Fire Dragon Island.
Luoxuan felt a wave of heat rushing toward his face. An ancient crimson tree appeared before him, which was none in other than the low-grade Spiritual Treasure, the Crimson Sun Jujube tree.
The branches of the jujube tree were gnarled and twisted, completely covered in fiery red patterns as if wrapped in flames. The branches were laden with fruit. Forty-nine Crimson Sun Jujubes were entirely crimson in color, full and perfectly round. They were clearly ripe, exuding an enticing, fresh fragrance.
Luoxuan plucked a Crimson Sun Jujube and ate it.
Instantly, his mouth flooded with saliva. As soon as the Crimson Sun Jujube entered his mouth, it turned into a warm current that slid straight from his throat into his stomach. Luoxuan felt a blazing heat in his stomach, as if he were being scorched by roaring flames. He hurriedly sat cross-legged and circulated the Nine Turns Mysterious Art to refine the medicinal power of the Crimson Sun Jujube.
His magical power surged.
A dazzling red light emerged on Luoxuan's skin, and the hot current rolled within his stomach before being refined into wisps of magical power.
A moment later, Luoxuan opened his crimson eyes and flickered his sleeve.
Instantly, endless flames blossomed in the void, bright and scorching, radiating billowing heat. If one observed closely, one could see that the color of the flames was not bright red, but crimson. The deepening color represented even more formidable power in the flames.
Luoxuan revealed a smile.
"As expected of an innate spiritual root, a single Crimson Sun Jujube not only increased my magical power, but also greatly enhanced the power of my fire-attribute divine abilities."
Following that, Luoxuan consumed two more Crimson Sun Jujubes, but found that the effect was minimal. Although his magical power had increased quite a bit, the power of his fire divine abilities only grew by a sliver, without the massive transformation brought by the first Crimson Sun Jujube.
"As expected!" Luoxuan sighed.
Spiritual roots and spiritual fruits all carried drug resistance. The first one had miraculous effects, but consuming any thereafter would result in steadily diminishing returns.
"Forget it!"
"One cannot be too greedy."
Luoxuan found a good spot on the island and planted the Crimson Sun Jujube. The moment it was planted, the spiritual Qi across the entire Fire Dragon Island instantly grew several times denser. This was yet another benefit of an innate spiritual root.
Beneath the ancient tree, Luoxuan sat down cross-legged, took out the Fire Spirit Bead bestowed by Tongtian, and began refining the Spiritual Treasure.
Within a Spiritual Treasure, innate restrictions were contained. The more innate restrictions it possessed, the higher the grade of the Spiritual Treasure.
Low-grade Spiritual Treasures possessed 1 to 12 restrictions.
Medium-grade Spiritual Treasures possessed 13 to 24 restrictions.
High-grade Spiritual Treasures possessed 25 to 36 restrictions.
Top-grade Spiritual Treasures possessed 37 to 48 restrictions.
The Great Dao numbered fifty, of which the Heavenly Dao utilized forty-nine. An Innate Supreme Treasure represented the ultimate of the world, and thus possessed forty-nine restrictions.
The Fire Spirit Bead possessed twenty-four restrictions, making it a top-tier existence even among medium-grade Spiritual Treasures.
Luoxuan closed his eyes and steadied his mind. The Fire Spirit Bead hovered before his chest, flashing with wave after wave of radiant light. Luoxuan released his divine sense to probe into the Spiritual Treasure and began refining the restrictions within it.
Years in the Great Wilderness were uncounted. Regardless of the hustle and bustle of the outside world, Fire Dragon Island remained entirely peaceful, and ten years passed in the blink of an eye.
On this day,
"Screech!"
A long cry resounded through the sky. A completely crimson fire crane soared into the sky, and with the flapping of its wings, infinite flames burned. The intense high temperature caused even the void to distort.
"Recall!" Luoxuan shouted loudly.
The fire crane instantly turned into a stream of light and drilled back into the Fire Spirit Bead, and the sea of fire in the void vanished along with it.
The Fire Spirit Bead dropped from the air and landed in Luoxuan's hand.
Spending ten years, Luoxuan had refined ten restrictions, allowing him to basically unleash half the power of the Fire Spirit Bead. This was already very fast. If Luoxuan did not possess the cultivation of a Taiyi Golden Immortal and wasn't a fire-attribute cultivator, he likely would have had to expend even more time.
Just as Luoxuan put away the Fire Spirit Bead, suddenly, the sound of the void being torn apart rang out, and Luoxuan hurriedly raised his head to look. He saw a talisman seal manifesting in the air.
Clear light flashed, and the figure of a person appeared before Luoxuan. He was slightly plump, with a kind expression and wearing a black Taoist robe. It was none other than the chief disciple of Jiejiao, Daoist Duobao.
Daoist Duobao said in a deep voice,
"By the decree of Master,"
"Currently, oceanic fierce beasts have their minds muddled by tribulation Qi and are wreaking havoc in the East China Sea, causing devastation to living beings. Jiejiao disciples are hereby ordered to quell the rebellion of the fierce beasts and safeguard the peace of the realm."
Luoxuan hurriedly raised his hands in a bow and saluted.
"This disciple obeys!"
Seeming to have received Luoxuan's reply, Daoist Duobao's figure gradually dissipated and vanished. Clearly, what had come was only a transmission projection, not Daoist Duobao's true physical body.
Luoxuan frowned. He executed his Dharma eyes and looked toward the distant sea surface.
The scene before his eyes abruptly changed. The sea surface was permeated with wisps of baleful Qi, and faint traces of bloody light emerged, scattering the original pure spiritual Qi.
It truly was fierce beasts causing chaos.
As the East China Sea was where the Daoist sanctuary of the Sage Tongtian was located, naturally these fierce beasts could not be allowed to run amok. Therefore, Tongtian had ordered his disciples to exterminate the fierce beasts.
Luoxuan took a step forward, his figure transforming into a streak of fire light that soared into the sky, heading straight for the place where the baleful Qi was densest.
At the shores of the East China Sea, the past peace was broken. One by one, fierce beasts with bloodshot eyes and bodies reeking of baleful Qi were rampaging through the sea, slaughtering the creatures of the deep.
Fierce beasts were the descendants of ancient fierce beasts. Although these fierce beasts inherited the formidable bloodline of the fierce beasts and possessed extraordinary strength, they lacked sentience. Much like ordinary wild beasts, they were cruel, bloodthirsty, and knew only slaughter. Therefore, even though these fierce beasts possessed a portion of Yao clan bloodline, they were not acknowledged by the Yao clan.
In the past, they hid deep within the ocean depths, failing to cause any real trouble. However, now that the Lich Tribulation had begun, tribulation Qi permeated heaven and earth. These fierce beasts had their minds muddled by the tribulation Qi and abruptly rioted in groups, disturbing the East China Sea.
A moment later, countless streams of light flew in from the horizon. It was the Jiejiao disciples who had come to exterminate the rampaging fierce beasts under the orders of Tongtian.
Daoist Duobao stood tall in the void and shouted in a resonant voice,
"Fellow disciples!"
"Master has ordered us to exterminate the rampaging fierce beasts without fail!"
The crowd shouted in unison,
"Understood!"
The various Jiejiao disciples watched the rampaging fierce beasts with expressions of excitement. Firstly, doing things for Master was inherently the duty of a disciple. Secondly, these fierce beasts carried karmic debt; if one could slay them, one could obtain Heavenly Dao Merit.
Merit was a wonderful thing. It could be used for cultivation, and it could also be used to refine Spiritual Treasures. Moreover, it had zero side effects, earning it the reputation of a hard currency universally craved across the Great Wilderness. Furthermore, if one possessed sufficient merit, one could walk sideways even in front of Sages, who wouldn't dare to casually strike one down.
Ordinarily, obtaining merit was extremely difficult, but now one only needed to kill these fierce beasts to easily acquire merit. Who wouldn't be overjoyed at such a wonderful thing?
At Duobao's command, the crowd pounced forward like hungry wolves. At this moment, these fierce beasts looked like little darlings flashing with the golden light of merit in their eyes, extremely alluring.
Luoxuan stepped upon the void, deployed the Myriad Crow Pot, and released six thousand Fire Crows.
Back when he was a Golden Immortal, Luoxuan could deploy three thousand Fire Crows when manipulating the Myriad Crow Pot. After breaking through to the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, Luoxuan's magical power surged violently, and his mastery over the Myriad Crow Pot reached a higher level. At this time, he could manipulate six thousand Fire Crows, doubling the quantity.