Refining the Twelve Innate Restrictions

The Cowardly Immortal Vine lowered a few leaves as if it half-understood, then completely retracted all its aura, merging with the entire Nameless Low Mountain until not a trace of its spirit root remained.

After lecturing the Cowardly Immortal Vine, Lu Changsheng turned his head to look at the Red Sun Fruit Tree in the spirit field.

Over the past eight thousand years, the Red Sun Fruit Tree had become increasingly miraculous, with faint Mysterious Yellow patterns even emerging on its trunk.

"You too, stop growing so ostentatiously."

Lu Changsheng walked over and unceremoniously pinched off several leaves that appeared to have an excessive amount of spiritual energy.

"It doesn't matter if the fruit ripens slowly; the most important thing is not to leak even a shred of your Innate Spirit Root aura. Otherwise, if you attract those red-eyed Primordial Land Fierce Beasts, this Daoist cannot protect you."

The Red Sun Fruit Tree's branches trembled violently from being pinched, but cowed by Lu Changsheng's overbearing might, it could only aggrievedly retract its radiance, transforming back into a plain-looking, low-grade fruit tree.

After rearranging everything in the cave dwelling and ensuring not a single shred of aura leaked out, Lu Changsheng finally let out a long sigh and walked back to the White Jade Cloud Bed.

"The situation outside is already rotten to the core, but the Heavenly Dao operates in cycles; the tribulation will eventually pass."

He sat cross-legged, resting his hands naturally on his knees.

"The Mysterious Yellow Shield has already merged with my Primordial Spirit. Next, I will temper the magic treasure while striving to break through to the Mystic Immortal Great Dao."

"The Dragon-Han First Tribulation... let those Innate Divine Beings fight and scramble for it."

Lu Changsheng slowly closed his eyes, his mind sinking completely into the Great Void.

"This Daoist will just sit in this Nameless Low Mountain and watch the clouds roll and unfurl."

"When you are all dead and gone, I will come out to collect your corpses."

As the last flicker of candlelight in the cave dwelling extinguished, the Nameless Low Mountain fell once again into a deathly silence.

Beyond the heavy Three Thousand Layer Array, the firmament of the Primordial Land had been completely stained red by endless Sha Qi and blood.

The earth-shattering war between the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans had finally reached its most tragic endgame.

Boundless karmic force transformed into visible black lightning, raging madly across the horizon.

The world itself seemed to be wailing in agony amidst this quantitative tribulation.

In the mountains, there is no counting of days; when the cold ends, one does not know the year.

Ever since the day he sealed the stone gate and resolved to enter a closed-door cultivation, the Nameless Low Mountain had fallen into a long and silent passage of time.

Inside the cave, the night-luminescent pearl placed at the top emitted a soft and constant glow.

In the spirit field, the leaves of the Red Sun Fruit Tree had fallen and regrown countless times.

That Cowardly Immortal Vine, having been sternly reprimanded by Lu Changsheng, had also obediently retracted all its spiritual light, clinging to the cave wall like a lifeless piece of withered wood.

It kept its probing tendrils cautiously within a hundred-mile radius of the mountain gate, never daring to cross the line by even a single step.

One thousand years.

Three thousand years.

Ten thousand years.

A full thirty thousand years of time, like sand slipping through fingers, passed silently within the isolated Three Thousand Layer Mysterious Yellow Pure Yang Array.

Over these thirty thousand years, apart from occasionally rising to tend to the spirit field or consuming a few mutated Red Sun fruits stained with the aura of Great Dao Merit, Lu Changsheng spent the vast majority of his time sitting cross-legged on that White Jade Cloud Bed, like a golden stone statue that had remained unchanged since ancient times.

He was refining.

He was not refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but rather, bit by bit, using his own Primordial Spirit—imbued with the origin of Great Dao Merit—to thoroughly polish and fuse with the Innate Merit Mysterious Yellow Shield hovering before his chest.

Innate Spirit Treasures all have their fixed numbers, and the innate restrictions contained within them are incredibly complex.

If an ordinary True Immortal were lucky enough to obtain one, they might not be able to fully refine it to their will even after spending a hundred thousand years.

But Lu Changsheng was different.

This Mysterious Yellow Shield had been forcibly repaired by him using Great Dao Merit, and a strange, blood-linked bond had long since been established between the two.

"Hoo..."

On this day, Lu Changsheng, who had sat in silent meditation for thirty thousand years, finally exhaled a long, turbid breath.

This turbid breath transformed into a visible gray current in mid-air, but before it could touch the ground, it was directly assimilated and dissipated by the dense Earth Vein spiritual energy within the cave.

Lu Changsheng slowly opened his eyes. In those golden pupils, the weakness from forcibly extracting his origin in the past was gone, replaced by a bottomless, restrained, and profound depth.

"Thirty thousand years of painstaking effort, and the twelve innate restrictions have finally been thoroughly refined to my will."

A satisfied curve tugged at the corner of his mouth as he raised his right hand and beckoned gently.

The ancient and heavy Mysterious Yellow Shield immediately turned into a stream of light, obediently falling into his palm.

There was no resistance, nor the slightest leakage of spiritual power, as if this shield were a natural extension of his own body.

With a slight movement of his mind, the Mysterious Yellow Shield could instantly transform into a seamless Mysterious Yellow light curtain, perfectly shielding his entire being and his causal aura within.

Not only that, but thirty thousand years of constant companionship and merging of Primordial Spirits had allowed Lu Changsheng's once-fallen cultivation to be thoroughly solidified in the True Immortal mid-stage, with even half a foot stepping into the threshold of the True Immortal late-stage, all thanks to the nourishment of the profound Dao rhythm.

"As long as I have this treasure in hand, coupled with this Three Thousand Layer Array, this Nameless Low Mountain of mine can be considered the most stable and peaceful haven in this Primordial Land."

Lu Changsheng stretched his stiffened limbs, which hadn't moved for tens of thousands of years, and a series of muffled thunder-like cracks echoed throughout his body.

He slowly descended from the cloud bed and walked to the control console.

A wisp of magical power flowed from his fingertips, gently tapping on the white jade array core.

"Buzz—"

The Water Mirror technique slowly unfolded.

Through the array, Lu Changsheng saw the scene within a hundred-mile radius outside.

It was still the same desolate ruin, and the sky was a depressing shade of gray.

The Sha energy permeating the air had not only failed to decrease but had intensified several times over compared to thirty thousand years ago.

Even the perpetually howling cold winds seemed to carry faint, mournful cries of countless beings perishing before their deaths.

"It seems the tribulation outside has not only not subsided but is escalating."

Lu Changsheng looked at the heart-pounding scene in the water mirror, and instead of feeling any worry, he felt a deep sense of relief.

He patted the Cowardly Immortal Vine hanging on the rock wall and said earnestly.

"See? This is the Primordial Land."

"We've stayed in this cave dwelling for thirty thousand years, our cultivation has advanced, and our magical treasures have been perfected."

"Look at those guys outside fighting and killing each other for the world's destiny; they're probably beyond recognition by now."

"Enduring is the true way."

The leaves of the Cowardly Immortal Vine trembled slightly, as if echoing their master's wise decision.

Lu Changsheng nodded with satisfaction and turned to retrieve some immortal stones from the treasury to further reinforce the outer array.

However, the moment he turned.

Disaster struck suddenly.

There were no omens, no fluctuations of divine abilities from the clash of powerful beings.

Even the Cowardly Immortal Vine, which was usually extremely sensitive to danger, did not issue any warning.

"Boom!!!"