Golden Immortal Realm

"What a fine saying: 'Clouds in the blue sky, water in the vase.'"

A faint smile seemed to touch Queen Mother of the West's face, veiled as it was by the laws of chaos.

With a gentle sweep of her sleeve, the waters of the Jade Pool parted to either side, revealing a path paved with crystal-clear ripples that led straight into the depths of the white jade palace.

"Since you too are one who pursues the Dao, follow me. The years of the prehistoric world are long, and there are few people one can truly speak with."

Yang Xuan did not stand on ceremony. He followed Queen Mother of the West onto the path across the water and entered the Jade Pool Palace, which radiated moonlike brilliance.

The palace held a world of its own within. Countless ancient jade slips and divine diagrams floated all around, while the air brimmed with an aura of Great Dao laws hundreds of times denser than outside.

The two sat facing one another at a chess table carved from a single piece of Primordial Warm Jade.

With a casual gesture from Queen Mother of the West, patterns formed from intertwining yin and yang energies appeared upon the board, like a miniature heaven and earth.

"Just now, Fellow Daoist spoke of the doctrine that nothing more can be said. Yet in my view, though the Great Dao is formless, it is not beyond words."

Queen Mother of the West lightly tapped the board with her fingertip, placing a black stone at its center.

In an instant, towering yin-Sha Qi surged around the chessboard, transforming into countless savage and vicious forms.

"Just as when heaven and earth first opened: the clear rose to become heaven, while the turbid sank to become earth. To understand how to move with heaven and uphold the order of yin and yang is also to conceal the variables of killing tribulations."

Yang Xuan looked at the situation on the board, and his heart stirred.

He understood that Queen Mother of the West was using the game to test his cultivation, while also expounding her own Dao lineage.

If he could not give her a satisfactory answer, he would surely be shown the door.

Yet after centuries of cultivation, coupled with the influence of countless masterpieces from his previous life, his perspective stood loftier still.

Yang Xuan smiled faintly. Rather than placing a stone at once, he slowly said,

"What Senior says is most true. But this junior believes that yin and yang are not opposites, but mutually generate and restrain one another.

"Just as before heaven and earth were settled, a single breath of chaos contained the Three Talents. To blindly conform is merely to drift with the current. Only by stepping beyond yin and yang can one behold true suchness."

As his words fell, Yang Xuan flicked his finger, sending a streak of seven-colored light into the chessboard.

It was not a chess piece, but a wisp of the law of "creation" that he had comprehended.

Boom!

The baleful, vicious forms upon the board were not destroyed upon touching the seven-colored light. Instead, they shed their ferocious shells and transformed into blooming golden lotuses.

Queen Mother of the West nodded slightly. With a lift of her hand, the golden lotuses and the yin-yang energies on the chessboard slowly rose, intertwining above their heads into a vast star map.

Within that map, sun, moon, and stars moved according to an ancient rhythm, faintly corresponding to the pulse of the prehistoric heaven and earth.

"Heavenly Dao is formless, yet it manifests through all phenomena. Look upon these stars, Fellow Daoist. The waxing and waning of every star corresponds to the rise and fall of a measure of fortune."

Queen Mother of the West's voice was ethereal and distant, as though she herself had become the Great Dao.

"The Purple Cloud Palace's preaching was, in truth, the Dao Ancestor plucking out a thread of heavenly opportunity for all living beings. Yet though heavenly opportunity reveals itself, whether one can seize it depends entirely on one's own fortune."

Yang Xuan fixed his gaze upon the star map, his mind wholly immersed within it.

Combining his understanding of the laws of the cosmos from his previous life with the insights he had gained in this prehistoric world, his comprehension of laws began to collide and merge wildly within his mind.

"This junior believes that though the great tide of Heavenly Dao cannot be reversed, its variables are often hidden in the smallest details."

As he continued his deductions, Yang Xuan spoke aloud.

"Just as within this star map, the seemingly fixed trajectories in truth conceal countless chaotic fates. If one can seize that wisp of change, one can carve out a Dao path of one's own amid the torrent of the great tribulation!"

As his words fell, the mana within him began to circulate wildly at an unprecedented speed.

The origin of the Primordial Gourd Vine trembled violently within his sea of consciousness. The embryonic form of the Seven-Colored Divine Light emerged once more, perfectly merging with his understanding of yin and yang and creation.

Boom—!

A terrifying aura erupted from Yang Xuan's body, as though he had shattered some invisible shackle.

No one knew how much time passed.

Perhaps years. Perhaps decades.

Yang Xuan suddenly felt something within him shatter.

Brilliant seven-colored radiance surged around him, and the barrier at the peak of the Mysterious Immortal realm collapsed like a landslide.

The Great Dao laws within the Jade Pool Palace seemed drawn by some force, transforming into golden chains of order that poured madly into Yang Xuan's body, tempering his flesh and Primordial Spirit.

"He has broken through to Golden Immortal."

A trace of surprise flashed through Queen Mother of the West's eyes before she revealed an understanding smile. "Fellow Daoist's fortune and comprehension are truly rare in all the world."

After an unknown span of time, the phenomena filling the heavens gradually receded.

Yang Xuan opened his eyes. Galaxies seemed to rise and perish within them, while a naturally formed Dao charm flowed around his body.

He had successfully entered the Golden Immortal realm. Not only had his mana increased ten thousandfold upon ten thousandfold, but his control over the laws of heaven and earth had undergone a qualitative transformation.

"Thank you for Senior's guidance, which allowed this junior to pierce through the final veil of mist."

Yang Xuan rose and solemnly bowed to Queen Mother of the West.

Had Queen Mother of the West not used the star map to guide him, forcing his way through the Golden Immortal bottleneck would likely have cost him many more years.

Queen Mother of the West waved a hand, her tone becoming somewhat warmer. "Since we share this fortunate affinity, I merely pushed the boat along with the current. Why speak of thanks?"

As she spoke, she tapped the air with a fingertip. A jade slip emitting soft white light drifted toward Yang Xuan.

"These are some insights I gained in my early years into the 'Dao of Transformation' and the 'laws of yin and yang.' They may perhaps aid you in perfecting your divine abilities in the future."

Yang Xuan accepted the jade slip with both hands, delight filling his heart.

As one of the top primordial sacred beings of the prehistoric world, Queen Mother of the West's cultivation insights were priceless treasures to him.

She paused, her gaze turning toward the distance, as though it had pierced through the clouds and mist of Kunlun Mountain to see somewhere farther away.

"Does Fellow Daoist know that the Purple Cloud Palace's preaching is about to begin?"

Yang Xuan's heart stirred. "This junior knows. Before the first preaching, there are still..."

He calculated the time, then suddenly froze.

He had thought there was still ample time, yet now—he could no longer calculate how long remained before the Purple Cloud Palace's preaching.

"You have already remained in the mountains for forty-six years," Queen Mother of the West said.

Yang Xuan's pupils abruptly contracted.

Forty-six years! Added to the previous thirteen, less than a year remained before the Purple Cloud Palace's preaching.

"Senior..."

"There is no need to rush."

Queen Mother of the West raised a hand to interrupt him. "I too am going to the Purple Cloud Palace's preaching. You may travel with me."

Yang Xuan was overjoyed. "Thank you, Senior!"

Queen Mother of the West rose and walked to the window, sweeping her hand.

The palace doors flew open, and sunlight poured inside, illuminating the hall in radiant brilliance.

Along with it came a strange aura, ancient and vast, as though it had drifted from the depths of chaos.

"Let us go."

Queen Mother of the West said, "The journey from here to the depths of chaos is not far. I will take you there."

Yang Xuan nodded and followed behind Queen Mother of the West as they left the palace.

Outside, the sunlight was bright, and all the scenery of Kunlun Mountain lay before their eyes.

The sea of clouds rolled and surged, spiritual birds danced through the air, and distant mountain peaks glimmered with golden light beneath the sun.

Queen Mother of the West beckoned, and a white cloud rose from the foot of the mountain, settling beneath their feet.

"Senior, the Purple Cloud Palace lies in the depths of chaos. How are we to find it?"

Yang Xuan voiced the question that had troubled him most.

In the many prehistoric-world tales of his previous life, they only ever said that the Purple Cloud Palace lay in the depths of chaos, yet no one truly knew where it was.

They only said that those with affinity could arrive. That was far too mystical.

Queen Mother of the West smiled faintly. "There is no need to seek the Purple Cloud Palace. When one's cultivation is sufficient, one will naturally hear it. When one's opportunity arrives, one will naturally find it."

Yang Xuan nodded and asked no further questions.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Queen Mother of the West had brought Yang Xuan into the depths of chaos.