Primordial Era: I am a treasure trove, full of magical treasures.

Xuanbao returned to the Thirty-Three Heavens with the Qiankun Cauldron, but did not even enter the Lingxiao Palace. Instead, he directly entered the depths of the Heavenly Court, into his own Dao Palace.

The Dao Palace is a self-contained universe, corresponding to the celestial sphere above and connected to the primordial earth veins below. At its center is a Dao Platform shrouded in chaotic energy. Xuanbao sat cross-legged and waved his hand, causing layers of restrictions in the surrounding space to light up, completely isolating this place from the outside world. Even a saint would find it difficult to perceive the true nature of the place unless they forcefully probed it.

"Hoo..." He let out a long breath, suppressing the sense of urgency in his heart caused by Hongjun's words and Nuwa's reminder, and looked intently at the Qiankun Cauldron floating in front of him.

The cauldron is simple and ancient, with three legs and two handles. It seems to be only a foot or so tall, yet it seems to bear the weight of heaven and earth. The Daoist patterns of the characters "Qian" and "Kun" on the cauldron wall slowly rotate, evolving into the ultimate truth of endless creation and destruction, and the reversal of Yin and Yang. Just by looking at it, one feels that one's own understanding of the Dao is subtly loosening and growing.

"As expected of a supreme innate treasure, ranking alongside the Chaos Bell," Xuanbao praised, no longer hesitating. His first task was to verify the power of the Qiankun Cauldron's "returning from acquired to innate" ability, as well as its consumption and efficiency.

With a thought, a mid-grade acquired spiritual treasure, the "Purple Flame Sword," appeared in his hand. This sword was casually crafted by him in his early years; the materials and quality were mediocre, but it was more than enough to test his skills.

"go."

The Purple Flame Sword transformed into a streak of light and plunged into the Qiankun Cauldron. A swirling wave of chaotic energy from the cauldron's mouth engulfed it.

Xuanbao's expression was solemn. His hands formed a hand seal, and his vast magical power, mixed with his understanding of the Great Dao, flowed continuously into the Qiankun Cauldron. At the same time, his divine sense was highly concentrated, like the most intricate net, penetrating into the space inside the cauldron to observe every subtle change.

"Buzz—!"

The Qiankun Cauldron emitted a deep rumble, and its body suddenly blazed with a brilliant yellow light. The "Qian" and "Kun" Dao patterns on its walls seemed to come alive, detaching from the cauldron walls and weaving into an incomparably profound net within, completely enveloping the Purple Flame Sword. Inside the cauldron, a small world of its own was formed. At this moment, chaotic energy surged, and earth, fire, water, and wind faintly appeared, constantly breaking down and reforming, as if reenacting a corner of the creation of heaven and earth.

Under this immense power, the Purple Flame Sword began to undergo visible changes. First, impurities on the sword were gradually stripped away and refined, turning into a grayish-black mist that was absorbed by the Qiankun Cauldron itself. Next, the "essence" of the acquired materials that constituted the sword—Star Iron and Earth Fire Crystal—began to be activated.

Xuanbao's divine sense observed that, under the influence of the Qiankun Cauldron and the erosion of chaotic energy, the most minute runic structures and energy trajectories within those acquired materials seemed to be reversing time, or being forcibly "purified." The traces of acquired spiritual treasures were being erased, while innate restrictions were gradually being generated...

This process was slow and continuous, consuming an astonishing amount of magical power. Xuanbao felt his own vast, star-sea-like quasi-saintly magical power pouring out like a flood, maintaining the operation of the Qiankun Cauldron. More importantly, he sensed that the unique "original spiritual essence" contained within the Qiankun Cauldron, capable of reversing the innate and acquired, was also being gradually depleted as it was refined. This "spiritual essence" was not ordinary spiritual energy, but a supreme power involving the origin of creation, which recovered extremely slowly.

One day, two days... ten days... thirty days.

Xuanbao focused intently on activating the Qiankun Cauldron. The Purple Flame Sword had undergone a dramatic transformation. Its blade was no longer purplish-red, but had shed its flamboyant appearance, revealing a restrained, silvery-gray color resembling the first condensation of stars. Occasionally, a trace of dark red earth fire energy flowed across it, making its spirituality more than ten times stronger than before! However, it seemed to be separated from true "innate" realm by an indescribable membrane.

Day 49.

The Qiankun Cauldron trembled violently, and the chaotic energy inside surged violently. The spiritual energy that enveloped the Purple Flame Sword became even more profound, and the original acquired restriction had transformed into an innate restriction.

"Zheng—!"

A clear and melodious sword cry, seemingly from before the creation of the world, resounded from within the cauldron! This sword cry carried a joy of new life, a spirit that had broken free from the shackles of the acquired world!

Xuanbao's eyes lit up, and he locked onto the target with his divine sense.

Within the cauldron, a simple, ancient longsword, three feet and three inches long, its surface shimmering with silver-gray starlight and dark red fire patterns, floated. The sword bore no trace of the aura of an acquired spiritual treasure; it was entirely natural, as if a sharp edge born from chaos. Its sword intent was restrained, yet it subtly resonated with the celestial bodies and the earth's fiery veins. Most importantly, the innate, undying spiritual light deep within the sword had taken shape! While not particularly strong, it was undeniably real, signifying that it had crossed that insurmountable chasm, transforming from an acquired creation into an innate treasure!

"It's done!" Xuanbao was slightly pleased, but not impatient. He continued to maintain the output of magic power, and after another thirty-two days, until that innate undying spiritual light was completely stabilized and perfectly integrated with the sword body, the operation of the Qiankun Cauldron slowly calmed down.

It lasted a total of eighty-one days.

Xuanbao waved his hand, and the newly born sword flew out of the cauldron, landing in his palm. It was cool to the touch, and felt connected to his mind, as if it were an extension of his body. Its quality had clearly leaped from a mid-grade acquired spiritual treasure to a mid-grade innate spiritual treasure! However, since its original acquired restrictions were only 13 layers, even after being transformed into an innate treasure with 13 layers of innate restrictions, it was still only a mid-grade innate spiritual treasure, and its quality could only be described as mediocre.

Ugh! If anyone knew what Xuanbao was thinking, they'd probably spit a mouthful of salt water at him. A mid-grade innate spiritual treasure? You're just mediocre. Do you want to hear what you're saying?

"A mid-grade innate spiritual treasure... eighty-one days." Xuanbao stroked the sword, the joy in his eyes fading and replaced by a trace of solemnity.

He carefully sensed his own depletion and the state of the Qiankun Cauldron. In just eighty-one days, he had consumed nearly ten percent of his Quasi-Saint's magical power! And this was only for refining a mid-grade innate spiritual treasure. If he wanted to refine mid-grade, high-grade, or even top-grade treasures, the consumption would likely increase exponentially. Even more troublesome was the consumption of the Qiankun Cauldron's own "original spiritual essence."

In his perception, the Qiankun Cauldron, though still mysterious, had noticeably dimmed its radiance, and its unique Daoist aura of "Reversing the Innate" had thinned slightly. It was spontaneously drawing some deep energy from the void to recover, but the speed was... frustratingly slow. Based on his own Daoist calculations, Xuanbao estimated that to recover to a state sufficient for another "Returning to the Innate" refinement, it would take at least—a hundred years!

"It takes a hundred years to 'produce' a single low-grade innate spiritual treasure..." Xuan Bao frowned. This efficiency was far below his previous optimistic expectations.

He originally thought that if he could mass-produce innate spiritual treasures, even if they were only of low grade, he could snowball his cultivation level in a short time by virtue of his quantity advantage.

It seems I was overestimating myself; Xuanbao was somewhat discouraged.

"Is there really nothing we can do but wait?" Xuanbao's gaze fell on the Qiankun Cauldron, and the slightly dimmed spiritual light stirred something within him.

merit.

The two words flashed through his mind like lightning.

In the primordial world, merit could be considered a true "cure-all," capable of eliminating karma, enhancing cultivation, refining spiritual treasures, and even delaying calamities... Merit was practically omnipotent. The "primordial spiritual essence" consumed by the Qiankun Cauldron was essentially a very high-level power, perhaps sharing some similarities with the "heavenly approval and the favor of the Great Dao" power contained within merit?

"Give it a try!"

Without hesitation, Xuanbao focused his mind on the ten radiant, sun-like, and eternally warm golden wheels of merit behind his head. One of the wheels slightly rotated, separating a wisp of pure, condensed, and extremely refined dark golden merit energy, which, like a living serpent, meandered towards the Qiankun Cauldron.

This wisp of merit, seemingly faint, is as heavy as a mountain, containing immeasurable good deeds and the approval of the Heavenly Dao for educating humanity, re-establishing the Heavenly Court, and restoring order to the primordial world. The moment it appeared, the Daoist aura within the entire Dao Palace trembled, and even the chaotic energy seemed to soften.

The merits have just touched the body of the Heaven and Earth Cauldron.

"Buzz—!"

Like rain after a long drought, or a pearl covered in dust being polished to shine! The Qiankun Cauldron let out a joyful and clear sound, and the originally dim Xuanhuang light on the cauldron body suddenly became bright. The "Qian" and "Kun" Dao patterns on the wall flashed wildly, greedily absorbing that wisp of merit energy!

Xuanbao's divine sense locked on. He saw that after the wisp of merit energy merged into the cauldron, it did not directly transform into magic power or spiritual energy. Instead, it seeped into the core essence of the Qiankun Cauldron in an indescribable way, slowly fusing and replenishing the consumed "original spiritual essence" that involved the reversal of creation. It was like the most skilled craftsman using rare materials of the same origin to perfectly repair the subtle cracks and damage inside a divine artifact.

The "original spiritual energy," which originally required a century to naturally recover and replenish itself, began to rise at a visible speed under the nourishment of this merit! Although it is still far from being fully restored, the speed of recovery is more than a hundred or a thousand times faster than natural absorption!

"It works! It really works!" Xuanbao's eyes shone with astonishing brilliance, and he was overjoyed. Merit points truly are the number one "hard currency" in the primordial world!

But the joy lasted only a moment before being replaced by a deeper sense of solemnity.

Xuanbao carefully sensed the ratio of merit consumed to spiritual energy recovery. That wisp of merit just now was indeed insignificant to Xuanbao, but the consumption was something he could not possibly accept.

The importance of merit goes without saying. All the merit I have now is the result of my own hard work and planning. Although I estimate that I can easily refine thousands of innate spiritual treasures with my merit, merit is still one of my trump cards.

Cough! Xuanbao won't say much, but mainly it's because he looks cool with those 10 rounds of the Golden Wheel of Merit, a perfect tool for showing off.

Xuanbao's mind raced, his gaze falling on the Qiankun Cauldron, but then he remembered something else—the precious energy he had condensed.

This precious energy is like a top-grade tonic for a spiritual treasure... perhaps it has miraculous effects?

Xuanbao was somewhat unsure of himself, but now that things had come to this, he might as well give it a try.

Once this thought arose, Xuanbao no longer hesitated. With a slight movement of his mind, a wisp of precious energy appeared before him, as thin as a hair, yet incredibly solid, containing Daoist rhyme.

"go."

This wisp of precious energy, drifting and swirling like smoke and mist, fell towards the Qiankun Cauldron.

The moment the precious energy touched the Xuanhuang Dao patterns on the cauldron—

"Buzz!!!"

The reaction of the Qiankun Cauldron was more than ten times more intense than when it absorbed merit! The cauldron trembled violently, emitting a high-pitched, clear, and resonant long cry filled with endless joy and resonance! Just like the Viagra in Brother Yang Wei's car, the Dao patterns of the two characters "Qian" and "Kun" on the cauldron's wall suddenly detached, transforming into two radiant rune phantoms that spun wildly around the wisp of precious energy, as if long-lost wanderers had found their home, circling the Xuanbao, their intent clearly wanting more, much more precious energy!

Xuanbao's pupils shrank sharply, and his divine sense locked on the target.

The wisp of precious energy was not "absorbed" or "transformed" like merit. Instead, it was like a drop of water falling into a dry sponge, or a king returning to his throne. It "integrated" into the core essence of the Qiankun Cauldron, and in a way that even Xuanbao could not fully comprehend, it directly, efficiently, and almost perfectly "replenished" the lost "original spiritual essence"!

The effects are immediate. And the amount of precious energy consumed is negligible!

Xuanbao's heart skipped a beat. He suppressed his excitement and immediately began a more precise test.

One strand, two strands, three strands...

As the precious energy continued to flow in, the Qiankun Cauldron rapidly recovered. When the consumption reached about three hundred strands, Xuanbao clearly sensed that the "original spiritual essence" that the Qiankun Cauldron had lost in refining the Purple Flame Sword had been completely restored and even slightly overflowing! Its recovery speed and efficiency far surpassed that of the previous strand of merit, compressing the hundred years of natural recovery time into a negligible moment!

"Three hundred strands... equivalent to a hundred years of effort?!" Xuan Bao muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with disbelief. He could condense nearly a hundred strands of precious energy a year; three hundred strands was only a little over three years' worth of "production"! What did this mean? It meant that as long as his supply of precious energy kept up, theoretically, he could use the Qiankun Cauldron's "returning from the acquired to the innate" power almost without interruption!

"Hahaha! Hahaha!" Even with his calm and composed nature, Xuanbao couldn't help but burst into laughter, which echoed throughout the Dao Palace.

"What a loss! What a huge loss!" Xuanbao laughed, then grimaced, his heart aching as he gasped for breath. "If I had known earlier that the treasure's energy would have such a miraculous effect on the Qiankun Cauldron, if I had obtained this cauldron from Hongjun thousands or tens of thousands of years earlier... even if I had refined one every hundred years, no, even if I had refined one every thousand years, into a low-grade innate spiritual treasure, with my own talent for refining spiritual treasures to accelerate my cultivation, over these endless years, it would have snowballed..."

He simply couldn't bear to think about it any further.

What would that be like? It would probably have created an unprecedented and unparalleled genius, where even the peak of Quasi-Saint and the Primordial Dao Fruit might not be the end! Why is it like this now, where despite possessing heaven-defying talent and supreme treasures, one feels the pressure of time because the "start-up capital" and "key tools" were obtained too late, and is being chased by the shadow of "time is running out"?

"Regret, hatred!" Xuanbao rubbed his temples, his tone complicated. He envied the "hypothetical" version of himself who obtained the Qiankun Cauldron early and raced ahead with unstoppable momentum; he was jealous of why this treasure hadn't fallen into his hands sooner; and he hated the long years that should have been wasted, years that should have allowed him to rise rapidly.

"Enough, what's done is done." Xuanbao quickly adjusted his mindset, his eyes rekindling with a burning fighting spirit—a fervent anticipation of the infinite possibilities of the future. "It's not too late to get it now! Besides, with this cauldron, I can completely scrap my previous plans and start all over again!"

His gaze swept intently over the mountain of acquired spiritual materials and rare ores piled up in the Dao Palace—materials acquired over the years through the Heavenly Court's conquests and the collection of tributes from all races. These materials, previously used to reward meritorious officials, forge standardized celestial weapons and magical artifacts, or enrich the Heavenly Court's treasury, were now, in Xuanbao's eyes, transformed into glittering "experience pills" that could be rapidly converted into cultivation power!

"With my current rate of condensing nearly a hundred strands of precious energy per year, supporting the high-frequency operation of the Qiankun Cauldron is entirely feasible! There's even a surplus!" Xuanbao quickly calculated in his mind, becoming more and more excited with each calculation. "For now, let's not pursue high quality, but at the fastest speed, batch-refine mid- and low-grade acquired spiritual materials and treasures into low- and mid-grade innate spiritual treasures! Even if the cultivation increase brought by each item is limited, the sheer quantity is enough to trigger a terrifying qualitative change!"

"Moreover," he thought again, a more ingenious idea forming in his mind, "the innate spiritual treasures I refine can accelerate my cultivation. And with accelerated cultivation, my own Great Dao will operate more actively; will my 'treasure gathering' ability also increase accordingly? Will the speed at which I condense treasure energy also increase?"

This is a perfect, self-accelerating snowball loop!

Materials (Acquired Spiritual Treasure) + Tools (Qiankun Cauldron + Treasure Qi) → Product (Innate Spiritual Treasure) → Accelerates cultivation → Increases treasure qi production → Obtains more materials/improves snowballing efficiency...

"We've struck it rich! This time it's really going to be a windfall!" Xuanbao suddenly stood up and paced back and forth in the Dao Palace, his aura rippled slightly with excitement. The previous sense of urgency and solemnity was largely dispelled by this sudden, almost violent prospect of "productivity."

"Time waits for no one, let's begin!" Without further hesitation, he waved his hand, and a massive amount of acquired spiritual materials surged into the Qiankun Cauldron like a torrent. At the same time, guided by his thoughts, strands of accumulated precious energy continuously poured into the cauldron, maintaining the Qiankun Cauldron's "original spiritual essence always at its peak and abundant state."

"This time, we will not give up until we have forged a path to the heavens!"