Chapter 3: Devouring and Purification

Bai Jing put away the fragment of the Creation Jade Disc. With this, he had completely explored the entire Yingzhou Island. He sat cross-legged where he stood and took stock of his gains.

In total, Bai Jing had broken through seventeen innate restrictions on Yingzhou Island. Sixteen of these contained spiritual roots, so he had obtained sixteen innate spiritual roots: three of superior grade, five of middle grade, and eight of inferior grade.

It was worth mentioning that two of the innate spiritual roots he collected were particularly rare. One was the superior-grade Enlightenment Tea Tree, whose leaves could help one swiftly enter an enlightened state. The other was an inferior-grade millet, the same as in his previous life. The grains produced by this spiritual root, once planted, would grow acquired-grade millet spiritual roots. When Bai Jing broke the innate restriction protecting it, the area was filled with acquired-grade millet.

He also obtained a hundred and fifty-five acquired supreme spiritual roots. As for those below supreme grade, Bai Jing did not even bother to look at them, as there were simply too many.

Various spiritual herbs were likewise countless. Any herb Bai Jing deemed worthy of collecting was at least a hundred thousand years old; those below that age were not worth his effort to pick up.

He found all sorts of rare materials, including some imbued with chaotic energy. Such materials were prized for crafting artifacts in the prehistoric era, especially those touched by chaos. When the art of forging flourished one day, even Primordial Golden Immortals or Quasi-Saints would covet them.

Unfortunately, he did not encounter the legendary Five-Needle Pine, one of the top ten innate spiritual roots.

The Five-Needle Pine had never appeared in the prehistoric world. In the novels Bai Jing read in his previous life, it was speculated that the Five-Needle Pine might reside on the Three Immortal Islands.

There was no Five-Needle Pine on the Yingzhou Island where the White Lotus resided. Penglai Island later emerged, which meant the Pine was not there either, or it would have been discovered by the great beings of the prehistoric era long ago.

There was only one explanation: the Five-Needle Pine most likely grew on Fangzhang Island.

Bai Jing had no way of leaving Yingzhou Island now, as the innate restrictions surrounding it were impossible to approach without the cultivation of a Primordial Golden Immortal, let alone escape.

Even if Bai Jing could leave Yingzhou Island, he would not dare to venture onto Fangzhang Island. That was once the Dao field of Yangmei; who knew what hidden measures he might have left behind?

Nevertheless, Bai Jing felt it was urgent to advance his cultivation.

The reason was simple: the lecture at the Purple Cloud Palace was about to end. After the first epoch, the second lecture would begin, and soon after its conclusion, Penglai Immortal Island would manifest.

Given the riches on Yingzhou Island, Bai Jing definitely did not want to miss the emergence of Penglai Immortal Island, nor the teachings at the Purple Cloud Palace.

Most importantly, the third lecture and the Treasure Cliff could not be missed.

In summary, what Bai Jing needed to do now was to quickly cultivate to the level of Primordial Golden Immortal. Yet, even with all these resources from Yingzhou Island, following the usual path, it would take at least an epoch to break through.

There was another issue: when Bai Jing transformed his shape, his intuition told him that his origin was incomplete. He could not immediately merge that thread of Chaos Green Lotus origin; he needed first to repair his own origin, then use the Chaos Green Lotus origin to transform himself, and only then could he hope to attain the Dao.

Thus, repairing his origin had to precede breaking through to Primordial Golden Immortal.

Bai Jing had previously guessed that the flaw in his origin likely stemmed from the White Lotus seed not maturing before the creation of heaven and earth. In other words, his true body, the Purifying White Lotus, should have transformed into twenty-four petals, like the Creation Green Lotus, to be considered complete in origin.

Then, using the strand of Chaos Green Lotus origin, he could transform into a chaotic spiritual plant, gaining the chance to break through to Primordial Golden Immortal.

But how could he repair his origin? Was it by merging with things sharing the same root and origin, or by relying on the spiritual roots of heaven and earth?

With this in mind, Bai Jing decided to return to the Three Radiance Pool where he was born. There, two nine-petal white lotuses remained, both sharing his origin. Absorbing their origin might allow him to replenish himself.

...

Returning to the pool, Bai Jing picked up the white lotus whose consciousness he had erased and began to refine its origin. It took a hundred years, and the nine-petal white lotus turned into a milky white sphere resembling a pill.

Bai Jing swallowed the pill, and soon felt his origin increase by a tiny fraction—about one-thousandth.

The corner of Bai Jing’s mouth twitched; for a moment, he did not know what to say. A hundred years of effort for such a minuscule gain—clearly, this was untenable. The refining was inefficient and the effect was poor.

“It seems I must find another way,” Bai Jing thought, then began searching his inherited memories.

As he searched, Bai Jing suddenly recalled the fragment of the Creation Jade Disc. He remembered that within it was the Dao of Devouring, and his own body, the Purifying White Lotus, possessed the power to purify all things.

If he could combine these abilities, using the Dao of Devouring to consume various spiritual treasures and materials, and during the process purify the harmful impurities within them, could he rapidly repair his origin and strengthen himself?

A glimmer of hope appeared in Bai Jing’s eyes. He took out the fragment of the Creation Jade Disc and began to comprehend its mysteries.

To master the Dao of Devouring, one must first understand the law of devouring, which only Primordial Golden Immortals could truly begin to grasp.

Bai Jing, of course, could not comprehend the devouring law yet. Nevertheless, aided by the fragment of the Creation Jade Disc, he spent ten thousand years developing a cultivation technique centered on devouring. He named it the Spirit Devouring Art.

Then, Bai Jing began his experiments. There were only two nine-petal white lotuses, so he did not start with them, but instead picked a six-petal white lotus and swallowed it whole.

As soon as the white lotus entered his mouth, Bai Jing circulated his technique, and his purification power activated.

Within a single day, the six-petal white lotus was digested and absorbed, increasing his origin by about one-thousandth, roughly the same as the nine-petal lotus he had refined earlier.

Clearly, this method was effective!

Bai Jing then became engrossed in devouring—consuming and assessing which spiritual roots and herbs could repair his origin, while refining the Spirit Devouring Art.

Thus, another thirty thousand years passed, and Bai Jing finally perfected the Spirit Devouring Art.

Now, the Spirit Devouring Art could devour anything: spiritual roots, herbs, even the hardest materials, purifying impurities and absorbing the essence.

It was noteworthy that devouring spiritual roots and herbs increased his magical power, while devouring various materials strengthened his physical body.

Through these thirty thousand years of experimentation, Bai Jing’s physical strength had reached the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal, matching his soul cultivation, and his origin had been repaired by nearly one percent.

Bai Jing reflected that repairing his origin with things sharing the same root was too slow. It would be better to first enhance his physical body, reach the Primordial Golden Immortal level, and after leaving Yingzhou Island, seek other treasures of similar origin for further repair.

Therefore, in the following tens of thousands of years, Bai Jing focused his devouring on various ores.

After about eighty thousand years, Bai Jing had consumed most of the ores he collected from Yingzhou Island, sparing only those touched by chaos.

Finally, quantity became quality; Bai Jing’s physical body reached the Primordial Golden Immortal level. Now, he could approach the innate restrictions around Yingzhou Island.