What a White Lotus

A heaven-shaking boom rang out, jolting Bai Jing awake from his "sleep."

Bai Jing instinctively tried to rub his eyes, only to realize that he didn't seem to have any hands. Before he could gather his wits, a flood of memories surged into the depths of his consciousness.

The earliest memories belonged to an ordinary student who had graduated from a low-ranking 211 agricultural college. After graduation, he'd passed the exam to work at the local agricultural bureau, landing himself a secure government job. He'd worked diligently for five years and was on the verge of a promotion when he went into the mountains to advise the locals on mushroom cultivation. On his way back, he was caught in a mudslide and died in his prime, at the age of thirty.

After Bai Jing died, he felt his soul being protected by something as it drifted along, on and on.

After who knew how long, Bai Jing found himself in a strange place. There, he witnessed a giant swing a great axe and slaughter the monsters surrounding him.

Then the giant swung his axe again at the chaotic world.

At that moment, Bai Jing felt something calling to him. By the time he came to his senses, he had appeared beside the giant—or, more precisely, landed on a lotus seed atop a lotus platform.

The giant glanced at Bai Jing, then paid him no further attention and continued swinging his axe, opening up the heavens and earth.

Bai Jing's soul slowly merged with the lotus seed. At the same time, he witnessed the giant create a brand-new world, and watched him sacrifice himself to bring that world into being. The lotus platform that had protected Bai Jing also fell apart as the giant opened up the heavens and earth.

As the lotus platform disintegrated, it poured the last wisp of its origin into the lotus seed Bai Jing inhabited.

The giant witnessed this scene and seemed to remember something. He summoned a ball of light, which flew away together with Bai Jing's lotus seed. Then Bai Jing lost consciousness once more.

Bai Jing's soul was far too weak; it needed a long time to slowly evolve and grow stronger.

As his soul gradually grew, the world outside underwent earth-shaking changes.

One living being after another took form. The lingering wills of the monsters slain by the giant became ferocious beasts, wreaking havoc across the world.

At that time, the Dragon-Phoenix-Qilin Tribes joined forces with numerous powerful figures to suppress the ferocious beasts.

But before long, the Dragon-Phoenix-Qilin Tribes fought one another over their share of the world's fortune, damaging the heavens and earth and incurring boundless karmic debts. In the end, they withdrew from this world.

After that, several more people fought fiercely in the Western Lands, and the victor became a saint today.

The voice that had just jolted Bai Jing awake was a magnificent Daoist proclamation from that victor.

Its sound reverberated throughout the entire world. From the foremost Great Luo experts to the lowly Celestial Immortals, everyone heard it loud and clear.

It was as if the voice came straight from within their own hearts.

As the proclamation rang out, purple qi streamed in from the east, heavenly flowers rained down, and golden lotuses sprang from the earth. An endless golden rain fell, imbued with boundless saintly power that nourished all living beings.

Above the horizon, an old Daoist holding a horsetail whisk appeared out of thin air. For a moment, everyone could see him, but in the next instant he seemed to vanish, leaving them unable to make out his features.

After an unknown length of time, a terrifying pressure spread through the world. The old Daoist then spoke. "I am Hongjun. Today, I have attained sainthood and sensed the Heavenly Dao. I wish to repay the Primordial World. Three thousand years from now, I will expound the Dao at Zixiao Palace beyond the heavens. All those fated to hear it may come."

With that, the old Daoist disappeared, as though he had never appeared at all.

At that moment, hearing the old Daoist's voice left Bai Jing completely dumbfounded.

That old Daoist was Hongjun? Then weren't the scenes in his memories of Pangu slaughtering the Three Thousand Chaos Demon Gods and creating the world?

In other words, this was the Primordial World! He'd transmigrated into the Primordial World!

And the thing that had protected his soul was the Chaos Green Lotus, one of the Primordial Treasures. His soul had merged with one of the Chaos Green Lotus's seeds, so in a sense, he was a child of the Chaos Green Lotus.

At the thought, Bai Jing's first instinct was to figure out which lotus seed he was.

Before the heavens were opened, the Chaos Green Lotus had been a Primordial Treasure. It had given birth to Great God Pangu and five lotus seeds.

One of the seeds had matured and become the Twenty-Fourth-Grade Creation Green Lotus. But without the merit of opening the heavens, it had been rejected by the world and shattered. Just then, the Three Pure Ones happened to pass by. Taiqing obtained the red flower, which had become a walking stick; Yuqing obtained the white lotus root, which had become a ruyi scepter; and Shangqing Saint obtained a sword made from the green lotus leaf. "The red flower, white lotus root, and green lotus leaf—the Three Pure Ones were one family from the start"—that was where the saying came from.

The remaining four seeds had not matured. One became the Twelve-Rank Merit Golden Lotus, one the Twelve-Rank Karmic Fire Red Lotus, one the Twelve-Rank World-Destroying Black Lotus, and one the Twelve-Rank Pure World White Lotus.

Bai Jing looked around. The place where he was had spiritual energy so thick it had turned to mist. In the distance, lofty mountains stretched on for thousands of miles, their ridges winding and rugged. Cranes flew, spirit deer ran, and great eagles spread their wings and cried out sharply. It was like an immortal paradise on earth.

Hongjun had already become a saint, so the Creation Green Lotus was probably about to become the Three Pure Ones' magic treasures. The Merit Golden Lotus was now in Hongjun's hands. The World-Destroying Black Lotus had disappeared after Luohu's defeat, while the Karmic Fire Red Lotus was in the hands of Daoist Minghe, who dwelled in the Blood Sea. That left only one unclaimed lotus: the Pure World White Lotus, which had never appeared before.

So he was a white lotus now?

At that thought, Bai Jing breathed a sigh of relief. At least he didn't have to worry about being refined into a Numinous Treasure. But soon, his heart was in his throat again.

In the Primordial World novels he'd read in his previous life, the Twelve-Rank Pure World White Lotus was on the Three Immortal Islands.

The Three Immortal Islands had originally formed from fragments of Chaos that fell into the Primordial World. They drifted unpredictably across the East Sea, concealing the secrets of heaven and lying beyond the Heavenly Dao.

After the second lecture at Zixiao Palace, the innate restrictions on Penglai Immortal Island would wear thin, preventing it from hiding itself any longer. The powerful figures of the Primordial World would discover it.

After a thorough looting, those powerful figures would leave Penglai Immortal Island.

Dong Wanggong would then occupy Penglai Island, move his cultivation ground from the Purple Manor to Penglai, and establish the Immortal Court.

The other two immortal islands were different. Yingzhou Island had never appeared, while Fangzhang Island was said to have once been occupied by Daoist Yang Mei.

Bai Jing thought it over and felt that there was a good chance he was on Yingzhou Island.

If he were on Fangzhang Island, Yangmei would have refined him into a magic treasure long ago. If he were on Penglai Island, with so many powerful figures from the Primordial World searching it later, none of them could possibly miss him. So the place he was most likely on was Yingzhou Island, which had never appeared before. That meant he was safe for now.

Next, Bai Jing needed to take human form as soon as possible. Only then could he completely avoid the fate of being refined into a magic treasure.

Fortunately, after so many years of nourishment, Bai Jing's soul had grown strong. He was already just one step away from taking form.

On top of that, Bai Jing consciously absorbed spiritual energy to strengthen himself, making the process far more efficient than absorbing it unconsciously.

And so, when the first lecture at Zixiao Palace took place, Bai Jing finally took human form.