After returning to the Sun Star, Daochen, Dijun, and Eastern Emperor Taiyi each went back to their own palaces to enter seclusion.
At that moment, Daochen sat quietly cross-legged inside his temple, four spiritual treasures floating around him in a haze of clear light.
The Earth-Leaving Flame Light Banner!
The Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner!
The World-Destroying Black Lotus!
The God-Slaying Spear!
Three Supreme Xiantian Spiritual Treasures.
One Xiantian Supreme Treasure!
Hongjun's second lecture had yet to begin, and the treasure distribution at Treasure-Splitting Cliff was still a long way off. Xiantian Spiritual Treasures were exceedingly scarce throughout the Primordial World.
Even among the three thousand mighty figures who had attended Purple Heavens Palace, quite a few still lacked a single suitable Xiantian Spiritual Treasure.
Let alone a Supreme Xiantian Spiritual Treasure or even a Xiantian Supreme Treasure.
If Daochen brought out the Xiantian Spiritual Treasures in his possession now, countless mighty figures of the Primordial World would surely fight tooth and nail for them!
Over the years, Daochen had refined most of the four treasures' restrictions and gained an understanding of their respective functions.
The Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner could establish the Central Thick-Earth Formation. Its defenses were unparalleled, making it ideal for trapping enemies!
The Earth-Leaving Flame Light Banner could establish the Crimson-Origin Separation-Fire Formation. Its tremendous power could burn the heavens and destroy the earth, and the separation fire it summoned was no weaker than the Golden Crow Divine Flame.
He had also refined the first forty-two of the God-Slaying Spear's forty-nine innate divine restrictions.
Unfortunately, Daochen was only a Great Luo Golden Immortal, and the Heaven Measuring Ruler had absorbed all the Heavenly Dao merit earned from slaying Luo Hou. As a result, he had been unable to refine the final seven innate divine restrictions.
Otherwise, the God-Slaying Spear would have become another supreme trump card for Daochen besides the Heaven Measuring Ruler.
Even so, the power the God-Slaying Spear could unleash was no weaker than that of a Supreme Xiantian Spiritual Treasure with all its innate divine restrictions refined.
What delighted Daochen most, however, was the World-Destroying Black Lotus.
Although it was merely a Supreme Xiantian Spiritual Treasure, its defensive power alone was no weaker than that of an ordinary Xiantian Supreme Treasure.
Luo Hou had nurtured the World-Destroying Black Lotus for endless ages. If the terrifying killing intent contained within it were fully unleashed, even the Three Pure Ones would have no choice but to avoid its edge!
"Now that I've refined the treasures, it's time to begin refining the time law!"
With a sweep of Daochen's hand, the four Xiantian Spiritual Treasures vanished from the temple and floated quietly within the sea of consciousness in his dantian.
Yet just as Daochen was about to begin refining the time law, a mechanical electronic voice suddenly rang in his ears.
"Ding! Congratulations, host, on successfully completing the Purple Heavens Palace storyline. System rewards are being distributed." "Ding! Congratulations, host, on receiving Time Law Fragment ×2." "Ding! Congratulations, host, on receiving one use of the hundredfold comprehension boost!"
These two rewards complemented each other perfectly. The time law ranked among the top three of the three thousand Great Dao laws, second only to Pangu's law of strength, and was not the slightest bit weaker than even the second-ranked space law.
The difficulty and obscurity involved in comprehending fragments of such a supreme law were easy to imagine.
Although Daochen's origins as a Chaos Golden Crow gave him fortune and comprehension far beyond those of other beings in the Primordial World, comprehending the time law would still be an extremely slow process.
But with the hundredfold comprehension boost, Daochen no longer worried about his progress.
As the system spoke, two Time Law Fragments fell directly into the sea of consciousness in Daochen's dantian.
"Would the host like to activate the hundredfold comprehension boost?"
The system's voice sounded again.
"Activate!"
Daochen gave the command in a cold voice.
A hum rang out.
Almost instantly, Daochen felt his mind become clearer than ever before. The world before his eyes suddenly grew rich and vivid, as though he could slip into enlightenment at any moment.
With a thought, three Time Law Fragments appeared in Daochen's hands.
He gathered his divine sense, pouring his entire consciousness into the law fragments.
The next moment, Daochen felt the world before him change. An illusory river appeared before his eyes, its waves churning and towering into the sky. He seemed to have become part of that river himself, drifting with its surging waters toward an unknown distance.
The river of time?
With Daochen's mental fortitude, he would naturally not be deceived by the scene before him and end up sinking forever into the river of time.
With a thought, Daochen sent his divine sense into the river of time. As it sank, he suddenly felt as though time was a river and he was a fish.
Endless waters of time flowed past him, as though ten thousand years passed in an instant, or an instant lasted ten thousand years. These bizarre differences in time left Daochen deeply uncomfortable.
But there was one thing Daochen had to admit: although the process was agonizing, his understanding of the time law grew with each passing day.
As Daochen's understanding of the time law deepened, his cultivation also slowly increased.
Yet Daochen remained oblivious to all of this, his entire consciousness immersed in the river of time.
Three thousand years later, on Mount Kunlun.
"Eldest Brother, all three of us have now drawn upon the heaven-opening merit within our primordial spirits to reach the Late Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. Why don't we set out for the Sun Star immediately and fight Daochen again?"
On Mount Kunlun, Yuanshi had just emerged from seclusion. He gazed at the blazing sun overhead, resentment written across his face.
Daochen had humiliated him before so many mighty figures of the Primordial World.
He had never forgotten that debt.
Hearing this, Tongtian instinctively ducked his head, then turned to look at Laozi.
Eldest Brother, Second Brother has lost his mind again. You'd better handle this.
Knock some sense into him.
"Haven't you embarrassed yourself enough?"
Laozi immediately flew into a rage.
"If you hadn't thought so highly of yourself and provoked him first, how would you have angered Daochen? Failing to learn your lesson once was bad enough, but you actually provoked him again after leaving Purple Heavens Palace! Do you really think being a sage's disciple gives you the right to run rampant?"
He had helped Yuanshi once, only for his Heaven and Earth’s Yellow Exquisite Pagoda to suffer a tremendous loss of spiritual essence in the beating. His heart had ached terribly over it.
Yet the moment Yuanshi came out of seclusion, he wanted to fight Daochen again.
Laozi was absolutely furious!
He wished he could march over and slap him twice.
"Are we just going to let this go?"
Yuanshi's face was full of resentment.
With a cold expression, Laozi said, "Endure it! If you encounter Daochen again, keep out of his way. Wait until you're strong enough before going after him. Otherwise, if you lose face, even I won't be able to help you."
Helping you the first time cost me a Supreme Xiantian Spiritual Treasure.
Helping you the second time left my Heaven and Earth’s Yellow Exquisite Pagoda badly depleted of spiritual essence.
And now you still want to make trouble for Daochen?
If you really want to go, go yourself. Don't drag us along.
If I help you again, I might lose my Heaven and Earth’s Yellow Exquisite Pagoda altogether!
Yes, the Three Pure Ones are one, but isn't it going too far for you, Yuanshi, to keep making others wipe your backside and clean up your messes?
Even blood brothers have to keep their accounts straight.
The next time you poke a hornet's nest, clean it up yourself, Yuanshi. I have no time to bother with you.
"Eldest Brother..."
Laozi was determined to stay out of it, leaving Yuanshi seething!
He hurriedly turned toward Tongtian.
Startled, Tongtian immediately lowered his gaze and focused inward, making a show of having seen nothing.
His meaning was clear: Your affairs are yours, Yuanshi. I'm not getting involved!
If you provoke Daochen again, even if he beats you to death, I'll pretend I saw nothing.
Faced with Laozi and Tongtian's attitude, Yuanshi's hatred for Daochen reached its peak, while his dissatisfaction with Tongtian and Laozi also grew!
"Where are the Three Pure Ones? Come out and fight your grandpa!"
Just then, a burly man whose body resembled emerald bamboo appeared on Mount Kunlun. He had a bird's face and a human body, and stood atop two dragons.
Before you continue