"This opportunity won't be easy to seize!" After Yuan Yan and the other three first deduced and investigated the details of several areas awaiting restoration, they gathered once more in the void, unable to help feeling somewhat hesitant.
Just because clearing and restoring the Three Clans Battlefield had brought him immense benefits did not mean this was a good job as well.
In truth, it was basically hard labor!
The Three Clans Battlefield he needed to clear and restore was manageable. Although his overall efficiency in comprehending the Dao and cultivating during that time was lower than when he focused solely on cultivation, the difference was not too great.
Moreover, the many gains he obtained were more than enough to compensate for the decrease in cultivation efficiency, with the benefits far outweighing the drawbacks.
As long as they occasionally expended some Merit to assist their comprehension and cultivation, their efficiency could be no worse than if they had cultivated in seclusion without interruption, perhaps even better.
But clearing and restoring other places would be time-consuming and laborious without sufficient resources. Even if they could obtain Heavenly Dao Merit, they would neither lose out nor gain much.
For example, repairing ley lines. With enough resources, such as Yin-Yang Source Power refined from his own Yin-Yang Dao, he could easily mend the cracks and fractures in the ley lines and restore them to wholeness.
But without it, he could only use the power of his own Dao to repair them. That would require him to exhaust his strength countless times, then spend vast amounts of time repeatedly absorbing energy to recover before continuing. The time and effort required would be dozens of times greater, at the very least.
Over such a long period, his efficiency in comprehending the Dao and cultivating would plummet, perhaps even making cultivation impossible. Even if he gained some Heavenly Dao Merit, it might not be enough to make up for the loss in cultivation efficiency.
And even if it could make up for it, if it only barely compensated for the loss rather than bringing sufficiently great rewards, who would be willing to toil for so long?
Instead of cultivating in seclusion?
After pondering for a moment, however, Yuan Yan still decided to accept this opportunity and continue diligently clearing and restoring the Primordial World.
He had a vague feeling that this opportunity was anything but 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 even a single Supreme-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure. The temptation was simply too great for him not to be moved, much less refuse it lightly.
Besides, even if accepting this opportunity meant he would need to continue clearing and restoring the Primordial World in the future, that was no issue.
They had not sworn a Heavenly Dao oath requiring them to clear and restore the Primordial World without pause forever. They could work for a while, then rest for a while.
More importantly, he was not the one doing the work. He had three avatars, so he could have them labor diligently while he himself remained carefree and reaped the rewards.
He had already planned to travel to the Western Continent, clear and restore it, and seize the Fortune of the Western Continent in hopes of obtaining a Sage Position. This seemed to coincide perfectly with his plans!
As for whether it was somewhat improper to let Yuan Jie, Yuan Lun, and Yuan Ling work while he remained carefree?
Of course not!
If he did not make his avatars do the hard work, was he supposed to do it himself as the true body? Then what was the point of having avatars?
Besides, if Yuan Jie, Yuan Lun, and Yuan Ling did not want to work themselves, they could simply follow his example!
He still possessed the simplified Three-House Severing Method. They could cultivate it and sever three Three-House Avatars, letting those avatars work in their stead.
Having made up his mind, Yuan Yan no longer hesitated. He immediately tore through the void together with Yuan Jie, Yuan Lun, and Yuan Ling. The four figures followed their vague senses of opportunity toward its location.
Ripples spread through the void above the East Sea. Yuan Yan slowly stepped out of the void and descended directly over the East Sea. Standing atop the boundless azure waves, he looked into the distance. The East Sea stretched endlessly before him; even with the eyesight and divine sense of a Great Firmament Golden Immortal, he could not see its end.
"This is the East Sea! My opportunity is in the East Sea? Could it be the legendary Three Immortal Isles Overseas?" Yuan Yan's eyes lit up at the thought.
The Three Immortal Isles Overseas referred to Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou. Legend had it that Penglai belonged to Dongwang Gong and served as the headquarters of his Immortal Court. After the Immortal Court fell, Penglai became a gathering place for wandering immortals overseas. As for Fangzhang and Yingzhou, they seemed ownerless, though they also seemed to have been obtained by Dongwang Gong.
Many people also speculated that the Three Immortal Isles Overseas contained precious treasures such as the World-Purifying White Lotus, Yellow Central Plum, Grandmist Measuring Ruler, and Five-Needle Pine—treasures that might be located on those islands.
And because Fangzhang and Yingzhou had never appeared in the world, those precious treasures had remained hidden as well.
Although he did not know whether that was true, if it was, he would strike it rich this time.
Even if it was not true, the Three Immortal Isles Overseas would surely contain Supreme-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasures or Supreme-Grade Innate Spiritual Roots. Moreover, they were among the finest Cave Heavens in the world, excellent places to establish a Daoist abode.
Whether it is or not, I'll know once I find it!
After pausing briefly, he followed that faint, indistinct sense of opportunity and continued flying toward the depths of the East Sea.
The East Sea had originally been the stronghold of the Dragon Clan among the Primordial Three Clans. At the height of its power, the Dragon Clan had been incomparably domineering and never allowed living beings from other regions to enter lightly.
But now, after the Dragon-Han Calamity, although some Dragon Clan experts remained, most could no longer move about freely. The clan had long since declined and was no longer what it had once been. It could only huddle at the bottom of the Four Seas, licking its wounds. It did not even have the strength to control the scaled races that had broken away from the Dragon Clan to establish themselves independently, much less the confidence to forbid outsiders from entering the East Sea.
Furthermore, the aura of a Great Firmament Golden Immortal that Yuan Yan deliberately released enveloped the surrounding area. Along the way, every sea-dwelling being that sensed such pressure hid and avoided him. None dared step forward to obstruct him. In less than a month, Yuan Yan successfully arrived at the destination indicated by his senses.
But the instant he stopped, Yuan Yan frowned slightly, and his expression abruptly turned solemn.
He discovered that the location he had sensed earlier had shifted. That trace of opportunity did not seem to be here anymore, but had instead turned toward another direction.
Though puzzled, Yuan Yan did not dwell on it. He immediately changed direction and continued flying toward the new point indicated by his senses.
Yet when he arrived at the location, he was stunned to discover that the place where the opportunity lay 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 radiant beams that enveloped several tens of billions of li of sea. He probed the area with an all-encompassing display of divine power, but still received no response. No Primordial Formation blocked the divine light, nor did any treasure reveal its spiritual radiance.
Fortunately, his Yinyang Divine Light could transform according to his will. Within a year, it could destroy an entire region, yet it could also give rise to boundless life. When it descended into the East Sea, it not only failed to slaughter the aquatic beings there, but instead added endless Creation Dao and vitality to the waters. Otherwise, this probing attempt might have created countless sins and Karmic Force out of thin air.
What is going on? Yuan Yan was perplexed.
He had clearly sensed that the opportunity was in this sea region, so why was its aura so elusive, constantly shifting locations? He had carefully searched the area inside and out several times, and even used great divine powers to conduct a wide-ranging probe. Why could he find no trace of it at all, without the slightest response?
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