the blink of an eye, it expanded to dozens of feet, towering between sea and sky and exuding a vast, ancient aura!

"Now!"

Dao Xuan shouted inwardly and did not hesitate!

With a pat on Five Spirit, the Five-Colored Qilin stepped upon the clouds with all four hooves, becoming a streak of light that shot directly toward the newly manifested black boulder!

He intended to seize the initiative before the spatial veil had fully dispersed and the island had completely appeared!

Five Spirit was incredibly fast and reached the boulder in an instant.

Without hesitation, Dao Xuan leaped from Five Spirit's back and pounced straight toward the boulder's surface!

Just as his toes were about to touch that icy stone surface!

Buzz—!

A sudden change erupted!

Countless profound and intricate Innate Dao Patterns, shimmering with the colors of chaos, lit up across the black boulder's surface!

An irresistible and terrifying force, as though born from the creation of heaven and earth, erupted with a thunderous roar!

Space instantly froze!

Time seemed to halt!

Dao Xuan only felt the scene before him abruptly change!

Where was the black boulder? Where was the vast East Sea?

All around him were boundless streams of gray Chaos Qi!

Countless chaos divine lightning bolts containing innate killing intent, soul-eroding chaos gales, chaos cold tides that froze primordial spirits, and chaos true fire that burned all things poured toward him in a mad torrent from every direction, above and below, leaving no angle untouched!

"Innate Chaos Great Array!"

Dao Xuan's heart shook violently!

Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun had only said that they had entered by a fortuitous coincidence. They had never mentioned the danger of this formation!

This array had not been laid down after the fact, but was naturally born of heaven and earth. It contained the supreme might of the era before chaos was divided. Even an ordinary Quasi-Saint might not emerge unscathed after falling into it!

"Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal! Suppress!"

Dao Xuan reacted as swiftly as lightning!

With a turn of thought, the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal flew out from his Mud Pill Palace and hovered over his head!

The seal expanded with the wind, instantly growing as large as a small mountain!

Nine azure dragons formed from Chaos Qi roared from the seal, circling Dao Xuan as their dragon cries shook the heavens!

A heavy, unparalleled suppressive force carrying Dao intent spread outward, forming a chaos-colored barrier that firmly protected Dao Xuan within!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Chaos divine lightning struck down!

Chaos gales sliced through the air!

Chaos cold tides corroded everything!

Chaos true fire burned fiercely!

The terrifying assaults slammed against the barrier protected by the nine dragons like rain beating against banana leaves!

The barrier shook violently. The nine chaos azure dragons let out pained cries, their light flickering erratically!

Dao Xuan felt waves of destructive force passing through the barrier, jolting his blood and qi into turmoil and making his primordial spirit sway!

"What a formidable formation!"

Dao Xuan dared not be careless. He drove the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal with all his strength while summoning the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Merit Ruler!

"Mysterious Yellow Ruler! Break the laws!"

Mysterious Yellow Qi surged across the ruler's body. Dao intent capable of shattering all laws condensed into a radiant blade of light that viciously cleaved toward the incoming chaos divine lightning!

Screech!

The divine lightning was severed and extinguished!

But even more attacks followed closely behind!

Dao Xuan struggled to fend them off. Shadows of the Mysterious Yellow Ruler crisscrossed the air, while the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal boomed as it resisted with difficulty.

He tried to forcefully break open a passage.

The Mysterious Yellow Ruler tore through chaos, and the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal shook the void!

Yet the Chaos Qi was like a mire. The torn space instantly closed again, while endless chaotic killing force poured forth without interruption!

"No! This formation is naturally complete and one with the void. Brute force cannot break it!"

Dao Xuan quickly recognized the problem.

Forcing his way through would only trigger an even stronger backlash from the formation and drain his own mana.

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.

"Since it is an Innate Grand Formation, it must have laws governing its operation, containing the Dao of chaos, birth, and death!"

Dao Xuan stopped attacking blindly.

He sat cross-legged within the chaos-colored barrier cast down by the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal. The Top Three Flowers above his head swayed, and the Five Qi in the Chest returned to their origin.

Within his Mud Pill Palace, his primordial spirit sat in solemn majesty, divine light gleaming in its eyes as it devoted itself to deducing and comprehending the operational paths and core Dao Patterns of this chaos formation.

His divine sense became the finest carving blade, carefully dissecting the flow of every strand of Chaos Qi and the birth and death of every trace of killing force.

When the chaos divine lightning exploded, he saw the fleeting Dao marks where destruction and creation intertwined.

Within the slicing chaos gales, he sensed the laws of ultimate speed and tearing.

Within the freezing chaos cold tides, he comprehended the cold Dao intent of all things returning to silence.

Within the burning chaos true fire, he endured its scorching true intent to incinerate everything.

Time lost all meaning within this gray chaos.

Dao Xuan's mind became completely immersed in comprehending the Innate Chaos Great Array.

He forgot the danger and forgot time.

Only the Dao remained. Only the laws remained.

His primordial spirit was constantly depleted through deduction, then continuously refined through his comprehension of the Great Dao.

The Taiqing Immortal Art operated on its own at its peak, its principles of yin-yang balance faintly resonating with the Dao of chaos, birth, and death.

The Nine Revolutions Profound Technique also endured the formation's attacks passively. His blood and qi rumbled, precious light flowed over his flesh, and his body became even tougher.

A hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

Dao Xuan's aura had already begun to faintly merge with the chaos formation.

His tightly shut eyes suddenly opened!

Chaos-colored light flowed within them, as if they contained a newly opened world!

"So that's how it is!"

"Chaos gives rise to the Limitless, the Limitless transforms into the Supreme Ultimate, the Supreme Ultimate divides into the Two Principles, and the Two Principles evolve into the Four Symbols... The core of this formation lies in that single thread of life!"

Dao Xuan rose to his feet!

The Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal shone brilliantly, and the nine chaos azure dragons raised their heads in piercing roars!

Holding the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Merit Ruler, he condensed the Mysterious Yellow Qi at its tip to the utmost limit and lightly tapped the seemingly violent, disordered Chaos Qi ahead!

He did not point toward the place where the killing force was strongest, but toward the node where countless destructive forces converged, annihilated one another, and quietly gave birth to a faint spark of life amid that annihilation!

The tap seemed casual, yet it contained the true essence of chaos, birth, and death that he had comprehended over a century!

Buzz—!

The entire chaos space abruptly stagnated!

Like a stone cast upon water, strange ripples spread outward from the spot touched by Dao Xuan's ruler!

The violent chaos divine lightning, gales, cold tides, and true fire parted to either side like gentle streams the instant they touched those ripples!

A narrow passage naturally formed from Chaos Qi, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, suddenly appeared before Dao Xuan!

At the end of the passage was no longer gray chaos, but a bright expanse suffused with boundless immortal spiritual energy!

"Break!"

Dao Xuan shouted, transforming into a streak of light as he shot through the passage!

The view before him suddenly opened up!

The chaos veil completely receded!

An indescribable immortal island slowly unfolded before his eyes like a painting!

There he saw:

Mists of dawn gathered into auspicious vapors, while sun and moon gave forth fortunate light.

Ancient cypresses stood green, blending with mountain haze like autumn waters and a vast sky; wild blossoms bloomed crimson, their splendor matching jade peaches and cinnabar apricots beneath the morning glow. Beneath the cliffs, deer carried flowers in their mouths; before sheer walls, azure luans presented fruit.

When immortal cranes cried, their calls shook the distant heavens beyond the nine skies; where auspicious luans soared, their feathers gleamed amid five-colored clouds.

White deer and dark apes appeared and vanished at will, while green lions and white elephants roamed freely. Looking closely upon this blessed spiritual land, it truly rivaled heaven itself!

Spiritual energy was so dense that it had nearly condensed into liquid spiritual essence, flowing through the mountain streams.

Exotic flowers and rare grasses covered the ground, while immortal blooms and auspicious fruits filled the air with fragrance.

Immortal birds and spirit beasts wandered throughout the island. Upon seeing Dao Xuan intrude, they showed no fear and merely watched him with curiosity.

Dao Xuan stood amid the clouds and looked down upon the entire island, his heart opening with joy.

The island's spiritual beauty, vastness, and miraculous natural endowments far surpassed Golden Flood Dragon Island. Even Longevity Mountain could hardly compare!

He descended from the clouds and landed upon a white jade-like beach at the island's edge.

Beside the beach stood an ancient stone stele.

The stele was neither gold nor jade, neither stone nor wood. Its entire surface was lustrous white, emitting a gentle glow.

Two ancient seal-script characters, naturally formed with Dao intent as though created by heaven and earth, came clearly into view upon it:

Fangzhang!

"Fangzhang Island?!"

Dao Xuan's mind shook violently, followed by an indescribable surge of ecstasy!

It was actually the legendary Fangzhang Immortal Island, one of the Three Immortals Islands overseas, as renowned as Penglai and Yingzhou yet even more mysterious and unfathomable!

No wonder Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun had praised it so highly!

This was a true Blessed Land of Grotto-Heaven formed from a Chaos Fragment, a supreme paradise that had existed since Heaven and Earth Creation!

"Heaven is aiding me! This island is destined to become the cultivation ground of Dao Xuan!"

Dao Xuan threw back his head and laughed, his voice shaking the immortal island and drawing cries from all the immortal birds in the forest.

He suppressed the excitement in his heart and began exploring this immortal blessed land that now belonged to him.

His divine sense spread out like a tide, covering the entire island.

The island's Spirit Veins crisscrossed like dragons, converging at one point in the island's heart.

Following the guidance of the Spirit Veins, Dao Xuan arrived at the island's center.

The sight before him made his breath catch!

The island's heart was not a mountain, but a vast jade wall as smooth as a mirror.

At the center of the jade wall was a depression that formed a natural pool.

The pool did not contain ordinary springwater, but divine water rippling with three-colored sacred light!

Sunlight divine radiance, moonlight sacred splendor, and starlight holy brilliance intertwined and flowed, mist swirling upward as it exuded boundless life-giving power and a sacred aura capable of purifying all things!

"Three Lights Divine Water!"

Dao Xuan nearly cried out!

This was the foremost sacred medicine for healing in the primordial world. It contained the origin power of the sun, moon, and stars, able to restore flesh to bare bones, revive the dead, nourish all things, and cleanse all evil and filth!

A single drop was enough to make a Grand Unity Golden Immortal covet it desperately!

Yet before him lay an entire pool!

What shocked Dao Xuan even more was the place at the center of the pool, where the Three Lights Divine Water was at its most concentrated.

A lotus, pure white as jade and crystal-clear, bloomed silently.

Twelve petals unfurled!

Upon the lotus throne, Dao Runes flowed, emanating a sacred Dao Rhyme of flawless purity that could cleanse all filth from the world and remain invulnerable to all laws!

Its leaves were emerald green, their veins distinct, as though carved from the finest jade.

Its roots burrowed deep into the bottom of the pool, drawing upon the endless creation power of the Three Lights Divine Water.

"Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus!"

A tremendous surge of joy struck Dao Xuan's primordial spirit!

One of the four great lotus thrones formed from the seeds of the Chaos Green Lotus!

An unsurpassed defensive treasure, renowned alongside Jieyin's Twelve-petal Merit Golden Lotus, Minghe's Twelve-petal Karmic Fire Red Lotus, and Demon Ancestor Rahula's Twelve-petal World-Ending Black Lotus!

It specialized in purification and defense, immune to all evil and nearly impossible for any technique to break!

This was precisely the supreme protective treasure he had dreamed of!

"Hahaha! A heaven-sent treasure! A heaven-sent abode!"

Dao Xuan could no longer suppress the joy in his heart and burst into laughter.

His laughter echoed across Fangzhang Immortal Island, drawing cries from immortal birds and jubilant roars from spiritual beasts.

Carefully, he used his divine sense to communicate with this Supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root.

The Pure World White Lotus swayed slightly, scattering sacred radiance without showing any rejection.

Dao Xuan sat cross-legged beside the pool and began refining the treasure.

At the same time, a thought crossed his mind.

Two spiritual roots flew out from his sleeve.

One stood no more than three feet tall. Its verdant leaves seemed ready to drip with moisture, their veins as clear as Dao patterns, and it exuded an aura that calmed the mind and clarified wisdom. It was the High-Grade Innate Spiritual Root—the Enlightenment Tea Tree!

The other seemed carved from white jade. Its branches twisted like dragons, and it possessed nine apertures, each shining with light and flowing with jade-marrow radiance that soothed the spirit and nourished the primordial spirit. It was the Mid-Grade Innate Spiritual Root—the Nine-Orifice Transparent Jade Heart Tree!

Dao Xuan carefully planted the Enlightenment Tea Tree on the left side of the Three Lights Divine Water pool and the Nine-Orifice Transparent Jade Heart Tree on the right.

The moment the roots of the two spiritual roots touched the Three Lights Divine Water and Fangzhang Island's dense Innate Spiritual Energy, they immediately spread out. Their branches and leaves swayed as their radiance surged, clearly benefiting greatly.

After finishing this, Dao Xuan's gaze returned to the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus.

Dozens of lotus seeds were being nurtured atop the lotus throne, each full and round, with treasure light hidden within.

Dao Xuan's heart stirred, and he carefully picked nine lotus seeds.

Though these seeds were not the lotus throne itself, they still contained a trace of the Pure World White Lotus's origin and could be used to cultivate offspring.

He gently scattered the nine lotus seeds into the Three Lights Divine Water pool.

The moment they entered the water, they sank to the bottom and took root above the spirit veins.

Nourished by the dense Three Lights Divine Water and Fangzhang Island's Innate Spiritual Energy, the lotus seeds sprouted at a speed visible to the naked eye!

In merely a few days, nine young white lotuses broke through the water, standing graceful and slender.

Though they were far less miraculous than the parent plant, they still shone with spiritual light.

Three of them bloomed with nine petals, their lotus thrones like jade, already possessing extraordinary defensive power.

The other six bloomed with six petals, their radiance flowing as they too possessed the ability to protect their owner.

As for the remaining lotus seeds, Dao Xuan did not plant them all, saving them for later use.

He then scattered some ordinary lotus seeds he had acquired earlier into the pool.

Nourished by the Three Lights Divine Water, these lotus seeds swiftly grew and bloomed with three petals. Though they were merely acquired spiritual roots, they overflowed with spiritual energy, decorating the entire pond like an immortal realm.

By this point, the Three Lights Divine Water pool at the heart of the island rippled with gleaming waves. The Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus bloomed in sacred splendor, surrounded in turn by nine-petal, six-petal, and three-petal white lotuses.

The Enlightenment Tea Tree and the Nine-Orifice Transparent Jade Heart Tree stood to either side, their spiritual lights reflecting one another.

Dao Rhyme flowed, immortal mist curled through the air—what a magnificent immortal scene!

Dao Xuan nodded in satisfaction.

He sat cross-legged beneath the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus as streams of purifying sacred light descended from its lotus throne and enveloped him.

The Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal hovered above his head, suppressing his fortune and sorting the earth veins.

The Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Merit Ruler lay across his knees, with Mysterious Yellow Qi flowing around it.

Dao Xuan sank his consciousness into his primordial spirit and began refining this Supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root with all his strength.

His divine sense became threads that coiled around every lotus petal and every root, connecting with its core origin.

The purification laws and defensive Dao Rhyme contained within the lotus throne surged into Dao Xuan's primordial spirit like a vast ocean.

He immersed himself in them, comprehending them with care.

The Top Three Flowers above his head became even more solid and dazzling beneath the purifying sacred light.

The Five Qi in his Chest, nourished by the Three Lights Divine Water, grew increasingly pure and profound.

The Taiqing Immortal Art circulated, and the Dao of yin-yang balance faintly merged with the laws of purification.

The Nine Revolutions Profound Technique also passively absorbed the sacred energy dispersed by the lotus throne. His body glowed with treasure light, his blood and qi flowed like mercury, and his seventh revolution steadily advanced.

On Fangzhang Island, the years passed in tranquil beauty.

Only the immortal birds sang, spiritual beasts murmured, spiritual roots stretched their branches, and divine water trickled softly.

Dao Xuan sat as still as an old monk in meditation, forgetting both self and surroundings.

Refining a Supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root was not something that could be accomplished overnight.

A thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day.

The purifying sacred light surrounding Dao Xuan suddenly withdrew!

He slowly opened his eyes.

Divine light was contained within them, clear as spring water, yet seemingly capable of cleansing every speck of dust in the world.

A flawless Dao Rhyme, invulnerable to all laws, naturally emanated from his body.

Within his Mud Pill Palace, the phantom of the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus had completely solidified, merging with his primordial spirit as seamlessly as water and milk!

The refinement was complete!

Dao Xuan's thoughts shifted.

The Pure World White Lotus transformed into a streak of light and entered the depths of his primordial spirit, where it nurtured and protected him.

He sensed his own condition.

His mana surged like an ocean, several times more profound and condensed than when he had first entered the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!

The Top Three Flowers had condensed nearly into substance as Dao Rhyme flowed around them.

The Five Qi in his Chest returned to their source and flowed in an endless cycle.

He stood only a thin sheet of paper away from the mid-stage Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm!

The blood and qi within his body roared. The seventh revolution of the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique had also stabilized and was steadily advancing toward the middle stage.

"Fangzhang Immortal Island, the Pure World White Lotus, the Three Lights Divine Water... these are the foundation of my Dao, Dao Xuan!"

Dao Xuan stood by the pool and looked down upon this supreme paradise that belonged to him, his heart brimming with lofty ambition.

So what if the calamity was gathering?

With such a foundation, if he cultivated wholeheartedly, why would he fear failing to attain the Great Dao?

His gaze deepened as he looked toward the Primordial Continent.

It was time to properly develop Fangzhang Immortal Island.