Changbai Mountain's Great Void Palace, Seeking Opportunity in the East Sea

Bei Ming's magic power surged at his fingertips, grinding its True Spirit into extinction.

Thus, Ice Soul Daoist, an Innate God of his generation, was utterly annihilated in body and soul.

When one side perished, its karma ceased to exist.

With Ice Soul Daoist's complete fall, the karma between him and Bei Ming vanished as well.

Immediately afterward, Bei Ming began taking stock of the spoils of war from this battle.

Ice Soul Daoist was not particularly wealthy. As for the Innate Spiritual Materials on him, Bei Ming could not be bothered with them and simply tossed them into the Returning Ruins;

He had seized nine Innate Spiritual Roots: one superior-grade, two mid-grade, and six inferior-grade;

As for Innate Spirit Treasures, there were seven Inferior-Grade Innate Spirit Treasures. Bei Ming could not even be bothered to look at them and ignored them outright.

To a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, Inferior-Grade Innate Spirit Treasures were of little use.

The sole Mid-grade Innate Spirit Treasure was the Daoist Robe Ice Soul Daoist wore. It was a defensive spirit treasure, but its defensive effect was merely average;

When Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals fought, at least a Superior-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure was needed to be of any use.

Only two items remained of Ice Soul Daoist's possessions. One was the Cold Light Sword, a Superior-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure with thirty-six Restrictions.

However, Bei Ming discovered that Ice Soul Daoist had not completely refined it.

He had likely just found it in Changbai Mountain and had been in the midst of refining it when Bei Ming came knocking and interrupted him.

Perhaps the baleful qi had affected the Cold Light Sword's gestation. Otherwise, a spirit treasure nurtured by an ancestral land of spiritual veins would not have been merely superior-grade.

The other item was the Ice Soul Cold Needle;

Though it possessed only forty Restrictions, it was still a Top-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure. For the current Bei Ming, it was quite decent.

The Ice Soul Cold Needle was Ice Soul Daoist's Personal Spirit Treasure;

As an Innate God, one either had no Personal Spirit Treasure;

Or, if one did, its grade was at least top-grade. Anything lower would not be worthy.

Bei Ming looked at the Ice Soul Cold Marrow in his hand. This was Ice Soul Daoist's true body;

The two shared the Same Origin. If he fused it into the Ice Soul Cold Needle, it might be possible to improve its quality;

But to do that, he would need the Qiankun Cauldron's assistance for it to be possible.

After taking stock of the spoils of war, Bei Ming withdrew the Returning Ruins Realm Phase;

Gazing at the vast Snow Ridge along the edge of Heavenly Lake, a thought stirred in his heart, and he raised a hand to tap the void.

At once, profound patterns emerged in the air. The spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth churned violently, and a magnificent Palace rose from the ground.

Golden and jade eaves soared high, glazed Streaming Light shimmered, and the Palace presented ten thousand splendors. At its center hung a plaque:

Upon it, the three characters "Great Void Palace" slowly emerged, gathering Divine Light.

The Primordial Wilderness at this time was not without "writing," but it had never possessed a true script Commonly used among all races.

Every race had its own independent inherited symbols.

Within the memories of Innate Gods was an inherent sort of "writing," yet it was more like symbols of Dao Rhyme that could be understood but not expressed in words.

Creating a Unified Script would not be easy;

The process could not be one of forced dissemination or conquest through war. It had to receive the Heavenly Dao's recognition.

The prerequisite for the Heavenly Dao's recognition was that the script created had to withstand the weight of inheritance;

Moreover, its creator needed sufficient Luck, status, and strength to vouch for it.

Bei Ming stood before the gates of Great Void Palace and gazed into the distance at the Snowfield. Mountains and rivers of ice and snow stretched endlessly through Clouds and Mist, solemn and still.

Wind blew down from the Mountain Peak, stirring his robes.

Things had to be done one at a time. Creating writing was not something that could be rushed.

After constructing the Palace, Bei Ming once again mobilized his magic power. His hands formed seals, and Formation Patterns descended one after another, completely sealing off all of Changbai Mountain and forming a vast, intricate defensive Formation.

The appearance of a defensive Formation signified that a place had an owner;

In the Primordial Wilderness, unless one was willing to enter a Life-and-Death Struggle, no one would casually attack another's Daoist arena.

Bei Ming occupied Changbai Mountain, yet did not harm a single living creature within the mountain.

They continued as they always had;

Only, to guard against any contingency, Bei Ming set down an even more intricate defensive Formation around Heavenly Lake—Layer upon Layer, a Water Mirror sealing the heavens, Ice Crystals circling the domain, impenetrable even to a drop of water.

Once all preparations were complete, Bei Ming stepped into Great Void Palace;

The halls were silent and still;

Upon reaching the Main Hall, Bei Ming flipped his hand and conjured a Prayer Mat. He sat upon it and began refining the Ice Soul Cold Needle and the Cold Light Sword.

The baleful qi of Changbai Mountain had yet to be removed. Though he had established his Daoist arena here, it was not suitable to remain for long;

Once he finished refining the spirit treasures and enhanced his Combat strength, Bei Ming would still have to leave and seek a way to suppress the baleful qi.

Bei Ming already had some idea of his specific target.

Across the Primordial Wilderness, there were few powerful Spirit Treasures capable of suppressing baleful qi and purifying Evil Filth;

Among them, none was more renowned than—the Twelve Grade Pure World White Lotus.

Legend had it that this treasure lay on Penglai Immortal Island, one of the Three Immortal Islands. Unfortunately, it had never appeared through the Primordial Wilderness's many great calamities, and no one knew whether it could be found.

Still, Bei Ming reckoned that with his Luck, coupled with the boost from Mystic Turtle's entrustment, he should have a chance to investigate.

After all, a Spirit Treasure that had never shown itself could barely be said to have no affinity with any of the known Great Powers;

In that case, might he—a Cultivator who had not originally existed in the course of development—have a chance?

Bei Ming suppressed his thoughts and devoted himself fully to refining the Spirit Treasures.

Since Ice Soul Daoist had already perished completely, his Primordial Spirit had collapsed, his True Spirit had dispersed, and the imprint he had left within the Spirit Treasures had vanished along with them.

Thus, Bei Ming encountered no external obstacles during the refinement process.

Several thousand years later, Bei Ming had finished refining the Ice Soul Cold Needle and the Cold Light Sword.

Both Spirit Treasures contained Ice Law and were offensive Spirit Treasures;

They could somewhat make up for Bei Ming's current lack of offensive power.

The Ice Soul Cold Needle in particular was exceptionally suited for catching others off guard.

Having developed himself for a while, Bei Ming did not linger there any longer. Instead, he set off once more, leaving Changbai Mountain and heading east toward the East Sea in search of the legendary Three Immortal Islands.

Whether for Bei Ming himself or for the North of the Primordial Wilderness, the legendary Twelve Grade Pure World White Lotus was of utmost importance.

Obtaining the Pure World White Lotus would not only strengthen his own foundation, but also allow him to begin addressing the North's baleful qi problem and gain more Luck and Merit.

Changbai Mountain was not far from the East Sea. With the aid of the Free and Unfettered Journey, Bei Ming swiftly arrived at the edge of the vast, boundless East Sea.

As far as the eye could see, the East Sea's waves surged and rolled, sea and sky meeting in a single line. The Sea Breeze carried dense spiritual energy, and the spectacle was magnificent.

The Four Seas did not all have the same area. Of them, the East Sea was the most vast, and it had also been the Dragon Clan's Core Region in those days.

Bei Ming stood high in the air, his robes snapping in the wind as his Spiritual Sense spread out and began roaming over the East Sea.

Compared to the North Sea, the East Sea had more Islands, and they were more spiritually refined as well;

Mountain Floating Islands came in countless forms, spiritual veins crisscrossed throughout them, and spiritual energy rose skyward. Many Cultivators had taken form anew and cultivated there.

Yet faced with Bei Ming's Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal aura, the ants beneath the Zenith Heaven level naturally would not go looking for trouble by approaching him for conversation.

Those Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals born on the East Sea's Sea Islands had likely long since explored the East Sea, then stepped onto the mainland to contend for opportunities.

Thus far, Bei Ming had yet to encounter a single being in the Fellow Daoist Realm.