The First Signs of Conflict Between the Sect of Elucidation and the Sect of Interception

Feeling himself advance another step in the late Golden Immortal stage, Yellow Dragon could not help sighing inwardly. "A Sage's preaching is practically a cheat code."

After every sermon, Yuanshi would lay bare countless laws and feed them to them bit by bit. Laws that had once been difficult to comprehend could now be swallowed with merely an open mouth, transformed into their own cultivation, rapidly raising their strength while keeping their foundations firm, without the slightest trace of instability.

By the time all the disciples awoke from listening to the Dao, several months had already passed.

Yuanshi, seated upon the cloud couch, said calmly, "You have only just heard the great Dao of the Sect of Elucidation. You must cultivate with focus and consolidate your foundations."

"I hope you will soon condense the Five Qi within your chests and achieve the imperishability of a Golden Immortal!"

Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable was clearly highly satisfied with these disciples. There was South Pole Immortal Elder, already a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal; Guangchengzi, in the Taiyi Realm; Yellow Dragon, at the late Golden Immortal stage; and newly accepted disciples such as Yuding and Taiyi, each with extraordinary origins and boundless fortune. Once they comprehended the Yuanshi Golden Canon and converted all their mana, they could achieve imperishability through the great Dao of the Sect of Elucidation. All of them had hopes of becoming Zenith Heaven Golden Immortals.

His gaze swept across the disciples, first falling upon South Pole Immortal Elder, lingering briefly before finally settling on Guangchengzi. "South Pole, you are already a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal. You should comprehend the great Dao and attain the Quasi-Sage realm as soon as possible."

A lamp wholly formed from glazed crystal appeared in Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable's hand. Facing South Pole, he said, "This Jade Void Glazed Lamp is a top-grade innate spiritual treasure. Ignite its wick with the power of vitality, and it can resonate with the Dao of Life, suiting your own Dao. I now bestow it upon you to protect your Dao."

"Thank you, Master, for this reward!"

Sensing the wisps of Dao charm drifting from the Jade Void Glazed Lamp, South Pole Immortal Elder respectfully bowed and slowly reached out to accept it.

Yellow Dragon looked at South Pole Immortal Elder with envy. A top-grade innate spiritual treasure—even the entire dragon race possessed only a few. As expected, the Three Pure Ones Sages were the wealthiest beings in the prehistoric world; even what they bestowed upon their disciples were top-grade innate spiritual treasures.

Under the yearning gazes of the disciples, Yuanshi slowly turned to Guangchengzi. "You have followed by my side since your birth, cultivated my Dao, and inherited my teachings. From this day forth, you shall be the senior brother of the Sect of Elucidation, in charge of the sect's rules. When I am absent, you must shoulder the duty of teaching your junior brothers."

After appointing the sect's senior brother, two streaks of treasure light flew from Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable's sleeve toward Guangchengzi.

"These are the Male and Female Swords and the Purple Ribbon Immortal Robe, both high-grade innate spiritual treasures. Cultivate and comprehend them well."

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing these treasures! This disciple will surely lead all my junior brothers in diligent cultivation of the great Dao and never tarnish Master's mighty name!"

Guangchengzi excitedly accepted the two spiritual treasures and made his pledge to Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable.

Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable nodded, then turned his gaze toward Yellow Dragon and said slowly, "You were originally a spirit awakened from an earth vein, yet you transformed into a dragon and thus bore the dragon race's karmic sins."

"Yet with great perseverance, you nurtured heaven and earth, earned the Heavenly Dao's reward, and used merit to erase those karmic sins. This accords perfectly with your Dao. In the future, you must be even more diligent in preserving the workings of heaven and earth and nurturing the thriving life of all beings."

"This Creation Gourd was obtained by your master from the innate Gourd Vine atop Mount Buzhou. It can refine all things and return them to their origins. Your master further gathered the essences of the sun, moon, and stars and refined them into it, allowing this gourd to absorb the power of the sun, moon, and stars and condense Three Lights Divine Water. It can aid you in creating all things."

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing this treasure!"

Yellow Dragon immediately accepted the Creation Gourd. Hesitating for even one ten-thousandth of a second would have been disrespectful to this spiritual treasure.

"Three Lights Divine Water—that was the number one divine water of the prehistoric world. Whether for healing injuries or nurturing spiritual roots, it was the finest divine substance."

Yellow Dragon carefully examined the Creation Gourd in his hand. The ability to Revert to Root, Return to Origin already placed it among the very finest spiritual treasures, and it could even condense Three Lights Divine Water. This water was the foremost divine water born from the condensation of heaven and earth at the dawn of the prehistoric world. Yet after several great calamities, Nuwa had used some when creating humanity, and after the Investiture of the Gods, it vanished from the world entirely.

According to legend, only Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable still possessed Three Lights Divine Water, and he had even bestowed it upon his disciple. The dew Guanyin—then still Cihang—used in Journey to the West to save Zhenyuanzi's ginseng fruit tree was in fact Three Lights Divine Water.

Otherwise, Zhenyuanzi would never have allowed his ginseng fruit tree to be so easily toppled by that Monkey Sun.

Watching Yellow Dragon continue to inspect the Creation Gourd, Yuanshi shook his head and stopped paying attention to him. He then looked toward the other disciples and bestowed several innate spiritual treasures upon each of them.

Finally, Yuanshi Heavenly Venerable said to Taiyi and the others, "You have received both Dao teachings and spiritual treasures. You should establish your own Dao grounds within these Kunlun Mountains, cultivate the great Dao, and refine your spiritual treasures. You may each choose a place where Dao charm gathers as the site of your Dao ground."

"Remember well: Kunlun has many spiritual mountains. Do not let disputes arise with your fellow disciples over this and damage the affection between fellow disciples."

Having said this, he instructed Guangchengzi and Yellow Dragon, "As senior brothers, the two of you shall take your junior brothers to seek places that please them, open cave abodes, and cultivate in peace."

"We obey Master's decree!" the disciples answered in unison.

When they left the Jade Pure Palace, they saw several hundred disciples of the Sect of Interception pouring out from the Upper Pure Palace and scattering into the Kunlun Mountains. Clearly, they shared the same purpose: selecting spiritual mountains as Dao grounds.

Seeing this, Guangchengzi, as the senior brother, naturally could not allow his own junior brothers to fall behind others. He raised a streak of escape light, wrapped Taiyi and the others within it, and sped toward the mountains.

Seeing the senior brother Guangchengzi take all the junior brothers away, Yellow Dragon was happy to have some peace and quiet. Riding an auspicious cloud, he leisurely returned to his own Dao ground.

From above the clouds, Yellow Dragon gazed upon Kunlun, which bore the presence of three Sages. Its dense spiritual energy condensed into liquid and formed mist, its Dao charm stretched on without end. Cultivating atop any random peak here far surpassed even the spiritual mountains of the outside world.

Strange flowers and exotic grasses covered the ridges, breathing out rosy light, while the scent of medicinal herbs filled the air. Immortal cranes soared through the skies, spiritual apes leaped across ravines, and strange beasts prowled in hiding—a scene of immortal splendor.

Yet as he watched disciples of the Sect of Interception, each transformed from some kind of beast, sweep through like a plague of locusts and turn stalk after stalk of immortal grass and spiritual herbs that breathed spiritual energy, along with beast after beast brimming with spiritual energy, into food for their mouths—

Yellow Dragon sighed. Before long, this Kunlun would likely become a smoky, filthy mess. Its beautiful spiritual mountain scenery would be no more.

Yellow Dragon accelerated his auspicious cloud, overtaking everyone. He began to wield his mana, transforming it into enormous palms that collected all the rarest spiritual herbs and beasts from peak after peak. He also took some of the ordinary ones and placed them in the Mysterious Yellow World, adding a little more vitality to it.

At the same time, he left behind some seeds for the native living beings of Kunlun, so that after the Three Pure Ones split apart in the future and the Sect of Interception moved away from Kunlun, they could return here to live.

After Yellow Dragon had circled half of Kunlun, he saw that many peaks had already been occupied, while he had gathered eight or nine parts out of ten of Kunlun's living beings. If he continued—

Should disciples of the Sect of Interception see him and assume he was stealing their opportunities, it might spark conflict between the two sects. Then, even if he had reason on his side, he would not be able to explain himself.

That day, just as Yellow Dragon was preparing to return to his own Dao ground, a conflict erupted among a cluster of peaks at the northwestern foot of Kunlun.

Several peaks stood there, wreathed in spiritual mist, their terrain steep and striking. Faintly, they formed the image of dragons and tigers converging. The Dao charm they contained was even a degree stronger than the mountain peak Yellow Dragon had possessed before setting up his formation.

"I discovered this place first! Why are you disciples of the Sect of Interception trying to seize it?" A sharp cry shattered the mountain's tranquility, carrying a hint of urgency.

The speaker was a middle-aged Daoist with handsome features, dressed in a spotless white Daoist robe and holding a whisk. Pure immortal light surrounded him. He was none other than Taiyi True Person, a disciple of the Sect of Elucidation.