Settling Karma

However, it now appeared that neither the phoenix egg nor the Innate Origin had anything to do with him anymore.

With a single gesture, Zhunti sent this phoenix egg right in front of Dao Xuan.

"Fellow Daoist, how about I use this to settle our karma?" Zhunti said with a smile.

Hearing this, Dao Xuan shifted his gaze away from the phoenix egg and could not help taking a deep look at Zhunti.

At this moment, after Zhunti explained the origin of the phoenix egg, he had already figured out many things.

This phoenix egg should have been the Roc.

Before dying, Yuanfeng gave birth to two eggs: one was Kong Xuan, and the other was the Roc. Kong Xuan obtained the Innate Five Elements Origin, thus mastering the great divine power of the Five-Colored Divine Light, whose might was fully displayed during the Investiture Calamity.

As for the Roc, what he obtained was the Innate Yin-Yang Origin. Logically speaking, the Roc's achievements should never have been below Kong Xuan's.

Yet in reality, the Roc fell far behind Kong Xuan. There were even rumors that he had completely squandered this Innate Yin-Yang Origin.

Instead of practicing the proper Yin-Yang divine powers, he used them to forge the Yin-Yang Qi Bottle.

But looking at it now, the Roc's destiny was truly rugged. Perhaps there was a hidden story behind why he ended up in such a miserable state later on.

After all, would the Roc really be foolish enough to use an Innate Origin for refining a treasure instead of absorbing it for himself?

Dao Xuan suspected that this Innate Yin-Yang Origin had long been swapped out by Zhunti for his own use.

The Yin-Yang Origin the Roc used later on was inherently acquired, and acquired Yin-Yang Origin naturally resulted in a refined Acquired Spiritual Treasure.

There was nothing wrong with that. Or alternatively, that Yin-Yang Qi Bottle might not have been forged by the Roc himself at all.

Zhunti giving it away worked just as well!

Furthermore, you could say that as the first peacock between heaven and earth, Kong Xuan fused with the Innate Five Elements Origin and was born with a colorful splendor all over his body.

What about the Roc? If he had absorbed the Innate Yin-Yang Origin, shouldn't he have a black-and-white color scheme?

Yet he was golden-yellow. Had he truly absorbed the Innate Yin-Yang Origin, or had he absorbed the Bodhi Tree's Geng Metal Origin instead?

The answer was truly hard to guess!

Looking at Zhunti, Dao Xuan let out a soft breath, waved his hand to put away the phoenix egg, and said, "Very well, since it is so, the karma between the two of us is settled. Fellow Daoists, farewell."

With that, Dao Xuan flickered his figure and left directly. After all, throughout this round of negotiations, he had also been bearing immense pressure.

He was even more worried than Jieyin and Zhunti that the negotiations would break down.

If they could not reach an agreement, should they fight or not? If the fighting continued, would Hongjun still stand by and watch without intervening?

And if they did not fight, Dao Xuan would lose face.

Therefore, since Zhunti had already offered a sufficient price, Dao Xuan naturally had to nod and agree.

This way, you were good, I was good, and everyone was good!

Zhunti did not expect Dao Xuan to be so decisive and was stunned for a moment, only snapping back to reality after Dao Xuan had gone far away.

"Junior Brother!"

Jieyin called out.

Hearing this, Zhunti smiled and said, "Senior Brother need not worry. I just didn't expect him to actually agree."

"As for this phoenix egg, perhaps it truly has no affinity with me."

"Mm."

Jieyin nodded and let out a sigh. Actually, he was not completely unaware that Zhunti had brought back this phoenix egg.

After all, Zhunti had secretly placed the phoenix egg on the ancestral vein to nurture it with spiritual qi. A day or two might have remained hidden, but over time, Jieyin discovered it as well.

It was just that Zhunti did not mention it, and Jieyin pretended not to know.

"Perhaps giving it away is for the best."

Suddenly, Zhunti spoke again. He withdrew his gaze from the distance, smiled at Jieyin, and said, "In the past, I was always filled with gains and losses. I neither wanted to destroy that bird's life over an Innate Origin, nor could I bear to part with that Innate Origin, wishing to refine it into my enlightenment treasure to increase its might. But now that it has been sent away, I no longer need to dwell on it."

"Though the Yin-Yang Great Dao is fine, my Bodhi Great Dao is not necessarily weaker!"

Hearing this, Jieyin was somewhat surprised. He had not expected that experiencing this matter would allow Zhunti's Dao heart to improve considerably, and he could not help smiling as well. "Junior Brother is able to pick things up and put them down, making even this senior brother feel inferior."

"Hahaha!"

Knowing that Jieyin was joking, Zhunti burst into a loud laugh, only to suddenly trigger his injuries, causing the smile on his face to instantly freeze.

Seeing this, Jieyin hurriedly tried to support Zhunti, but unexpected to him, he was also in a heavily injured state and immediately winced in pain with a grimace.

"Forget it, the two of us senior brothers have truly taken a fall this time. Our Dao is inferior to others, our Dao is truly inferior! Junior Brother, why don't we close the mountain for cultivation next and properly recover from our injuries?"

"Alright!"

Consequently, the two raised Sumeru Mountain's Mountain-Guarding Array, extinguished any thoughts of going out, and began to focus entirely on their cultivation.

The great battle at Sumeru Mountain in the West was even more low-profile than the battle in the starry skies not long ago.

After all, this battle primarily took place within the Dream World of Jieyin and Zhunti.

Only later, when the Dream World collapsed and the three of them exchanged blows briefly, did their mighty aura manifest!

Yet it ended very quickly.

Furthermore, living beings in the Western land were extremely scarce. Aside from those already near Sumeru Mountain, living beings in other areas were entirely unaware of what had happened.

Very few people knew of this battle.

On the other side, having reaped the benefits, Dao Xuan wasted no time and returned straight to the Eastern Sea.

Back in the Chaos Island.

Dao Xuan's heart finally settled completely.

This Chaos Island was his home in the Primordial World, and returning home gave him an immensely secure feeling.

"Finally got my hands on it."

Dao Xuan let out a long sigh, feeling somewhat emotional.

Immediately afterward, he grew eager. Although the battle with Jieyin and Zhunti—where Jieyin detonated the Dream World—had left him with some injuries, Dao Xuan could not wait any longer.

He flickered his figure directly and entered his Inner World.

Within the Inner World, Dao Xuan's figure appeared.

Then, Dao Xuan directly merged with his Primordial Spirit. With a thought from Dao Xuan, an object radiating dazzling golden light appeared in his hand.

This was none other than an arm—an arm torn from Zhunti's Bodhi Golden Body by Dao Xuan at the very last moment.

Looking at this arm, Dao Xuan smiled softly, then rubbed his hands together.

Instantly, Zhunti's golden body arm transformed into a mass of golden origin.

A mass of Geng Metal Origin!

Following a brief moment of contemplation, Dao Xuan swept his large sleeve and sent this mass of Geng Metal Origin to the Western Extremity of the Inner World.

It landed right beside the divine beast White Tiger.

The White Tiger was still puffing breath onto the Ginseng Fruit Tree, providing Earth Elements to help this spiritual root grow faster.

Suddenly, Dao Xuan sent over another origin.

It immediately left the beast somewhat bewildered. Following that, the white tiger reacted, instinctively wanting to swallow the strand of Geng Metal Origin in one gulp.

However, Dao Xuan still had great use for this strand of Geng Metal Origin, so how could he let it eat it?