With the rebellion of fierce beasts suppressed, the East China Sea returned to its former tranquility.
These days, Luoxuan did not stay cooped up on his island single-mindedly cultivating as he used to; instead, he began frequently wandering through the neighborhoods, visiting fellow Jiejiao disciples across various islands.
All around Jin'ao Island, thousands of immortal islands were scattered like stars in the sky. For Luoxuan, these immortal islands were veritable treasure troves, so naturally he could not let them go to waste.
Consequently, Luoxuan spent his entire day doing nothing else but frantically checking in everywhere.
First, he would pay a formal visit. Then came discussing the Dao and chatting to build a connection—after all, he couldn't just turn around and leave right after checking in; that would be far too impolite. Finally, he would say his goodbyes and hurry off to the next stop.
Through this routine, he not only completed his check-ins and reaped system rewards, but also strengthened ties with his fellow disciples, making it a true win-win.
Of course, Luoxuan still had his bottom line.
As for those Jiejiao scum of poor character and heinous crimes, Luoxuan would rather forgo the rewards than have anything to do with them.
Take Mayuan of the One-Qi for instance. That fellow was originally a skeleton who attained the Dao, naturally cruel and fond of feeding on human hearts. He had harmed countless innocent living creatures. If not for the protection of Jiejiao, such a pest would have long since been struck down by righteous Primordial World practitioners; how could he possibly remain so carefree and at ease?
Toward such people, restrained by their shared sect, Luoxuan found it awkward to act openly, but he utterly refused to associate with them.
Months drifted away in the blink of an eye.
Ten years later, on Nine Dragons Island, Luoxuan bid farewell to four enthusiastic fellow Daoists and departed upon a cloud.
Over the past decade, Luoxuan had practically checked in at every single island near Jin'ao Island, with Nine Dragons Island being the very last stop.
"What a pity," Luoxuan lamented with a trace of regret. "Senior Brother Duobao and the others reside on Jin'ao Island; otherwise, given their status and cultivation, the rewards from checking in there certainly wouldn't be inferior to the Three Immortal Islands."
A streak of fire tore through the firmament as Luoxuan returned to Fire Dragon Island.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground with a sweep of his broad sleeve, a pile of items radiating precious light suddenly appeared before him. Luoxuan began taking stock of his harvest from these years of checking in.
First were all sorts of spiritual materials.
Such as the Sun Copper of Mount Shou, Innate Geng Gold, Ten-Thousand-Year Azure Jade, and Five-Elements Divine Soil—all of them top-tier materials in the Primordial World, some of which could even be used to forge Spiritual Treasures.
Take the Sun Copper of Mount Shou, for example. Legend had it that the Xuanyuan Sword and the Ruyi Jingu Bang were forged from this very material.
Looking at the spiritual materials covering the ground, Luoxuan fell into deep thought.
"It seems I'll need to learn how to forge artifacts in the future, or else all these spiritual materials will go to complete waste."
Beside the spiritual materials were various fragrant spiritual flowers and immortal herbs.
Thousand-year vermilion fruit, ten-thousand-year ginseng, soul-returning grass, red dragon wood... Though not ranking among the true Spiritual Roots, they were still rare treasures in daily life, especially since the entire Primordial World possessed few Spiritual Roots to begin with, most of which had already been divided up by powerful beings.
Luoxuan muttered to himself, "Should I take up alchemy as well?"
If Tongtian were to discover that a Jiejiao disciple of his had no desire to study the Dao of arrays, but instead wanted to learn alchemy and artifact forging, he would likely be angered to the point of ascending to the heavens.
"Forget it, I'll think about it later."
Luoxuan shook his head and stowed away all the spiritual materials and immortal herbs, deciding to figure out when he might use them later.
After tidying up, the space before him instantly became much neater. Only two items remained: a snow-white insect and a miniature palace-like structure.
Luoxuan picked up the palace and tossed it forward.
Instantly, a flash of brilliant light swept past, and a massive palace materialized on Fire Dragon Island.
Carved beams and painted rafters, turquoise tiles and vermilion ridges, antique and magnificent.
The entire palace was cast from ten-thousand-year iron wood and hundreds-of-millions-of-years mysterious jade. Not only was it an exceptional place to live, but it could also gather the spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, vastly improving cultivation efficiency.
Written in flying dragon and dancing phoenix calligraphy on the palace plaque were two grand characters:
"Dao Palace!"
Staring at the magnificent palace before him, Luoxuan could not help but wear a look of joy.
Previously, he had discovered that the entire Fire Dragon Island lacked even a single building; usually, he could only sit cross-legged on the ground, without even a proper place to rest.
Although this was the norm in the Primordial World, with most people wholeheartedly focused on cultivation and paying little attention to external matters, Luoxuan, as a transmigrator, still harbored a certain obsession with having a home, retaining some of his former habits even after traversing worlds.
Luoxuan stood up and took a step forward. A red light flashed, and in an instant, he arrived inside the Dao Palace.
Inside the main hall, Luoxuan sat upon a futon, a giant character for "Dao" hanging on the wall behind him, lending the space a very stylish ambiance.
"Now this is more like it!" Luoxuan nodded in satisfaction.
Only then did he begin examining the final item.
[Void Heaven Worm: A rare beast of the Primordial World, naturally gifted, capable of traversing the void at will and concealing itself within it. None below the level of a Sage can detect it. At the same time, it possesses the ability to record the information of heaven and earth.]
The system provided a detailed introduction.
"What kind of Void Heaven Worm is this? Isn't this just a hidden surveillance camera?" Luoxuan's expression turned to one of astonishment.
He never expected that such an unassuming little insect would possess such heaven-defying abilities.
Letting his imagination run wild, Luoxuan instantly thought of the best possible use for the Void Heaven Worm.
Namely, using it to secretly spy on Senior Sister Yunxiao... Ahem, no, wait—using it to film the scenes when Dingguangxian colluded with the Western Sect. When the time came to play it back in front of Tongtian, wouldn't that double-dealing traitor Dingguangxian be dead for sure?
"What a pity, though," Luoxuan muttered, "it's easily discovered by Sages; otherwise, if I used it to record Master lecturing on the Dao and played it on a loop, wouldn't I be able to listen to a Sage lecture every single day?"
Luoxuan patted his chest and spat out a drop of vital blood, letting it drip onto the Void Heaven Worm.
Shortly after, a flash of light swept by, the blood on the Void Heaven Worm vanished, and Luoxuan immediately felt a connection form between himself and the creature.
With a single thought in his mind, the body of the Void Heaven Worm wriggled, its originally snow-white skin gradually turning transparent until it completely vanished.
Had Luoxuan not already refined the Void Heaven Worm and maintained an invisible connection with it, even with his Taiyi Golden Immortal Realm cultivation, he would have been utterly unable to detect its tracks.
"Truly formidable." Luoxuan marvelled, his face full of wonder. The vast Primordial World really was full of wonders.
Retrieving a jade box, Luoxuan placed the Void Heaven Worm inside. With this thing, exposing the traitorous identity of Dingguangxian would be as easy as turning over his hand.
Aside from the spiritual materials, immortal herbs, the Dao Palace, and the Void Heaven Worm, the system had also rewarded a vast amount of magical power.
Combined, it amounted to roughly tens of thousands of years' worth of magical power.
Luoxuan sat cross-legged and extracted all the magical power in one go. Instantly, a colossal surge of power poured into his body like the water of a heavenly river.
Luoxuan circulated the Nine Turns Mysterious Art, and a tremendously powerful devouring force erupted within his Dantian.
To an ordinary cultivator, a sudden surge of tens of thousands of years of magical power would likely be too much to bear, carrying the grave danger of exploding from the excess.
However, the cultivation technique Luoxuan practiced was the Nine Turns Mysterious Art—the supreme scripture passed down by the Great God Pangu.
Regardless of how turbulent the waves were, Luoxuan accepted them all without refusal, swallowing and refining every drop of magical power like a ravenous Taotie beast.
Inside the hall, a mighty wave of pressure suddenly erupted from Luoxuan's body, causing ripples to spread across the very void, accompanied by a low, trembling roar.
Abruptly, Luoxuan opened his crimson eyes and let out a long breath.
"Mid-stage Taiyi Golden Immortal..."
"It is done!"