The other ten Ancestor Witches were long accustomed to the frequent bickering between the two.
"You don't say! Dijun and Taiyi are just two bald-headed birds—I, Zhurong, can beat them to a pulp with one hand!" Zhurong said with a flushed face, speaking with brash arrogance.
"Hmph, I wonder who it was that rushed in with a blast of fire, only to leave Dijun and Taiyi completely unscathed! Instead, certain people got so thoroughly roasted by their Sun True Fire that they were howling at the top of their lungs. You're bringing total shame upon the Ancestor Witches!" Gonggong refused to give Zhurong any slack and fired back immediately.
Seeing their argument rapidly escalating, Dijiang let out a cold snort and rebuked them: "We are here to discuss how to deal with the Demon Clan! If you two keep fighting, get the hell out of here!"
Zhurong and Gonggong simultaneously shrank their necks, not daring to utter another word.
The rest of the Ancestor Witches burst into loud laughter at the sight, even the usually stern Xuanming being no exception!
***
Several centuries had passed since the Tenth Crown Prince of the Demon Clan powerfully subdued the Dragon Clan in the East Sea.
Although Xiaoxuan had not slackened in his search for the three immortal islands, he had found nothing throughout.
"Perhaps the time for the three immortal islands to manifest has not yet arrived."
Just as Xiaoxuan was about to return to Kunlun Mountain, a sudden flash of intuition stirred his heart, and the Qiankun Ruler trembled incessantly within his spirit altar.
A yellow light flashed in his palm as Xiaoxuan continuously executed the Taiqing hand seals, using the Treasure-Falling Coin as a medium to divine the secrets of heaven.
Before long, a realization dawned in his heart: the twelve Sea-Calming Pearls had actually manifested!
Master Tongtian had obtained twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls at the Treasure-Dividing Cliff and later bestowed them upon his disciple Zhao Gongming. During the Battle of Investiture of the Gods, Zhao Gongming relied on the twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls in his hands to sweep through all opposition, earning himself a formidable reputation.
Later on, the twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls fell into the hands of Burning Lamp, who used them to evolve the heavens, earning the moniker that as long as the heavens remained undestroyed, his divine power would be inexhaustible—truly extraordinary.
At first, Xiaoxuan had also wondered why the Sea-Calming Pearls did not conform to the number of Tiangang and amounted to only twenty-four. At this moment, deducing that twelve Sea-Calming Pearls were about to manifest, he understood everything in an instant.
If the Sea-Calming Pearls were to gather the full Tiangang number, they would undoubtedly become a supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root!
Thinking of this, Xiaoxuan transformed into a stream of mysterious light, speeding rapidly toward the place where the Sea-Calming Pearls were manifesting.
When spiritual treasures manifest, heavenly portents naturally descend.
Since the East Sea was, after all, territory governed by the Dragon Clan, Ao Guang, the East Sea Dragon King, and the elite experts of the Dragon Clan had already arrived first by the time Xiaoxuan reached the location.
"Greetings, Dragon King. I am Xiaoxuan of Kunlun Mountain, paying my respects!"
Kunlun Mountain was the dwelling place of the Three Pure Ones of Pangu.
Hearing this, the East Sea Dragon King did not dare to be negligent and hurriedly returned the greeting: "I am Ao Guang, the East Sea Dragon King, returning your greeting!"
After the polite formalities, Xiaoxuan stood side by side with the East Sea Dragon King, looking toward the place where the Sea-Calming Pearls were manifesting. The rest of the Dragon Clan stood quietly behind the two; though they said nothing, their expressions were quite strange.
The Three Pure Ones of Pangu were beings of top-tier cultivation in the Primordial World; no doubt they had already severed their corpses and stepped into the Quasi-Sage Realm.
Although the young Daoist before them was not widely renowned, none of them could see through his cultivation level, which clearly meant he was at least in the Daluo Realm!
At present, the only beings in the Daluo Realm among the Dragon Clan were the Four Sea Dragon Kings.
The spiritual treasure had manifested in the East Sea waters and ought to belong to the East Sea by rights. Yet with Xiaoxuan's appearance, it was obvious that he, too, was aiming for the spiritual treasure.
Unexpectedly, Dragon King Ao Guang turned a blind eye, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Xiaoxuan in peace and harmony.
The members of the Dragon Clan were inwardly perplexed, little knowing that Ao Guang the East Sea Dragon King was also harboring endless helplessness!
With the Dragon Clan in decline, how could they dare to offend the Three Pure Ones of Pangu?
Besides, Xiaoxuan, a mid-stage Daluo Golden Immortal, had learned his Daoist arts directly from the Three Pure Ones, and Ao Guang feared he was no match for him anyway. What else could he do with Xiaoxuan?
As for the spiritual treasure, let fate decide!
If the spiritual treasure chose a member of their own side as its master when it manifested, surely the successor of the Three Pure Ones of Pangu would value his status and refuse to seize it by force...
"A single day of auspicious radiance rocks and sways, five-colored glowing lights fly endlessly.
The deer cries in the empty valley with a resonant call, the purple mushrooms show brilliant colors on a thousand layers of leaves.
In the midst of it all appears the form of a true person, his peculiar visage naturally set apart.
Divine rainbows dance, piercing the vault of heaven, around his waist hangs a precious scripture of birthlessness and deathlessness.
Below Eagle Peak he is called Burning Lamp, once he attended Zixiao Palace to seek the Great Dao."
Before the person even arrived, a song had already drifted over.
"This Burning Lamp really cares about nothing so much as his own face, exhausting every possible method to elevate his reputation!"
Seeing Burning Lamp appear, the corners of Xiaoxuan's mouth twitched, though he kept his composure.
After losing the Qiankun Ruler, the only magic weapon Burning Lamp had left that was worth showing off was his own companion spiritual treasure, the Coffin-Laden Lamp.
When the pull of karma calculated that the manifesting treasure was destined for him and belonged to the innate category, Daoist Burning Lamp was overjoyed and flew over at top speed.
Never did he expect that when he rushed to the scene, someone would already be waiting there for the spiritual treasure to manifest.
Worse still, one of them had a grudge against him and was the very culprit who had stolen his Qiankun Ruler!
Seeing that Xiaoxuan did not even offer him a greeting, Burning Lamp couldn't be bothered to pay him any mind either: a mere junior acting so arrogant and dismissive would sooner or later meet a terrible disaster!
As for the members of the Dragon Clan, Burning Lamp held them in even less regard.
He and Dijun and Taiyi were fellow guests among the three thousand who listened to the Dao in Zixiao Palace. The Dragon Clan were mere subjects of the Demon Clan—how could they possibly be worthy of conversing with him?
"Clang, clang, clang!"
A sound like rolling pearls and jade rang out, and the churning surface of the sea fell silent.
Within the azure-blue sea water, a sparkling, pearly-white brilliance swayed.
With the Coffin-Laden Lamp hovering above his head, Daoist Burning Lamp charged directly toward the twelve newly manifested Sea-Calming Pearls!
While Ao Guang the East Sea Dragon King did not dare to offend Burning Lamp, Xiaoxuan harbored no such fear.
Summoning the Immortal Apricot from his spirit altar to protect his body, Xiaoxuan brandished the Qiankun Ruler and followed closely behind, charging toward the Sea-Calming Pearls.
"Burning Lamp, take this ruler of mine!"
Seeing that Burning Lamp was about to collect the treasures, Xiaoxuan hurled the Qiankun Ruler in his hand!
The Qiankun Ruler was originally Burning Lamp's own treasure; how could Burning Lamp not know the might of the Qiankun Ruler?
No longer daring to focus on gathering the treasures, Burning Lamp hurriedly sidestepped, narrowly dodging the attack of the Qiankun Ruler.
"Whoosh!"
Pointing with his left hand, Burning Lamp unleashed a stream of gray flames from the Coffin-Laden Lamp, shooting straight toward Xiaoxuan.
"Burning Lamp, do you have no new tricks at all?"
Protected by the Immortal Apricot, the Coffin-Laden Lamp couldn't possibly inflict even a shred of damage on Xiaoxuan!
Both were beings of the Daluo Realm; even if there were some disparity in their divine power, the Immortal Apricot was, after all, a supreme-grade Innate Spiritual Root. The meager attack of the Coffin-Laden Lamp clearly could not breach the defensive perimeter of the Immortal Apricot.
"Audacious brat!"
Burning Lamp was hopping mad with anxiety, yet utterly helpless.
"If I still had that Qiankun Ruler in hand, would a brat like you be a match for me?!"
In battles within the Primordial World, when the cultivators' realms were not far apart, the superiority of their spiritual treasures was the key factor in deciding the fight.
Driven to fury by embarrassment, Daoist Burning Lamp produced a golden alms bowl, attempting to immobilize Xiaoxuan for a moment.
To his utter astonishment, Xiaoxuan didn't evade or dodge at all, instead tossing out a peculiar copper coin!
The copper coin gleamed with golden light, its left and right wings vibrating as it flew straight to meet his golden alms bowl.
The moment the two collided, Burning Lamp lost all connection with his golden alms bowl.
Struck with horror, Burning Lamp stared at the bizarre golden coin flying back into Xiaoxuan's hand and demanded, "Brat, what kind of sorcery did you use to take my golden alms bowl?"
The moment the Treasure-Falling Coin was used, Xiaoxuan felt a vague sense that one-tenth of his Karmic Luck had been shaved away.
However, if it meant defeating Burning Lamp and securing the twelve Sea-Calming Pearls, it was well worth it.
"Sorcery? It's naturally the Treasure-Falling Coin!" Xiaoxuan stowed the Treasure-Falling Coin along with the golden alms bowl into his mustard seed spatial pouch, and continued, "The Treasure-Falling Coin is the very treasure you and I contested for at Wuyi Mountain. Surely you aren't completely clueless about it?"