Primordial Era: Starting with the repair of Penglai Immortal Island

Having no interest in watching, Huanglong sped back to the Five Elements Cave.

"open."

Huanglong cast a spell, and in front of the Five Elements Formation, he flicked his wrist and unleashed a beam of spiritual light.

As he stepped inside, the view before him suddenly opened up.

The Five Elements Grotto now seems to be a small world of its own. With the support of the great array, the rich power of the stars in the heavens is spread across the earth, and the entire grotto is filled with a faint purple light.

The caves and mountains are distributed throughout the land, with five majestic sacred mountains arranged according to the five elements, standing tall on the earth.

The spiritual roots on the mountain exhale innate spiritual energy and emanate a magnificent Daoist charm.

Plots of spiritual fields are scattered in an orderly fashion on the mountainside where the spiritual energy is most abundant. In the medicinal fields, each herb and elixir has a medicinal age of at least ten thousand years and exudes fragrance.

A group of spirit peaks, as purple as jade, bustled about among the spiritual herbs!

Groups of rare and exotic animals roam freely among the mountains.

Compared to the looted Kunlun Mountains outside, this is a sacred place.

As soon as Huanglong appeared inside the formation, a joyful shout came from afar.

"The master is back!"

"It's the master! The master is back!"

The sound grew louder as it approached, and soon a purple figure shot in like lightning, reaching Huanglong in the blink of an eye.

At this moment, Zi Ling looked exactly like an eleven or twelve-year-old girl, wearing a purple silk dress, with two buns in her hair, a rosy face, and big, bright eyes like two black gems.

She was followed by more than a dozen "followers"—two boys in white robes, three girls in purple, and even seven "little Qilin" that were several sizes larger.

"Ziling greets Master!" The little girl bowed respectfully, but her eyes were full of joy.

"Greetings, Master!" Bai Xiao and the other children behind Zi Ling also bowed to Huang Long!

As for the seven little Qilin, they still looked at Huanglong with a hint of fear in their eyes. At this moment, they all lowered their heads and hummed as they paid their respects to Huanglong!

These seven little Qilins were no longer as afraid as before, lying on the ground, too scared to move.

"Get up, all of you." Huang Long smiled and patted Zi Ling's head, then looked at the little ones. "Not bad."

"Master, Master, this time...!" Zi Ling tugged at Huang Long's sleeve with one hand, while counting on her five fingers, chattering away, "A year... a thousand years... that's such a long, long time!"

Huang Long felt a warmth in his heart.

Zi Ling has been helping him manage the temple and handle all affairs of the grotto-heaven since he enlightened him.

After spending several years together, this girl had become like family to him.

"Something came up on the way and we were delayed," Huang Long said gently, his gaze sweeping over the little Qilin. "When did these little guys grow so big?"

He was referring to those little Qilin.

These little Qilins haven't grown much since they hatched, not even in the time it takes to complete a Huiyuan!

If you calculate carefully, it's only been twenty or thirty thousand years since he left this time.

However, these little Qilins had grown several sizes larger, and their cultivation had all reached the Golden Immortal realm.

"They'll grow bigger and bigger!" A little Qilin glanced at Huanglong furtively, its voice clear and melodious. "Sister Ziling feeds us spirit honey every day, and also gives us fruit...!"

"Yes, Master, they're growing so fast!" Zi Ling said proudly, but then, as if remembering something, her face fell. "It's just...it's just that they eat a little too much...!"

"Master, they've eaten so many of your spiritual fruits!"

"Oh!" Huang Long stared at the small Qilins with a somewhat unfriendly look.

The little Qilins, being stared at by Huanglong, trembled involuntarily.

"Master...Master! We...although we eat a lot, we also do a lot of work," the fire unicorn said, its voice trembling slightly.

"Yes, sir, we didn't eat for nothing...!"

"Yes, it wasn't a free lunch!" The other Qilin also raised their heads to look at Huanglong and said with courage.

"Oh!" Hearing the little creatures' words, Huanglong became interested and turned his gaze to Ziling.

Zi Ling nodded, "Although the masters and the others ate a lot, they did indeed work!"

Huang Long didn't interrupt Zi Ling, patiently listening to her say, "Since they started eating more, many immortal herbs have transformed into spiritual roots, and the grade of some acquired spiritual roots has even improved!"

Upon hearing what Zi Ling said, Huang Long's primordial spirit suddenly expanded, enveloping the entire Five Elements Grotto Heaven and taking in all the changes within it.

Just as Zi Ling said, dozens of new acquired spiritual roots have been added to the entire training ground.

Some of the acquired spiritual roots have also been upgraded from low-grade to mid-grade.

However, those few innate spiritual roots, apart from having slightly richer spiritual energy and Daoist charm, did not change much.

Huang Long nodded and said to the little Qilins, "They certainly didn't eat for nothing. Work hard, cultivate more spiritual roots, and strive to create another Five Elements Grotto-Heaven for Master!"

Huang Long then said to Zi Ling, "They're all under your management. Anyone who doesn't do enough work will have their food cut off!"

Zi Ling clenched her fist and said, "I guarantee I'll complete the mission and create another Five Elements Grotto-Heaven for Master!"

"The second master said that the more they eat, the faster they grow, and the more auspicious omens they will attract!"

Huanglong nodded. In the primordial world, the Qilin is the embodiment of auspiciousness. Wherever it is, the blessings of heaven and earth constantly gather, naturally giving birth to more spiritual creatures.

When the Second Master was mentioned, Zi Ning's happy expression suddenly turned somber.

"Master, the Second Master told me he's going on a trip, traveling through the prehistoric world like you, and it will take a very, very long time!"

"Second Master hasn't come in a long time, and there's no one to play with me..."

Huang Long paused, "Xuan Du? When did he leave?"

"It's been a long time!" Zi Ling said softly, her voice full of disappointment. "The Second Master suddenly came to see me and said he was going on a long trip and might not be back for a long time. He gave me a lot of pills, told me to take good care of the cave, and taught me new knowledge about planting spiritual herbs... and then, and then he never came back."

She looked up, her eyes slightly red: "Master, does the Second Master not want us anymore? Did Ziling do something wrong to make the Second Master angry?"

Huang Long sighed softly to himself.

Xuandu, as one of the first humans created by Nuwa, was born under the watchful eyes of Huanglong, and Huanglong also watched him become a disciple of his grandmaster.

Strictly speaking, Xuandu is the senior disciple of the three religions, but because he has only been cultivating for a short time, he doesn't care about the title of senior disciple!

He always referred to Huanglong as his junior brother.

Although the two belonged to the Chan Sect and the Ren Sect respectively, their friendship was the best among the disciples of the three sects. When Huanglong went out, he entrusted the dojo to Xuandu for care!

Xuan Du is gentle, patient, and meticulous. When he came to the Five Elements Grotto, he often guided Zi Ling in her cultivation and played with the little ones.

For Zi Ling, Xuan Du was like a half-master and a half-brother, so their relationship was naturally very deep.

Now that the Three Pure Ones have separated, and the eldest master took Xuandu to Shouyang Mountain, Xuandu can no longer freely visit the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven as before.

"Silly girl." Huang Long ruffled Zi Ling's hair. "Your second master didn't abandon you, but... he settled down in a new home outside."