Chapter 469
Xie Qingxue was, after all, a master of transformation, and her understanding of the Qingping Sword was profound. From her perspective, the "Nine Mountains Golden Elixir Method" had many shortcomings. After making a series of corrections, Zheng Fa once again practiced the method, and he felt that its efficiency and power had reached a new level.
Before long, Zheng Fa and the others had progressed the "Nine Mountains Golden Elixir Method" to the fourth transformation, which was the initial stage of the Five Elements realm, just waiting for experiments to validate their findings.
However, while the "Nine Mountains Golden Elixir Method" advanced quickly, the cultivation of the Fusang tree was progressing even faster!
Zheng Fa received a message from Qian Zhenren and hurried to the medicinal garden, where he found a group of people standing before a spirit mulberry tree. No, this spirit mulberry seemed to have changed again; its trunk had thickened by another fold, and the mulberry leaves were ablaze with golden flames.
Zheng Fa glanced at his senior sister Zhang, who was holding a prayer bead that shimmered with a faint glow, accompanied by the sound of chanting.
In the center of the medicinal garden stood the Sun and Moon Bell, its resonant chimes echoing, while the surrounding celestial bodies revolved, seemingly inhaling and exhaling the light from the prayer bead.
As the bell tolled, the spirit mulberry slowly grew branches, sprouted tender buds, and bloomed unusual flowers.
There was only one flower on the tree, perched at the very top, with golden petals adorned with delicate purple veins, exuding an air of nobility and mystery.
"What’s going on?" he asked Zhang.
"Qingjing Bamboo..." Zhang pointed to the Qingjing Bamboo on the other side of the garden, "The Qingjing Bamboo is restless."
"Restless?"
Zheng Fa followed her gaze to the Qingjing Bamboo, which was trembling uncontrollably, its leaves rustling, just as Zhang had said—seemingly in distress.
It was not just restlessness; it was even a sense of rejection.
As the master of the Nine Mountains realm, Zheng Fa could sense that the Qingjing Bamboo seemed to be devouring the spiritual energy in the garden, especially around the spirit mulberry.
Xie Qingxue, who had come with them, suddenly spoke up, "In a cave heaven, two heavenly roots cannot coexist."
Zheng Fa's eyes lit up.
He understood the implication of her words—heavenly roots seemed to possess a strong territorial instinct. Not only did they dislike their kind, but now that the Qingjing Bamboo occupied the Nine Mountains Sect, it would also reject another heavenly root!
"So... the Fusang tree is about to succeed?"
Zheng Fa turned to Xie Qingxue, who nodded, though her expression was more complex than before. Her gaze fell on the spirit mulberry, revealing a mix of joy and sorrow.
Yan Wushuang inexplicably felt that her senior sister's look towards her was... a bit gentler? Almost grateful?
But Zheng Fa had no time to ponder Xie Qingxue's feelings. He leaned closer to the lone flower bud on the spirit mulberry, scrutinizing it for a long while before asking Qian Zhenren, "Why isn’t it bearing fruit?"
Qian Zhenren frowned, as if he had already noticed the issue. He clasped his hands and said fluently, "We have two hypotheses."
"One is that the Qingjing Bamboo is suppressing it; in the Nine Mountains realm, a heavenly root like the Fusang tree cannot appear again."
"The other is that it still lacks something..."
After hearing Qian Zhenren's hypotheses, Zheng Fa nodded thoughtfully:
From the performance of the Qingjing Bamboo, the first reason seemed highly likely.
He even felt that it was precisely because the Qingjing Bamboo was rejecting the Fusang tree that the spirit mulberry now lacked the conditions to bear fruit.
"What about spiritual energy?"
No one understood what he meant, but Zhang directly replied, "I tried using the Mountain River Seal to supplement the spirit mulberry with spiritual energy. Although the spirit mulberry grew sturdier, there were no signs of fruiting."
Zheng Fa pondered for a moment when Xie Qingxue suggested, "Why don’t you take this spirit tree to the Xuanwei realm and give it a try?"
Upon hearing this, everyone from the Nine Mountains Sect shook their heads.
What a joke!
If it failed, wouldn’t that expose the secret of the spirit mulberry?
Now that the Qingjing Bamboo was already enough to attract envy, let alone the Fusang tree, which had not yet succeeded and lacked the power of the Qingjing Bamboo.
Moreover, if the Fusang tree were to grow successfully and take root in the Xuanwei realm, the trouble could be even greater—Zhang, holding the Qingjing Bamboo, was trying her best to avoid leaving the Nine Mountains realm, fearing it would be snatched away.
"Then where will you find another world?"
Xie Qingxue seemed to understand their concerns and said helplessly.
Everyone exchanged glances, with no other options. Only Zheng Fa, deep in thought, reached out to touch the spirit mulberry. In an instant, the Fusang tree within him trembled.
The Yin-Yang Fish jade pendant in his sea of consciousness fell from his mind and flew into his dantian, spinning around.
The flower atop the spirit mulberry immediately bloomed, releasing a burst of red light that shot into Zheng Fa's dantian, exploding with force.
As the shadow of the Fusang tree in Zheng Fa's dantian rotated with the Yin-Yang Fish jade pendant, it gradually transformed from ethereal to solid.
At the moment the red light exploded, magnificent phenomena appeared in the Nine Mountains realm—illusions of dragons soaring through the sky and phoenixes dancing, along with the shadow of a Kunpeng and a black tortoise beneath the sea.
Yan Wushuang stroked her chin, deep in thought, "This scene feels oddly familiar..."
(End of this chapter)
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Chapter 371: Breaking Through, Where Lies the Path
The external phenomena were so grand that everyone in the Nine Mountains realm could see them, but the changes within Zheng Fa's body were truly earth-shattering.
That burst of red light entered his body, as if awakening the Fusang tree in his dantian, causing its leaves to sway as if in joy.
A surge of vibrant life force erupted from his dantian, spreading through his organs and meridians, ultimately settling into the acupoints of his body.
Zheng Fa felt as if he were undergoing a complete rebirth.
Every part of his body, whether internal organs or skin, seemed to be regrowing under the nourishment of this life force—no, perhaps it was more accurate to say it was perfecting itself.
It felt like a cycle:
Because he possessed the Qingyang Dao Body, his cells contained that spiritual energy organelle, which ultimately allowed him to cultivate the seed of the Fusang tree.
Yet this seed of the Fusang tree seemed to be perfecting his Qingyang Dao Body in return!
At this point, Zheng Fa understood that the culmination of his Qingyang Dao Body was to transform into the Fusang!
Meanwhile, the formless infant within his golden elixir also seemed to be undergoing corresponding changes.
The infant of a cultivator appeared to be shaped by their spirit, which is why Zhang's infant resembled her so closely.
However, the spirit itself was closely tied to the cultivator's physical body, so the form and abilities of the infant often had a very close connection to the cultivator's physical form.
At the moment the infant began to change, Zheng Fa's spirit embarked on a strange journey:
He felt as if he had transformed into a red, branchless, leafless, fruitless monster tree, standing on a celestial island, unaware of the passage of time, only hearing the sound of crashing waves.
Later, a golden crow landed on him, building a nest and raising offspring, contemplating the Dao.
Until one day, this golden crow transformed into a sun, taking the spiritual energy from his body and soaring into the void, scattering the extraordinary power of the Fusang tree across the distant land.
This golden crow came and went, day after day, year after year, and he did not know how many years had passed. Its aura grew stronger and stronger, gradually becoming the most powerful existence in the world.
As the illusion faded, the Fusang tree within Zheng Fa continued to gently sway its branches, pointing towards a distant location.
He could even see clearly what it was—a black banner adorned with myriad demons.
"Yao Huang..."
Zheng Fa sighed softly in his heart.
He had always thought that the title of Yao Huang was too grand.
According to modern legends, this was a title reserved for the strongest beings in the world, and the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor was far from qualifying.
Now, he confirmed this thought:
The Yao Huang Dao fruit of the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor was something he had created—a method that could potentially be adapted for all demon cultivators.
Yet the Fusang tree was different—it was more fundamental:
It was the purest form of life, the original source of spiritual intelligence.
The so-called demon race absorbs the essence of the sun and moon, accumulates magical power, and awakens spiritual intelligence; this essence comes from the Fusang tree.
If one were to say who was more important to the demon race...
It was evident.
Without a universal method, the demon race could still cultivate.
But without the essence of the sun and moon produced by the Fusang tree, would there still be demons?
Moreover, Zheng Fa's Dao Body was on the verge of completion, and the Fusang tree within him had not yet fully solidified, yet in the realm of "Yao Huang Dao fruit," he felt he far surpassed the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor's banner.
One reason might be that the golden crow in that vision was likely the Yao Huang that once existed.
Simply put, he was the legitimate heir!
On the other hand, it was also because of the universal applicability of the Fusang tree's functions. The Great Freedom Demon Ancestor had toiled for so many years but could not claim that his method could match any demon.
However, the life-giving transformation contained within the Fusang tree was even more significant; one could say it was indispensable for any demon!
He even understood—if the Great Freedom Demon Ancestor wanted to achieve the true Yao Huang Dao fruit, he would have to kill himself and seize the Fusang tree.
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