"System, I choose two," Minghe silently said to the system.
Choose to forgo the opportunity.
After all, it was only a fan. Its value was not high, and it would not be of much use to him.
More importantly, it was not worth it.
Before Hongjun truly merged with the Dao, Minghe had no intention of exposing himself. Staying in the Blood Sea, refining it, and forging himself an undying, indestructible body was good enough.
As for the Su Se Yun Jie Flag that he could obtain from choice one, it was not as if Minghe had no interest in it.
But precisely because he was interested, Minghe did not choose it.
Gathering all Five Directional Flags was not necessary for him, and taking risks for a single flag was even less necessary.
Once Minghe made his choice, the reward was quickly issued. It was another Fragment of the Jade Disc of Creation.
Including this one, Minghe already possessed three Fragments of the Jade Disc of Creation.
And so, time passed. In the blink of an eye, an unknown number of years went by.
One day, while Minghe was cultivating in seclusion, the system notification suddenly sounded in his mind again.
"Ding! It has been detected that Hongjun has merged with the Dao. The host may make one of the following choices."
"Choice one: Leave seclusion immediately and travel through the Primordial World. Reward: three Fragments of the Jade Disc of Creation."
"Choice two: Continue cultivating in seclusion and refine the Blood Sea. Reward: Yellow Central Plum Tree."
Hearing the system notification, Minghe's heart stirred. He felt as though a weight had finally been lifted, and he immediately made his choice.
"System, I choose two," Minghe silently said to the system.
Hongjun had finally merged with the Dao. With that mountain no longer pressing over his head, Minghe felt entirely relieved.
This meant he could do many things now.
However, there was still no point in leaving seclusion for the moment. After all, there was nothing worth traveling through the Primordial World for right now.
It was better to remain in the Blood Sea, completely refine it, and forge an undying, indestructible body.
After Minghe made his choice, the reward was quickly issued: the Yellow Central Plum Tree.
This Top-grade Innate Spiritual Root had appeared once before, but he had not chosen it.
This time, however, it had finally fallen into his hands.
Minghe planted this spiritual root beside him as well. He now had three great spiritual roots at his side.
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 Five-Leaf Pine Needle were both Top-grade Innate Spiritual Roots.
Although there was only a single word's difference between Top-grade Innate Spiritual Roots and Top-grade Innate Spiritual Roots, the gap between them was enormous.
It was like the difference between a Great Luo Golden Immortal and a Hunyuan Great Luo Golden Immortal.
Because the gap between them was too great, Hongjun had created another realm in between called Quasi-Saint.
In even more ancient times, it had another name: Hunyuan Golden Immortal.
For example, if Top-grade Innate Spiritual Roots were equivalent to Great Luo Golden Immortals, then Top-grade Innate Spiritual Roots were equivalent to Quasi-Saints.
As for spiritual roots equivalent to Saints, those would be Chaos Spiritual Roots.
There were probably no such Defying Heaven spiritual roots in the Primordial World. If there were, they would have long since been struck to death by lightning.
Just like the Twenty-Four-Grade Creation Green Lotus—if it advanced one step further, it would become a Chaos Spiritual Root.
Unfortunately, the Heavenly Dao would not tolerate it. The moment it was born, it incurred heaven's envy and split into three, fulfilling the Three Pure Ones.
The Yellow Central Plum Tree bloomed once every yuanhui, bore fruit once every yuanhui, and ripened once every yuanhui. Even after three yuanhui, it only produced nine fruits.
Its flowers resembled lotuses, while its fruits resembled pearl stamens. Both flowers and fruits bore the words "Yellow Central."
If an immortal merely smelled the flowers, they could gain "ten thousand years of cultivation." If they were fortunate enough to eat one fruit, they could instantly become a "Great Luo Golden Immortal."
The Yellow Central Plum Tree was greatly beneficial to Minghe. Eating its fruits could increase his magic power.
Moreover, the fruits contained fragments of Great Dao laws. That was why eating one could allow someone to instantly become a Great Luo Golden Immortal.
Minghe was already a Great Luo Golden Immortal, so naturally he did not need the fruits to improve his realm.
However, he could still refine the fragments of Great Dao laws within the fruits.
Looking at the nine fruits hanging from the tree, Minghe willed it, plucked one, placed it in his mouth, and took a bite. Crunch! It was crisp and fragrant, filling his mouth with sweetness.
This fruit was simply too delicious. Minghe quickly finished the entire fruit.
As the flesh entered his stomach, Minghe felt it immediately dissolve into streams of pure energy.
He also sensed the fragments of Great Dao laws within it. The laws they contained were subtle, but they were still extremely rare and precious.
Minghe hurriedly refined them, comprehending and absorbing them. For a time, both his magic power and cultivation increased considerably.
After eating one fruit, Minghe did not stop. He ate the remaining eight fruits one after another as well.
This greatly raised his cultivation, taking him from the Late Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm to the peak of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
He was only one step away from breaking through into an entirely new and higher level.
The fruits borne by the Yellow Central Plum Tree were precious, but because Minghe had not attended the three lectures at Zixiao Palace, his cultivation had inevitably fallen behind the others by a measure.
Now, after eating nine Yellow Middle Plums in succession, Minghe's cultivation had improved enormously.
Furthermore, the growth of Minghe's magic power and cultivation created positive feedback, accelerating his refinement of the Blood Sea even further.
At this rate, Minghe estimated that he would only need another few tens of thousands of years to completely refine the Blood Sea.
At that time, he would truly have a foundation for survival in the Primordial World.
And so, time flashed by, and a long while passed once more.
One day, the system notification suddenly sounded in Minghe's mind again.
"Ding! It has been detected that Kong Xuan and Great Peng, the sons of Yuan Feng, are about to be born. The host may make one of the following choices."
"Choice one: Go and accept 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 notification, Minghe's heart stirred, and he opened his eyes.
This choice was clearly another free gift. One option was to accept disciples and receive Innate Yin-Yang Origin.
The other was to not accept disciples and receive Innate Five-Elements Origin.
Minghe considered it briefly before making his choice. He silently said to the system, "System, I choose two."
Forget taking disciples. Minghe had no such inclination.
For the other great powers of the Primordial World, accepting disciples and passing down their teachings might have been very important.
But for Minghe, there was no need for that. Besides, he could not be bothered to train disciples.
If he ended up turning himself into a nanny, that would truly be more trouble than it was worth.
Therefore, even though Kong Xuan and Great Peng possessed exceptional talent, Minghe was not moved in the slightest.
He still had to keep a low profile himself, so why take disciples? It would only invite karma for no reason.
Before you continue