Maybe it's a Late-Game Breed?

In the center of the spirit field, aside from the Red Sun Fruit Tree that had grown a few mutated fruits, there lay a half-dead Nameless Withered Vine that he had kept ever since he transmigrated.

This withered vine was grayish-brown throughout, its surface covered in cracks from the passage of time. No matter how much Earth Vein Spirit Spring Lu Changsheng had poured onto it over the years, it had only barely managed to maintain a faint trace of vitality, never even sprouting a single new leaf.

This thing has been with me for over eight thousand years; perhaps it's a late-bloomer variety?

A sudden flash of inspiration struck Lu Changsheng.

He walked to the White Jade Platform and carefully picked up the lump of Nine Heavens Breathing Soil gifted by Nuwa.

This is the legendary earth-type supreme treasure capable of nurturing all spirit roots. If I use it to cultivate this withered vine...

Lu Changsheng did not hesitate. He decisively scraped off a piece the size of a fingernail from the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, then, with a pang of heartache, dripped a drop of the Three Lights Divine Water he had traded from Nuwa onto it.

"Go!"

He gently buried the Breathing Soil mixed with the Three Lights Divine Water at the base of the withered vine.

For the next ten years, Lu Changsheng remained by the side of this spirit field, never taking a single step away.

The miracle occurred late one night in the tenth year.

"Snap."

A crisp sound, so faint it was almost inaudible, echoed through the silent cave dwelling.

Lu Changsheng snapped his eyes open, staring intently at the withered vine.

He saw a thin crack suddenly appear on the surface of the originally grayish-brown vine. A touch of emerald green, incredibly delicate yet radiating astonishing vitality, poked out from the fissure.

Immediately following, this emerald hue spread across the entire vine like a spark igniting a prairie fire.

The once shriveled vine became plump at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if it had been carved from the purest jade.

"This is..."

Lu Changsheng felt the strange fluctuations radiating from the vine and his jaw dropped in astonishment.

These fluctuations lacked the earth-shattering pressure of an Innate Spirit Treasure, nor did they possess any aggression.

It was like an invisible net, gently spreading outward and silently merging into the surrounding void.

What surprised Lu Changsheng even more was that the vine seemed to have been influenced by his temperament after staying by his side for so long, undergoing an unprecedented "Cowardly Path Mutation."

The detection waves it emitted actually carried a natural concealment effect!

Even if the divine sense of a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal were to sweep over it, it would automatically ignore it, mistaking it for the most ordinary breeze or spiritual energy disturbance in the world.

"A top-tier early warning radar!"

Lu Changsheng rubbed his hands together in excitement.

He extended a finger and gently touched the emerald vine, which had now fully regained its vitality.

The vine seemed to possess sentience; it immediately wound itself around his finger like a spoiled child, coiled three times around his wrist, and finally connected head to tail, transforming into an inconspicuous emerald green bracelet.

As the bracelet settled, everything moving within a ten-mile radius appeared clearly in Lu Changsheng's mind.

He could even perceive an earthworm turning over in its sleep deep underground with perfect clarity.

"Good! Good! Good! With this treasure, I finally have the confidence to head out!"

Lu Changsheng was overjoyed and immediately gave the vine a fitting name: "Cowardly Immortal Vine."

The preparations for his departure took Lu Changsheng a full twenty years.

When he finally stood before the heavy stone door of his cave dwelling, he was armed to the teeth.

Beneath his dark golden feathers, he was plastered with dense layers of Breath Concealment Talismans; tucked under his left wing was a stack of Earth Escape Talismans, and hidden under his right wing was a pile of formation disks.

Wrapped around his wrist was the Cowardly Immortal Vine radar.

Deep within his dantian, he kept the mass of Great Dao Merit tightly suppressed, ready to detonate it at the moment of life or death.

"Hoo—"

Lu Changsheng took a deep breath, pushing his True Immortal realm mana to its limit.

Seek only wealth, avoid trouble. Grab the treasure and run!

He recited the Cowardly Path True Words in his heart three times, then gritted his teeth and pressed the mechanism to activate the formation.

"Rumble..."

The dull sound of the stone door opening seemed particularly jarring in the deathly silent cave.

Lu Changsheng did not walk straight out; instead, he first tossed out a dozen Breath Concealment Talismans, laying a thick layer of mist around himself.

Then, he transformed into a dark shadow skimming the ground, silently slipping into the Primordial Land outside.

The eighty-thousand-mile journey had officially begun.

The moment he exited the cave, Lu Changsheng immediately cast an Earth Escape technique, plunging a hundred feet deep into the ground.

The sky?

That was reserved for reckless fools with a death wish. Flying in the sky during the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation was simply acting as a living target.

The underground was the ultimate sanctuary for those who walked the path of cowardice.

Lu Changsheng's speed while tunneling through the earth was not fast.

He pushed the Cowardly Immortal Vine's detection range to its maximum, maintaining absolute awareness of the situation a hundred miles ahead at all times.

The first century.

Lu Changsheng had tunneled ten thousand miles.

During this period, he encountered three waves of minor demons fighting on the surface.

The strongest among them was only at the Heavenly Immortal realm.

However, adhering to the principle that less trouble is better than more, Lu Changsheng stubbornly took a detour of several hundred miles underground, avoiding them from a great distance.

The second century.

When he had tunneled thirty thousand miles, the Cowardly Immortal Vine suddenly transmitted an extremely violent warning fluctuation!

Lu Changsheng was so startled he shuddered, immediately halting his tunneling technique and holding his breath completely, pressing himself tightly against the cold rock strata without moving a muscle.

In his mind, through the feedback from the Cowardly Immortal Vine, a heart-stopping scene appeared.

In the air about three hundred miles above his position on the surface.

Two figures, so massive they blotted out the sun and sky, were locked in a life-or-death struggle.

A true dragon, tens of thousands of feet long and burning with black flames, and a blood-drenched five-colored phoenix were tearing at each other and colliding frantically within the clouds.

Every clash of their laws erupted with world-destroying power.

Mountain ranges spanning thousands of miles were razed to the ground, and rivers were instantly evaporated.

The terrifying pressure of the late-stage peak Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm transmitted through the thick layers of earth, making the circulation of mana within Lu Changsheng's body sluggish.

The Dragon-Phoenix War! I actually ran into a bloodbath at the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal level!

Hiding underground, Lu Changsheng didn't even dare to breathe.

He could even clearly feel that a breath of black dragon fire spat out by that true dragon had landed just a few dozen miles above his head, melting that entire patch of earth directly into a bottomless lake of magma.

If that dragon breath had been off by even a fraction, or if its power had been slightly greater, it could have forced him, a mere True Immortal, right out of hiding.

This is too damn dangerous! In a fight between gods like this, even the slightest shockwave could cost me my life!

Lu Changsheng roared frantically in his heart, feeling a deep sense of regret regarding the bait Nuwa had given him.

To avoid this battle of Primordial Unity Golden Immortals, Lu Changsheng lay flat underground for a full thirty years!

It was only when the commotion above his head had completely subsided and those two terrifying auras had gradually faded into the distance that he dared to cautiously resume his earth-tunneling, continuing to grope his way toward the east like a frightened groundhog.

Just like that, stopping and going, twisting and turning.

Lu Changsheng pushed the spirit of the path of cowardice to its absolute limit.

He did not pick spirit herbs when he encountered them, did not emerge for exotic treasures, and detoured immediately upon sensing any unknown aura.

Finally, one thousand years and eight months after leaving his cave dwelling.

Lu Changsheng's divine sense, through the detection of the Cowardly Immortal Vine, touched upon an extremely bizarre region.