Primordial Era: Starting with the repair of Penglai Immortal Island

Qingniu snatched the wine jar from Huanglong's hand, took a small sip, and then looked at Huanglong as if he were a fool: "Back then, I was the mount. Where was the master supposed to sit?"

"Besides, it would be crazy to transform into human form and then go eat grass."

Huanglong then asked, "Why are you showing your human form now?"

Qingniu shook the wine jar in his hand and said in a muffled voice, "Are you stupid? Of course it's for convenient drinking!"

Huanglong was speechless. He simply took out another jar and tossed it to Qingniu before turning around and gently knocking on the door of Taiqing Palace.

He bowed respectfully and said, "Disciple Huang Long requests an audience with Grandmaster Uncle!"

A moment later, the door slowly opened.

Huang Long slowly stepped into the palace, where it was even quieter. Only a huge alchemy furnace in the center was slowly rotating, with flames rising inside, but no trace of the aroma of elixir could be smelled.

The Sage of Taiqing sat upright on a futon in front of the furnace, his figure blending into the void around him, visible yet imperceptible.

Huang Long stepped forward and bowed: "Disciple Huang Long greets Grand Master Uncle. I have completed the task assigned by Grand Master Uncle and have come to report back."

He took out the Soul-Scattering Gourd left behind by the True Spirit of Red Cloud and presented it respectfully.

"The true spirit of Senior Hongyun, contained in the Purple-Gold Gourd, has already returned. This disciple...this disciple failed to catch up, which caused the delay, and I am only returning now!"

Lao Tzu slightly opened his eyes, and those eyes seemed to contain the flow of yin and yang in all things in heaven and earth.

The Soul-Scattering Gourd slowly floated into the hand of the Supreme Saint. The Supreme Saint examined it briefly, then looked at Huang Long and nodded, his voice calm: "Good. Thank you for your hard work."

"It is my honor to be at the beck and call of my senior master!"

Huang Long then took out a jade box containing two ginseng fruits and presented it: "This was obtained by chance by your disciple. I offer it to my senior master to quench his thirst. I hope you will not find it offensive."

The Sage of Taiqing looked at the ginseng fruit in Huanglong's hand, did not refuse, and put it into his sleeve, saying slowly, "I promised you that I would reward you again after you have achieved your goal."

"This Soul-Scattering Gourd," Laozi's voice remained calm, "though it once belonged to Fellow Daoist Hongyun, Hongyun has perished, and the karmic ties between this innate spiritual treasure and Hongyun are severed. Now it will be bestowed upon you."

Huang Long was taken aback at first, then overjoyed, and quickly expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for your kindness, Grandmaster Uncle!"

Just as a flicker of excitement rose in Huanglong's heart, Laozi continued, "However, this treasure is too murderous, which is against the harmony of heaven and earth. Once the Soul-Scattering Sand is released, the soul will be scattered, which will be detrimental to your cultivation."

"I will refine it again, removing its malevolent energy and enhancing its pure yang and righteous power."

"It looks so good!"

After speaking, the Sage Taiqing waved his sleeve, and the lid of the alchemy furnace opened a crack.

The Soul-Scattering Gourd transformed into a stream of light and plunged into the furnace. The flames within the furnace immediately enveloped it before returning to calm.

Huang Long took out several tea leaves and put them in his mouth, then focused intently on observing the Taiqing Sage refining the Soul-Scattering Gourd.

In just a few days, Huanglong reforged the Soul-Scattering Gourd, and under the deliberate guidance of the Sage of Taiqing, his weapon-refining skills also improved by leaps and bounds.

After tossing the newly reforged Soul-Scattering Gourd to Huanglong, the Sage of Taiqing waved to Huanglong, signaling him to leave quickly and not disturb his cultivation.

Holding the Soul-Scattering Gourd, Huang Long bowed again in gratitude: "Thank you for your kindness, Grandmaster Uncle! This disciple will take his leave now!"

After leaving Taiqing Palace, Huang Long nervously arrived at Shangqing Palace, the most imposing of the three peaks.

Before even entering the palace, one could hear bursts of laughter and conversation coming from within.

"Come in directly!"

Before Huanglong could speak, a voice rang in his mind.

Huang Long respectfully bowed before entering the hall, where he saw that his Uncle Tongtian was not sitting on the cloud bed, but casually sitting on a futon, answering questions from the disciples surrounding him.

One of the most striking figures was a plump Taoist priest radiating a precious aura; he was none other than Duobao, the chief disciple of the Jie Sect.

The conversation abruptly stopped when Huang Long entered.

Tongtian looked at Huanglong with amusement.

Duobao's gaze swept over Huanglong, a hint of delight in his eyes.

As for the other disciples of the Jie Sect, they all looked at Huang Long, and most of their gazes were not friendly.

They had just received the news that it was this disciple of the Chan Sect who had suppressed a group of disciples of the Jie Sect outside the Kunlun Mountain gate with a single palm strike.

Huang Long had no choice but to bite the bullet and step forward to bow deeply to the Tongtian Sect Leader: "Disciple Huang Long greets Uncle Tongtian. May Uncle Tongtian live a long and healthy life!"

The Master of Heaven waved his hand and laughed, "Get up. Little Yellow Dragon, you haven't paid your respects to your uncle for tens of thousands of years. You've just returned and already suppressed my worthless disciples. What a show of power!"

His tone was casual, yet it carried an invisible pressure.

Huang Long's heart tightened, knowing that they had come to question him. He quickly bowed again and said sincerely, "This disciple has come for this very reason!"

"As I passed by the mountain gate, I saw some disciples of the Jie Sect demanding spiritual items from those who came to become their disciples. They were doing this to adjust the difficulty of the tests set by their master, which was an insult to the dignity of their master, the saint."

"Therefore, this disciple took action to suppress some Jie Sect disciples who had disgraced the sect, Uncle Master. This disciple overstepped his bounds and begs Uncle Master's punishment!"

The Golden Hoop Immortal chuckled and interjected, "Senior Brother Huanglong certainly has some impressive methods. Relying on his profound cultivation, he even suppressed Qiu Shou Immortal and Ling Ya Immortal, two of our Seven Immortal Attendants. Does he think my Jie Sect has no one to rely on?"

Huang Long looked

Huanglong sensed the dissatisfaction in the words but did not respond. Instead, he said to the Sage Tongtian, "This disciple dares not. I only thought of the Three Teachings spreading their teachings throughout the primordial world, enlightening all living beings. However, my fellow disciple from the Jie Sect has done something that undermines the fairness and integrity of our three masters. Therefore, I acted out of anger. I beg you, Uncle, to punish me!"

Tongtian looked at Huanglong, who was resigned to punishment, and suddenly burst into laughter: "Good lad, enough is enough! I already knew about this matter. It was indeed those few good-for-nothing disciples who used the presiding over the recruitment of disciples as a presiding monk to collect spiritual items, disgracing the Jie Sect. You can't be blamed."

"Duobao, deal with the disciples outside the mountain gate according to the sect rules!"

The sage smiled, and the tense atmosphere in the hall instantly dissipated, returning to normal.

"Uncle-Master, I obtained some spiritual fruits during my recent trip. They tasted quite good. I was thinking of you, so I brought two with me for you to try!"

As he spoke, he took out a jade box containing two ginseng fruits and presented it to them.

The disciples of the Jie Sect standing nearby also craned their necks, trying to see what kind of spiritual fruit it was that Huanglong would present to a sage.

The Tongtian Sect Leader glanced at the ginseng fruit, then at the yellow dragon, and accepted it with a smile. He explained to his disciples, "This is no ordinary spiritual fruit; it comes from the Ginseng Fruit Tree, a top-grade innate spiritual root. It takes ten thousand years to grow just thirty fruits."

"It's been so many years since I last ate it, I've almost forgotten what it tastes like."

Tongtian looked at Huanglong and nodded, saying, "Your cultivation has indeed improved greatly during this trip. Well, I, your uncle, cannot accept your fruits for nothing. I don't think you are the kind of person who prefers to meditate and cultivate."