Tongtian laughed. She only had a high-grade spiritual artifact since they had to split the Twelfth-Ranked Green Lotus of Good Fortune, but now, she found a treasure on the same level as it.

She could see a few more lotuses in the pond: three Ninth-Ranked White Lotuses of Purification, six Sixth-Ranked White Lotuses of Purification, and nine Third-Ranked White Lotuses of Purification.

Tongtian waved her arm, and the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification trembled. Tongtian frowned and increased her strength, and the twelfth-ranked lotus finally flew into her hand. Even so, the lotus struggled in her grip.

She didn't delay any longer and sat down to refine the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification. One hundred years later, Tongtian succeeded.

Tongtian couldn't help but sigh. Although the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification and the Twelfth-Ranked Green Lotus of Good Fortune were of the same rank, the Twelfth-Ranked Green Lotus of Good Fortune was a bit superior. At least, the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification didn't have the ability to become three high-grade cardinal spiritual artifacts. At most, it would be three high-grade innate spiritual artifacts.

Still, the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification had its own advantages. It had the ability to purify all things, even chaotic energy, and it could quell unruly minds. Its defensive abilities were nothing to scoff at either.

For Tongtian, she placed more importance on the second ability. The mindset was incredibly important for cultivation. A calm temperament was more useful than talent.

Although she had cultivated for over a hundred thousand years, that didn't mean she did it nonstop. She had to take breaks along the way too. The only time she persevered was during the baptism on Buzhou Mountain, and that was partly because she refused to lose to her two brothers.

With the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification in hand, Tongtian had confidence her cultivation would become smoother. The only gripe she had was about the color. "If it had been the Twelfth-Ranked Red Lotus of Karma, that would have been best. Too bad it should already have an owner."

Still, Tongtian felt the trip had been worth it. She wanted to take the other three Ninth-Ranked White Lotuses of Purification, but when she moved them, the sinful aura from the black pond started to spill out.

It seemed that she needed to leave the other white lotuses to stay unless she wanted Fangzhang Immortal Island to turn into a hellish place. Tongtian shrugged. It wasn't like she wouldn’t return.

After leaving a spiritual imprint on the island, Tongtian left.

Once she stepped into the chaos again, the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification enlarged into a lotus throne for Tongtian to sit on. With the protection of the white lotus, she could replenish her energy while traveling through the chaos.

It took less time for Tongtian to return to the Great Desolation than it took for her to find Fangzhang Immortal Island.

However, her face darkened upon returning because someone immediately attacked her upon her return. The white lotuses petals curled protectively in front of Tongtian and deflected the blow.

"Attacking me out of nowhere, don't you think you're a bit rude?" Tongtian asked as she stared at her foe.

Surprisingly, her foe was a humanoid, unlike the Hundred Beast Clan. He carried a ruler in his hand, and he stared greedily at the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification under Tongtian. Worse still was the fact that he had a Peak Great Firmament Realm cultivation base.

"Rude? I don't know what relationship you have with Pangu, but everything related to him must perish!" He raised his arm and a giant painting of the world appeared behind him. He brought his hand down, and the picture copied his palm, pressing down against Tongtian.

Tongtian felt like a whole world was crushing her. She quickly controlled the white lotus to resist, and the two artifacts entered a stalemate. The Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification of Purification was of a higher grade than the painting, but she hadn't refined it enough to display greater strength.

Her intestines turned green with regret. However, her foe wouldn't allow her time for self-pity or even to think as he charged at her with the ruler in hand. Tongtian decisively jumped off of her white lotus and unsheathed her Qingping Sword.

Clang!

Tongtian didn't feel as if a ruler clashed against her sword. It felt closer to someone smashing a ruler-shaped planet against her!

She roared and fully unleashed the sword aura she restrained in her body. The Qingping Sword hummed in response and gained a steel-like gleam. It moved forward and started to cut into the ruler.

The unnamed Daoist frowned and retreated. From the clash alone, he discovered that the Qingping Sword was a high-grade spiritual artifact, not something his middle-grade spiritual artifact could compete with. The greed in his eyes increased.

However, Tongtian wasn't willing to stay on the defensive and pressed forward. Her Qingping Sword sang a song of blood and steel. With each strike, her speed quickened, and with each clash, her swordplay advanced. As the battle progressed, her strength increased despite the fact her realm remained unchanged.

After the latest clash, the ruler in her foe's hand was littered with scars.

Tongtian brandished her sword at her foe. After repeated confrontations, she finally discovered her opponent's identity. "You are Qiankun Ancestor, the remnant of the Chaos Fiendgod of Qiankun."

Qiankun Ancestor sneered. "So what if you know? My strength is far beyond what you can understand. A junior like you doesn't have any chance of leaving alive no matter what you inherited from Pangu!"

Tongtian returned a sneer. "Big words for a loser. You might have possessed strength beyond the Great Firmament Realm, but that was in your heyday. You're nothing more than a fossil that should have died long ago!"

Anger smoldered in Qiankun Ancestor's eyes. He flipped his hand, and a palm-sized cauldron appeared, but Tongtian wasn't afraid. She entered a stance, and a silver light coated her sword.

Just as the two were about to resume their battle, someone called out, "Fellow Daoists, please wait. What need is there to resort to violence? Can't we just talk it out?"

The newcomer was a man in his early forties or late thirties. He had long red hair and wore a red robe engraved with clouds.

"Nosy!" Qiankun Ancestor said and sent the giant painting crashing towards the newcomer.

Red clouds appeared around the Golden Immortal of the Great Firmament and formed a large formation. "Hmpf, I just couldn't stand to see you bully a woman and wanted to talk it out. But since you're so unreasonable, taste my Red Cloud Formation!"

Tongtian didn't know if she should slash Qiankun Ancestor or Redcloud Ancestor. According to her memories, Redcloud Ancestor was known as the number one nice guy in the Great Desolation, but because of this, he made many friends but equally as many enemies.

'Forget it, he's here to help me after all. I'll let his comment slide just this once,' Tongtian took this chance to move the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification above her head and protect her in a white light now that the giant painting no longer entangled it.

"Taste my sword!"

Tongtian abandoned all defenses and focused all her attention on attacking.

Qiankun Ancestor sneered. "Do you think I can't deal with you without my Qiankun Map? Come forth, Qiankun Cauldron!"

Before the Qingping Sword could pierce Qiankun Ancestor, green clouds manifested behind him, and a cauldron flew out. Seeing as the situation had turned against her, Tongtian shot sword light from her blade. The silver sword light was very dim, unnoticeable as it struck Qiankun Ancestor in the chest, but, in return, Tongtian was swallowed by the Qiankun Cauldron.

Inside the Qiankun Cauldron, Tongtian saw a vast world even greater than the one in the giant painting. She couldn't help but curse. 'Qiankun Cauldron, Qiankun Ruler, and Qiankun Map are obviously your lifebound artifacts, while I wasn't born with a single one! Am I from the orthodox lineage of Pangu, or are you?! '

Worse was the fact that she couldn't absorb any essence and replenish her energy. It wasn't like the chaos outside; the very will of the world rejected her. Tongtian began to unleash sword light after sword light in an attempt to break out, but all her efforts were in vain.

Outside, Qiankun Ancestor snorted. "Just an ant who hasn't seen the strength of chaos fiendgods."

He grimaced and clutched his chest, where a diamond slit continuously leaked blood. Since when did he have such a wound?

Qiankun Ancestor searched through his memories, and it seemed to have always existed. He was surprised that he allowed such a wound to continue to exist without solving it. Stranger still was that he actually ambushed someone with a wound. After he slays Pangu's descendant, he'll find a secluded cave and heal himself.

He glanced at Redcloud Ancestor, who was still entangled by his Qiankun Map. The Red Cloud Formation was powerful, but it wasn't enough to overcome the spiritual artifact. "After I solve her, you're next."

Qiankun Ancestor suppressed the wound on his chest and began refining Tongtian inside the Qiankun Cauldron. Tongtian could only control the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification to delay the process, but she knew, sooner or later, she would run out of energy and die.

Nothing she did would help her escape the confines of the Qiankun Cauldron. Perhaps if someone could distract Qiankun Ancestor's concentration, she might have a chance, but she doubted Redcloud Ancestor had the ability. Even if he did, she didn't want to rely on him.

Tongtian stored the Qingping Sword away, but she wasn't admitting defeat. She held out her hand, and a gray shard appeared in her hand. The shard could only be described as a crude sword without a handle or guard on it, but it exuded a timeless aura.

Her eyes gained a silver sheen as she began to resonate with the Law of Time contained within the Chaos Clock shard. She gripped the bottom with both hands. Tongtian took a deep breath. Her hair fluttered as the air around her became turbulent. She raised the shard above her head and then brought it down.

"Temporal Severance!"

Outside, Qiankun Ancestor's face suddenly paled. A second later, he spat out a mouthful of blood. Tongtian flew out of Qiankun Cauldron, but her face was bloodless too.

Tongtian reached out and grabbed the rim of the Qiankun Cauldron, but Qiankun Ancestor could only stare at her with confusion. When he looked at the Qiankun Cauldron, he felt a sense of unfamiliar familiarity, like the Qiankun Cauldron should have been his but wasn't.

He didn't have time to ponder any longer as Tongtian came charging forward, Qingping Sword in hand.

Qiankun Ancestor quickly brought out his Qiankun Ruler to block the Qingping Sword. As the two weapons clashed, he couldn't help but wonder what he had been thinking. Although he possessed the Qiankun Map and Qiankun Ruler, two spiritual artifacts didn't guarantee him an absolute advantage over someone with the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification.

His eyes focused on the cauldron in Tongtian's grasp. Perhaps he had discovered the Qiankun Cauldron and wanted to refine it but was interrupted by her? No, that didn't sound right either.

Qiankun Ancestor knew there was something wrong with him. He couldn't fight any longer lest his injuries worsen. He recalled the Qiankun Map and moved to escape.

However, how could Tongtian allow him to escape? The white lotus flew off and stopped the Qiankun Map like what Qiankun Ancestor had done to her during their first clash.

"You!" Qiankun Ancestor roared.

Tongtian smirked. "Don't you know what goes around comes around? Since you wanted to kill me and steal my treasure, be prepared to lose your life!"

Qiankun Ancestor saw the unfavorable situation. Since he recalled the Qiankun Map, Redcloud Ancestor had been freed and was rushing towards him. Even without the Twelfth-Ranked White Lotus of Purification, Tongtian still had a high-grade spiritual artifact in hand, unlike him.

If he was dragged into battle, then he might really fall if she joined forces with the Redcloud Ancestor. With one last unwilling glance at the Qiankun Cauldron in Tongtian's hand, Qiankun Ancestor decisively abandoned the Qiankun Map and fled.

"I'll remember this!"

Tongtian didn't chase after Qiankun Ancestor. She had almost spent all her energy unleashing Temporal Severance, and she was putting on a strong front. Plus, she got another top-grade cardinal spiritual artifact.

The Qiankun Cauldron in her hand shivered and tried to fly away, but Tongtian suppressed it. She turned towards Redcloud Ancestor, who also didn't pursue Qiankun Ancestor.

"Thank you, fellow Daoist, for your aid."

Redcloud Ancestor quickly waved his hands. "No thanks, no thanks, I didn't do much."

"As thanks, I'll leave the Qiankun Map to you. If we have fate in the future, I'll repay this favor," Tongtian said. Without waiting for Redcloud Ancestor’s response, she took back the white lotus and flew off.

Redcloud Ancestor hesitated for a moment but formed the Red Cloud Formation again and trapped the Qiankun Map. A middle-grade spiritual artifact was still quite attractive to him since he had no artifact in hand.