The God-Slaying Spear's Approval (Seeking Follow-ups)

Xuande sat cross-legged in Spirit Spring Valley, his aura gradually steadying.

Completely refining the Twelve-Petal Destruction Black Lotus had consumed a great deal of his mind and spirit, but the gains were equally immense.

At this moment, that dark lotus platform lay quietly deep within his Primordial Spirit space.

It stood in distant opposition to his own Merit Golden Lotus.

One light, one dark; one life, one destruction—they had actually formed a subtle balance.

He did not rush to rise but instead regulated his breathing for several more days, waiting until his mind, spirit, and dharma power had fully recovered before opening his eyes.

Next came the God-Slaying Spear.

Xuande took a deep breath, raised his right hand, and a dark red spear flew out from between his brows, suspending itself before him.

The God-Slaying Spear.

The spear shaft was about twelve feet long, its entire body a dark red hue.

That was the color precipitated from countless battles and slaughters, like a mix of coagulated blood and the molten rock of the earth's core.

At the spear tip, a gleam of cold light—even without its master's urging—still radiated a sharp aura that could freeze the soul.

Faint patterns flowed across the spear's body.

Upon closer inspection, they were countless ancient Dao marks, recording the purest path of slaughter since the Creation of Heaven and Earth.

Xuande looked at this spear, yet his heart was calmer than when he had faced the Black Lotus.

The Black Lotus was opposite to his nature; he had originally thought refining it would be difficult, but it had turned out unexpectedly smooth.

As for the God-Slaying Spear, though it was a supreme treasure of slaughter with a fearsome reputation, it was transformed from the root of the Chaos Green Lotus.

The Chaos Green Lotus, the existence that nurtured Pangu, was also the mother body of his own Merit Golden Lotus.

The Twelve-Petal Merit Golden Lotus was transformed from a lotus seed, while the God-Slaying Spear was transformed from the root.

In a sense, this spear and he... shared the same origin.

Xuande reached out and gently grasped the spear shaft.

In that instant, he clearly sensed a subtle fluctuation emanating from within the spear.

It was not resistance, not rejection, but a complex emotion, almost like "scrutiny."

As if an ancient existence, slumbering for countless years, had finally sensed a familiar aura and was slowly awakening, appraising him as a "same-origin" junior.

Xuande did not rush to channel his dharma power, nor did he envelop it with Merit Golden Light.

He simply held the spear, closed his eyes, and used his mind to perceive, to communicate.

"You and I share the same origin,"

he said slowly in his heart.

"You once followed Rahula in conquering the Primordial Wilderness, stained with countless karmic ties of slaughter.

But those are all in the past. Now Rahula has fallen, the demonic qi has been purified, and you... should have a new home."

The spear shaft trembled lightly.

That tremor was extremely subtle, yet it transmitted clearly into Xuande's mind.

Then, he sensed an extremely ancient, extremely vast aura surging from deep within the spear, slowly enveloping him.

It was the aura of the Chaos Green Lotus, the primordial qi that had existed before the Creation of Heaven and Earth.

More primal, more pure, and more... tolerant than the aura of his own Merit Golden Lotus.

Xuande understood in his heart.

Though the God-Slaying Spear bore the name of slaughter and the history of being wielded by Rahula, it was not inherently evil.

It was a part of the Chaos Green Lotus, transformed from its root.

It carried the most fundamental power of "growth" and "support" from the Chaos Green Lotus.

Only after the Creation of Heaven and Earth, having absorbed countless Sha Qi of slaughter, had it gradually evolved into this supreme treasure of slaughter.

But the root remained, the origin remained.

That thread of same-origin resonance remained.

Xuande hesitated no longer. His mind followed that thread of resonance, slowly sinking into the interior of the God-Slaying Spear.

Unlike the dark void inside the Black Lotus, the interior of the God-Slaying Spear was a dark red chaos.

Countless Sha Qi of slaughter howled like a gale, surged like raging waves, and every wisp of qi was enough to cause an ordinary Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal to lose their mind and fall into killing intent.

But deep within this chaos, Xuande could perceive an extremely faint yet extremely tenacious thread of... life.

That was the root of the Chaos Green Lotus.

The most fundamental essence of this spear.

Xuande's mind traversed layer after layer of slaughter qi, inching closer to that thread of life.

Those killing intents sensed his "same-origin" aura and instinctively tried to obstruct him, but upon touching the Merit Golden Light around him, they hesitated and withdrew.

Merit and killing were, by nature, opposites.

At this moment, the Merit Golden Light became a gentle barrier, shielding him as he safely traversed the killing chaos.

After an unknown span of time, Xuande finally reached the location of that thread of life.

It was an extremely thin and short root shadow, faintly cyan in color, utterly distinct from the surrounding dark-red killing chaos.

It floated there silently, as if asleep, or as if waiting.

Xuande's mind gently touched that root shadow.

Boom—

In an instant, countless images surged into his mind like a tidal wave.

He saw a time before the Creation of Heaven and Earth, when a massive green lotus grew quietly in the endless chaos.

That green lotus was so vast that no words could describe it.

Each petal seemed capable of containing an entire world, and each root delved deep into the chaos, drawing in the most primal Chaos Qi.

He saw that at the center of the green lotus, a blurry giant figure was being nurtured.

That giant slept without waking, yet emanated the most powerful, most primordial aura before the Creation of Heaven and Earth—Pangu.

He saw on the day of the Creation of Heaven and Earth, the giant awoke, grasped a massive axe, and split the chaos.

The clear rose to form the heavens, the turbid sank to form the earth. And that green lotus, which had borne the giant, shattered inch by inch under the might of creation.

Petals scattered, transforming into Innate Spiritual Treasures; lotus seeds flew off, becoming lotus thrones in all directions.

And the root stem that had delved into the chaos, as it fell into the Primordial Wilderness, absorbed the endless killing Sha Qi unleashed during the Creation of Heaven and Earth...

Finally, he saw that root stem, over the long years, gradually condense into the shape of a long spear.

On the day the spear was completed, the entire Primordial Wilderness trembled.

Countless great beings sensed the terror of that killing aura and fled in retreat.

And the first to grasp this spear was a Daoist wreathed in demonic energy—Rahula.

The visions ended there.

Xuande's mind shook violently, and for a long time, he could not speak.

What he had just seen was the memory of the God-Slaying Spear, the memory of the Chaos Green Lotus, and the memory of... the Creation of Heaven and Earth.

It was a history more ancient and vast than his own existence.

And now, this history, this memory, had completely opened itself to him through that root shadow.

Xuande took a deep breath, suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, and slowly merged his own origin aura into that root shadow.

This was the final step of complete refinement—not conquest, not assimilation, but... returning to the source.

To make the God-Slaying Spear remember that it was once part of the Chaos Green Lotus.

To make the God-Slaying Spear recognize anew that this Daoist before it was also a descendant of the Chaos Green Lotus.

That root shadow trembled lightly.

Then, the entire dark-red killing chaos began to shake.

Countless killing intents no longer howled and churned, but slowly receded to all sides, clearing a path leading to the spear's core.

At the end of the path, a dark-red light mass floated silently—that was the Artifact Spirit Origin of the God-Slaying Spear.

Though not fully formed, it had existed for endless ages.

Xuande's mind followed that path and arrived before the light mass.

He made no move, simply watching quietly.

After a long while, the light mass flickered gently, and voluntarily split off a strand of radiance, merging into Xuande's mind.

At that moment, Xuande clearly felt an unbreakable connection established between him and the God-Slaying Spear.

Not master and servant, not conquest, but a recognition closer to "same origin"...

The spear was his, and he was the spear's.

From now on, this supreme killing treasure that had once made the Primordial Wilderness tremble would walk alongside him.

Outside.

In Spirit Spring Valley, Xuande opened his eyes.

He was still sitting cross-legged on that green stone, his right hand still gripping the God-Slaying Spear.

But the God-Slaying Spear now was utterly different from before.

The dark-red shaft was still ancient and deep, the cold gleam of the spear tip still sharp and unmatched.

But the icy killing intent that had kept all at a distance had mostly dissipated.

In its place was a calm, restrained edge, yet one that could erupt at any moment...

Xuande looked at the spear in his hand and suddenly smiled faintly.

He released his grip, and the God-Slaying Spear gently floated up, circling him slowly once before transforming into a dark red streak of light that vanished into the center of his brow.

Within the Primordial Spirit space, it found a spot not far from the Twelve-Petal Destruction Black Lotus and quietly came to rest.

One lotus, one spear.

One black, one red.

Together with the golden body of the Merit Golden Lotus, they formed a strange yet harmonious balance.

Refinement was complete.

It had gone far more smoothly than he had anticipated.

Though the God-Slaying Spear bore a fearsome reputation and an aura of slaughter, its origin was ultimately the root-stem of the Chaos Green Lotus, sharing the same lineage as his Merit Golden Lotus.

That recognition of shared origin was far more effective than any forced refinement.