Volume One, Chapter Two: Mount Buzhou and the Sea-Calming Divine Pearl

Lin Yang then familiarized himself with all the functions of the Primordial Chaos Gourd once more. Only after mastering them to his satisfaction did he carefully store this innate supreme treasure away within his Sea of Consciousness, nurturing it with his primordial spirit.

“Finally, it has taken form. This feeling is truly delightful.”

After putting away the Primordial Chaos Gourd, Lin Yang assessed his current strength, savoring the immense satisfaction it brought. Though he had been born prematurely, his cultivation was extraordinarily profound. As one of the Ten Spiritual Roots—the Gourd Vine—he emerged with the power of a mid-stage Great Dao Golden Immortal, radiating an overwhelming aura of mystical energy.

Gazing upon the valley where he had been born, Lin Yang knew that as a great master of divine abilities, most would transform their birthplace into a sacred cultivation site. However, as a transmigrator, he felt little attachment to this place. Subconsciously, he also suspected that Mount Buzhou might collapse again as it had before, so he had no intention of establishing his own sanctuary here.

After all, the vast world of the Primordial Era offered countless places to build a cultivation ground. Moreover, this valley lay within Mount Buzhou, which was perpetually shrouded in boundless pressure emanating from Pangu himself, making it highly inconvenient as a site for spiritual practice.

Thus, after reclaiming the Nine Heavens Breath Soil that had originally rooted him here, Lin Yang departed from the valley. Stepping out of the innate grand formation enveloping the entire valley, he was immediately greeted by the endless oppressive aura of Pangu.

This Pangu pressure had existed since the dawn of creation, seemingly eternal so long as Mount Buzhou stood. It represented the will of the great deity Pangu, everlasting and immutable.

Because of this weighty aura, Mount Buzhou remained a barren land, rarely trodden by living beings. Even a Great Dao Golden Immortal like Lin Yang could not hope to ascend to its peak.

Yet Lin Yang had no desire or stubbornness to climb to the summit. Instead, he contemplated that besides his own innate Gourd Vine, there must be many other treasures hidden within Mount Buzhou. Since it was practically his doorstep, it would be unreasonable not to explore and gather some of these opportunities.

So, braving the Pangu pressure, Lin Yang began searching for treasures atop Mount Buzhou. To his surprise, he discovered another innate grand formation similar to his birthplace.

Though this formation seemed weaker than his own, Lin Yang believed it better to err on the side of caution. He forcefully shattered the formation, and within it, he found an innate spiritual root.

As expected, this spiritual root was not one of the Ten Spiritual Roots like his own, but it was nonetheless extraordinary—a primordial plantain tree.

This plantain tree bore a pair of leaves, one yin and one yang. The yin leaf had been taken by the Old Ancestor of the Nether River, while the yang leaf was claimed by Laozi.

Considering that the plantain tree, though named a tree, was actually an herbaceous plant, it was likely that after Laozi and the Nether River Ancestor plucked its leaves, the tree itself had withered and died.

For a moment, Lin Yang felt a pang of empathy and decided not to pluck any leaves. Instead, he carefully excavated the entire plantain tree along with the soil in which it grew.

Moreover, since he had yet to establish a sanctuary, the plantain tree could only be carried with him. Lin Yang temporarily stored it inside the Primordial Chaos Gourd, even allotting some of the Nine Heavens Breath Soil to help it grow better.

Having done all this, Lin Yang prepared to leave. But as he turned away, radiant multicolored lights suddenly burst forth from the pit left by the uprooted plantain tree.

“Huh? What’s this...?”

Lin Yang stared in astonishment at the luminous beads emitting brilliant, multihued light. If his guess was correct, these must be the famed Sea-Calming Divine Pearls.

Yet, a question lingered—why were there only twelve of these Sea-Calming Divine Pearls?

He quickly recalled that originally, there had been twenty-four such pearls. During the great calamity of the Investiture of the Gods, Zhao Gongming had wielded these twenty-four pearls to inflict severe losses upon the Chan Sect.

Furthermore, the Daoist Burning Lamp once said he had seen the Sea-Calming Divine Pearls at the Mysterious Capital of Supreme Purity Heaven. This meant that the twenty-four pearls Zhao Gongming possessed were indeed given by the Heavenly Sovereign.

But beyond these, there existed another set of Sea-Calming Divine Pearls—the twelve before him—which had been obtained by Laozi.

However, Laozi chose not to reveal these twelve pearls, concealing them so that the Heavenly Sovereign would not acquire them.

Otherwise, the total number of Sea-Calming Divine Pearls would not be just twenty-four but thirty-six.

Legend held that twenty-four Sea-Calming Divine Pearls formed a set whose power rivaled that of supreme innate spiritual treasures.

If there were thirty-six, might they be comparable to innate supreme treasures?

Lin Yang deemed this very plausible.

“If I can acquire the other twenty-four Sea-Calming Divine Pearls in the future, I can verify this. But for now...”

Gazing at the twelve Sea-Calming Divine Pearls seemingly offering themselves to him, Lin Yang’s eyes gleamed with thought. He recalled that after the Daoist Burning Lamp seized Zhao Gongming’s twenty-four pearls, he used them to forge the Twenty-Four Heavens, greatly advancing his cultivation.

Now, having obtained these twelve pearls, perhaps he could emulate this method.

Though Daoist Burning Lamp had not yet manifested his form, and the location of Spirit Vulture Mountain remained unknown, Lin Yang had no intention of copying the approach wholesale.

Burning Lamp created the Twenty-Four Heavens with twenty-four pearls; perhaps Lin Yang could fashion Twelve Heavens with twelve pearls, or better yet, merge these twelve pearls into a single bead—like his seven gourds—so that the Twelve Heavens became one. Such unity might yield greater power and unexpected surprises.

He then stored the twelve Sea-Calming Divine Pearls within his Sea of Consciousness.

Unlike the Primordial Chaos Gourd, which had been gained intact, these pearls now belonged solely to him, and he would have to painstakingly refine and absorb them one by one.

Though these twelve pearls formed a powerful set, individually they were merely twelve high-grade innate spiritual treasures.

For Lin Yang, the difficulty of refining them was not too great.