Since Pangu the Great Deity cleaved the chaos and created heaven and earth, the Primordial World had been expanding outward.
After enduring the Great Tribulation of fierce beasts, the First Tribulation of the Dragon and Han, and the Contention between Dao and Demon, the expanse of the Primordial World had grown beyond imagination.
Yet even now, the Primordial World knew no peace!
The Demon Clan, led by Dijun and Taiyis, expanded recklessly. Later, they invited Fuxi, Bai Ze, Kunpeng, and other great demons to join them. From then on, the Demon Court was established. With nearly twenty experts at the Peak Daluo Golden Immortal level, their power was at its zenith, and they reigned undisputed as the sovereigns of the heavens.
The Wu Clan was born from the vital blood of Pangu the Great Deity. The physical bodies of the Twelve Ancestor Witches were peerlessly formidable, and each possessed the ability to swallow the heavens, command wind, water, thunder, and lightning, and move mountains and fill seas.
Under the dominion of the Twelve Ancestor Witches, the Wu Clan stood as rivals to the Demon Clan, dominating the earth of the Primordial World.
Unceasing friction and strife between the two clans plunged all living things into misery and turned rivers into streams of blood.
"Such dense tribulation qi! It seems the Great Tribulation of Wu and Yao has already begun!"
This qi of tribulation was boundless and invisible to anyone below the level of a Quasi-Sage!
Yet Xiaoxuan was an exception. His true form was the Immortal Apricot, one of the Ten Great Innate Spiritual Roots, making him exceptionally sensitive to the energies of heaven and earth. Coupled with his foresight regarding the Primordial World, he was naturally able to perceive and distinguish it.
What was tribulation qi?
Practitioners often seized the profound mechanisms of heaven and earth, plundered the essence of the sun and moon, and could even be said to pillage the origin of the Primordial World for their cultivation. As living beings multiplied within the Primordial World, their conflicts caused winds and clouds to mutate and mountains and rivers to overturn.
When heaven and earth fell out of balance, boundless karma and cause-and-effect intertwined, and tribulation qi naturally arose!
Once this tribulation qi accumulated to a certain extent, the Heavenly Dao would inevitably begin its reckoning...
Mount Buzhou was the pillar of the Primordial World and the primary battlefield for the contention between the Wu and Yao Clans over mastery of the Primordial World. Although Xiaoxuan wished to pay homage to the majesty of Pangu the Great Deity, he had no choice but to temporarily give it a wide berth.
Months later, Xiaoxuan finally arrived at Mount Wuyi. By this time, he had gained a far more intuitive understanding of the vastness of the Primordial World.
Though his cultivation at the Consummate Taiyi Golden Immortal level could not compare with the guests of Zixiao Palace, it was nonetheless entirely first-rate.
Even so, simply traveling there had taken him several months.
Mount Wuyi was not merely a single mountain, but a mountain range stretching for thousands of miles.
Peaks undulated, the scenery was breathtaking, and the drifting qi of immortals and spirits left one feeling refreshed and joyful.
Sitting cross-legged at the highest point of Mount Wuyi, Xiaoxuan used the Taixing Profound Arts to calculate for a long time, but he could never pinpoint the exact location of the Falling Treasure Money.
"Perhaps the time for the Falling Treasure Money to manifest has not yet come!"
Xiaoxuan stood up, sighed, and finally abandoned the divination.
In the Primordial World, karmic affinity was paramount. How could Xiaoxuan fail to understand the principle that what is destined to be yours will be yours in time, while what is not destined should never be forced?
It was simply that to enter a mountain of treasures and return empty-handed left him with a lingering trace of unwillingness!
Straightening his robes, Xiaoxuan strolled leisurely through Mount Wuyi, playing the tourist as he admired the wondrous scenery.
Along the way, although Xiaoxuan failed to find any innate treasures, he still acquired quite a few acquired magical artifacts, not to mention countless spiritual herbs.
Suddenly, a pure fragrance drifted toward him. Xiaoxuan leaped into the air, a smile finally blooming on his face.
A tea tree standing over a hundred feet tall bore countless branches, and upon each branch grew nine thumb-sized tea leaves. Every single leaf radiated a faint qi of immortals and spirits, carrying its fragrance in all directions.
"Mount Wuyi, Dahongpao!"
Although this tea tree belonged to the category of acquired things, its tea possessed the power to aid living beings in comprehending the Dao, making it one of the rarest spiritual roots in the Primordial World.
"Haha, this trip has truly not been in vain!"
Xiaoxuan sat cross-legged, his hands forming the wondrous Taishang seals as he drew the tea tree directly into his spiritual platform.
Having traveled through the Primordial World for thousands of years, Xiaoxuan had originally intended only to procure some tea to satisfy his cravings, never expecting that a tremendous change would suddenly occur within his spiritual platform.
As a transformation of the Immortal Apricot, Xiaoxuan's true form resided at the center of his spiritual platform, naturally exhaling and inhaling spiritual qi to aid his cultivation. Yet the moment the tea tree was drawn into his spiritual platform, the Immortal Apricot spontaneously generated a terrifying devouring force, rapidly consuming the spiritual qi of the tea tree.
Though the Mount Wuyi tea tree was the very first tea tree between heaven and earth, how could it possibly rival the Immortal Apricot?
In the span of mere breaths, the tea tree shrank by more than half, and the leaves upon it grew dim, losing all their luster!
Meanwhile, upon the topmost branches of the Immortal Apricot, three flower buds came into being as if destined by fate.
"Oh? Such a stroke of good fortune!"
After halting the devouring force of the Immortal Apricot, Xiaoxuan discovered to his astonishment that what the Immortal Apricot had devoured was the origin essence of the tea tree. Though the increase in its own grade was infinitesimal, its affinity with the Dao had grown even closer.
At that moment, Xiaoxuan recalled how Taishang had instructed him to familiarize himself with his own nature when he first arrived at Kunlun Mountain. He could not help sighing with emotion: "Master is, after all, still Master!"
After setting up a protective array around himself, Xiaoxuan focused his mind upon the Immortal Apricot within his spiritual platform and began to subtly perceive his own state of being.
The Immortal Apricot was his true form. Xiaoxuan distinctly felt that with every breath he took, the Immortal Apricot likewise continuously exhaled and inhaled the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, absorbing the wind and thunder qi contained within, which finally converged upon the three flower buds.
As the spiritual qi was circulated, the foliage of the Immortal Apricot also emitted a unique aura that flowed out of the spiritual platform, coursing through Xiaoxuan's physical body before finally coming to rest at his heart.
With each beat of his heart, vital blood surged through his entire body, and a trace of it even entered the spiritual platform in a unique manner, where it was absorbed by the Immortal Apricot, causing it to grow even more robust.
His physical body and the Immortal Apricot communicated and benefited one another through a special method, maintaining a delicate balance!
Because it had absorbed the origin qi of the tea tree, the mysterious aura emanating from the Immortal Apricot grew even more profound, imbuing the three flower buds with the profound charm of the Dao.
Xiaoxuan even suspected that when the true form of the Immortal Apricot finally blossomed and bore fruit, it might not only grant people the wings of wind and thunder, but even allow them to comprehend the Dao of wind and thunder through it—something he would find entirely unremarkable.
"What if I were to let the true form of the Immortal Apricot devour the origin essence of even more spiritual roots?"
Swallowing hard, the moment this thought arose, it could no longer be erased.
Perhaps—just perhaps—he had already found the path that suited him best!
Dismantling the array, Xiaoxuan sprang to his feet, eager to return to Kunlun Mountain without delay to discuss the feasibility of this matter with his Master Taishang.
At that very moment, Xiaoxuan suddenly sensed a strange fluctuation emanating from the spot where the tea tree had previously stood.
Had he not absorbed the origin essence of the tea tree to deepen his comprehension of the Dao, he truly would not have been able to perceive this ripple.
Xiaoxuan stepped forward, his hands continuously forming the hand seals and incantations of the Taixang Profound Arts as streams of spiritual qi poured into the space before him!
"Break!"
At Xiaoxuan's sharp shout, a golden light shot straight into the sky, illuminating heaven and earth!
An antique copper coin bearing a pair of wings appeared before Xiaoxuan's eyes.
The moment its wings vibrated, the coin transformed into a streak of light and darted away into the distance.
"The Falling Treasure Money!"
A shock ran through Xiaoxuan's heart as he gave chase at full speed, his hands continuously forming the Taishang Immortal Incantation to capture the Falling Treasure Money.