A Clone Enters Primordial Unity

Boom! Boom!

Dull booms rang out from within Red Cloud's body.

Under the impact of the surging medicinal power, Red Cloud's bottleneck finally shattered with a bang, and his fleshly body burst forth with boundless golden light.

At that moment, Red Cloud felt perfection—true perfection. His fleshly body, Primordial Spirit, and magical power had all reached perfection. When water filled to the brim, it overflowed; his cultivation naturally broke through.

In an instant, Red Cloud's aura surged. In the span of a breath, he broke through from Golden Immortal Perfection to the Early Primordial Unity Golden Immortal stage.

A powerful pressure emanated from Red Cloud's body, making the entire underwater cave tremble.

Red Cloud's brow relaxed. Five-colored rays emerged from his chest and rose from the Baihui acupoint atop his head.

The Five Qi Returning to the Origin transformed into a Celebratory Cloud, within which three flower buds abruptly appeared—the Three Flowers of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.

This was the phenomenon of Three Flowers Crowning the Summit and Five Qi Returning to the Origin, signifying that Red Cloud had finally broken through to the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

"Primordial Unity Golden Immortal... I've finally broken through."

Red Cloud opened his eyes, a trace of delight flashing through them. The leap from Golden Immortal to Primordial Unity Golden Immortal was a tremendous hurdle.

A Golden Immortal had stepped beyond the Three Realms, beyond the Five Elements, possessing an indestructible golden nature and a lifespan equal to Heaven's—this was the realm of self.

A Primordial Unity Golden Immortal attained Three Flowers Crowning the Summit, Five Qi Returning to the Origin, Unity of Heaven and Man, and the natural Dao—this was the realm beyond the self.

After breaking through to the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm, the strength of this clone of Red Cloud underwent another qualitative leap.

His fleshly body, Primordial Spirit, and magical power had all grown several times stronger, while his comprehension of laws had deepened considerably.

"With my current strength, if I encounter the Golden Flood Dragon again, I can easily take it down without even using the Firecloud Banner."

Red Cloud thought confidently.

After all, his main body was still only at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal level, while one of his clones had already become a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

Sure enough, venturing out to gain experience improved one faster than shut-door bitter cultivation. Building a cart behind closed doors made it easy to fall into a bottleneck; only by encountering new ideas could one broaden one's horizons.

Red Cloud cultivated for several more days. Only after stabilizing his realm did he leave the underwater cave.

Having broken through to the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm and greatly increased his strength, Red Cloud decided to take a look around the edge of the lake's central region.

That was the edge of the Sunfire Beast's territory. There was some danger, but also more treasures. As long as he did not venture deep into the heart of the lake, he presumably would not alarm that Sunfire Beast.

Following the map's guidance, Red Cloud flew toward the lake's central region. The closer he came to its center, the stronger the Water Beasts became.

Golden Immortal-level Water Beasts could be seen everywhere, and from time to time, he could even sense the auras of Primordial Unity Golden Immortal-level Water Beasts.

Red Cloud carefully avoided those powerful auras and quietly slipped into the edge of the lake's central region.

The lake water here was a deep gold. The concentration of Sun Power within it was more than ten times greater than outside, and the quality of the water was far superior as well.

"Hmm? That is..."

Suddenly, Red Cloud sensed an unusual aura in the unseen. It was as though some treasure were calling to him.

"Could there be some treasure here?"

Following the aura, Red Cloud swam onward and soon arrived at an underwater rock cave. Though the cave was not large, treasure light shone in all directions from within it. Clearly, some treasure had been nurtured there.

Seeing no guardian beast nearby, Red Cloud entered the cave and discovered a golden coral growing inside.

The coral was entirely golden and emitted a gentle glow. Several golden fruits hung from its branches, faintly releasing a fragrant, enticing aroma.

"This is... Golden Coral Fruit?!"

Red Cloud's Primordial Spirit sensed the Heavenly Dao, and from it he learned the information about this spiritual fruit. He was greatly astonished.

"This... coral can bear fruit?"

Golden Coral was a high-grade Acquired Spiritual Root. It bloomed once every three thousand years, bore fruit once every three thousand years, and ripened once every three thousand years. Each ripening produced twelve Golden Coral Fruits.

Consuming a Golden Coral Fruit could greatly enhance one's fleshly body, and it was effective even for Primordial Unity Golden Immortals.

Red Cloud sighed. "The Primordial World truly is wondrous. All manner of strange and bizarre things can happen here."

Though Golden Coral was merely an Acquired Spiritual Root, the effects of its Golden Coral Fruits were no weaker than those of certain Innate Spiritual Roots.

Red Cloud carefully plucked the Golden Coral Fruits—twelve in total—and stored them away. Then he uprooted the Golden Coral itself and transplanted it into the Hundred Herbs Diagram.

To cultivate the Golden Coral, Red Cloud collected a large amount of water from Sunfire Lake and arranged a similar environment.

Compared with Sunlight Divine Water and Golden Crow Grass, Golden Coral did not have particularly demanding transplant requirements. With the Yi-Wood Pot and Life Orb empowering the Hundred Herbs Diagram, it grew very well inside.

"With Golden Coral, I can be completely confident in my fleshly body cultivation at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal level."

Red Cloud was pleased. Golden Coral Fruit combined with the Great Sun Divine Pill—handling a mere Primordial Unity Golden Immortal would be easy.

Afterward, Red Cloud left the underwater cave. Just as he was about to depart, a powerful aura rapidly approached.

"Hmm? What a powerful aura!"

Red Cloud's expression sharpened. He concealed his aura, hid within the rock cave, and used the Sun-Covering Divine Ability to mask his presence.

Before long, a golden figure appeared outside the rock cave. It was an enormous Golden Flood Dragon.

"A Primordial Unity Golden Immortal-level Golden Flood Dragon."

Red Cloud clicked his tongue inwardly. Sunfire Lake truly was a dragon's pool and tiger's den—one could casually run into a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal here.

"Roar! Who was it?"

"Who stole my Golden Coral?!"

The Golden Flood Dragon arrived before the rock cave. Seeing the cave already swept completely bare, it let out an enraged roar.

The Golden Flood Dragon's roar spread across tens of thousands of miles, making countless low-level Water Beasts shiver in terror.

Red Cloud suddenly understood. He had wondered why the Golden Coral had no guardian beast; it turned out the Golden Flood Dragon had not been home.

In its fury, the Golden Flood Dragon opened its great jaws and spat out a golden pillar of light, blasting it toward the rock cave.

Faced with the full-force strike of a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, Red Cloud could not remain still. He flashed aside, evading the pillar of light.

The rock cave was blasted apart by the light pillar. Shattered stones flew everywhere, and the entire underwater mountain range began to collapse without end.

Because he had moved to evade the attack, Red Cloud exposed himself. The Golden Flood Dragon's gaze turned toward where he had been hiding.

"Stinking rat, I found you!"

The Golden Flood Dragon glared at Red Cloud and roared, "You dare steal my Golden Coral? Go die!"

In an instant, golden light blazed from the Golden Flood Dragon's body as it transformed into a streak of golden lightning and lunged at Red Cloud.

Red Cloud's expression did not change. An ancient book slowly unfolded behind him—it was the phantom of the Illustrated Record of Literary Fortune.

"I declare that you shall be bound in shackles."

The Illustrated Record of Literary Fortune opened. Page after page flew out, transforming into shackles that coiled around the Golden Flood Dragon.

It was a Literary Dao divine ability: Heavenly Words.

"Such petty tricks, and you dare flaunt them before an expert?"

The Golden Flood Dragon roared. A powerful force erupted from its body, shattering all the shackles.

"A Primordial Unity Golden Immortal truly is difficult to deal with."

Red Cloud thought to himself. Yet rather than fearing it, he became excited. He had been looking for someone to test his strength against, and the Golden Flood Dragon had delivered itself to his door—perfect for sparring practice.

"I declare that heavenly lightning shall strike upon you."

Red Cloud spoke Heavenly Words. Winds rose, clouds gathered, thunder rumbled, and bolts of heavenly lightning struck the Golden Flood Dragon.

The Golden Flood Dragon cried out miserably as the heavenly lightning battered it. A trace of gravity flashed through its eyes as it looked at Red Cloud.

"Who exactly are you?"

Red Cloud did not answer. Seeing that Heavenly Words could not harm the Golden Flood Dragon, he brought forth the Firecloud Banner. With a sweep toward the Golden Flood Dragon, a pillar of fire surged from the banner.

The pillar of fire transformed into a fire dragon, charging at the Golden Flood Dragon with the force of mountains toppling and seas overturning, like a gale sweeping away clouds.

The Firecloud Banner was, after all, an Innate Spiritual Treasure. The fire dragon's power was immense, and the Golden Flood Dragon's eyes contracted as it did not dare receive it head-on.

Then, the fire dragon streaked past the Golden Flood Dragon before exploding in the lake water, raising towering waves that soared ten thousand zhang into the sky.