In the middle reaches of Buzhou Mountain, where Gale Wind cut like blades and the sea of clouds lay like iron, there was a gorge unlike any other.
In the gorge, dense Innate Spiritual Qi gathered into visible, pale-purple streams, slowly circling the Gourd Vine at the center of the valley.
There were no birdsong or springs here, only sigh after weary sigh.
"Ah..."
"The Innate Gourd Vine, one of the Ten Great Innate Spiritual Roots. Sounds impressive, but its fate is truly miserable, isn't it?"
"Ah..."
"The gourds it worked so hard to grow were divided among Sanqing. Even its body was taken by Nuwa to use in the Creation of Humanity. It was practically left without so much as a corpse."
"Ah..."
It wasn't that the Innate Gourd Vine had gained sentience. Rather, Qing Xuan, a transmigrator from a later age, had learned he'd become the Innate Gourd Vine and let out one sigh after another.
Who knew how much time passed before the sighs finally stopped. Then an inspiring voice drifted through the air.
"Come on, come on, come on..."
"Success, success, success..."
"Form Transformation, Form Transformation, Form Transformation..."
Qing Xuan was ridiculously Chuunibyou as he cheered himself on, as though he'd wandered into some organization and been brainwashed.
He'd noticed the seven little flowers that had just bloomed on his vine and decided he still had a chance to turn things around. The only way was Form Transformation.
Over the next while, Qing Xuan began frantically absorbing Innate Spiritual Qi. This made his frail Nascent Soul grow more and more solid.
He could now control the entire Gourd Vine, even deciding which flower received its nourishment.
Having glimpsed the first ray of hope on the path to Form Transformation, Qing Xuan began absorbing Innate Spiritual Qi even more frantically.
After all, he didn't have much time left. Once the first lecture at Zixiao Palace ended, everyone would come and dismember him.
Thanks to Qing Xuan's control, the seven flowers received their nourishment evenly. None received more or less than the others.
As the saying went, time meant nothing in the Primordial Wilderness. Who knew how long it took, but at last, the seven little flowers on the vine withered. In their place were seven tender gourds.
The instant the seven gourds took shape, Qing Xuan felt eight different Law Powers surge into his Nascent Soul.
The Crimson Dissolution Law, Golden Space Law, White Slaughter Law, Yellow Water-Fire Law, Azure Summon Law, Green Gestation Law, and Black Chaos Law, along with the Seven-Colored Creation Law.
The eight Laws came from the seven gourds and his own body. One day, Nuwa would use the Gourd Vine itself for the Creation of Humanity, so it naturally possessed the Creation Law.
Once he understood where the eight Laws came from, Qing Xuan finally broke into a smile unlike any he'd shown before. "With eight Laws in one body, if I still can't achieve Form Transformation, I'll have disgraced every transmigrator."
At the same time, Qing Xuan understood what it meant to bite off more than you could chew. Even Sanqing probably couldn't cultivate eight Laws at once.
So Qing Xuan chose the Creation Law that belonged to his body, hoping to use Creation Power to achieve Form Transformation as quickly as possible.
In an instant, Creation Power enveloped the entire Gourd Vine. Seven-colored light flashed endlessly, cleansing Qing Xuan's Nascent Soul and body.
Several more eras passed in the blink of an eye, but Qing Xuan still felt no sign that he was about to achieve Form Transformation.
The seven gourds on the vine had grown many times larger than before. That meant they were one step closer to ripening.
It was also a reminder to Qing Xuan that he was running out of time. To him, it was like a death warrant.
This only made Qing Xuan more anxious. He circulated the Creation Law even faster than before.
Unfortunately, his body was like a black hole. Even when his comprehension of the Creation Law reached a bottleneck and could advance no further, he still hadn't managed to fill it.
"Could the Creation Law be the wrong choice? Maybe I should try cultivating another Law instead. I might get a different result."
He did as he'd said. Qing Xuan stopped comprehending the Creation Law and turned to the other seven Laws.
Unfortunately, he tried all seven. He even comprehended every one of them to the bottleneck, yet still saw no opportunity for Form Transformation.
"If comprehending the Laws one at a time gets me nowhere, I'll try all eight at once. If that still doesn't work, then it's just my fate."
Qing Xuan gritted his teeth and began channeling all eight Laws at the same time. In an instant, eight different kinds of Law Power began coursing back and forth, with the Gourd Vine at their center.
Qing Xuan devoted himself completely to comprehending the Laws and didn't notice that doing so was speeding up the gourds' ripening.
Who knew how much more time passed before Qing Xuan finally felt the Creation Law break through its bottleneck, reaching a height he'd never attained before.
He was beside himself with joy and worked even harder to comprehend the eight Laws. But just then, a tremendous pressure spread throughout the Primordial Wilderness.
"I am Hong Jun. I have now proved the Dao and become a Saint. Having understood my duty, I must lecture the Primordial Beings for ten thousand years. In ten thousand years, I will begin teaching at Zixiao Palace. All who are fated may come and listen."
When Hong Jun proved the Dao and became a Saint, purple clouds stretched thirty thousand li to the east. Heavenly Flowers Falling, Golden Lotuses Springing from Earth, and strands of jeweled tassels descended from the heavens as Merit Spirit Rain fell across the Primordial Wilderness.
Countless beings gained sentience at that moment. Countless sentient beings also succeeded in achieving Form Transformation.
Even Qing Xuan could clearly feel his comprehension of the Laws becoming more lucid. What had once been obscure and difficult to understand now all came together.
But Qing Xuan couldn't bring himself to be happy. Hong Jun's becoming a Saint meant his own tribulation was about to arrive.
"The lecture starts in ten thousand years, and the lecture at Zixiao Palace will last three thousand years. When it ends, those beasts will come and dismember me."
"I've only got thirteen thousand years left. Can I really achieve Form Transformation in that short time and get out of this mess?"
As Qing Xuan muttered to himself, a voice like heavenly music rang out nearby. "What dense Creation Power. How did I not notice it before?"
Following the heavenly voice, a young woman in a purple gown, with a faint streak of red at her cuffs, walked toward Qing Xuan.
As she approached, she kept her eyes on the Innate Gourd Vine nearby.
"There's an Innate Spiritual Root here, and it's even top-grade. What a pity these gourds haven't ripened yet. They'll need more time."
Hearing the young woman eyeing his gourds, Qing Xuan wasn't worried in the slightest. Instead, he felt his chance had finally come.
He immediately spoke aloud. "Little Girl, it doesn't matter that the gourds aren't ripe yet. Just dig me up, roots and all, and take me home. You can wait for them to ripen there."
"Otherwise, when they do ripen, you might not get the chance to pick them. Someone else could beat you to it."
The young woman's lively eyes fluttered as though she were considering whether Qing Xuan's suggestion would work.
In the end, she walked right up to the green vine and reached out to stroke it. "It's rare for a top-grade Innate Spiritual Root to gain sentience."
"But you're right. If you stay here, you'll belong to no one. Anyone could come and claim a share."
"If I take you back to my Daoist abode, things will be different. Anyone who dares to come for the gourds will be stealing them."
The more the young woman thought about it, the more reasonable Qing Xuan sounded. She immediately began forming hand seals, preparing to uproot him completely.
As one mysterious seal after another struck the soil beneath the green vine, rays of earthy-yellow light rose up. The young woman's eyes lit up all over again.
"It's Nine Heavens Breathing Soil! No wonder it could nurture a top-grade Innate Spiritual Root. There's actually Nine Heavens Breathing Soil here."
"And this is Three Lights Divine Water? With Three Lights Divine Water and Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, it makes sense that the Gourd Vine gained sentience."
When the young woman mentioned Three Lights Divine Water, Qing Xuan couldn't help but freeze. He knew there was Nine Heavens Breathing Soil around his roots, but where had the Three Lights Divine Water come from?
The next moment, Qing Xuan noticed the young woman staring at the dew dripping from his tender Gourd Leaves.
"So the dew dripping off me is Three Lights Divine Water?"
Before Qing Xuan could figure out whether his guess was right, he felt himself rise into the air. The young woman had uprooted him, roots and all.
The young woman carefully used the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil to protect the Gourd Vine's roots. Only then did she speak.
"Little Gourd Vine, I'm taking you away from here to my Daoist abode."
"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you: my Daoist abode is called Phoenix Perch Mountain. It's much better than this valley of yours."
Before you continue