Taking On the East Sea

"This opportunity won't be easy to seize!" Yuan Yan and the other three first deduced and investigated the details of several regions awaiting restoration, then gathered once more in the void, unable to help feeling somewhat hesitant.

Just because clearing and restoring the Three Clans' battlefields had brought them immense gains did not mean this was also a good job.

In truth, it was basically grueling labor!

The Three Clans' battlefields he had cleared and restored were still manageable. Although his overall efficiency in comprehending the Dao and cultivating during that time had been lower than when he cultivated single-mindedly, the difference had not been too great.

Moreover, there had been countless gains, more than enough to make up for the decline in cultivation efficiency, with benefits far outweighing the drawbacks.

As long as they occasionally expended some merit to assist their comprehension of the Dao and cultivation, their efficiency could become no worse than that of uninterrupted secluded cultivation, perhaps even surpassing it.

But if they cleared and restored other places without sufficient resources, it would certainly consume both time and effort. Even if they could obtain Heavenly Dao merit, they would neither lose out nor profit.

For example, when repairing and reconnecting earth veins, if he had enough resources—such as the Yin-Yang Origin Power refined through his own Yin-Yang Great Dao—he could easily mend the cracks and fissures in the earth veins and restore them to wholeness.

But without such resources, he could only repair them with the power of his own Great Dao. That would require him to exhaust his strength time and again, then spend vast amounts of time drawing in energy to recover it before continuing the repairs. Would the time and effort spent not be dozens of times greater?

Over such a long period, his efficiency in comprehending the Dao and cultivating would plummet, perhaps leaving him unable to cultivate at all. Even if he gained some Heavenly Dao merit, it might not make up for the lost cultivation efficiency.

And even if it did make up for it, if it merely barely compensated for the losses rather than bringing sufficiently great rewards, who would be willing to toil away for so long?

Rather than cultivate single-mindedly?

Yet after pondering for a moment, Yuan Yan still decided to accept this opportunity and continue diligently clearing and restoring the Primordial World.

He had a vague feeling that the opportunity he had sensed this time was far from ordinary. It was highly likely to be a supreme-grade innate spiritual treasure, or a supreme-grade innate spiritual root.

At present, neither Yuan Jie nor Yuan Ling possessed a supreme-grade innate spiritual treasure for protection. The temptation was simply too great; he could not help but be moved, nor could he easily refuse it.

Besides, even if accepting this opportunity meant he would need to continue clearing and restoring the Primordial World in the future, that was no great concern.

They had not sworn a Heavenly Dao oath requiring them to clear and restore the Primordial World without interruption. They could work for a period, then rest for a period.

What was more, he was not the one doing the work. He had three Dao bodies, so he could have them labor diligently while he himself remained carefree and reaped the rewards without lifting a finger.

He had originally intended to travel to the Western Continent, clear and restore the Western Continent, and claim its providence in order to strive for a Saint's seat. This seemed to coincide perfectly with his plans!

As for whether it was a little improper to make Yuan Jie, Yuan Lun, and Yuan Ling work while he himself remained carefree?

Of course not!

If he did not let his Dao bodies handle the hard work, was he supposed to do it himself? Then what was the point of having Dao bodies?

Besides, if Yuan Jie, Yuan Lun, and Yuan Ling did not want to work themselves, they could simply learn from him!

He still possessed the simplified Three-House Severing Method. They could cultivate it, sever three Three-House Dao bodies, and have those three Dao bodies work in their stead.

Once his mind was made up, Yuan Yan hesitated no longer. Together with Yuan Jie, Yuan Lun, and Yuan Ling, he tore open the void. The four figures each followed the faint sense of opportunity in the darkness and headed toward its location.

Layer upon layer of ripples spread through the void above the East Sea. Yuan Yan stepped slowly out of the void and descended directly onto the East Sea. Standing upon the boundless azure waves, he looked into the distance. The East Sea was vast and limitless; even with the eyesight and divine sense of a Da Luo Golden Immortal, he could not see its end.

"This is the East Sea! My opportunity lies in the East Sea? Could it be the legendary Three Immortal Isles Overseas?" At this thought, Yuan Yan's eyes lit up.

The Three Immortal Isles Overseas referred to the three islands of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. It was said that Penglai had been obtained by Dongwang Gong and served as the main headquarters of his Immortal Court. After the Immortal Court was destroyed, Penglai became a gathering place for overseas wandering immortals. As for Fangzhang and Yingzhou, they seemed to be ownerless, yet they also seemed to have been obtained by Dongwang Gong.

Furthermore, many people speculated that the Three Immortal Isles Overseas contained great treasures. Treasures such as the World-Purifying White Lotus, Yellow Central Plum, Grandmist Measuring Ruler, Five-Needle Pine, and others might be located upon those islands.

And because Fangzhang and Yingzhou had never appeared in the world, those great treasures had likewise remained hidden.

Though he did not know whether that was true, if it was, then he would truly strike it rich this time.

Even if it was not true, the Three Immortal Isles Overseas would surely have nurtured supreme-grade innate spiritual treasures or supreme-grade innate spiritual roots. Moreover, they were among the finest blessed grotto-heavens in the world, exceptional places for a Daoist sanctuary.

"Whether they are or not, I'll know once I find them!" Yuan Yan thought.

After pausing for only an instant, he followed that faint, almost imperceptible sense of opportunity and continued flying toward the depths of the East Sea.

The East Sea had originally been the Dragon Clan's stronghold among the three innate clans. At the height of its power, the Dragon Clan had been incomparably domineering and had never permitted creatures from other regions to set foot within its territory lightly.

But now, after the Dragon-Han Calamity, although some Dragon Clan experts remained, most could no longer move freely. The clan had long since declined, no longer what it had once been. They could only huddle beneath the seas of the Four Seas and lick their wounds. They lacked even the strength to restrain the various scaled clans after those clans broke away from the Dragon Clan to establish themselves, much less the confidence or ability to forbid outsiders from entering the East Sea.

Furthermore, Yuan Yan deliberately released the aura of a Da Luo Golden Immortal, blanketing the surrounding region. Along the way, every sea creature that sensed such pressure lay low and retreated. Not one dared step forward to obstruct him. In less than a month, Yuan Yan smoothly arrived at the destination indicated by his senses.

But the moment he stopped, Yuan Yan's brows drew together, and his expression abruptly turned grave.

He suddenly discovered that the location he had sensed earlier had shifted. That trace of opportunity seemed not to be here at all, but had instead turned toward another direction.

Though doubts arose in his heart, Yuan Yan did not dwell on them. He immediately changed direction and continued flying toward the new point of sensation.

Yet when he reached the place indicated by his senses, he discovered in astonishment that the location of the opportunity was still constantly moving, elusive and uncertain.

He immediately spread out his divine sense and repeatedly searched the surrounding hundreds of millions of li of sea, yet found nothing.

He even activated the Yinyang Divine Light, dividing it into hundreds of millions of rays of rosy light and covering the entire sea region for tens of billions of li around him. He conducted a saturated probing attack with his divine ability, yet there was still not the slightest reaction. No innate formation blocked the divine light, nor did any treasure's spiritual radiance reveal itself.

Fortunately, his Yinyang Divine Light could change at will. Within a year, it could destroy an entire region, yet it could also evolve boundless vitality. When it descended into the East Sea, it did not slaughter the aquatic creatures; instead, it bestowed endless fortune and life upon this stretch of sea. Otherwise, this probing would likely have created countless karmic debts of slaughter from nothing.

"What is going on?" Yuan Yan could not understand.

He had clearly sensed that the opportunity lay in this sea region, so why was its aura so elusive and constantly shifting? He had carefully searched the area inside and out several times, even covering it with a great divine ability to probe it, so why could he find no trace whatsoever and receive not the slightest response?