Journey West to Longevity Mountain, Encountering the Sanxiao Goddesses

After leaving Purple Abode Province, Yuan Ming did not linger. He immediately circulated his mana and unleashed the peerlessly mysterious Rainbow Transformation Divine Art.

His figure swayed, transforming into a dazzling golden rainbow that crossed ten thousand miles in an instant, racing westward.

This journey was to fulfill the promise he had made to Redcloud Ancestor's remnant soul: to safely deliver him to Longevity Mountain, where his close friend, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals Zhen Yuanzi, resided.

The golden rainbow cleaved through the sky, faster than the passing of time.

Yuan Ming focused on nothing else, wishing only to complete this commission as soon as possible and settle this karmic debt.

Yet, halfway through his journey, as he passed an immortal mountain paradise wreathed in clouds and mist, where countless wondrous sights unfolded, the Nine-Nine Soul-Scattering Gourd hanging at his waist suddenly trembled slightly.

An extremely faint wisp of red cloud qi, as though it might disperse at any moment, drifted out and condensed into the kindly remnant soul of Redcloud Ancestor.

Redcloud's remnant soul gazed below, a rare mixture of excitement and confusion appearing on his face as he spoke.

"Little friend Yuan Ming, slow down! I... I suddenly sensed three exceedingly faint auras below, yet they share the same origin as my own. This is truly strange. Could we descend and investigate?"

The moment Yuan Ming heard this, he understood.

This was a key figure in forming a good karmic bond with the future Ancestor of Earth Immortals. His long-awaited Ginseng Fruit might well depend on this very opportunity, so how could he hesitate in the slightest?

He immediately replied, "Since Senior has sensed something, we should naturally follow it. Let us go down and take a look."

With that, a thought crossed his mind, and the golden rainbow plunged down like a swimming dragon, landing steadily within a valley shrouded in dense spiritual qi.

Following Redcloud Ancestor's increasingly clear guidance, Yuan Ming soon discovered, deep within the valley, the entrance to a secret realm cleverly concealed by a natural formation.

Though the formation was exquisite and contained the principles of heaven and earth's natural order, it was no great difficulty in the eyes of Yuan Ming, who had already attained the Golden Immortal Dao Fruit and possessed several Entries.

He held two fingers together like a sword and tapped through the air several times. Mysterious runes entered the void one after another, and the invisible barrier protecting the secret realm rippled like water, revealing the Grotto-Heaven within.

Yuan Ming stepped inside. Clouds and rosy mists flickered there, spiritual springs murmured, and the place resembled a paradise beyond the world.

At the center of the secret realm sat three little girls cross-legged. They appeared to be only five or six years old, yet each was carved from gold and jade, exquisitely spirited, with faint Innate cloud qi curling around her body.

Upon seeing unfamiliar visitors, the slightly older girl in the middle, whose bearing was the calmest, immediately rose in alarm. She shielded her two younger sisters behind her and asked in a crisp voice, "Who are you? Why have you broken into our place of cultivation?"

Yuan Ming did not answer. He merely turned his gaze toward Redcloud's remnant soul beside him.

Redcloud's remnant soul stared at the three little girls, complex and indescribable emotions surfacing in his eyes—reminiscence, sudden realization, and a trace of relief.

He extended an illusory finger and rapidly calculated. Though the heavenly secrets were obscure, the resonance originating from their shared source was incomparably clear.

After a long while, he let out a faint sigh, his voice brimming with the lament of fate.

"So be it, so be it... It seems there is indeed a fixed destiny in the unseen. I never imagined that after my fall, my scattered origin would nurture new life. You truly share a destined bond with me."

He looked at the three girls, his gaze becoming incomparably kind and solemn. "Our meeting today is fate's arrangement."

"Since you were born from the same origin as I, I shall pass on to you the fundamental Great Dao I comprehended throughout my life—the YunZhao Xiaoyao Scripture. Cultivate diligently, and do not squander this fortune."

With those words, Redcloud Ancestor's remnant soul raised a large hand and gently brushed it forward.

In an instant, three streams of light containing boundless Dao charm and the true meaning of freedom entered the three girls' glabellae as softly as though they possessed intelligence.

The three girls shuddered all over, feeling countless mysterious scriptures and Great Dao principles surge into their seas of consciousness like a tide.

Though young, they had long gained spiritual intelligence and knew this was a heaven-defying opportunity to change their fate. They hurriedly knelt in reverence, their little faces filled with piety. "Thank you, Senior, for bestowing this teaching!"

Redcloud smiled kindly and asked, "Good children, what are your names?"

The three little girls raised their heads in turn and answered in clear childish voices.

"My name is Yun Xiao."

"My name is Qiong Xiao."

"My name is Bi Xiao."

Standing nearby, Yuan Ming nearly staggered in shock upon hearing those three thunderous names.

His eyes widened as stormy waves surged within his heart. Holy shit! These are actually the Sanxiao Goddesses who would one day become renowned throughout the Investiture of the Gods and set down the Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation! No wonder they possess such foundations and destiny!

Redcloud Ancestor nodded, seeming to have settled a matter close to his heart. His remnant soul also became several degrees more transparent.

He said no more. Together with Yuan Ming, he left the secret realm, once again becoming a golden rainbow and continuing toward Longevity Mountain.

On the way, seeing the undisguised surprise on Yuan Ming's face, Redcloud's remnant soul took the initiative to explain.

"Little friend, you have surely guessed it already. When I fell in the Primordial World, most of my origin dispersed, but several core fragments remained. After countless years, they unexpectedly nurtured independent spiritual intelligence and took form."

"Their true forms are Innate clouds, of the same clan and source as I. It would not be wrong to call them my descendants. Passing on this teaching today both fulfills them and continues my Great Dao. It is the best of both worlds."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ming suddenly understood.

"So that is how it is!"

"By that reasoning, Yunzhongzi, the Blessed Virtue True Immortal under Yuanshi Tianzun, also has Innate clouds as his origin. Could it be... that he too was formed from the scattered origin of Senior Redcloud?"

Once this thought arose, many previously blurred clues instantly linked together. Yunzhongzi's detached nature, his tendency to avoid worldly conflict despite possessing deep fortune—were these not the continuation of a portion of Redcloud Ancestor's disposition and destiny?

The mysteries of karma in this Primordial World were truly astonishing.

Though this interlude was brief, it left an indelible mark deep within Yuan Ming's Dao heart.

Yuan Ming gathered his thoughts and continued steadily toward Longevity Mountain.

Perhaps Redcloud Ancestor's form, united with cloud qi that gathered and scattered unpredictably, itself embodied a certain freedom. Or perhaps the profundity lay in his words about letting go of attachments and following nature's course.

As Yuan Ming traveled through the mountains and rivers of the Primordial World, he felt the aura around him grow ever lighter and more ethereal. His communion with this vast heaven and earth also became clearer and smoother.

He no longer deliberately pursued speed. Instead, with a composure he had never known before, he watched clouds roll and unfurl, listened to the wind sweeping through pine waves, and felt the endless flow of water.

Gradually, an abstruse and mysterious insight rose in his heart.

It was a state of being unfettered, transcending worldly turmoil and the constraints of rules.

Like drifting clouds in the sky, unconstrained by mountains and rivers; like a clear breeze among the peaks, never lingering for the mundane world.

To roam the infinite without reliance—this was freedom!

"Hoo—"

Yuan Ming slowly exhaled a long breath of turbid air. Divine light flowed through his eyes, which brimmed with understanding.

He clearly sensed that within the foundation of his Great Dao, in addition to Devouring, Taiji, Sun Dao, and Pure Yang, an ethereal and unrestrained path had quietly appeared.

Yuan Ming understood at once that this was no accident.

It had to be his [Great Dao Comprehension] Entry. Drawn by the aura of Redcloud Ancestor, a great power whose Innate nature was close to the concept of "freedom," it had triggered that mysterious state of enlightenment on its own. In silent places, he had heard thunder, comprehending this wondrous Carefree Great Dao by himself!

Though this Dao had only just taken shape and remained merely a nascent form, far from the supreme realm of "riding the righteousness of heaven and earth, mastering the changes of the six qi, and roaming the infinite," it had already opened an entirely new door for him.

Used for movement arts, it could turn his body into a clear breeze and carry him ten thousand miles in an instant. Used for the state of mind, it could keep him unmoved by external things and steadfast in his original heart.

The road ahead might still contain dangers and obstacles, but Yuan Ming now possessed an added measure of calmness and freedom.

His steps lightened as he continued onward, seemingly leaving behind a string of faint Dao charm that transcended all worldly things.

Longevity Mountain was already in sight.