In the Penglai Sea, a tug-of-war was attracting the attention of Ten Thousand Immortals.
The segment of the Spirit Treasure Miao Tree possessed extraordinary might, capable of moving mountains and filling seas with ease, yet it was rendered helpless with a swallowing fairy thief residing within its Immortal Veins. Such a thief had a No-leak Body that acted like a bottomless pit, devouring Immortal Spiritual Qi. Furthermore, its roots were bound by golden ropes, while a horde of Golden Armored Divine Generals exerted their strength below, grunting vigorously.
As one rose and the other fell, these roots could not be detached.
Until, at a certain moment, a thunderbolt resounded from above, and a dazzling golden light, akin to the blazing Red Sun, flashed by and vanished in an instant.
On that chilling Immortal Island, a rough voice reverberated, "Success, success, thanks to the Great Venerable for your help. One day, this poor Daoist will seek you out for a drink."
As Duobao Daoist finished speaking, a streak of golden light fell upon the roots.
And with that, the golden ropes that had bound the Miao Tree fell away. The Spirit Treasure Miao Tree, now free and paying no heed to Duobao Daoist's superficial words, retracted its greatly withered roots at a rapid pace. Before it retreated beyond the world outside the Star Membrane, it didn't forget to give a shake, casting down three devilish corpses that had been attached to it.
That golden light that fell onto the island was, of course, Tao Qian.
At this moment, he had fully undergone "Light Transformation." Every inch of his being was suffused with Spirit Treasure Immortal Spirit Qi.
Even Tao Qian himself could not estimate how much he had absorbed.
He only had one feeling at that moment: fullness.
However, this feeling soon began to fade, and the golden light dimmed, revealing Tao Qian's Human Clan body. As he settled onto a jagged cliff on the Immortal Island, there was no trace of anomaly in his appearance—he seemed to be but a fresh-faced little Daoist.
Seeing this, Tao Qian was not worried but instead joyful. A radiant smile naturally spread across his face as he muttered to himself, "Taishang No Leaking Body seals within and without, confining Immortal Spirit into the fleshly furnace, return to the truth, Dao Foundation Perfection."
Having muttered this, Tao Qian suddenly noticed the three Demon Immortals' corpses that had fallen from the sky, which reminded him of the tribulations atop the Spirit Treasure Miao Tree.
"Never thought that establishing a Dao Foundation could cause so much trouble; it's rather unsatisfactory."
"However, they say that no good deed goes unpunished. Not only did I succeed in establishing the Foundation, but I also reaped other benefits."
The reason Tao Qian uttered these words was that he now had two new Divine Powers in his mind.
Cultivating the Sublime Dharma of the Spirit Treasure, there was a chance to acquire Divine Power Skills with each Breakthrough.
Tao Qian had known this rule for a long time.
His Auspicious Cloud Skill, Sweet Rain Skill, and so on had all come this way.
But he had not expected to acquire two skills at once this time.
One was known as [Spirit Treasure Returning Immortal Technique]. Each Spirit Treasure Disciple would obtain this technique upon Foundation Establishment completion. Described as a Magic Skill, it is more akin to a Divine Power imprint; there's no need for cultivation, as it is directly branded deep within the Spirit Treasure Disciple's psyche, and they can operate this technique upon Foundation Establishment completion.
This technique's function is both simple and quite miraculous.
The Foundation Establishment method of Spirit Treasure Sublime Dharma is extremely unique—first cultivate the No-leak Body, then swallow Immortal Spiritual Qi, use oneself as the furnace, refine both internally and externally, and ultimately shed the mortal body to achieve the Spirit Treasure Sublime Body, making an immediate leap into the Transcend Mortality Realm.
But there is a bottleneck; once the No-leak Body is sealed, Spirit Treasure Disciples can no longer inhale or exhale Source Qi, nor can they use the Immortal Spiritual Qi within their bodies. This naturally leads to a dramatic decline in a Spirit Treasure Disciple's combat effectiveness, making them no different from ordinary mortals.
Hence the importance of this technique. With this Divine Power imprint, Spirit Treasure Disciples can conjure an equivalent amount of Immortal Spiritual Qi within their bodies out of thin air, with no difference from usual times. They can refine and concoct elixirs as before, ensuring that the Spirit Treasure Disciples' combat capability remains intact and not hindering normal cultivation. They only need to restore the consumed Immortal Spiritual Qi when they are in Transcend Mortality Realm, and the imprint then dissipates on its own.
The so-called "Returning Immortal" is derived from the adage "borrow and return."
As for the second Divine Power Tao Qian had acquired, it was somewhat special, named [Spirit Treasure Immortal Binding Technique]. As the name implies, it is a restraining Magic Skill, where at a mere thought, he could summon the Miraculous Tree roots to bind his opponents, leaving them at Tao Qian's mercy.
Although the power of this technique is limited by the user's level of cultivation, Tao Qian was extremely satisfied with it. He silently estimated that with the amount of Immortal Spiritual Qi he could borrow, he might even be able to bind a Cultivator from the Transcend Mortality Realm, or at the very least trap them for a breath or half a moment.
In a fight, this brief moment could be enough to determine life or death.
"Ordinary Spirit Treasure Disciples upon Foundation Establishment will probably only obtain the Returning Immortal Technique."
"I got an extra one, could it be a reward from the Spirit Treasure Miao Tree Venerable for extinguishing those three Demon Immortals?"
"This Great Venerable behaves oddly, as if possessing spiritual wisdom, yet apparently lacking in intelligence, completely manipulated by my Master."
As Tao Qian was murmuring these thoughts, the scene suddenly changed before his eyes. Inexplicably, he whisked past numerous secluded, cold Immortal Lands, over jagged Immortal Mountains, and when he came to a standstill again, he was within a spacious palace hall. Ahead was an Observatory Hall with a Jade Table, a Star Plate, a bronze lamp among other items.
The light from All Heavens' stars shone but failed to illuminate the figure of anyone possessing an Immortal's refined grace.
Instead, it illuminated a middle-aged, disheveled Daoist, wearing a filthy green Daoist robe, with a beard of twisted tendrils, a head of explosive curls, and two big hairy legs still swinging about.
The two youngsters, Little Age and Lian Jing'er, either because of Tao Qian's influence or simply because they found favor with the Daoist, were being questioned incessantly, while every now and then, the Daoist would pull out various Magical Treasures, Immortal Fruits, among other items, and stuff them into the kids' arms.
Not far off, Zhong Doudou and Shan Jiu were whispering to each other, their expressions clearly not intimate, but as if they were quarreling.
As for the three Immortal Treasures, the Taixuan Ruyi Circle was currently on the Daoist's wrist, the Heavenly Punishment Demon-Slaying Sword was hanging on a bronze tree next to the Observatory Hall, and the Returning Immortal Mirror seemed to be in trouble or something, as the Daoist had directly overturned it onto the Jade Table.