Withered Wood Meets Spring? This Isn't a Vine, It's a Whip for Creating Humans!

Mount Sumeru, the core forbidden area at the rear mountain.

After a long and dusty journey, he had finally returned to this impregnable old lair.

Taiyuan waved his hand casually, and the Innate Gourd Vine, which he had "scavenged" from under the watchful eyes of the many experts at Buzhou Mountain, fell lightly onto the ground paved with top-grade white jade, like a mere firewood stick.

A soft "clatter" sounded, so faint it almost seemed pitiful.

This divine vine, which had once nurtured seven Top-grade Innate Spiritual Treasures and sparked a massive battle between the Three Pure Ones and the Demon Emperor, now looked utterly wretched.

Deprived of the nourishment of innate divine soil like the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, and with its last trace of origin plundered almost predatorily when the seven gourds matured, it was now withered, shriveled, and even blackened in places. It resembled a piece of tree bark dried by the wind for billions of years, utterly devoid of life.

Zhunti crouched down and poked the vine cautiously with his finger. A crisp "crack" sounded, and a small section of the bark crumbled and fell away, turning to ash.

"Elder Brother, this thing... can it really be a treasure?"

Zhunti's face twisted with disgust as he couldn't help complaining. "It's dried up to this state. Forget using it as a Magic Treasure, I doubt it'd even be good as firewood—too much smoke. How about I take it to light the Alchemy Furnace? At least it's an Innate Spiritual Root; the fire should burn pretty hot. Maybe it'll even add a bit of Wood Law to our pills."

Jieyin didn't speak, but his brows were tightly furrowed. No matter how he looked at it, this thing had already lost all life force and was completely ruined. Even watering it with Merit Water probably couldn't bring it back.

"Shallow."

Taiyuan shot them a glance, a mysterious smile curling at the corner of his mouth—the calm of one who held the truth.

"Who says it's dead? It's just pretending."

"And even if it were dead, now that it's in the Western Lands, as long as I, Taiyuan, want it to live, it will live. And it will live more brilliantly than before."

With that, Taiyuan bent down, picked up the withered vine, and walked straight toward the super Merit Pool he had just lavishly remodeled, which was still bubbling with Chaos bubbles.

This pool was now a different beast altogether, arguably the most luxurious bathhouse in the entire Primordial World.

The bottom was paved with a thick layer of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil. The water was a mix of Three Lights Divine Water and Chaos Airflow smuggled from the Purple Cloud Palace. In the center grew a newly sprouted Chaos Green Lotus seedling, radiating the Dao rhythm of the Great Way. With such a top-tier environment, even a common stone thrown in would gain sentience after a few years, let alone an Innate Spiritual Root.

"Go on."

Taiyuan tossed it casually.

The withered vine splashed into the water with a "plop," sending up a spray of golden waves and startling a few Spirit Fish in the pool into scattering.

At first, nothing happened.

The vine floated on the surface like a dead piece of wood, bobbing with the Chaos bubbles, showing no sign of life.

Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance, both seeing doubt in each other's eyes: Could Elder Brother have misjudged this time?

"System, exchange for [Myriad Things Revival Liquid]."

Taiyuan thought silently, directly using a bottle of stock he had received as a system reward earlier and had been reluctant to spend.

Although this item wasn't as heaven-defying in rank as the Three Lights Divine Water, it had an extremely overpowered trait—it specialized in reviving withered wood, especially for innate Wood-attribute Spiritual Roots, with a rule-level resurrection effect.

A single drop of liquid, verdant green as if it had condensed the life force of an entire forest, exuding a dense aura of the Law of Life, slowly coalesced at Taiyuan's fingertip and then fell.

It struck precisely at the most shriveled node of the vine.

Hum—

In an instant, a sudden change occurred.

The once lifeless vine trembled violently, like a dying man suddenly injected with a powerful stimulant.

Then, like a dragon parched for billions of years suddenly encountering sweet rain, it let out a silent yet soul-shaking roar.

Gurgle!

The pool water churned violently, as if boiling.

The vine seemed to come alive, madly devouring the surrounding Three Lights Divine Water and Chaos Primordial Qi. It moved so fast that it formed a small spiritual energy vortex on the pool's surface.

"It's alive! It's really alive!"

Zhunti's eyes went wide as he watched the charred, withered bark rapidly peel away, revealing a new, emerald-green texture beneath. The green was so pure it seemed ready to drip.

The once curled and withered tendrils began to stretch, swimming through the water as if alive, greedily absorbing every bit of nourishment.

Even more miraculous.

The vine didn't grow new gourd leaves or bear any fruit. Instead, countless profound and intricate Dao runes surfaced all over its body.

Those runes weren't aggressive; instead, they radiated a unique Dao rhythm named "Reproduction," "Creation," and "Inheritance." They flowed across the vine's surface, as if narrating the origin of life.

Crack!

A crisp whip-like sound rang out without warning.

The fully revived vine, now translucent and crystal-clear, over three zhang long, shot out of the water like a green dragon emerging from the sea, flicking lightly through the void.

It didn't unleash any world-destroying power, nor did it even stir a ripple of magical energy.

Yet the solid void of Mount Sumeru was directly split open by that whip-crack, leaving a visible fissure!

And the sensation of that strike didn't harm the physical body; instead, it struck straight into the depths of the soul, inducing a trembling and reverence born from the very origin of one's spirit.

Zhunti felt his scalp go numb. He instinctively shrank his neck and rubbed his bald head. "Damn, if that whip landed on a person, even a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal would be torn open and have their soul turned upside down, right? This thing... feels even more sinister than those gourds."

Taiyuan reached out a hand.

The vine flew back obediently, landing in his palm. It felt warm and smooth, like the finest warm jade, and even carried a hint of fawning emotion.

"This object is called the Human Creation Whip."

Taiyuan gently traced the runes on the vines, a glint of wisdom in his eyes—the confidence of one who had seen through the future. "It does not harm the physical body, but strikes the soul directly, and moreover governs the authority of creation and reproduction."

"In days to come, it shall be the first teaching whip of the Primordial World's Human Race, and also the first Postnatal Merit Supreme Treasure between heaven and earth."

"With this, even a Saint would not dare to lightly incur that karma. For when this whip falls, it strikes not a person, but the fortune of the Human Race—the very face of the Heavenly Dao."

Jieyin and Zhunti listened in a fog. What Human Race? What teaching whip? They understood none of it.

But that did not hinder their reverence for Elder Brother.

To turn a mere fire-starting stick into such a supreme treasure—this was nothing short of transforming the rotten into the miraculous! If Elder Brother said it was a treasure, then it was surely more precious than any Innate Supreme Treasure!

"Elder Brother is mighty!" Zhunti immediately offered flattery, his eyes fervent. "Now we have another sect-guarding treasure! Let's see who dares say the Western Lands are poor from now on!"

Taiyuan smiled, about to put the treasure away and nurture it properly.

Suddenly.

From the outermost protective formation of Mount Sumeru came an extremely faint fluctuation, tinged with a hint of hesitation and anticipation.

Someone was knocking at the gate.

And it was an acquaintance.

Taiyuan swept his divine sense through layers of mist and saw the scene beyond the mountain gate. The smile on his lips deepened, as if he had been waiting for this moment all along.

There, outside the mountain gate, amidst the gray fog that never dispersed and served to feign barrenness, stood a graceful figure in a multicolored cloud-robe, her bearing exquisite and noble.

In her hands, she held several storage pouches that looked quite valuable, her expression tinged with uncertainty—as if torn over whether to disturb them, or worried that her arrival might bring trouble to these "impoverished" Western cultivators.

Nuwa.

"Look."

Taiyuan pointed toward the mountain gate and raised an eyebrow at his two junior brothers, who were still studying the vine. "The one delivering money... ah, no, the great benefactor of merit—here she comes."

"Come, let us go welcome this future Saint fellow-cultivator."

"Remember, act naturally. Don't let her think we're flaunting our wealth, but don't overdo the pretense either. We need to give the impression that 'this is just our simple, unadorned daily life.'"

Jieyin and Zhunti exchanged a glance and grinned.

Act naturally?

Understood.

That meant bringing out the finest things and pretending they were worthless.

This routine—they were masters at it!