Early morning.
All is still and silent.
On the eastern horizon, the first streaks of light tenderly moisten the pale blue heavenly curtain.
As the first rays of dawn pierce through the mist, Yu Yuan yawns and emerges from the Tian Yuan Palace.
While others rejuvenate their spirits and souls through sleep,
He becomes even more drowsy with rest!
Yet he cherishes the feeling of thinking about nothing when asleep.
So despite not needing sleep, he occasionally indulges in a deep slumber after a night-time bath.
The morning light gently shines upon the flower beds in front of the palace gates, causing the myriad of colors to bloom in an instant.
Yu Yuan reaches into the air, pulls out a Jade Bottle, and drinks a good amount of the Spiritual Spring Water before tilting his head back, going "ha la ha la" for a while, and then puffing up his cheeks to spray out the Spiritual Spring.
An Immortal's Body is pure and flawless, free of dust and blemish, requiring no cleansing.
This too is a habit carried over from his previous life.
The Spiritual Spring Water he sprays transforms into a soft mist, slowly covering the flowers in front of the gate.
Shadowy figures can be seen, little people frolicking among the flowers, dancing on branches, overjoyed by the "Heavenly Descending Rain".
All the little people, no taller than a fingertip, slender and lovely, dressed in vibrant colors, celebrating with song and dance.
"Heh~"
A smile appears on Yu Yuan's face, dispelling some of his sleepiness.
He places the Jade Bottle back into the invisible pocket in the air, lights a cigarette casually, and gazes towards Shoujing Temple.
Wen Zhong, still seated at the entrance, rests his head on Dang Kang's body and has fallen deep into slumber.
Since missing the master's lecture a few days ago, he has been sitting at the doorway, relentlessly awake night and day, to avoid another tragedy.
But after all, he's just a mortal youth—how can he stay awake forever?
Yu Yuan inwardly chuckles but doesn't wake him.
However, Dang Kang, noticing his gaze, starts trembling like a sieve, causing Wen Zhong to murmur discontentedly and pat his "pillow".
Yet the "pillow" shudders even more vigorously, startling him awake.
"What's wrong... has the earth dragon turned over?"
Wen Zhong wakes up groggily, his eyes searching around.
In the next instant, his three eyes snap wide open, staring straight towards the direction of the Tian Yuan Palace.
That sumptuous and majestic Immortal Palace has vanished without a trace!
How could this be?
Wen Zhong rubs his eyes hard, but the scenery remains barren, with only the colorful flower beds still in place.
Could it be... has my senior brother truly taken off?
...
Above the East Sea, an enormous Immortal Island looms in the morning light, almost blending into the horizon.
Age-old trees tower on the island; silver waterfalls hang from the mountains, rainbows stretch across the sky, cranes line up, and Green Birds spread their wings.
Auspicious Beasts lurk in the mountains, while Qilin rest on precipices.
Clouds of rosy dawn coalesce; the sun and moon emit auspicious light.
Evergreen pines and cypresses, exotic plants and flowers that never wither, Immortal Peach and Fruits shining like Golden Cores, willows and poplars delicate as jade threads.
Immortal Qi circulates, Divine Light is boundless.
Countless Immortal Palaces surrounded by Divine Light are scattered across the island.
It all appears as if a mirage.
Yu Yuan rides atop a white cloud, drifting leisurely into the Immortal Realm of Golden Turtle Island.
Along the way, he encounters quite a few Jie Sect Immortals.
However, with the Jie Sect disciples numerous and scattered across the vast Primordial lands, they are not familiar with one another.
"Finally here..."
The Primordial is boundless and vast.
Although Penglai Holy Realm is adjacent to Golden Turtle Island, Yu Yuan still flew for over an hour to reach it.
This is the reason he wishes to take the Curved Realm Ark.
If he were to rely on his own cloud to travel to the Northern Continent, it would take at least three to five years.
The Curved Realm Ark is a powerful artifact of the Jie Sect, with the Ten Heavenly Lords in charge, and its entrance located on Sky Termination Peak, the place of the leading Heavenly Lord, Qin Wan.
When Yu Yuan reaches Sky Termination Peak on his cloud, there are already over a hundred figures gathered.
From afar, one can see Jie Sect Immortals in Daoist robes and Immortal Dresses chatting and laughing; few exhibit bizarre appearances.
Although the recruitment of the Jie Sect ranges wildly, ever since the Ancient Era, the aesthetic preferences of Immortal Gods in the Primordial have always gravitated towards the Innate Taoist Body. Therefore, any capable Immortal God would shape themselves an Innate Taoist Body.
And an Innate Taoist Body, put simply, is a humanoid form.
Thus, despite their varied and peculiar backgrounds, the Jie Sect Immortals all appear in human forms.
Each one looks distinguished and extraordinary, exuding an aura of Immortals.
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Of course, no matter what they looked like, in essence, they were all old monsters who had lived for many years.
While Yu Yuan was surveying the Jie Sect Immortals, he was also being sized up by others.
"Who is that person, why haven't I seen him before?"
"Looking at the mysterious light above his head, he seems to have the Dao Xing of an upper-grade Profound Immortal; he must be a new disciple taken in by one of the elder brothers."
"Yes, in recent years there have been quite a few third-generation disciples in our sect, I estimate there might be over ten thousand Immortal Gods in our sect now, right?"
"That's right, nowadays our Jie Sect is truly the foremost great sect in the Primordial era without any doubt!"
"When it comes to third-generation disciples, those taught in the external sect are no match; the truly formidable ones are those Inner Sect Disciples cultivated in the Penglai Holy Realm."
"You're referring to Yu Yuan who caused a big ruckus on Nine Dragons Island a few days ago, aren't you?"
"Exactly, him! It's said that he has only been a disciple for just over a thousand years, and now he has already managed to beat Zhou Xin and Li Qi back to their original forms..."
"Zhou Xin and Li Qi have both attained the level of upper-grade Heavenly Immortals, right? Were they really defeated by Yu Yuan?"
"This news has already spread among the external disciples, could it be false?"
"That's why they say he is an Inner Sect Disciple... You see, the one who just passed by, is only an upper-grade Profound Immortal which is probably ten thousand miles inferior to Yu Yuan!"
...
Yu Yuan inadvertently caught the whispers, yet he seemed not to notice, keeping a warm smile on his face as he went on to greet the on-duty Yao Heavenly Monarch, announcing his intended destination.
Yao Heavenly Monarch smiled and nodded, "Nephew-disciple, please wait for a moment. Today, there are quite a few disciples heading to Qingqiu Mountain; you can go together with them."
Although Yu Yuan rarely appeared before the Outer Sect Disciples, he had frequently used the Curved Realm Ark to travel to various places in the Primordial lands for a while, so all ten of the Heavenly Lords who were in charge of guarding the Curved Realm Ark recognized him.
However, it was only recognition and not much familiarity.
After expressing his thanks, Yu Yuan found a corner and quietly puffed away clouds of smoke.
The Curved Realm Ark consumed a great deal of energy each time it was activated; to avoid wastage, it was usually only opened when at least five Jie Sect disciples were heading to the same destination.
Since the Northern Continent was a dangerous land filled with poison miasma, Yu Yuan guessed that not many would be heading there, so he chose Qingqiu Mountain as his target.
Apart from the Nine-tailed Fox, Qingqiu Mountain also had abundant resources like Qingjin Stone and Red Sunstone.
These were indispensable Spiritual Objects for Artifact Refining, and Immortals from the Jie Sect often went there to gather them.
Most importantly, Qingqiu Mountain was situated in the northeastern direction of the Southern Continent, only separated from the Northern Continent by a strait.
From there, it would take only about ten days to half a month to reach the Northern Continent.
Just as Yu Yuan had expected, there were indeed quite a few Jie Sect Immortals headed to Qingqiu Mountain, and soon there were seven or eight people gathered.
Yao Heavenly Monarch, overseeing the Curved Realm Ark, figured that those who were supposed to come had arrived, and then called out, "Those heading to Qingqiu Mountain, quickly enter the formation. We will set off after an incense stick burns out."
Yu Yuan was not in a hurry, and only when the cigarette in his hand became too hot to hold, he pinched off the butt in his palm and turned it into flying ash, then lazily walked into the formation.
Several Jie Sect Immortals had already been seated within the formation, waiting in silence.
Seeing Yu Yuan enter, all the Immortals turned their gazes to him. One of the Jie Sect Immortals, a thin man with a horse-like face, picked up the strong poison scent lingering on Yu Yuan, frowned immediately, and said coldly, "Just stand over there, don't come too close to me."
The Jie Sect accommodated Immortals with all sorts of Divine Skills, and clearly, this Immortal thought Yu Yuan was one who cultivated the Plague Technique.
Yu Yuan didn't mind and casually pulled out another cigarette, looking around at the Immortals, "Dear uncles, would you like to try one? It tastes quite good."
"No, thank you."
The Immortals shook their heads repeatedly, indicating that they couldn't handle such a thing.
It was then that Yao Heavenly Monarch's voice came from outside the formation, "Disciple Lv Yue, are you also headed to Qingqiu Mountain?"
Lv Yue?
Yu Yuan raised an eyebrow, thinking it couldn't be that coincidental.
Looking up, he saw a Jie Sect Immortal descending from the sky on a green cloud and landing in front of Yao Heavenly Monarch.
This person appeared thin and short, emaciated and hunched, wearing a bright red Daoist robe, with a pale face full of wrinkles. He leaned on a shiny white bone staff in his right hand with blackened fingertips glowing with a faint green light, as if soaked in poison for years.
From the outside, he really didn't look like an Immortal at all, but more like some evil spirit that had escaped from somewhere.
It appears this guy must be the Qi Refiner Lv Yue from Nine Dragons Island.
Yu Yuan thought to himself.
He had only seen Zhou Xin and Li Qi during his last visit to Nine Dragons Island, and this was his first time seeing the person in charge.
Then, Lv Yue greeted Yao Heavenly Monarch with a fist and palm salute, his voice hoarse and grating, "I'm going to the Northern Continent to collect medicine, but departing from Qingqiu is also convenient, it won't be necessary for my brother to go to extra lengths."
"Alright, that's settled then. Saves me some effort. Just enter the array; we are about to depart."
With the hearty laughter of Yao Heavenly Monarch, Lv Yue's figure flashed, ghost-like, and he floated into the formation.
Other than Yu Yuan, the rest of the Jie Sect Immortals quickly stepped back to yield plenty of space to him, then they all bowed and saluted in unison, "We pay our respects to Brother Lv Yue."
Inside the great formation, only Yu Yuan acted as if he hadn't seen Lv Yue at all, casually lighting his cigarette. He took a deep breath, let the poisonous smoke linger in his organs for a while, allowing the poison to be absorbed and neutralized by his body before slowly exhaling.
The thick white smoke poured out from his mouth, spreading, rolling, and slowly rising to the sky.
Lv Yue's pair of eerily green eyes stared at Yu Yuan as if trying to see through his origin.
After a moment, he spoke slowly, "Not paying respect in the presence of your senior, who is your master? Has he not taught you manners?"
Yu Yuan blew out a smoke ring, casting his gaze downward, "You should stand up when you speak. Sitting there, how can I see who you are?"
"I..."
Lv Yue almost didn't catch his breath, "I am already standing!"
"Oh—"
Yu Yuan dragged out the sound, squatting down so his eyes were level with Lv Yue, "Now I can see you, but... who the hell are you, do I know you?"
Saying so, he stood up and pointed at the Immortals beside him, "Take a good look yourself, every one of our Jie Sect Immortals is heroic and dashing, elegant and extraordinary. For a three-inch nail like you to dare pretend to be my elder?"
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