Primordial Era: I, Hongyun, take charge of the literary path

Tianbao City is a huge city.

The city walls were a bluish-gray, the city towers were majestic, and guards moved about on the walls and at the city gates.

Seeing this scene, Hongyun felt a sudden urge, as if she had traveled to ancient times.

The city wall was engraved with countless array runes, which dispelled Hongyun's misconception.

The array carved on the city wall is the city's protective array. Because it is often attacked by water beasts, the array is very powerful and can hold off a Taiyi Golden Immortal for a moment.

Hongyun landed on the ground, used the Shrinking Earth technique, and arrived at the city gate of Tianbao City in a few steps.

Just as Hongyun was about to enter the city, he was stopped by the gatekeeper. Seeing that he was a newcomer, the gatekeeper demanded an entrance fee.

Hongyun frowned and glanced at the gatekeeper. The gatekeeper felt as if darkness had fallen, and a terrifying chill ran through his heart. His flesh and blood screamed in fear.

This was a terrifying presence that he could not resist.

"A sign? An entrance fee?"

Hongyun muttered something to herself, said nothing, and casually took out a piece of Flame Sun Stone and tossed it to the gatekeeper.

The Yanyang Stone was a donation from the indigenous people to Hongyun.

Watching Hongyun's departing figure as she entered the city, the gatekeeper let out a heavy sigh of relief, his entire body soaked in sweat.

"I was terrified. I almost offended a Golden Immortal. Luckily, this big shot didn't hold it against me."

After this experience, the gatekeeper became much more obedient; not just anyone has Hongyun's good temper.

After entering the city, Hongyun inquired and found out that Tianbao City did indeed charge an entrance fee of one Yanyang Stone per entry.

However, those who are Golden Immortals or above are exempt from the city entry fee.

Hongyun concealed his presence, so the gatekeeper didn't notice him. Seeing that he didn't have a badge, the gatekeeper asked for the entrance fee.

The plaques in Tianbao City are based on years, with annual plaques, ten-year plaques, hundred-year plaques, thousand-year plaques, and so on.

With an annual pass, you can enter the city an unlimited number of times within the specified period and stay for an extended period.

Hongyun suddenly realized, "So that's why I've seen some people wearing the same jade pendant."

In Tianbao City, there are many races with different appearances, but most of them are humanoid.

They used their innate Dao body as a foundation, and on this basis, they incorporated some racial characteristics of their respective races, such as some having wings on their backs and others having tiger heads.

Some female cultivators, however, have transformed more completely, either possessing a complete innate Dao body or primarily an innate Dao body, but with ears and tails.

Hongyun saw a female fox cultivator with ears on her head and six tails on her back. Her overall appearance was based on the innate Dao body, and she looked like a fox-eared girl in cosplay.

If those old perverts saw this, they'd probably go into heat right there in the street, since it would be exactly what their fetishes are like.

Hongyun strolled through Tianbao City and discovered that the city not only had anti-flight formations but also spirit-gathering formations.

Beneath Tianbao City lies a massive spiritual vein. The combination of the spirit-gathering array and the spiritual vein makes the spiritual energy of Tianbao City at least three to four times denser than that outside.

In a sense, Tianbao City has become a treasure land for cultivation, where cultivation is twice as effective with half the effort, and those rogue cultivators should be very willing to stay in Tianbao City.

This has brought tremendous popularity to Tianbao City. The higher the popularity, the higher the rent for shops and residences in Tianbao City, making it a veritable goldmine.

In Hongyun's view, the city lord of Tianbao City was definitely a master of development, and quite resourceful.

Hongyun walked among the crowd. Shops were everywhere in Tianbao City, and the currency for trade was Yanyang Stone. They sold all sorts of things, such as ores, spiritual herbs, magic weapons, pills, cultivation methods, and so on. Almost everything was available.

However, after visiting several shops, Hongyun found that the items sold were very ordinary and basic. Most of them were effective for Celestial Immortals, a few for Mystic Immortals, and there were almost none that were effective for Golden Immortals.

Even if they exist, they are the museum's prized possessions and would never be sold; they are merely for showcasing the museum's strength.

Like elixirs, the highest level is the sixth-grade golden elixir, which only meets the needs of Xuanxian (mysterious immortals) and has no effect on Jinxian (golden immortals).

There are also magical treasures, the highest being top-grade magical artifacts. There isn't even a single low-grade acquired spiritual treasure, let alone an innate spiritual treasure. It's simply impossible for them to be released for sale.

This problem arises from two factors: first, the upper-level cultivators' blockade of the lower-level cultivators; and second, the issue of demand.

There is a strict correspondence between cultivation level and spiritual treasure grade. Only when your cultivation reaches a certain level can you unleash the full power of a spiritual treasure.

If one's cultivation level is insufficient, one cannot control better magic weapons, and therefore has no need for better magic weapons.

Only a Primordial Treasure (or Acquired Treasure) can be controlled by a Primordial Golden Immortal (or Saint), and only a Supreme Primordial Spiritual Treasure (or Supreme Acquired Spiritual Treasure) can be controlled by a Primordial Golden Immortal (or Quasi-Saint).

Only a Great Luo Golden Immortal can control a top-grade innate spiritual treasure (or a top-grade acquired spiritual treasure).

A mid-grade innate spiritual treasure (or mid-grade acquired spiritual treasure) requires a Taiyi Golden Immortal to control.

Low-grade innate spiritual treasures (low-grade acquired spiritual treasures) require a Golden Immortal to control.

For Tianbao City, the vast majority of cultivators are Celestial Immortals or Profound Immortals. No matter how good the pills or spiritual treasures you prepare, they have no market in Tianbao City.

Hongyun pondered for a moment. The weak demand for good spiritual treasures and elixirs was ultimately due to the small number of Golden Immortal cultivators. Without anyone to support them, sales were naturally low.

Golden Immortals, Celestial Immortals, and Profound Immortals are different, not only in terms of strength, but also in terms of lifespan.

Celestial Immortals and Mystic Immortals have lifespan limitations.

A Celestial Immortal's lifespan is 129600 years, which is equivalent to one Yuanhui (a unit of time in Chinese astrology). In contrast, a Mysterious Immortal's lifespan is still one Yuanhui, even though their cultivation level has increased.

Golden Immortals transcend the Three Realms and are not bound by the Five Elements; they live as long as Heaven and Earth and are the same age as the Sun and Moon.

Once you break through to the Golden Immortal realm, you won't have to worry about your lifespan. As long as you're not killed, you won't die.

Countless cultivators at the bottom level never cross the threshold of becoming Golden Immortals, which means their path to advancement is cut off.

The primordial world is a rigid pyramid, with the upper-level clans controlling cultivation methods and resources. The vast number of lower-level clans and rogue cultivators lack better cultivation methods and resources, forever stuck outside the threshold of Golden Immortal. You can only have a chance to break through by being a dog.

This social structure is somewhat similar to ancient societies of the past, where powerful families control resources for upward mobility, and the lower classes are merely resources to be exploited.

"Hongjun's sermons broke the monopoly of cultivation methods held by the powerful clans, establishing a path to advancement. Lower-level cultivators turned to the path of immortality, and thus the path of immortality flourished!"

This thought arose in Hongyun's mind.

Before and after Hongjun preached, the prehistoric world was divided into two eras, similar to the transformation from the aristocratic system of ancient times to the imperial examination system. This was a process of equal rights in cultivation.

In this era of three races vying for supremacy, the mainstream path of cultivation is based on the race: the Dragon Path of the Dragon Clan, the Phoenix Path of the Phoenix Clan, the Qilin Path of the Qilin Clan, and so on.

Taking the Dragon Path as an example, if a low-level cultivator wants to cultivate, he must submit to the Dragon Clan, become their dog, and receive the Dragon Blood as a reward from the Dragon Clan, then he can switch to the Dragon Path.

The transformation of snakes into dragons and carp into dragons is a form of dragon cultivation, and it is also the mainstream cultivation method for all scaled creatures. Only a few large clans have a certain degree of autonomy in this process.

The Phoenix Clan's Phoenix Path and the Qilin Clan's Qilin Path follow the same principle: birds transform into phoenixes, and beasts transform into qilins.

The primordial world is teeming with dragons, phoenixes, and unicorns. Some may be direct descendants of these three races, but most have evolved from other races.