Mo Xuan was so happy he could barely contain himself. He swallowed hard, beaming as he tucked away the three talisman slips—then cupped his hands, ready to take his leave.
Daojun Taiyi spoke: "Mo Xuan, I see you haven't established an immortal garden yet. I'll grant you a Hongwu warship—so it'll be safer for you when you salvage meteors in the void."
"…What?!"
Mo Xuan froze in shock.
A Hongwu warship?! Did I hear that right? Is it… for me?!
Daojun Taiyi casually tossed a jade token to Mo Xuan.
Mo Xuan caught it in a daze. Carved upon the token were two characters:
Hongwu.
No mistake—this token could be used to claim a Hongwu warship.
Good heavens… what kind of lucky day was this?!
Daojun Qianzao blinked her large eyes. Those two are already racing to give him things… what should I give?
After a short moment of thought, she pointed, and a three-dimensional map unfolded in midair. She said to Mo Xuan: "These are newly formed spirit isles in recent years. Mo Xuan, choose one."
Mo Xuan's head spun—as if he'd been smashed by a mountain of gold.
A spirit isle!
Only an island with at least one-tenth of its area as Grade-A spirit fields could be called a spirit isle!
The Mo family had only just scraped together thirty mu of Grade-B spirit fields, and now—an entire spirit isle was dropping from the heavens?!
Am I dreaming?
Dream or not—choose first!
Mo Xuan took a deep breath and examined the map. There were twenty-seven newborn spirit isles, large and small, varying in quality.
Mo Xuan's eye was sharp. He selected one with a diameter of six kilometers, rich spirit energy, and still slowly rising in density.
No. Qianzao-03975.
Daojun Qianzao nodded slightly, produced talisman paper and a purple-gold talisman brush, wrote a slip, and signed her name.
That spirit isle now belonged to Mo Xuan.
Mo Xuan pinched his thigh hard.
…It didn't really hurt.
He pinched again—harder.
Ow.
Not a dream!
The three Daojuns exchanged amused looks.
Daojun Guxin said to Mo Xuan: "Mo Xuan, we've taken advantage of you this time. For now, it will be this way. We'll compensate you later."
"What?! There's… more compensation?"
Mo Xuan was completely unsettled. He blinked blankly, glanced at the little sun, and couldn't help exclaiming: "It's worth that much?"
Daojun Taiyi smiled and explained: "Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be quite so extreme. But by chance, the core energy crystal of our small world's Gathering-and-Nourishing Grand Formation has been depleted. Its previous core was only an earth-grade second-rank wood–water crystal. The three of us were troubled—then you arrived like timely snow in winter."
"With your light–water earth-grade first-rank crystal, the formation's effectiveness can be raised by about one and a half tiers. The improvement won't be instantaneous, but it will quietly nourish the small world over nearly a thousand years."
Mo Xuan nodded woodenly.
So that was it.
Daojun Qianzao even patted Mo Xuan's shoulder. "We truly owe you thanks this time."
Mo Xuan stared at that peerless face and nearly suffocated—then immediately felt like needles on his back.
Cold sweat broke out as he glanced sideways, only to find Daojun Taiyi and Daojun Guxin both wearing dark expressions, staring at Daojun Qianzao's pale, delicate hand resting on Mo Xuan's shoulder.
Mo Xuan wailed inwardly.
Daojun Qianzao, men and women shouldn't be too intimate! I'm a modern Earth-Chinese person—I don't care about that. If no one's watching, pat away. But right now, in front of those two… please be subtle! I'm terrified!
Daojun Qianzao seemed oblivious. After two light pats, she finally withdrew her hand, turning to stare at the little sun with bright eyes sparkling, long lashes curving beautifully.
Mo Xuan finally exhaled, carefully wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Just that brief moment had felt like walking into deep water and raging fire.
He'd long heard the three Daojuns' relationships were… complicated: the two male Daojuns both liked Daojun Qianzao, while Daojun Qianzao remained blunt and unbothered.
Seems the rumors were true.
Daojun Guxin said calmly, "Alright. You may withdraw now."
Mo Xuan answered quickly and retreated—almost skipping.
He didn't even remember how he walked out of the hall. Everything felt foggy, unreal.
Heaven!
He was rich!
A Hongwu warship!
A spirit isle!
Compared with those two gifts… well, alright—Daojun Guxin really was the poorest.
And yet Daojun Guxin had produced an entire stack of signed slips without blinking, his signature flowing like water—he must do this all the time.
Mo Xuan shook his head, half amused, half speechless.
Inside the Inner Hall
Daojun Guxin flicked his sleeve, and the little sun vanished into his storage.
The three Daojuns exchanged looks and nodded.
In the next instant, they transmitted into an underground palace.
The palace was pitch-dark, lit only by a colossal formation emitting faint light.
Daojun Guxin waved his sleeve and released the little sun.
Instantly, radiance flooded the palace, revealing dense, layered, unimaginably complex arrays—formation upon formation.
Daojun Taiyi extended a finger, and one enormous formation began to spin rapidly.
Even that was only the tip of the iceberg.
It spun for a moment before arriving at the true center: a fist-sized diamond was lodged there—dim and faint, no longer brilliant.
Daojun Guxin glanced at Daojun Qianzao and nodded. Your turn.
Daojun Qianzao's bright eyes fixed on the formation. She breathed lightly, sensing its veins and pathways.
Her sleeve trembled once—barely.
And the operation was complete.
The little sun was swapped into the formation's core, replacing the fist-sized diamond.
The little sun now pulsed like a heart—bright, dim, bright, dim—until its rhythm gradually steadied.
The grand formation began to change.
From the little sun at its center, dao-patterns brightened and spread outward at high speed.
The three Daojuns watched without the slightest distraction.
Finally, the entire massive formation lit up.
The little sun no longer blazed wildly—only a gentle glow remained, nourishing the whole array.
The three Daojuns stared—then looked at each other in surprise and delight.
After checking, they found the Gathering-and-Nourishing Grand Formation had improved by nearly three tiers—almost double their expected one and a half.
They examined the little sun's consumption.
It could sustain the formation for over two thousand five hundred years.
It was simply… too extraordinary.
This time, they truly had taken a huge advantage of Mo Xuan.
We'll compensate him properly later, they silently decided.
Daojun Qianzao blinked, then spoke first, stealing initiative: "Mo Xuan is fire-aspected, yes? The Mo family's Mo Que'er likely is too. My disciple-granddaughter Mengqi can accept her as a student."
She'd struck first.
Daojun Guxin and Daojun Taiyi exchanged a glance, each silently calculating.
At the Academy — Points Exchange Hall
The dozing old immortal Li opened his eyes and sensed a subtle change in the world—an improvement.
He pinched his fingers to calculate, then slapped his thigh.
"The three little brats got there first," he muttered.
Still… not bad. They had maximized the use of that light–water treasure.
"This little Xuanzi…" Li mumbled, and went back to sleep.
Claiming the Warship
Mo Xuan flew away from Daojun Guxin's immortal heaven and decided to claim the Hongwu warship first, then the spirit isle.
Boys still liked warships more than islands.
He released Xiao Ba and rode it toward the warship foundry.
Unlike the transport spirit ship workshops, the warship foundry was located within the immortal heaven of Daojun Taiyi's senior disciple, Heaven Immortal Xitian.
This wasn't a place one could enter casually—Mo Xuan had only toured it once.
But he held Daojun Taiyi's jade token. Presenting it allowed him smooth passage.
Soon, he found the foundry's manager:
Bai Ao, personal disciple of Heaven Immortal Xitian, and the most promising earth immortal to break through to heaven immortal.
Bai Ao scanned Mo Xuan's jade token, confirmed it, and nodded, leading him into the finished-warship warehouse.
The enormous warehouse held only two brand-new Hongwu warships.
They resembled Earth's great airships.
Mo Xuan stared in awe.
Each Hongwu warship was twice the size of a transport spirit ship.
Its round belly carried four weapon clusters—sixteen fully directional dao-cannons.
At the rear were thirty-six meteor-harvesting long whips.
Functionality was vastly stronger.
More importantly, the Hongwu warship's speed, defenses, and overall performance exceeded ordinary transport ships by several times.
It also possessed stealth and powerful self-repair.
A real void-crossing warship.
During warp jumps, if it collided with a meteor—so long as it wasn't enormous—it would be only surface injury, repaired in moments.
Even against huge meteors, the thick defensive layers could prevent fatal damage and allow slow recovery.
It was also equipped with emergency escape pods—its safety level was in another realm.
Bai Ao briefly explained: though the two ships looked similar, their performance differed notably.
Left warship: Weapon system and warp-jump capability weakened, but defense and self-repair greatly strengthened. Interior could fold to 100,000 square meters, 100 meters high, totaling 10 million cubic meters of storage.
Right warship: Weapon system and warp-jump capability strengthened, but defense and self-repair only average. Interior could fold to 84,000 square meters, 80 meters high, totaling 6.72 million cubic meters of storage.
Mo Xuan struggled to decide.
Honestly, he wanted both.
But he could only choose one.
He even considered flipping a coin.
In the end, Mo Xuan chose safety first—he had no immortal garden yet—so he picked the left warship with stronger defense and larger storage.
Bai Ao led Mo Xuan into the left Hongwu warship.
Whoa!
A true void warship.
A transport ship couldn't compare at all.
The enormous spherical cockpit was pure high-end—warp system, radar, stealth, self-repair, weapons, ship-spirit system, pilot seat…
It was a fully automated ultra-modern cosmic warship.
Bai Ao pressed the jade token into a rectangular slot on the console.
The token flashed several times.
The Hongwu warship officially activated.
A pink-cheeked, six-year-old girl's holographic projection appeared in the cockpit.
She bowed properly and said respectfully: "Ship-spirit Xiaotong greets the two honored immortals. May I ask—who will become my master?"
Bai Ao pointed at Mo Xuan. "This is Mo Xuan—your master from now on."
Xiaotong smiled sweetly and floated before Mo Xuan, lifting her forehead and closing her eyes.
Mo Xuan bit his finger and pressed a drop of blood to the center of Xiaotong's brow.
Her form flickered several times.
Bonding complete.
"Master," Xiaotong said happily, looking at Mo Xuan.
Mo Xuan smiled and nodded, gently patting Xiaotong's head.
Xiaotong giggled with delight.
Bai Ao smiled. "Operating a Hongwu warship is largely similar to a transport ship. Xiaotong will teach you the specific controls."
He registered the transfer through his jade tablet, gave a few final instructions, and took his leave.
"Uncle Bai, safe travels," Mo Xuan said, seeing him out. From now on, others would require Mo Xuan's permission to enter the ship.
Mo Xuan hurried back to the spherical cockpit.
With Ship-spirit Xiaotong's help, he began rapidly familiarizing himself with the warship's operation and performance.