East King Duke had transformed into the likeness of a Young Man, bearing a seven-tenths resemblance to his appearance in his previous life.
He stood around seven feet tall, with a strikingly upright bearing. He wore an Auspicious Cloud Crane-Patterned Plain Daoist Robe, an Yin-Yang Ruyi Crown on his head, and Cloud Dragon Chaotian Boots on his feet. His sword-shaped brows and bright eyes radiated an aura of sheer, unyielding Pure Yang.
Dao Rhyme flowed around his Dao Body, lending him an air of incomparable nobility.
He was very pleased with this appearance. After tens of thousands of years since his transmigration, he had finally achieved a Flawless Dao Body.
At a thought, the Three Flowers of Heaven, Earth, and Man appeared above his head. One of them, the Human Flower, had bloomed, clearly indicating that he had reached the early stage of Great Luo Golden Immortal.
His transformation complete, East King Duke was still inside the Innate Great Array. Yet he did not hurry to break out. Instead, he eagerly beckoned, drawing the two spiritual treasures he had coveted for tens of thousands of years into his hands.
Holding the treasures, he smiled and immediately began refining them.
Both treasures were extraordinary. The Pure Yang Sword was a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, containing forty-four Innate Restrictions. Even among Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures, it was a superior one.
The Chaos Bead was even more remarkable, having reached the four-nines limit of Primordial Desolation Innate Objects. It was a supreme treasure containing forty-nine Innate Restrictions.
Given their grades, neither treasure could be refined in a day or two. Furthermore, with his current cultivation at the early stage of Great Luo Golden Immortal, East King Duke could not fully refine them.
The Pure Yang Sword was easier. Since its origin resonated with his own, he spent only a hundred years refining forty of its Innate Restrictions, enough to unleash over eighty percent of its power.
He placed the refined Pure Yang Sword inside his Human Flower to nurture it, then devoted himself to refining the Chaos Bead.
Another three thousand years passed before East King Duke managed to refine half of the supreme treasure. That was already the limit of what he could accomplish, but since the Chaos Bead was a support-type treasure, this degree of refinement was sufficient for now.
Only then did he smile with satisfaction. At last, these two treasures truly belonged to him.
After making a few adjustments, he directly broke through the Innate Formation at the place where he had transformed and emerged outside.
Beyond the array lay an Immortal Mountain, wreathed in clouds and mist and brimming with Innate Qi. He extended his Spiritual Sense, his face filled with astonishment, then vanished from the spot.
When he appeared again, he was beside a Spiritual Pond.
The pool before him stretched several dozen feet across and was filled with Spiritual Water, which glimmered with golden, silver, and violet light. That was not all: three Innate Lotus Platforms were growing within it. One had bloomed into twelve petals, while the other two had nine and seven petals respectively. Yin-Yang Two Qi encircled them all, making it clear that they were Innate Objects.
"Three Lights Divine Water, Innate Lotus Platforms—what great fortune!"
East King Duke was overjoyed. It seemed that his transmigration had changed the fate that had been his due. He was truly blessed with deep fortune: not only had he been accompanied by supreme treasures, but treasures like these had awaited him at the place of his transformation.
The Three Lights Divine Water needed no introduction. It was renowned as the Mother of All Waters. Sunlight, Moonlight, and Starlight Divine Water were deadly treasures when separated, but when combined, they became Creation Spiritual Fluid—the finest healing medicine in the Primordial World.
To find an entire pool of such divine water before him was truly an enormous stroke of fortune.
The three Lotus Platforms were just as rare. Innate Lotus Platform treasures could aid cultivators in comprehending the Dao and were exceedingly scarce, to say nothing of a Twelve-Grade Lotus Platform.
East King Duke reached out and drew one of the Lotus Platforms into his hand for a closer look.
"Innate Yin-Yang Dao Lotus."
This Lotus Platform was a Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure containing forty-two Innate Restrictions. It was hardly inferior to the four Innate Lotus Platforms born from the Chaos Green Lotus. Moreover, this Yin-Yang Dao Lotus contained the Dao of Creation Yin-Yang, making it perfectly suited to East King Duke.
After refining it and drawing it into his primordial spirit, East King Duke possessed one offensive and one defensive Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, as well as the Innate Supreme Treasure Chaos Bead. His wealth was so immense that he was hardly outmatched by the treasure-laden Ancestor Minghe of the Sea of Blood.
Besides the Lotus Pond, there was another place that drew East King Duke's attention. He hurried over and found a Dao Stele.
After probing it with his Spiritual Sense, he understood.
"As expected, this is Mount Fangzhang Immortal Island."
All things were ordained by Heaven. He had indeed been born here after all.
The Three Immortal Islands of the East Sea—Penglai, Mount Fangzhang, and Yingzhou—had formed from Chaos Fragments that fell into the Primordial Great Land when Pangu created the world. They were saturated with Innate Spiritual Qi and each protected by a great array that could conceal the Heavenly Secrets. They were among the finest Immortal Mountain Blessed Lands.
East King Duke was naturally delighted to possess such a Dao Field.
The Dao Stele was the island's core. Once he refined it, Mount Fang Island would belong to him.
Deep in the East Sea, a group of several hundred Golden Immortal cultivators was heading toward Mount Fangzhang, led by three dragon cultivators at the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
Ten thousand years ago, East King Duke's transformation and treasure-refining had caused a disturbance in the spiritual energy of the East Sea, bringing forth wondrous signs that alerted the nearby dragon clan. At the time, however, the array had hidden Mount Fangzhang in the void, and they had been unable to find it.
Not long ago, the island's Boundary Stele had been refined, bringing the Immortal Island into the open at last. A patrolling yaksha discovered it and reported the news to the dragon clan's higher-ups.
The dragon clan ruled the Primordial Desolation Water Clan and were Hegemons of the Four Seas. The East Sea was their territory, so when they heard of a newly emerged Immortal Island, they sent experts to investigate.
When the dragon clan's experts arrived, they saw a massive Immortal Island shrouded in an array, its surface filled with Spiritual Mist and natural Dao Rhyme. Though they could not make out what lay within, flashes of treasure light occasionally shot out. This was clearly no ordinary island.
A number of East Sea cultivators had already gathered outside the island. The dragon clan was powerful and domineering, so they all made way when its members arrived.
Ignoring the surrounding cultivators, the dragon clan's men approached Mount Fangzhang. The three Taiyi Golden Immortals leading them all looked delighted.
"Divine light spills from this island. There must be treasures within."
"The Immortal Island has emerged—this is a great opportunity bestowed by the Heavenly Dao. Fellow Daoists, we can break the array and claim the treasures."
"But there are so many cultivators gathered around us..."
"You worry too much, Fellow Daoist. In all the Four Seas, who would dare compete with our dragon clan for treasure?"
After a brief discussion, the three dragon clan experts immediately began making arrangements to break the array and enter the island.
After refining the Dao Stele and using his Spiritual Sense to inspect the sacred mountain beneath him, East King Duke planned to establish his Dao Field at its summit. Mount Fang Island was an Immortal Mountain Blessed Land, rich in spiritual materials—more than enough to build a Dao Palace.
But before he could begin, his brows furrowed. He moved and vanished from the spot.
"This is my Supreme Yang Dao Field. No one may approach within ten thousand miles. Anyone who disobeys will be slain!"
Standing in the air above Mount Fang Island, East King Duke stepped on the Innate Yin-Yang Dao Lotus and spoke coldly.
His aura was immense and unnerving. His sudden appearance left the gathered cultivators stunned.
The three dragon clan Taiyi Golden Immortals were no exception. But they were accustomed to acting with impunity, and even when faced with someone who seemed to be a Great Supernatural Being, they paid him little heed. Instead, greed shone in their eyes as they stared at the Lotus Platform beneath his feet.
"Daoist, this Immortal Island belongs to our dragon clan. Leave behind the treasures you've found and get out at once."
East King Duke naturally paid no mind to three mere Taiyi cultivators, all with lowly bloodlines from the Water Clan. He looked down at them and said,
"Get lost! Otherwise, die!"
"How dare you! You dare to throw your weight around in dragon clan territory? Seize him!"
The dragon clan had never suffered such humiliation. At their leader's command, several hundred Golden Immortal dragon cultivators charged forward, weapons in hand.
East King Duke remained unmoved.
He gave a cold shout. "Die!"
Pure Yang Energy surged out, transforming into streaks of Sword Qi that shot in every direction. The hundreds of Golden Immortal dragon cultivators were engulfed in an instant. Before they could even cry out, they were ground to ashes.
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