Though the Sun Star was not the foremost among the stars, it was the largest celestial body in the starry sky.
Innate Spiritual Qi filled the Sun Star. Compared with blessed places like Kunlun Mountain and the Three Immortal Islands of the East Sea, which were among the Primordial World's top immortal mountains and Grotto-Heavens, it fell a little short. But it was rich in the Power of the Myriad Stars, which could temper the body and had its own wonders.
At this time, there were very few living beings in the starry sky. Not every cultivator could withstand the Gale Wind and fly up into the heavens, so the Sun Star seemed rather deserted. It was nothing like the Yao Race's future stronghold.
The Star Lord was the Two Three-legged Golden Crows, and the Sun Star was dominated by fire. Its Fire Spiritual Qi was somewhat violent, and with no Star Lord to keep it in check yet, ordinary living beings would find it hard to survive there.
East King Duke flew to the Sun Star and immediately spread his Spiritual Sense to search the area.
If the Two Three-legged Golden Crows had not yet taken form, they would surely be inside an Innate Great Array, slowly gestating. An array sheltering Innate Divine Demons of their caliber was bound to be extraordinary, so East King Duke searched with great care.
A thousand years passed in the blink of an eye. He had used his Mid-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Spiritual Sense to search without pause. Along the way, he discovered several Grotto-Heavens and formations and obtained some Starry Sky Treasure Material, but the most important Three-legged Golden Crows remained nowhere to be found.
At first, he had not thought much of it. But after searching for several hundred more years without success, he could only give up in frustration.
"Sure enough, the small trends of the Primordial World can change, but the great trends cannot."
As the protagonists of the next calamity, Di Jun and Tai Yi were surely protected by the Heavenly Dao. It was not yet their time to emerge, so naturally, they would not let him find them easily.
Clearly, he could not obtain the Innate Yang Origin anytime soon. He would have to wait until the Two Three-legged Golden Crows took form and emerged before looking for another way to claim it.
But Di Jun and Tai Yi were both top-tier Innate Divine Beings, protected by supreme treasures. After taking form, they would each become Great Divine Power Users of the Primordial World. They were also the supreme rulers of the mighty Yao Race, so trying to claim their Origin would be far too difficult.
Fortunately, the two were destined to fall during the next calamity, and he ought to have a chance then. But even if he ultimately succeeded, the time it would take him to transform Pure Yang into Supreme Yang, then develop the Chaos Yin-Yang Great Dao, would be greatly delayed.
In the later stages of the Witch-Demon Calamity, the Saints would emerge and the Great Sects would fight for supremacy. If he had not attained the Primordial Chaos by then, the Supreme Yang Lineage would have little chance of making a difference in the struggle for Primordial World Destiny.
The Chaos Yin-Yang Great Dao was undoubtedly supreme. East King Duke was unwilling to abandon the Dao Path he had planned and return to the Path of Pure Yang he had followed in his previous life.
His previous life had already proven that relying on the Great Dao of Pure Yang to reach the Primordial Chaos was almost impossible. What's more, among the Three Thousand Great Daos, Pure Yang was a Lesser Law. Even if he were lucky enough to attain the Primordial Chaos, his combat power probably would not be very high.
But there was nothing he could do for now. He would have to look for another opportunity. After all, in the vast Primordial World, Yang Origin was rare, but those Two Three-legged Golden Crows could not be the only ones who possessed it.
Though he had failed to obtain the Golden Crow Origin, East King Duke did not leave the Sun Star immediately.
Instead, he found a place rich in Spiritual Qi and established a temporary Cave Abode.
The Innate inheritance of his Pure Yang True Scripture was top-tier, but it only covered cultivation of the primordial spirit. He lacked a Body Refining Technique, so he could use this opportunity to draw on the Power of the Myriad Stars and devise one. He could also temper his body in the process.
The stars revolved, Yin and Yang alternated, and time slowly passed.
In the starry sky, streams of Myriad Star Light continually converged on one part of the Sun Star. Relying on the Power of the Stars, East King Duke devised a Body Refining Technique.
He named it the Supreme Yang Battle Body.
After several hundred years, he had developed the technique to the Taiyi Golden Immortal level and had fully mastered the basics. Further progress would require time and continual refinement.
Emerging from meditation, East King Duke was pleased with his progress over the past few hundred years. From here, it would be a gradual process.
As soon as he dispersed the Power of the Stars and left seclusion, his body newly refined, he suddenly looked startled and vanished from the spot.
In the blink of an eye, he was ten thousand li away.
He gazed at the Concealed Formation before him, thoughtful.
After drawing on the Power of the Stars for several hundred years, his primordial spirit had become more attuned to the Sun Star. A moment ago, he had clearly sensed a trace of Supreme Yang Power coming from within this formation.
"Could the Two Three-legged Golden Crows be hidden inside this array?"
His Spiritual Sense could not penetrate the formation. East King Duke hesitated, then decided to break it open and take a look.
The formation's restrictions did not seem as difficult to break as he had expected, yet it did not resemble an Innate Formation protecting top-tier Innate Divine Demons. Sure enough, there was no sign of any Three-legged Golden Crow inside. But when he saw what the formation did contain, East King Duke could not help showing his delight.
A massive spiritual plant stood within the array, so huge it seemed to blot out the sky and earth. Its roots spread out for ten thousand zhang, while its trunk rose straight like a pillar of gilded jade. Its branches reached high into the heavens.
Its lush branches and leaves radiated majestic Yang energy. Ten layers of canopies adorned its trunk, each a world of its own. Spiritual Qi swirled around it, forming flickering blossoms of Flames of Blazing Sun.
"The Fusang Tree!"
The spiritual plant was unmistakable: it was the Innate Spiritual Root, the Fusang Tree. Aside from the Yellow Middle Plum, this was the second of the Ten Great Innate Spiritual Roots East King Duke had encountered.
What delighted him was not its status as one of the Ten Great Spiritual Roots, but what it could do for him.
He had been troubled by his failure to obtain the Golden Crow Origin, but the sight of the Fusang Tree swept that frustration away. The reason the Fusang Tree would later nurture the Ten Princes of the Yao Race—the sons of Di Jun and Xi He—was precisely because it possessed Yang Origin, making it a top-tier spiritual root.
In fact, in some ways, the Fusang Tree's Yang Origin was even more suitable for East King Duke to assimilate than the Golden Crow Origin.
Looking at the enormous Fusang Tree before him, East King Duke's gaze burned with excitement. He very much wanted to claim this renowned Innate Spiritual Root for himself, but after thinking it over, he abandoned the idea.
Unlike the Yellow Middle Plum, which was also one of the Ten Great Spiritual Roots, the Fusang Tree was entangled in too much Karma. It was bound up with the next calamity's unfolding. If he took it, he would not only incur Great Karma with the future Yao Race—that is, Di Jun, Tai Yi, and the others—but might even disrupt the evolution of the Primordial World. If that happened, the Heavenly Dao itself might strike at him.
For now, he had no means of opposing the Heavenly Dao.
Fortunately, taking only a portion of the Fusang Tree's Origin would not have much of an impact.
Having made up his mind, East King Duke brought forth the Twelve-grade Yin-Yang Dao Lotus and sat before the Fusang Tree, beginning to extract its Yang Origin.
The Fusang Tree could not give birth to spiritual awareness. In fact, under the Primordial World Heavenly Dao's rules, none of the Ten Great Spiritual Roots had formed a primordial spirit, so none had the chance to take human form.
But all things in the Primordial World had a spirit. Seeking benefit and avoiding harm was instinctive, especially when its own Origin was being taken.
East King Duke's actions naturally met with the Fusang Tree's instinctive resistance. Blossoms of Flames of Blazing Sun swept toward him, seeking to burn the cultivator who coveted its Origin to ashes.
East King Duke was well prepared. Yin-Yang Two Qi rose beneath him, and he calmly held them back.
After all, it was only a spiritual root. Even one of the Ten Great Innate Spiritual Roots would struggle to withstand the methods of a Great Supernatural Being like East King Duke.
In less than a thousand years, a clump of crimson Origin Qi appeared before him.
East King Duke did not take everything. He claimed only forty percent of the Fusang Tree's Origin, which was enough for him. Even so, the spiritual root had lost much of its vitality and was now extremely weak.
But growing on the Sun Star, where it complemented the Two Three-legged Golden Crows, the Fusang Tree could recover its Origin within two Yuan Hui. This would not interfere with the mission the Heavenly Dao had given it.
With that, East King Duke's trip to the Sun Star had come to a satisfying end. He drew the Yang Origin into his primordial spirit and left, content.
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