The boundless Eastern Sea stretched out endlessly. Above the blue surface, to the point of being nearly un-dissolvable, dense Innate Qi swept across tens of millions of miles of sea territory with the sea breeze.
A streak of seven-colored flowing light suddenly swept across the horizon at an astonishing speed, scattering large patches of sparkling light dots in its wake—it was unmistakably a fiercely rare Innate Colored Cloud Butterfly.
"Second Sister, stop it quickly! It's running away again!"
A pretty and crisp voice came from behind, followed instantly by three streaks of immortal light breaking through the air. The leading woman wore a white cloud-patterned immortal dress, her features gentle and breathtakingly beautiful, though her brows carried a trace of helplessness.
Beside her, a woman in green held a cold expression; with a wave of her hand, a beam of immortal light intercepted the path ahead of the Colored Cloud Butterfly. Meanwhile, the youngest girl in green appeared the liveliest, stepping on a mass of auspicious clouds as she chased with joyous abandon.
These three women were none other than Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao, who had taken human form in the Eastern Sea not long ago.
Born originally from three strands of Innate Cloud Qi between heaven and earth with extraordinary foundations, the three sisters had traveled together across the Eastern Sea after taking form, preparing to find an immortal blessed land rich in spiritual energy and sufficiently quiet to serve as their dao field.
Yet while immortal islands in the Eastern Sea were not scarce, locations truly worthy of being called top-tier blessed grottoes already had masters. The three sisters had wandered for several centuries without finding a satisfactory place, but today, stumbling upon an Innate Colored Cloud Butterfly, Bixiao's playful nature flared up, and she stubbornly dragged her two older sisters along in pursuit.
"Bixiao, it's just a spirit butterfly. If you like it, once we find our dao field, Sister will help you find some more."
Though Yunxiao advised her in words, her speed did not slow down by even half, clearly harboring little recourse for her youngest sister.
"How is that the same? This one delivered itself right to my doorstep, and I was just barely able to catch it a moment ago."
Bixiao retorted righteously, and watching the Colored Cloud Butterfly suddenly plunge into a thick, un-dissolvable bank of white mist ahead, she charged straight in without a second thought.
"Bixiao!"
Yunxiao's expression shifted slightly. Exchanging a glance with Qiongxiao, she immediately gave chase, but the moment they crossed into the white mist, the surrounding world abruptly changed.
The deafening sound of crashing waves vanished suddenly, and the mighty Eastern Sea was likewise cut off as if by some absolute barrier, leaving only endless rolling white mist that suppressed even the three sisters' divine senses to a range of less than a hundred miles.
"An Innate Grand Formation!"
An immortal sword instantly materialized in Qiongxiao's hand, a distinct solemnity surfacing on her previously cold face for the very first time.
Though the three of them could not be considered the absolute peak of the Great Wilderness in cultivation, they were nonetheless at the Golden Immortal level, and ordinary formations could never seal their divine senses without a sound.
To achieve this degree, it had to be at least a naturally formed, top-tier Innate grand formation.
"Don't move around blindly for now; there shouldn't be any murderous intent here."
Yunxiao was the most sensitive to formations. After closing her eyes to sense their surroundings for a moment, she shook her head gently. Yet no sooner had her words fallen than the rolling clouds ahead parted slowly to both sides as if they understood.
A stream of immortal light, dazzling enough to momentarily stun all three sisters together, shone out unannounced from behind the mist.
Beneath their feet lay pristine stone steps paved entirely with Innate spiritual jade. On both sides grew continuous patches of familiar and unfamiliar spirit herbs and immortal medicines; a single stalk of purple orchid no larger than a palm emitted the spiritual charm unique to superior-grade Acquired spiritual roots.
Bixiao lowered her head to look at the spirit herb she had almost stepped on a moment before, her mouth twitching uncontrollably.
"Sisters, did I almost step on and crush a Purple Cloud Immortal Orchid just now?"
"It would appear so."
"I remember in the Eastern Sea markets, a single stalk of this stuff can be traded for quite a few good Acquired Spirit Treasures, right?"
"That should also be correct."
Bixiao fell silent for a moment, her walking posture instantly transforming from bold and careless to tiptoeing with cautious steps, terrified that any casual raise of her foot would trample away the family fortune of some hidden tycoon.
Yet very soon, the three sisters discovered that they had still severely underestimated just how absurd the immortal island before them truly was.
The further inward they traveled, the denser the surrounding Innate spiritual energy became. Further along, it even transformed into wisps of visible spiritual mist; taking a single breath of it was worth a prolonged period of cultivation and meditation in the outside world.
A stream flowing with divine light of gold, silver, and purple meandered down from the mountains, its surface rippling with a creation-imbued aura so dense it was nearly tangible.
Yunxiao took one look, and her steps froze in place.
"Three Lights Divine Water?"
Qiongxiao had always been calm, but at this moment she finally cracked, her gaze tracing the stream all the way upward before spotting the boundless, three-colored lake at the end of the valley.
Bixiao parted her small mouth, taking quite a while before speaking faintly.
"Mighty figures outside would fight to the death over a single drop, so why is this place measured by the lake?"
No one answered her, for all three sisters now harbored suspicions that they had accidentally stumbled into the old lair left behind by some Chaos Demon God.
Advancing barely a few hundred miles further, Innate spiritual roots appeared one after another. A stalk of Nine-Leaf Immortal Ganoderma had even just matured, sending nine beams of immortal light shooting into the sky without a single protective restriction in sight.
Most exaggerated of all was a pond not far away, where several pristine white lotus flowers swayed in the breeze. The largest among them reached a full nine grades, and the dense world-cleansing Dao essence made the three sisters' eyelids twitch wildly.
In this day and age, Innate Spirit Treasures were hard to come by, Innate spiritual roots were precious, and even the many Great Luo Golden Immortals listening to the lectures at Violet Cloud Palace might not possess such vast fortunes—yet the treasures on this island were so abundant they seemed worthless.
"Perhaps we should head back out."
Yunxiao remained silent for a long time before finally making the most sensible decision.
In a place like this, the more treasures there were, the less one should recklessly touch them, for no one knew what kind of terrifying existence resided here.
For once, Bixiao rare refrained from arguing, though before leaving she cast one last reluctant look back at the Three Lights Divine Water Lake, wearing an expression resembling someone who had entered a treasury only to be told they could only look and take nothing away.
Just as the three sisters turned and prepared to retrace their steps, a lingering Dao chime suddenly echoed from deep within the entire immortal island.
Hum—
The sound was not deafening, but the moment it rang out, the clouds across the sky simultaneously stilled, spiritual roots lowered their crowns, and thousands of Dao laws converged at the center of the island like some guidance, forming a dazzling pillar of light soaring straight into the nine heavens.
Beneath the canopy-spanning Enlightenment Ancient Tree, a young Daoist who had slept for an unknown number of epochs slowly opened his eyes.
Luxuan looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar world before him, feeling the vast magical power that had accumulated within his body for countless eons, and a hint of a smile finally crossed his eyes.
When he first transmigrated into the Great Wilderness, he had neither become one of the Three Pure Ones nor Di Jun or Grand Unity, nor could he even be considered human; instead, he was conceived alongside Penglai Immortal Island, becoming the very first strand of Innate Dao Essence within the island.
Countless ages passed, and he used the Penglai Origin to nourish himself, only truly completing his perfect transformation on this very day.
Almost at the exact moment Luxuan opened his eyes, a piece of information visible only to him quietly surfaced within his primordial spirit.
[The Daoist Master Sect has been opened.] [For every true growth achieved by a disciple, the host will receive a hundredfold homologous return.]
It was simple enough for Luxuan to understand how to use it at a glance.
A disciple grows, a hundredfold return?
Luxuan raised an eyebrow slightly, pondering who among the Great Wilderness might be suitable to take as disciples, when an unfamiliar aura suddenly transmitted into his perception through the Penglai Origin.
Three women.
All possessed Innate divine sacred-level foundations.
Luxuan took a step forward, the space before him folding silently, and when he reappeared, he had already arrived not far from the Three Cloud Sisters.
The three of them felt their vision blur, and a young Daoist draped in dark robes suddenly appeared on the previously empty mountain path.
There was no startling momentum, no mighty pressure, and not even the slightest ripple of magical power could be sensed. Yet the more it was like this, the greater the wariness in the three sisters' hearts, because this was, after all, an immortal island whose treasures were numerous enough to make one doubt existence.
Moreover, the fact that the other party could appear before them without a sound meant his cultivation could by no means be simple.
Luxuan's gaze swept across the three sisters' faces one by one, his mood suddenly becoming quite pleasant.
Yunxiao.
Qiongxiao.
Bixiao.
In the future, each would be fiercer than the last. The Nine-Bend Yellow River Formation would even directly shear off the crowns of the Twelve Golden Immortals of Elucidation, leaving a group of Sage disciples doubting their immortal lives.
Yunxiao in particular possessed comprehension, foundation, and temperament that were all top-tier; looking across the entire Great Wilderness, she undoubtedly belonged to the batch of disciples most worthy of cultivation.
This was no accidental intrusion into Penglai.
This was clearly three walking bundles of hundredfold returns delivering themselves right to his door.
Yunxiao stepped forward half a step, bowing respectfully. "We three junior sisters accidentally broke into this place. If we have caused any offense, we hope the senior will forgive us."
Recovering his wits, Luxuan wore a gentle smile on his face.
"It is no matter."
"This place is called Penglai, and I am the Daoist Luxuan. Since the three of you were able to pass through the Innate restriction and arrive here, you share a measure of affinity with me."
The Three Cloud Sisters were slightly startled upon hearing this.
Penglai?
The head of the legendary Three Immortal Islands of the overseas realm?
Bixiao instinctively swept a glance at the absurdly numerous heavenly treasures all around her, suddenly feeling that everything made a great deal more sense.
Luxuan, however, had no intention of beating around the bush with them. Watching the three Innate sacred beings before him who would one day shake the Great Wilderness, he asked quite straightforwardly:
"Would the three of you be willing to take me as your master?"
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