"In three thousand years, I reached the peak of the daluo golden immortal realm. The Heaven-Earth Origin Art truly lived up to its reputation as the cultivation method of Great God Pangu!"
As Xu Tong felt the power within him, he could barely contain his delight.
"Being at the peak of the daluo golden immortal realm is certainly impressive, but it doesn't amount to much in the Primordial World. If I want to Prove Dao by Force, this is only the beginning!"
Xu Tong drew a deep breath. Rather than rise, he intended to continue cultivating in seclusion and break through to the quasi-sage realm in one push!
Yet just then, the system's voice, which had remained silent in his mind all this time, suddenly rang out.
Ding! Detected a development in the course of the Primordial World. The Innate Gourds on Buzhou Mountain are about to ripen. Host, please make your choice. Option one: follow the course of the Primordial World and go to Buzhou Mountain to seize an Innate Gourd. Reward: Innate Origin Embryo. Option two: go to Buzhou Mountain to watch the excitement, remaining hidden without taking action. Reward: Fragment of the Jade Plate of Creation. Option three: who cares whether the Innate Gourds are ripening? Continue lying low on Kunlun Mountain without venturing out. Reward: Immortal Slaying Formation Diagram.
The sudden voice left Xu Tong momentarily stunned, before he began cursing inwardly.
This damn system! I've already decided to lie low on Kunlun Mountain until the heavens grow barren and the earth grows old, and now it's trying to tempt me again!
The Innate Origin Embryo was born from a convergence of innate essence. Once incorporated into his body, it could multiply his cultivation speed several times over!
As though worried its temptations weren't enticing enough, this damn system had even offered a Fragment of the Jade Plate of Creation as a reward!
After all, a Fragment of the Jade Plate of Creation had been the very foundation upon which Hongjun attained the Dao, became a sage, and established himself as the spokesman of the Heavenly Dao!
The complete Jade Plate of Creation had once belonged to Great God Pangu and contained the three thousand Great Daos. Only because it could not withstand the pressure of heaven and earth during the creation of the world had it shattered into Twenty-Four Fragments.
Later, through a series of fortunate encounters, Hongjun found many of those fragments, allowing him to crush Demon Ancestor Luohu in one stroke and attain the Dao to become a sage!
Without the Jade Plate of Creation, Hongjun could have forgotten all about attaining the Dao!
And now, the system was actually using one of those Fragments of the Jade Plate of Creation as a reward to tempt Xu Tong!
Whether it was the Innate Origin Embryo or a Fragment of the Jade Plate of Creation, either would undoubtedly be immensely useful to Xu Tong!
It could even shorten the time Xu Tong needed to cultivate countless times over!
Besides, in the original course of events in the Primordial World, Tongtian had headed straight to Buzhou Mountain after returning from hearing the Dao at Purple Cloud Palace, dividing all seven Innate Gourds among himself and the others!
In other words, if Xu Tong rushed to Buzhou Mountain, he could obtain at least one Innate Gourd, along with either a Fragment of the Jade Plate of Creation or the Innate Origin Embryo!
Compared with those two choices, the reward for the third option was rather paltry.
The Immortal Slaying Formation Diagram was certainly immensely powerful, but Xu Tong didn't have the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords!
The thing had to work in concert with the Four Immortal-Slaying Swords to unleash its power. Without those four swords, what the hell was the point of having only the formation diagram?
Of the three choices, the last offered the most meager reward-a chicken rib, too tasteless to eat yet too wasteful to throw away.
Moreover, if he chose the third option, the Innate Gourds on Buzhou Mountain would have nothing to do with him.
Instant riches on one side, a chicken rib of an Immortal Slaying Formation Diagram on the other. The choices and rewards were as far apart as heaven and earth!
"Damn system!"
Xu Tong drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the agitation in his heart!
"Option three!"
Since he had already decided to avoid entangling himself in the karma of the Primordial World and devote himself to Proving Dao by Force, Xu Tong naturally would not change his goal.
The rewards for the first two choices were certainly better, but they would embroil him in the karma of the Primordial World. Thus, Xu Tong finally made his choice.
Buzzz-
The moment he made his choice, a humming sound rang out, and a vast, boundless spiritual radiance suddenly flared!
Then a formation diagram that seemed capable of devouring heaven and earth appeared in his hands. Heaven and earth, sun and moon, mountains and rivers, and starry streams were all encompassed within it, as though a mere tremor could shake the firmament!
The only flaw in this otherwise perfect treasure was that the formation cores in the east, south, west, and north were missing.
"By now, Yuanshi and the others have probably already headed to Buzhou Mountain."
After calmly putting away the Immortal Slaying Formation Diagram, Xu Tong could not help turning his gaze toward Buzhou Mountain.
"But that has nothing to do with me anymore. I'd better make the most of my time cultivating and strive to attain the Dao and become a sage as soon as possible!"
Inside Purple Cloud Palace.
Hongjun announced the date of his second Dao lecture, then appointed King Father of the East as the Head of Male Immortals of the Primordial World and Queen Mother of the West as the Head of Female Immortals, charging them with governing the immortals and establishing order.
King Father of the East and Queen Mother of the West were naturally overjoyed. Although Di Jun and the members of the Witch Clan dared not openly defy this decree, they privately scoffed at it.
The mere King Father of the East and Queen Mother of the West wanted to govern all the immortals of the Primordial World? They ought to take a good look at whether they were cut out for it!
Just then, spiritual light suddenly blazed forth!
On Buzhou Mountain, spiritual energy soared into the heavens!
"An innate treasure has appeared!"
Di Jun's eyes widened. No longer interested in watching King Father of the East swagger like a petty man tasting success, he called to Taiyi and immediately sped toward Buzhou Mountain!
He was not alone. The others who had listened to the Dao in Purple Cloud Palace had also been preparing to leave. Now that they saw this wondrous phenomenon between heaven and earth, how could they fail to realize what had happened? Streak after streak of brilliant light shot forth as they raced toward Buzhou Mountain!
The emergence of the Innate Gourds drew countless mighty beings of the Primordial World in a surging tide!
Laozi and Yuanshi were naturally among them.
"Such a splendid opportunity. What a shame our third brother isn't here!"
"No matter. If our third brother can make a breakthrough in his cultivation, that will be an opportunity of his own. Let's go take a look first. We must seize those innate treasures!"
After this lightning-fast exchange, the two hesitated no further and sped straight toward Buzhou Mountain.
On Kunlun Mountain.
Xu Tong had already resumed his cross-legged posture, drawing streams of spiritual energy into his body as his cultivation rose steadily.
For him, the method of Proving Dao by Force had no shackles requiring him to sever the Three Corpses. He also knew that with Hongjun's Dao lectures underway, large numbers of daluo golden immortals and even quasi-sages would emerge throughout the Primordial World.
He did not have much time left!
As he cultivated, two streaks of light suddenly cleaved through the sky and landed on Kunlun Mountain.
Two figures emerged-Laozi and Yuanshi!
Both looked thoroughly pleased with themselves. After all, they had gained a great deal from hearing the Dao in Purple Cloud Palace and had also seized two Innate Gourds on Buzhou Mountain. They were riding high on the spring breeze of success.
"Our third brother really missed an opportunity by not going to Buzhou Mountain. These Innate Gourds have endless marvelous uses."
"Indeed. I wonder how our third brother's breakthrough is coming along."
Laozi and Yuanshi arrived outside the cave abode where Xu Tong was cultivating in seclusion. Just as they hesitated over whether to disturb him, their expressions suddenly changed!
Boom!
With a thunderous roar, all of heaven and earth seemed to lose its balance in that instant!
Vast spiritual energy erupted amid auspicious signs, and an immense pressure suddenly rose above Kunlun Mountain!
"Is this... the peak of the daluo golden immortal realm?"
Yuanshi's eyes abruptly widened, but Laozi's expression grew even graver. He murmured, "No. The Dao of Great Luo cannot produce such a phenomenon. Could our third brother have broken through to the quasi-sage realm?!"
As he spoke, towering waves of shock surged through his heart!
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