Jie Yin and Zhun Ti exchanged gentle looks, unable to suppress knowing smiles.
Chen Ku's resolve greatly surprised them both.
After all, when Jie Yin had first accepted him as a disciple, he had displayed the might of a quasi-saint, carrying a hint of coercion toward Chen Ku.
Yet they had never expected that Chen Ku would now feel such deep loyalty and affection toward them.
Of course, Jie Yin's earlier words had not been meant to test Chen Ku.
If the latter had truly chosen to leave and return to the Eastern World, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti would not have said anything further.
"Haha, good, excellent!"
"Having obtained such a disciple, this poor Daoist has no regrets..."
Jie Yin could not help but laugh in gratified delight as he spoke.
Seeing Chen Ku still using the Eight Treasures Merit Pool to nurture the Western spiritual roots, immortal herbs, and countless living things...
Zhun Ti immediately came back to his senses as well.
"Haha, since my martial nephew is so full of drive,"
"What do the two of us have to worry about?!"
"This poor Daoist will also deliver these endless wronged souls and improve our Western World."
As soon as his words fell, Zhun Ti's aura surged outward in great waves.
A sacred, peaceful quasi-saintly aura spread forth, and the boundless baleful energy and resentment in the surroundings abruptly weakened.
Jie Yin no longer wasted words.
"Western Calamity Crossing Art!"
With a low shout, Jie Yin began to employ an unfathomable technique as well.
He uttered obscure, profound, and incomprehensible incantations, resounding like the great Dao itself, yet also like the murmurs of countless Buddha's Disciples within Buddha's Palm Paradise, echoing throughout the Western World.
For a time, within tens of millions of miles, the mournful winds suddenly ceased, and the spine-chilling cries of wronged souls likewise began to weaken.
In the end, they vanished completely.
Clearly, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti had long ago expended immense effort in delivering the wronged souls of the West and purifying its endless resentment, even deducing techniques specifically for this purpose.
As Jie Yin and Zhun Ti took action, delivering the wronged souls and purifying the resentment, strands of mysterious merit radiance became increasingly dazzling and resplendent.
Only then could this merit radiance endure, continuing to nourish the endless living beings of this land.
As the three acted, wielding all manner of wondrous Dao techniques and treasures such as the Eight Treasures Merit Pool, they sped toward Mount Sumeru.
That was the true final destination of the three of them.
After all, the Western World alone was boundless and incomparably vast.
Even though Jie Yin and Zhun Ti's methods could affect tens of thousands, even millions of miles around them, that was merely a drop in the ocean compared to the entire West.
No one knew how much time passed, but the three never paused in their efforts.
And wherever they passed, the scene was no longer as desolate and barren as before.
In its place were hazy spiritual lights and surging vitality. Merit Pool water fell like rain, divine radiance gleamed brilliantly, and the mystery was beyond words.
Fortunately, the Eight Treasures Merit Pool contained its own space, and its merit water seemed endless.
Thus, Chen Ku did not worry about exhausting it.
On this day, the three finally arrived at the foot of Mount Sumeru.
"Hehe, this is where our Daoist sanctum lies."
Jie Yin stopped and spoke softly.
Hearing this, Chen Ku immediately focused his gaze and looked up at the enormous, majestic Mount Sumeru before him.
That was right!
He had to look up!
The Mount Sumeru before him was simply far too immense.
As far as the eye could see, it stretched for hundreds of millions of miles, with no end in sight.
Its summit pierced the clouds, its height impossible to measure.
As the saying went, a mustard seed could contain Mount Sumeru. The very name Mount Sumeru implied immeasurable vastness, enough even to be regarded as the center of a world.
The sight alone stirred Chen Ku's heart, making his expression turn solemn.
More importantly, compared with the endless territories through which the three had traveled, Mount Sumeru was no longer so ruined and lifeless.
Looking around, visible spiritual energy rose and fell across the entire Mount Sumeru, mysterious and profound.
Though it had not reached the point of becoming nearly tangible, the spiritual roots and immortal herbs across Mount Sumeru flourished under its nourishment, no longer presenting a scene of utter desolation.
At the mountaintop, stars also circled overhead, emitting starlight that illuminated tens of millions of miles around.
Though it could not compare to Blessed Grotto-Heavens like Kunlun Mountain in the East, within the Western lands, it could still be considered extraordinarily peaceful and remarkable.
"Hehe... this is quite good."
"I can directly plant many spiritual root immortal fruits here."
Chen Ku thought to himself.
He had been somewhat concerned earlier, fearing that if Mount Sumeru were like the path they had taken to reach it, it might not even be capable of sustaining the various spiritual roots.
What he saw before him put his mind at ease and spared him the trouble of first improving Mount Sumeru.
With a turn of his palm, vast swathes of undying spiritual light suddenly appeared.
One spiritual root immortal fruit after another emerged.
The Innate Jiao Pear Tree, the Innate Fire Date Tree, and more—Chen Ku summoned everything he had obtained during his previous travels without holding anything back.
Then, surging mana poured forth as he directly planted them around Mount Sumeru.
Chen Ku was now a Grand Golden Immortal, so there was no need for Jie Yin or Zhun Ti to act.
Moreover, the methods he casually displayed left Jie Yin and Zhun Ti staring in stunned disbelief, their hearts filled with shock.
The spiritual roots grew lush and verdant, their branches and leaves luxuriant as they radiated countless beams of light that shone upon Mount Sumeru.
At once, Jie Yin and Zhun Ti felt as though heaven and earth had been remade, and they could not help clicking their tongues in amazement.
And that was not all!
Chen Ku raised the Eight Treasures Merit Pool once again.
This time, the pool water did not fall like sweet rain. Instead, it flowed in steady streams, directly watering the spiritual roots before them.
Unlike the mysterious merit radiance from before, what Chen Ku used this time was true source merit power.
After all, this was Mount Sumeru, the site of the future saints' Daoist sanctum. Its importance went without saying.
Though it was only a trace of merit power, its effects were utterly astounding.
Wherever the merit power passed, one spiritual root after another suddenly erupted with vast and majestic auras.
The karmic obstructions and baleful energy hidden in the unseen instantly vanished without a trace.
The spiritual roots themselves seemed to gain a sense of joyous excitement.
Within tens of millions of miles around Mount Sumeru, immense spiritual energy flowed in and out. Without Jie Yin, Zhun Ti, or the others deliberately acting, it seemed to form a mysterious cycle, ceaseless and eternal.
Mount Sumeru was the center of the Western World. With this, the merit power would naturally and gradually purify all of the West, without Jie Yin and Zhun Ti having to labor bitterly through their own efforts.
Furthermore, this purification would gradually spread, eventually extending throughout the entire Western World.
"Haha, it seems my disciple had already planned everything out."
"Together with his innate keen perception of spiritual root immortal fruits, that is why our West has reached this state today."
"Good, wonderful!"
Jie Yin marveled, his gaze toward Chen Ku becoming ever more gratified and approving.
Without Chen Ku's countless keen perceptions in the past, they would never have acquired so many spiritual root immortal fruits, nor would they have been able to change the state of the West.
Moreover, seeing how decisive, orderly, and methodical Chen Ku was, it was clear that he had long possessed his own plans for improving the West.
This disciple once again made Jie Yin and Zhun Ti view him in a new light, filling them with delighted surprise.
Zhun Ti also said with a light laugh:
"With my martial nephew here, restoring the Western World is just around the corner."
Clearly, Zhun Ti's confidence had greatly risen as well.
However, he was not referring to the effects of these many spiritual roots, but rather offering Chen Ku the highest praise without sparing his compliments.
At this moment, in Zhun Ti's heart, one Chen Ku surpassed tens of thousands of spiritual root immortal fruits.
Just as Jie Yin and Zhun Ti were marveling...
Suddenly, a strange phenomenon arose high in the heavens!
Rumble!
The Heavenly Dao stirred, thunder roaring without end and drawing Jie Yin and Zhun Ti's attention at once.
Immediately afterward, rosy light burst forth, auspicious colors intertwined, and purple qi came from the east for thirty thousand miles.
Above the boundless heavens, overwhelming clouds of merit appeared, heading directly toward Mount Sumeru.
"...Hiss."
"This... merit was descending from heaven?!"
Merit!
Jie Yin and Zhun Ti recognized it at once. It was the manifestation of immeasurable merit.
The two spoke in unison, crying out in astonishment.
For Jie Yin and Zhun Ti, the sight of Heavenly Dao Merit descending was something they had never witnessed throughout endless ages.
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