Beyond the edge of the Blood Sea, far from the reach of its scarlet, foul aura, Zhenyuanzi found a desolate, secluded valley where the terrain was relatively stable and spiritual energy was almost nonexistent.
No one came here, and even birds and beasts were absent. It was an ideal place for a temporary retreat.
Without hesitation, he summoned the Book of the Earth, the Classic of Mountains and Seas. A flash of profound yellow light came and went without causing much disturbance. Drawing on the Primordial Land Veins and the Earth Qi of mountains and rivers within ten thousand li, the Innate Wutu Great Formation silently took shape, concealing and protecting the entire valley and the space within it.
The formation was one with the earth. Its defenses were formidable, and it could obscure the workings of heaven. Even an ordinary Da Luo Golden Immortal passing by would be hard-pressed to notice anything amiss without repeatedly sweeping the area with divine sense.
Zhenyuanzi sat cross-legged at the formation's most stable point. After calming the mind he had strained during his long struggle against the Blood Sea's environment, he took out the Devouring Origin he had thoroughly purified.
It hovered quietly above his palm, like a drop of absolute darkness that slowly revolved and swallowed light. It held a strange, oppressive allure, drawing all things toward the Returning Ruins; even a gaze seemed liable to be pulled inside.
"My Dao is rooted in the earth. The Way of the Great Earth bears all things with great virtue, embraces all, nurtures life, and takes all things back into its depths.
"The Devouring Law may seem tyrannical and ruthless, but its principles—taking all things into oneself, turning outside forces into nourishment, and absorbing myriad Daos to strengthen oneself—are, on reflection, much like the