Primordial Era: The Three Senior Brothers of the Taiqing Clan

From the fact that the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl and the Universe Ruler were refined, Chen Qing realized a serious problem: he could no longer use this method of directly destroying innate spiritual treasures to quickly improve his cultivation.

The reason is simple: innate spiritual treasures are supreme treasures born from the primordial world, each one a concrete manifestation of the primordial laws and an important component of the fortune of heaven and earth.

To put it bluntly, it's like a huge corporation. If you take small advantages or insignificant things, they won't do anything to you. But if you keep embezzling important assets, you're bound to suffer.

The same applies to the way of Heaven.

Refining one or two innate spiritual treasures occasionally might still be within the tolerance of the Heavenly Dao. But if he continues like this, treating innate spiritual treasures as consumables for cultivation, it will inevitably invite the backlash of the Heavenly Dao. Loss of fortune, entanglement in karma, and karmic retribution are all serious matters.

Of course, this doesn't mean that his method of quickly comprehending the laws using the Qiankun Cauldron is no longer viable; rather, it means he needs to find another way.

Using the Qiankun Cauldron to return the innate spiritual treasure to its original state, extracting the great laws within, and then diligently studying and comprehending them—this step is without any problems.

However, after comprehending it, the innate spiritual treasure must be restored to its original state, and its origin must not be disturbed.

In this way, although the cultivation speed will be much slower than direct refining, it is safer and there are no worries. It is also much faster than directly comprehending spiritual treasures.

This is the path he will take from now on.

As for the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl and the Universe Ruler... Chen Qing sighed inwardly.

The essence of those two spiritual treasures had already merged together, becoming inseparable, and he had absorbed them into the particles within his body, making it impossible to extract them again. Restoration was now out of the question.

But he could take a different approach, collect materials, and use the Qiankun Cauldron to refine new spiritual treasures.

He already had a plan in mind: to refine a kind of innate spiritual treasure called the "World Pearl", which contains the imprint of the Great Dao Laws of the Sea-Stabilizing Pearl and the Universe Ruler.

These imprints can be replicated from his understanding of the microscopic world within his body, then integrated into suitable materials, and with the addition of an undying spiritual light, a new innate spiritual treasure can be generated within the Qiankun Cauldron.

Materials need to be collected. The Great Dao Imprint comes from his own comprehension, and the Undying Spiritual Light is not rare to him. After all, he has condensed 840 million Daos in the long river of time. Taking out a few is not a problem at all. If he is short, he can just go and get more.

Perhaps the World Pearls refined in the early stages are not as high in quality as the original Sea-Stabilizing Divine Pearl and Qiankun Ruler, but they can win by sheer quantity.

Alternatively, one can continue refining higher-grade materials after the microscopic world within the body has matured.

In short, if there is a way to resolve the issue of cause and effect, and one can demonstrate to Heaven that "I have the intention to repay," then one will probably not be targeted too severely.

With that thought in mind, Chen Qing made up his mind.

He told his master Laozi, then left Kunlun Mountain and flew towards the primordial land.

Now that he has reached the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, each of his 840 million particles possesses Great Luo cultivation, and with the protection of treasures like the Qiankun Cauldron and the Apricot Yellow Banner, his safety is certainly not an issue. It's time for him to go out and travel, searching for materials to refine the World Pearl.

……

On this vast and desolate land, winds and clouds surged.

The battle between the liches is becoming increasingly fierce.

The Wu tribe launched a massive attack on the demon race, leaving rivers of blood in their wake. In just a few hundred years, at least a third of the demon race on the primordial land perished. Those lesser demons and monsters were no match for the Wu warriors, often being torn to shreds in a single encounter.

Emperor Jun and Taiyi were furious. The Heavenly Court had just been established and was in the process of establishing its authority; the Wu Clan's actions were tantamount to a slap in the face.

The two brothers immediately summoned the demon army and launched a counterattack, determined to fight the witch clan to the death.

In an instant, the war between the liches and demons broke out completely.

The two sides clashed fiercely across the desolate land, plunging the world into darkness and obscuring the sun and moon. Each battle resulted in tens of thousands of casualties, with rivers of blood flowing and corpses strewn across the fields. Innocent cultivators and small creatures were also caught in the crossfire, suffering countless deaths and injuries.

Of course, none of this concerns Chen Qing.

He was leisurely riding the clouds, flying towards Mount Buzhou.

Mount Buzhou—that's a treasure trove of all sorts of wonders from the novels of my past life! Having come to the prehistoric world, how could I not visit the legendary Mount Buzhou? Putting aside everything else, just the opportunities and treasures that fill the mountain alone are worth a visit.

Two hundred years later, Chen Qing finally caught a glimpse of the legendary sacred mountain in the distance.

Mount Buzhou stands majestically, piercing the clouds.

It is so high that when one looks up at it, a sense of awe arises from the depths of one's soul. The mountain is entirely bluish-black, its rocks as hard as iron, with overlapping peaks and swirling clouds and mist.

As the pillar supporting the heavens in the primordial world, Mount Buzhou bears the weight of the entire universe, exuding an aura of vastness and majesty. Standing before it, even a Great Luo Golden Immortal would feel their own insignificance.

However, Chen Qing looked at the mountain peak that pierced the clouds in front of him and gave a bitter smile.

He seemed to have forgotten one thing—at this time, the demon race had already found the Heavenly Court, which was located in the Thirty-Three Heavens above Mount Buzhou.

This is awkward.

With so many demons coming and going and wandering around here every day, what treasures could possibly be left? Even if there were any good things, they would have already been looted by the demons.

Fortunately, Mount Buzhou, as a pillar of the primordial world, was enormous, and the demon race only occupied a portion of it. The vast majority of the mountain remained a desolate and uninhabited primeval land.

Chen Qing shook his head, turned around, and flew towards the back of Buzhou Mountain. That area was relatively remote, and there shouldn't be too many demons there; perhaps he could find some overlooked opportunities.

He hadn't flown far when a loud shout suddenly came from the side—

"Hey! Who are you? How dare you linger on my demon clan's territory? Are you a spy sent by the witch clan?"

Chen Qing turned his head and saw a short, monkey-faced demon standing on a rock, holding an iron fork and glaring at him menacingly.

That little demon was only at the level of a Celestial Immortal, yet he acted with an arrogant and domineering air, clearly relying on the support of the demon race behind him.

Chen Qing ignored him and continued flying forward without a care.

She's just a minor demon, not even worthy of making him stop.

However, it is counterproductive.

He doesn't care, but others do.

Seeing that Chen Qing ignored him, the little demon became furious and pulled out a cylindrical object from his pocket, then pulled it sharply towards the sky.

"Whoosh—Bang!"

A beam of red light shot into the sky, exploding high above and transforming into a gigantic flame pattern, clearly visible for tens of thousands of miles. This was the demon race's distress signal, equivalent to a primordial version of a signal flare.

Chen Qing frowned and stopped in his tracks.

In an instant, howling sounds rose and fell from all directions. Countless demons swarmed in from the mountains, forests, and clouds, forming a dark mass that surrounded Chen Qing in the blink of an eye.

Chen Qing glanced around and roughly counted at least a million people.

Celestial Immortals, Golden Immortals, Taiyi Golden Immortals... demons of all cultivation levels surrounded him in a dense crowd, leaving no room for escape.

The demons all had fierce expressions, held weapons, and exuded murderous intent, as if Chen Qing was already theirs.

Chen Qing's face darkened.

He hadn't expected these demons to be so arrogant. Without asking questions, without distinguishing right from wrong, simply because he was passing by, they wanted to mobilize a million-strong army to annihilate him?

It seems that the demon race has indeed become somewhat arrogant under the protection of the Heavenly Court over the years.

"kill!"

A loud roar came from the horizon, followed by a huge figure flying in from afar.

He was a burly demon general, his body bulging with muscles, his face ferocious, wielding a huge long sword, and his cultivation had reached the level of a Great Luo Golden Immortal.

Without asking a single question, the demon general swung his longsword and slashed down at Chen Qing's head. Where the blade passed, space was torn open with a black rift, carrying a world-destroying force.

"snort!"

Chen Qing snorted coldly, his eyes flashing with a chilling light.

He didn't want to cause any more trouble, but since the other party had gone too far, he would show no mercy whatsoever.

The best response to someone who attacks you without asking any questions is to make them remember this lesson forever.

Chen Qing raised his hand and waved it, and a beam of Taiqing Immortal Light shot out from his palm, colliding fiercely with the long sword.

"boom--"

With a deafening roar, the celestial light of Taiqing collided with the longsword, unleashing a blinding burst of light.

Visible ripples spread through the space, as if a boulder had been thrown into the water, with the ripples spreading outwards in layers.

Within a radius of a thousand meters, countless lesser demons were affected by the shockwave. Before they could even scream, they were reduced to ashes and vanished into the world.

With a single move, tens of thousands of demons were annihilated.

The demon general turned around and saw that his men had suffered heavy casualties. His eyes turned bloodshot and he was filled with rage.

"court death!"

He roared, gripped the sword with both hands, and suddenly lifted it upwards. Instantly, a gigantic sword shadow appeared in the sky, a thousand feet long, like a mountain of swords descending from the heavens, carrying an overwhelming force, and fiercely slashed down towards Chen Qing.

Chen Qing remained calm and unperturbed. He waved his hand, and a small flag appeared in his palm—the very same apricot-yellow flag of the Central Wuji.

The apricot-yellow flag unfurled in the wind, and thousands of golden flowers flew out from it, layer upon layer, completely protecting Chen Qing.

Each of the golden flowers radiated a golden light, intertwining with each other to form an indestructible barrier.

The thousand-foot-long blade of light fell, slashing fiercely at the myriad golden flowers.

"Boom boom boom boom—"

A series of explosions rang out as the blade shadows clashed with the golden flowers, sending countless sparks flying. However, despite the formidable power of the blade shadows, they couldn't harm Chen Qing in the slightest. The myriad golden flowers remained completely still, deflecting all attacks.

The demon general's expression changed, and disbelief appeared in his eyes. His full-force attack couldn't even break through the opponent's defense?

Chen Qing's lips curled up slightly, and with a flick of his wrist, a small hammer flew out from his sleeve—it was the Purple Lightning Hammer.

The purple lightning hammer flew into the sky, growing larger with the wind, and in the blink of an eye, it became a thousand feet in size. Purple lightning crackled and popped on the hammer, emanating a terrifying aura of destruction.

"go!"

With a soft shout, Chen Qing sent the Purple Lightning Hammer crashing down on the demon general as it transformed into a streak of purple light.

The demon general was terrified and quickly raised his long sword to parry.

"Click—"

The longsword snapped in two. The purple lightning hammer, undeterred, slammed heavily into the demon general.

"boom!"

A cloud of blood mist burst out of the sky, and the demon general was smashed to pieces, his flesh and blood flying everywhere, his primordial spirit severely injured.

A mighty Golden Immortal was defeated in a single move.

The surrounding lesser demons stared in disbelief, trembling and pale as death. They never imagined that this seemingly ordinary young Taoist could be so terrifying, defeating a Grand Luo Golden Immortal in a single move. What level of cultivation did he possess?

The reason I didn't kill this demon general was because I didn't want to get involved in the war between the witches and demons. Even though he had a powerful backer, it would still be troublesome! There was no need for that.

Chen Qing put away the Purple Lightning Hammer and the Apricot Yellow Flag, and without even glancing at the terrified little demons, turned to leave.

However, just as he turned around, a furious voice came from the horizon—

"You think you can just kill my demon general and leave? Do you think I, Yingzhao, am easy to bully?!"

The voice approached rapidly, growing louder as it grew louder. Before the words had even finished, a massive figure had already appeared above the battlefield.

Chen Qing frowned, stopped, and turned to look.

The newcomer had the body of a horse and the face of a human, with tiger stripes on his body and a pair of enormous bird wings on his back, exuding a fierce aura. His cultivation was unfathomable, far surpassing that of the demon general from before.

Then, recalling that he had just called himself "Yingzhao", Chen Qing immediately understood that this was Yingzhao Demon Saint, one of the Ten Great Demon Saints of the Demon Clan.

Yingzhao was furious at this moment, his face was terribly gloomy.

Each of the Ten Demon Saints had two Grand Luo Golden Immortal generals under his command. However, in the last great battle against the Witch Clan, one of his generals was killed, making him the weakest of the Ten Demon Saints.

Before he could even recover, another general was severely injured today—and right at the gates of his demon clan's stronghold!

In his view, this was an utter disgrace, a provocation against Yingzhao, and an insult to the entire demon race.

However, when he realized that Chen Qing's cultivation was only at the early stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm, his anger intensified even more—both were Great Luo Golden Immortals, yet his subordinate was defeated in one move and couldn't even hold out until he arrived; what a waste!

But Yingzhao was, after all, a demon saint, and wouldn't act impulsively like his subordinates. He sized Chen Qing up and down, and said in a deep voice, "Who are you? State your name! I, Yingzhao, do not kill nameless nobodies."

Chen Qing remained calm and said indifferently, "Chen Qing is a disciple of Taiqing Laozi."

Yingzhao's pupils contracted slightly.

A disciple of Laozi? The chief disciple of the Three Pure Ones?

He had heard of that name before. The young man who followed behind the Three Pure Ones in the Purple Cloud Palace was said to be highly regarded by them.

Moreover, he had heard about Chen Qing's feat of digging out the Qiankun Cauldron under the gourd vine, and knew that although this person's cultivation level was not high, he had many treasures on him and was not easy to deal with.

But being difficult to deal with doesn't mean it's impossible to deal with.

Yingzhao sneered: "So you're from the Three Pure Ones. However, you severely injured one of my demon generals; this matter cannot be left unresolved. Will you surrender yourself and come with me to the Heavenly Court to face your punishment, or shall I do it myself?"

Chen Qing's face was extremely ugly.

And so it is again—convicting someone without even asking what happened. The demons clearly attacked first; he was merely acting in self-defense. Yet, in Yingzhao's mouth, it became that he was the one who committed the crime.

It seems the demon race has indeed grown quite arrogant under the protection of the Heavenly Court these past few years. In that case, let's help them find their place today.

Chen Qing's gaze turned cold, his voice devoid of any emotion: "Want to capture me? Let's see if you have the ability."

Yingzhao's eyes flashed with murderous intent. Without saying another word, he raised his hand and summoned a primordial spiritual treasure—a halberd that was entirely black, with faint black energy swirling around its body, exuding a chilling aura.

"Since you don't know what's good for you, then go die!"

With a loud shout, Yingzhao's halberd transformed into a black streak of light and shot towards Chen Qing.