Prodigy Island, Dao Canon Tower

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Lu He withdrew his attention from the blank page, a trace of barely perceptible disappointment flickering through his eyes.

A single scale alone could transform into a vast lake.

He did not need to think with his feet to know that some terrifying existence lay behind it.

Thus, the instant the Golden Book gave its reminder, Lu He did not hesitate in the slightest. He immediately activated the remaining blank pages in the Golden Book and began copying it.

Though it was called copying, the Golden Book was actually doing the projection itself.

Lu He did not need to spend any extra effort.

Only—

"Three hours, 0.01%... This copying and evolution speed..."

He sighed softly.

His thoughts returned to reality.

The spirit vessel had already entered the White-Scale Lake region. After making a turn, it shot directly toward an unremarkable-looking island at the edge.

Another half hour passed.

Bang—

The spirit vessel trembled slightly, and a grand voice rang out.

"We have arrived. Get off the spirit vessel."

At once, young figures descended the stairs in orderly succession.

Lu He walked at the very back. Without realizing it, he took a deep breath of the warm, cool air, which was saturated with dense water-aspected spiritual energy.

Behind him stretched a lake surface reaching all the way to the horizon, its waves glittering.

Through the water, he could vaguely make out several giant shrimp over a zhang long, waving their massive pincers as they swam merrily about.

Before him—

Lu He gazed into the distance with all his might. What entered his sight were towering mountain ranges one after another, broad rivers flowing out from deep within the mountains and into White-Scale Lake.

"What a huge island!"

He marveled inwardly.

When he had first seen it from the spirit vessel, the island had seemed inconspicuous amid White-Scale Lake.

Yet as the vessel drew closer, Lu He discovered that it was astonishingly vast.

"Fellow Daoist Jiu, your Azurehold Herb Garden was the last to arrive. You made me wait more than two hours."

A voice that sounded half-complaint, half-teasing suddenly exploded beside everyone's ears.

Everyone followed the voice and looked over.

They saw a burly man in a black Daoist robe patterned with swords emerge at some point from a three-story bronze pavilion in the distance.

In merely two or three strides, he abruptly appeared before them.

"Haha, a few matters delayed us. I hope Fellow Daoist Yan will forgive me. Once I finish my work after a while, I'll treat you to immortal music at Fragrant Addition Tower. How does that sound?"

The man in azure robes on the spirit vessel explained apologetically.

"Then it's settled," the burly man said, his eyes lighting up as he grinned. "I'm not picky. Either Fairy Baixiang or Fairy Lingshan can come up to the tower and play the zither."

"Fellow Daoist truly knows how to set difficult problems... Fine, we shall do as you say. But you must take better care of these seeds from our Medicine Garden."

"Easy, easy~"

Before long.

The spirit vessel rumbled faintly, turned into a streak of azure light, and vanished directly into the depths of White-Scale Lake.

"Little ones, come collect your identity jade plaques."

The burly man swept his gaze over the crowd and spoke indifferently before turning toward the distant three-story bronze pavilion.

"Name?"

"Lu He."

"Alright, here is your identity jade plaque. Do not lose it. Senior Brother Jin is waiting for you in Room Three, Grade A. Hurry over."

"Thank you, Fairy."

Lu He accepted the jade plaque and cupped his hands in thanks toward the gentle woman before him, whose hair was arranged in a cloud-like bun.

"What a sweet-talking little fellow."

The gentle woman's eyes curved into crescents as she waved. "Go on, go on. That fellow Jin Xingjian is rather careless. If there is anything you do not understand, come back and ask your elder sister."

"Thank you, Elder Sister."

Lu He agreed with a smile, then headed directly deeper into the pavilion.

Following the signs, he found the one marked "Room Three, Grade A" and pushed open the door. Quite a few seeds had already gathered inside, talking softly in groups of two or three. The atmosphere was rather lively.

He casually found a place to sit and quietly closed his eyes to rest.

Not even two quarters of an hour later.

Ahem! Ahem!

The burly man pushed open the door and cleared his throat.

The room instantly became so silent that a needle dropping could be heard.

"Very good." Satisfied, he nodded and introduced himself. "My surname is Jin. In the future, all of you will be the backbone of the various forces within the city, so for now, call me Senior Brother Jin."

"Greetings, Senior Brother Jin."

Everyone in the room spoke in response.

Seeing this, Senior Brother Jin could not help but smile. Then, as though recalling something, his expression turned solemn.

"Enough idle chatter. Let me first introduce the island's rules."

"This island is called Prodigy Island. As its name suggests, it is where the various forces of Everharvest City cultivate prodigies. You are considered the first generation of disciples."

"The island's rules are not complicated. They could even be called simple—Dao Merit is everything! The cave abodes you live in, the Qi-Feeding inheritances you choose, spells, even pills and Dharma artifacts, all require Dao Merit."

"As for how to obtain Dao Merit?"

He paused, and his tone abruptly turned cold.

"There are three sources. First, hunt Demon Race cultivators. Bring back valuable materials from their corpses and sell them to the Dao Merit Tower in exchange for Dao Merit. As for what materials are valuable, you will learn on your own once you move into your cave abodes."

"Second, enter the Void Mirage Realm. You may explore that yourselves from within your cave abodes."

"Third, complete the various tasks issued by the Dao Merit Tower."

Having said that, Senior Brother Jin swept his gaze over the many seeds seated below, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Let me remind you: no matter which method you choose, slaughter will be unavoidable—unless one of you possesses a talent for alchemy, artifact forging, talisman crafting, or formation crafting. In that case, pretend I never said this."

"So—"

"Those of you still in the Foundation Establishment stage should open your Vermilion Essence Springs and enter the Qi-Feeding Realm as soon as possible over the next few days. Otherwise, you will learn what it means to find every step difficult."

"Having a flawless foundation would naturally be best, but if it truly cannot be done, there is no need to cling to it. When you open the Crimson Palace Sea Secret Realm at the fourth level of Qi-Feeding, there have also been those who rose later and surpassed those before them."

"..."

Half an hour later.

"That is all. How far you can go from here depends on your own fortune."

After Senior Brother Jin gave everyone a meaningful glance, he pushed open the door and left.

Inside the room, the seeds looked at one another, momentarily at a loss.

But the next instant—

The door was pushed open again. Senior Brother Jin returned with an embarrassed smile.

"I forgot the most important matter."

"Remember this well: three months from now, anyone who cannot pass the fifth Ancient Demon Pass will be eliminated and must leave Prodigy Island. Furthermore, eligibility to exchange for all kinds of inheritances is directly tied to your progress in the Ancient Demon Pass."

"The Ancient Demon Pass is within the Void Mirage Realm. Explore it yourselves."

The moment those words came out.

Quite a few seeds felt their hearts tighten, then cursed inwardly in unison.

Damn your mother, how could you nearly forget something this important?

Before long.

The seeds dispersed one after another.

In the open space outside the three-story bronze pavilion.

"Brother Lu, we're planning to choose our cave abodes first. Would you like to come with us?" Deng Huo asked Lu He in the distance with a smile.

Behind him stood another seven people, including Zheng Jingren.

"No." Lu He smiled and shook his head.

Apparently not expecting to be refused.

A trace of displeasure immediately flashed through Deng Huo's eyes, though it was quickly concealed. He then smiled and cupped his hands in farewell. "In that case, we'll head over first."

Where he stood.

"According to Senior Brother Jin, twenty Dao Merit is enough to exchange for a low-grade Qi-Feeding Realm cultivation method. I should first go take a look at the Dao Canon Tower."

Lu He withdrew his gaze from Deng Huo and the others, then looked toward a pavilion in the southwest.

His fingertips lightly rubbed the identity jade plaque.

The words "Twenty Dao Merit" were clearly inscribed upon it.

Evidently, every seed who entered Prodigy Island had one.

It was truly embarrassing. He, the mighty Immortal Master Lu, did not even possess a formal Qi-Feeding cultivation method.

At that thought.

Lu He abruptly quickened his pace.