Entrustment and Ties, Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag

Hearing Mystic Turtle's words, Bei Ming felt somewhat helpless.

That was right—I was a pauper. An Innate God, yet utterly without possessions.

Yet beneath that helplessness was a flicker of secret delight.

It seemed that all his efforts to build a good relationship with Mystic Turtle during this time had not been wasted. Sure enough, Mystic Turtle had something good.

Mystic Turtle slowly opened his enormous mouth. The surrounding seawater churned violently, and vast amounts of water, carrying small fish and shrimp along with it, were drawn inside.

Not long afterward, a black flag measuring one chi and seven cun in length slowly emerged from Mystic Turtle's mouth.

Under his control, the flag became a streak of streaming light and flew before Bei Ming.

From the flag's appearance, Bei Ming had already formed a guess. Still, he reached out to catch it and probed it with his Spiritual Sense.

The instant he touched it, Bei Ming received the information on this spiritual treasure.

Sure enough, it was the North's Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag, one of the legendary Innate Five Directions Flags.

Compared with the other four Five Directions Flags, the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag was far more mysterious.

According to the original course of events, the Leaving Earth Flame Light Flag and the Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag had respectively been obtained by Laozi and Yuanshi at Hongjun's Fenbao Cliff.

When the treasures were distributed, the Azure Lotus Treasure Color Flag had been given directly to Jieyin of the West.

After the Calamity of the Witches and Demons ended, Yaochi became the Heavenly Empress, and Hongjun bestowed the Plain Cloud Realm Flag upon her for protection.

As for the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag, opinions varied wildly. Some claimed it was with Ming He, while countless other accounts existed as well.

Now, it seemed this should have been Mystic Turtle's Personal Spirit Treasure.

In the final battle between the Wu and Yao Clans, Nüwa severed Ao's legs to support the Four Extremes and refined stones to mend Heaven. Mystic Turtle died at her hands, and the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag should have fallen into her possession as well.

However, after Nüwa became a saint, she had scarcely fought anyone. Even if the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag had truly reached her hands, it would have had no place to be used, so naturally it never appeared in Hong Huang Zhi Zhong.

Seeing Bei Ming accept the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag, Mystic Turtle continued, "Fellow Daoist, refine it quickly. That way, when you travel outside, I can be a little more at ease.

"I have wasted away in the North Sea. As for the sights of Hong Huang Zhi Zhong, I'll have to trouble you to see them in my stead. Consider this my entrustment."

Holding the flag, Bei Ming bowed and said, "Many thanks, Fellow Daoist."

"Hahaha!" Mystic Turtle's laughter echoed across the North Sea area. "Between you and me, why speak of thanks?"

Bei Ming's gains were not limited to the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag. In Hong Huang Zhi Zhong, one had to think thrice before speaking and could not spout nonsense at will.

By accepting the flag, he had also accepted Mystic Turtle's entrustment.

A new tie had formed between Bei Ming and Mystic Turtle, adding another strand of karma between them.

Originally, when Di Jun and Tai Yi forced Kun Peng to join the Demon Race, it was not merely because they wanted to take in a high-level combatant whose true form perfectly matched the definition of a demon.

The deeper reason was that Kun Peng had recruited followers in the North Sea and carved out his own domain. This posed a slight threat to Di Jun's rule.

As an Innate God, unless one chose to join the Demon Race, one would never define oneself as a demon.

By Di Jun's definition of the Demon Race, Kun Peng's subordinates were all demons. Yet they belonged to Kun Peng, so naturally they would not regard themselves as members of the Demon Race.

If Di Jun wanted to become lord of Hong Huang Zhi Zhong, he at least had to properly rule his own Demon Race first.

Therefore, Kun Peng, who had built up forces in the North Sea, engaged in regional separatism, and occupied luck, had to be eliminated!

As for whether he would be killed or enslaved, that depended on whether Kun Peng was a worthy hero.

After all, those who understand the times are heroes.

Clearly, Kun Peng understood the times very well. After getting beaten up, he joined the Demon Race, created Demon Script, and became the Demon Teacher.

Writing was exceedingly important to inheritance, and the merit from this would not be small.

Perhaps it was precisely this merit that allowed Kun Peng to escape smoothly during the final battle, becoming one of the few surviving high-level figures from both sides of the Calamity of the Witches and Demons.

The current Bei Ming had no desire to repeat Kun Peng's original mistakes.

With Mystic Turtle's entrustment, together with Kun Peng's own luck, he could justifiably represent the north of Hong Huang Zhi Zhong—just as Zhunti and Jieyin always spoke of nothing but the West.

There were many ways to obtain luck.

First, every Cultivator between Heaven and Earth carried more or less luck of their own.

The Wu Clan and Demon Race gathered and developed their clans, bringing luck together.

Establishing a religion and preaching the Dao could also obtain luck.

As the lord of one side, one likewise possessed luck.

All these things intersected; they were not absolutely mutually exclusive.

Standing upon Mystic Turtle's back, Bei Ming casually set up a defensive formation to avoid being disturbed.

Then, he began focusing on refining the spiritual treasure.

When traversing Hong Huang Zhi Zhong, spiritual treasures were themselves part of one's strength and an important consideration in assessing combat strength.

In Hong Huang Zhi Zhong, spiritual treasures were divided into innate and postnatal.

Innate Spiritual Treasures were nurtured by Heaven and Earth; Postnatal Spirit Treasures were mostly forged.

Because treasures like the Qiankun Cauldron, capable of reverting the postnatal to the innate, existed, Innate Spirit Treasures did not have any fixed quantity.

A Spirit Treasure's grade depended mainly on how many Restrictions it contained;

To use a Spirit Treasure, one first had to refine its Restrictions, unless its owner opened the Restrictions and lent it out.

Supreme Treasures possessed forty-nine Restrictions;

Top-grade Spirit Treasures contained between thirty-seven and forty-eight Restrictions;

High-grade Spirit Treasures contained between twenty-five and thirty-six Restrictions;

Mid-grade Spirit Treasures contained between thirteen and twenty-four Restrictions;

Low-grade Spirit Treasures contained between one and twelve Restrictions.

A Spirit Treasure's might was affected by its grade, and postnatal treasures were not necessarily weaker than innate ones.

As Postnatal Supreme Treasures, the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Exquisite Pagoda and the Hongmeng Measuring Ruler stood on par with Innate Supreme Treasures;

Even among Innate Spirit Treasures, few could rival the might of the Fan Tian Yin;

The power of a Postnatal Spirit Treasure depended mainly on its refinement methods and materials.

What made Innate Spirit Treasures superior to Postnatal Spirit Treasures was the Laws they contained, as well as their Innate Undying Spirit Light.

When refining an Innate Spirit Treasure, one could comprehend the Laws within it, aiding one's cultivation of that path;

At the same time, due to the Innate Undying Spirit Light, even if an Innate Spirit Treasure was damaged, it could draw upon the power of heaven and earth to repair itself;

Even if its "form" were utterly destroyed, it would merely return to heaven and earth and be conceived anew. When the time was right, it would emerge once more to seek out Fated Ones.

As one of the Innate Five Directions Flags, the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag contained forty-seven innate Restrictions. Its defensive power was formidable, and it also possessed the might to command Myriad Waters;

Even among the many Innate Spirit Treasures, it ranked near the very top. Though it could not contend head-on with the Chaos Bell, it would not be easily breached either; holding out against it for a while was still possible.

Besides, even if Emperor Taiyi of the East could refine the Chaos Bell, with his Quasi-Saint cultivation, he could not possibly unleash the full might of an Innate Supreme Treasure.

Bei Ming raised the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag and began refining the Restrictions within;

With the cultivation of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, one could completely refine a Top-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure;

In the future, the method of Cutting off the Three Corpses passed down by Hongjun would require Innate Spirit Treasures to house the Three Corpses;

To meet that requirement, one had to at least complete the refinement of the Spirit Treasure.

Bei Ming's innate origin was Kun Peng. Kun Controls Water, Peng Controls Wind, and he was proficient in the Water Law and Wind Law;

As the Northern Flag, the Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag likewise contained the Water Law;

When the Laws of a Cultivator and a Spirit Treasure complemented one another, refinement would proceed far more smoothly.