Yellow Central Plum Tree, Innate Origin

"System, I choose option two." Minghe silently recited in his heart, addressing the system.

He chose to forgo the opportunity.

After all, it was just a fan—low value, not much use to him.

Moreover, the key point was that it wasn't worth it.

Before Hongjun truly merged with the Dao, Minghe had no intention of exposing himself. Staying in the Blood Sea, refining it, and achieving his own indestructible body was perfectly fine.

As for the Su Se Yun Jie Flag that option one could grant, Minghe wasn't without thoughts about it.

But precisely because of those thoughts, he didn't choose it.

Gathering the Five Directional Flags wasn't necessary for him, and risking danger for just one flag was even less necessary.

As Minghe made his choice, the reward was quickly delivered—another Fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation.

With this piece, Minghe now had three Fragments of the Jade Disc of Creation.

Thus, time flowed on, and in the blink of an eye, countless years passed once more.

On this day, while Minghe was in seclusion cultivating, a system prompt suddenly echoed in his mind.

"Ding, detected that Hongjun has merged with the Dao. Host may make the following choices."

"Choice one: Immediately exit seclusion and travel the Primordial World. Reward: three Fragments of the Jade Disc of Creation."

"Choice two: Continue seclusion and refine the Blood Sea. Reward: Yellow Central Plum Tree."

Hearing the system's prompt, Minghe's heart stirred, a sense of relief washing over him, and he directly made his choice.

"System, I choose option two." Minghe silently recited to the system.

Hongjun had finally merged with the Dao. With that great mountain no longer pressing down on him, Minghe felt his entire being lighten.

This meant he could now do many things.

However, for the time being, exiting seclusion wasn't worthwhile. After all, there was nothing worth traveling for in the Primordial World right now.

It was better to stay in the Blood Sea, completely refine it, and achieve the indestructible body—that was comfortable.

As Minghe made his choice, the reward was quickly delivered: the Yellow Central Plum Tree.

This top-grade innate spiritual root had appeared once before, but he hadn't chosen it then.

This time, however, it was finally in his hands.

Minghe planted this spiritual root beside him as well. Now, by his side, there were three great spiritual roots in total.

The Yellow Central Plum Tree, the Enlightenment Tea Tree, and the Five-Leaf Pine Needle.

Among them, the Yellow Central Plum Tree was a top-grade innate spiritual root, while the Enlightenment Tea Tree and the Five-Leaf Pine Needle were both supreme-grade innate spiritual roots.

Though the difference between top-grade and supreme-grade innate spiritual roots was just one word, the gap between them was enormous.

It was like the gap from a Great Golden Immortal to a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal of the Origin.

Because the disparity was so vast, Hongjun had divided out another realm, called the Quasi-Saint.

And in even more ancient times, there was another name for it: the Golden Immortal of the Origin.

To put it in perspective, if a supreme-grade innate spiritual root was equivalent to a Great Golden Immortal, then a top-grade innate spiritual root was equivalent to a Quasi-Saint.

As for spiritual roots equivalent to a Saint, those were the Chaos Spiritual Roots.

In the Primordial World, such an outrageously heaven-defying spiritual root likely didn't exist. If it did, it would have been struck down long ago.

Take the Twenty-Four-Grade Creation Green Lotus, for example. If it had advanced one step further, it would have become a Chaos Spiritual Root.

Unfortunately, the Heavenly Dao wouldn't allow it. As soon as it emerged, it incurred heaven's jealousy, splitting into three parts to benefit the Three Pure Ones.

The Yellow Central Plum Tree bloomed once per kalpa, bore fruit once per kalpa, and ripened once per kalpa. In three kalpas, it produced only nine fruits.

Its flowers resembled lotuses, and its fruits resembled pearl stamens. Both flowers and fruits bore the characters "Yellow Central."

If an immortal merely smelled the flower's fragrance, they could gain ten thousand years of Dao cultivation. If they were fortunate enough to eat a fruit, they could instantly become a Great Golden Immortal.

The Yellow Central Plum Tree was highly beneficial to Minghe. Eating its fruits could increase his Magic Power.

Moreover, these fruits contained fragments of the Great Dao's laws, which was why eating them could instantly elevate someone to a Great Golden Immortal.

Minghe was already a Great Golden Immortal, so he naturally didn't need the fruit for advancement.

But the fragments of the Great Dao's laws within the fruit were still something he could refine.

Looking at the nine fruits hanging on the tree, Minghe's mind stirred. He plucked one from the branch, put it into his mouth, and bit down with a crunch—crisp and bursting with fragrance.

This fruit was simply delicious. Minghe quickly finished the entire fruit.

As the flesh was swallowed, Minghe felt it dissolve the moment it entered his stomach, transforming into streams of pure energy.

Moreover, he could sense the fragments of the Great Dao's laws. The laws contained within were subtle, yet they were still a rare find.

Minghe hurriedly refined them, comprehending and absorbing. In that moment, both his Magic Power and cultivation level grew considerably.

After finishing one fruit, Minghe didn't stop. He went on to eat the remaining eight fruits in succession.

This caused Minghe's cultivation to skyrocket, rising from Late Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal to the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal Perfection.

With just a hair's breadth, Minghe could break through, reaching an entirely new and higher level.

The fruits borne by the Yellow Central Plum Tree were extremely precious, but because Minghe had not attended any of the three sermons at Zixiao Palace, his cultivation had inevitably fallen behind others by a notch.

Now, after consuming nine Yellow Central Plums in a row, Minghe's cultivation had been greatly enhanced.

Moreover, the growth of Minghe's Magic Power and cultivation created a positive feedback loop, further accelerating his refinement of the Blood Sea.

At this rate, Minghe estimated that in another few tens of thousands of years, he would be able to completely refine the Blood Sea.

By then, he would truly have a foundation to stand on in the Primordial World.

And so, time slipped by, and another long period passed.

One day, suddenly, the system's prompt sounded in Minghe's mind once again.

"Ding, detected that the Sons of Yuan Feng, Kong Xuan and Great Peng, are about to be born. Host may make the following choices."

"Choice One: Go and take Kong Xuan and Great Peng as disciples. Reward: one portion of Innate Yin-Yang Origin."

"Choice Two: Ignore this matter. Reward: one portion of Innate Five-Elements Origin."

Hearing the system's prompt, Minghe's heart stirred, and he opened his eyes.

This choice was clearly another freebie. It was just two options: one was to take disciples and receive the Innate Yin-Yang Origin.

The other was to not take disciples and receive the Innate Five-Elements Origin.

Minghe thought it over briefly and made his choice, silently saying to the system in his mind: "System, I choose option two."

Taking disciples was out of the question; Minghe had no such inclination.

For other great powers in the Primordial World, perhaps taking disciples and passing down their lineage was a very important matter.

But for Minghe, it was completely unnecessary, and he couldn't be bothered to train these disciples.

He didn't want to end up becoming some kind of nanny; that would truly be a loss outweighing the gain.

Thus, even though Kong Xuan and Great Peng had exceptional talent, Minghe felt not a shred of temptation.

He himself still had to lie low; why take on disciples? It would only invite unnecessary karma.