Remnant Seed of Jianmu, Fortune and Misfortune Depend on Each Other

Xuanwei froze in place, his immortal qi body not daring to ripple even slightly, for fear of alarming the owner of this nest.

He cautiously "looked around." The nest was enormous, woven from countless thick, cyan vines radiating dense Wood Element Spiritual Qi and life force, resembling a living palace. The giant jade eggs deep within the nest pulsed faintly, each beat drawing in torrents of Wood Element Spiritual Qi from the surroundings like a tide, emitting a heart-pounding pressure.

"What... where in the Primordial World did I stumble into some great beast's nursery?!" Xuanwei's heart turned ice-cold. The mere residual waves emanating from the nest made his injured and unhealed body feel suffocated. The nest owner's strength was definitely far beyond a Mysterious Immortal, perhaps a Golden Immortal or even higher!

He subconsciously wanted to use the Evasion Talisman to escape again, but despairingly found that the space here seemed to be sealed by some powerful force field. The Evasion Talisman had no reaction!

"It's over..." Xuanwei wanted to cry but had no tears. He had just escaped a wolf's den only to fall into a tiger's lair, and one with a high-level anti-theft system at that!

However, deep within his sea of consciousness, the resonance from the Chaos Bead fragment grew stronger and stronger, pointing directly to the deepest part of the nest, beneath the giant eggs, to a patch of soil entwined with countless rootlets and emitting a hazy chaotic aura! The strange seed that had just merged into his body also conveyed a sense of longing and closeness, pointing to the same place!

"Chaos Soil?! And Chaos Soil containing the origin of Jianmu?!" A term suddenly popped into Xuanwei's mind, something he had glimpsed in fragmented notes from the Scripture Pavilion. Legend had it that the soil which nurtured the Innate Spiritual Root Jianmu at the beginning of chaos contained both chaotic and Wood Element origins, making it one of the highest-grade spiritual soils in existence!

Could it be that this nest was built by some Primordial Remnant Species related to Jianmu? And it collected Chaos Soil to incubate its offspring?

This speculation made Xuanwei's scalp tingle even more. Anyone associated with Jianmu was not to be trifled with!

He attempted to send a wisp of weak immortal qi, imbued with the aura of that strange seed, carefully towards the patch of Chaos Soil.

A miracle happened!

The nest vines, which had initially exuded a repulsive and dangerous aura, slightly loosened upon contact with this wisp of immortal qi carrying a similar origin aura. The repulsive force weakened! The strange seed within his body leaped with joy, frantically absorbing the free-floating Wood Element Essence and the faint aura emanating from the Chaos Soil.

[Detected high concentration of Jianmu origin and chaotic aura environment! "Unknown Innate Spiritual Root Seed (Mutated)" activity greatly increased! Growth accelerated!]

[Chaos Bead absorbing Jianmu origin and Chaos Soil dao rhythm, repair progress slightly increased! Spatial stability increased!]

[Tip: The current environment is highly beneficial for the host's recovery from injuries, but extremely dangerous! It is recommended to absorb energy and find a way to leave before the nest owner returns.]

The System's analysis calmed Xuanwei down a bit. Danger and opportunity coexisted! This place was practically a custom-made healing sanctuary for him! Moreover, both the Chaos Bead and the seed could benefit!

He hesitated no longer, immediately activating the Innate Immortal Qi Origin Method and the Chaos Heaven-Opening Art's body-tempering chapter at full power, frantically absorbing the extremely dense Wood Element Spiritual Qi and the dao rhythm emanating from the Chaos Soil. At the same time, he guided the strange seed, allowing it to temporarily take root within his immortal qi origin, to absorb this immense fortune together.

His energy level began to rise at an unprecedented speed! 10%... 15%... 20%! His immortal qi body became visibly more solid and radiant. The Wutu Essence and Wood Element Vitality within him blended perfectly, and even the dim chaotic luster brightened slightly. The injuries deep within his origin healed rapidly under the nourishment of the boundless vitality!

[Energy level breaks through 25%! Cultivation restored to peak Earth Immortal!]

[Host's origin/lineage nourished by Jianmu origin and Chaos Soil dao rhythm, potential slightly increased!]

[ "Unknown Innate Spiritual Root Seed" has initially sprouted, feeding back a large amount of pure vitality, accelerating host's recovery!]

[Chaos Bead (fragment) repair progress reaches 1%! New function unlocked: Primary Space Marking (can temporarily mark small-scale spatial coordinates visited, facilitating precise teleportation next time, with a long cooldown period).]

Awesome! So awesome! Xuanwei felt like a dry sponge thrown into the ocean, every "cell" cheering! At this rate, he would fully recover in less than a day, perhaps even reaching for the Heavenly Immortal realm!

However, good times don't last.

Just as he was immersed in the pleasure of his rapidly increasing strength, a vast, ancient, terrifying will filled with majesty and rage, like an ancient divine mountain, suddenly awoke from the deep sea and descended upon the nest!

The nest owner had returned!

Xuanwei was terrified out of his wits, instantly stopping all cultivation. He activated Deep Immortal Seclusion to its absolute limit, while frantically urging the strange seed within his body to conceal all its aura! He even spared no expense in using his partially recovered energy to simulate the dormant state of the nest vines, disguising himself as a lifeless "background."

Rumble...

The seawater parted, and an unimaginably vast shadow slowly enveloped the nest. Xuanwei didn't even dare to "look" with his spiritual sense, relying only on the palpable pressure to perceive that this was an inconceivable existence, its power level definitely above Golden Immortal, perhaps even higher!

The terrifying being seemed to inspect the nest and the giant eggs. Finding them unharmed, it let out a low, satisfied hiss (or perhaps a mental fluctuation). Then, an even purer and more potent Wood Element origin and chaotic aura were injected by it into the Chaos Soil at the core of the nest, clearly intended to nourish its offspring.

After doing all this, the terrifying being's will receded like a tide, seemingly sinking back into some part of the deep sea to slumber.

Xuanwei waited for a long time until the pressure completely disappeared before daring to "breathe a sigh of relief." His immortal qi body was almost scattered from fear.

"Too thrilling... this is like stealing oil from under the King of Hell's nose!" He was filled with lingering fear, and his determination to leave as soon as possible grew stronger.

While continuing to cautiously absorb energy to recover, he began to study the Chaos Bead's newly unlocked Primary Space Marking function. This was his only hope for now!

He attempted to attach a wisp of his divine sense to the Chaos Bead's power, carefully leaving a very subtle spatial coordinate at the edge of the nest. This process had to be extremely cautious, so as not to provoke a backlash from the nest's own force field.

Just as he finished marking and was about to go all out to recover enough strength to immediately activate the marked teleportation and escape--

Another change occurred!

The strange seed within his body, which had initially sprouted, seemed to have reached a certain critical point after absorbing enough Jianmu origin and chaotic aura. It trembled violently!

A purer, more ancient chaotic Wood Element dao rhythm, as if originating from the beginning of heaven and earth, rippled outwards from him like water waves! Simultaneously, a small, incomplete, yet profoundly mysterious inheritance message surged into his consciousness with the seed's throbbing:

Azure Emperor Longevity Art (Incomplete) -- Governs vitality, creates all things, the way of Wood Element, with chaos as its root...

This was clearly a supreme method that directly pointed to the origin of the chaotic Wood Element Great Dao! Although it was only an incomplete fragment, its value was immeasurable!

However, this sudden, extremely high-level dao rhythm fluctuation, though faint, was like dropping a stone into a calm lake!

Buzz!

The entire nest's vines suddenly lit up! The terrifying being slumbering in the deep sea was once again alerted! This time, the descending will was no longer a patrol, but filled with clear anger and a lock-on!

It had discovered the "thief" stealing its offspring's nourishment!

"Roar--!"

A roar, as if from the Primordial World, pierced through layers of seawater and exploded directly in Xuanwei's core consciousness! The terrifying pressure, like billions of tons of seawater, squeezed in from all directions, intending to crush him and that damned seed together!

[Warning! Locked-on attack from an existence of Golden Immortal level or higher encountered! Survival probability below 0.1%!]

[Emergency Plan: Consume all energy, forcibly activate Primary Space Marking teleportation! Target: Marked point (nest edge)!]

[Warning: Teleportation process will be extremely unstable, potentially leading to unknown spatial turbulence!]

Life and death on the line!

Without hesitation, Xuanwei frantically activated the Chaos Bead and all his recently recovered energy, detonating the spatial coordinates he had just marked!

Whoosh!

At the very moment the terrifying will's attack was about to strike him, his figure was once again enveloped by spatial power, and he violently vanished from his original spot!

However, contrary to his expectation of being directly teleported to the edge of the nest, the instant the teleportation began, he felt the powerful force field of the nest itself and the will of that terrifying existence severely interfering with the spatial channel!

The world spun, and spatial turbulence, like bone-scraping steel knives, madly tore at his immortal qi and physical body! He felt as if he had been thrown into a tumble dryer, or stuffed into a high-speed shredder!

[Teleportation severely interfered with! Coordinate offset! Descending into unknown area!]

[Host's injuries worsening! Energy level plummeting! 10%...5%...]

Just as Xuanwei's consciousness was about to be completely torn apart and swallowed by the spatial turbulence in despair, the strange seed that had just sprouted within him seemed to sense the fatal crisis. It erupted with a final surge of powerful Chaos Wood Element Vitality, forming a yellowish-green cocoon of light that tightly wrapped his damaged immortal qi true form!

Simultaneously, the Chaos Bead also shone brightly, forcibly stabilizing the last sliver of the spatial channel.

He didn't know how long had passed; it felt like an instant, yet also like millions of years.

Plop!

He felt himself fall onto solid ground again. The cocoon of light formed by the seed shattered instantly, transforming into pure energy that merged into his nearly dispersed origin, sustaining his last breath of life.

He managed to open his "eyes" (gathering his last shred of consciousness) and found himself seemingly on a barren beach covered in black reefs. In the distance, the outline of Liubo Immortal Island could be vaguely seen.

He had been, by sheer chance, flung back near Liubo Immortal Island!

But his current state was extremely dire. His energy level was almost zero, his immortal qi本体 was covered in cracks, like a glass vessel shattered and then poorly reassembled. His consciousness was also blurred, leaving only the instinct for survival, frantically absorbing the sparse spiritual qi around him to maintain his existence.

"...Am I... going to die..." he thought hazily.

Just as his consciousness was about to completely sink into darkness, three familiar, clear streams of light, carrying anxiety and worry, streaked like meteors across the night sky, rapidly flying towards the desolate beach where he lay