Unexpected Joy, Nine Heavens Breathing Soil [Seeking Monthly Votes]

"Nine Heavens Breathing Soil!" Even Zhenyuanzi, steady as he was, couldn't help blurting it out, his tone filled with barely contained shock and immense joy!

As one who had taken form from the Innate Wu Tu Essence, he possessed a far keener instinctive affinity and attraction to this supreme earth-element divine object than ordinary beings.

Legend held that when Chaos first split and the clear and turbid separated, this substance was formed from the purest and most refined Innate Wu Tu Origin of Heaven and Earth, containing boundless Creation Strength—a peerless treasure for nurturing all things and shaping the universe!

Later generations would say that Empress Nuwa used this very soil, mixed with Three Lights Divine Water, to mold humans, achieving supreme merit!

He never imagined that beneath the Chaos Spiritual Pool nurturing the Gourd Vine, such a treasure lay hidden—one that would drive even a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal wild with desire!

It was clear that the existence of this Nine Heavens Breathing Soil provided the most fundamental and powerful source of nourishment for the Gourd Vine, enabling it to simultaneously nurture seven such extraordinary Innate Spiritual Objects!

For Zhenyuanzi, this divine object held extraordinary significance.

Whether he used it to refine his own Innate Earthen Origin, elevating his foundation and cultivation, or to forge an earth-element supreme treasure of boundless power, or to nourish the Ancestral Veins of Longevity Mountain, enhancing the spiritual grade and defensive capabilities of his entire Dao field, its value was immeasurable—a true cornerstone of fortune!

How could he miss such a fortune? Zhenyuanzi immediately suppressed his excitement, concentrated and calmed his mind, and activated his divine power.

He pressed his hands down in a void gesture, releasing even more refined Earth Element Law force. Like the most dexterous fingers, it carefully peeled away the thick layer of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil at the pool's bottom, along with every grain of soil touching the pool walls, intact and unharmed.

The soil seemed sparse, but in hand, it weighed immensely, as if bearing thousands of great mountains. Had he not been the incarnation of Earthen Essence, with a deep foundation and the vast mana of a Great Luo Peak cultivator, even collecting it would have been impossible.

Having smoothly gathered and safely stored the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun looked at each other and smiled, both feeling that this journey's harvest far exceeded expectations.

But they didn't leave immediately. Adhering to a principle of thorough caution, they carefully examined the now-empty cavern inside and out, top to bottom, scanning it with their divine senses several times.

They left no tiny crevice or residual energy unchecked, confirming no other hidden treasures, restrictions, or any suspicious traces remained before finally setting their minds at ease.

"Haha, Daoist Zhenyuanzi, this trip to Buzhou Mountain has truly been blessed with deep fortune! The scale of our harvest would be unbelievable if told to anyone!" Hongyun clapped his hands and laughed heartily, his crimson Dao robe fluttering slightly with his mirth.

Zhenyuanzi nodded with a smile, feeling quite moved:

"Indeed, an unexpected joy. It seems that in the darkness, there is naturally a destined order. These two items were meant to be fated for us."

Holding the light sphere containing the Gourd Vine and feeling the heavy warmth of the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil in his bosom, he already had new ideas for planning his Dao field.

The two lingered no longer, turned, and left the cavern that had brought them such great fortune.

The moment their forms passed through the entrance, the Xiantian Restriction behind them seemed to lose its core support, rippled faintly a few times, and silently dissipated like a bubble.

The blue-black mountain wall restored to its original state, showing no trace of any entrance, as if nothing had ever happened.

Stepping onto the path down the mountain, Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun's mindset was completely different from when they had arrived.

With the precedent of discovering the Gourd Vine and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil—a great fortune—their initial intention to return directly faded. Instead, they adopted a mindset of "scraping the ground three feet deep," afraid of missing any hidden creation.

Their divine senses spread out with unprecedented thoroughness, like two immensely precise giant nets, not letting go of any seemingly suspicious rock crevice, energy anomaly, or even the lush growth beneath certain plants and vines along the way.

Sometimes they stopped, knocking on an ordinary-looking cliff face, probing its interior with mana;

sometimes they split apart entangled millennium-old vines to examine their root systems;

sometimes they dove into deep, cold pools to search for possible Spiritual Apertures.

They truly pushed the spirit of "leaving nothing behind" and "plucking every feather from the passing goose" to an extreme, nearly turning the middle and lower sections of Buzhou Mountain's side upside down.

Yet, the Heavenly Dao maintains balance; fortune is the most mysterious and unpredictable.

Perhaps Buzhou Mountain's gifts had an unseen limit—their discovery of the Gourd Vine and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil had already consumed immense luck.

Or perhaps, as they thought, though Buzhou Mountain was vast, true heavy treasures were not found everywhere.

Despite their meticulous search, even more careful than when seeking the Gourd Vine, they found no third treasure site or natural secret realm worthy of such attention until they completely stepped out of Buzhou Mountain's range, where the omnipresent Pangu Pressure vanished entirely.

Feeling the normal laws of the Primordial World once more, they found nothing else.

Standing outside Buzhou Mountain, looking back at the towering, heaven-reaching divine peak, Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun exchanged a glance and smiled simultaneously. The faint regret of finding nothing more dissipated like smoke.

"We were too greedy," Zhenyuanzi said, shaking his head with a laugh. "To obtain these two items is already a stroke of heavenly luck. How can we ask for more? Biting off more than one can chew only spoils things."

Hongyun, broad-minded as ever, laughed: "You're right, Daoist. The fortune is sufficient; we should know contentment and find joy in it. This harvest will take us a long time to digest."

Having descended the mountain and confirmed no omissions, they no longer lingered.

They didn't rush to use teleportation arts to return to Longevity Mountain at full speed. Instead, as planned on their journey here, they maintained a leisurely, carefree pace, walking to experience the world.

Strolling across the boundless Primordial Land, they immersed themselves in the raw, wild, yet vibrant wonders of this newly opened world.

They once concealed their forms to watch two Primordial Fierce Beasts, comparable to Primordial Unity Golden Immortals, engage in a brutal battle over territory—a fight that caused mountain collapses and earth splits, staining rivers with blood—from which they grasped the Heavenly and Earth Ultimate Truth of the law of the jungle and the impermanence of life and death;

They paused for an unknown spiritual herb, struggling to grow from a crack in a sheer cliff, bathed in the first morning sun and dew, appreciating the tenacious creation contained in such a tiny life;

They encountered some emerging, small-scale tribal clans holding primitive sacrificial rites, bowing in worship to Heaven, Earth, mountains, rivers, and even the gods they believed in—their pure piety and hope for the future was deeply moving;

They also sensed, from afar, the edges of the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin clans' territories, the faint killing intent, the ambition for expansion, and the cautious probing and friction between them, hinting at unrest to come.

Traveling along, observing the birth and death of all things and the myriad states of beings' hearts, their Dao hearts grew increasingly rounded and transparent through subtle influence.

Zhenyuanzi's understanding of the true meanings of "Earth"—bearing, nurturing, storing, stabilizing—deepened;

Hongyun's insight into "Cloud"—impermanence, gathering and scattering, transformation, freedom—became more thorough.

Sometimes they found a scenic spot, sat on the ground, and engaged in a discussion of the Dao lasting several days or even months, exchanging what they had seen and felt, sparking wisdom; sometimes they remained silent for long periods, each comprehending the rhythm of the Great Dao flowing through Heaven and Earth.

This slow journey of travel seemed leisurely and scattered, but it was another form of cultivation—a settling and digesting of what they had gained at Buzhou Mountain.

The Primordial World was vast; they didn't deliberately choose paths, just wandered freely, following fate wherever it led, fully immersed in a state of communion with Heaven and Earth and nature. Thus, time flew, and unknowingly, many more Primordial years passed.

That day, when the distant, familiar, and beloved silhouette of Longevity Mountain—condensed with Innate Earthen Energy, appearing especially thick and majestic—finally came into view again, the two only then realized that their journey of travel was nearing its end.

At the mountain peak, Wuzhuang Temple stood tall amidst swirling clouds and mist. The Innate Great Earth Formation outside the temple operated with flawless harmony, exuding a steady, reassuring aura, exactly the same as when they had left.

Zhenyuanzi and Hongyun exchanged a smile, all words unnecessary. This time's journey, spanning countless years, had at this point reached its perfect conclusion.

It was time to return to their sanctuary, quietly digest the immense gains of this journey, and begin preparations to nurture that precious Gourd Vine, which held significance for the future.

Two streams of light—one yellow, one red—no longer concealing their auras, suddenly accelerated like weary birds returning to their forest, instantly slashing through the long sky and vanishing into the thick, hazy clouds at the entrance of Longevity Mountain. The Mountain Gate formation rippled faintly, then settled back into stillness, as if it had never opened.