Master of the Great Earth

When the last Core Restriction was fully refined and marked with Zhenyuanzi's unique Primordial Spirit imprint, the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner gave a soft, satisfied hum, like a long sigh rising from deep within the earth.

Its Profound Yellow Divine Light withdrew completely. The banner became plain and unadorned, yet radiated the supreme majesty of something returned to its true nature.

It turned into a gentle, weighty streak of light and flew into Zhenyuanzi's palm of its own accord.

The light felt slightly heavy in his hand, as though he were holding a small world. Then it vanished into his body and sank into his dantian's sea of qi, merging completely with the vast, pure source of his earthen mana.

Within that sea of qi, the Apricot Yellow Banner floated above the Earth Book Phantom. Their Qi Flows connected and nourished each other, together forming the heart of Zhenyuanzi's Dao Foundation.

At that moment, the aura around Zhenyuanzi changed abruptly. His presence, already as weighty as a mountain, grew deeper and more restrained. It was as though all outward brilliance had fallen away, leaving him wholly joined to the boundless earth beneath his feet—inseparable and unshakable.

Standing there, he resembled a pillar of the Primordial Land, an ancient mountain that would never change.

An invisible, immense Dao resonance spread naturally from him, as though it could bear the All Heavens and Myriad Worlds and hold Earth, Water, Fire, Wind in place.

That resonance was not ostentatious, yet all of Penglai Immortal Island seemed to grow more stable. Even the Chaos Energy Streams churning at its edges appeared to calm.

The Strange Flowers and Exotic Herbs, jade trees, and exquisite branches across the island seemed nourished by it. They brimmed with greater vitality, their spiritual light shining more deeply within.

His command and understanding of the Way of the Great Earth had risen to an entirely new, immeasurable level.

The course of the Earth Veins and the movement of Earth Qi, which he had once needed the Book of the Earth to perceive clearly, now lay before him as plainly as the lines on his palm whenever he willed it.

He could even faintly sense nodes and unusual presences closely linked to the earth's origin in other regions of the Primordial Wilderness. They might be other sources of Innate Wu Tu Essence, or Innate Spiritual Objects containing Earth Law.

The long-standing barrier at the Peak Great Luo Golden Immortal realm seemed to loosen a little more under the treasure's nourishment and the wash of Great Dao Insights. The road to Primordial Chaos seemed a little clearer.

The Primordial Chaos realm was not attained through a simple accumulation of mana, but through complete comprehension and mastery of Great Dao Law. The Apricot Yellow Banner had opened a door for him that led straight to the heart of Earth Law.

He slowly opened his eyes. They were no longer merely the color of Profound Yellow Qi. Countless miniature mountains and rivers seemed to rise, fall, and evolve within them alongside Earth Vein Dragon Qi. His gaze was deep as an abyss and carried the endless weight of the Primordial Wilderness.

Wherever his gaze fell, the Earthen Energy Essence beneath his feet stirred faintly as though alive, and the surrounding Profound Yellow Qi grew more docile.

He slowly closed his fingers, feeling the immense power and supreme Dao resonance flowing from the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner, now bound to his life and responsive to his every thought.

That power was weighty, stable, and inexhaustible, as though connected to an ocean at the heart of the Primordial Land. Its Dao resonance was profound and mysterious, revealing the deepest truths of bearing, stabilizing, nurturing, and returning all things to the hidden earth.

At last, a gentle smile touched Zhenyuanzi's usually impassive face, like the earth awakening in spring.

It was not wild delight, but the peace of finding fulfillment after a long wait, and the certainty of one who could see the path ahead on the Great Dao.

On this journey through the Three Immortal Islands, he had obtained the Bitter Bamboo on Fangzhang and, amid its bleak cold stillness, glimpsed a steadfast resolve to guide All Living Beings;

on Yingzhou, he had claimed the Pure World White Lotus and gained the divine ability to cleanse corruption and guard the source of all things through its holy Purification;

and on Penglai, he had finally recovered the treasure of the earth most suited to his own origin, one that pointed straight to the Core of the Great Dao—the Central Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner.

Of these three treasures, the Bitter Bamboo steadied his heart, the White Lotus purified the world, and the Apricot Yellow Banner anchored the earth. Together, they had laid a firm Dao Foundation for his path to the Primordial Chaos Dao Fruit.

After this journey to the three islands, the heritage of Wuzhuang Temple of Longevity Mountain had grown deep enough to draw the gaze of the entire Primordial Wilderness.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree, the Four Symbols Plantain Tree, the Gourd Vine, the Book of the Earth, the Apricot Yellow Banner—the foremost of the Innate Five Directions Banners—and now the Bitter Bamboo and Pure World White Lotus. Even great beings who had existed since the dawn of creation might not possess such a foundation.

And in his heart, a seed had quietly taken root: the search for the other four Precious Banners and the grand ambition of one day establishing the Innate Five Elements Great Formation, whose might would shake the Primordial Wilderness.

With the Apricot Yellow Banner in hand as the pivot of the five elements, his ability to sense the other four banners had grown considerably.

The Wood Element vitality of the Eastern Green Lotus Treasure Color Banner, the blazing fire of the Southern Ground-Leaving Flame Light Banner, the sharp Metal Element force of the Western Plain Colored Cloud Realm Banner, the Extreme Softness of the Northern Profound Origin Water Controlling Banner... These distinct and powerful law auras were like stars in the night. Though distant, they had left faint yet unmistakable impressions upon the senses the Apricot Yellow Banner had granted him.

If I could gather all five banners and establish the Innate Five Elements Great Formation... The thought stirred in Zhenyuanzi's mind, and he seemed to glimpse a vast vision of the Five Elements Rotation: a self-contained world with peerless defense and earth-shaking offensive might.

That would be power truly worthy of the summit of the Primordial Wilderness, one of his ultimate means to protect his temple and prove his Great Dao.

He did not hurry to leave. For him, the heart of Penglai Immortal Island was now the finest place to contemplate the Dao.

He sat cross-legged on the jade platform of Earthen Energy Essence and turned his awareness inward. He carefully felt every change brought about by his complete union with the Apricot Yellow Banner, sorting through the truths of the earth that flooded into him like a tide.

The Book of the Earth floated within his sea of consciousness, answering the Apricot Yellow Banner in his sea of qi. Countless details about the Primordial Wilderness's Earth Veins, the contours of its mountains and rivers, and the movement of its Earth Qi became clearer and more profound.

He tried reaching Penglai Island's Earth Veins with his divine sense. Wherever his thoughts turned, Earth Qi deep within the island flowed after them like a gentle river, nourishing its living creatures and even subtly affecting the course of the Chaos Energy Streams beyond its shores.

This control was not a matter of forcing the earth to obey. It was an extension of the earth's own will, a resonance and guidance at the level of law.

Time passed unnoticed as he sank deep into contemplation. Zhenyuanzi's aura grew ever more settled, and his connection with Penglai Immortal Island ever stronger.

He seemed to become part of the island, and the island an extension of his Dao body. Only after he had fully absorbed what he had gained and begun to integrate the Apricot Yellow Banner's mighty power did he slowly rise.

His gaze swept across Penglai's heart once more. With the Apricot Yellow Banner gone, the concentration of Earthen Energy Essence seemed to have fallen slightly. Yet the weighty Great Earth Origin Aura had not dispersed. Instead, his refinement and presence had lent it a touch of vitality and order.

He knew this place might one day give birth to new earthen spiritual objects and become a sacred land of earth.

Zhenyuanzi took a step, and his figure vanished.

When he appeared again, he stood at the edge of Penglai Immortal Island. He looked back. In his eyes, the island was no longer merely an immortal paradise overseas, but a vast and intricate convergence of Earth Law. The courses of its Earth Veins, the nodes of its spiritual energy, and the sources of its vitality were all plain to see.

This was the new perspective the Apricot Yellow Banner had given him: the perspective of the Master of the Great Earth.