Mount Sumeru, once left in ruins by Rahula's self-detonation, had now been brought back to life by Taiyuan. At last, this Western Ancestral Vein welcomed its three masters home.
The Nine Dragon Agarwood Carriage slowly descended onto the plaza, which had been paved with a single slab of top-grade white jade.
The moment the carriage door opened, a rich stream of Innate Spiritual Qi washed over them, so dense it seemed almost tangible.
One deep breath, and they could smell home.
There were no omnipresent gales in the Chaos, no schemes and machinations outside the Purple Firmament Palace. There was only the soft rustling of Five-Needle Pine needles in the breeze and the clear, tinkling sound of a spirit spring flowing in the distance.
"Whew—"
Zhunti was the first to jump out. He stretched lazily, utterly unconcerned with appearances, and his joints crackled all over. "Home really is the best! Even at a Saint's dojo, staying too long makes you feel out of place. Nowhere beats lounging in our Carefree Chair."
Jieyin looked relaxed as well. The tension in his brow, brought on by East King Duke blocking their way, eased, and the Prayer Beads in his hand turned more slowly.
Taiyuan strolled out at an unhurried pace. He surveyed the spirit flowers and exotic plants swaying in the breeze, then nodded with satisfaction.
All those years of construction had paid off.
Compared with the cold grandeur of the Purple Firmament Palace, every blade of grass and every tree here radiated the warmth and opulence unique to a nouveau riche.
"All right, enough reminiscing."
Taiyuan tossed the half-empty jar of hot pot base to Zhunti. "Go pour this into the feeding troughs in the spirit beast garden behind the mountain. It was simmered from Innate Spiritual Materials, and it's soaked up quite a bit of Dao resonance from the Saints' lectures. Don't waste it. Give the little guys a treat so they can transform sooner and guard the place for us."
Zhunti caught the jar, which gave off a bold, numbing-spicy aroma, and the corner of his mouth twitched.
That was too extravagant.
Feeding spirit beasts top-grade Spiritual Materials steeped in a Saint's aura?
If word got out, those Eastern Lands rogue cultivators who were still fighting over a single stalk of acquired Spirit Grass would probably die of anger at the foot of Mount Sumeru.
But then he thought about it. They were their spirit beasts. What was wrong with giving them good food?
"Sure thing! I'm on it!" Zhunti eagerly raced toward the back mountain, already imagining whether the spirit beasts would mutate and start breathing fire after eating the hot pot base.
After sending Zhunti away, Taiyuan turned to Jieyin, his expression growing a little more serious.
"Second Brother, come with me to the forbidden grounds in the back mountain."
"We have a 'top-secret project' that needs to get underway right away."
Jieyin's heart tightened at those words.
A top-secret project?
Ever since Elder Brother had started leading them in farming, every so-called "major project" had turned out to be a stroke of genius that greatly strengthened the Western Lands.
Was Elder Brother planning another grand undertaking?
The forbidden grounds at the heart of Mount Sumeru's back mountain.
This was where the Eight Treasures Merit Pool had originally stood, and it was also the center where the Western Sect's fortune converged.
The pool's golden waters rippled softly. Every drop had been formed from vast amounts of merit and possessed the miraculous power to restore life to the dead and flesh to bare bones.
At the center of the pool, the Twelve-Grade Golden Lotus of Merit bloomed in serene silence, drawing in the mysteries of heaven and earth.
This was already a top-tier blessed paradise in the Primordial World.
Yet Taiyuan stood beside the pool with his brow slightly furrowed, looking rather displeased with its luxurious arrangement.
"No good. It's too shabby."
Taiyuan shook his head, his tone laced with dissatisfaction, as if this place were unfit for anyone to live in. "This much foundation won't be enough to raise that little ancestor."
Jieyin followed behind him. At those words, he nearly slipped and fell into the pool.
Shabby?
This pool of Merit Water, together with that top-grade Innate Spirit Lotus—if this counted as shabby, what was the Jade Void Palace on Mount Kunlun, where the Three Pure Ones lived? A bare shell?
"Elder Brother, what... what else needs changing?" Jieyin asked cautiously. "If we expand it any further, the leyline might not be able to bear the strain."
"Not an expansion. A complete renovation."
Taiyuan's eyes gleamed. He swept a hand through the air, and an invisible force of magic temporarily sealed the precious Merit Water and lifted it into midair.
The pool, which had been brimming a moment ago, was now an empty, bare pit.
"Dig three thousand zhang deeper."
Taiyuan spoke calmly, as if he were merely suggesting an extra dish for dinner.
Jieyin didn't dare ask questions. He brought out the Ruyi Hoe, worn smooth with use, and put his Grand Luo Golden Immortal strength to work. He dug with such effortless speed and rhythm that the job was done in no time.
Soon, a bottomless pit stood before them.
"That's enough."
Taiyuan called a halt. Then he took a deep breath and began his "performance."
He swept his sleeve, and a dazzling yellow divine light, bright enough to blind them, poured from it like a heavenly river cascading down.
Rumble!
It wasn't ordinary soil.
Every grain radiated the heavy Wutu Essence Qi of a mountain. The instant it hit the ground, it began multiplying on its own, filling the bottom of the pit in the blink of an eye and continuing to rise.
An aura of creation that urged all things to grow instantly filled the entire forbidden grounds.
Jieyin stood at the edge of the pit, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.
Trembling, he reached toward the faintly glowing soil, his voice changing pitch.
"This... this is..."
"Nine Heavens Breathing Soil?!"
It was a fabled Sacred Item! They said that a piece no larger than a fingernail could become ten thousand li of fertile land, and even dam the waters of the Heavenly River.
In the outside world, a single gram of it could be exchanged for a lower-grade Innate Spiritual Treasure.
And yet...
Elder Brother was pouring it into the pit by the ton?
This wasn't laying a foundation. It was like filling the sea with money!
"Elder Brother! You mustn't!"
Jieyin's face twisted with heartache. His instinctive miser's nature made him want to leap down and scoop the soil back up. "How can we use such a Sacred Item to... line the bottom of a pool? It's far too wasteful! Refined into a defensive magic treasure, this could withstand a Saint's full-force strike!"
"You're thinking too small."
Taiyuan shot him a glance. Not only did he keep going, he took out another crystal-clear jade bottle.
He pulled out the stopper.
A three-colored divine light shot into the sky.
Sunlight Divine Water could dissolve blood, essence, and flesh. Moonlight Divine Water corroded the primordial spirit and soul. Starlight Divine Water dissolved the true spirit and consciousness.
But combined, the three formed the Primordial World's greatest healing elixir—the Three Lights Divine Water!
Splash, splash.
As if he were dumping out bathwater, Taiyuan poured the entire bottle of Three Lights Divine Water—all of which was normally sold by the drop—onto the newly laid Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.
The moment the soil met the water, it became a muddy mixture tinged with the colors of Chaos.
It looked like ordinary sludge, but the terrifying energy it contained would have made even a Quasi-Saint green with envy.
"This isn't the end yet."
Taiyuan gave a mischievous grin and reached into the System Space, pulling out a gray, hazy stream that seemed to devour all light.
It was the Chaos Origin Airflow he had secretly collected and compressed in a begging bowl outside the Purple Firmament Palace, while nobody was looking.
"Go!"
He drove the Chaos Airflow into the muddy pool.
The still mud instantly boiled, giving rise to an astonishing vision: earth, water, fire, and wind emerged and settled into place as all things began anew.
At that moment,
this pit was no longer a simple pool.
It had become a small Chaos world, independent of the Primordial World yet linked to the origin of the Great Dao.
Jieyin was utterly dumbfounded.
He stood there blankly, staring at the "mud pit" before him, which radiated an aura that made his soul tremble. His mind was a complete void.
A bed of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, a bath of Three Lights Divine Water, and Chaos Airflow for air conditioning.
This level of luxury...
Even Dao Ancestor Hongjun's bed probably couldn't compare.
"Elder Brother..." Jieyin swallowed, his voice dry. "Are you... raising an ancestor?"
He couldn't think of anything else that would deserve such treatment.
Taiyuan dusted off his hands and nodded in satisfaction at his handiwork.
"Think bigger! Second Brother, you need to broaden your horizons!"
He turned and patted Jieyin's still-trembling shoulder, speaking earnestly. "If the Western Lands are to truly rise and stop having to answer to anyone, the three of us Grand Luo Golden Immortals won't be enough."
"Even if we become Saints, the Heavenly Dao will still be above us."
"What we're nurturing is a foundation capable of breaking through that ceiling."
"Compared with the boundless possibilities ahead, what are a little soil and a little water?"
Taiyuan's voice was soft, yet there was a brazen confidence in it that inspired belief.
Jieyin shuddered.
Break through the ceiling?
Was Elder Brother aiming for more than just Sainthood? Was he after...
He didn't dare continue the thought, but the pain in his eyes vanished, replaced by fervent admiration.
As expected of Elder Brother!
With such skill and vision, of course he deserved to be the leader!
"Enough daydreaming."
Taiyuan pointed at the completed super-pool. "Go move our original Merit Water and Golden Lotus back. They're just decorations. The real star... is about to make its entrance."
Jieyin quickly answered and set to work.
This time, he moved with the tenderness of someone caressing a lover's face, afraid he might damage the priceless "mud."
Half an hour later.
The new Merit Pool was finally complete.
On the surface, it still looked like the same rippling pool with its blooming Golden Lotus. Apart from a faint layer of Chaos mist over the water, there seemed to be little difference.
But anyone who stood there could feel it.
An immense spiritual aura, restrained to the utmost yet as unfathomable as the abyss.
This place had become the finest blessed paradise in the entire Primordial World, second only to the Purple Firmament Palace.
Even if you tossed a pig into it and let it soak for three days, it could become an immortal on the spot.
Taiyuan stood by the pool and felt the Chaos aura that was bound to him by blood. He turned his palm over.
The green seed appeared in his hand once more.
"Little one, I've made you a nest."
"Don't let me down."
Taiyuan murmured, his eyes shining with anticipation.
Next...
it was time to witness a miracle.
Before you continue