Chapter 128: Heaven and Earth Formed as One, the Golden Dragon Emerges

While Cao Yu was searching for Ji Feichen and his two companions, the three of them were likewise tracking Cao Yu. However, the Black Sea was vast, making it impossible to cross paths in a short span of time. Moreover, Ji Feichen's party encountered a stroke of serendipity along the way, which delayed them slightly.

When the three returned to the battlefield, Cao Yu had long since departed. Searching along their trajectory yielded no significant leads. Yet, opportunities abound in the ocean, and before long, the three encountered a swirling vortex.

That vortex stirred the atmospheric forces of heaven and earth, spewing boundless golden light outward. Streaks of vermilion mist exhaled auspicious vapours, while the sun and moon cast propitious rays. Golden clouds rolled across the sky, and crimson glow surged upward, as if some profound treasure were currently being gestured into existence.

"Black Sea vortexes possess the wondrous property of spitting forth treasures. Generally, they are classified into spirit-cave grade, blessed-land grade, and grotto-heaven grade. I wonder what grade this vortex belongs to?"

A grotto-heaven grade grand vortex can spew out an entire, complete grotto-heaven—a sacred realm akin to the Taiji Immortal Wonderland, possessing its own independent laws and rivaling the immortal abode of a celestial being.

A blessed-land grade vortex will likewise spew forth islands. However, they do not form a self-contained world and evolve into continents like the Taiji Immortal Wonderland. Treasure islands of the blessed-land grade are merely "bright pearls" floating upon the Black Sea, serving as the sanctuaries and foundations for numerous aquatic demons.

As for the so-called spirit-cave grade vortex, it will only spew out dharma treasures or spiritual herbs, failing to condense earthly spiritual veins or form complete islands.

Upon hurrying over to inspect it, the three saw the embryonic form of an island vaguely shimmering within the golden light. Ji Feichen was overjoyed, but upon closer inspection, a look of disappointment crossed his face. "Although it has the external appearance of an island, it is merely a spirit-cave grade vortex; there is no way for it to truly condense into an island."

"Indeed. Islands contain spiritual veins. However, the meteorological presence of mountains and rivers is insufficient, and the silt and earth absorbed are not enough to truly condense into an island," the dragon maiden also revealed a look of regret. "Ultimately, it will probably only give birth to a few dharma treasures and spiritual items."

Yet, having encountered this stroke of fortune, the three were unwilling to abandon it and thus stood guard nearby for the treasures to emerge.

The Black Sea abounds with gigantic aquatic beasts. Originally, the wondrous phenomenon of golden light piercing the firmament attracted quite a few sprites and monsters, but because the three had arrived first, and Ji Feichen had already used divine powers to interfere with the cosmos while having the dragon maiden intimidate them with dragon awe, none dared to approach rashly.

After all, being a spirit-cave grade vortex, it could not attract true deep-sea behemoths. Those aquatic demons with a millennium of cultivation quietly retreated one by one upon seeing immortals present.

By the hour of the midday horse (around noon), a series of cracking sounds emanated from within that formless island.

After all, the vortex's grade was insufficient and its scale fell short, making it unable to spit forth a true treasure island. The very instant the island flew out from the vortex, the entire landmass disintegrated with a thunderous roar.

A soul-stirring dragon roar echoed from within the island. The two dragon veins supporting the island automatically flew out of the golden isle, intertwining and copulating upon the sea surface. Stirring the dual forces of yin and yang, they continuously drew primordial energy from the vortex to form two physical golden flood dragons, which then began transforming into dharma treasures.

Double-Dragon Sword, Flood-Dragon Whip, Ring-Dragon Shield...

At this crucial moment, these two flood dragons were in the midst of forging dharma treasures, possessing boundless possibilities.

A sudden wave of intuition stirred within Fairy Yuzhi. Touching the broken scissors at her waist, her gaze flickered. "My personal golden shears were broken. If I can use the golden dragon essence formed by the earth's dragon veins to reforge them, not only can they be restored to their original state, but the quality of the dharma treasure can be further elevated."

Ji Feichen shared a similar intuition and smiled at her, saying, "Congratulations, Senior Sister."

Fairy Yuzhi stepped forward a few paces, tossed the remains of the scissors into the vortex, and executed the Yin-Yang Dragon-Whisker Dao technique, compelling those two flood dragons into the interior of the scissors.

While she quietly forged her treasure nearby, Ji Feichen's gaze fell upon the remaining debris of the golden island. He said to the dragon maiden, "Would you like to go and take a look?"

The dragon maiden only fancied items akin to precious pearls and held zero interest in this island. Shaking her head, she remained seated upon the spirit boat, leaving Ji Feichen with no choice but to rummage through it himself.

The golden isle had originally spanned a distance of one li. As the two earth veins transformed into dragons and departed, the remaining soil along with the mineralized jade within were thoroughly pulverized by the vortex. Under the squeeze of immense water pressure, they formed flat, compressed chunks of metal.

Walking over, Ji Feichen watched these metal chunks gradually transform into precious materials amidst the polishing of seawater. Thereupon, he invoked the "Daodu Diagram," borrowing the Three-Light Divine Water of heaven and earth to assist in the refinement.

By the time Fairy Yuzhi finished her task on her end, Ji Feichen had likewise refined these metal chunks into a set of eighteen golden magic mirrors. After being wiped clean by the Three-Light Divine Water, every single mirror shone brilliantly, illuminating things with absolute clarity while also capable of forming array formations.

"Junior Brother truly loves combination-type dharma treasures," the fairy remarked somewhat speechlessly upon seeing the set of eighteen golden mirrors. "This set of golden mirrors, if fused into one, would also be a talisman of exceptional quality. Yet right now... although the material is fine, the spiritual essence is scattered. Looking back, it will probably take quite a bit of time to re-refine them."

"They are still materials for a talismanic treasure, are they not?" Ji Feichen chuckled, tossing the mirrors into the Nine-Heavens Profound Gold Dragon God Pagoda. He then said to her, "Senior Sister has acquired the souls of two flood dragons. These shears may be crowned with the name 'Golden Flood-Dragon Shears'."

The fairy spread her delicate hand. Lying upon her palm was a pair of exquisitely crafted double-dragon shears. Both branches of the shears took the form of golden dragons, with their heads serving as the blades and their tails as the handles. The entire body was gleaming gold, exuding an air of fierce, murderous intent.

"This dharma treasure is brimming with spiritual essence. Judging by this, once Fairy Yuzhi attains the Dao fruit of an Earth Immortal, it can likewise ascend into an immortal artifact alongside her," the dragon maiden observed from the side, sensing a wave of dragon awe emanating from the Yin-Yang Golden Flood-Dragon Shears—an aura similar yet distinct from the dragon awe of their own dragon clan.

Dragons fall into three categories, corresponding to the numbers of the three realms of heaven, earth, and humanity. Heavenly dragons are born from Qi, forming dragon-shaped clouds amidst auspicious clouds and colorful mists; after a long span of cultivation, they ultimately transform into true heavenly dragons. Such dragons are born capable of stirring mists and clouds, summoning wind and rain, and moving thunder, equating to celestial immortals.

Earthly dragons are born from the earth, transformed from the earth's spiritual veins, and are also the dragon veins favored by mortal emperors. When a dragon vein gains sentience, it is born possessing the Dao fruit of an Earth Immortal, and upon finally bursting through the earth to fly into the heavenly firmament, it attains the Dao fruit of a heavenly dragon.

Human dragons refer to dragons of living beings, which may also be called dragon beasts or dragon seeds. The East Sea dragon clan, to which the dragon maiden belonged, are beast dragons passed down through bloodline inheritance.

In other words, heavenly dragons are born with the Dao fruit of a celestial immortal, earthly dragons are born with the Dao fruit of an Earth Immortal, whereas the maturity period of a dragon beast equates to that of a human immortal. However, legend has it that the primordial dragon ancestor of the East Sea dragon clan was a heavenly dragon born from the dome of the heavens. Coming from the clouds and mists or emerging from the earth, these divine dragons could likewise breed offspring. Their offspring were the beast dragons of dragon seed lineage.

"If these two flood dragons obtain good fortune and cultivate in the ocean for a millennium, they might truly give birth to sentience and act as divine dragons," the dragon maiden glanced at them before losing interest in these two earth-vein dragon souls.

Seeing these shears, Ji Feichen's eyes rolled restlessly. "Since Senior Sister has forged the Golden Flood-Dragon Shears, I wonder when you will forge the Hunyuan Golden Dipper once more?"

"You fellow, you definitely harbor no good intentions," the fairy scolded, though a hint of a smile surfaced on her face. This was the first time she had revealed a smiling expression since learning of Ji Feichen's true identity.

Seeing the two bantering, the dragon maiden felt her heart relax. Ever since she awoke, the atmosphere between this martial sister and junior brother had been bizarre, making her somewhat uncomfortable as well. Now that the two were gradually growing harmonious, the dragon maiden finally set her mind at ease.

Ji Feichen and Fairy Yuzhi had both gained something and were just about to resume their journey when two familiar figures suddenly flew over from afar.

"Senior Brother Liu, Junior Sister Qinglan." Upon seeing the two members of the Wuwai Sect, Ji Feichen revealed a peculiar expression. "What brings the two of you to the East Sea?"

"We came to the East Sea to search for the Subduing-Demon Banner, and incidentally to temper ourselves in the Black Sea to see if we might obtain any fortuitous encounters."

Nameless had come, and Liu Zi Mo had followed as well. No matter how he thought about it, something felt amiss. Ji Feichen muttered inwardly, but outwardly he did not expose them, instead introducing the two to Fairy Yuzhi.

"Senior Sister, this is the Daoist brother I mentioned to you who holds the Heaven-梭 Azure Leaf."

Upon hearing this, the fairy's eyes lit up. She immediately began discussing with Liu Zi Mo about exchanging for the Heaven-梭 Azure Leaf.

Immortal beings hold varying attitudes toward dharma treasures.

Ji Feichen treated dharma treasures as external objects, believing that a mere handful of handy treasures was enough. His most frequently used methods—the Nine Nether Weak Water and the Yin-Yang Dragon-Whisker—neither required any dharma treasures. The Azure Tide Pearl as his fundamental Dao and the Nine-Heavens Profound Gold Dragon God Pagoda as unfathomably wondrous were the two treasures he cared about most. The Demonic Dragon Staff served as a symbol of his demonic sect identity and could not be discarded either. However, everything else could be replaced. The Dragon-Whisker Fan and the Subduing-Demon Banner were both items he could use, but he would not completely rely on them.

Fairy Yuzhi's thoughts were similar to his. She likewise disliked relying too heavily on dharma treasures, intending only to select three dharma treasures as the foundation for her realization of the Dao, and then collect the leaves of the Azure-Falling Shuttle Tree to reshape the treasure tree, forging a dharma treasure inferior to none other than the Dragon-Whisker Fan, which would suffice.

Hearing the fairy's intent, Liu Zi Mo pondered and said, "In my hands, this leaf is merely an item for preserving life. Now that the killing tribulation is about to begin, our Qingling Immortal Dao is not as carefree as you two ancient cultivators. It is fine to exchange for the leaf, but I hope the two of you can produce treasures of equal value."

Although the fairy had several dharma treasures on her person, she possessed nothing of equivalent value to the Heaven-梭 Azure Leaf. Thus, she said helplessly, "I came out in a hurry and didn't prepare anything on me. How about this? Once I find a treasure later, I will trade with you then, how does that sound?"

In immortal cultivation, "barter trade" is valued above all else. What one does not need themselves may be precisely what another urgently desires. Thus, trading items is the proper course. If one stubbornly refuses to part with things for long, it easily breeds enmity.

Both were immortals of long-standing cultivation who understood the unspoken rules of the immortal path. Today someone seeks your help, and there is no telling when you might have to seek theirs tomorrow.

Liu Zi Mo did not have the leisure to re-gather the Azure-Falling Shuttle Tree, and thus harbored the sentiment of bringing about a good union between others.

The two temporarily settled their agreement, traveled together for a spell, and then parted ways once more.

Ji Feichen secretly transmitted his voice to the fairy. "Senior Sister, what do you make of his cultivation?"

"A bit inferior to yours. Should be at the level of Dao-fixing? Hasn't forged his Dharma Form yet?"

"Could it be that he is concealing his cultivation?"

"What do you mean?" The fairy grew alert. "Could there be a problem with him too?"

"No, no, he has nothing to do with the demonic sect. But this generation's Supreme Successor is unfathomably mysterious. There are rumors outside suspecting that he is hiding within the Wuwai Sect."

"Supreme Non-action? I recall the Wuwai Sect was indeed a sect founded by a certain generation's Supreme Successor."

It was not just the Wuwai Sect; many sects of the Supreme lineage worshipped founding masters who were successors of the Supreme Palace.

Every generation of successors would conceal their identities and then go out to establish sects; naturally, these sects belonged to the Supreme lineage.

"I recall Master saying back then that many Supreme Successors also love to burrow into other Supreme sects. Some even go so far as to infiltrate the demonic sect as undercover agents." The female immortal cast a glance at Ji Feichen.

According to Ji Feichen's current narrative, he was precisely one who had gone undercover within the demonic sect.

"Come to think of it, the Supreme lineage should be able to evade the Demonic Sect's Blood Oath?" Fairy Yuzhi looked Ji Feichen up and down. "Junior Brother, are you still hiding something?"