Literary Dao Divine Powers

"Let's wait until I've investigated these three places."

Red Cloud thought to himself that if he found nothing in any of those three places, he could only take a risk.

Of course, Red Cloud would not act rashly. He would only risk it after his cultivation broke through to Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

Sunlight Divine Water was a primary ingredient of the Great Sun Divine Pill.

The Great Sun Divine Pill was a sacred body-tempering medicine that could greatly accelerate body refinement. Red Cloud was currently stuck at Golden Immortal Perfection precisely because his physical body was not strong enough.

The cultivation method Red Cloud practiced, the Red Cloud Dao Scripture, cultivated the physical body, Primordial Spirit, and magical power together. Every major realm had to reach perfection before a breakthrough was possible.

Red Cloud currently possessed Golden Immortal Perfection magical power, Golden Immortal Perfection Primordial Spirit, and a Late-Stage Golden Immortal physical body.

This greatly delayed Red Cloud's growth, so he urgently needed the Great Sun Divine Pill to help him.

Relying on external objects to improve himself, in the final analysis, was still because this incarnation's physical body did not have enough potential.

This incarnation had been formed from the origin that spilled out when Pangu Heartblood Origin fused with Water-Fire-Wind Origin. The Pangu Heartblood Origin it possessed was exceedingly thin.

Therefore, the incarnation's talent in body refinement was nothing remarkable. At the very least, it could not compare to its talent for magical power and Primordial Spirit, and could only rely on the Great Sun Divine Pill to catch up.

In the days that followed, Red Cloud did not rush to leave the city and search. Instead, he settled down in Heavenly Treasure City.

Every day, aside from cultivation, he wandered through the city, gathering all kinds of ores, spiritual herbs, cultivation methods, and divine powers.

Though Heavenly Treasure City was not large, it was still a gathering place for Rogue Cultivators, and it contained no shortage of strange and unusual things.

Red Cloud picked up a rare piece of Flame-Yang Copper Mother, a piece of Nine-Yang Divine Iron, and a stalk of Golden Crow Grass.

Flame-Yang Copper Mother and Nine-Yang Divine Iron were both near-top-tier artifact-refining materials, rare sights even in the Primordial World.

These things might have been useless to ordinary Golden Immortals, but Red Cloud possessed the Illustrated Record of Literary Fortune. He knew both alchemy and artifact refinement, and could deduce the best way to use them.

Golden Crow Grass was another primary ingredient for refining the Great Sun Divine Pill. As long as he obtained Sunlight Divine Water, Red Cloud could refine the Great Sun Divine Pill. The other supplementary herbs were easy to acquire; any shop in Heavenly Treasure City had them.

Furthermore, Red Cloud had collected countless spiritual herbs over the years. He could easily gather all the supplementary herbs he needed.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed. Red Cloud felt that his preparations were nearly complete and decided to leave the city to explore.

Red Cloud left Heavenly Treasure City and used Shrinking Earth to an Inch, advancing step by step toward the depths of Sunfire Lake.

Sunfire Lake shimmered with rippling light, and a faint layer of mist floated above its surface, mixed with dense spiritual qi—or rather, formed entirely from spiritual qi.

Red Cloud had not flown far when he encountered the first wave of Water Beasts. They were a group of shark-like Water Beasts, their entire bodies golden, each dozens of zhang long, with rows of sharp bony spikes along their backs and mouths full of fangs.

"These are... Golden-Finned Terror Sharks?!"

Red Cloud's Primordial Spirit sensed the Heavenly Dao, and he learned its information from it. Golden-Finned Terror Sharks possessed an extremely keen sense of smell and an intense craving for the scent of flesh and blood. Once they smelled blood, they would attack madly.

That was somewhat narrow-minded a way of putting it. In truth, not only Golden-Finned Terror Sharks but all Water Beasts craved the scent of flesh and blood intensely. Once they smelled blood, they would attack madly; it was carved into their instinct for survival.

Because Water Beasts could drop Flame Yang Stones, which could strengthen the physical bodies of flesh-and-blood creatures, many flesh-and-blood cultivators hunted them. This enraged the Water Beasts, and they would proactively attack whenever they encountered flesh-and-blood creatures.

It was hostility born of their ecological niches.

Moreover, when Water Beasts gathered in groups, they would trigger a group enhancement. The greater their numbers, the stronger the enhancement.

These Golden-Finned Terror Sharks were all Mysterious Immortal-level, and there were many of them. Even Golden Immortals would not dare underestimate them.

Red Cloud had no intention of fighting. He directly bypassed the group of Golden-Finned Terror Sharks. It was not that he could not defeat them, but there was no need to waste time—too much investment for too little return.

Afterward, Red Cloud continued deeper into Sunfire Lake. The Water Beasts became increasingly dense, and their varieties increasingly numerous.

There were Flame-Mane Heavenly Horses shaped like horses, Flame-Clawed Octopuses shaped like octopuses, Shell-Shield Flame Tortoises shaped like sea turtles, Crimson-Flame Dragon Pythons shaped like snakes...

As Red Cloud flew, he observed them and recorded all information about these Water Beasts into the Illustrated Record of Literary Fortune.

"Hm? Something's happening."

Suddenly, Red Cloud stopped and looked ahead, where a gigantic creature was wreaking havoc.

It was an enormous Water Beast several thousand zhang long, shaped like a crocodile and covered in golden scales. Sharp bony spikes covered its spine, while its pair of crimson eyes radiated a savage aura.

"The tyrant of Sunfire Lake, the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile!"

Red Cloud recognized this Water Beast's identity: the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile, an exceptionally vicious Water Beast of Sunfire Lake.

This Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile possessed Early-Stage Golden Immortal cultivation. It was slaughtering creatures at the moment, while the corpses of dozens of Sunfire Moths floated around it, their blood staining a vast stretch of the lake red.

"It attacked the Sunfire Moth clan?"

Red Cloud frowned as he watched the scene.

Sensing Red Cloud's gaze, the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile whipped its tail, its crimson eyes fixing on him.

"ROAR—!"

Upon seeing Red Cloud, the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile let out an earthshaking roar. It opened its huge bloody maw and spewed out a golden column of water that shot straight at Red Cloud.

"Hmph, courting death!"

Red Cloud snorted coldly and waved a hand. A streak of azure mystic light flew forth, transforming into a great mountain that crashed down in suppression.

It was the Mountain-Bearing divine power from the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiendish Divine Powers. Mountain-Bearing, capable of bearing a mountain's weight and also a technique for moving mountains, could theoretically summon Buzhou Mountain to suppress one's enemies.

The Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile's water column was crushed beneath the mountain. The mountain continued descending and slammed into its body.

"BOOM—!"

With a thunderous crash, the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile was smashed into the lakebed, and thousand-zhang waves surged across the lake's surface.

Yet the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile was thick-skinned and tough-fleshed. Red Cloud's attack did not kill it, but instead enraged it.

The Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile burst from beneath the lake, golden light blazing around its body as countless golden water arrows shot toward Red Cloud.

Red Cloud's expression did not change at the sight. He took out the Lesser-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Firecloud Banner, and lightly waved it.

At once, a mass of Fire Cloud flew from the Firecloud Banner. The terrifying Fire Cloud evaporated every water arrow.

The Firecloud Banner was a Lesser-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure containing the Fire Law, capable of controlling all flames under heaven.

The Five Elements generated and restrained one another. Although water restrained fire, when fire was powerful enough, it could restrain water as well.

Seeing that its attack was ineffective, the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile roared and charged directly at Red Cloud, intending to engage in close combat and use its special water body to trap and kill him.

"Just as expected, a simple-minded fool!"

A cold gleam flashed through Red Cloud's eyes. He brought forth the phantom of the Illustrated Record of Literary Fortune, and pages of golden paper flew out.

"Stroke of Divine Inspiration, War on Paper!"

Red Cloud held his brush and casually drew across the golden paper.

On the golden paper, a gigantic arm stretched out from the depths of the clouds, and directly below it was the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile.

The next instant, Wind Cloud shifted. The golden paper shone with brilliant golden radiance and transformed in the void into a giant golden hand, firmly grasping the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile.

This was the Literary Dao divine power deduced by the Illustrated Record of Literary Fortune: Literary Qi Manifestation. It could attack and defend, with transformations beyond all measure.

The Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile struggled without cease, but the golden hand tightened further and further, leaving it unable to move.

Then Red Cloud shook the Firecloud Banner again, and a pillar of fire burst from it, engulfing the Golden-Scaled Demon Crocodile.