Vermillion railings, winding peaks and mountains. Wondrous flowers competed with the beautiful sun. Green bamboos soared into the blue skies.
Outside the Flowing Cup Pavilion, a green willow hung like a trail of smoke. In front of the Moon Viewing Platform, several clusters of pines were like indigo trees.
Red brushes brushed against the ground. Green, embroidered grass. Green velvet, blue sand orchids. Gentle and soft, flowing streams …
At this time, Carefree Island had beautiful scenery and spiritual energy permeated the air. After nearly an entire level of effort, this place had truly become a famous immortal island.
"Daoist Friend Fu Hen, we can't continue like this. There are nearly 10,000 people outside the island, and they all want to join the Taoist Priests. But without the Taoist Priests, how could we dare to make such a decision?"
The one who spoke was Daoist Blue Deep, a subordinate of Ancestor Black Water. After Ancestor Black Water was killed, the Taichu had handed Daoist Blue Deep and Daoist Sea Cover over to Fu Hen.
In these past years, Sea Cover and Blue Deep had been very serious in their work. They had already considered themselves to be Taichu's people. In order to repair the flaws in the Taichu's heart, these two were even more diligent than Fu Hen.
In the past, when news spread that the Taichu didn't dare to face Ancestor Kunwu, these two hadn't wavered at all.
Although their lives were in Fu Hen's hands, after Fu Hen carefully observed them, he discovered that these two people had truly bowed down to the Taichu.
Even without the jade slip that controlled them, the two of them had still considered Carefree Island their home for all these years.
In the past, all of Carefree Island had been living in a state of depression. In particular, Fu Hen didn't believe that the Taichu was a coward. His understanding of the Taichu had caused him to be filled with confidence in the Taichu from start to finish.
But not long ago, the truth had finally been revealed. It wasn't that the Taoist Priests were cowards, but that the Taoist Priests didn't have the time to spare.
But what was the result? The Taoist Priests that had the time to spare had single-handedly destroyed an entire dynasty.
After this, everyone became even more proud of themselves. Many people that learned that the Taichu's Dao Rite was in the South Sea came to this place, all of them longing to become Taichu's disciples.
Tens of thousands of years had passed. Outside of Carefree Island, nearly 10,000 lives had gathered, their cultivations both high and low.
There were even five almighty experts with the cultivation base of Primordial Immortals, and the strongest among them was a late-stage Primordial Immortal.
As for Chang Hen, with the help of the Taichu, he had reached the realm of Primordial Immortal not long ago. As the guardian beast of the island, the Taichu was biased. The Taichu gave five of the remaining fruits of the Golden Apple to Wu Hen.
It was with the help of the Innate Gold Qi of the Golden Apple that Chi Hen was able to break through to the Gold Immortal realm in a short period of time.
As for Fuhai and Qing Ming, they had reached the late Golden Immortal Realm in the recent Aeon Tribulation. Their cultivation bases were at the Great Circle of the Golden Immortal Realm.
Fu Hen transformed into a burly man and said, "If they want to wait, then let them wait! If their cultivation is low, the three of us can take them into the island. The Taoist Priests are very fond of small creatures. However, there are some whose cultivation bases are too high. Even if the three of us join forces, we might not be able to take them down. Thus, we do not dare to let them enter the island! If these high level powerhouses have any evil intentions, then it will be our fault. The Taoist Priests have instructed us to protect Carefree Island. We cannot fail to live up to the high expectations of the Taoist Priests. "
"Mm!" Fuhai frowned. "The Daoist Friend is right. We cannot be careless, otherwise we will fail to live up to the high expectations of the Taoist Priests."
With that, the three of them came up with a plan. They would let the people outside the island wait. In any case, they would not open the great protective array.
After thinking this through, the three of them became lively.
"The skills of the Taoist Priests are truly unfathomable. Some time ago, a group of rascals said that the Taoist Priests were afraid of that old scum from Kunwu. What about now? The Taoist Priests used facts to prove that they were unable to withstand a single blow. "
"That's right. Now, the ancient creatures regard the Taoist Priests as the number one master of the ancient universe. We also share in this glory!"
"Haha, the Taoist Priests have many supernatural abilities. They didn't even need to use much strength to deal with the Kunwu Dynasty. If they want to laugh at the Taoist Priests, then they can dream on."
"..."
The three of them were excited as if they had destroyed the Kunwu Dynasty.
However, they did have a reason to be happy.
Some time ago, when the Taichu had disappeared, the entire Carefree Island had been in a precarious state. All sorts of hostile powers had spied on them. They had all wanted to take advantage of their inattention and swallow them up. But now? Who would dare?
Ferocious Monk had thought of hiding in the Taichu World more than once. Luckily, he had managed to restrain himself. Since he had managed to restrain himself, the sky had cleared up.
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"Carefree Island, I have returned!"
The Taichu had finally returned to his dao rite after 10,000 years of hurrying.
He had been gone for nearly an Eon. Things had remained the same, but people had changed. Before he left, his cultivation was at the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm, but now he was at the Daluo Jinxian realm.
Before he left, he had divined that he would be in danger. Now, he had returned with the might of the ancient universe.
"Eh? There are so many living beings here. They all want to rely on me."
The Taichu saw that nearly 10,000 living beings had gathered outside the island. Their cultivations were all different. The lowest were at the True Immortal realm and the highest were at the Grand Unity realm. As for Celestial Immortals, there weren't any. Those with such low cultivations wouldn't dare to come out and travel.
"Unfortunately, I only accept rare living beings with firm dao hearts and kind natures!" The Taichu shook his head.
It was impossible for him to accept everyone. That would be too cheap. Therefore, the Taichu laid down a heart-questioning array formation.
With a wave of his hand, the nearly 10,000 living beings outside the island found themselves trapped in an array formation before they could even react.
"This is!"
"How could this be!?"
"You actually dare to cause trouble at the Taichu Taoist Priests' dao rite …"
Before they could even struggle, a brilliant Daoist voice drifted into their ears.
"I am the Taichu Boundless Taoist Priests. I wish to enter my dao rite and pass through this heart-questioning array formation. This array formation only seeks dao hearts, not cultivation. Before the eighth calamity, those who leave this array formation may enter Carefree Island. Those who rank near the top will have great lucky chances. Take care of yourselves!"
As the Taichu finished speaking, everyone understood.
The fear in their hearts turned into pleasant surprise. No wonder there was such a supernatural ability that could instantly trap nearly 10,000 people in an array formation. It turned out that this was the Taichu Taoist Priests!
"We will obey the decree of the Taoist Priests!"
With that, these fellows began to treat the heart-questioning array seriously.
The Taichu had said that no matter how high one's cultivation was, it was useless. All that mattered was dao hearts.
In other words, a Grand Unity Golden Immortal would have a Grand Unity Golden Immortal level obstacle, and a True Immortal would have a True Immortal level test!
The Taichu estimated that it would be good if a hundred of them could pass through this array formation.
The current Great Desolate was uneven. The great powers had high cultivators guiding them. Whether it was their state of mind or their supernatural abilities, they were not something that a wandering cultivator could compare with.
Wandering cultivators didn't have many inheritances. If they could make progress in their cultivation today, they wouldn't put it past tomorrow. This would cause their cultivation to become unstable. If they didn't correct it in time, they might lose their future.
Not to mention anything else, but something that the Taichu thought was terrible was happening every moment in the Great Desolate.
It was transfiguration!
At this time, there were all sorts of transfigurative life forms. There were so many of them that they were blinding.
And this was the most basic transfiguration path, let alone cultivation. It could be imagined!
The Taichu had methods to correct those with shallow foundations, but he was afraid that those with shallow foundations wouldn't have a rock-solid dao heart. That would be unbearable. After all, those who didn't enter the Daluo Flower would eventually have a way to correct themselves. If a life form that had entered the Daluo Flower came to join them, the Taichu would directly drive them away.
Why would they come if they were already fixed?
Of course, the Taichu was indeed strict. In the future, especially after the Heavenly Dao appeared and the Hong Jun preached the Great Desolate, how many people would still attain the Daluo Dao Fruit? They had all gone to slay corpses. Those who attained the Dao Fruit and cultivated the nomological laws were almost extinct.
Therefore, this was the best era. The Heavenly Dao had yet to appear, and there was no karma or balance. Therefore, one could cultivate the nomological laws and attain the Primordial Chaos. Even if it was very slow, there were endless possibilities.