Just then, Zhenyuanzi's true body—the mass of profound yellow Essence of Innate Earthen Energy—stirred faintly. A gentle yet commanding thought reached out, calling Qingfeng Mingyue over.
The two young Daoist attendants hurried forward and stood respectfully at his side, their small faces full of reverence.
Zhenyuanzi, Hong Yun, and Lord Wanshouyuan exchanged smiles. Nothing needed to be said.
The next moment, the three Golden Immortals who stood among the Primordial World's mightiest began discussing the Dao right where they were. Though Zhenyuanzi had yet to take form, his cultivation, power, and understanding had all reached the Great Luo Peak.
This was no one-sided lecture. They exchanged insights and tested what they had learned, their visions of the Great Dao meeting and merging.
Zhenyuanzi's true body emanated a vast, weighty will that seemed capable of bearing all things. Through his divine sense, he explained the mysteries of the Way of the Great Earth.
He began with the origin of the Essence of Innate Earthen Energy, then spoke of flowing Earth Veins, the formation of mountains and rivers, and how the earth bore and nourished all growing things. He spoke of Great Virtue Carrying Things and the earth's steadfastness. His words were ancient and grand, yet they went straight to the root of the Great Dao. The Earth Veins of Longevity Mountain rumbled as if in response, and a warm ocher glow spread across the courtyard floor.
Hong Yun followed, speaking of the Four Symbols Dao as he understood it.
Using the shifting forms of his own cloud qi as a guide, he demonstrated how Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire generated and restrained one another in Endless Circulation. He explained the rise and fall of the clear and the turbid, and the wonders of Yin-Yang Evolution.
As he spoke, four-colored light flowed around him. The powers of Earth Fire Water Wind appeared in gentle harmony, as though tiny Four Symbols worlds were being born and passing away all around him. His voice rang clear, and the principles revealed themselves.
Lord Wanshouyuan taught the Way of Wood. He spoke of the force that drove trees to grow, of life surging forth, of flowers in spring and fruit in autumn, and of wood's close ties to earth, water, fire, and wind.
His voice was clear and lilting, alive with vitality and the rhythms of nature. Everyone who heard him felt their minds ease and their thoughts flow freely. In the courtyard, the Four Symbols Plantain Tree shook its branches and leaves with delight, scattering flecks of green radiance brimming with life, as though cheering along.
The paths these three mighty beings cultivated seemed different, but all things in heaven and earth were connected and sprang from the same source.
The earth bore and nurtured all things. Growing things needed water, wind and air, and the sun's fire. Trees, in turn, rooted themselves in the soil and depended on wind, water, and sunlight.
As the three discussed the Dao, they confirmed one another's insights and sparked countless new ideas. The resonant voice of the Great Dao filled the air, while visions appeared and vanished throughout the courtyard, revealing mysteries without end.
One insight opened the way to another; another's stone could polish one's own jade. Zhenyuanzi gained fresh understanding of how the Four Symbols arose and how Wood Vitality worked;
Hong Yun deepened his grasp of Earth's Profound Virtue and the cycle of life in wood;
and Lord Wanshouyuan learned more about how wood grew and adapted from the earth's stability and the Four Symbols' ceaseless change.
All three gained immensely. Though their cultivation did not rise outright, their understanding of the Great Dao grew more complete and clear, their foundations firmer than stone. Even the road toward becoming a Primordial Chaos Great Luo Golden Immortal seemed a little clearer.
But Qingfeng Mingyue, listening nearby, gained the most!
The two youngsters had always possessed remarkable talent. Awakened from Ginseng Fruit, they had a pure Innate Foundation. Years of service here, listening to teachings on the Great Dao, had given them an excellent grounding.
Now they heard three mighty beings whose cultivation far surpassed Primordial Unity discuss the Dao with profound understanding. The teachings ranged widely but reached straight to their roots, and the three paths confirmed and complemented one another.
For them, this was an opportunity that might not come once in a thousand years—a supreme stroke of fortune that could change their fate!
Countless profound principles and fragments of law poured into their seas of consciousness like a sudden awakening. Every doubt and obstacle they had encountered in cultivation melted away.
Their power surged through their bodies of its own accord, cycling more than a hundred times faster than before. Their auras climbed steadily, and the immortal light within them shone ever brighter!
As the discussion faded and the visions of the Great Dao gradually subsided, pure immortal light burst from both Qingfeng Mingyue at once.
Faint visions of three flowers began to gather above their heads. Their Five Qi in the Chest surged toward their origins, and Dao resonance filled the air around them. They had broken through the bottleneck that had held them back for so long. With this supreme stroke of fortune, they had entered
the realm of Primordial Unity Golden Immortals!
The two young attendants flushed with excitement and trembled as they felt the immense power within them and sensed their new realm. They dropped to their knees and kowtowed again and again, their voices choking with emotion:
"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master Hong Yun! Thank you, Master Yuanjun! You've granted us a great blessing! We'll never forget it!"
Zhenyuanzi and the others nodded with smiles, pleased with the result. Awakening the attendants was itself a contribution to heaven and earth, and watching them grow was a joy.
But not long after the discussion ended, when everything seemed calm again—
The mass of Essence of Innate Earthen Energy, which had been floating quietly as it absorbed the Merit Golden Dragon's aura, suddenly shook violently without warning!
It shook more fiercely than ever before!
Within it, a vast power had been raised to its limit by the Pangu Jade Marrow, nourished by the Merit Golden Dragon's aura, and brought into perfect harmony by the three-way discussion of the Dao. It could no longer be contained. It had reached the point where it had to erupt, transform, and be born anew!
The moment for him to take form had arrived!
An indescribably terrifying suction burst from within the essence. Like an awakening Chaos black hole, it drew in the earth's spiritual energy from Longevity Mountain and far beyond, along with the Primordial World's Wu Tu Origin!
All of Longevity Mountain shook violently, as though a dragon had turned beneath the earth. Mountains rumbled, and the Earth Veins roared like a billion dragons. Endless pillars of ocher spiritual energy erupted from deep underground and converged on Wuzhuang Temple!
Drawn by that force, Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy from millions of miles around gathered wildly in the sky, forming a colossal vortex that covered the heavens. Lightning flashed and thunder roared at its center. Purple qi swept in from the east for thirty thousand miles, while golden lotuses appeared in the void and faded away. The visions shook heaven and earth!
If this commotion went unhidden, it would alert every mighty being on the Primordial Continent. Who knew how many prying eyes and troubles it would draw?
"No! His true body's foundation is too strong. The spiritual energy he's drawing in and the Heavenly Dao's response are far too great!"
Lord Wanshouyuan's expression changed. As Zhenyuanzi's incarnation, he sensed his true body more keenly than anyone. Without hesitation, he poured every drop of his Peak Great Luo Golden Immortal power into the Innate Earth Fetal Membrane Array beneath his feet!
Boom—hum!
The barriers formed by the Nine Layers of Thick Earth became more solid than ever, blazing with light. Like nine ancient Mount Buzhous superimposed, they shimmered with Dao patterns and sealed off Wuzhuang Temple and the heart of Longevity Mountain, trying to cut off the immense spiritual-energy visions and the Heavenly Dao's response.
But the suction and the phenomena it stirred were too vast, as though they had drawn upon a sliver of the entire Primordial Land's power.
The Innate Earth Fetal Membrane Array alone could barely contain them. Its shield rippled violently and hummed under the strain. Fine cracks even appeared across its surface, as though the terrifying power erupting within might burst through at any moment!
"Fellow Daoist Hongyun, help me!" Lord Wanshouyuan shouted urgently. Sweat had appeared on his brow as he strained to hold the array together.
Hong Yun had been ready for some time. His Fortune was bound to Zhenyuanzi's, and he knew how crucial this moment was.
At the call, he flew into the air. His hands blurred as he formed countless Mysterious Dharma Seals, drawing on the Four Symbols Origin within him and the power of the Plantain Tree:
"Four Symbols Rotation—stabilize Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind! Evolve Chaos—sever the world within from the world without! Array, arise!"
In an instant, a vast Four-Colored Light Array rose around the Four Symbols Plantain Tree and covered the entire courtyard!
The four innate origin powers of Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire intertwined, cycled, and transformed, creating a powerful domain that temporarily separated inside from outside and stabilized the laws of Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire within.
The array greatly eased the impact of the rampaging energy on the outside world. Even the torrent of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy surging toward them faltered!
The Four Symbols array and the outer Innate Earth Fetal Membrane Array supported each other. One within and one without, they stabilized and defended together, suppressing and concealing a transformation commotion rare even since the opening of heaven and earth!
Together, the two supreme arrays blazed with dazzling light. At last, they barely managed to confine the world-shaking visions—visions that could have alerted a Sage—to Wuzhuang Temple, preventing them from spreading across the Primordial Wilderness.
And under the protection and restraint of those two arrays, Zhenyuanzi, at their center, underwent his final transformation!
The profound yellow Essence of Innate Earthen Energy, swollen to its limit, flared like a Profound Yellow Sun—then burst apart!
It was no destruction. It was like a chick breaking its shell, like Chaos opening and the clear and turbid dividing!
Within the boundless divine light, the mother qi of all things descended and Earth Vein Dragon Qi cried out in joy. A figure of indescribable majesty and gravitas slowly took shape.
His form moved in harmony with the Dao. His features were dignified and ancient, and when his eyes opened and closed, they seemed to hold visions of the Primordial Land's birth and death, the Reincarnation of all things, and the changing rivers of stars.
He wore an Earth Yin-Yang Dao Robe that had formed around him naturally. Across it appeared the shapes of mountains and rivers, the Primordial World's terrain, and all manner of plants, insects, and fish.
His aura was whole and boundless, his connection to the earth absolute. He seemed the very embodiment of the Primordial Land: at a thought, ten thousand mountains answered; at a word, the Earth Veins obeyed!
The Primordial Land had welcomed its master. Today, Zhenyuanzi had at last reached completion and taken form!
He stepped forward. The myriad visions around him vanished into stillness, leaving him plain and unassuming. His calm, fathomless gaze fell on Lord Wanshouyuan and Hong Yun, who remained on guard, their power badly drained.
He smiled faintly. His voice was calm and gentle, yet carried an authority before which all things on Longevity Mountain bowed and the Earth Veins rejoiced:
"Thank you both for protecting me, fellow Daoists. I, Zhenyuanzi, am in your debt."
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