Chapter 42: Late Stage of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal

Since Yang Mei intended for those with the proper affinity to use the World Tree to support the Primordial World, he did not set up any overly complex formations to refine the core of the world. The moment Bai Jing’s magical power merged with the world core, the refining process began. In less than a hundred years, this small world had become Bai Jing’s possession. Once the formations were broken in the future, the four supreme innate spiritual treasures that anchored the elements of earth, fire, water, and wind would also belong to him.

Bai Jing’s thoughts shifted, and he absorbed the small world into his body before departing Fangzhang Island. This exploration of Fangzhang Island had taken over 1,200 years, and he now needed to hurry back to Yingzhou Immortal Island to complete his subsequent breakthroughs.

...

Another ten thousand years passed in a flash. After the Demon Clan annihilated the Immortal Court, their actions became increasingly arrogant. Countless races across the Primordial World were destroyed simply because they refused to submit to them. Had it not been for the fact that Di Jun and Tai Yi had suffered severe Dao injuries while blocking the self-detonation of the Duke of the East—injuries they were still recovering from—the Demon Clan would likely have already launched an assault on the Sorcerer Clan.

On this day, above the East Sea, the figure of Bai Jing appeared out of thin air. His physical body had now reached the late stage of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm. Currently, aside from the older generation of powerhouses, no one in the Primordial World had yet reached the peak of the Quasi-Saint realm, not even Laozi had managed to take that step. It could be said that Bai Jing was now among the top-tier innate sacred beings of the Primordial World.

After basking in his success for a moment, Bai Jing flew toward Mount Buzhou. He had told Di Jiang that his breakthrough would take fifty thousand years, but it had ended up taking over fifty-five thousand. A portion of this extra time was because his breakthrough had been interrupted; even with the fragments of the Jade of Creation and the Enlightenment Tea Tree, it took time to return to a state of enlightenment once interrupted. The other part of the reason was, of course, his excursion to explore Fangzhang Island.

Now at the late stage of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal realm, Bai Jing’s speed had increased significantly, taking less than two years to travel from the East Sea to Mount Buzhou. Upon arriving at the ancestral lands of the Sorcerer Clan, he noticed the atmosphere was quite grave. Zhurong was leading the majority of the Sorcerers in training, while the rest were preparing for the impending war. Bai Jing quickly flew to Zhurong’s side.

Zhurong was startled by the sudden appearance of a person before him and instinctively swung a punch at Bai Jing. Bai Jing did not dodge or parry; he simply grasped Zhurong’s scorching fist and said, "Fellow Daoist Zhurong, it is I."

"Bai Jing? You’ve finally arrived! Hurry, Big Brother has been waiting for you!" After saying this, Zhurong grabbed Bai Jing’s wrist and dragged him toward the Pangu Hall.

Once Bai Jing entered the Pangu Hall, Di Jiang hurried forward and asked with concern, "Brother Bai Jing, are you unharmed?"

"I am fine, Fellow Daoist Di Jiang, thank you for your concern."

"That is good. I feared that something had gone wrong with your breakthrough."

"There were indeed some accidents. Fellow Daoist Di Jiang should know that my sanctuary is on Yingzhou Immortal Island?" Di Jiang nodded, as Bai Jing had mentioned this to them before.

"Yingzhou Immortal Island lies within the void and chaos above the East Sea. More than ten thousand years ago, the Demon Clan led an army to destroy the Duke of the East’s Immortal Court, and in his final moments, the Duke chose to self-detonate. The power of a mid-stage Quasi-Saint’s self-detonation is immense. Yingzhou was caught in the shockwave, which interrupted my breakthrough. Helpless, I had to restart my enlightenment, which is why I was delayed."

"So that is what happened. Those damned demons truly cause endless trouble."

Bai Jing smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Di Jiang, there is no need to be angry. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to vent your frustrations in the future." Di Jiang nodded and said nothing more.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Di Jiang, has your refinement of the 'One Spirit True Essence' been going smoothly?" Bai Jing shifted the topic.

Di Jiang sighed and said, "Not very smoothly. Aside from our youngest sister, the rest of us have spent the last fifty thousand years trying to follow your advice: purging the restless energy, smoothing it out, and moving it according to a specific rhythm, while aligning our minds to that same rhythm. Only recently have we barely managed to achieve the synchronization of mind and energy that you described, allowing the two to remain relatively static. We have yet to even begin the actual refinement of the One Spirit True Essence."

"According to what you say, is the situation better for Fellow Daoist Houtu?" Bai Jing asked.

Di Jiang nodded: "Our youngest sister has already refined her own One Spirit True Essence. For the past ten thousand years, she has been using it to replace her acquired restless spirit. According to her, if this step can be completed, she is confident she can cultivate her own Primordial Spirit within ten Epochs, even without the Innate Indestructible Spiritual Light atop Mount Buzhou."

"Ten Epochs is too long," Bai Jing remarked.

Di Jiang agreed heartily: "That is exactly what I told her. That is why, Fellow Daoist Bai Jing, I must trouble you to climb Mount Bu—"

"Big Brother, someone outside wants to see you," Zhurong interrupted, running in again.

"Someone wants to see me? Who?"

"She claims to be the Queen Mother of the West from Kunlun."

Upon hearing it was the Queen Mother of the West, Di Jiang waved his hand and said, "I have no time. Not seeing her. Tell her to leave."

"You got it! I’ll go tell her now."

"Wait! Fellow Daoist Zhurong, hold on. Fellow Daoist Di Jiang, I believe we should meet with the Queen Mother of the West."

"What is the point of seeing her? We don't even know her."

"The Duke of the East and the Queen Mother of the West were the heads of the male and female immortals of the Primordial World, respectively. Now that the Duke has been killed by the Demon Clan, how can she not be afraid? How can she not harbor a deep hatred for them? The enemy of my enemy is my friend. It is best to win her over if we can."

Di Jiang pondered for a moment and said, "Brother Bai Jing is right. Zhurong, go bring her... no, invite her in, and be polite."

"Big Brother, how can an outsider enter our Pangu Hall?" Zhurong asked, looking displeased.

"I didn't tell you to invite her into the Pangu Hall! Go quickly!"

After dispatching Zhurong, Di Jiang turned to Bai Jing and said, "Brother Bai Jing, let us go to the outer hall to talk."

Bai Jing nodded and accompanied Di Jiang to the outer hall of the Pangu Hall. The so-called outer hall was not part of the Pangu Hall itself, but a palace built by the Sorcerer Clan connected to it, where ordinary Sorcerers would meet the Ancestral Sorcerers. Upon reaching the outer hall, Bai Jing immediately conjured the Primordial Measuring Ruler to shield their conversation from heavenly scrutiny.

A moment later, the Queen Mother of the West was led into the outer hall by Zhurong. Throughout the journey, her emotions were complex; she honestly had not expected to be allowed into the Sorcerer Clan's territory. Her arrival at Mount Buzhou was actually intended to seek out Nuwa. Ever since the Duke of the East was killed by the Demon Clan and the Immortal Court destroyed, she had been living in fear of the Demon Clan targeting her. After weighing the pros and cons, she decided to make this trip.

Before the Queen Mother of the West was appointed as the head of the female immortals by the Dao Ancestor, she and Nuwa had enjoyed a good relationship as some of the few female powerhouses in the Primordial World. Since Nuwa was the Empress of the Demon Clan’s Heavenly Court, the Queen Mother hoped to leverage this relationship to have Nuwa inform the Demon Clan that she had no such ambitions as the Duke of the East, nor did she wish to concern herself with the strife of the world, desiring only to pursue the Great Dao.