Inside the Purple Cloud Palace, the chaotic yet glittering "Jade Terrace Immortal Gathering" continued.
For the sake of Heavenly Dao Merit, the various immortal maidens were like the Eight Immortals crossing the Heavenly Dao Sea, each displaying her own divine abilities. Some performed traditional immortal dances, some demonstrated obscure divine arts, and some even refined pills and drew talismans on the spot. The entire hall seemed to have become a Primordial Chaos talent exhibition.
The disciples of the Interception Sect had yet to gather, but Sect Master Tongtian already had several registered disciples attending at his side. At this moment, three immortal maidens among the crowd stood out in particular. Though their temperaments differed, all three possessed peerless beauty. They were the Three Virtuous Ladies of Auspiciousness, who would one day become renowned throughout the Primordial Chaos—Yun Xiao, Qiong Xiao, and Bi Xiao.
Seeing that those who had performed before them had received varying amounts of merit, the three sisters discussed it and decided to do something big.
Yun Xiao brought forth the Primordial Gold Jar—perhaps an imitation, perhaps merely a fledgling prototype—its golden light dazzling. Qiong Xiao wielded the Golden Flood Dragon Scissors, phantom images dancing around it, while the Dragon Binding Rope coiled around Bi Xiao, its spiritual radiance flickering. The three sisters did not set up the infamous Nine Bends Yellow River Formation. Instead, they coordinated the phantoms of these three treasures, which would possess boundless might in the future, to develop an incomparably profound combined technique that merged attack and defense while possessing astonishing beauty!
Golden light and spiritual ropes intertwined like dragons and serpents rising from the earth, yet also like celestial maidens scattering flowers. There was grace amid the sharpness and profound principles within the slaughtering intent. Though its power was far inferior to that of later ages, its unique Dao rhythm and astonishing coordination instantly drew every eye in the hall.
On the judges' platform, Sect Master Tongtian—whom Xiao Kuang had forcibly dragged here to "observe and learn," as well as to fill out the lineup—had shown little interest until now. His half-closed eyes suddenly flew open, gleaming sharply!
"Excellent!" he could not help but shout, clapping his hands in praise. "Excellent spiritual treasures! Excellent coordination! Excellent comprehension!"
The more he watched, the more delighted he became. The sisters' combined technique subtly accorded with the mysteries of formations, yet it was uninhibited and exceptionally agile, faintly resonating with the Dao he pursued—the principle of "seizing a sliver of life." In particular, their cleverness in transforming slaughtering spiritual treasures into a different sort of beauty deeply pleased him!
Such exceptional talent has been left wandering outside. What a terrible waste! Sect Master Tongtian was instantly filled with a strong desire to recruit them. If they enter my sect and receive a little guidance, they will surely become pillars of my Interception Sect in the future! Yes! When I return, I must find out who these three immortal maidens are and bring them into my sect!
He had already begun planning how to abduct... ah, no, invite the three immortal maidens into the future Interception Sect. As for merit? That was secondary! Talent was what mattered most!
Xiao Kuang, seated in the place of honor, did not care about Dao rhythms or potential. He merely thought the glittering performance and the pretty young ladies were pleasing to the eye. With a grand wave of his hand, he announced generously:
[Perfect coordination, dazzling effects, beauty bonus! +1888 Merit!]
The enormous merit counter jumped once more, drawing envious cries from all around. The three sisters happily accepted the merit and gracefully stepped down.
Xiao Kuang continued his "foolish ruler" style of scoring, handing out Heavenly Dao Merit in torrents. Deep within his sea of consciousness, the Heavenly Dao core remained in a dormant state of "out of sight, out of mind," yet its instincts still recorded every expenditure of merit. Each expense made the sleeping code twitch faintly, as if it were bleeding.
[Merit Reserves -100... -200... -1500... -1888... Warning! Merit reserves below safety threshold!] [Beginning compulsory calculation of this "Jade Terrace Immortal Gathering's" total expenditure and... potential returns... (passively executing during dormancy)]
Yet the instant this forced calculation began, the Heavenly Dao core suddenly detected several extremely abnormal and utterly unexpected streams of data!
It discovered that as these immortal maidens of the Primordial Chaos desperately displayed themselves, shone brilliantly, and interpreted the Great Dao—even if their interpretations had gone astray—in order to compete for merit, their own fortune, spirituality, and even their comprehension of the laws of heaven and earth were being stimulated, colliding, and sublimated throughout the process!
This collective, positive—though their motives were hardly pure—activity, brimming with vitality and creativity, had invisibly and greatly promoted the "life force" and "vitality" of the Primordial Chaos world!
The Dao of yin and yang lay in harmonious union. The myriad things striving to bloom was itself a manifestation of flourishing creation!
The inspiration, skills, and even disputes and comparisons these immortal maidens erupted with for the sake of "beauty" all subtly accorded with a natural Great Dao of "competing to grow"! They expended mana and displayed their talents, yet the resulting fluctuations and Dao rhythms instead nourished this world, making the Primordial Chaos's network of laws more active, richer, and even... more stable?
And the feedback generated by such positive, fundamental promotion and replenishment on the level of the entire world was not ordinary Heavenly Dao Merit, but... Great Dao Merit—something more primordial, more precious, and something even the Heavenly Dao itself could not generate in large quantities!
Though the feedback generated by each individual immortal maiden was minuscule, the combined effect of tens of thousands of immortal maidens in the Primordial Chaos simultaneously competing so intensely formed a small but pure stream of Great Dao Merit, which quietly flowed into the Heavenly Dao's origin!
[Calculation Result: Ordinary Heavenly Dao Merit consumed: 50,000 units total.] [Great Dao Merit feedback obtained: 60,000 units total.] [Net gain: +10,000 units of Great Dao Merit!] [Conclusion: This event... has a positive net gain?! And obtained higher-tier energy?!]
The sleeping Heavenly Dao Will was forcibly "frightened" awake by this calculation result!
It "looked" at the incomparably pure Great Dao Merit flowing into its origin, then "looked" at the salted fish Dao Ancestor outside who was still handing out ordinary merit at random, then "looked" back at that inconceivable calculation result...
The Heavenly Dao core fell into unprecedented, extreme confusion and bewilderment.
Th-this... what is going on? This salted fish... recklessly messing around... squandering my ordinary merit like some prodigal... and in the end... he actually... made a profit? And he earned the more valuable Great Dao Merit?!
Where is the logic in that?! Where is the reason?! Where are the principles of the Heavenly Dao's impartiality?!
It could not understand! It simply could not understand!
It felt like a miser watching his foolish son spend money wildly outside, suffering so much heartache that he nearly died from it, only to discover that the junk his foolish son had randomly bought contained a priceless treasure, leaving him with an enormous profit instead!
Absurd! Bizarre! Utterly incomprehensible!
For the first time, deep within the Heavenly Dao's cold core, which had never experienced emotional fluctuations, there arose an extraordinarily complicated, almost comical urge to throw its head back and laugh—yet be unable to laugh at all... an utterly speechless urge to "laugh."
What kind of nonsense is this?!
It watched Xiao Kuang's prodigal expression of "I'm happy, so I'll reward them," then felt the Great Dao Merit within itself slowly and continuously increasing...
The Heavenly Dao, this supreme aggregate of rules, experienced an unprecedented, profound sense of helplessness and... a strange sense of identification?
Could this salted fish's reckless nonsense... truly accord with some deeper "Great Dao" that even I cannot understand?
[...((′-﹏-`;))...] [Logic module overloaded... unable to analyze... attempting to accept reality...] [New strategy:... observe closely... guide in moderation... prevent irreversible damage... meanwhile... record data on all of his absurd actions... attempt to determine whether they contain unknown patterns...]
The Heavenly Dao's light brightened once more, but it no longer carried anger or despair. Instead, it was filled with an extraordinarily complicated curiosity and helplessness, as though it were observing an experimental subject.
It watched the immortal maidens below, ecstatic over receiving merit; it watched Tongtian, excited after discovering promising talents; and it watched Xiao Kuang, still scoring at random...
The Heavenly Dao silently and secretly hid away the Great Dao Merit it had just earned, then... tacitly allowed this absurd "Jade Terrace Immortal Gathering" to continue.
It even... somewhat looked forward to this salted fish coming up with something else next time? Of course, the moment that thought emerged, the Heavenly Dao forcibly suppressed it. It was far too dangerous!
A prodigal could apparently build wealth too? This salted fish Dao Ancestor's methods were truly wild.
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