There were only a few potentially viable ways to obtain Merit and Fortune, and all of them were clumsy methods:
First, after the Dragon-Han Calamity Cycle, fewer than one in ten thousand living beings remained in the Primordial World, and inheritances had been lost. If he spread teachings among all beings of the Primordial World and hastened its prosperity, he would certainly gain Merit and Fortune.
But he was not a Primordial Golden Immortal, much less a Hunyuan Great Firmament. The scope of his teachings was limited, as were the number and cultivation of the beings who could hear them. Naturally, the Merit and Fortune he could gain would also be limited.
Second, the Three Clans War of the Dragon-Han Calamity Cycle had affected the entire Primordial World. Some places had been tainted by resentment and baleful qi, becoming lands of death. Some mountains, rivers, and Earth Veins had shattered, while the Dao Rhyme Spiritual Essence of entire regions had drained away... If he could restore and govern them, he would certainly gain Merit.
But likewise, because his cultivation was limited, the speed at which he could cleanse them was limited, and so were the Merit and Fortune he could gain.
Reading Taiwan Novels Network in his spare time was exceptionally pleasant.
Third, most of the Earth Veins of the Western Continent had been blown apart by Rahu, and demonic qi and baleful qi might still linger there. On the Northern Continent, because ferocious beasts had ravaged the land during the Calamity Cycle of Ferocious Beasts, most of the Dao Rhyme Spiritual Essence contained within its Earth Veins had been devoured, while what remained had been polluted. After the Ferocious Beast Dynasty was exterminated, the baleful qi from the countless ferocious beast corpses further polluted the north.
If either of those two places could be restored and governed, it would likely allow any living being to ascend to heaven in a single step, attaining the Dao through Merit and becoming a Sage.
But even after attaining the Dao and becoming a Sage, restoring and governing those two places would not be easy.
With his cultivation, the speed at which he could restore them was limited, so the Merit and Fortune he could gain would naturally be limited as well.
Still, no matter how limited it was, Yuan Yan intended to give it a try—especially the Western Continent.
In the original course of fate, the reason Jieyin and Zhunti could attain the Dao and become Sages was because they possessed the Fortune of the West and bore the heavenly mandate to revive it.
Though he had taken form and been born on Mount Buzhou, he believed that the Primordial World was one whole. There was no reason he could not be a being of the West, nor was there any reason he could not strive for the West's revival.
If he worked for the revival of the West and regarded himself as a being of the West, then taking a Sage Position for himself was not excessive, was it?
Although they had decided to travel abroad, Yuan Yan and the other three did not immediately set out. Instead, they first devoted themselves to further refining the Innate Spiritual Treasures in their hands, deepening their control over them.
Aside from the Nine Heavens Breath Soil, which Yuan Yan had already refined, the seven innate gourds had all been nurtured by their true body, the Primordial Gourd Vine. Their connection to them was simply too close, so refining the Innate Divine Restrictions within the innate gourds came naturally.
In less than one yuanhui, all four of them had refined and mastered the innate gourds in their hands to the utmost extent their current cultivation realms allowed.
After making arrangements at their birthplace and carrying most of the valuable items with them, Yuan Yan and the other three finally left it.
The moment they stepped beyond the range covered by the Primordial Formation, Yuan Yan and the others felt a familiar, heavy Pangu Pressure, along with the terrifying Dao Rhyme of the Great Dao of Force.
If outsiders came here, even Great Firmament Golden Immortals would be greatly affected, losing more than half their combat strength.
However, because they were Innate Divines born on Mount Buzhou, Pangu Pressure was like a gentle breeze brushing their faces and had no effect on them.
Of course, if they wished to experience the majesty of Pangu Pressure, they could do so by actively drawing it in and resisting it with their own Dao.
Yuan Yan and the other three exchanged glances and understood one another's intentions. They all manifested their own Dao, actively drawing in Pangu Pressure to contend against it. At the same time, they comprehended the Dao Rhyme of the Great Dao of Force, using it to evolve and perfect their own Great Dao.
The four then parted ways, climbing Mount Buzhou from four different directions in an attempt to reach its summit.
Naturally, they did not forget to spread out their divine senses, searching for and claiming opportunities of Creation Dao.
Because Mount Buzhou was permeated by incomparably dense Pangu Pressure, ordinary flowers, grasses, trees, birds, beasts, insects, and fish simply could not survive there. Mount Buzhou appeared exceedingly barren.
Yet precisely because of this, anything that could survive on Mount Buzhou was far from ordinary.
Mount Buzhou truly deserved to be called the foremost divine mountain of the Primordial World. Formed from Pangu's spine, it contained countless heavenly materials, earthly treasures, and opportunities of Creation Dao.
As Yuan Yan climbed upward, he obtained an unknown number of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
Most of these heavenly materials and earthly treasures had been born from the interaction of laws and even Great Daos, containing traces of laws or Great Daos to varying degrees. In terms of rank, they were all at least at the Profound Immortal level or above.
Although, aside from a very few, these heavenly materials and earthly treasures were useless to him.
Still, thinking of the environment of the Primordial World in later ages, Yuan Yan adhered to the principle of not wasting anything and collected every heavenly material and earthly treasure he encountered.
Of course, Yuan Yan did not go too far. Whenever something could leave behind roots, he left them behind. He did not act like some transmigrators in Primordial World novels, who not only took everything but scraped the ground bare.
That was simply treating one's own path of Dao cultivation as a joke. Taking some spirit herbs and spirit roots was one thing, but scraping the ground bare and destroying the Dao Rhyme Spiritual Essence of an entire region would burden one with endless karmic force, hindering cultivation and severing one's Dao path.
However, what disappointed Yuan Yan was that after climbing Mount Buzhou for tens of thousands of years, whether because his Fortune was insufficient or for some other reason—
He had yet to encounter a Primordial Formation, much less obtain an Innate Spiritual Treasure or Innate Spiritual Root.
Heaven never fails those who persevere!
After tens of thousands of years of climbing, he had finally gained something!
Ten thousand years later, Yuan Yan stopped before an enormous boulder that appeared utterly unremarkable. He flicked his finger, and a streak of light struck the empty space before him.
"Buzz!"
In an instant, ripples spread across the void, and a Primordial Formation manifested, blocking the streak of light Yuan Yan had casually sent forth.
"It really is a Primordial Formation!"
At the sight of the Primordial Formation, a glimmer of delight flashed through Yuan Yan's eyes.
The existence of a Primordial Formation was often accompanied by an Innate Spiritual Treasure or an Innate Spiritual Root.
Of course, it was also possible for an Innate Divine to be within! But he should not be that unlucky!
The Primordial Formation before him was of no low rank, so the treasure within was certainly extraordinary.
Yuan Yan first examined the Primordial Formation carefully for a while before preparing to break it.
In the Primordial World, there were only two methods of breaking formations. The first was to break them by force, using overwhelming strength to forcibly shatter the formation and take the treasure serving as its formation eye.
Though this method was simple and direct, it was extremely likely to damage the treasure within the formation eye.
Moreover, Primordial Formations generally relied upon heaven and earth to evolve. Breaking one by force would certainly cause some damage to heaven and earth, burdening one with karmic force. Though it would not be much, it was best avoided whenever possible.
Thus, unless they had no other choice, beings of the Primordial World generally would not use this method.
The second method was to comprehend the formation, analyze its operating laws, and use a single point to break through the whole formation.
Though this method took longer, comprehending and analyzing a formation's operating laws could deepen one's understanding of laws and Great Daos. Beings of the Primordial World generally used this method.
Yuan Yan threw out the Myriad Dao Primordial Gourd and casually evolved a simplified version of the Primordial Yin-Yang Great Evolution Formation, preventing sudden mishaps from interrupting him while he focused entirely on comprehending the formation and leaving him vulnerable to a sneak attack.
He then sat down cross-legged, extended his divine sense, touched the Primordial Formation, and began comprehending the formation before him.
Before you continue