Chapter 2: Transformation

On Yingzhou Island, the mysteries of fate remained veiled. Bai Jing’s transformation was peculiarly unremarkable—no celebration from heaven and earth, no tribulation, not even the faintest stir. The only sign was the slight gathering of spiritual energy around him.

Yet, compared to the vast abundance of spiritual energy on Yingzhou Island, what Bai Jing absorbed was negligible. As the convergence ended, a figure emerged from the mist. Upon closer inspection, it was a young Daoist, adorned with a white lotus crown and robe, his feet clad in sturdy shoes, a silken sash binding his waist.

With a thought, Bai Jing summoned the surrounding moisture into a water mirror. Gazing at his reflection, a hint of satisfaction flickered in his eyes. His appearance bore a faint resemblance to his former self—handsome and extraordinary, seemingly in his early twenties—a manifestation of his heart’s nature.

In the primordial world, attaining the Golden Immortal’s fruit meant one’s essence would be immortal, enduring with the world. Thus, the appearances of these mighty ones reflected their inner nature, with the Three Pure Ones as prime examples.

Bai Jing, at the moment of transformation, had already reached the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal. Above the primordial immortals, there were nine tiers of cultivation: Earth Immortal, Heavenly Immortal, True Immortal, Profound Immortal, Golden Immortal, Taiyi Golden Immortal, Da Luo Golden Immortal, Hunyuan Golden Immortal (Quasi-Saint), and Hunyuan Da Luo Golden Immortal (Saint).

To be born at the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal meant Bai Jing possessed the finest innate divinity, only a step away from the likes of the Three Pure Ones and the Twelve Ancestor Witches. That single step, however, was due to the flaw in his origin; the trace of origin left by the Chaos Green Lotus was meant to aid him in repairing it.

Had Bai Jing fused that trace of origin during transformation, much of his origin could have been restored, and he would have emerged as a Da Luo Golden Immortal. Yet, his intuition told him that fusing it immediately would prevent his path from being consummate. He should first repair his origin on his own, then use the Chaos Green Lotus’s trace to complete its metamorphosis, thus gaining a chance to realize the Great Dao.

Bai Jing trusted his intuition implicitly, so he refrained from merging that trace right away.

“Next, it’s time to scour Yingzhou Island,” he thought, turning toward the pool that had nurtured him.

The pool still held half its waters, with two white nine-grade lotus flowers, four six-grade, and nine three-grade lotus blooms floating within. Above the pool, a golden light enveloped a small ruler. Bai Jing recalled that this ruler had been summoned by the great Pangu and had flown with him to Yingzhou Island.

Thus, the ruler was a companion spiritual treasure bestowed by Pangu.

Thinking this, Bai Jing beckoned to the ruler, which flew to his hand without hesitation.

The moment the ruler touched his palm, Bai Jing understood its nature. At its center, two ancient divine characters declared its name: “Measure the Heavens.”

There could be no doubt—it was the postnatal merit treasure, the Chaos Heaven-Measuring Ruler!

After Pangu split heaven and earth, the resulting merits were divided: three parts to the Three Pure Ones, three to the Twelve Ancestor Witches, one each to the Chaos Heaven-Measuring Ruler and the Exquisite Pagoda, with the remainder scattered across the primordial world.

The Chaos Heaven-Measuring Ruler was a supreme merit treasure, famed alongside Laozi’s Exquisite Pagoda—one for offense, one for defense. It was the ultimate weapon. In sheer destructive power, it rivaled the Pangu Banner, and as a merit treasure, it could slay without incurring karmic retribution.

Bai Jing immediately began refining the Chaos Heaven-Measuring Ruler. To his surprise, the process was effortless—within the blink of an eye, he refined twenty-four seals, gaining basic mastery over the ruler.

“This is too easy! I thought it would take hundreds or thousands of years just to refine the initial seals, let alone twenty-four at once. Could it be because Pangu gave this ruler to me?”

Sensing his thoughts, the Chaos Heaven-Measuring Ruler trembled, as if affirming his suspicion.

A glimmer of excitement shone in Bai Jing’s eyes—so it truly was because of Pangu.

After admiring the ruler for a while, he stowed it away and turned to the pool. His inherited memories told him that the water was the supreme primordial healing elixir—Three Lights Divine Water.

Three Lights Divine Water was composed of Sunlight Divine Water, Moonlight Divine Water, and Starlight Divine Water. Each alone was a deadly poison, corrosive to soul and spirit, gnawing flesh and blood, devouring true consciousness. Even Da Luo immortals dared not touch it lightly.

Yet when the three combined, the extremity reversed, becoming the finest healing elixir in existence.

Bai Jing did not rush to collect the Three Lights Divine Water, but instead gazed at the other lotuses in the pool. During his transformation, he sensed a faint spiritual fluctuation within the water—though it hid quickly, he had caught it.

With a sweep of his divine sense, Bai Jing found a feeble soul within one nine-grade white lotus.

“It has developed consciousness?”

The nine-grade lotus trembled with fear, knowing that as a member of the Chaos Green Lotus lineage, its existence would siphon some of that lineage’s fortune. Bai Jing understood this well.

Even ants strive to survive—how much more so would an innate divine being?

Though the consciousness born within the nine-grade lotus was inferior to his own, it was still a mid-to-high grade innate divinity.

But how could he tolerate another sleeping beside his pillow? Bai Jing had no desire to share fortune or have siblings. With a thought, the Chaos Heaven-Measuring Ruler appeared in his hand, erasing the lotus’s consciousness.

Afterward, Bai Jing began to explore Yingzhou Immortal Island.

Each of the Three Immortal Islands possessed a congenital grand array capable of converting chaotic energy into innate spiritual energy, far denser than the outside world. On nearby mountains, spiritual energy condensed into liquid, and ancient spirit herbs grew everywhere, along with a variety of spiritual roots—many of them supreme postnatal roots.

Bai Jing was not picky; anything he encountered, he collected.

Whenever he came upon an innate spiritual object, he paused to break its seal and claim it.

After ten thousand years, Bai Jing finally reached the highest peak of Yingzhou Immortal Island.

Before he even entered the mountain, he sensed the presence of a restriction. He set about breaking it—not by the art of arrays, which he knew nothing of, but by slowly wearing it down with his power.

In the blink of an eye, another thousand years passed before Bai Jing finally dispelled the mountain’s restriction and stepped inside.

He wandered the mountain but found no remarkable innate treasures until he reached the summit, where he discovered a jade fragment.

“Could this be a shard of the Creation Jade Disk?” Bai Jing wondered, picking up the fragment.

Indeed, it was a piece of the Creation Jade Disk—not a main fragment, but a common one. It contained records of the Devouring Dao, the Dao of Instruments, and the Dao of Enchantment. Among these, the Devouring Dao ranked among the top thirty.

Bai Jing felt a pang of disappointment—how wonderful it would have been had it contained one of the top ten Daos! But then he reflected: Hongjun had scoured the primordial world for so many years, nearly gathering all the fragments of the Creation Jade Disk. How could any main fragments remain scattered?

This little jade piece had survived only because it was hidden on Yingzhou Island, where even the Heavenly Dao had difficulty finding it. Otherwise, it would never have fallen into his hands.