Master Tongtian glanced at Zhou Chen and shook his head with a flat expression.
"Zhou Chen, I will not bestow any treasures upon you for now. Once you find your own Great Dao, I shall grant you a Spiritual Treasure. Spiritual Treasures are ultimately external objects, and coming into contact with them too early is not necessarily a good thing."
Hearing this, the corners of Zhou Chen's mouth twitched slightly, but he still respectfully bowed to Master Tongtian.
"Understood, Master."
Master Tongtian nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, then cast a glance at the two of them and slowly spoke.
"Follow me back to Jinao Island."
With that, a cloud formed beneath Master Tongtian. He seated himself cross-legged upon it and headed toward the depths of the East China Sea.
Seeing this, Zhou Chen and Our Lady of Jinling followed closely behind Master Tongtian toward Jinao Island.
Master Tongtian did not use any divine powers to travel back; instead, he rode the cloud at a leisurely pace, likely to enjoy the scenery of the East China Sea.
A Sage was still a person, possessed of normal human emotions and desires—unless, of course, one had completely severed them, which was another matter entirely.
The trio of travelers proceeded deep into the East China Sea, heading straight back to Jinao Island.
Along the way, Zhou Chen looked around, taking the opportunity to admire the various islands they passed.
After all, this was his first time venturing this deep into the East China Sea.
The islands came in all sorts of strange and varied shapes, and he couldn't help but gaze at them with wonder.
Our Lady of Jinling was different. Having resided here for quite some time, she was already very familiar with the area. Furthermore, not knowing Zhou Chen very well and mindful of her dignity as the senior sister of Jiejiao, she simply stood respectfully behind Master Tongtian. However, from time to time, her peripheral vision would drift toward Zhou Chen, who was looking around so casually. She wondered why he, merely at the Earth Immortal Realm, could be so relaxed in front of a Sage. Wasn't he nervous at all?
Normally, a Sage's travels would be accompanied by countless auspicious phenomena, but Master Tongtian had concealed all of them.
Traveling through the depths of the East China Sea, the group encountered no blind sea beasts or ferocious monsters, and safely returned to the waters surrounding Jinao Island.
Zhou Chen looked at the massive island ahead, its sheer expanse unlike anything he had ever seen before.
This was by far the largest island he had laid eyes on since setting foot in the Primordial World.
The entire immortal island resembled a giant turtle resting upon the surface of the sea, its back inscribed with the diagrams of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, while its upper reaches were shrouded in a layer of golden light.
It was truly a place of exceptional spiritual energy and extraordinary wonder.
The island was veiled in auspicious clouds, with earthly vapors rising into the air. Within its borders, pristine spiritual springs flowed in all directions, and rare flowers and exotic herbs could be seen everywhere.
From time to time, immortal birds spread their wings and soared high through the forests, while wondrous beasts dashed about in play.
The spiritual energy here was incomparably dense, fully living up to its reputation as one of the top blessed immortal lands in the Primordial World.
Scattered across the island were quite a few Jiejiao disciples cultivating; they gathered in groups of twos and threes to discuss the Great Dao together.
Master Tongtian stepped directly onto the island, with Our Lady of Jinling and Zhou Chen following closely behind onto Jinao Island.
Master Tongtian turned to look at the two of them and slowly spoke.
"Zhou Chen, this place is the dojo I have opened up. I established my dojo here on Jinao Island and usually reside in Biyou Palace. If you have any matters to attend to, or encounter any confusion in your cultivation of the Great Dao, come to Biyou Palace to find me. I will have Senior Sister Jinling find you a place to stay so you can cultivate on the island for a while."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Chen respectfully bowed to Master Tongtian.
"Understood, Master. Your disciple obeys."
Master Tongtian nodded in acknowledgment, then took a step forward and vanished from the spot, returning to Biyou Palace.
Knowing that Master Tongtian had returned to Biyou Palace, Our Lady of Jinling and Zhou Chen turned to each other.
Zhou Chen looked toward Our Lady of Jinling and politely inquired.
"Senior Sister Jinling, I wonder if you have a moment? If it is inconvenient, this junior brother can manage on my own."
Our Lady of Jinling gave Zhou Chen a deep look before slowly responding.
"Junior Brother Zhou Chen, most of the areas on Jinao Island with abundant spiritual energy have already been occupied by other disciples. If you do not mind, you may temporarily stay in my immortal cave! Master is going to give a lecture soon; you can find a cave of your own after the lecture concludes."
"Then I must trouble Senior Sister."
Zhou Chen quickly expressed his gratitude. In truth, he didn't care much about establishing his own immortal cave on Jinao Island. After all, his primary purpose in coming here was to listen to the lectures, which would take place inside Biyou Palace. As for his usual resting place, any location with abundant innate spiritual energy would suffice. Jinao Island itself was a top-tier blessed land; while certain mountain peaks indeed possessed slightly denser spiritual energy than others, the difference was negligible. To Zhou Chen, having a little more or a little less made no difference at all.
After exchanging a few polite pleasantries, Our Lady of Jinling brought Zhou Chen back to her immortal cave.
The mountain where Our Lady of Jinling's cave was located stood right next to Biyou Palace, and was one of the peaks with the richest spiritual energy on Jinao Island.
Upon entering the cave, Our Lady of Jinling settled Zhou Chen in and then retired to refine her Spiritual Treasure.
Once Our Lady of Jinling had departed, Zhou Chen did not immediately begin cultivating. Instead, he sat down to ponder the next stage of the cultivation technique he was creating—the Heavenly Immortal Realm.
After spending several hundred years in Our Lady of Jinling's cave racking his brain without a single breakthrough, Zhou Chen decided to walk around Jinao Island to seek inspiration.
Zhou Chen began pacing leisurely across Jinao Island.
While taking in the scenery of Jinao Island, he continued to ponder the subsequent methods for cultivating the state of mind required for the Heavenly Immortal Realm.
Before he knew it, several hundred years had passed as he wandered the island.
During these centuries, he had not been entirely without gains. Based on how Daluo Golden Immortals mastered the laws, he had gained a profound comprehension of the true meaning of the Dao laws for the Heavenly Immortal Realm. As for what lay beyond that, however, Zhou Chen remained completely baffled and had no idea where to start.
With a helpless sigh, Zhou Chen lay down upon the summit of the mountain where Our Lady of Jinling's cave was located, gazing up at the brilliant starlit sky.
Night had fallen, and countless stars filled his field of vision. The moon of Yin emitted streams of lunar radiance that descended upon the Primordial World.
Looking at that silvery moonlight, Zhou Chen sighed somewhat helplessly.
"The vast river of stars, myriad luminaries shining, the power of lunar radiance nourishing all things."
With those words, Zhou Chen stared fixedly into the starry sky.
After gazing at it for a moment, a sudden thought struck him. He had already opened up Stellar Particles, and eight hundred and forty million Stellar Particles formed a river of stars. Why couldn't he model it after the fictional cultivation technique Stellar Transformation from his past life, transforming those stellar particles into actual universes, with eight hundred and forty million universes forming a vast cosmic river of stars?
Combining this with memories from his past life, he began to ponder deeply.
"I have already opened up Stellar Particles within my body. What if I refine those Stellar Particles into miniature universes, letting eight hundred and forty million minor universes form a vast cosmic river of stars?"
"Furthermore, within the three hundred and sixty-five major acupoints across my body, could I condense projections of worlds?"
As this thought crossed Zhou Chen's mind, a fresh wave of inspiration took root.
Humans in his past life had used various technologies to traverse the cosmos and starry skies; now that he had arrived in the Primordial World, why couldn't he traverse the starry heavens and cosmos of the myriad realms?
Since he was able to reach this Primordial World, countless dimensions of time and space must exist. Perhaps his past life's world was merely one among those temporal dimensions.
By the time his thoughts reached this point, Zhou Chen had already formed a concrete plan.
"Yes, exactly. That is it."
"Comprehend the true meaning of the laws of heaven and earth, transform the particles of my body into a vast cosmic river of stars, condense world realms within my major acupoints, traverse the starry firmament and cosmos, and encompass the universe and stars within my own body."