Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal

"Fellow Daoist Red Cloud, long time no see."

Qing Xuanzi smiled and cupped his hands toward Red Cloud.

Red Cloud had always been curious about Qing Xuanzi's identity. He had asked around before, but had ultimately learned nothing useful.

But after this incident, Red Cloud understood that Qing Xuanzi was definitely more than a mere Rogue Cultivator.

"Fellow Daoist Qing Xuanzi, how have you been lately?"

Red Cloud led Qing Xuanzi into the room and took a seat.

"Ha ha, I've been quite well recently. During this beast tide, the City Lord distributed Heroes' Assembly Orders far and wide, and I made a tidy profit. Though it can't compare to Fellow Daoist Red Cloud, I've got enough money to buy wine."

Qing Xuanzi spoke with considerable frankness.

Red Cloud exchanged a few pleasantries, then went straight for the jugular. "You've come looking for me twice, Fellow Daoist. Surely it wasn't just to drink with me?"

"If you have something to say, just say it."

"I'm leaving tomorrow. Once tonight passes, who knows when we'll meet again."

Qing Xuanzi was caught off guard by Red Cloud's bluntness. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Fellow Daoist, are you leaving Sunfire Lake?"

Red Cloud gave a slight nod. "That's right. Sunfire Lake is merely a stop on my journey, not its end. Afterward, I will also leave the Land of Eternal Day."

Knowing Red Cloud had already made up his mind, Qing Xuanzi shook his head. "I did not come to find you for any particular matter. If I had any intention, it was simply to befriend you."

Seeing the curiosity on Red Cloud's face, Qing Xuanzi paused before continuing, "I am of the Wood Mystic Tortoise Clan. My clan excels at deducing the secrets of heaven, discerning people, and reading fate."

"That day, I took the initiative to approach you because I discovered that you are a person of great fortune, so I wished to make your acquaintance."

"This time, I came because I saw that your fortune was deep and restrained, bearing the signs of a soaring dragon ascending to the heavens."

After a pause, Qing Xuanzi continued, "Your journey southeast will bring a tribulation. If you overcome it, you will surely soar into the heavens in a single bound, and Great Luo will be within sight."

Buzhou Mountain lay southwest of Sunfire Lake. Qing Xuanzi had divined his destination, which gave Red Cloud quite a fright.

Then, hearing Qing Xuanzi say he faced a destined calamity, Red Cloud frowned slightly and asked, "Can Fellow Daoist divine what kind of tribulation it will be?"

Qing Xuanzi shook his head. "You are a person of great fortune, Fellow Daoist. This tribulation concerns a transformation in the fortune that will see you rise like a dragon to the heavens. My cultivation is insufficient; I cannot see through it."

Red Cloud nodded and committed the matter to memory.

"I will remember your goodwill, Fellow Daoist. If you need anything in the future, come find me at any time."

Qing Xuanzi nodded with a smile. Red Cloud truly was a man who valued loyalty and righteousness. A favor owed by a future Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal was well worth the backlash and injuries he had suffered from divining the secrets of heaven.

After that, Qing Xuanzi drank with Red Cloud through the night. They spoke of heaven and earth, sang to their wine, and were utterly carefree.

"Ha ha, if Fellow Daoist Red Cloud has the time, you are welcome to visit me at Sunfire Lake anytime."

At last, Qing Xuanzi laughed heartily.

"Very well, Qing Xuanzi. We shall meet again if fate allows."

Red Cloud nodded, transformed into a streak of red light, and vanished beyond the horizon, leaving behind a Seven-Turn Rejuvenation Pill.

The Primordial World did not count years; in the blink of an eye, seas turned to mulberry fields.

Several hundred thousand years had passed since his incarnation left the formation and began exploring the Primordial World.

Over these years, Red Cloud's progress had not been slow. His cultivation had reached Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Perfection, with his physical body, Primordial Spirit, and mana all fully perfected.

His cultivation and comprehension of the Literary Dao had likewise reached a bottleneck, equivalent to sixty percent of a law.

Red Cloud's true body circulated his cultivation technique and absorbed the spiritual qi of the void, stirring up a storm of spiritual qi within it.

The spiritual qi around him was so dense it had liquefied, ceaselessly nourishing his entire body.

Red Cloud sat cross-legged in the void, boundless cloud qi swirling around him. Every strand seemed to be the manifestation of Dao laws, as though it contained endless mysteries.

One day, immeasurable divine light of wisdom radiated from Red Cloud's body, and one insight after another surged into his heart.

At this moment, all distracting thoughts vanished from Red Cloud's mind. His heart was tranquil and unruffled, like a vast, boundless sea under calm winds and gentle waves.

All of Red Cloud's various insights into the Dao converged, becoming a point of light that flickered in his heart. Dao resonance arose naturally, Dao light flowed, and Dao intent spread boundlessly.

As the various insights continued to gather, the point of light began to condense, turning into a Dao character—the character "Literature."

Red Cloud's consciousness entered it, exploring the mysteries of the Literary Dao. Sun and moon revolved, stars shone brilliantly, thunder and lightning danced and shot forth, and strange phenomena appeared one after another.

At that moment, Red Cloud felt that he was the sole ruler between heaven and earth, controlling the operation of the entire world.

Splash—!

A phantom long river emerged. It came from an unknown place and flowed toward an unknown destination, illusory and indistinct.

This was the projection of the Primordial World's River of Spacetime.

At this moment, Red Cloud seemed like a fish swimming within the River of Spacetime, directly leaping out of it.

The fish fell into Red Cloud's body and fused with his True Spirit. Then, drawn by Red Cloud's aura, all of its own imprints were engraved into the True Spirit.

Red Cloud's True Spirit grew ever more resplendent, ultimately reaching the level of Innate Imperishable Spiritual Light.

In the next instant, Red Cloud's aura erupted with a thunderous boom. His cultivation naturally broke through, advancing from Primordial Unity Golden Immortal Perfection to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, while his comprehension of the Literary Dao surpassed sixty percent.

Why was a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal said to have transcended spacetime and life and death? Because the True Spirit transformed into Innate Imperishable Spiritual Light, something even a Primordial Saint could not destroy.

Even if one died and their Dao dispersed, the True Spirit would continue to be nurtured within the True Spirit Sea. Sooner or later, it would return, then reclaim everything that had once belonged to it.

In the next instant, the immeasurable mana within Red Cloud's body erupted, and a sense of perfection arose naturally.

Divine light bloomed in Red Cloud's eyes, revealing galaxies flowing in reverse, universes and cosmoses, and the birth and destruction of the myriad heavens and worlds.

"Ha ha, I have become a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal!"

Red Cloud's laughter echoed through the formation.

Long trapped within the cage, he had finally returned to nature.

Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal was a watershed realm.

Compared to a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, Great Luo was not even on the same dimension. Only Great Luo truly transcended spacetime.

If the world were compared to a painting, all realms before Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal lived within that painting. Only by breaking through to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal could one leap beyond the frame.

In the Primordial World, there was a saying: "One flower, one world; one leaf, one cosmos."

To those below Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, a single flower or leaf could contain a world as vast as heaven and earth. But to cultivators above Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal, a flower was merely a flower, and a leaf merely a leaf.

To Red Cloud now, even the universe where he had lived in his previous life was but a grain of sand in a Ganges-Sand World.

Within the Great Chiliocosm of the Primordial World, perhaps even an inconspicuous droplet in a river held a universe within it.

"The origin has finally been fully refined."

Red Cloud sat cross-legged in the void. The Pangu Heartblood Origin that had enveloped him had already vanished.

That Pangu Heartblood Origin had long since been fused into Red Cloud's body and completely refined, laying a solid foundation for the Primordial Golden Immortal realm. His future Great Dao was promising.

"Not bad, not bad indeed!!"

Feeling the surging mana within himself, utterly without a trace of instability, Red Cloud nodded in satisfaction.

Red Cloud's mana was exceptionally deep and vast. The spiritual qi he had consumed would have been enough for others to cultivate all the way to Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Perfection.

Yet he had only cultivated to the early Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm, and had only just broken through at that. This showed just how profound Red Cloud's foundation was and how tyrannical his mana had become.

Red Cloud glanced beyond the formation but did not hurry to resume his travels. He saw Sha Qi churning outside, while an intense sense of crisis lingered in his heart.

"Are the Three Clans about to fight their final battle?"