The first teaching ended. No one stayed in Zixiao Palace and all went back to Untainted Land. What Hongjun taught this time was not completely digested, so most of them needed to do Closed Door Meditation for enlightenment. The Three Pristine Ones, who were already Sages-to-be, made those Da Luo Golden Immortals of the Top Grade very envious.

One's status in Untainted Land depended on his real strength. Da Luo Golden Immortal was the highest rank before, but now Sages-to-be appeared. Nearly twenty made the breakthrough to the Sage-to-be Realm just during the teaching, not including those who were already in this realm.

Sage-to-be—only a word's difference from the Sage and contained the same word, Sage—was superior to Da Luo Golden Immortal. The appearance of Sages-to-be made the latter's status lower. More than 3,000 masters who came to listen to the teaching were all proud and arrogant; every one of them was eager to break through the Da Luo Golden Immortal Realm.

Minghe went through the chaos and then came back to Mount Buzhou. Seeing the majority leaving, he had a complex feeling in his heart. Such a contrast! There were just less than ten Sages-to-be during the first Cultivation Tribulation. What's more, he himself became a Sage-to-be at the end of that tribulation by chance.

Yet now, more than ten Sages-to-be appeared in such a short time after Hongjun's first teaching about surname homiletics. Next time, he would teach the methods of cultivation for Sages-to-be. It would be predicted that more Sages-to-be would appear after Hong Jun's next teaching on the Way of the Three Separations, which would probably lead to a chaotic Untainted Land.

The Way of the Three Separations needed a Primordial Spiritual Treasure for separation, thus all the Primordial Spiritual Treasures would be wanted. However, Primordial Spiritual Treasures were scarce, which would surely lead to killings.

The next Cultivation Tribulation was coming. Minghe wondered how many creatures would die in this disaster. No matter how, what he should do was to improve his own strength. He still had an advantage over others, except for Hongjun, since the highest cultivation was Sages-to-be.

The status of Sages-to-be would decrease sharply after Hongjun became the Great Way of Tian and the Six Sages appeared. Fortunately, he still had time. Minghe got new enlightenment of the four Divine Laws; it wouldn't take long before he stepped into the Late Stage of Sage-to-be.

At first, he planned to return to Blood Sea to do Closed Door Meditation, trying to make a breakthrough to the Late Stage of Sage-to-be. However, just as he was leaving Mount Buzhou, he sensed Spiritual Air from the mountainside, which should be a sign of the birth of Spiritual Treasure. Minghe wouldn't miss the chance to get one, so he hurried to go there.

In the mountainside, a Celestial Vine was frondent, with Spiritual Air gathering, for its fruits gourds would be mature. The Celestial Vine was fantastic with seven different color gourds, each of them having special magic power.

There were already six gathering around the Cucurbit Vine: the Three Pristine Ones, G.o.ddess Nvywa, the Great One, and Hongyun. Previously, they were on their way back, but were attracted by the Spiritual Air—that was the Spiritual Treasures choosing their masters on their own. No one could rob them.

Suddenly, the Spiritual Air floated away, which was a sign of the Celestial Vine's fruits becoming mature. Laozi said, "We are Original Pangu, so we should get the first three fruits." G.o.ddess Nvywa, the Great One, and Hongyun nodded and said, "Sure."

Laozi took the first gourd that was later refined to a Purple Golden Gourd, and also used it to contain elixir, which was also known as the treasure used by Silver and Gold Point recorded in 

Journey to the West

. Yuan s.h.i.+ and Tongtian came up to take the second and the third ones. Yet no one knew their usage.

After the Three Pristine Ones took the gourd, the other three each took a gourd. What the G.o.ddess Nvywa took was a yellow gourd, which was refined to the Demon Summoning Banner to control Demon Tribe. By only putting a slice of a soul in it, the soul's owner would be manipulated by the Banner's master.

What the Great One took was a golden gourd, which was the former name of the well-known murdering Immortal-killing Sword, Lu Ya's Magic Weapon, that appeared in

Creation of the G.o.ds

 five times. It was written to have killed Bai Li, Yu Yuan, Yuan Hong, Qiu Yin, and Da Ji, famous for its fierceness.

The last one to pick a gourd was Hongyun, and he took a blood red one, the former name of the Magic Weapon, Nine Nine Spirit-killing Gourd, for which Hongyun was famous. It had red magic sand that could harm one's purusa. According to the myths, after Hongyun's death, it never appeared again.

The six stared at the last one, which was quite different from the former six. Its size was just half as large as the six and was not mature. Laozi said, "It is not mature, so it must be waiting for its time. Let's leave it to the predestined man." Then, he left with Yuans.h.i.+ and Tongtian. G.o.ddess Nvywa, the Great One, and Hongyun said farewell to each other and left one by one.

Before long, Minghe arrived and became depressed looking at the empty Celestial Vine. Apparently, from the traces of the gourds, those that were picked were all mature. Yet, the last black one surely had maldevelopment.

Just then, the Cucurbit Vine began to wither. Minghe was shocked and checked it carefully, finding the black gourd eating the Celestial Vine's vital essence. Minghe immediately picked up the black gourd, then the Celestial Vine stopped withering.

Minghe waved his sleeves and took the Celestial Vine into his pocket together with its roots, planning to cultivate it in the Map of Heaven and Earth and wait for other fruits. To his surprise, the Celestial Vine had taken a patch of Primordial Earth with it.

Primordial Earth was a good staff, it is the ancestor of all kinds of earth. It was extremely effective at cultivating spiritual roots. It was said that G.o.ddess Nvywa used Primordial Earth to create human beings. He could not tell whether it was true of false. Minghe put the Celestial Vine and Primordial Earth into the Map of Heaven and Earth, then he watered it with Three Light Holy Water in order to cure its damage caused by the black gourd.

After dealing with the Celestial Vine, Minghe had time to look carefully at the black gourd. Though it was not mature, it could count as a Low Grade Primordial Spiritual Treasure. It would be a Mid Grade Primordial Spiritual Treasure at least, if it had been mature.

However, the black gourd was almost wasted. If the Cucurbit Vine had enough essence to nourish it, it would have probably become a Mid Grade Primordial Spiritual Treasure, or better. It was a pity that the black gourd was basically the shape and could not grow anymore.

Minghe felt so much regret now that if he had understood earlier, he would surely have watered it with the Three Light Holy Water until it became mature. What a pity! Though Minghe had lots of treasures, the more the better. And it was also good to keep it for his apprentices.

Minghe sighed to himself. "I have the fortune, lost in my life." Then, he took cloud to leave. Before long, two flashes came in front of him. He looked carefully, finding two Musa Fans. "Were they choosing me as their master?" Minghe thought, "He got the black gourd just now and then the Musa Fans. Good fortune!"

Playing with the Musa Fans, Minghe knew their power. The two were both Mid Grade Primordial Spiritual Treasures, one for wind, which could blow someone away to 84,000 lis; another for rain, which could resist the most Yang fire.

Minghe frowned and thought, "Could they be the Musa Fans of Princess Iron Fan in 

Journey to the West

? How could they find him? It's unreasonable… " After thinking for a while, Minghe got a sudden idea.

"Princess Iron Fan in 

Journey to the West

, also called Luo Sha Nvy, is a rare beauty. Does she have any relations.h.i.+p with the later Shura Tribe? Otherwise, the Musa Fans won't find him." Never mind. Since he could not figure it out, he would let it go. "What precious Spiritual Treasures! Why not keep them?"

Putting away the Musa Fans, Minghe went straight to the Blood Sea without stopping. The Three Pristine Ones and some others had made a breakthrough to the Sage-to-be Realm, which put pressure on him. It would be a shame if he lagged behind those who were not Sages. He must work hard.

As soon as he returned to Shengling Island in the Blood Sea, he started his Closed Door Meditation directly, leaving Liuer and Chixuan alone. The two were confused about Minghe's behavior. However, since Minghe had already shut the door, they decided to let go their curiosity about the Zixiao Palace and waited for Minghe to come out.