The far western reaches of the Primordial World.
The summit of Mount Sumeru.
The setting sun was as red as blood, casting an even more ghastly glow over the dark red baleful energy still lingering between heaven and earth.
The earth was split apart, crisscrossed with ravines, like countless enormous, cracked mouths silently accusing the heavens.
The wind carried the pungent stench of scorched earth and gunpowder. There were no immortal cranes or spirit birds here, let alone rare flowers and precious herbs. There was only endless desolation and dead silence.
Demon Ancestor Luohu had self-destructed, not only destroying the Western Ancestral Vein but also turning this blessed land, once no less wondrous than the Eastern Lands, into barren wasteland.
Taiyuan sat cross-legged atop a charred boulder. His blue robes were spotless, and his handsome features were refined, his eyes warm as jade. He appeared to be comprehending the Dao, but in truth, he was cursing up a storm inside.
"How is this a starting point? It's practically a death sentence."
Taiyuan sighed inwardly, his gaze sweeping over the barren wasteland before him, cleaner than his own face.
He had transmigrated.
The good news was that his origins were heaven-defying.
He wasn't a cloud of innate rosy clouds, nor some spirit stone or ancient tree. He was the first ray of "Wish Light" left between heaven and earth when Pangu God created the world and transformed into all things.
Pangu God had wished for all beings in this world to live in peace and for the world to prosper.
This ray of wish, combined with the merits of creation and innate pure qi, had become Taiyuan.
By seniority, the Three Pure Ones had to call him a fellow Daoist, or even an elder brother of sorts. As for his origins, aside from Hongjun and beings like Yang Mei, who had been reborn from Chaos Demon Gods, he ranked among the top three in the Primordial World.
The bad news was that he had been born in the Western Lands.
And in the Western Lands after Rahula, that "demolition office director," had blown everything up by force.
The spiritual ley lines were severed, and spiritual qi was so thin it was like drinking through a straw. Suck a little too hard, and you could drain all the spiritual qi within a hundred miles.
"Elder Brother—!"
A mournful, anguished cry shattered the stillness of Mount Sumeru.
Two streaks of Escape Light came wobbling in from afar, transforming into two people the moment they touched down.
The man on the left had a pained expression, as if he alone had eaten all the bitter herbs in the world. His eyes were red-rimmed. It was Jieyin.
The man on the right was thin, dressed in a Daoist robe so faded it had turned white, with several patches on it. His hair was disheveled, and his face was full of grief and indignation. It was Zhunti.
The Two Sages of the West had yet to develop the shrewdness they would display in later ages. They were simply two "poor laborers" bent under the weight of life.
"Elder Brother! We can't go on like this!"
Before Zhunti had even steadied himself, he threw himself down at Taiyuan's feet, crying in earnest, with tears and snot streaming down his face. "I just went looking for some spiritual treasures to repair our home. I traveled a full thirty thousand miles! Thirty thousand miles! Forget innate spiritual treasures—I couldn't even find a single weed!"
Jieyin also wore a sorrowful expression and let out a series of heavy sighs. "Elder Brother, Rahula dug up the very roots of the Western Lands. Now the spiritual ley lines are utterly destroyed, and baleful energy is everywhere. I see the Eastern Lands awash in purple qi and treasures shining to the heavens. Why don't we... move?"
"Move?"
Taiyuan arched an eyebrow as he looked at his two junior brothers-by-convenience.
Because of his unusual origins, he had taken form first. He also carried the compassionate aura left behind by Pangu God, so after these two future leaders of the Western Sect had taken form, they had naturally acknowledged him as their leader, warmly addressing him as Elder Brother at every turn.
Zhunti wiped away a bitter tear and gritted his teeth. "That's right! Let's go to the Eastern Lands! Why should the Three Pure Ones get to enjoy a blessed land on Mount Kunlun while we have to eat dirt here? Elder Brother, your origins are noble. If we go east, we can claim a cave abode too. If all else fails, I'll... I'll stage a fall! I'll say that the treasures of the Eastern Lands are destined for me!"
Taiyuan's mouth twitched slightly.
Good grief, was this talent for staging a fall encoded in his DNA? Had it awakened already?
He was just about to scold them when a crisp mechanical voice suddenly rang in his mind.
[Beep! The host is facing a major decision. The Merit Farming System has awakened!]
A system?
Taiyuan's heart stirred. His previously placid gaze brightened at once.
A cheat might be late, but it would never be absent.
[Please make a choice:]
[Option One: Answer your junior brothers' call and lead Jieyin and Zhunti east to conquer the Primordial World and seize a blessed land.]
[Reward: Innate Supreme Treasure—Pangu Banner (Note: This treasure is unrivaled in slaughter, but wielding it can easily entangle you in great karmic retribution and make Hongjun and the Three Pure Ones regard you as a mortal enemy).]
[Option Two: Stay where you are and lie low in the Western Lands. Pay no heed to the world outside, and devote yourself to tending a field of sages.]
[Reward: 999 drops of Eight Treasures Merit Pool Water (each drop can revive the dead, restore flesh to bones, and accelerate the growth of spirit plants), one method for cultivating Innate Spiritual Roots, and a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure—Pure Water Alms Bowl (contains a small world).]
Looking at these two options, Taiyuan could hardly keep from laughing aloud.
Did he even need to choose?
Was option one something a sane person would do?
What time was it now?
The Dragon-Han Calamity had just ended. Old Ancestor Hongjun had yet to become a Saint, but he was probably close.
The Three Pure Ones were the Pangu Orthodox Lineage. With Primordial Heavenly Lord's explosive temper, if he saw Taiyuan holding the Pangu Banner, wouldn't he fight him to the death?
Going east would mean getting caught in the heart of the Primordial World's meat grinder.
Hongjun would be watching from above. The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, Fuxi, Di Jun, Taiyi, and other fierce figures would be in the middle. And below them were the Twelve Ancestral Witches, a bunch of muscle-bound brutes.
Taking two junior brothers who hadn't even grown into their power to fight for supremacy?
He might as well be asking to die faster.
"The Pangu Banner is tempting, but staying alive matters more." Taiyuan's greatest strength was knowing his own limits. "Besides, I came here to enjoy life, not to become cannon fodder."
Then there was option two.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine drops of Eight Treasures Merit Pool Water!
Everyone knew that in the Western Sect of later ages, the Eight Treasures Merit Pool was a treasure that guarded the sect. Its water was more precious than anything, formed from merit accumulated over countless eons.
And now he was getting 999 drops right at the start?
There was also the method for cultivating Innate Spiritual Roots!
It was practically a gift package made for the "lie-low-and-farm" path.
"As long as I can keep my head down and turn this wreck of the Western Lands into an immortal paradise, why would I need to go east and grovel before anyone?"
Taiyuan took a deep breath and silently said, "System, I choose option two."
[Beep! Choice successful. Rewards have been delivered to System Space.]
A warm current coursed through his entire body, and Taiyuan immediately felt a hundred times more confident.
He gathered his thoughts and slowly raised his head. His warm, gentle gaze swept over Zhunti and Jieyin, who were still lamenting before him.
The two men, who had been ready to pack their bags and run, suddenly sensed a change in their Elder Brother's aura.
It had become deeper and more boundless, carrying a sacred presence that made them want to bow down in worship.
"Nonsense."
Taiyuan spoke softly, but his voice rang like a great bell, instantly dispelling the agitation and fear in their hearts.
Zhunti shrank his neck and stopped crying. "Elder Brother..."
Taiyuan stood with his hands behind his back, his sleeves fluttering in the wind. With the setting sun behind him, his entire figure seemed edged in gold.
"The Eastern Lands may be fine, but they are not a place for us to settle."
His voice was calm, yet carried a power that inspired belief. "You see the treasures shining across the Eastern Lands, but not the countless victims of the Dragon-Han Calamity buried beneath them. The three clans fought for supremacy, living beings suffered, karma tangled, and baleful energy has yet to dissipate."
"To go east now would be to jump straight into a pit of fire."
Jieyin hesitated. "But, Elder Brother, the Western Lands are truly too poor. If we stay here, I'm afraid we won't even reach the Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm before the spiritual qi runs dry and we perish."
"Poor?"
Taiyuan gave a soft laugh and turned around, his gaze fixed brightly on the wasteland beneath his feet.
"If your heart is barren, everywhere is a desert. If your heart is abundant, even bones can bloom."
"Since the spiritual ley lines of the Western Lands have been destroyed, we shall restore them. Since there are no treasures here, we shall grow countless treasures ourselves!"
Zhunti listened, utterly bewildered. Although he felt that his Elder Brother's words made a great deal of sense and sounded incredibly impressive, he looked down at the scorched earth and couldn't help muttering, "Elder Brother, I understand the reasoning, but what are we supposed to plant with? There isn't even any water here..."
"Don't let appearances blind you."
Taiyuan smiled faintly, exuding the confidence of someone who had everything under control.
He raised his right hand, and a glimmer of light appeared in his palm.
An unadorned Purple Gold Alms Bowl materialized out of thin air. It was the Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure awarded by the system—the Pure Water Alms Bowl.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was that Taiyuan tilted the bowl slightly. A golden drop of water, radiating Nine-Colored Divine Light and containing boundless life-giving power, slowly slid out.
"That is..."
Jieyin's pupils instantly shrank to pinpoints.
Zhunti's mouth fell open. Feeling the terrifying energy contained in that drop, every cell in his body leaped for joy.
Life!
Unimaginable vitality and merit!
"Plop."
The golden drop landed beside a huge charred boulder at the summit of Mount Sumeru, on a blackened tree that had been dead for ten thousand years.
In an instant.
A miracle descended.
The summit of Mount Sumeru, which had been utterly lifeless, seemed to have been restored with the press of a button.
The dead tree shed its blackened bark at a speed visible to the naked eye, putting out tender green shoots. Its branches stretched, its leaves unfurled, and in the space of a few breaths, it had grown into a towering tree, crystalline as jade and radiating the faint Daoist aura of a Bodhi Tree.
"Th-this is the Bodhi Root left behind by my true form?!"
Zhunti cried out. He felt a mysterious resonance form between him and the Bodhi Tree. The bottleneck that had held him at the peak of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm for ages had actually begun to loosen!
Just one drop of water!
It had brought an Innate Spiritual Root back from the dead and even advanced his cultivation!
Watching the two men's stunned expressions, Taiyuan savored the moment inwardly, while remaining calm and composed on the surface.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
If he didn't bring these two junior brothers completely around, how could he get them to settle down and farm with him in the Western Lands?
"Junior Brother, didn't you just say you wanted to go east and beg?"
Taiyuan put away the alms bowl and looked at Zhunti with an amused smile.
Zhunti shuddered and shook his head like a rattle drum. His gaze burned as he looked at the resurrected Bodhi Tree, then at Taiyuan. He looked at him as if he were the very parent who had given him a second life.
"I'm not going! I wouldn't go even if you beat me to death!"
Zhunti grabbed Taiyuan's leg. All the sorrow had vanished from his face, replaced by extreme flattery and conviction. "Is the East even a place for people to live? It's a land of trouble! I like the West! I like farming!"
"Elder Brother, do you have any more of that water?"
Jieyin swallowed, and though he tried to remain composed, he couldn't hide the longing in his eyes. "Elder Brother's feat has seized the power of creation itself. I understand now! The reason you never let us go east was that our family's foundations were so profound, you feared those Eastern bumpkins wouldn't be able to handle it!"
Taiyuan nodded slightly, satisfied with his junior brothers' "insight."
See? That was the power of an information gap.
As long as you swing your hoe well, no corner is too hard to dig into—and no junior brother is beyond roping into farming.
"Since that's settled, put your minds at ease."
Taiyuan looked toward the eastern horizon, the corners of his mouth curling in amusement. "From today on, we'll stay here on Mount Sumeru and take good care of our little patch of land. As for all the fighting and killing out there..."
"That's what savages do."
Before you continue