Cultivating Techniques, Hongyun Takes Form

After Zhenyuanzi finished his oath, he felt a clarity throughout his body, as if some invisible shackle had snapped with an audible sound.

He understood in his heart that the Great Dao had acknowledged his existence; from this point on, he had truly become a living being of the Primordial Land, no longer separate from the Essence of Innate Earthen Energy.

Steadying his mind, he followed the methods in his inherited memories and slowly extended his divine sense to probe his surroundings.

At first, it felt somewhat unfamiliar—using divine sense was vastly different from seeing with the eyes.

Wherever his divine sense reached, all things presented themselves in a more essential form within his Sea of Consciousness—neither color nor form, yet able to penetrate to the very origin.

Ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers, every blade of grass and every tree, even the flow of earth veins and the rise and fall of spiritual energy, all unfolded like a three-dimensional painting, every detail laid bare.

Such a wondrous experience made Zhenyuanzi sigh at the marvels of cultivation in the Primordial Land.

He saw that he was within a profound and mysterious great formation, its structure connected to the earth veins, drawing forth the Innate Earthen Energy, which transformed into layer upon layer of hazy yellow light enveloping all directions.

This formation seemed born of heaven and earth, self-contained in its pattern, guarding the living beings within.

At the center of the formation, a Profound Yellow book was quietly suspended, emitting a heavy and vast aura—it was the Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Book of the Earth.

Its pages turned without wind, and faintly visible within were the mountain and river veins and the shifting patterns of the great earth, as if breathing in unison with the earth veins of the entire Primordial Continent.

Beside it stood a towering fruit tree, its branches and leaves bearing dozens of infant-shaped fruits, glowing faintly and exuding an exotic fragrance.

The tree's roots pierced deep into the earth, each root seeming connected to the Primordial Land's earth veins, inhaling and exhaling boundless Innate Spiritual Qi.

Zhenyuanzi knew this was the Innate Spiritual Root Ginseng Fruit Tree, the legendary spiritual root known to later generations.

Strangest of all was the Ten Thousand Mile Red Cloud above his head, like blood or sunset clouds, slowly drifting across the sky.

Within the cloud, there were faint ripples of spiritual nature; though not yet formed, it already carried the breath of life.

Zhenyuanzi probed with his divine sense and found that its intelligence was just beginning to stir, hazy and chaotic, still requiring countless ages of nourishment before it could fully manifest.

He understood in his heart: this was the one who would later become the great good-hearted man of the Primordial Land, Old Ancestor Hongyun.

Having finished his inspection, Zhenyuanzi withdrew his divine sense and began to cultivate according to the techniques in his inherited memories.

This technique was called the Kunyuan True Scripture, bestowed by the Great Dao, specifically designed for the Essence of Earthen Energy. When cultivated, it could draw earth vein spiritual energy and absorb the essence of Innate Earthen Energy.

At first, cultivation felt awkward, but since Zhenyuanzi was born from the Essence of Innate Earthen Energy, he was naturally aligned with this technique.

After only several days, he had already entered the gate.

Innate Spiritual Qi surged in like a tide all around him, filtered through the great formation, transforming into pure Earthen Energy that merged into his body.

His body gradually took on a Profound Yellow glow, blending with the aura of the great earth, as if he had become a part of Longevity Mountain itself.

Time in the Primordial Land was immeasurable; cultivation knew no seasons.

Zhenyuanzi immersed himself in cultivation, feeling his magical power accumulate bit by bit, and his understanding of the Way of the Great Earth deepened day by day.

Sometimes, when tired of cultivation, he would look up at the red cloud and tell stories to himself, as if to pass the time.

Most of these stories were from his previous life, adapted by him into tales of Chaos Demon Gods.

"There was once a Chaos Demon God named Dongguo,"

Zhenyuanzi narrated leisurely to the red cloud, his voice transmitted through divine sense deep into the cloud.

"One day, he encountered an injured Demon God and, taking pity, helped him with his own origin.

But that Demon God, once recovered, turned on Dongguo's origin, nearly causing him to be annihilated in form and spirit..."

The red cloud seemed to respond to these stories, churning and shifting, sometimes condensing like red jade, sometimes dispersing like light gauze.

Seeing this, Zhenyuanzi told his tales with even more vigor, adapting stories like the Farmer and the Snake one by one.

He did not know what effect these stories might have on the red cloud after it took form; he only did it to pass the time.

Thus he cultivated and taught, for who knew how many kalpas.

Zhenyuanzi's cultivation grew increasingly profound, rising from the initial Golden Immortal realm all the way to the peak of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal.

By then, his magical power surged like rivers within him, his divine sense could cover the entire Longevity Mountain, and his comprehension of the Way of the Great Earth was quite deep.

One day, Zhenyuanzi awoke from deep meditation, knowing he had reached a bottleneck—mere cultivation could no longer break through to the Great Luo Realm.

So he decided to pause his cultivation and instead focus on comprehending the Innate Great Earth Formation and refining his companion spiritual treasure.

First, he merged his divine sense into the great formation, carefully sensing its operation.

This formation was naturally formed, containing endless mysteries.

The formation had nine layers, drawing earth vein qi and transforming it into Earthen Energy. In defense, it was as solid as gold and iron; in offense, it could mobilize the power of mountains and rivers.

As the Essence of Innate Earthen Energy, Zhenyuanzi shared the same origin as this formation, so comprehending it took half the effort for twice the result.

After three hundred years, Zhenyuanzi had initially mastered the method of operating the formation.

With a thought stirred, he could mobilize the formation and draw earth vein qi for his own use.

At this point, within the range of Longevity Mountain, even if a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal attacked, he would have the strength to fight.

Next came the refinement of the Book of the Earth.

This book, also known as the Classic of Mountains and Seas, was an Innate Spiritual Treasure containing the veins of the Primordial Land. One in charge of it could borrow the power of the great earth, with unmatched defense, and could also mobilize earth veins to set up formations and defenses.

Zhenyuanzi held the Book of the Earth in his hands, feeling its extraordinary weight—neither metal nor stone, warm to the touch.

He dripped his vital blood onto the book, then activated the Artifact Refining Method recorded in the Kunyuan True Scripture, slowly merging his divine sense into the Book of the Earth.

At first, the Book of the Earth resisted somewhat, for all Innate Spiritual Treasures possessed sentience.

But Zhenyuanzi was its original companion master, their auras of the same origin, and before long, the Book of the Earth accepted his divine sense.

Instantly, a flood of information poured into Zhenyuanzi's Sea of Consciousness—the veins of the Primordial Land, the contours of mountains and rivers, the nodes of earth veins, and even the locations of various Spiritual Apertures and blessed lands, all as clear as patterns on a palm.

The process of refining the Book of the Earth was slow and arduous. Zhenyuanzi continuously infused it with his dharma power, leaving his Primordial Spirit Imprint within the book.

Because the Book of the Earth was a companion spiritual treasure, sharing the same origin as him, he could begin refining it even at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

For any other Innate Spiritual Treasure, refinement would be impossible without the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

Thus, after several Epochs passed, Zhenyuanzi finally fully refined the Book of the Earth.

With a thought stirred, the Book of the Earth could unfold into the Boundless Earth Barrier, its defensive power unrivaled in the Primordial Continent;

With another thought, it could draw upon the earth veins and alter the flow of mountains and rivers.

The moment he fully refined the Book of the Earth, Zhenyuanzi felt as though he had connected with the earth veins of the entire Primordial Continent, as if he had become the incarnation of the great earth itself.

With the aid of the Book of the Earth, his comprehension of the Way of the Great Earth surged sharply, and his cultivation, which had stagnated for so long, began to loosen, Vaguely Touching the threshold of the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm.

Joy filled Zhenyuanzi's heart, knowing that a breakthrough was imminent.

But He was not impatient. He continued to steadily nurture his cultivation, while keeping a constant watch on the changes in the red cloud above his head—the spiritual intelligence within the cloud was growing more complete day by day, and its time to take form was surely Not Far.

One day, as Zhenyuanzi was contemplating the mysteries of an earth vein recorded in the Book of the Earth, he suddenly felt a tremor in his heart, As If something closely tied to him was about to happen.

He looked up at the sky and saw that the Ten Thousand Mile Red Cloud was suddenly churning violently, radiant spiritual light bursting forth from within—it was clearly about to take form.

Zhenyuanzi dared not be careless. He immediately activated the Innate Grand Formation at full power, drawing Earth Vein Qi to protect the red cloud and assist it in taking form.