After resolving the Dragon Clan's problem, Randeng turned to Zhenyuanzi and said, "I'll have to trouble you with the ley lines that were damaged again. Junior Brother Jieyin still needs time to recuperate."
Zhenyuanzi readily agreed. After all, only a fool would pass up a chance to earn merit.
Once Zhenyuanzi had left, Randeng cast a spell to close the mountain-protecting formation and keep the outside world from disturbing them. Then he brought Jieyin to the underground chamber where the ley line core lay.
After twenty thousand years of nourishment, the ley line core had begun to show signs of recovery. Left alone, it would have gathered itself together in another dozen or so yuanhui.
Randeng brought out the Earth Book. The ancient, unadorned scroll appeared, its depiction of Mount Sumeru glowing fitfully like a candle flame.
"Junior Brother Jieyin, I'll oversee the gathering of the ley line core. Sorry for the trouble, but please guard me. Other than Daoist Zhenyuanzi, don't open the formation for anyone who comes to visit."
Randeng turned to give Jieyin his instructions. Once he held the Earth Book and merged with Mount Sumeru itself, he wouldn't be able to spare any attention for the outside world.
"Don't worry, Senior Brother Randeng. I'll guard Mount Sumeru so thoroughly that not even a drop can get through."
Jieyin nodded. He clearly understood that this matter allowed no carelessness.
Randeng then sent a Spiritual Sense message to Zhunti.
"Junior Brother Zhunti, keep using your spiritual-root body to tend the ley lines around you. When the ley line core recovers, that will be the moment you take form. There's no need to wait any longer. On the path to Primordial Unity, the first to ascend has the advantage."
Zhunti sent back a Spiritual Sense message, saying that after tens of thousands of years nourishing his source, it had mostly recovered. With the merit gained from nourishing the ley line core, he should have no trouble restoring it completely.
Randeng nodded and paid the two no further mind. They would both become great saints and patriarchs in the future; he had no need to concern himself with every little thing.
Holding the Earth Book, Randeng once again experienced the sensation of having transformed into the earth itself. Since Mount Sumeru was the core of the Western ley lines, his Spiritual Sense flowed with their power to every corner of the Western lands.
He saw countless rays of seven-colored light radiating from the roots of Zhunti's true form, the Seven Treasures Bodhi Tree, slowly reshaping the ley line network around it;
He saw Zhenyuanzi, clad in a yellow robe, purging the demonic energy and Annihilation Law from a certain abyss;
He also saw countless low-level living beings using their own abilities to repair the ley lines in the lands where their clans dwelled. He had Jieyin to thank for this, as Jieyin had spent years spreading the word and guiding them.
Before leaving, Randeng had asked Jieyin to keep an eye out for particularly gifted beings in the West and preach to them that "repairing the West is everyone's responsibility." It seemed the effort had been quite effective.
"They'll all become pillars of the Western Teachings one day."
Randeng was quite pleased. This was the foundation the West ought to have.
On that day, countless beings repairing the ley lines felt a vast Spiritual Sense sweep past them, carrying the wondrous rhythms of the earth. It was as though heaven and earth were watching them.
Then they discovered that the demonic energy, baleful energy, and Annihilation Law remaining in the ley lines had all been washed away by this mighty force.
Within the ley lines, Randeng sensed his understanding of the Annihilation Law and Law of Earth rising rapidly.
Fifty-eight percent... fifty-nine percent...
Soon, his understanding of the Annihilation Law reached sixty percent, and his cultivation smoothly broke through to the mid-stage of the Grand Unity Golden Immortal realm.
Jieyin, who had been guarding Randeng, felt the fluctuations in the aura beside him and opened his eyes. To his astonishment, his Senior Brother Randeng had somehow broken through to the mid-stage of Great Luo.
They were both Innate Divine Saints who cultivated the Annihilation Law, yet Randeng had unquestionably outstripped him. Fortunately, there was no such thing as a sole claim to a law in the Primordial World. Even if Randeng achieved Primordial Unity, Jieyin could still cultivate the Annihilation Law and seek his own Great Dao.
From first entering the Great Luo realm to breaking through to its mid-stage, Randeng had taken only around twenty thousand years. If the other Innate Divine Saints had known his pace, they would surely have stomped their feet and cursed heaven for its favoritism.
When Randeng's Spiritual Sense returned to the ley line core, the Law of Earth within the Earth Book had already gathered an immeasurable amount of ley line power.
With the Earth Book's divine ability bolstering it, that power began to gather and condense.
Randeng estimated that the process would take at least ten thousand years. Reducing what would have taken a dozen or so yuanhui to just ten thousand years was already the limit of this wondrous treasure of heaven and earth, the Earth Book.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Randeng used the Earth Book to consolidate his newly gained understanding of the Law of Earth.
Three flowers appeared above Randeng's head. His Annihilation Dao Fruit had six petals in bloom, while the flower in the middle of the three had three petals, with the Dao-rhythm of the Law of Earth swirling around it.
He had expected the mid-stage of Great Luo to lead him to the Creation Law. He hadn't expected that, thanks to this opportunity to repair the ley lines, he would grasp three-tenths of the Law of Earth in one fell swoop.
In Randeng's vision, the Great Dao of Reincarnation would use the Annihilation Law and Creation Law as its guides. Reincarnation would go on without end, life arising and flourishing without pause, with the Law of Earth serving as its foundation.
If Randeng's guess was right, the first law Zhenyuanzi cultivated was also the Law of Earth. After all, with a spiritual treasure like the Earth Book, it would be a terrible waste not to cultivate the Law of Earth.
Randeng immersed himself in comprehending and consolidating the laws. In the blink of an eye, ten thousand years passed.
In the vast underground chamber, two Innate Divine Saints sat cross-legged in meditation. But when a series of mighty, resonant pulses rang out, they both opened their eyes.
"The ten thousand years are up. The core of the Western ley lines has finally been restored."
Looking before him at the ley line power surging continuously from the core, Randeng could clearly feel—through the Earth Book—that the Western lands had awoken. The spiritual energy had rapidly doubled in concentration.
Some of the blessed grotto-heavens had also returned to their former state. Countless withered secret realms were brimming with life once more, and spiritual roots were growing again.
Randeng and Jieyin exchanged glances, both seeing delight in the other's eyes. Then the two of them flew out of the underground chamber and up to the peak of Mount Sumeru.
"Senior Brothers, has the core of the Western ley lines really recovered? I feel as though my source has even recovered a little."
As soon as they reached the summit of Mount Sumeru, Zhunti eagerly asked Jieyin and Randeng.
Just then, a streak of dark-yellow light flashed in the distance, and Zhenyuanzi arrived at the formation on the mountaintop.
Zhenyuanzi looked excited as he clasped his hands toward Jieyin and Randeng.
"Fellow Daoists, did we succeed?"
Randeng laughed heartily and replied to Zhenyuanzi, "You guessed right, Daoist. Your efforts were part of this success, too."
This time, heaven and earth in the Primordial World did not quietly distribute Golden Light of Merit into everyone's Primordial Spirit as they had before.
A wondrous vision suddenly appeared between heaven and earth. Endless clouds surged and scattered. High above the ninth heaven, a golden gate swung open, and a vast torrent of Golden Light of Merit poured down from within, spreading across ten thousand miles.
Thirty percent of the Golden Light of Merit turned into a golden lotus and descended into Randeng's brow, once again condensing into a Precious Mirror of Merit. Its concentration of merit was even greater than before.
Jieyin and Zhenyuanzi each received fifteen percent of the merit, while Zhunti received ten percent. The other beings who had repaired the ley lines in the West shared another ten percent. The remaining twenty percent transformed into an endless rain of meritorious spirit water, falling across the Western lands and nourishing all living things.
Randeng was not surprised to receive thirty percent of the merit. He had already earned a great deal while repairing the ley lines.
Zhunti underwent the most noticeable change. After absorbing that ten percent of the merit, he used it to repair his source.
Where the Seven Treasures Bodhi Tree had once stood, a powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted, mingling with the Golden Light of Merit and the Innate Undying Spiritual Light, drawing everyone's attention.
After a long while, a Daoist emerged. His face was fair and plump, his brows and eyes kind, and a gentle smile played at the corners of his mouth, though a sharp mind lay beneath it. He wore a Seven Treasures Lotus Crown and a moon-white, gold-embroidered lotus robe. Prayer beads draped around him, and a faint glazed golden light encircled him. In his hand was the Seven Treasures Wonderful Tree, and his cultivation had reached the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm.
Randeng and the others all offered their congratulations. "Congratulations, Junior Brother Zhunti/Daoist Zhunti, on taking form!"
Zhunti smiled warmly and returned their greetings.