Dragon Bo Giants, Island-Bearing Golden Aos

In the blink of an eye, a Yuanhui had passed. Only one Yuanhui remained before Dao Ancestor Hongjun's second sermon at Violet Firmament Palace.

Upon the Sun Star, the Fusang Tree unfurled countless golden-red branches. Its leaves occasionally brushed together, producing clear, rustling sounds. Boundless great sun radiance cascaded from the nine heavens, wrapping the entire star in resplendent warmth.

Within Lingxiao Palace, Lingxiao and his wives Xihe and Changxi lived in harmonious devotion, their love exceedingly deep. Over this Yuanhui, they had not taken a single step beyond the Sun Star's sacred ground.

Day and night, they cultivated together through the Dao of Yin-Yang harmony. The Solar Origin and Lunar Origin blended and permeated one another—you within me, I within you—until they had long become one whole. Silently and imperceptibly, their Dao foundations underwent a rebirth-like transformation.

"Boom!"

That day, three vast waves of pressure swept out from the depths of Lingxiao Palace, spreading layer upon layer. Endless Solar Divine Flame upon the Sun Star surged like a tide, raising towering waves of fire. Ten thousand golden gleams atop the Fusang Tree swayed in response, and the entire Sun Star trembled faintly.

Lingxiao stood within the hall, the Merit Golden Light behind his head drawing inward as the great sun Dao rhythm around him exploded upward.

"Golden Crows spread their wings to command the vault of heaven; sun and moon sing in harmony, their Dao rhythm enduring."

"Merit condenses the foundation and opens the Purple Mansion; Yin-Yang joins in covenant, awakening primordial yang."

"Celestial Stars Return-to-Heart Seal, a thread of primordial chaos breaking forth with world-cleaving light."

"Step early into Great Firmament and reach the other shore; idly watch the vast sea weather countless ages."

"Hahahaha! Late-Stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Realm—it's done!" Lingxiao threw back his head in laughter, utterly high-spirited.

During this secluded cultivation, he had not only refined all the immense Merit gained through the Heavenly Marriage, but had also cultivated jointly with Xihe and Changxi through the complementary Sun-Moon Origin. The cultivation of all three husband and wives advanced another step, firmly entering the Late-Stage Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Realm.

Yet what delighted Lingxiao even more than his cultivation breakthrough was the transformation of the two sisters' innate foundations.

Looking up, he saw Xihe and Changxi standing shoulder to shoulder, Lunar Moonlight flowing around them. The Five Qi within their chests returned to the origin, while Three Flowers gathered at their crowns. The Three Treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit intertwined, reflected from the Primordial Spirits in their Niwan Palaces, and formed three moon-bright Dao Flowers that slowly revolved.

The Dao Flowers still bloomed at the eighth grade, each containing the solidity of "essence," the ethereality of "qi," and the emptiness of "spirit." All bore the mysterious Dao rhythm of Lunar Moonlight, yet at their petal tips, the hazy phantom of a ninth grade had already condensed.

Though it had not yet solidified, it had already broken through the limit of an Eighth-Grade Dao Flower, faintly touching the category of the Primordial World's most exceptional innate foundations.

"Husband, through this Yin-Yang union, not only have our cultivations greatly advanced, even the innate foundations of our Dao Flowers have begun to transform." Xihe lifted her beautiful eyes. Her cool voice overflowed with tenderness and affection that could not be dissolved, and her gaze upon Lingxiao was filled with complete dependence.

"Hehe, when all is said and done, haven't we both benefited from Husband's light? Even our Dao foundations have taken Husband's appearance and shape..."

"You mad girl, you have no filter! How can you spout such nonsense?"

Before Changxi could finish her carefree remark, Xihe, her face flushed crimson, reached out and covered her mouth.

Changxi struggled free of her sister's hand, grabbed Lingxiao's arm, and gently shook it in a coquettish manner. "Oh, Husband, look at Sister! She allows herself to think it, but won't let me say it!"

"Alright, alright, be good, both of you." Lingxiao fondly rubbed Changxi's head and soothed her with a smile. "After cultivating bitterly in seclusion for a Yuanhui, our cultivation has stabilized. If we wish to advance further, hard cultivation alone will yield little. Since we have leisure today, let us sort through the gifts our fellow Daoists gave us at the wedding."

As his words fell, Lingxiao lightly waved his hand. A main branch of the Fusang Tree outside the palace suddenly pierced through space, carrying a golden giant egg ten thousand zhang in size and depositing it firmly within the hall.

The giant egg was covered in profound Innate Dao Patterns. Faint water spiritual qi and an ancient aura seeped from it, as heavy as a mountain yet endlessly alive.

"Husband, is this golden egg the wedding gift Fellow Daoist Eastern King Lord gave us? He did not explain its origins that day. What exactly is it?" Xihe's smile faded as she fixed her gaze upon the giant egg and asked softly.

"Eh? Looking at how round and plump it is, could it be a dragon egg?" Changxi stepped closer and circled the giant egg twice, her almond eyes brimming with curiosity.

"If my guess is correct, this should be a turtle egg." Lingxiao fixed his eyes on the giant egg and spoke in a low voice.

"A turtle egg?" Changxi's cherry lips opened wide in astonishment. "Fellow Daoist Eastern King Lord and Kunpeng actually gave us a bastard egg as a wedding gift?"

"Stop fooling around." Lingxiao shook his head with a laugh. He pressed a fingertip against the giant egg, slowly pouring his Solar Origin mana into it. "Fellow Daoist Donghua sent me a message that day. This egg has an extremely deep connection to the Island-Bearing Golden Aos of Return Ruins that the Dragon Bo Giants once fished away."

—Return Ruins was a very special place in the Primordial World, and it was now difficult to find.

"Hum."

As mana entered the egg, the giant egg suddenly trembled and released a clear hum.

The innate patterns on its shell slowly flowed and rearranged, projecting a phantom into the air.

Within the boundless Return Ruins, an enormous heavenly ao bore a divine mountain upon its back, firmly stabilizing the water eye. Dragon might and water spiritual qi blended around its body, causing the tides of the Four Seas to rise and fall with it. It was precisely the form of a Primordial Heavenly Ao bearing a mountain.

As Lingxiao watched the phantom, understanding dawned in his heart. He slowly explained the origins of the Golden Ao Clan to the two women.

These Island-Bearing Golden Aos, also known as Primordial Heavenly Aos, were a strange species of the Primordial World born from Ancestral Dragon and a Chaos Heavenly Ao ferocious beast. Before the Dragon-Phoenix Calamity, they had already taken form during the Beast Calamity.

When the Dragon-Han Tribulation arose, the Three-Clan Hegemony began, and Devil Ancestor Rahu brought chaos to the Primordial World, all clans fell into endless slaughter.

Unwilling to become embroiled in the Calamity's conflicts, the Golden Ao Clan followed the advice of Yu Qiang, the great god of the North Sea, and swore an oath to the Heavenly Dao. For generation after generation, they would dwell in seclusion within the Bottomless Valley of Return Ruins, using their bodies to bear the five innate immortal islands of Daiyu, Yuanjiao, Fangzhang, Yingzhou, and Penglai. They would stabilize the water eye of Return Ruins and safeguard the peace of the immortals and sages upon those islands.

Thereafter, the Golden Ao Clan worked in groups of fifteen, divided into three shifts to take turns bearing the mountains. They changed shifts once every sixty thousand years and guarded Return Ruins through the generations, indeed passing safely through both the Dragon-Han Tribulation and the War of Dao and Demons.

As for the Dragon Bo Giants who fished away the aos, their origins were even more extraordinary.

That race was formed from the turbid qi at the end of Pangu's spine fused with a wisp of Primordial Wutu Essence. Yet they were born before the Twelve Ancestral Witches and were also one of the Primordial Hundred Clans that had besieged the Fierce Beast Dynasty.

Like the Witch Race, they specialized in cultivating the physical body and did not comprehend laws. They required ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine Yuanhuis to reach adulthood.

Though their clan had few members, every one of them was a peerless powerhouse. An adult stood ten thousand zhang tall, possessed an incomparably mighty physical body, and was comparable to a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal upon reaching adulthood. Their clan chief had long since entered the Primordial Golden Immortal Realm.

After the War of Dao and Demons ended, Hongjun Ancestor pacified the demonic chaos and gained immense Heavenly Dao Merit. The Dragon Bo Giant clan grew envious of the mysteries of Merit and wished to see through their bottleneck so their clan could advance further.

Their clan chief thus took a fishing rod made from Southern Sea Primordial Purple Bamboo, used an innate exotic beast as bait, and strode into the depths of Return Ruins. He fished out six Golden Aos, killed them for their back shells, then burned them for divination, asking after the path to his clan's prosperity.

The moment he did so, the two mountains Daiyu and Yuanjiao lost those bearing them. They drifted with the currents before finally sinking into the Bottomless Valley of Return Ruins. Countless innate immortals and sages upon the islands were scattered and perished, while monstrous Karmic Power instantly entangled the entire Dragon Bo Giant clan!