The First Traverse of the Desolate Expanse
Zhang Fangben was a student at a third-rate university, who was usually quiet and not good at socializing. His only hobby was watching. Last night, on his way back to the dormitory, he accidentally fell into a sewer by mistake.
When he came to from his coma, he felt a dull ache all over and looked up to find himself completely disfigured. Strange scenes kept flashing through his mind. He glanced around, but had no idea where he was. A thought crept into his mind: "I didn't fall into the sewer, did someone pass by and rescue me?"
He thought carefully and felt that it was still not right. From the surrounding environment, the clouds were floating, the air was fresh and natural, making people feel like they were in a fairyland. The environment of the present world is far from it, and the two are not on the same level at all. He turned his mind again and thought: "Could I have crossed time and space back to ancient times like the protagonist in my novel?"
This time his idea was correct, and he indeed traversed through space-time, but not back to ancient times, rather to the Primordial Era. However, as a lone student, facing this sudden traversal, he couldn't help but faint once again.
As he gradually merged with the original memories in this body, it turned out that this body was actually Kunpeng, a demon master from the Honghuang era. After Da Zong Hengjun's second lecture on the Dao, Chi Yun obtained the opportunity of the Great Dao, which attracted Kunpeng's attention and led him to make a move against Chi Yun. However, what Kunpeng did not expect was that Chi Yun would self-destruct, leaving him severely injured. What Kunpeng did not expect even more was that Di Jun and Tai Yi were secretly plotting to unify the demon tribe and had been keeping an eye on Kunpeng. Seeing that Kunpeng was severely injured, they threatened him into joining the Heavenly Court. A man under another's roof cannot help but lower his head; Kunpeng knew he could not escape after being severely injured and could only agree to Di Jun and Tai Yi's proposal to join the demon tribe's Heavenly Court.
Di Jun had a pre-heavenly spiritual treasure, the 'Youmo Flag', which could capture people's souls. All the great demons who joined the Heavenly Court had to attach a strand of their yuan Shen to it. Once there was any disobedience, Di Jun would use his secret method to destroy both body and soul. Kun Peng had no choice but to follow his orders and attach a strand of his yuan Shen to the flag. After the event, he became more and more angry, first being injured by Hong Yun's self-explosion, then seeing the opportunity for the Great Dao slip away, and finally falling into Di Jun and Tai Yi's plot. As a result, while he was recovering from his injuries, his resentment was too heavy, causing the heart demon to enter his body, leading to his death. Zhang Fang's soul happened to attach itself to his body at that time.
When Zhang Fang woke up again and understood the cause of things, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: "I didn't expect that I would actually cross into the Honghuang period and become a Kunpeng. Others who crossed into the Honghuang period all had a lot of innate spiritual treasures, but when it came to me, I didn't even have one. It's really heartbreaking!"
Although Zhang Fang had merged with Kunpeng's memories, he knew that as an outcast, he couldn't get the recognition of the Heavenly Dao. To continue surviving in the Primordial Chaos, he must assimilate into it. Thus, he immediately made a vow: "From this day forward, there is only Kunpeng, no more Zhang Fang."
His oath was immediately recognized by the Great Way, and from then on, no one could know his origin, even after Da Zu Hongjun merged with the Dao, he could only calculate that he was Kunpeng, Zhang Fang had already disappeared into the world.
The Primordial Era was an era where the strong preyed on the weak, and without a powerful force, one could not survive. Zhang Fan knew that Kun Peng was not in danger of falling, but he also did not dare to guarantee that his arrival would not affect the development of the Primordial Era. To continue surviving in the Primordial Era, he had to quickly improve his cultivation. Although he had obtained Kun Peng's complete memories, he was not Kun Peng himself after all. He wanted to leave the Heavenly Court early to avoid revealing any weaknesses and arousing the suspicion of Emperor Jun and Taiyi. He also wanted to hurry to the Primordial Era to search for some heavenly treasures and earthly riches.
On the second day, Kunpeng made a request to Emperor Jun to return to the cave mansion to recover from his injuries.
Di Jun knew that he and Tai Yi had forced Kun Peng to join the Heavenly Court, which made him resentful. He didn't want things to get too awkward with Kun Peng either, so he agreed to Kun Peng's request and gave him the Taiyin Star as a gift, using it as the You Shi Palace to ease relations between them.
Kunpeng knew that Emperor Jun was doing this to win him over, and he also took advantage of Emperor Jun's kindness. According to his original memory, he knew that the first Witch War was about to begin, and it would be better for him not to participate in it, so as not to provoke unnecessary causes and effects.
After Kunpeng left the Heavenly Court, Taiyi asked Emperor Jun, "Elder brother, why did you let Kunpeng leave so easily and even gave him the Taiyin star?"
Di Jun smiled and said, "Kun Peng's cultivation is profound. If it weren't for us taking advantage of his severe injury this time, we wouldn't have been able to subdue him easily. Now he has deep resentment towards us in his heart. Letting him leave temporarily will be beneficial for both him and us. Besides, his life is in our hands, there's no need to restrict him too heavily."
Actually, Di Jun miscalculated. After Zhang Fan absorbed Kun Peng's memory, the last wisp of Kun Peng's primordial spirit in the 'Demon Summoning Flag' had already dissipated. It was just that Di Jun was too confident in the power of the 'Demon Summoning Flag', and didn't notice that there was no longer any of Kun Peng's primordial spirit left inside it, otherwise he wouldn't have let Kun Peng go so easily.
Kunpeng was one of the first batch of living beings produced after Pangu opened up the sky, and Daozu Hongjun had heard him lecture on the Dao twice. He himself had already achieved quasi-saintly cultivation, but because he had a single black and white aura, he did not have any innate spiritual treasures, so he was unable to take the path of beheading the three corpses to become a saint. His cultivation had never made progress, and after leaving the Heavenly Court, he did not return to the North Ming Sea, but instead rushed straight to the East Sea.
The East China Sea is the leader of the four seas, Kunpeng knows that Penglai Island is in this East China Sea. Many people in later generations said that there are pre-heavenly spiritual treasures on Penglai Island, and his trip was to find this island.
In the era of Honghuang, the East China Sea was boundless. Kunpeng flew over the East China Sea for several months and finally discovered the Penglai Fairy Island in the depths of the East China Sea. At that time, no one in the world of Honghuang paid attention to the four seas except for the dragon clan. The Penglai Fairy Island was located in the depths of the East China Sea, where there were no human footprints, and even the dragon clan itself did not want to come to this place, so they did not know that the Penglai Fairy Island existed.
Penglai Fairy Island is a piece of the original Chaos Stone that fell from the primordial chaos when Pangu opened up the sky, and it has been transformed. The spiritual energy on the island is denser than that of Mount Buzhou, which was also transformed by Pangu. Because it was transformed from the original Chaos Stone, there is a hint of chaotic aura on the island, which conceals the heavenly mechanism. Even Daozu Hongjun, who had not yet merged with the Dao, could not calculate the location of Penglai Island. Kunpeng only needed to fly over the Eastern Sea for several months before he was able to find this island, and it can be said that he was extremely lucky.
At this time, Penglai Fairy Island is not alone in existence. There are two other fairy islands around it. Kunpeng knows from later generations' memories that these are the Fangzhang and Yingzhou Islands where the scattered immortals live. These two fairy islands were transformed from the East Sea Dragon Veins. Although the spiritual energy on the islands cannot compare to Penglai Fairy Island, they are also rare blessed lands in the vast wilderness.
Kunpeng was overjoyed when he saw the Penglai Fairy Island, and finding it was equivalent to finding the Pre-Heaven Spirit Treasure. He dived down and arrived at the island in an instant. Standing on the island, Kunpeng was amazed by the dense spiritual energy that was almost visible to the naked eye. The island's treasures were everywhere. When he reached the center of Penglai Fairy Island, an even greater surprise completely stunned him.
In the center of this fairy island, there was a lake formed by the Three Light God Water. In the center of the lake, there was a patch of black lotus flowers in the dark water. Among these lotus flowers, one twelve-product black lotus flower stood alone like a king. Apart from that, four ten-product black lotuses guarded around it, and outside the four ten-product black lotuses, eight-product, six-product, four-product, and two-product black lotuses guarded around them in sequence.
Having this pool of Xuan Water Black Lotus is not even worth exchanging for the Pre-Heavenly Supreme Treasure. The Xuan Water Black Lotus was transformed from the Primordial Chaos Blue Lotus, and when Pangu opened the sky, the 36th rank of the Primordial Chaos Blue Lotus burst open and split into three lotus seeds: the Xuan Water Black Lotus, the Karma Fire Red Lotus, and the Merit Gold Lotus. The Merit Gold Lotus was in the hands of the Dao Ancestor Hongjun, who later gave it to the Buddhist Patriarch; the Karma Fire Red Lotus fell into the Blood Sea of the Underworld, belonging to the River of the Dead; among these three lotus seeds, the Xuan Water Black Lotus had the best fate, falling into a lake on the Penglai Immortal Island formed by the Three Lights Divine Water. The Three Lights Divine Water is the source of all waters in the world and has great vitality. The Xuan Water Black Lotus originally belonged to water, and under the nourishment of the Three Lights Divine Water, it took root and sprouted, eventually forming this pool of lotus flowers. Since the origin of the lotus seed was only one-third of the Primordial Chaos Blue Lotus, even with the nourishment of the Three Lights Divine Water, only the first Xuan Water Black Lotus could reach 12th rank, while the others were limited by their origin and could at most grow to 11th rank. The 12th rank Xuan Water Black Lotus is an extreme Pre-Heavenly Spiritual Treasure, differing from the Pre-Heavenly Supreme Treasure by only a hair's breadth; using it to sever the Three Corpses is the best choice, and after achieving enlightenment, the Three Corpses' magical powers transformed from the 12th rank Xuan Water Black Lotus are equivalent to those of a Sage.
Kunpeng understood that among the three methods of becoming a saint, beheading the Three Corpses was the most suitable for him. Meritorious deeds required boundless merit, which was not something he could obtain; proving one's way with force required immense magical power, forcibly breaking through the Heavenly Way, and Pangu the Great God had become a saint in this manner, but ultimately still fell, Kunpeng was not arrogant enough to compare himself to Pangu the Great God; beheading the Three Corpses involved using a Pre-Heavenly Spiritual Treasure or an Ultimate Treasure to anchor one's thoughts, although Pre-Heavenly Spiritual Treasures were not easy to obtain, Kunpeng had memories of later generations, and finding a Pre-Heavenly Spiritual Treasure was not too difficult for him.
After taking the twelve products of Xuan Shui Hei Lian, Kun Peng thought to himself: "On the island of Liandao Xian, there are three lights and Xuan Shui Hei Lian. Fangzhang and Yingzhou islands should also have the existence of pre-heavenly spiritual treasures."
Kun Peng then went to Fangzhang and Yingzhou islands, and things turned out to be consistent with his thoughts. He found twelve Dinghai Divine Pearls and a Heavenly Spiritual Root Huangzhong Li on Fangzhang Island, and the 'North Pole Xuan Yuan Controlling Water Flag' of the Five Elements Treasure Banner on Yingzhou Island.
Kunpeng obtained the twelve Dinghai Divine Pearls, and he couldn't help but wonder: "There should be twenty-four Dinghai Divine Pearls, why did I only find twelve on the island? Where did the other twelve go?"
Actually, Kunpeng's idea itself is wrong. The Dinghai Divine Pearl is not only twenty-four, but thirty-six, the number of Small Weekdays. The other twenty-four Dinghai Divine Pearls are in the hands of Daozu Hongjun. After a long and fruitless search, Kunpeng gave up his search. Being able to obtain twelve Dinghai Divine Pearls was already very lucky for him, and being too obsessed with his own cultivation is harmful and useless.
Kunpeng will find the congenital spiritual roots of Huang Zhongli and Fangzhang, Yingzhou two islands better spiritual roots transplanted to Penglai Xian Island, and decided to Penglai Xian Island as his cave.
The Eastern Sea is the sphere of influence of the Dragon Clan, and Kunpeng does not want to conflict with them. He wants to move Penglai Fairy Island to the North Ming Sea. So he slightly refined the three pre-heavenly spiritual treasures and used his great magical powers to collect Penglai Fairy Island into the Dinghai Divine Pearl. He also wanted to collect Fangzhang and Yingzhou Islands, but after repeated consideration, he gave up this idea. These three fairy islands were originally the residence of scattered immortals in later generations. If he collected them all, he would inevitably form a karma with all the scattered immortals in the world. Although the Daozu Hongjun had not yet merged with the Dao at that time, things could not be done too absolutely, lest they provoke heavenly punishment.
Chapter 2: Wilderness Treasure Hunt
Kunpeng saw that Huang Zhongli had formed 36 fruits, so he closed himself on the island of Fangzhang to cultivate and absorb. After absorbing 12 Huang Zhongli, his magical powers were already in the middle period of Quasi-Saint, but due to his own insufficient realm, his overall cultivation was still in the early stage of Quasi-Saint. At this time, Kunpeng was one of the top masters in Hongyuan, and only a few people could compare with him. However, compared to the previous Kunpeng, his current cultivation had fallen behind by a lot.
Kun Peng was a genuine quasi-sage mid-term expert before he got injured, while Zhang Fang had never heard of Daozu Hongjun's lectures and could only maintain his quasi-sage initial cultivation by relying on the memories left in Kun Peng's mind, which is already difficult to come by. Moreover, he has now obtained three extreme-quality innate spiritual treasures, and his overall strength is not inferior to before. However, what makes him feel a little regretful is that these three innate spiritual treasures are more defensive than offensive.
The Northern Mysterious Origin Water Control Flag is a powerful defensive treasure of the water attribute, capable of controlling all waters. The Kunpeng itself belongs to the water attribute, making this flag the most suitable weapon for it, although its attack power is relatively low, but it is the origin of water itself. The 12th-grade Mysterious Black Lotus and the Northern Mysterious Origin Water Control Flag are both treasures of the water attribute, the former being transformed from the Chaotic Green Lotus, making it the best choice for beheading the Three Corpses. The Twelve Sealing Divine Pearls, each pearl representing a world, when used to behead the Three Corpses, possess the power of twelve worlds, and in terms of magical power, even the Mysterious Black Lotus is inferior.
Kunpeng calculated the time and understood that the second heavenly tribulation was about to arrive, and the first witch war was also about to begin. He didn't want to expose his true strength in front of everyone too early, so he didn't want to participate in this struggle.
After some consideration, Kunpeng decided to continue searching for treasure before the Witch War. This time he set his sights on the vast expanse of Honghuang. With memories of the future, he knew that every mountain in Honghuang might have a Xiantian Lingbao, although the quality might be somewhat low, it was still a Xiantian Lingbao, which could be used to kill San Shi, even if he didn't need it himself, it could be given to his disciples in the future. After the second Heavenly Tribulation, Honghuang was destroyed, and the spiritual energy scattered, most of the Xiantian Linggen contained within the Honghuang continent would be destroyed, so collecting Xiantian Linggen was also one of his goals this time.
He entered the vast wilderness and began his treasure hunt. In Jiuhua Mountain, he found the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure 'Wheel of Reincarnation Mirror'. This was also an extraordinary pre-heavenly spiritual treasure, but at this time, the Six Paths of Reincarnation had not yet formed, so the treasure was still in a sealed state.
Taishan indeed lived up to its reputation as the leader of the Five Mountains. Kunpeng found the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure 'Drive Mountain Bell' on the mountain. Although this treasure was only a high-quality spiritual treasure and slightly inferior to the 'Wheel of Reincarnation Mirror' in quality, its function was not inferior to that of the 'Wheel of Reincarnation Mirror'. The 'Drive Mountain Bell' could drive away all mountains, and it was one of the original sources of earth, along with the Earth Book from the Heaven, Earth, and Man trilogy. The Earth Book could summon the power of the earth for defense, as long as one stood on the ground, its defensive power was not inferior to that of the post-heavenly treasure 'Heaven and Earth Xuan Huang Pagoda'.
The 'Drive Mountain Bell', on the other hand, was an attacking spiritual treasure that could drive any mountain range on the earth's surface for attack. It could be said that it was a rare attacking spiritual treasure.
"Du Shan Duo" is a top-grade pre-heavenly spiritual treasure, but among the many spiritual treasures in the Primordial Chaos, it's not particularly eye-catching. It's currently the most suitable spiritual treasure for Kun Peng, as it can hide one's cultivation and doesn't draw too much attention.
Kunpeng wandered in the vast expanse of Honghuang for a hundred years, almost traversing the entire land of Honghuang, but only obtained two pre-heavenly spiritual treasures, "Pre-Heavenly One Qi Band" and "Mysterious Water Shield", during the early period. However, neither of them was satisfactory, offering no help to him, and were only suitable for bestowing upon his disciples. The "Pre-Heavenly One Qi Band" formed a small space on its own, which could either restrain enemies or cultivate heavenly spiritual roots, with a mid-to-high quality, but Kunpeng had the superior Dinghai Divine Pearl that surpassed it by a hundred times. The "Mysterious Water Shield", on the other hand, was a water-attribute defensive spiritual treasure of relatively low quality, inferior to the "Pre-Heavenly One Qi Band", and utterly useless to Kunpeng.
In the hundred years of Honghuang, Kunpeng brought infinite variables to Honghuang, and most of the heavenly spiritual roots were swept away by him. Many people hated what he did with gritted teeth, but due to their lack of power compared to Kunpeng, they could only hold back their anger and eventually had to rely on the Heavenly Court or surrender to the Witch Clan. This result made Emperor Jun and the Twelve Ancestors of the Witch Clan extremely happy.
A hundred years passed in the blink of an eye, Kunpeng pondered repeatedly and finally decided to hide in the Heavenly Court first. When he arrived at the Heavenly Court, Emperor Jun and Taiyi were very enthusiastic towards him, which surprised Kunpeng a little. After careful inquiry, it turned out that his search for a hundred years on the vast land of Honghuang had led most of the demon cultivators to surrender to the Heavenly Court, greatly increasing the power of the demon tribe.
After meeting with Di Jun and Tai Yi, Kun Peng took over the Tai Yin star and became known as the Demon Master. The people of the Hong Huang continent were abuzz with discussion about Di Jun's decision, and even among the demon tribe, many were dissatisfied with it, mostly those whose spiritual roots had been snatched away by Kun Peng. As for the Wu tribe, they were shocked and felt a sudden increase in pressure due to the demon tribe's greatly increased power.
After Kunpeng entered the Taiyin star, he carefully observed the entire Taiyin star. The Sun Star gave birth to Emperor Jun and Taiyi, two people who were born with extreme treasures of the pre-heavenly spiritual treasure "Hetu" and "Luoshu". Dong Huang Taiyi had the pre-heavenly treasure "Hundun Zhong" protecting his body. Since Pangu opened up the sky, there has never been a living thing born from the Taiyin star, nor has any pre-heavenly spiritual treasure been born. The Taiyin star and the Sun Star were transformed into Pangu's two eyes, one as the sun and one as the moon. Kunpeng naturally wouldn't believe that this Taiyin star had nothing.
After a period of arduous effort, Kunpeng finally found an unborn Pre-Heavenly Treasure at the core of the Taiyin Star, under the laurel tree. All Pre-Heavenly Treasures are born from Chaos, and among them, the three treasures - Pangu Flag, Taiji Diagram, and Hunyuan Bell - were transformed from the Pangu Axe used by Pangu to open up the sky. The Qiankun Ding and the Usurper Gun were also born from Chaos. Although this Pre-Heavenly Treasure in the Taiyin Star has not yet taken shape, it is also a Pre-Heavenly Treasure nurtured after Pangu opened up the sky. This treasure has not been fully formed because of insufficient spiritual energy in the Post-Heavenly realm. To make it take shape, an enormous amount of spiritual energy is needed. The poverty of the Taiyin Star is precisely due to this unborn Pre-Heavenly Treasure.
Kunpeng saw this unformed pre-heavenly treasure, suppressed the excitement in his heart, and carefully put it into the Dinghai Divine Pearl to prevent accidents and being known by others.
After storing the congenital treasure in the Dinghai Divine Pearl, Kunpeng finally calmed down and carefully examined this unformed congenital treasure. The result of his examination shocked him again - the congenital treasure nurtured by Taiyin Star was not an ordinary treasure, but a genuine killing tool. To nurture it into shape, not only would he need a vast amount of spiritual energy, but also endless killing intent. If he could use this treasure to behead the Three Corpses, its power would rival that of the Force Verification Method. How could such a result not shock him?!
After obtaining this congenital treasure, Kunpeng's originally calm heart was once again stirred up. Before this, he did not want to participate in the witch and demon struggle, although he knew that he would not die in this struggle and would obtain Emperor Jun's congenital spiritual treasures 'River Map' and 'Luo Book', but he also knew that it was precisely because of his participation in the witch and demon struggle that he had provoked endless karma, which would cause him to be constantly suppressed by saints, and thus never have the opportunity to attain enlightenment.
But now the situation is different, he was originally a penniless and poor demon master, but now he has countless congenital spiritual roots and several high-quality congenital spiritual treasures. He always wanted to take the path of beheading three corpses to become a saint, but ordinary congenital spiritual treasures can also behead corpses, but due to the limitations of the quality of the congenital spiritual treasure, after beheading three corpses, his magical powers cannot be upgraded again, making it difficult for him to compete with other saints.
He had always planned to use the twelve Dinghai Divine Pearls to sever his own self, and the twelve grades of Xuan Water Black Lotus to sever the good corpses. However, the most powerful evil corpse among the three corpses never had an ideal innate spiritual treasure. The Northern Xuan Yuan Kontrol Water Flag was also a rare innate spiritual treasure, but its attack power was not high, and using it to sever the evil corpse would restrict the corpse's abilities. Now that he had obtained this killing artifact, the innate ultimate treasure, it was just right for him to use it to sacrifice his evil thoughts.
Kunpeng wants to use this killing tool to behead the evil corpse, so he must hurry up and transform this congenital treasure into shape as soon as possible. The endless killing intent is not something that can be obtained easily, so he must make early arrangements and participate in the upcoming witch-demon battle. And from it obtain that endless killing intent, transform this congenital treasure into shape, and try to avoid causing too much karma, affecting his own future path to sainthood.
