The Mother and Child Return to the Root to Prove Taiyi

Child-Mother Return to Stock, Proving Taiyi

Time continued to slip away slowly.

Initially, Liu Dongqing had anticipated that after those twenty-odd days of precious cultivation time passed, his progress would slow down relatively.

But he never expected otherwise.

A pill formula bestowed by the Rising Mist Dao Academy and the birth of the Li Fire Void-Soaring Origin-Unity Pill fruit had instead granted Liu Dongqing the ability to refine blood baleful intent, as well as the effect of harmonizing body and soul, effectively erasing the cooldown intervals of his Lesser Thought Art.

Just like that.

Liu Dongqing's cultivation efficiency did not decrease; it increased.

Furthermore, after Manager Hou's incisive analysis that day, Liu Dongqing clearly recognized the portion of initiative he held.

He immediately made up his mind to utilize this initiative to the extreme.

Therefore, when he and Senior Sister Zhang reached the first full month of their agreed-upon cultivation of the new version of Jade Cloud Fruit, Liu Dongqing remained immersed in his practice.

The steward came to the door to urge him, but not only did he fail to see the mature Jade Cloud Fruit plants, he was instead persuaded by Liu Dongqing to leave behind over a hundred fire-attribute avian demon beasts.

Five days later.

The steward came again, and once more failed to collect the mature Jade Cloud Fruit.

After that.

Every three days, the steward would make a trip to Liu Dongqing's courtyard.

This happened twice in succession.

When the third day arrived yet again.

At this moment, Liu Dongqing was standing quietly in his bedroom, reaching out to carefully and cautiously pluck every single elixir fruit from the Medicine Vine Fruit Tree.

His current cultivation progress relied entirely on the speed boost provided by the Li Fire Void-Soaring Origin-Unity Pill fruit.

Conversely, under such frantic cultivation, Liu Dongqing's consumption of these Li Fire Void-Soaring Origin-Unity Pill fruits was terrifying.

In just a few dozen days, this was already the third time Liu Dongqing had "fired up the furnace to refine pills."

But at this moment.

Liu Dongqing's gaze did not fall upon the pale green elixir fruits at his fingertips.

Instead, he was staring at the Medicine Vine Fruit Tree itself.

When it first grew vigorously, fueled by the medicinal pulp and spiritual energy of the pill formula, the Medicine Vine Fruit Tree, upon close inspection, was pitch-black and glossy, possessing a strange and grotesque, yet robustly vital appearance.

But now.

After three cycles of flowering and fruiting.

The original glossy luster of the Medicine Vine Fruit Tree had long since vanished.

The pitch-black color had faded to a grayish-white, and upon closer inspection, fine cracks covered the once-tight wood.

The cycle of vegetation's withering and flourishing was not an infinite loop.

Liu Dongqing's natural-breathing alchemy furnace also had a lifespan.

All signs matched the records in the Inheritance Manual; these were the characteristics of a plant driven by Dao techniques that was about to reach the limit of its vitality.

Yet, there was no regret in Liu Dongqing's eyes at this moment.

On the contrary, he even revealed a look of anticipation.

With a gentle pinch and twist of his fingertips, the very moment the last elixir fruit was plucked from the Medicine Vine Fruit Tree.

Liu Dongqing's actions seemed to trigger a switch for some kind of change.

Crack—crack—crack—

Almost instantly, the sound of fine cracks spreading densely across the entire body of the Medicine Vine Fruit Tree rang out.

Following that, an intensely rich woody fragrance, accompanied by those dense fissures, rushed toward Liu Dongqing.

As this refreshing woody scent dispersed, the Medicine Vine Fruit Tree began to twist and turn with an even more sinister air due to its desiccation.

Finally.

The moment the dense cracking sounds came to an abrupt halt.

The entire Medicine Vine Fruit Tree, along with the root-stock planted alongside it, disintegrated into fragments of dark gray sawdust under Liu Dongqing's gaze.

It was at this time.

Liu Dongqing slowly reached out and gently brushed away the top layer of sawdust in the jade bowl.

Then.

Where the original wood burl had grown, a thin, brittle layer of dry, withered shell carefully wrapped around something emitting a verdant, bright light.

This was the true ultimate purpose of the Branch-Splitting Myriad Transformations Origin-Seizing Art created by the sages—to use the child-stock to gestate such a wood bead.

At this moment, Liu Dongqing carefully lifted the wood bead, walked to the side of the jade vat, and suspended it over the vat before applying a bit of force with both hands.

Crack—

With a crisp, explosive sound, the outer layer of dry wood shell split open. Instantly, the verdant juice inside, which resembled jade-like nectar and possessed a viscous yet clear quality, was poured directly into the "spring water" of mixed green and red within the jade vat.

Since the first time he had cultivated the form of the mother-stock of the Bloodthirsty Medicinal Vine, so much time had passed that Liu Dongqing had struggled to observe any further growth or changes with his naked eye.

It had always maintained the state of a tiny vine and a single protruding wood node.

But now.

With the pouring of the pulp from this wood bead.

Suddenly.

Prosperous spiritual light, even carrying a large amount of energy from the green and red spring water, seemed to pour actively into the dense roots.

Then.

Under Liu Dongqing's gaze, the long-stagnant vine stem grew robustly once more, and after condensing a second wood node protrusion, all changes came to a sudden halt.

According to the records in the manual, this second wood node can be manipulated by me using the Divine Vine Pill Sigil.

In one mode, this node can, like the first, freely absorb energy from blood and bone to condense normal elixir fruits.

But in the other mode, this node will inversely affect a portion of the roots, actively drawing medicinal energy that matches the Li Fire Void-Soaring Origin-Unity Pill formula from all spiritual materials and the nourishment of blood and bone.

At that time, the elixir fruit it condenses will be the Li Fire Void-Soaring Origin-Unity Pill fruit!

Perhaps this is the scene the sages of the Ghost Vine Lineage hoped to see after the Bloodthirsty Medicinal Vine reached Great Accomplishment—

Hundreds of precious pills gathered on one tree, blooming a hundred flowers and bearing a hundred fruits, with different pharmacology and different Pill Dao implications surging and wandering on the same plant.

With this, layer upon layer of perfect imagery overlaps, connects, and merges, achieving the Taiyi Creation of the Yi Wood path!

This path is profound and vast; it cannot be viewed merely as an auxiliary Dao technique!

Thinking this.

Suddenly, Liu Dongqing's expression paused, and he looked far off in the direction of Departure Peak.

Urged every three days, three times in a row.

It seems it is not the steward, but Senior Sister Zhang who truly cannot wait any longer.

Very well, a batch of Jade Cloud Fruit matures every month and a half.

This is the limit of what can be delayed.

The moment this thought crossed his mind.

Liu Dongqing walked slowly to the window, first beckoning to summon the Purple Cloud Azure Rain by casting the Mirror-Illuminating Cloud-Birthing Purple Rain Art.

Then, under the cover of this Purple Cloud Azure Rain, the green light in Liu Dongqing's hand suddenly condensed into a Divine Vine Pill Sigil.

The next moment, Liu Dongqing struck this Divine Vine Pill Sigil directly into the suspended purple clouds.

Although Liu Dongqing was a cultivator of the Bing Fire path, he had been in contact with both techniques for so long that even without internal practice, he had long since grasped some of their rotational changes.

As the Divine Vine Pill Sigil was cast, within the rolling clouds, there was a change of water giving birth to wood.

Yi Wood steals water.

In an instant, the originally thick purple clouds were consumed at an unprecedented speed.

And in the suddenly torrential green rain, one could see that every droplet contained the spiritual light of a fragmented Divine Vine Pill Sigil.

Thus, nourished by the rain of these two combined methods, gentle bright light flickered across the soil field, and the previously stationary roots frantically absorbed the energy from the soil fertilizer.

Blooming, fruiting.

Everything happened in the span of a few breaths.

As the tree full of heavy fruit swayed in the final gentle wind and rain, the sound of knocking on the door finally arrived, albeit belatedly.