As Hong Jun's lectures went on, the cultivation of the cultivators listening in Zixiao Palace began to advance one after another.
By the time Hong Jun had lectured for a thousand years, almost all the cultivators had completed the blooming of their Human Flowers, and their cultivation had reached the mid-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.
After two thousand years, several had completed the blooming of their Earth Flowers and broken through to the late-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.
In the blink of an eye, three thousand years had passed. At last, the sound of Hong Jun expounding the Great Dao ceased, and the strange phenomena within Zixiao Palace vanished along with it.
Yet those who had listened to the lecture did not awaken right away. They remained immersed in the lingering echoes of Hong Jun's words.
Hong Jun surveyed the scene and saw that most of the cultivators in Zixiao Palace had reached the late-stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.
He nodded in satisfaction. But when his gaze fell on Nuwa, he saw that her Heaven Flower had also bloomed and that her cultivation had reached the peak of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.
Though Sanqing and the Two Sages of the West had also reached the brink of a breakthrough, they had ultimately fallen behind Nuwa. Hong Jun could not help frowning slightly.
Compared to Nuwa's sudden rise, Qing Xuan was undoubtedly the Bottom Scorer. At that moment, three flower buds still sat atop his Qing Yun, with no sign of blooming.
Aside from Qing Xuan, the other Bottom Scorers were the Twelve Ancestral Witches. They had all been nodding off, and not even a Qing Yun had appeared above their heads.
After all, the Twelve Ancestral Witches cultivated only their Physical Bodies, not their Nascent Souls. To them, the Dao Hong Jun expounded was no different from a Heavenly Book.
Although Houtu had obtained Pangu Marrow, the Witch Clan had no cultivation method for the Nascent Soul. As a result, her Nascent Soul Cultivation had yet to surpass the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
Hong Jun shook his head and said, "This lecture has come to an end. Zixiao Palace will open again in ten thousand years, and I will expound the Quasi-Saint's Dao."
"When you return to Zixiao Palace next time, take the seats you occupy now. No more fighting over them."
After he finished speaking, Hong Jun vanished from Zixiao Palace. Haotian and Yaochi had already opened the palace gates.
The cultivators awoke from their enlightenment and bowed toward the seat where Hong Jun had been sitting. Then, in groups of two and three, they left Zixiao Palace.
As soon as Qing Xuan and the other two stepped outside Zixiao Palace, they saw the Twelve Ancestral Witches waiting for them. They hurried over to greet them.
Wearing a broad smile, Zhu Rong said to Qing Xuan, "Fellow Daoist Qing Xuan, everyone else improved their cultivation by listening to the lecture. Why is yours the same as when you arrived?"
"Could it be that, like us, you couldn't understand the Dao Ancestor's teachings at all?"
Qing Xuan offered no explanation. He merely sighed with a smile. "The Dao the Dao Ancestor expounded was truly profound. It's difficult to grasp its essence in such a short time."
Gonggong replied casually, "If you can't understand it, there's no need to come next time. You'd only be wasting your time."
The Twelve Ancestral Witches had already decided they would not come back for the next lecture. As Gonggong had said, there was no point wasting their time when they couldn't understand anything anyway.
After chatting for a while, the group stepped into Chaos together and headed back to the Primordial Wilderness.
Once they returned to the Primordial World, Di Jiang and the other Ancestral Witches bade Qing Xuan farewell and went straight back to Ancestral Witch Hall. Houtu, however, chose to stay.
Nuwa was delighted. She had always felt that she and Houtu got along wonderfully. With Houtu around, she wouldn't be lonely.
Fu Xi immediately said to Qing Xuan, "Fellow Daoist Qing Xuan, should we return to Phoenix Perch Mountain first, or go straight to the East Sea?"
After considering it for a moment, Qing Xuan decided to head straight for the East Sea. There was nothing at Phoenix Perch Mountain that needed his attention.
"Let's go straight to the East Sea and find a suitable place for Fangzhang Island to take root. Then we can stabilize our cultivation there while we wait for the Dao Ancestor's next lecture."
Fu Xi and the other two nodded and followed Qing Xuan toward the East Sea.
When they arrived over the East Sea, the Dragon Pearl in Qing Xuan's hand gleamed. Summoned by the Dragon Pearl, Fangzhang Island, which had been resting on the seabed, began to rise toward the surface.
As soon as he entered Fangzhang Island, Fu Xi was stunned by the scenery before him. The Innate Spiritual Qi had even condensed into liquid, leaving him utterly amazed.
"Fangzhang Island truly is a Top-grade Blessed Land. Its Innate Spiritual Qi has actually liquefied into little streams."
As he spoke, Fu Xi waved a hand and drew a thin stream into his body. It was far more potent than absorbing the Innate Spiritual Qi drifting through the air.
Qing Xuan smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Fu Xi, the Witch Clan has no cultivation method suited to the Nascent Soul, so Houtu's Nascent Soul Cultivation has yet to break through to the Great Luo realm."
"So I'll have to trouble you, Fellow Daoist Fu Xi, to explain the parts of the lecture that Fellow Daoist Houtu didn't understand. Please help her raise her Nascent Soul Cultivation to the Great Luo realm as soon as possible."
Fu Xi naturally agreed. He turned to Houtu and said, "Fellow Daoist Houtu, feel free to ask me about anything you didn't understand."
Houtu did not refuse. She immediately asked Fu Xi about each part she hadn't understood.
Meanwhile, Qing Xuan had already left Fangzhang Island with Nuwa. They began searching for an ideal location over the East Sea.
After circling over the East Sea for three hundred years, Qing Xuan finally found a perfect spot. He pointed ahead and said to Nuwa,
"What do you think of the area a hundred li ahead? I sense a surge of Dragon Qi there. It should be a suitable place for Fangzhang Island."
Nuwa looked in that direction and said, "Little Gourd Vine, have you ever stopped to think about where the Dragon Qi would be strongest over the East Sea?"
Qing Xuan froze for a moment, then understood what she meant. He said, "Are you telling me that the East Sea Dragon King's Dragon Palace lies right beneath us?"
Nuwa nodded. "That's right. The East Sea Dragon King's Crystal Palace is beneath these waters. If you made Fangzhang Island take root here, the East Sea Dragon King would fight you to the death."
Qing Xuan had thought he'd found the perfect spot, only to discover it was the East Sea Dragon Palace. Now that he knew, he gave up on placing Fangzhang Island there.
It wasn't that Qing Xuan was worried about angering the East Sea Dragon Clan. More importantly, the Dragon Qi here didn't come from the Earth Vein. It came from the East Sea Dragon Clan, and that wasn't what Qing Xuan needed.
After traveling another ten thousand li, Qing Xuan finally found another ideal spot. Though its Dragon Qi wasn't as abundant as the previous location's, it felt much denser.
Qing Xuan pointed ahead once more. "This shouldn't be the East Sea Dragon Palace, right? Let's place Fangzhang Island here."
Nuwa nodded again. Qing Xuan took out the Dragon Pearl and summoned Fangzhang Island to the spot, then tossed the Dragon Pearl toward it.
In the next instant, the Dragon Pearl transformed into a giant dragon. It plunged down from above Fangzhang Island, passed straight through it, and reached the seabed, where it connected with the Seabed Spiritual Vein.
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