Primordial Era: The Three Senior Brothers of the Taiqing Clan

After leaving the main hall, Chen Qing did not rush back to his valley. Instead, he found Duobao and pulled his chubby junior brother aside.

Duobao looked puzzled, wondering what his senior brother wanted to say to him, but he still obediently followed.

Chen Qing looked at him seriously and said, "Duobao, you are the eldest disciple under Uncle Tongtian. You should keep a close eye on your junior brothers and sisters."

He paused, then continued, "You must understand that when we disciples join a sect, our own fortune becomes intertwined with that of our master. If a disciple disgraces the sect or acts recklessly, everyone will be implicated."

Uncle Tongtian is an open-minded and easygoing person who enjoys taking on disciples—this is a good thing, but if rules aren't established and strict discipline isn't enforced early on, it will be troublesome to manage them later when there are many.

Afterwards, Chen Qing explained to Duobao in a simple and easy-to-understand way the mysteries of fortune, the relationship between the honor and disgrace of a sect and the benefits and harms of personal cultivation.

Duobao broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this and immediately snapped out of his daze. He nodded repeatedly, patting his chest and promising, "Don't worry, Senior Brother, I will definitely keep a close eye on my junior brothers and sisters and never let them disgrace Master!"

Chen Qing patted him on the shoulder and didn't say anything more.

As it turned out, Duobao truly took those words to heart. For many years afterward, he was exceptionally strict with his junior brothers and sisters, scrutinizing their manners and conduct in every aspect. Many people privately remarked that he possessed the demeanor of a senior disciple, something Chen Qing hadn't initially anticipated.

Especially after the destruction of the Wu and Yao races and the great changes in the prehistoric world, Duobao became more and more meticulous in his work, setting rules more detailed than anyone else, which made many newly joined disciples complain endlessly—of course, that's another story.

After resolving these matters, Chen Qing began preparing to refine the weapon.

He first visited the Three Pure Ones, ostensibly to seek guidance on cultivation, but in reality to "plunder" materials for refining weapons. The Three Pure Ones had accumulated quite a few good things over the years, including many rare and precious materials.

Chen Qing didn't stand on ceremony and picked and chose, taking away quite a few excellent materials.

The Three Pure Ones simply smiled and didn't care. As their master and uncles, they were overjoyed that their disciple was ambitious.

After returning to his small valley, Chen Qing went into seclusion and began refining magical artifacts using the Qiankun Cauldron.

The Qiankun Cauldron hangs in the center of the valley, its light of creation shining day and night. Chen Qing puts the materials into the cauldron, returning it to its origin, replicating the imprint of the laws in the microscopic world, and then infusing it with undying spiritual light, waiting for it to take shape.

Every so often, the aura of an innate spiritual treasure would rise from the valley and soar into the sky, its light clearly visible for miles around.

The newly initiated disciples couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the radiant light rising from the sect.

"Our senior brother is refining a magical artifact again!"

"Another one! How many is this now?"

"Our senior brother is truly remarkable..."

At first, they only marveled from afar. Later, someone started it up, and every day disciples would run outside the valley, peering eagerly inside, waiting for their own welcome gift.

Chen Qing was fully aware of the commotion outside, but ignored it. He focused on refining the spiritual treasures, taking out all the materials at hand and refining them one by one.

The spiritual treasures he crafted were not all World Beads. They included those based on the laws of fire, lightning, and space... in various styles, and the laws they contained were all replicated from the microscopic world, so their power was quite good.

In particular, the spiritual treasures based on the laws of fire, thunder, and space are more powerful than others—after all, he comprehended these laws from top-tier innate spiritual treasures and has the deepest understanding of them.

As for the Chaos Stone at the Treasure Dividing Rock, Chen Qing didn't touch it for the time being. With his current cultivation level and abilities, refining that stone was still too difficult for him. Rather than wasting materials, he would wait until he reached a higher realm.

Time passed day by day.

One after another, beams of precious light shot into the sky from the valley, almost without interruption. The disciples went from initial shock to becoming accustomed to it, and finally to numbness—their senior brother was indeed their senior brother, not on the same level as them.

On this day, the formation outside the valley suddenly shut down.

Countless rays of innate spiritual light burst forth from the valley, dazzling and almost blinding. The light intertwined, dyeing half the sky with seven colors.

The disciples looked at each other in disbelief, with only one thought in their minds—how many innate spiritual treasures must there be to emit such a strong innate spiritual light?

"Come in."

Chen Qing's calm voice echoed from the valley, neither too loud nor too soft, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears.

Duobao straightened his clothes and led the way inside. The other disciples quickly followed, each behaving respectfully and not daring to be the slightest bit presumptuous.

The scene of Chen Qing establishing rules before the Three Pure Ones hundreds of years ago is still vivid in everyone's memory. Although this senior brother is usually amiable, when he really gets angry, probably no one can withstand him.

Therefore, at this moment, everyone felt both awe and anticipation towards this senior brother. If it weren't for the immense allure of the innate spiritual treasure, they probably wouldn't have dared to come.

The moment they entered the valley, everyone's eyes lit up.

This valley is even more magnificent than the main hall on Kunlun Mountain!

Various spiritual roots and elixirs were everywhere, the spiritual energy so dense it was almost tangible. A stream flowed gently through the valley, its water crystal clear and faintly shimmering with spiritual light. Beside the stream, a vine clung to the stone wall, its vigorous stem and emerald green leaves radiating a faint innate spiritual light.

Beneath the vines, there is a small pavilion with a stone table and benches, simple and elegant.

At this moment, their senior brother Chen Qing was sitting in the pavilion, smiling as he looked at them.

As the group walked along the path into the pavilion, they suddenly felt their bodies lighten, and the spiritual energy around them was incredibly dense. Even the flow of their internal magical power accelerated, as if their cultivation levels had subtly improved.

They exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock. Then, all their gazes fell on the vine by the stream—it was this vine that made the spiritual energy of this place so abundant.

Some wanted to ask Chen Qing what kind of spiritual root it was, that it was so powerful, having such a great effect just by getting close. But the words caught in their throats—they were still somewhat afraid of their senior brother and dared not speak rashly.

Duo Bao, being closest to Chen Qing, didn't hold back as much. He stepped forward directly and asked curiously, "Senior Brother, what kind of spiritual root do you have? I think it's at least a high-grade spiritual root, right?"

Chen Qing nodded, his tone calm: "This is a top-grade innate spiritual root—the gourd vine. However, due to certain reasons, its grade has dropped somewhat; it's only high-grade now."

Upon hearing this, everyone gasped in shock.

Top-grade innate spiritual root?

That's one of the most top-tier spiritual roots in the world! They've seen innate spiritual roots before, but the highest they've ever seen are only mid-grade or low-grade. Top-grade innate spiritual roots—those are legendary!

Suddenly someone realized—the gourds in the hands of the masters seemed to have come from this spiritual root, right?

Does that mean... that Senior Brother's spiritual root will grow into an innate spiritual treasure in the future?

In an instant, everyone's gaze towards the gourd vine changed. Envy, shock, disbelief—a mix of emotions mingled together.

Seeing everyone's envious looks, Chen Qing waved his hand dismissively: "Once the gourd is ripe, if you like it, you can exchange it for materials. As for the spiritual treasures I promised you, I've already refined them; go and choose for yourselves."

As he spoke, he pointed to a basket not far away.

Everyone looked in the direction he was pointing and fell silent.

There was a basket woven from some kind of rattan, sitting quietly on the ground, emitting a faint spiritual light—it was clearly a primordial spiritual treasure!

Of course, that wasn't all. What truly astonished them was that there were dozens, even hundreds, of magical treasures floating around inside that basket, as if the basket itself formed its own private space.

Those magical treasures came in various shapes and sizes; some resembled knives, some swords, some beads, and some mirrors… Each one radiated the unique brilliance of an innate magical treasure.

Dozens or even hundreds of innate spiritual treasures were casually put into a basket, like junk thrown in a corner.

The crowd was so shocked they were almost numb.

First, there was a top-grade innate spiritual root, and now a bunch of innate spiritual treasures have appeared—and they're even in baskets! Just how rich are you, Senior Brother?

Chen Qing looked at everyone's stunned expressions and was speechless. What was wrong with these junior brothers and sisters? They were acting like they'd never seen the world before.

He actually thought it was quite normal; innate spiritual treasures possess sentience and would fly around randomly after being refined. At first, he tried to suppress them with his magic, but later, finding it troublesome, he simply refined a basket and put all the spiritual treasures inside.

After finishing the refining, I thought I would let my junior brothers and sisters come and choose some, and then I would keep the rest for when new people join the sect.

As for these magical treasures themselves, Chen Qing didn't really care about them.

The only thing he actually used was the Qiankun Cauldron. Even though the Qiankun Cauldron wasn't a treasure specifically designed for attack, its material and weight as a primordial treasure were sufficient for smashing people.

Other spiritual treasures were of little use to him—he was too lazy to refine even the top-grade innate spiritual treasures like the Purple Lightning Hammer, the Eight Scenery Palace Lantern, and the Jade Void Glazed Lamp.

In battles of the same level, with his powerful physique, abundant magical power, and profound cultivation of the Great Dao, he can crush opponents even without using any spiritual treasures.

Even if someone has a higher cultivation level than him, using a top-grade innate spiritual treasure won't work; it has to be an innate supreme treasure.

So he simply didn't bother refining it, and just copied the Great Dao Laws into the microscopic world, which was considered completing the task.

The reason he didn't give them to his junior brothers and sisters wasn't because he was reluctant to part with them, but because they were gifts from their master, and therefore held a different meaning. Otherwise, he would have given them all away long ago.

Chen Qing had no idea how much of a shock his "it doesn't matter" attitude had caused his junior brothers and sisters.

"Ahem!" Chen Qing coughed twice, pulling everyone back to reality. "What are you standing there for? Go get one for yourself, one for each person, choose one."

As if waking from a dream, everyone disregarded everything else and quickly ran towards the basket.

With so many magical treasures, there must be good and bad ones. Getting there first might mean getting a better one than others. Even though we're all fellow disciples, it's still a source of pride to get a good magical treasure, isn't it?

Even Duobao couldn't stay calm at this moment. His chubby body ran faster than anyone else and plunged headfirst into the basket.

Chen Qing sat in the pavilion, watching this scene with a smile.

He wasn't in a hurry at all. The spiritual treasures in that basket were all low-grade innate spiritual treasures, their power was actually about the same, only their functions were different—some were good at attacking, some were good at defending, and some were good at supporting. Which one to choose was entirely up to personal preference and fate.

Soon, each person used their own skills to grab a magical treasure from the basket that satisfied them.

Holding the spiritual treasures, everyone felt the innate aura emanating from their hands, and satisfied smiles appeared on their faces—low-grade innate spiritual treasures, although not of high rank, were already rare treasures for their level of cultivation.

However, when they looked up at the magical treasures in the hands of others, they were dumbfounded—damn it, they were all innate magical treasures? And their powers were almost the same?

Isn't it said that innate spiritual treasures are very rare? How come they're as common as cabbages for our senior brother?

Then, everyone suddenly thought of a problem and turned to look at the basket—there were still dozens of magical treasures floating around in the basket.

Could these... all be innate spiritual treasures?