Sign In at the World Tree

Before Lu Zhou stretched a sea of crimson flames, spanning roughly a hundred li in every direction.

He landed before the Fire Domain but did not venture in immediately.

After arriving, he glanced at the system panel. Sure enough, the words "Sign-in available" had appeared once more.

Sign in!

He silently recited.

The next instant, the system gave a chime.

Ding! Host has successfully signed in at the Fire Domain. Host has obtained one World Tree sapling, which has been stored inside the host's Qiankun Pearl!

Whoa!

Lu Zhou's eyes flew wide open!

He almost thought he was hearing things. He had never expected to sign in and obtain such a supreme treasure in the Fire Domain.

He hurriedly found a secluded spot, then entered the Qiankun Pearl to take a look.

Inside the Qiankun Pearl, Qiankun Heaven and Earth was rapidly expanding.

It soon grew from a little over one li across to ten li, twenty li, and then a full hundred li.

At this point, the rapid expansion of Qiankun Heaven and Earth came to a halt, but Lu Zhou could still sense that it was continuing to expand, only at an increasingly slower pace.

Lu Zhou could sense that, compared to before, Qiankun Heaven and Earth now contained something more—the spiritual essence of heaven and earth needed for cultivators to cultivate.

The source of all this was the World Tree sapling rooted in the void of Qiankun Heaven and Earth. It was only about a foot tall, yet Chaos Mist flowed across its entire body.

Its actual form appeared small, but when Lu Zhou focused and stared at it carefully, it gave him the sense that it was boundless and majestic, capable of propping up the four poles of heaven and supporting all of creation.

"What happened, Brother Lu?"

"Ah! There's a little tree dancing in the sky!"

Nannan had also noticed the changes in Qiankun Heaven and Earth and saw the World Tree sapling rooted in the void.

The World Tree sapling was not dancing. It was merely stretching its branches and leaves.

As its branches, leaves, and roots swayed, wisps of Chaos Mist drifted down, making it seem dreamlike and illusory, like a tree fairy dancing.

"Brother Lu got a treasure—the World Tree. That's why Qiankun Heaven and Earth expanded."

"In the future, Qiankun Heaven and Earth will become even bigger."

Lu Zhou took Little Nannan's hand and flew with her toward the World Tree.

The closer they came to the World Tree, the denser the spiritual essence became. Upon reaching it, Lu Zhou instinctively took a deep breath. Endless spiritual essence seemed to surge madly into his body.

His Fountain of Life roiled, and the Divine Power within him boiled, showing signs of immediately breaking through into the Dao Palace Realm.

Seeing this, Lu Zhou hurriedly sent Little Nannan back to her small pavilion before returning to the World Tree himself.

He sat cross-legged beneath it. The Chaos Mist hanging down from the World Tree did not harm him.

This place was an ocean of spiritual essence. At this moment, Lu Zhou actually felt as though he were sitting at the center of the cosmic starry river.

As though, at this very moment, he had become the center of the universe.

Starlight from the four poles of the cosmos and spiritual essence of heaven and earth transformed into long rainbows of essence, continuously converging upon him.

The World Tree swayed above his head, scattering ever-denser spiritual essence.

That spiritual essence wrapped around Lu Zhou, gradually forming a great cocoon of essence.

Within the cocoon, the sound of scriptures rang out. Waves crashed against the shore, and thunder seemed to roar.

It was Lu Zhou, circulating the Dao Sutra with all his might and refining this vast amount of spiritual essence.

He stood upon the Other Shore. The dark green Bitter Sea churned with countless waves, while the spring connecting the Wheel of Life and the Bitter Sea had grown larger. The divine spring within erupted like a volcano, blooming with divine radiance and transforming into streams of multicolored light.

Those streams of divine radiance burst from Lu Zhou's body, making him resemble a god walking among mortals.

Lu Zhou looked up. Above the Wheel of the Sea stood a heavenly gate. Even from far away, he could see a new world beyond it.

At a thought, the Divine Bridge extended beneath him, lifting him and carrying him before the heavenly gate.

The aura of gods came from within the gate. Lu Zhou felt Dao power.

He turned to look down. The Bitter Sea still roiled with waves. He felt no attachment, stepped forward, and entered the heavenly gate.

The next moment, the sky was vast and the sea broad, as vigorous vitality washed over him.

Lu Zhou saw five Dao Palaces hidden amid thin mist, seeming to have existed eternally since World Creation.

The five Dao Palaces corresponded to the five viscera and were also called the five gods. They could generate Dao power, produce vitality, store essence without leakage, and nurture life without decay. They were truly places that sustained life, an exceptionally powerful secret realm within the human body.

If one could nourish the gods, one would not die. With the five gods ever present, youth would remain forever. They connected the five energies and linked heaven and earth, endlessly enduring and capable of existing eternally in this world.

Like Ye Fan, Lu Zhou chose the Heart Divine Treasury as the first of the five visceral gods he would cultivate after entering the Dao Palace Realm.

This was because blood flowed through every meridian and circulated throughout the body, allowing the Divine Power within him to be sent everywhere.

It was also because the original novel had stated that the Heart Divine Treasury was the greatest of the five major realms of the Dao Palace.

Following his instincts, he quickly broke through the mist and found the Dao Palace where his Heart Divine Treasury lay.

Upon arriving, he felt heat waves surge toward him. The Heart Divine Treasury was overflowing with yang energy.

He took one step into that Dao Palace, transforming essence into spirit and seeking to make the deity bloom.

He crazily absorbed the spiritual essence produced by the World Tree into his body. The great cocoon of essence around him grew thinner.

At the same time, the deity within his Heart Divine Treasury, shaped like an unopened lotus, was rapidly nourished until it finally transformed into a deity identical to Lu Zhou.

The deity sat within the Dao Palace and began chanting scriptures for him.

Whether it was his Dao Self or his past self, it was ferrying his present true self.

At this moment, Lu Zhou felt incomparably at ease. A strange Dao power flowed through every inch of his flesh and blood.

He remained seated beneath the World Tree for three straight days. Only after thoroughly stabilizing his first level of the Dao Palace Realm did he rise to his full height.

Standing within the Qiankun Pearl, Dao Rhyme spilled from his body and formed patterns around him, making his white-robed figure seem like an immortal descended into the mortal world.

Lu Zhou was intoxicated by the feeling.

He could sense that not only had he grown stronger, but heaven and earth also seemed somehow different in his eyes. The experience was truly profound and mysterious.

He found Nannan, chatted with her for a while, then left the Qiankun Pearl.

When he returned to the Fire Domain, he had already entered the Dao Palace Realm. With a physique slightly stronger than that of ordinary cultivators at the same realm, the first layer of scarlet flames at the outermost edge of the Fire Domain could no longer harm him. At most, they only made him feel a trace of heat.

He continued onward. Before long, he entered the region of pale blue flames in the second layer of the Fire Domain.

Here, the heat was even more intense. Divine Power circulated across the surface of his body, but he did not stop and continued forward.

After walking several more li, he soon saw milky white flames burning ahead.

By this point, Lu Zhou felt that he could no longer endure it. The Divine Power within him was being rapidly consumed.

Without hesitation, he took out a Bronze Buddha Statue about the size of a fist from the Qiankun Pearl.

Buddha light enveloped Lu Zhou, strengthening his cultivation and rendering his body indestructible.

The Buddha light also raised a curtain of light around Lu Zhou, preventing the flames of the Fire Domain from touching him or harming him in any way.

This was a Quasi-Emperor forbidden artifact refined by Sakyamuni, obtained by Lu Zhou from the Great Thunderclap Temple on Mars.

Thanks to boss Liyou Xunmeng and boss Z Ziji Y for the monthly tickets!