Mysterious Art, Sixth Turn

"Elder Brother, I see that Minghe's Dao rhythm is complete. He is only one opportunity away from becoming a quasi-saint," Yuanshi Tianzun transmitted.

"No, Second Brother, you are mistaken. Minghe can already sever his corpse. Look closely—his Dao rhythm is not merely complete; it already feels as though it is overflowing. If not for the emergence of Penglai Immortal Island, Minghe would likely have severed his corpse already."

"He is actually half a step ahead of Third Brother and me?"

Laozi nodded.

"Then since Third Brother is fighting him, Elder Brother, why don't we intervene?"

"No matter. He has not taken that step yet. Third Brother will not lose."

Since Laozi had said so, Yuanshi Tianzun did not say anything further and instead turned his gaze toward Tongtian and Minghe, who were locked in fierce battle.

"Fellow Daoists, why have Fellow Daoist Tongtian and Fellow Daoist Minghe started fighting?" Zhenyuanzi, who had a good relationship with the Three Pure Ones, came over to ask.

Hongyun beside him added, "We all listened to the Dao at Zixiao Palace, so we can be considered fellow disciples. If possible, it would be better to turn weapons of war into jade and silk."

The moment this old good man Hongyun spoke, Yuanshi felt a measure of impatience rise within him. Yet out of consideration for Zhenyuanzi's sake, he could not flare up and could only reply blandly, "Treasures belong to those capable of claiming them. My Third Brother and Minghe have both taken a fancy to this spirit root. This is the best way to settle it."

Only after hearing Yuanshi's words did Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun look toward the mid-grade innate spirit root before them.

"This spirit root is indeed extraordinary! Not only is it permeated with the aura of Geng Metal, it also carries traces of a murderous aura. Even its leaves somewhat resemble sword blades," Hongyun sighed.

"Indeed! No wonder these two fellow Daoists are fighting over it!"

Once the other great powers learned that the two were fighting fiercely over such a spirit root, they immediately lost interest. They did not cultivate the Sword Dao, so this spirit root was of no use to them.

Bai Jing did not know when Minghe and Tongtian's battle ended. He only knew that the spirit root ultimately fell into Tongtian's hands.

Around a hundred years later, the great powers led by the Three Pure Ones left Penglai Immortal Island, and Bai Jing departed with them.

Bai Jing's goal had also been achieved. Seventy percent of the immortal materials and ores across Penglai Immortal Island had fallen into his pocket.

These resources were enough for Bai Jing's physical body to break through to the Golden Immortal of Primordial Unity realm by the time of Zixiao Palace's third lecture.

Afterward, Bai Jing returned to Yingzhou Immortal Island to enter seclusion.

As soon as he returned to Yingzhou Immortal Island, Bai Jing took out the Creation Jade Disc Fragment, along with the immortal materials and ores that had not been tainted by chaotic qi, and began gnawing on them directly.

As he ate, he circulated the Spirit Devouring Art. At the same time, he used the purification attribute inherent in the World-Purifying White Lotus to remove the impurities from the immortal materials and ores, retaining only the essence capable of strengthening his physical body. With the help of the Creation Jade Disc Fragment, he also began comprehending the Law of Devouring.

Thus, Bai Jing ate without pause for more than twenty thousand years.

A quantitative change gave rise to a qualitative change. One day, after swallowing a piece of ore, Bai Jing felt his physical body swell. He was overjoyed. His control over the Great Dao of Devouring had already reached thirty percent; what he lacked was only the strength of his physical body.

Thus, Bai Jing took out several hundred pieces of ore tainted by chaotic qi and swallowed them all in one gulp.

Previously, Bai Jing had not dared to directly devour ores tainted by chaotic qi. This was because chaotic qi was a level higher than the spiritual qi of the Primordial World and contained violent power. Only after Saints transformed it and smoothed away that violent power could it become spiritual qi that the beings of the Primordial World could absorb.

If one directly devoured ores tainted by chaotic qi without sufficient physical strength, it would instead backlash against one's own body.

But now, Bai Jing was only one step away from his physical body breaking through to the Golden Immortal of Primordial Unity realm. His body already felt filled to overflowing. At this time, devouring ores tainted by chaotic qi would only hasten the process of qualitative change.

The moment chaotic qi entered his body, Bai Jing felt immense agony, as though his body were about to burst apart.

Bai Jing immediately closed his eyes and circulated the Nine-Turn Mysterious Art, while merging his comprehension of the Great Dao of Devouring with his physical body. This allowed his body to slowly wear down the chaotic qi through the Great Dao of Devouring and ultimately complete its transformation.

Fifty thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

Bai Jing, who had sat motionless for fifty thousand years, abruptly opened his eyes. A terrifying suction force swept across the entire Yingzhou Immortal Island with Bai Jing at its center. The spiritual qi that had accumulated on Yingzhou Immortal Island for countless years was madly absorbed by Bai Jing.

This process continued for a hundred years before finally stopping. The sixth turn of the Mysterious Art was complete, and Bai Jing's physical body officially entered the Golden Immortal of Primordial Unity realm!

From Bai Jing's transformation until now, not even two epochs had passed in total. In two epochs, a Great Luo Golden Immortal would be secretly delighted just to break through a minor realm.

Yet Bai Jing had now stepped into the Golden Immortal of Primordial Unity realm. Though it was merely a pure physical cultivation realm, it was still an extremely terrifying feat.

Bai Jing examined himself inwardly. His control over the Great Dao of Devouring had now reached thirty-five percent. Combined with his physical body at the early stage of the Golden Immortal of Primordial Unity realm, as well as an offensive supreme treasure like the Primordial Measure of Heaven Ruler and a defensive top-grade innate spiritual treasure like the Source-Yang Cauldron, he now possessed strength enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the top great powers of Zixiao Palace led by the Three Pure Ones.

With this level of cultivation, Bai Jing was full of confidence about fighting over spiritual treasures at Treasure-Splitting Cliff that could repair his own origin.

There should be three of the Five Directional Banners atop Treasure-Splitting Cliff: the Central Wuyi Apricot-Yellow Banner, the Southern Ground-Severing Flame-Light Banner, and the Eastern Green Lotus Treasure-Colored Banner.

The Central Wuyi Apricot-Yellow Banner should have been obtained by Yuanshi Tianzun.

The Southern Ground-Severing Flame-Light Banner was obtained by Laozi.

The Eastern Green Lotus Treasure-Colored Banner, however, fell into the hands of the two Western Saints.

As for the Western Plain-Colored Cloud-Realm Banner, Hongjun would later bestow it upon Queen Mother Yaochi.

The northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner was most likely on Fangzhang Island.

Bai Jing did not wish to confront the Three Pure Ones for the time being, so his first choice was the Eastern Green Lotus Treasure-Colored Banner in the west.

Bai Jing was confident that with his current strength, together with the Primordial Measure of Heaven Ruler, defeating either one of the western pair—especially Zhunti—should be easy. But if the two joined forces against him, Bai Jing would be at a disadvantage.

At such a time, he would need a reliable ally.

The first thing that came to Bai Jing's mind was the Witch Clan. He simply did not know whether the Witch Clan and the Demon Race had begun fighting by now.

Although millet had solved the Witch Clan's food problem, the conflict between the Witch Clan and the Demon Race was not merely a matter of eating and being eaten. What the two races fought over was the position of protagonists of Heaven and Earth—the struggle for providence.

The struggle for providence between the two races was absolutely irreconcilable. The Witch Clan no longer needed to worry about food and would not hunt the Demon Race on a large scale, which merely removed one fuse that could trigger a great war. Without this fuse, there would be other fuses. The appearance of millet had only delayed the war between the two races, not erased it completely.

If the great war between the Witch Clan and Demon Race had already begun, pulling the Witch Clan in to help him would very likely drive Dijun and Taiyi to side with the western pair.

The enemy of one's enemy was one's friend. There was no way Dijun and Taiyi would fail to understand this principle.

At that thought, Bai Jing decided to first make a trip to the Witch Clan and confirm the situation.