Fangzhang Island

Dao Xuan rode the Five Spirit Qilin, following the star map guidance given by Zhenyuanzi, to a seemingly ordinary sea area deep within the East Sea.

Here, the blue waves stretched endlessly, water and sky merging into one, dotted only by scattered ordinary reefs, with no peculiar features.

However, Dao Xuan knew that profound mysteries lay hidden in this place.

He pressed down his cloud, found a large reef exposed above the sea, and sat down cross-legged.

The Five Spirits obediently lay beside him, inhaling and exhaling the spiritual energy of the sea and sky.

Dao Xuan closed his eyes and concentrated, the Three Flowers on his crown faintly visible, the Five Qi circulating within his chest, his divine sense spreading out like a spiderweb, quietly permeating this vast sea area and boundless starry sky.

He was waiting.

Waiting for the Stars of the Heavens to shift slowly according to a specific trajectory, waiting for the illusory barrier that concealed the immortal island to dissipate on its own.

The Great Desolation does not count years.

Tides rose and fell, stars shifted and rotated.

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

It was unknown how long had passed.

Perhaps ten years, perhaps a hundred.

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

Suddenly!

Dao Xuan's divine sense stirred, and the Primordial Spirit in his Mud Pill Palace suddenly opened its eyes!

It's here!

Above the firmament, the handle of the Big Dipper's spoon quietly turned, and the Ziwei Emperor Star's radiance surged, echoing the seven constellations of the Azure Dragon in the east.

A profound and mysterious spatial fluctuation, like a stone thrown into a calm lake, quietly rippled out from a certain spot in the center of the sea area!

Dao Xuan's eyes snapped open, his gaze sharp as lightning!

On the sea surface ahead, where there was originally nothing, space violently distorted and undulated like water waves!

Misty fog surged out of nowhere, churning restlessly.

At the core of the churning mist, a tiny point of light suddenly lit up!

Immediately after, a massive, pitch-black boulder covered in ancient moss, like the head of a giant beast awakening from slumber, slowly "squeezed" out of the distorted space!

When the boulder first appeared, it was only about ten feet across, but in the blink of an eye, it expanded to dozens of feet high, standing majestically between the sea and the sky, exuding an ancient and desolate aura!

"This is the moment!"

Dao Xuan grunted inwardly, without hesitation!

He patted the Five Spirits, and the five-colored Qilin's hooves trod on clouds, transforming into a stream of light that shot directly towards the newly manifested pitch-black boulder!

He wanted to seize the opportunity before the illusory barrier completely dissipated and the island fully materialized!

The Five Spirits moved with extreme speed, instantly reaching the vicinity of the boulder.

Dao Xuan leaped without hesitation, separating from the Five Spirits and lunging directly at the boulder's surface!

Just as his toes were about to touch the cold stone surface!

Hummm--!

An unexpected change occurred!

On the surface of the pitch-black boulder, countless profound and complex innate Dao patterns, shimmering with chaotic colors, suddenly lit up!

A vast and irresistible power, as if originating from the beginning of heaven and earth, erupted with a roar!

Space instantly solidified!

Time seemed to stop!

Dao Xuan felt the scene before his eyes change abruptly!

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

All around were gray, boundless chaotic currents!

Innumerable chaotic divine thunders containing innate killing intent, bone-corroding chaotic winds, primordial spirit-freezing chaotic cold tides, and chaos true fires that incinerated all things, like a breached flood, poured towards him madly from all directions, above, below, left, and right, without any blind spots!

"Innate Chaos Great Array!"

Dao Xuan's heart trembled violently!

Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun only mentioned entering by chance, but did not mention the danger of this array!

This array was not artificially set up but was formed by heaven and earth, containing the supreme power of the primordial chaos before its opening. Even a regular Quasi-Saint would have difficulty ensuring their safety if trapped within!

"Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal! Suppress!"

Dao Xuan reacted with the speed of lightning!

His thoughts raced, and the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal flew out from his Mud Pill Palace, hovering above his head!

The seal grew larger as it met the wind, instantly becoming the size of a small mountain!

Nine Azure Dragons formed from Chaos Qi roared out from the seal, circling Dao Xuan's body, their roars shaking the heavens!

An immense, unparalleled pressure, carrying the essence of the Dao, spread out, transforming into a chaotic colored shield that firmly protected Dao Xuan within!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Chaos Divine Lightning struck!

Chaos Gale Force winds cut!

Chaos Cold Tide eroded!

Chaos True Fire burned!

Terrifying attacks rained down like bananas being struck by rain, fiercely impacting the shield protected by the Nine Dragons!

The shield vibrated violently, and the nine Azure Dragons of Chaos let out pained cries, their light flickering unstintingly!

Dao Xuan felt waves of destructive power transmit through the shield, shaking his blood and essence, making his Primordial Spirit sway!

"What a powerful formation!"

Dao Xuan dared not be negligent, fully activating the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal, and simultaneously summoning the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Merit Ruler!

"Mysterious Yellow Ruler! Break the Dharma!"

The Mysterious Yellow Qi on the ruler surged, condensing the Dao rhyme that destroys all dharmas into a brilliant light blade, which fiercely slashed towards the incoming Chaos Divine Lightning!

Screech!

The divine lightning was annihilated!

But more attacks followed in succession!

Dao Xuan was stretched thin, his Mysterious Yellow Ruler's shadow crisscrossing, the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal roaring, barely holding on.

He attempted to brute-force a path open.

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

However, the chaotic airflow was like a quagmire; the space that was broken instantly sealed itself, with endless chaotic killing power flowing unceasingly!

"No! This formation is naturally formed, one with the void; brute force is difficult to break!"

Dao Xuan quickly realized the problem.

Forcibly breaking the formation would only trigger a stronger backlash from the formation, consuming his own magic power.

He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

"Since it is an Innate Great Array, it must have its operational laws, containing the Dao of Chaos's birth and death!"

Dao Xuan stopped attacking blindly.

He sat cross-legged within the chaotic light shield cast by the Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal, his Three Flowers swaying above his head, his Five Qi returning to his core.

In the Mud Pill Palace, his Primordial Spirit was solemn and majestic, his eyes shining with divine light, fully deducing and comprehending the operational trajectory and core Dao patterns of this chaotic great array.

His divine sense was like the most precise carving knife, carefully dissecting the flow of every stream of chaotic energy, the birth and death of every wisp of killing power.

He saw the fleeting Dao marks where destruction and creation intertwined when the Chaos Divine Lightning exploded.

He felt the ultimate speed and tearing laws contained within the cutting of the Chaos Gale Force winds.

He experienced the icy Dao rhyme of all things returning to stillness under the freezing of the Chaos Cold Tide.

He endured the scorching true intent of burning everything when the Chaos True Fire incinerated.

Time lost its meaning in this hazy chaos.

Dao Xuan's mind was completely immersed in comprehending this Innate Chaos Great Array.

He forgot the danger, forgot the time.

There was only the Dao, only the Dharma.

His Primordial Spirit was constantly consumed in deduction, and constantly refined in his comprehension of the Great Dao.

The Taiqing Immortal Art operated at its extreme on its own, the principle of Yin and Yang balance subtly echoing the Dao of Chaos's birth and death.

The Nine Revolutions Profound Technique also roared with blood and essence, its physical body's treasure light flowing, becoming more resilient as it passively endured the formation's impact.

A hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

Dao Xuan's aura had already subtly merged with this chaotic great array.

He suddenly opened his tightly closed eyes!

The color of chaos flowed within his pupils, as if containing a newly formed world!

"So that's how it is!"

"Chaos gives birth to the infinite, the infinite transforms into the Taiji, the Taiji divides into two principles, the two principles evolve into four phenomena... the core of this formation lies in that sliver of life!"

Dao Xuan rose to his feet!

The Myriad Treasures Nine Dragon Seal shone brightly, and the nine Azure Dragons of Chaos raised their heads and roared!

He held the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Yellow Merit Ruler, the Mysterious Yellow Qi at its tip condensed to the extreme, and with a gentle point towards the seemingly violent and chaotic airflow ahead, he touched it!

The point he aimed at was not the place with the most destructive power, but the node where countless destructive forces converged, annihilated, and then a faint trace of life was quietly born from the annihilation!

This point, seemingly understated, contained the true meaning of chaotic birth and destruction that he had comprehended over a hundred years!

Buzz—!

The entire chaotic space suddenly froze!

Like a water surface with a stone thrown into it, a strange ripple spread out from the spot where Dao Xuan's ruler tip landed!

The violent chaotic divine thunder, astral winds, cold currents, and true fire, upon touching this ripple, actually parted to both sides like docile streams!

A passage naturally formed by chaotic airflow, wide enough for only one person to pass, appeared before Dao Xuan!

At the end of the passage, there was no longer the gray chaos, but a brightness suffused with endless immortal spiritual energy!

"Break!"

Dao Xuan let out a low cry, his figure transforming into a stream of light, shooting out along the passage!

His vision suddenly opened up!

The chaotic mist completely receded!

An indescribable immortal island slowly unfolded before him like a scroll!

As far as the eye could see:

Misty clouds condensed into auspicious mist, the sun and moon emitted auspicious light.

Old cypresses were verdant, their colors blending with the mountain mist like the autumn water and the vast sky; wild flowers were crimson, their fragrance like the morning glow, rivaling the beauty of peach blossoms and apricot flowers. Below the cliffs, deer nibbled flowers; before the precipices, green phoenixes offered fruit.

When immortal cranes cried, their sounds shook the nine heavens and reached far into the firmament; where auspicious phoenixes soared, their iridescent feathers shone with the light of colorful clouds.

White deer and black apes appeared and disappeared intermittently, while green lions and white elephants roamed freely. A closer look revealed a blessed land, truly surpassing paradise!

Spiritual energy, so dense it had almost solidified into liquid, flowed through the mountain streams.

Strange flowers and exotic grasses grew everywhere, and immortal blossoms and auspicious fruits emitted fragrance.

What's more, immortal birds and spiritual beasts wandered within, and seeing Dao Xuan intrude, they were not frightened but instead looked on curiously.

Dao Xuan stood in the clouds, overlooking the entire island, his heart filled with exhilaration.

The spiritual essence, the vastness, and the miraculous creation of this island far surpassed Golden Flood Dragon Island, and even rivaled Longevity Mountain!

He lowered his cloud and landed on a white jade-like beach by the island's edge.

Beside the beach stood an ancient stone tablet.

The stone tablet was neither gold nor jade, neither stone nor wood. It was pure white all over, emitting a warm luster.

On the tablet, two ancient seal characters, formed with natural dao charm, appeared as if created by heaven and earth, catching his eye:

Fangzhang!

"Fangzhang Island?!"

Dao Xuan's mind trembled violently, and then an unspeakable ecstasy surged within him!

It was actually one of the legendary Three Immortal Islands of the Sea, famous alongside Penglai and Yingzhou, but even more mysterious and unfathomable, Fangzhang Immortal Island!

No wonder Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun praised it so highly!

This was a supreme blessed land formed from a true fragment of chaos, existing since the creation of heaven and earth!

"Heaven helps me! This island is destined to be Dao Xuan's dojo!"

Dao Xuan laughed heartily towards the sky, his voice echoing across the immortal island, causing the immortal birds in the forest to chirp in unison.

He suppressed his excitement and began to explore this immortal family blessed land that belonged to him.

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

The spiritual veins on the island were like dragons, crisscrossing and converging at a location in the island's heart.

Dao Xuan followed the guidance of the spiritual meridian to the island's center.

The scene before him made his breath catch in his throat!

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

In the center of the jade wall, it was recessed, forming a natural pool.

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

The divine radiance of sunlight, the divine splendor of moonlight, and the divine brilliance of starlight intertwined and flowed, rising in a misty vapor, exuding endless creative vitality and a sacred aura that purified all things!

"Three Lights Divine Water!"

Dao Xuan almost cried out!

This was the foremost healing sacred medicine of the Great Desolation, containing the creative power of the three lights of the sun, moon, and stars. It could regenerate flesh and bone, revive the dead, nourish all things, and purify all malevolent spirits and filth!

A single drop was enough to make a Grand Unity Golden Immortal drool!

And before him, there was an entire pool!

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

A lotus flower, pure white as jade and crystal clear, bloomed quietly.

Twelve petals!

On the lotus platform, Great Dao runes flowed, emitting a pure, flawless, and sacred Dao rhythm that purified all worldly impurities and was impervious to all magic!

The lotus leaves were emerald green, with clear veins, like the finest jade carvings.

The roots delved deep into the bottom of the pond, absorbing the endless creation of the Three Lights Divine Water.

"Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus!"

Dao Xuan felt a surge of immense happiness wash over his Primordial Spirit!

It was one of the four great lotus platforms formed from the Chaos Green Lotus seed!

It was a supreme defensive treasure, on par with Jieyin's Twelve-petal Merit Golden Lotus, Ming He's Twelve-petal Karmic Fire Red Lotus, and the Demon Ancestor Luohu's Twelve-petal World-Ending Black Lotus!

Its primary functions were purification, defense, immunity to all evil, and impregnability to all spells!

This treasure was the protective artifact he had always dreamed of!

"Hahaha! A treasure bestowed by heaven! A heavenly dojo!"

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

His laughter echoed through the skies above Fangzhang Immortal Island, drawing harmonious calls from immortal birds and joyful leaps from spiritual beasts.

He carefully communicated with this supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root using his divine sense.

The Pure World White Lotus swayed slightly, its sacred radiance spilling out, showing no rejection.

Dao Xuan sat cross-legged by the pond and began to refine this treasure.

At the same time, his mind stirred.

Two spiritual roots flew out from his sleeve.

One was no more than three feet tall, with tender green leaves and clear veins like Dao patterns, exuding an aura that calmed the mind and clarified wisdom. It was the high-grade Innate Spiritual Root—the Enlightenment Tea Tree!

The other was carved from white jade, with gnarled branches, bearing nine orifices. Each orifice emitted light, flowing with a gentle, heart-warming, and Primordial Spirit-nourishing jade marrow radiance. It was a mid-grade Innate Spiritual Root—the Nine-Orifice Transparent Jade Heart Tree!

Dao Xuan carefully planted the Enlightenment Tea Tree to the left of the Three Lights Divine Water pond and the Nine-Orifice Transparent Jade Heart Tree to its right.

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

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

On the lotus platform, dozens of lotus seeds were being nurtured, each plump and round, with treasure light contained within.

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

Although these seeds were not the lotus platform itself, they contained a trace of the Pure World White Lotus's origin and were seeds for cultivating sub-strains.

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

The seeds sank to the bottom of the pond the moment they entered the water, rooting themselves on the spiritual veins.

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

In just a few days, nine young white lotuses emerged from the water, standing tall and graceful.

Although far from the miraculous nature of the mother plant, they still radiated spiritual light.

Among them, three bloomed with nine petals, their lotus platforms like jade, possessing considerable defensive power.

The other six bloomed with six petals, their radiance flowing, also possessing protective abilities.

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

He then scattered some ordinary lotus seeds he had obtained previously into the pond.

Nourished by the Three Lights Divine Water, these seeds grew rapidly, blooming with three petals. Although they were only acquired Innate Spiritual Roots, they were full of spiritual energy, making the entire pond resemble a fairyland.

Thus, in the heart of the island, the Three Lights Divine Water pond shimmered, the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus bloomed sacredly, and nine-petal, six-petal, and three-petal white lotuses surrounded it in succession.

The Enlightenment Tea Tree and the Nine-Orifice Transparent Jade Heart Tree stood on either side, their spiritual lights interweaving.

Dao rhythm flowed, and immortal energy permeated the air, creating a truly immortal scene!

Dao Xuan nodded with satisfaction.

He sat cross-legged beneath the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus, the lotus platform casting purifying sacred light upon him, enveloping him.

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

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

Dao Xuan's mind sank into his Primordial Spirit, and he began to fully refine this supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root.

His divine sense, like silk, wrapped around every lotus petal and every root of the Pure World White Lotus, communicating with its core origin.

The purification laws and defensive Dao rhythms contained within the lotus platform poured into Dao Xuan's Primordial Spirit like a vast ocean.

He immersed himself in it, carefully comprehending.

The Three Flowers above his head became even more solid and radiant under the illumination of the purifying sacred light.

The Five Qi within his chest, nourished by the Three Lights Divine Water, became even purer and more profound.

The Taiqing Immortal Art circulated, the principles of yin and yang balance and purification subtly aligning.

The Nine Revolutions Profound Technique also passively absorbed the holy energy emanating from the lotus platform. His physical body shimmered with a divine light, his Blood Essence flowed like mercury, and his seventh-turn realm steadily advanced.

On Fangzhang Island, time flowed peacefully.

Only the songs of immortal birds, the whispers of spirit beasts, the stretching of spiritual roots, and the murmuring of divine waters could be heard.

Dao Xuan was like an old monk in deep meditation, detached from self and surroundings.

Refining a Supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root was no task for a single morning or evening.

A thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day.

The pure, holy light enveloping Dao Xuan suddenly retracted!

He slowly opened his eyes.

Within his gaze, divine light was contained, clear as a spring, yet seemingly capable of purifying all the dust in the world.

A perfect, unblemished Dao charm, impervious to all methods, naturally emanated from him.

Within the Mud Pill Palace, the phantom image of the Twelve-petal Pure World White Lotus had completely solidified, merging with his Primordial Spirit like water and milk, indistinguishable from each other!

Refinement complete, success achieved!

Dao Xuan's mind stirred.

The Pure World White Lotus transformed into a stream of light and sank into the depths of his Primordial Spirit, nurturing and guarding it.

He felt his own state.

His magic power surged like the sea, several times more potent and condensed than when he first entered the Grand Unity realm!

The Three Flowers above his head were as solid as substance, Dao charm flowing through them.

The Five Qi within his chest returned to the sea, circulating endlessly.

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

His physical body's Blood Essence roared, and the seventh-turn realm of the Nine Revolutions Profound Technique had also stabilized, steadily advancing towards the mid-stage.

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

Dao Xuan stood by the pond, gazing at this supreme heavenly realm that belonged to him, his heart filled with boundless ambition.

What were the winds and clouds of the Calamity to him?

With these foundations, and focusing on his cultivation, why worry about not achieving the Great Dao?

His gaze was deep as he looked in the direction of the Great Desolation continent.

It was time to properly manage this Fangzhang Immortal Island.