With one step inside, heaven and earth transformed.
The passage connecting this place to the outside world closed silently behind him, shutting out the clamor of the East Sea and the lurking threat of the Dragon Clan.
Innate Spiritual Qi rushed over him, richer and purer than that of any Blessed Land in the Primordial Wilderness. It carried an ancient quality, as though from when Chaos first began.
The qi was almost tangible. It formed a haze of seven-colored clouds that curled around him. With every breath, his Primordial Spirit grew clearer, and his magic power stirred.
Beneath his feet lay a rainbow bridge spanning the void and connecting three towering immortal islands.
The bridge was no solid structure. Countless Great Dao Runes had woven together, drawing in the essence of heaven and earth until it took shape. Light flowed across it, its colors shifting endlessly.
It looked illusory, yet beneath his feet it felt heavy and firm, as though he were walking upon the Great Earth Mother Qi that bore all things. The sensation put him at ease.
Zhenyuanzi stood on the rainbow bridge, his plain Daoist robe stirring gently in the Spirit Mist. He did not move on at once. Instead, he quietly absorbed the Dao resonance of this singular world.
There was no seawater beneath the bridge, only a churning Sea of Clouds formed from pure spiritual qi and fragments of Dao principles.
Nor was that sea empty. At times, phantom Golden Dragons, naturally condensed from spiritual qi and not yet possessed of full intelligence, leaped through it, scales flashing and claws outstretched;
At other times, visions of Colorful Phoenix spread her splendid wings. Her faint cries carried through the mist as specks of auspicious light drifted down.
They were not real living beings, but manifestations of the Great Dao born from the overwhelming abundance of spiritual energy here. Even so, they lent the place the splendor of an immortal realm and showed how extraordinary it was.
He looked around, his gaze calm and deep. The three main islands formed a triangle, linked by rainbow bridges.
Each offered wonders of its own: ranks of strange peaks, waterfalls and flowing springs; fields of immortal flowers and fragrant Jade Grass; glimpses of palaces amid trees with jade trunks and jeweled branches.
Even with a cursory sweep, he sensed countless innate spiritual plants and ores scattered among them, drawing in pure Innate Spiritual Mechanism. Many had long vanished from the outside world; others he had never even heard of.
At a thought, Zhenyuanzi's immensely powerful divine sense spread out like spilled mercury. No longer blocked by the Innate Three Talents Grand Formation outside, it began a careful search of this treasure realm that was now his.
Wherever his divine sense reached, more astonishing sights appeared in his mind:
Within a bamboo grove steeped in purple qi on the eastern island, he discovered a spiritual root that looked as though it had been carved entirely from purple jade. Natural thunder runes marked its joints: Purple Firmament Thunder Bamboo.
The bamboo held the Origin of Innate Thunder. Supremely hard and yang in nature, it was a peerless material for crafting thunder-attribute treasures and could ward off evil and suppress demons. A mere trace of its aura could scatter an evil spirit's soul.
Deep in a cold pool on the western island bloomed a lotus whose petals displayed nine shades of icy blue: the Nine Nether Cold Lotus.
The extreme cold it emitted could freeze the Primordial Spirit and magic power of an ordinary Golden Immortal. Yet it could also nourish water and ice essences, making it a peerless treasure for cultivating their associated Daos or refining cold-attribute pills.
On a flaming mountain on the southern island, a seven-colored fire burned without end, leaping and changing shape: the Seven-Colored Glazed Flame.
It was neither heavenly fire nor earthly fire. Born of pure Essence of Innate Fire mixed with a wisp of Chaos Aura, it was remarkably potent for artifact refining, body tempering, and battle, and brimmed with spirituality.
What drew Zhenyuanzi's attention even more, however, was the core of each island. There, an Innate Spiritual Mechanism far vaster yet more restrained than any of those plants or flames circulated slowly, like the heartbeat of a sleeping giant. Each pulse stirred tides of spiritual qi across its island.
Clearly, those three concentrations of spiritual energy were the true cores of the Three Immortal Islands. Each was nurturing an extraordinary treasure!
The core of the central island—the largest and grandest of the three—especially stood out. Its spiritual energy was immeasurably weighty, bearing a Dao resonance that supported all things and nourished all life. It seemed to resonate with both the Kunyuan True Scripture he cultivated and his own Essence of Innate Earthen Energy.
It was as though the treasure had been bound to his Way of the Great Earth from the beginning, an indispensable part of the path ahead.
Zhenyuanzi walked unhurriedly along the rainbow bridge toward the central island. Every step was steady and firm, his pace subtly aligned with the breathing of this world.
The discovery of so many rare treasures did not send him rushing to collect them. His face remained as calm as still water.
As he saw it, now that he had entered the Three Immortal Islands sealed by the Innate Three Talents Grand Formation, everything here was, in a sense, already his. Taking it sooner or later made no difference.
More important than claiming the treasures was understanding and controlling this world itself.
Only by grasping its workings and mastering its core formation could he bring out the Three Immortal Islands' full potential and truly make them part of his Dao Foundation, rather than leave them as a mere storehouse.
Zhenyuanzi sat cross-legged on the rainbow bridge once more.
He closed his eyes and rested his hands on his knees. His mind, however, connected closely with the whole of the Three Immortal Islands and the vast Innate Three Talents Grand Formation surrounding them.
Outside, he had studied the formation chiefly to discern how it worked and find a way to open an entrance through skill rather than force. It had been like examining a lock from the other side of a door, intent on opening it.
Now he was inside the treasury. His aim was no longer to open the door, but to comprehend every secret of the Innate Three Talents Grand Formation from within, more deeply and completely than before.
He sought to understand how it drew on the essence of the Chaos Fragments, harmonized the forces of Heaven, Earth, and Man, formed a self-contained world, and remained Invulnerable to All Magic.
He intended to analyze this supreme Innate Grand Formation of the Primordial Wilderness from the inside out, master it, and make it part of his own understanding of formations. One day, he might even lay it down at Longevity Mountain to strengthen his sanctuary's defenses.
His divine sense seeped like the finest roots into every inch of the islands, every strand of spiritual qi, and every chain of Dao principles. He was no longer trying to break the formation. He was learning from it, becoming one with it.
He felt how the node of Heaven drew Pure Spirit Qi from the unseen to keep this space stable and separate;
He perceived how the node of Earth rooted itself in Chaos, transformed energy, and nourished all things;
He understood how the node of Man—here closer to spirit and intent—coordinated the whole, giving the formation its fluid responses and changing forms.
The three talents flowed through Mutual Generation and Restraint in Endless Circulation. Immersed in this deep comprehension, Zhenyuanzi's understanding of the Great Dao of heaven and earth soared, especially his grasp of stability, space, and the circulation of spiritual energy.
He could even feel his cultivation, already at the Peak Great Luo Golden Immortal level, growing more complete and refined beneath this baptism of the Great Dao. It seemed he had touched on further mysteries of the elusive Primordial Chaos Dao Realm.
Time lost all meaning in this immortal realm formed from a Chaos Fragment. Perhaps only a moment passed. Perhaps a thousand years went by.
When Zhenyuanzi opened his eyes again, fleeting images of three miniature islands seemed to flash in their depths, fitting perfectly with the Innate Three Talents Grand Formation around them. A sense of absolute control over this place rose within him.
He had now mastered the Innate Three Talents Grand Formation completely. With a thought, he could unleash its full power to defend, trap enemies, or conceal the islands. Its uses were boundless.
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