Ancestor Minghe, who had been watching the show, suddenly sensed danger approaching. Without hesitation, he blew himself up on the spot, turning into a vast cloud of blood mist before vanishing without a trace.
Kunpeng was the first to react. He immediately transformed into his true form, spread his wings, and flew toward the Nether Blood Sea.
The Two Emperors of the Demon Race reacted right after him. They followed Kunpeng toward the Nether Blood Sea.
Tongtian glanced at his two elder brothers and said, "Elder Brothers, they must be going after Minghe. Should we go and see what's happening?"
Laozi shook his head. "Everything is fated. Since we missed our chance here, that Primordial Violet Qi was not meant for us brothers."
The Three Pure Ones then returned straight to their cultivation grounds on Kunlun Mountain. They did not go to the Nether Blood Sea to fight over the Primordial Violet Qi.
As soon as everyone had left, Daoist Zhun Ti burst out of the seabed. At the same time, his brother had also returned.
The two brothers exchanged a glance, then looked toward Fangzhang Island. In the end, they sighed and returned straight to Mount Sumeru in the West.
Ultimately, neither the Three Pure Ones nor the Two Sages of the West had been particularly attached to that strand of Primordial Violet Qi. Otherwise, how could they have let Ancestor Minghe go?
Seeing everyone leave, Houtu finally spoke. "I never expected Minghe to be so capable. He can come and go freely, even with so many Great Beings around."
Qing Xuan smiled. "As long as Minghe takes back the Nether Blood Sea and stays there, even if the Three Pure Ones and the Two Sages of the West go after him, they'll return empty-handed."
Ancestor Hong Yun was beaming. He took out the Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus and handed it to Qing Xuan, then said, "Who cares? That's Minghe's problem to worry about. From now on, I'll never have to fret over the Primordial Violet Qi again."
Qing Xuan accepted the Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus and lightly tapped its Lotus Platform. Five Red Lotus Seeds flew out of the Karma Red Lotus.
With a wave of his hand, Qing Xuan sent the five Red Lotus Seeds flying into the Three Lights Divine Water Pool. Then he handed the Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus to Ancestor Hong Yun.
"Hong Yun, you obtained this Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus by trading away the Primordial Violet Qi. How could I keep it for myself? Getting five Red Lotus Seeds is already an incredible stroke of fortune."
Ancestor Hong Yun was about to refuse, but Fu Xi spoke first. "Hong Yun, just keep it. Younger Brother already has the Twelve Petals Pure World White Lotus and the Twelve Petals Merit Golden Lotus. Even adding this Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus would only be the icing on the cake."
"But if Hong Yun keeps it, he'll have another way to save his life. After all, the defense of a Twelve Petals Lotus Platform is unmatched beneath the heavens."
If anyone else had heard that much, they would surely have taken back the Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus. But Ancestor Hong Yun simply shook his head.
"I've spent my whole life doing good by others and have never entangled myself in Karma. Keeping the Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus would be useless to me."
"If one day Qing Xuan manages to gather all Five Great Lotus Platforms, perhaps there'll be some unexpected benefit."
Seeing how determined Ancestor Hong Yun was, Qing Xuan finally stopped refusing and put away the Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus.
"Since you insist, Hong Yun, refusing any further would be a little too formal. I'll accept the Twelve Petals Karma Red Lotus."
Seeing Qing Xuan accept it, Ancestor Hong Yun smiled. "That's more like it. We'll be visiting each other often from now on, after all."
"If you come across a Spiritual Treasure that suits me, Qing Xuan, give it to me. I certainly won't refuse."
Zhen Yuanzi glanced at Ancestor Hong Yun and said, "Forget Spiritual Treasures. What you care about most is visiting back and forth, so you can come mooch food and drink from Qing Xuan."
Zhen Yuanzi's words made everyone burst out laughing. After a few more pleasantries, Ancestor Hong Yun and Zhen Yuanzi bade everyone farewell and left Fangzhang Island.
After seeing off Zhen Yuanzi and Ancestor Hong Yun, Qing Xuan and Fu Xi split up to search for the Two Other Immortal Islands.
Drawing on his experience searching for Fangzhang Island, Qing Xuan did not focus on islands rich in spiritual energy. Instead, he searched for inconspicuous reefs.
Three thousand years passed in the blink of an eye, and Qing Xuan really did find Penglai Island. He immediately notified Fu Xi.
Fu Xi flew straight to Qing Xuan's location. With Qing Xuan's help, he broke through the innate concealment formation and entered Penglai Island.
Qing Xuan had thought that, with both Penglai and Fangzhang in hand, they would be able to determine Yingzhou's location. Unfortunately, he was sorely disappointed.
Like Fangzhang Island, Penglai Island was a rootless floating island. Even its own location was uncertain, so how could the two islands help them locate Yingzhou Island?
As Fu Xi refined Penglai Island's Boundary Tablet, Qing Xuan wandered around the island, looking for any Innate Spiritual Treasures hidden there.
He came across plenty of Innate Spiritual Roots, including hundreds of high-grade ones. Qing Xuan did not dig them up; he let them keep growing on Penglai Island.
After searching for several years, Qing Xuan found only a few low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures. He couldn't help feeling disappointed.
"They're all part of the Overseas Three Immortal Islands, so why does Fangzhang Island have a Three Lights Divine Water Pool and a Pure World White Lotus, while Penglai Island has only a few low-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures?"
In truth, Qing Xuan had overlooked one thing: Penglai Island's Innate Spiritual Roots were in a class of their own, far beyond anything on Fangzhang Island.
One could even say that the entire island was like an enormous Spiritual Medicine Garden. Nearly every Innate Spiritual Root in the Primordial Wilderness could be found there.
If Laozi ever obtained Penglai Island, the quality of the Nine Revolutions Golden Elixirs he refined would probably rise by another level.
But Qing Xuan overlooked this. Before long, he lost interest in wandering around and headed toward the Boundary Tablet.
Seeing Fu Xi still refining the Boundary Tablet, Qing Xuan simply left Penglai Island and continued searching the East Sea for Yingzhou Island.
Meanwhile, on Fangzhang Island, Nuwa was reluctantly seeing Houtu off. Houtu had been away from the Ancestral Witch Hall for too long. It was time for her to return and see how the Witch Clan was doing.
After seeing Houtu off, Nuwa felt even more bored on her own. So she, too, began wandering around the East Sea.
One day, Nuwa suddenly spotted a reef jutting out of the sea ahead. Her eyes lit up, because it looked a little like Fangzhang Island had back then.
She flew straight toward the reef to see whether it might be the entrance to one of the Two Other Immortal Islands.
As it turned out, when Nuwa landed on the reef, she felt herself enter another space. The spiritual energy there was just as dense as on Fangzhang Island.
Delighted, Nuwa knew she had found one of the Two Other Immortal Islands. She immediately released her Spiritual Sense and began inspecting the whole island.
Before you continue