1: Honghuang Huanglong

Mount Erxian, Magu Cave.

A Daoist in a yellow robe sat cross-legged on a cushion. On his head were two slightly immature but imposing Dragon horns.

At this moment, his brows were slightly furrowed, as if he had encountered a problem in his cultivation.

Time flew by, and a hundred years passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, the yellow-robed Daoist suddenly opened his eyes, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed as a look of joy appeared on his face.

"Hoo—!"

"In the end, I was the more skilled one!"

Recalling his experiences over the years, Huang Long couldn't help but let out a long breath.

During a seclusion a hundred years ago, an Extraterrestrial Demon, a Transverser, infiltrated his spiritual platform, attempting to seize control of his body.

This Transverser had no cultivation, but relying on two strange Magic Treasures, a System and a Protagonist Halo, he fought him to a standstill.

Fortunately, Huang Long had the cultivation of a Golden Immortal, and after a hundred years of arduous battle, he finally achieved victory, killing the Transverser within his spiritual platform.

As the saying goes, misfortune is what good fortune leans upon; good fortune is what misfortune lurks beneath.

Although in this smokeless battle, a moment of carelessness would have led to Possession by the Transverser.

However, after defeating that Transverser, the gains were also significant.

After the Transverser's death, Huang Long acquired his memories, seeing many strange and bizarre things.

What concerned Huang Long the most was that he saw another version of himself in the Transverser's memories.

That Daoist was also named Huang Long, also lived on Mount Erxian, Magu Cave, and was one of the Twelve Golden Immortals under Saint Yuanshi.

At the same time, he also had a title, known as the Disgrace of the Twelve Golden Immortals.

The reason was none other than this Huang Long was too weak.

He had no Magic Treasures, no disciples, no abilities, and no victorious battle records, earning him the nickname 'Four-No Daoist'.

During the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation, Huang Long was the most proactive one to appear, and also the one who suffered the most severe beatings.

He was either hung up and beaten by Zhao Gongming, or chased and beaten by Lu Yue, and finally, in the Nine Bends Yellow River Formation, his Three Flowers on his head were cut off, and his Five Qi in the Chest were eliminated.

Yet, even so, he was never favored by Daoist Yuanshi from beginning to end due to his Origin.

Coupled with his years of cultivation, he had little interaction with the Dragon Clan, leading to a poor relationship with them.

No matter how you looked at it, he was a complete jinx.

"Nonsense! This poor Daoist is at least from the True Dragon Clan. Although I am currently entangled with Karma, with my Origin, how could I become a Four-No Daoist?"

Huang Long snorted coldly, not believing the events in the Transverser's memories, at least not believing that the Huang Long in the other party's memories was himself.

After all, this was an Extraterrestrial Demon; how could its memories be fully trusted?

The most important thing was that although Huang Long had heard of the Three Pure Ones, Yuanshi at this time had not yet become a Saint.

He had also heard of Daoist Hongjun; although his strength was great, he was also not a Saint.

Therefore, in Huang Long's view, this was merely a trick by that Transverser, before his death, to harm him.

Unless the events that unfolded in the Great Desolation subsequently matched the memories of that Transverser.

Otherwise, he would absolutely not believe it.

Compared to the Transverser's memories, whose veracity was unknown, Huang Long was more concerned about the golden light sphere within his spiritual platform.

That Transverser carried two special Magic Treasures: one was the Protagonist Halo.

After the Transverser's death, it shattered into specks of golden light and, along with the Transverser's memories, merged into Huang Long's Primordial Spirit.

The other Magic Treasure was called the System, which was that golden light sphere.

In this century-long battle, the Protagonist Halo played a powerful role.

While defending the Transverser from harm, it could also actively launch attacks, making it a Magic Treasure with both offense and defense.

However, the System, this Magic Treasure, acted like a mere decoration from beginning to end, without exerting any effect.

"Could it be that..."

"This is not a Magic Treasure skilled in offense and defense?"

Huang Long stroked his chin, and after a moment of thought, he finally couldn't suppress his curiosity. He split off a wisp of thought and probed into the golden light sphere.

Beep, beep, beep—!

The next moment.

A piercing alarm echoed in Huang Long's mind.

"Alarm, alarm! Host identity recognition error. All Heavens and Myriad Realms Refinement System self-destructing..."

"Hmph—! Do you really think I'm that Four-No Daoist? In my hands, how could I let you self-destruct?"

Huang Long snorted coldly, then mobilized his Golden Immortal Magic Power to suppress the golden light within his spiritual platform.

Time flew by, and in a blink of an eye, another thousand years had passed.

On this day.

Huang Long suddenly opened his eyes. A golden light sphere the size of a soybean flew out from his glabella and landed in a yellow gourd nearby, which was used to store Medicinal Pills.

The next moment.

This yellow gourd emitted a dazzling golden light.

This continued for nearly a hundred years before the golden light gradually dimmed, revealing a simple and unadorned gourd that looked unremarkable.

"What a pity, only this part of the function remained."

Looking at the gourd in his hand, Huang Long shook his head and sighed helplessly.

That Magic Treasure, named [All Heavens and Myriad Realms Refinement System], was of a higher grade than he had imagined.

Even in an ownerless state, after a thousand years of effort, Huang Long only managed to retain a portion of its functions and integrate it with this gourd.

However, even though this Magic Treasure only retained a portion of its functions, after fusing with the gourd, it elevated this gourd to a Medium Grade Innate Spirit Treasure with twenty-four divine restrictions.

Moreover, it was a growth-type Innate Spirit Treasure, which Huang Long named the devouring yuan gourd.

The devouring yuan gourd had only one function, but it was extremely powerful.

That was to refine Heaven And Earth Treasure absorbed into the gourd into pure source fluid.

During the refining process, the devouring yuan gourd could also absorb part of the Origin of these objects, slowly increasing its own divine restrictions and upgrading its own grade.

Theoretically, as long as the devouring yuan gourd continuously refines various objects, one day it could become an Innate Supreme Treasure!

Depending on the items refined, the source fluid produced would have different effects.

Some source fluid, when used as an auxiliary Material in Alchemy, could increase the success rate of Alchemy and the quantity of Medicinal Pills produced.

Some source fluid, when poured on Spiritual Roots, could increase the growth rate of the Spiritual Roots and shorten the time required for fruits to mature.

Some source fluid could enhance one's Origin... There were many types of source fluid, some with single effects, some with multiple effects. Huang Long was not yet entirely clear about the specific situations.

"With this Magic Treasure, perhaps one day, my Origin will be as profound as Ancestral Dragon's."

After understanding the efficacy of the devouring yuan gourd, a look of joy appeared on Huang Long's face. The more profound one's Origin, the higher one's achievements would be.

If his own Origin could be as profound as Ancestral Dragon's, perhaps one day he could achieve the Saint fruit position.

"Alas! It's just that the Karma on my body is a bit troublesome..."

In the Great Desolation, once burdened with Karma, one would be disliked by Heaven and Earth, leading to various misfortunes and making the difficulty of improving cultivation even greater.

The most important thing was that those burdened with Karma often had their Primordial Spirit easily obscured, and during a Tribulation, they could inadvertently make unwise decisions, leading to death and the dissipation of their Dao.

But very quickly, Huang Long's brows relaxed. With the devouring yuan gourd in hand, it would be much easier to improve his cultivation and eliminate Karma in the future.

Huang Long stopped overthinking. He first spent three thousand years refining the twenty-four divine restrictions on the devouring yuan gourd, completely mastering this rare Innate Spirit Treasure.

Subsequently, he threw all the useless items on his body into the devouring yuan gourd and began refining source fluid.

The Great Desolation knew no time, and in a blink of an eye, another hundred years passed.

On this day.

Between Heaven and Earth, purple Qi came from the east, and golden lotuses sprang from the ground.

The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi instantly increased by three points, and many Spiritual Roots broke through the soil.

The next moment.

A voice resounded throughout Heaven and Earth, spreading across the entire Great Desolation and reaching the ears of all living beings.

"I am Hongjun, and today I have achieved the Saint fruit position."

"Three thousand years from now, I will preach the Great Dao in Zixiao Palace Beyond the Heavens. All those with affinity may come and listen."