Primordial Era: The Three Senior Brothers of the Taiqing Clan

Since everyone was already in the East Sea, they simply went directly to Chen Qing's Daoist temple—Penglai Immortal Island.

Xuandu and Guangchengzi were visiting their senior brother's dojo for the first time, and they were amazed by everything they saw and heard along the way.

The Penglai Immortal Island is filled with spiritual energy, with exotic flowers and rare herbs everywhere, and spirit birds and cranes living leisurely. On the distant mountain peak, there is a small mountain with flowing light, constantly breathing in and out chaotic energy.

The two secretly clicked their tongues in amazement: As expected of the senior brother's dojo, it truly possesses an extraordinary aura.

Inside the main hall, the Three Pure Ones sat high on the cloud platform, while Chen Qing stood below.

Tongtian reached into his sleeve and pulled out a small banner, casually tossing it at Chen Qing: "Little Qing, look at this, it's a good thing."

Chen Qing took the small banner and, seeing the expectant look on his uncle's face, couldn't help but become curious as well. He carefully examined the small banner in his hand, probing it with his divine sense, and was immediately taken aback.

In his perception, the small banner was hazy and indistinct, as if it were nothingness, yet also as if it were interwoven with infinite Dao principles, mysterious and profound.

What surprised him even more was that he had initially thought it was at least a top-quality innate spiritual treasure, or even a supreme treasure, but upon closer inspection, he found that there was not a single restriction on the banner. In other words, this banner was not a spiritual treasure, but a rare treasure.

Indeed, there are many such rare treasures without any rank in the primordial world.

They come from unknown times and reasons, and their effects are incredibly diverse. Some are weak and feeble, while others are surprisingly powerful.

The most famous of these was the Six Soul Banner, which was part of the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation during the Investiture of the Gods period. That banner could even harm a saint, but unfortunately it was stolen by Chang Er Ding Guang Xian, a traitor of the Jie Sect, thus ruining Tongtian's plan.

Otherwise, even if the Jie Sect ultimately fails, it could still cause considerable losses to the other saints.

Chen Qing examined the small banner in his hand for a moment, then looked up at Tongtian and asked疑惑地问道, "Uncle-Master, what is the use of this banner?"

Upon hearing this, Tongtian said in surprise, "I didn't expect there to be things you didn't know. I thought you would know all of this."

This is not Tongtian's fault; it's just that this junior disciple has been behaving too strangely on a daily basis.

Then, without waiting for Chen Qing's reply, Tongtian explained to himself, "You should be able to guess the origin of this treasure. It was snatched from the saint who made a move in the Netherworld last time."

The reason we didn't notice the huge commotion they caused in the Netherworld was precisely because the two extraterrestrial saints jointly activated this banner, obscuring our senses.

Chen Qing gasped, staring incredulously at the small banner in his hand. He never imagined that this unassuming thing could possess such power, capable of obscuring the senses of a sage—no, to be precise, deceiving the senses of the Heavenly Dao.

He remembered that his master and the others had said that they had indeed noticed the abnormality in the underworld at first, but later felt that everything had returned to normal, so they did not go in to check, which almost led to a big mistake.

However, another question immediately arose in his mind. Chen Qing looked up at his master and two senior uncles: "Those extraterrestrial saints are ultimately not from our world, so why didn't they appear above...?"

He didn't explicitly say what "above" meant, but everyone present understood perfectly—above them were Hongjun Daozu and the Heavenly Dao.

"Boom—"

Before he could finish speaking, a deafening roar erupted. A bolt of lightning struck the sea off the island, its thunderous rumble echoing for miles around.

The people in the hall felt a sudden tightness in their chests, as if they were being watched by some ferocious beast.

However, the feeling came and went quickly. The group looked at each other, still shaken, and stopped discussing the topic.

That was a warning from Heaven, and they all understood it. Chen Qing didn't want to suffer divine retribution for no reason, and the Three Pure Ones and the others dared not do it either.

They were Heavenly Saints, their primordial spirits residing within the Heavenly Dao. How could they dare to do anything that displeased the Heavenly Dao? The crowd had no choice but to suppress their doubts and change the subject to other matters.

However, this incident made Chen Qing even more disgusted with the position of Heavenly Saint, and also made him have some doubts about the lofty Hongjun Dao Ancestor.

Unfortunately, his current strength is not enough to contend with such an existence, so he can only suppress those thoughts in his heart for the time being.

"By the way, Master, my two senior uncles, I've also captured some dragon sons and grandsons. I wonder if you'd be interested?" Chen Qing changed the subject and asked.

"Not interested." Tongtian shook his head directly. "You probably only captured those little dragon cubs from the East Sea Dragon Palace, right? You killed all the ones with high cultivation levels, so what use are the rest?" Laozi and Yuanshi naturally looked down on them even more.

Chen Qing smiled and said, "Uncle-Master, you can't say that. You have many disciples, and these little dragon cubs are perfect as mounts. Although their cultivation is not high, they are still descendants of the overlords of the three ancient races. It would be cool to use them as mounts."

Upon hearing this, Tongtian was indeed somewhat tempted. So the two of them immediately divided up the dragons that Chen Qing had captured.

Chen Qing didn't see much use in keeping these dragons, so he simply locked them all in a microscopic world.

Anyway, I'll be attending the Heavenly Peach Banquet soon, so I'll just use this as a congratulatory gift.

The Heavenly Court is currently penniless, lacking both resources and manpower. Perhaps offering this gift would be exactly what Haotian and Yaochi wanted.

Sanqing and the others did not linger. Seeing that there was nothing more to do, they each left. Guangchengzi, however, stayed behind because the matter of the girl had not yet been resolved.

Inside the main hall, Chen Qing sat cross-legged on the cloud platform, holding the Jingwei bird in his hands.

At this moment, the Jingwei bird had already fainted. Chen Qing used his powerful world energy to peel away wisps of resentment from its body.

After an unknown amount of time, when the last wisp of resentment was completely stripped away, Chen Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, the girl's soul was still very weak, so he placed her entirely into the Three Lights Divine Water Pool to nurture her. Once she was well-nurtured, he would find some materials and use the Qiankun Cauldron to restore her to her original state and reshape her physical body.

Seeing that the girl was alright, Guang Chengzi left with peace of mind—the human race still needed his care.

In the human tribe, Lieshan was overjoyed to learn that the girl was safe and sound, and his spirits were fully restored. He once again embarked on the long journey of tasting hundreds of herbs and governing the human tribe.

One day, in a tribe called Youxiong, a woman looked up at the starry sky at night and saw stars falling and golden light filling the sky. She then became pregnant.

The tribe was overjoyed upon hearing the news—everyone knew that the births of the two previous leaders of the human race were marked by extraordinary omens, signifying the arrival of sages from heaven. Now, their tribe had produced such a leader, who would surely lead the Youxiong clan to prosperity.

For many years, Lieshan traveled among various tribes, constantly trying out the effects of various plants, and finally found many plants that were beneficial to the human race.

Before the invention of writing, Lieshan embarked on another journey to promote his achievements over the years.

This time, however, his main purpose was no longer to taste hundreds of herbs, but to help the human race prosper and enable everyone to survive better.

He taught the tribes along the way about the grains that could satisfy hunger and the herbs that could cure diseases. As a result, the lives of the people were greatly improved, and the population once again increased.

Perhaps because Hongyun's true spirit was too weak back then, even though Lieshan is now nearing old age, he still has not regained his memories of his past life.

Guang Chengzi, who had been secretly protecting Hongyun, breathed a sigh of relief. If Hongyun had really regained his memories, he really wouldn't know how to treat his disciple.

After all, Hongyun was a powerful figure who listened to the Dao in Zixiao Palace in his previous life, a quasi-saint level existence. If he regains his memories, Guangchengzi's position as his master will be awkward.

Youxiong tribe.

Years later, the woman who had become pregnant due to the celestial phenomenon finally gave birth.

When the child was born, dragons and phoenixes sang in harmony, four spirits guarded him, and boundless golden light shone across half the sky. The grandeur of the phenomenon surpassed even that of the births of Fuxi and Lieshan.

Subsequently, a young Taoist priest came and accepted him as a disciple, giving him the name Xuanyuan.

This person was none other than Duobao of the Jie Sect. Like Guangchengzi, he settled near the Youxiong tribe after Xuanyuan's birth, teaching Xuanyuan while secretly protecting him.

Chen Qing didn't have time to worry about such things at the moment, since he had several senior uncles looking after him. He was currently in seclusion on Penglai Immortal Island, focusing all his efforts on refining the microscopic world within his body, seeking a breakthrough.

Chen Qing sat cross-legged in the main hall, his mind focused on his body. Through years of effort, he had fused one-third of the microscopic world within his body into a unified whole.

Although this world is not yet comparable to the primordial era, it has already reached the pinnacle of the great world.

This is only one-third; two-thirds still haven't been smelted.

If all the smelting is successful, Chen Qing guesses that it will be able to reach about half the level it was at the beginning of the primordial world, which is roughly equivalent to stepping into the threshold of the boundless great world.

The world hierarchy is roughly divided into: Lesser Thousand Worlds, Middle Thousand Worlds, Greater Thousand Worlds, Boundless Greater Thousand Worlds, and Chaotic Worlds.

As for the higher levels, Chen Qing wasn't quite sure. Of course, there were even smaller levels below the Lesser Thousand Worlds, but those levels were too low to warrant further classification.

Besides the vast differences in size, the biggest difference between each world lies in the completeness of its Great Dao.

The Lesser Thousand Worlds possess only the most basic world rules; the laws are not revealed, and the Great Dao is not disclosed. The world's level is limited to below that of immortals, making it impossible for true immortals to be born.

The Middle Thousand Worlds possess incomplete world rules, with laws subtly revealed but difficult to comprehend. The world's level is limited to the Golden Immortal realm; while one can transcend lifespan limitations, one cannot reach higher realms.

The vast world possesses relatively complete rules, including all three thousand laws. A single complete law or several complete laws drive the generation of other laws. The world's level is limited to the Primordial Chaos level, where one or more Primordial Chaos experts can be born who control a complete Great Dao.

The boundless Great Thousand Worlds possess the complete Three Thousand Great Daos, from which other Great Daos continue to derive. The world's level is limited to the Primordial Grand Luo Golden Immortal realm. Its foundation is sufficient to give birth to three thousand Primordial Grand Luo powerhouses, with no upper limit.

This level represents the stage of the primordial world. Only after Pangu slew three thousand chaotic demons and gods and occupied every Great Dao did the complete primordial world come into being.

Although the bodies of those chaotic demons have disappeared, the Great Dao they represented has been occupied by Pangu.

Pangu, as the Demon God of Power, wielded the Great Dao of Power. With great magic and perseverance, he forcibly suppressed and merged with other Great Daos, which made the primordial world become the boundless Great Thousand World.

Even if Chen Qing were to fuse all the microscopic worlds within his body, it would be impossible for him to reach the level of the Primordial World.

After all, he didn't possess the profound foundation of Pangu. Reaching even the threshold of the boundless vast world was already his limit.

This was the result of him returning to his original state and restoring countless innate spiritual treasures, comprehending the innate supreme treasure Chaos Bell, and accumulating countless resources.

Otherwise, relying solely on that energy is of little use—at most, the energy will only expand the world, but it won't improve the world's level.

Although the "Great Thousand Worlds Level" and the "Boundless Great Thousand Worlds Level" differ by only two words, the difference is worlds apart.

As Chen Qing continued to refine the microscopic world, the origin of the world within his body was constantly strengthened, and the Great Dao of the world was also growing at an extremely rapid pace.

Although this growth rate was extremely fast for others, it still couldn't satisfy Chen Qing's needs. He needed to perfect the laws of the world even faster in order to break through to a higher level in a short period of time.

Chen Qing could only use the old method: refining spiritual treasures and comprehending the laws.

He directly sent messages to his three masters and the Goddess Nuwa, asking them to borrow all the spiritual treasures and supreme treasures. He used the Qiankun Cauldron to restore them to their original state, comprehend the origin of the spiritual treasures, and replicate the fragments of the Great Dao contained within them, thereby rapidly strengthening the laws of his inner world.

Not long after the message was sent, the Taiji Diagram, the Pangu Banner, the Four Swords of Zhuxian, the Mountain and River Map, and other supreme treasures, along with countless innate spiritual treasures, flew to Penglai Immortal Island from all directions. These spiritual treasures piled up like mountains, their radiant light illuminating the entire hall as if it were daytime.

This is Chen Qing. If it were anyone else, it would be impossible for them to borrow these treasures.

The Three Pure Ones, needless to say, were Chen Qing's teachers and trusted him implicitly.

Nuwa also owes Chen Qing a favor, and Chen Qing possesses the innate treasure Qiankun Cauldron, as well as other ways to obtain the undying spiritual light and refine innate spiritual treasures. He would never embezzle other people's spiritual treasures.

More importantly, Chen Qing had an excellent reputation with Goddess Nuwa, so she wasn't worried at all and directly sent over the spiritual treasure.

Chen Qing carefully counted them and found that these spiritual treasures not only included the supreme treasures held by the saints, but also the innate spiritual treasures distributed by the disciples of various sects.

Clearly, the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa not only trusted Chen Qing themselves, but also borrowed the spiritual treasures of their disciples for him to study.

A wave of emotion welled up in Chen Qing's heart. This was a profound trust.

Without hesitation, Chen Qing immediately took action.

He saved the Taiji Diagram and the Pangu Banner, these innate treasures, for last to comprehend. After all, these things are incredibly profound and cannot be understood in a short time.

He first studied the lower-level innate spiritual treasures. Lower-level spiritual treasures contain fewer laws of heaven and earth, making them much easier to comprehend. Higher-level spiritual treasures, on the other hand, are slower to comprehend, so studying them from lower to higher levels is the fastest method.

This is actually a virtuous cycle: as his comprehension progresses, his strength will continuously increase, and the speed of his comprehension will also become faster and faster.

As he comprehends the Dao, he integrates the laws of the Dao into the world within his body. The more perfect the world becomes, the higher his cultivation level, and the easier it is for him to comprehend higher-level spiritual treasures.

So, while continuing to refine the microscopic world, Chen Qing separated dozens or hundreds of microscopic avatars and used the Qiankun Cauldron to restore the innate spiritual treasure to its original state, using his supernatural powers to replicate its origin and the laws of heaven and earth contained within it.

The Qiankun Cauldron hangs in the center of the main hall, its light of creation shining day and night. One by one, innate spiritual treasures are thrown into the cauldron, transforming into the purest primordial energy.

Chen Qing's avatars sat cross-legged beside the cauldron, their divine senses probing into its origin, carefully comprehending the Great Dao laws contained within. Each time they gained a thorough understanding, they would integrate the fragments of those laws into their inner world, replicate them, and then send them out again, restoring them to their original spiritual treasure form.