Chapter Twenty-Six: The Emergence of Penglai

The Patriarch of Universe pondered for a moment—ah, there were already over 160,000 system points accumulated. It made no sense to let them sit unused! It was time to exchange something from the system.

“What should I exchange for first? Ah, I have it,” the Patriarch mused, then spoke directly to the Primal Chaos Dao Proving System, “System, help me exchange for one tenth of the merit from the act of creation.”

The system promptly responded, “Acknowledged. Exchanging for one tenth of the merit of creation will cost 100,000 system points.”

Within Fangzhang Island, at the center of the five-colored lake, on the small island of innate spiritual soil, the Patriarch sat cross-legged. Suddenly, the space before him rippled, and a large mass of merit energy abruptly appeared, radiating an intense golden light of virtue that made the Patriarch’s eyes gleam with excitement.

“Come! With one tenth of the merit of creation in my possession, my fortune should rival the Three Pure Ones. My hopes of attaining enlightenment are now even greater,” the Patriarch grinned, and with a mere thought, the merit surged into his body, enveloping him in radiant golden light. It was only after some time that the glow gradually receded.

In his mind, it was as though endless waves of meritous golden light flooded in, bathing his entire soul. The mysteries of the Dao seemed suddenly so much clearer.

“It is indeed true that possessing merit enhances cultivation speed,” the Patriarch thought, a deeper smile spreading across his face as he carefully savored the sensation.

Suddenly—a surge of formless energy arose, spreading instantly from the Eastern Sea across the entire primordial world. All accomplished cultivators with sharp senses felt it distinctly. In a flash, countless gazes turned toward the direction of the Eastern Sea.

“Hm? This fluctuation...” The Patriarch’s eyes narrowed in surprise as he lifted his head, his gaze piercing through the grand innate formation above Fangzhang Island to the distant, boundless sea. “A treasure has been born—or...?”

“It doesn’t seem far—how interesting. Who would have thought that right after obtaining a tenth of the merit of creation, I would encounter such a fortuitous event?” With a soft chuckle, the Patriarch’s figure shimmered and appeared above Fangzhang Island. With a wave of his hand, the space before him twisted, and he easily passed through the island’s grand formation, emerging above the sea and then vanishing into the distant horizon with a spatial technique.

His profound understanding of the laws of space in the primordial world had greatly enhanced the speed of his spatial movement. In less than the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the Patriarch arrived at the source of the mysterious fluctuation.

Looking ahead at the fog-shrouded sea, the Patriarch’s expression shifted, his eyes narrowing in surprise. “A formation? It’s actually a grand array? What a marvelously intricate innate concealment formation! I wonder what’s hidden within?”

Without hesitation, he flew closer to the enigmatic innate fog array, observing briefly from outside before slipping decisively into the mist.

Within the hazy fog, it felt like primordial chaos—no sense of direction, up or down; even divine sense could not pierce the veil.

“Such an exquisite illusionary concealment array—far superior to the innate defensive formation of Fangzhang Island. Fortunately, I have already gained deep insight into formations and can discern their essence. Otherwise, unraveling this would truly be no easy feat,” the Patriarch murmured as he studied the surrounding mist with keen, focused eyes.

The innate formations of the primordial world were quite different from those of the Linmeng universe—more ethereal and mysterious, as impenetrable as drifting fog. Yet, all laws are interconnected, and different formations share common principles. With his mastery of formations and the probing power of the spatial Dao, the Patriarch could not fully comprehend the array immediately, but he soon discovered its flaws.

“So that’s how it is!” he muttered. Advancing through the mist, seemingly darting left and right at random, he soon saw the fog ahead begin to thin. The corners of his mouth curled upward as his eyes lit up.

Bursting out of the mist, the Patriarch was instantly enveloped in a surge of pure, invigorating energy, as if he were soaking in spiritual essence. The invisible energy actively streamed into his body, and his vision abruptly cleared, revealing a magnificent scene unfolding like a grand painting.

“An island? Such rich innate spiritual energy!” The Patriarch’s eyes sparkled as he gazed upon the fairyland before him—cloud-wreathed peaks of exquisite jade, lush and vibrant, with lakes glimmering like amber and emerald. After his initial astonishment, a thought leapt to his mind: “Could this be the fabled Penglai Immortal Island?”

It was no wonder the Patriarch thought so. Among the three great immortal islands beyond the Eastern Sea, Penglai was the most mysterious—ethereal, elusive, with its exact location unknown. If not for this marvelous innate mist formation, how could such an island remain so untraceable?

“Penglai... If this truly is Penglai, there must be many treasures here.” The Patriarch’s heart stirred with anticipation.

“I must seize this opportunity before the other mighty ones of the primordial world arrive,” he thought. With a single thought, his divine sense swept across the entire island.

After a brief moment of sensing with closed eyes, the Patriarch snapped them open, a burning gleam in his gaze. His figure flickered, and he vanished with a spatial technique.

The next instant, the Patriarch stood at the island’s center, his eyes fixed upon a lake below, shimmering with three-colored light.

Growing upon the lake were countless azure lotuses, their blue glow flickering, exuding a surging aura of creation and vitality. The largest lotus, with nine petals, was as big as a millstone. Next were three eight-petaled lotuses, arrayed in a triangle around the nine-petaled one. There were also five six-petaled lotuses, six five-petaled, and nine three-petaled lotuses in all.

“A Lotus of Creation? No, these must be lotuses grown from the seeds of the Lotus of Creation, nurtured by the divine waters of this Three-Light Lake. Likely, a seed from a nine-petaled lotus continued to grow, gradually forming this whole pond of blue lotuses,” the Patriarch surmised. His gaze shifted to the shore where, right beside the lake, stood a gracefully curved willow tree, its green branches swaying gently in the breeze like polished jade.

Though the willow’s aura was not strong, it made the Patriarch’s brow twitch in surprise. He eagerly strode over and, with a trembling hand, touched the smooth trunk. “Yangmei? This aura—yes, this is Yangmei’s true form, the Hollow-Hearted Willow, a primal chaos spirit root.”

“Alas, in that battle years ago, Fellow Daoist Yangmei perished. Though his true form remained, its essence was gravely damaged. Even after all these years of nourishment by the divine Three-Light Waters, it has not recovered. Yangmei truly has fallen,” the Patriarch sighed, a complicated feeling welling up in his heart. After all, he and the Immortal Yangmei had once fought side by side against the Demon Ancestor Luohu and shared a deep bond. Seeing the fate of a former friend, the Patriarch could not help but feel a pang of sorrow.

Yet, he quickly collected himself. Looking at the Hollow-Hearted Willow before him, then at the shimmering lake and its lotuses, he decisively produced the Universe Diagram and, with a thought, sought to store everything within its space.

To his surprise, the entire lake and its lotuses vanished into the diagram, but the Hollow-Hearted Willow on the shore remained unmoved, utterly unaffected by the Universe Diagram’s power.

“Why can’t I take it?” the Patriarch frowned in puzzlement. Just then, he sensed a disturbance from outside. “Hm? Someone’s coming—trying to force their way through the innate mist formation?”