At the summit of Longevity Mountain, within Wuzhuang Temple.
The vast phenomenon that had swept across the sky and shaken the Earth Veins had completely subsided.
The oceanic energy of the Pangu Jade Marrow had merged perfectly into Zhenyuanzi's true form: an increasingly solid Profound Yellow halo radiating immense Earthen Energy Essence and profound Dao rhythms.
It had settled into an extraordinarily deep foundation, raising and stabilizing his cultivation at the Peak Great Luo Golden Immortal realm. Only a final insight and opportunity seemed to stand between him and the threshold of Quasi-Saint.
The atmosphere within the temple was harmonious and serene, with the rhythms of the Great Dao flowing naturally. The earthshaking events of moments ago seemed like a dream. Only the Xiantian Pure Qi and essence of the earth still lingering in the air proved that the transformation had been real.
Lord Wanshouyuan and Daoist Hongyun exchanged smiles, each seeing relief and joy in the other's eyes.
The two young Daoist attendants, Qingfeng and Mingyue, were delighted too, their little faces flushed with excitement. Though they did not quite understand how much their master had gained,
the vision that had made heaven and earth rejoice, along with their masters' increasingly unfathomable auras, was enough to tell them this was wonderful news.
After a short period of meditation to fully stabilize the advancement brought about by his true form's breakthrough, Lord Wanshouyuan seemed to remember something.
With a thought and a gentle sweep of his sleeve, a streak of light shimmering with Xiantian Spiritual Light emerged.
An extraordinary spiritual root appeared above his palm, hovering three feet from his hand.
It was the strange spiritual root he had obtained from within the Xiantian Restriction at the Summit of Buzhou: the Four Symbols Plantain Tree!
Though it had left the unique environment left behind by Chaos atop Buzhou Mountain, its Xiantian Origin had not diminished in the slightest.
The plant stood over ten feet tall, lush and green from root to crown. Its trunk was like jade and its leaves like emerald, radiating abundant Xiantian Jia Mu Vitality.
Most wondrous were the four enormous plantain leaves at its crown. Each had a different shape, yet each bore natural Dao rhythms.
The four leaves moved without wind, slowly circling. Each radiated a distinct aura of the Xiantian Four Symbols Origin, yet all arose from the same source:
One leaf was dense and weighty, colored Profound Yellow. Its natural markings seemed to trace the veins of a boundless land, radiating the weight and sustaining power of earth;
one leaf was supple and long, colored deep blue. Water Vapor swirled around it, and its rippling patterns seemed to carry the sound of countless rushing rivers, radiating the flexibility and nourishment of water;
one leaf was light and graceful, colored pale green. Its edge was sharp as a blade, and the slightest tremor made the surrounding air whistle, radiating the speed and formlessness of wind;
one leaf was fierce and unrestrained, colored crimson. Its veins resembled flowing magma, and faint images of flames rose from it, radiating the violence and consuming power of fire.
The four attributes converged perfectly within a single spiritual root. Generating and restraining one another in Endless Circulation, they formed a small, balanced world of the Four Symbols within it. Its mysteries were extraordinary, its Dao rhythms formed by nature.
Lord Wanshouyuan studied the Innate Spiritual Root with which he was destined to cross paths. After a moment's thought, he decided to plant it rather than keep it in his sleeve.
A spiritual root needed to take root in a Spiritual Vein if its vitality and Dao rhythms were to endure.
His gaze swept across the courtyard and finally settled on its very center: the Spiritual Aperture where the Ginseng Fruit Tree's true form had once taken root.
This was the core point where the spiritual energy of Longevity Mountain's Ancestral Veins gathered most densely. Nourished by the Ginseng Fruit Tree's growth over countless eons, the soil had long since become extraordinary.
It contained astonishing Wood Vitality and the purest, richest essence of the earth. It ranked among the finest spiritual soils in the Primordial World and was ideally suited to growing all kinds of spiritual roots.
He stepped forward without using any magical tool. Instead, he used his hand as a hoe, Earthen Energy divine light flowing over his fingertips as he gently parted the soil, which shimmered with seven-colored light and held spiritual energy so dense it was almost liquid.
The soil parted to reveal a jade-like node of the Spiritual Vein beneath. Spiritual energy of incredible density immediately surged forth.
Lord Wanshouyuan carefully placed the Four Symbols Plantain Tree's roots into the Spiritual Aperture, then guided Earth Vein Spiritual Energy toward them in a gentle stream.
The moment the roots touched the Spiritual Aperture, they quivered like parched earth receiving rain, greedily absorbing the pure spiritual energy of the earth and the Wood Essence.
The four leaves at its crown shone brightly and circled faster. They grew greener and more radiant, gleaming with divine light. The tree clearly thrived here, looking even more vigorous than it had on Buzhou Mountain.
Just as the Four Symbols Plantain Tree took firm root and its Dao rhythms connected perfectly with Longevity Mountain's Earth Veins, the aura of its Xiantian Four Symbols Origin spread without restraint, intertwining and resonating with the Earthen Energy and Yi Wood Dao rhythms already within the temple—
Daoist Hongyun, standing nearby, suddenly shuddered!
An expression of utter disbelief crossed his face.
His gaze seemed bound by invisible chains, fixed on the Four Symbols Plantain Tree. His eyes held profound shock, confusion, and a yearning beyond words!
A fierce stirring and resonance rose from the depths of his soul, from the very source of his life. It rang through his Purple Mansion Primordial Spirit like a great bell, telling him with absolute clarity: this tree was bound to him by an inseparable, inevitable destiny!
Hong Yun had gained the Dao and taken form from the first Xiantian red cloud in the primordial void when heaven and earth first opened.
His true form was ethereal, forever gathering and dispersing. He was naturally close to the sky, to Flowing Wind, and to the sky's fire of Extreme Hardness and pure yang. His origin had always contained the Xiantian attributes of wind's speed and fire's violence.
At the same time, clouds formed from rising Water Vapor, so the depths of his origin also naturally held the Dao of water's flexibility, transformation, and nourishment.
Ever since he gained sentience, he had lingered atop Longevity Mountain, accompanying Zhenyuanzi's true form of Essence of Innate Earthen Energy through countless eons. They spent their days together, discussing the Dao and testing their skills against each other.
Over time, Hong Yun's cloud body had absorbed vast amounts of essence from Zhenyuanzi's Xiantian earth energy. Without his realizing it, the weight, stability, and sustaining nature of earth had become deeply woven into his origin!
Earth, water, wind, and fire!
They were the most fundamental and powerful Xiantian elements from which all things in the Primordial World were formed.
Yet within Hong Yun's Xiantian Cloud origin, all four coexisted in a natural, harmonious way that seemed shaped by the Great Dao itself. They had even achieved a subtle balance!
Until now, even he had never sensed this so clearly or deeply. He had simply used various movement arts, the Illusion Technique, and the Fire Control Spiritual Power by instinct.
Now, faced with the Plantain Tree that held the purest, most fundamental Xiantian Four Symbols Power, the attributes of earth, water, wind, and fire within Hong Yun seemed to answer a supreme summons and awaken completely.
They surged and circulated of their own accord with unprecedented vigor, resonating with the tree's Dao rhythms as though the two had always belonged together!
His mind trembled and his Primordial Spirit leaped with joy. Many uncertainties and obstacles he had encountered in cultivating the use, transformation, generation, and restraint of these four powers now seemed on the verge of clearing away!
In his eyes, the Plantain Tree was no longer merely an Innate Spiritual Root. It seemed an outward manifestation of part of his own Dao: the perfect guide and amplifier for his path!
With its aid, the speed at which he comprehended the Four Symbols Great Dao, developed his spiritual powers, and even explored higher realms would multiply severalfold!
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