Innate Gourd Vine (Please Follow, Vote Monthly Tickets and Recommendation Tickets!)

In the blink of an eye, three clusters of seven-colored auspicious clouds descended into a valley. Grand Pure Daoist gave the empty, secluded valley a faint glance, then raised a hand and swept it. The Innate Grand Formation concealing the valley silently shattered at once, revealing the valley's true appearance.

Lu Yuan looked out and saw a lush, verdant gourd vine climbing over the stone walls of the valley.

This gourd vine was incomparably luxuriant, its branches and leaves flourishing. Innate Spiritual Qi swirled between its stems and tendrils, while seven palm-sized gourds of varying colors hung from it, each one Innate by nature.

"No wonder it stirred a response in the Sanqing. So it was this spiritual root—the Innate Gourd Vine..."

Looking at the Innate Spiritual Root before him, Lu Yuan fell into thought. This Innate Gourd Vine was one of the ten great Innate Spiritual Roots of the Primordial World.

This spiritual root had borne seven gourds, all creations of Innate fortune. Once they matured, a little refinement would turn them into Innate Spiritual Treasures.

It was precisely because this gourd vine spiritual root was so "defying Heaven" that it drew the backlash of the Heavenly Dao, damaging its Innate fate. Thus, in the darkness, it was sensed by great divine ability users such as the Sanqing, bringing about this tribulation.

"Truly a creation of Heaven and Earth..."

Gazing at the Innate Gourd Vine, his eyes sweeping over the seven gourds on its tendrils, Grand Pure Daoist could not help stroking his beard in praise.

Beside him, Yuqing Yuanshi Daoist and Shangqing Tongtian Daoist also silently marveled at how the Heavenly Dao forged its creations, like an antelope hanging its horns, leaving no trace behind.

The four waited quietly for the gourds to mature. At this moment, two seven-colored auspicious clouds flew over from the sky above and descended outside the valley.

Lu Yuan looked over and saw a goddess with dignified phoenix-like bearing, draped in rosy light, her features ever-changing in beauty. She was the great goddess Nuwa of Fengqi Mountain.

The other's eyes shimmered with the light of wisdom, while a majestic nobility emerged between his brows. He was the great god Fuxi of Fengqi Mountain.

"Sanqing Dao brothers!"

Fuxi and Nuwa came to the Sanqing's side and greeted them first.

The Sanqing nodded slightly and replied with smiles.

As they exchanged pleasantries, another four auspicious clouds descended one after another outside the valley.

They were Dijun, Taiyi, Hongyun Daoist, and Zhenyuanzi—four renowned great divine ability users of the Primordial World.

Upon seeing the Innate Gourd Vine within the valley, all four revealed delighted expressions as if by prior agreement.

After exchanging greetings with the Sanqing, Nuwa, and Fuxi outside the valley, the four likewise waited quietly for the gourds to mature.

Standing behind Shangqing Tongtian Daoist, Lu Yuan secretly observed Dijun, Taiyi, Hongyun Daoist, and Zhenyuanzi.

Dijun wore a golden robe. As his eyes flickered, a wisp of scorching fire burned in their depths, manifesting the image of a Three-Legged Golden Crow. His entire body radiated an imperial aura, like a supreme sovereign ruling Heaven and Earth.

Taiyi, tall and imposing at his side, also wore a golden robe, and the image of a Three-Legged Golden Crow likewise manifested around him.

Yet Lu Yuan felt that Taiyi possessed an additional profundity and ethereality, like the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Heavens.

Moreover, though both bore the aura of emperors, Dijun was like one seated above the nine skies, ruling Heaven and Earth, while Taiyi exuded the supreme imperial bearing of one who cleaved across Heaven and Earth, battling Heaven and fighting the land.

"Perhaps that legend from my previous life was true..."

Thoughts turning in his mind, Lu Yuan sensed that wisp of aura as profound and ethereal as the Heavenly Dao of the Nine Heavens, and fell into contemplation.

According to the legends of his previous life, Taiyi's origin was extraordinary. He had been a fragment of Emperor Cangli's primal spirit that fell into the sun and was nurtured through mingling with the essence of the sun.

That was why he had been born clutching an Innate Supreme Treasure—the Chaos Bell!

One had to know that the Chaos Bell and the Jade Disk of Creation, these two Innate Supreme Treasures, had been Emperor Cangli's greatest treasures during the World of Gods and Demons in the First Epoch.

It was with the aid of these two supreme treasures that Emperor Cangli could lead the gods and demons in pacifying the Fierce Beast Calamity, open up twelve layers of the Turbid Sha God-Demon Great Dao, unite the Innate God-Demons, open up the Nine Heavens Heavenly Realm, and establish the Heavenly Court.

Yet after Emperor Cangli attempted to break into the Hunyuan Dao Realm, only to be besieged by the surviving Chaos God-Demons and perish beneath the Hunyuan Dao Tribulation, the Chaos Bell and Jade Disk of Creation disappeared from the Primordial World forever.

Suppressing his speculation, Lu Yuan turned his gaze toward Zhenyuanzi. He wore an earth-yellow robe embroidered with mountains, rivers, earth veins, and the roots of Cave Heaven Blessed Lands. The Dao rhythm around him faintly merged with the earth's veins.

Hongyun Daoist beside him, meanwhile, had kindly brows and a benevolent expression. Clad in a fiery-red Daoist robe, he wore a constant smile that made others unable to resist drawing close to him.

Just as Lu Yuan finished secretly observing the four, it seemed that the heavenly timing had arrived. The gourd vine in the valley suddenly trembled, and the seven gourds upon its tendrils shook, emitting a burst of seven-colored divine light.

At this moment, the Innate Grand Formation blocking everyone's path actually dispersed on its own, as though it had opened a road specifically for them.

Looking at the gourds glittering with spiritual light on the vine, Grand Pure Daoist turned toward the six great divine ability users in the valley—Fuxi, Nuwa, and the others—and said, "The three of us are Pangu's Orthodox Lineage. Of the seven gourds borne by this Innate Gourd Vine, three are fated with us brothers!"

Beside him, Yuqing Yuanshi Daoist and Shangqing Tongtian Daoist also watched the six without uttering a word.

Hearing Grand Pure Daoist's words, everyone nodded slightly in agreement. As great divine ability users of the Primordial World, they could naturally sense the revelations of heavenly timing.

Who was fated with a gourd and who was not was perfectly clear to them. Naturally, they would not do something so shameless.

Of course, this was merely an unspoken rule among the great divine ability users of the Primordial World. When facing cultivators beneath their level, it was naturally a matter of "the virtuous possessing it"!

And who were the "virtuous"? Naturally, the great divine ability users!

After the Sanqing stated their position, Fuxi stepped forward and said, "Fellow Daoists, the gourds borne by this Innate Gourd Vine are not fated with me. My sister and I will take only one!"

Taiyi and Zhenyuanzi beside him also stepped forward, stating that they were not fated with the gourds.

Once everyone reached a consensus, Grand Pure Daoist stepped forward and beckoned with a hand. A purple gourd detached on its own and fell into his palm.

Grand Pure Daoist glanced at the purple gourd, then casually put it away.

Looking at that purple gourd, Lu Yuan naturally knew that it was the Purple Gold Red Gourd. Later, Eldest Martial Uncle would use it as a container for storing pills, and it was also the magic treasure used by Golden Horn and Silver Horn during the Journey to the West Tribulation.

After Grand Pure Daoist took the purple gourd, Yuqing Yuanshi Daoist stepped forward and beckoned. A white gourd detached on its own and landed in his hand.

Afterward, Shangqing Tongtian Daoist stepped forward and collected a green gourd.

After Sanqing had finished picking theirs, Dijun stepped forward and beckoned. A yellow gourd fell into his palm. Later, he refined it into a supreme treasure of slaughter, the 'Immortal Slaying Flying Knife,' which shone brilliantly during the 'Investiture of the Gods Tribulation.'

Immediately after, Nuwa stepped forward and took an orange gourd. After attaining the Saint's Dao Fruit, she refined it into the secret treasure that governed the Demon Race's fortune—the 'Monster Summoning Banner.'

Once everyone had finished picking, Hongyun Daoist smiled faintly and walked forward. A red gourd detached itself and flew into his hand.

This red gourd was later refined by Hongyun Daoist into a treasure of slaughter, the 'Nine-Nine Soul Scattering Gourd.' It contained red divine baleful intent, capable of corroding the Primordial Spirit and eroding the Dao body.

As the six gourds were picked, the entire Innate Gourd Vine's vital essence dried up, leaving it malnourished. The final Black Gourd on the vine was only one-third the size of the previous six gourds.

"What a pity. This final Black Gourd is innately deficient; it is destined to wither before it can be born!"

Seeing that the Spiritual Root of the gourd vine was about to die and that the Black Gourd was on the verge of dying in the womb, Zhenyuanzi beside him let out a faint sigh.