Xuanwei was frantic. He pushed his Heavenly Immortal cultivation to its limit, his immortal energy body transforming into a streak of light too swift for the naked eye to follow. In just a few breaths, he rushed from the Myriad Laws Tower back to the medicine garden behind the mountain.
Before he even landed, he sensed an extraordinary fluctuation of spiritual energy coming from deep within the medicine garden! It was not the orderly gathering produced by the Void Spirit Drawing Array he had set up, but a chaotic, restless tremor, as though something beneath the earth was awakening!
The Spirit-Nourishing Grass, Vermillion Fruit, and other spiritual plants that had once been flourishing now appeared wilted, their spiritual energy severely drained. The ground at the center of the medicine garden had even risen slightly, with wisps of Chaos Color airflow seeping from the cracks. It faintly resonated with the Chaos Bead in his sea of consciousness, yet carried an independent, ancient aura of its own.
The two disciples Daoist Duobao had sent to stand guard were nervously stationed at the entrance to the medicine garden. When they saw Xuanwei arrive, they hurried forward. "Senior Brother Xuanwei! You've finally returned! For some unknown reason, the earth vein started fluctuating abnormally half an hour ago, and this strange airflow began leaking out as well. We did not dare act rashly!"
"Thank you for your efforts, Junior Brothers. Leave this place to me." Xuanwei steadied himself, dismissed the two men, and entered the medicine garden alone.
He first inspected the Void Spirit Drawing Array and discovered that the Origin Particle of Space at its core had become extremely dim due to the disturbance in the earth vein. The formation had nearly stopped functioning.
"So it really is connected..." Xuanwei looked gravely at the raised ground and the escaping Chaos Qi. He could clearly feel the Chaos Bead in his sea of consciousness emitting an even stronger resonance than before, along with... yearning? It was as though something below was deeply drawing it in.
If it was a blessing, it was not a disaster; if it was a disaster, he could not avoid it! Since such a commotion had already erupted, failing to investigate it thoroughly would only invite endless future trouble!
Taking a deep breath, he first pressed the Minor Void Shifting Talisman bestowed by Duobao against the core of his immortal energy, ready to activate it at any moment. Then, he fully circulated Deep Immortal Seclusion, merging his aura with the chaotic spiritual energy and earth vein fluctuations around him. At the same time, he cautiously drew upon a thread of the Chaos Bead's power to cover his body. Only then did he slowly sink beneath the raised earth like a drop of water seeping into the ground.
The farther down he went, the greater the pressure from the soil and rock became, but the Chaos Qi also grew denser. This airflow was pure and ancient, unlike any spiritual energy he had encountered before. It was closer to the aura within the Chaos Bead, yet possessed a unique Dao Rhyme of "weight" and "bearing."
This feeling... it doesn't seem aggressive. Instead, it feels like... the naturally emitted aura of something sealed or being nurtured? Xuanwei was filled with uncertainty.
Following the direction where the airflow was densest, he forced his way through the underground layers. He did not know how deeply he had descended before the space ahead suddenly opened up!
A huge, naturally formed underground cavern appeared before him. The rock walls around it were covered in naturally formed Chaos Dao patterns that glowed faintly, absorbing the spiritual energy surging from deep within the earth vein and transforming it into that Chaos Qi, which converged toward the center of the cavern.
At the center of the cavern was not another fragment of the Chaos Bead as he had imagined, nor was it some ferocious creature. It was a... Light Cocoon more than a person's height tall, formed from countless streams of Chaos Qi intertwined like something tangible!
The Chaos Dao patterns on the surface of the Light Cocoon flowed slowly like living creatures, radiating immense life force and an ancient pressure that seemed to have come from the dawn of creation! Within the Light Cocoon, he could vaguely make out a blurry, curled-up silhouette, as though it were slumbering, or perhaps being nurtured.
"What... is this thing?!" Xuanwei stared at the Light Cocoon in shock. He could feel that the target of the Chaos Bead's resonance was precisely this Light Cocoon! Or rather, the being within it!
The level of life radiating from this Light Cocoon was extraordinarily high. Its essence seemed... no inferior to the Remnant Seed of Jianmu within his body! Moreover, its pure Chaos aura shared the same origin as the Chaos Bead, yet was even older and more primordial!
[Detected a high-concentration Chaos Origin life response! Target status: deep slumber/mid-stage incubation.] [Energy level: unable to estimate precisely (interference from Chaos aura). Essence: suspected Innate Chaos Being or... a new life nurtured from the remains of a Chaos Demon God?] [Chaos Bead resonance extremely high! Analysis: this Light Cocoon has an extremely deep connection with the Chaos Bead. It may have been formed from a lost portion of the Chaos Bead's origin, or may be a special existence born after being nourished by the Chaos Bead's aura.] [Warning! This Light Cocoon is in a critical incubation period and requires immense energy. It is unconsciously drawing upon nearby earth vein spiritual energy and... the life force of the spiritual plants in the host's medicine garden! Forceful approach or interference may trigger unknown consequences!]
The system's analysis made Xuanwei's scalp tingle!
An Innate Chaos Being? A new life born from the remains of a Chaos Demon God? And it had an extremely deep connection to the Chaos Bead? Each possibility was more terrifying than the last!
And this thing was even secretly draining the spiritual energy and life force from the plants in his medicine garden! No wonder his Spirit-Nourishing Grass had wilted!
What should he do?
Leave it alone? Setting aside whether this Light Cocoon would drain dry the medicine garden he had painstakingly cultivated, merely wondering what sort of being it would become after completing its incubation was enough to keep him awake at night. If it hatched into some ferocious creature, he would be the first one to suffer!
Destroy or move it by force? The system had clearly warned of unknown consequences. With his Heavenly Immortal cultivation, trying to tamper with an "egg" that might be at the level of a Chaos Demon God? That would be like swallowing arsenic because he thought he had lived too long!
Just as Xuanwei found himself caught between advancing and retreating, the Chaos Bead in his sea of consciousness seemed to sense his hesitation and proactively conveyed a gentle yet resolute thought. It was not Yang Mei's lingering will, but the instinct of the Chaos Bead's own spirituality, however weak. It longed to approach the Light Cocoon, as though it were a beneficial supplement, while also conveying reassurance that the Light Cocoon held no malice.
Xuanwei pondered for a long time before finally deciding to trust the Chaos Bead's perception. After all, the Chaos Bead was his greatest trump card. Since it shared the same origin as the Light Cocoon, its judgment should be more accurate.
He cautiously approached the Light Cocoon and stopped roughly thirty feet away—this was the relatively safe distance assessed by the system.
He tried guiding an extremely weak thread of Chaos Qi belonging to the Chaos Bead's origin toward the Light Cocoon.
Bzzz!
The Dao patterns on the Light Cocoon's surface instantly lit up, displaying immense intimacy and longing toward this aura of the same origin! It did not attack. Instead, like a starving infant, it greedily absorbed that thread of Chaos Qi, and the Light Cocoon's radiance seemed to grow slightly brighter and steadier.
At the same time, Xuanwei could feel the Light Cocoon's draw on the earth vein and the life force of the spiritual plants in his medicine garden weaken somewhat!
It worked!
A thought stirred in Xuanwei's heart. Could it be that what the Light Cocoon needed was pure Chaos Qi rather than ordinary spiritual energy? Was its absorption of earth vein energy and plant life force merely an instinctive second-best option?
If that was truly the case, then perhaps he could "feed" it and even... establish a connection with it?
He possessed the Chaos Bead. Although it did not produce much Chaos Qi, what it produced was pure and shared the same origin! Furthermore, as the Chaos Bead's restoration increased, the amount of Chaos Qi it generated would increase as well!
Perhaps this was not a crisis, but rather... an opportunity for long-term investment? An investment in a future Chaos Being?
That thought made Xuanwei's heart pound wildly despite himself! The risks were enormous, but the rewards could be just as astonishing!
He immediately began trying. Rather than guide Chaos Qi outward, he directly sat cross-legged—floating—thirty feet from the Light Cocoon. He circulated the Chaos Heaven-Opening Art while communicating with the Chaos Bead, using himself as a relay station. He absorbed the chaotic spiritual energy within the earth vein, had the Chaos Bead convert it preliminarily, then mixed it with a thread of his own immortal energy and Wood Element Vitality—harmonized through the Remnant Seed of Jianmu to increase affinity. It became a gentler Chaos Spiritual Energy better suited for absorption, which he slowly sent into the Light Cocoon.
Sure enough, the Light Cocoon was extremely satisfied with this "customized meal"! It stopped madly drawing upon the earth vein and the medicine garden's life force. Like a hungry fledgling waiting to be fed, it focused on absorbing the Chaos Spiritual Energy Xuanwei supplied. The Light Cocoon's radiance visibly became steadier and gentler, while the blurry silhouette within seemed to solidify slightly.
[Target energy absorption pattern altered! Draw on earth vein and external life force reduced by 80%!] [Host and target have established a preliminary one-way energy link! Link stability: low.] [Chaos Bead resonance with target deepened. Restoration increased slightly (5.01%)!]
He had succeeded! Xuanwei was overjoyed. Although he would need to spend considerable time and energy each day "feeding" this Light Cocoon, it was already the best possible outcome compared to having his medicine garden drained dry and facing unknown risks!
More importantly, he could feel that throughout his energy exchange with the Light Cocoon, his control over Chaos Qi and his understanding of the Chaos Heaven-Opening Art were both deepening. Even the life force of the Remnant Seed of Jianmu was merging more perfectly with the Chaos aura!
This was practically a two-way cultivation accelerator!
He calmed his mind and, while maintaining the energy transfer, began using the pure Chaos Dao Rhyme emitted by the Light Cocoon to consolidate his Heavenly Immortal cultivation and comprehend divine abilities.
Time slowly passed in the silent underground cavern.
After an unknown amount of time, just as Xuanwei felt his own energy expenditure had become considerable and prepared to stop the transfer for the time being, the Light Cocoon seemed to have "had its fill" as well. It conveyed a satisfied, languid ripple of thought.
Immediately afterward, one Chaos Dao pattern on the Light Cocoon's surface glimmered faintly. A small lump of strange gelatinous substance, roughly the size of a fingernail and Chaos Color, with what seemed like nebulae swirling within it, separated from the cocoon and slowly floated toward Xuanwei.
This substance radiated an incomparably pure Chaos Origin aura. Its quality was even higher than the Chaos Qi Xuanwei could currently transform!
[Detected "Chaos Source Gel" (trace amount)! Contains the most primordial power of Chaos creation. It may be used to improve innate foundation, restore origin, nourish spiritual treasures, catalyze spiritual roots... it has countless uses!]
Chaos Source Gel! Xuanwei's eyes nearly popped out! This was a genuine treasure! It would have unparalleled effects in restoring the Chaos Bead, cultivating the Remnant Seed of Jianmu, and even improving his own innate foundation!
The Light Cocoon even gave gifts in return?!
He carefully caught the lump of Chaos Source Gel and absorbed it into his immortal energy body. At once, a warm current spread through him, nourishing every inch of his origin. Even the Chaos Bead and Remnant Seed of Jianmu in his sea of consciousness conveyed joyful thoughts.
"Mutual benefit... it seems this investment was worth it!" Xuanwei looked at the Light Cocoon, which had fallen silent once more but now shone with an even warmer radiance, and smiled.
He withdrew from the underground cavern and returned to the medicine garden. Sure enough, the abnormal activity in the earth vein had subsided. Although the spiritual plants had lost some life force, they were no longer wilting.
He readjusted the Void Spirit Drawing Array, channeling a portion of the spiritual energy it gathered through the energy link between himself and the Light Cocoon, directly transforming it into Chaos Spiritual Energy and sending it below. This established a stable channel of "nourishment."
After handling everything, Xuanwei finally let out a breath of relief and prepared to return to the Myriad Laws Tower to select divine abilities.
However, the moment he stepped out of the medicine garden, a communication sword talisman tore through the air and hovered before him.
Sharp sword intent curled around the talisman, and its aura was extremely familiar to him—it came from Yunxiao!
Xuanwei's heart tightened, and he quickly took the sword talisman. As his divine sense entered it, Yunxiao's cool voice, carrying a hint of severity, directly sounded in his mind:
"Junior Brother Xuanwei, come to Three Immortal Island at once. I have uncovered some clues regarding the source of the Netherworld Taint Qi you expelled when you healed the Seven Orifices Exquisite Lotus... I fear it is connected to an old case from the Primordial World, one involving far-reaching consequences. I need to confirm it with you in person."
Clues about the Netherworld Taint Qi? An old case from the Primordial World?
Xuanwei frowned deeply. The weight that had just lifted from his heart sank once more. It seemed he had no choice but to make another trip to Three Immortal Island. And judging from Senior Sister Yunxiao's tone, this matter was certainly far from simple!
Before you continue