Within the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven, the five-element formation gathered Innate Spiritual Energy until it grew ever denser and the laws of nature became ever more active.
Yellow Dragon placed the enormous Purple Jade Bee hive and its entire swarm on Spirit Herb Peak, where Immortal Herbs and Medicines covered the mountainside and spiritual energy was thickest.
For them, he carved out a vast cavern halfway up the peak.
The moment the Purple Jade Bee Queen emerged from the hive, dense Innate Spiritual Energy swept over her, carrying the fragrance of countless rare Immortal Herbs and Medicines in bloom.
Her newly awakened compound eyes lit up. She gazed greedily at the wondrous flowers and plants shimmering with Spirit Light across the mountainside. To her, this was paradise beyond her wildest dreams!
Kunlun Mountain had plenty of wondrous plants too, but countless beings lived there. Many Immortal Herbs and Medicines belonged to someone, and her swarm was not even allowed near them, let alone permitted to gather pollen and make honey.
Here, everything belonged to her master, which meant it was hers as well. Not only could she and her swarm produce spiritual honey far finer than ever before, but her own cultivation would advance by leaps and bounds!
Yellow Dragon stood with his hands behind his back and pointed across the vast, thriving Grotto-Heaven. His voice was calm, yet carried unquestionable authority. "From this day forward, your clan will tend every Immortal Herb and Medicine and every Spiritual Root and plant in the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven. You will gather nectar and pollinate them. If anything goes wrong..."
"Rest assured, Master!" The Purple Jade Bee Queen beat her wings and sent back a clear, resolute thought. "Gathering nectar, spreading pollen, and tending and nurturing plants are the gifts my Purple Jade Bee clan was born with! We will not fail you!"
At her promise, Yellow Dragon said no more. The queen's two Ziyu-colored antennae swayed nimbly, and Spirit Light shone in her eyes. She raised her head and released a string of strange hums, each carrying its own rhythm and message.
The humming spread through the entire hive like a silent command.
The huge swarm, momentarily bewildered by the abrupt change in its surroundings, began moving with the precision of a well-made machine.
Some worker bees flew in orderly ranks into the depths of the herb fields, busy among the colorful sea of flowers. Others scattered like purple stars toward the spiritually rich Lotus Pond and the orchards heavy with fruit... They quickly adapted to their new home and set about their work.
Yellow Dragon stood atop the peak, watching the little streaks of Ziyu light dart about like industrious sprites across the thriving Grotto-Heaven. Everywhere, their work was orderly.
He nodded slightly, satisfaction flickering in his eyes.
With these hardworking Purple Jade Bees handling the daily tasks around his abode, the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven had grown livelier. They would also save him countless hours of tending it, leaving him free to focus on his cultivation and on nurturing other Spiritual Roots.
In the courtyard of his abode, beneath the Enlightenment Tea Tree.
Bathed in the faint light filtering through its swaying leaves, Yellow Dragon's Primordial Spirit was no longer a hazy shadow. Dense Dao resonance enveloped and tempered it.
A warm, jade-like golden glow shone from its core. Its form grew ever more solid and resilient, while countless profound golden runes appeared and vanished across its surface, imprinting themselves upon it.
At the same time, Yellow Dragon's body entered into a strange resonance with his transforming Primordial Spirit.
Vast, pure five-element Innate Spiritual Energy converged on him and poured steadily into his body. The Yuanshi Golden Canon began to circulate rapidly, as though an invisible furnace had opened within him to smelt his Magic Power and his understanding of the Dao together.
A low hum rose from his body. Beneath his skin, his flesh no longer had the texture of flesh and blood. Instead, it gave off the flawless, immortal radiance of divine metal forged to endure anything.
Tempered by Dao resonance and energy, his dragon bones rang with the clear chime of gold striking jade and crossed the limits of mortal life. His blood surged, heavy as mercury and gleaming pale gold. Every drop held terrifying life force and fragments of the laws of the Dao beginning to take shape.
An aura of innate, golden immortality arose from the depths of his being and spread through his transforming body. It drew toward the immortal Spirit Light radiating from his Primordial Spirit above, and the two met and mingled among the shifting shadows of the Enlightenment Tea Tree's leaves.
His Primordial Spirit and body resonated as one!
Under the Dao resonance descending from the Enlightenment Tea Tree, the laws of the Dao grew clearer. The immortal Spirit Light of his Primordial Spirit and the immortal aura of his body reached a harmony they had never known before.
The light of his Primordial Spirit nourished his body like Sweet Dew, hastening the growth of its immortal substance. In return, the vast vitality and primal Essence of his body gave his Primordial Spirit a firm foundation on which to condense immortal Spirit Light.
Their immortal Dao resonance blended seamlessly within the curtain of Dao traces falling from the tea tree, forming a miniature, almost solid "domain of immortality."
When his Essence, Qi, and spirit reached the peak of their resonance, the laws throughout the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven trembled! The Enlightenment Tea Tree stirred without wind, and its leaves rang together with clear Dao Music, as though celebrating this moment.
Hummm—!
There was no earthshaking vision, only a deep roar from the very source of the Dao sounding within Yellow Dragon! Immortal golden light burst from his seated body!
Pure, sacred, and eternal, the light carried the ultimate truth of immortality. It swept away the surrounding mist of spiritual dew and illuminated every branch and leaf of the Enlightenment Tea Tree!
The golden light did not spread outward to destroy. It gathered inward, condensing the essence of immortality.
In that instant:
Within his sea of consciousness, the Primordial Spirit that Dao resonance had nurtured and tempered to its limit became wholly solid: a golden Primordial Spirit flowing with an immortal aura!
At the center of its brow, the mark of a Golden Immortal's Dao Fruit appeared in blazing splendor, like the rising sun. It held all the understanding of the Dao and its laws that he had gained throughout his life!
At the same time, his body completed its final leap in life's evolution. From this moment on, his lifespan would equal that of the heavens.
The Dao resonance descending from the Enlightenment Tea Tree began to fade. Beneath the tree, the immortal golden light slowly receded.
Yellow Dragon opened his eyes. For an instant, they seemed to reflect the birth of heaven and earth, the evolution of living beings, and the rise and fall of all things. Then all settled into profound calm.
His body was immortal and would live as long as heaven; his Primordial Spirit was indestructible and would endure through the ages. Yellow Dragon had transcended the limits of mortal life and officially entered the Golden Immortal Realm!
At once, the Immortal Herbs and Medicines in the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven's fields swayed wildly. They absorbed spiritual energy several times faster, and their radiance grew brighter.
The young white lotus in the Lotus Pond unfurled slightly, its white glow intensifying.
The Blood Red Dates sapling shot up another length, crimson light rippling over it. The Enlightenment Tea Tree rustled more loudly, and its Dao patterns grew clearer.
Inside the hive on Spirit Herb Peak, the Purple Jade Bee Queen snapped her head up, her eyes shining with Spirit Light, reverence, and joy. The entire swarm stopped gathering nectar at once. Facing the secluded chamber on the main peak, they beat their wings in unison and released a strange hum.
Now that he had reached the Golden Immortal Realm, with Nuwa and the Three Pure Ones behind him, people he met would at least have to address him as "young friend" instead of treating him like an insect they could crush.
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