Zhenyuanzi's eyes brightened. Recalling the life-filled Sweet Dew from earlier, he knew it was no ordinary ability.
After a moment's thought, he readily agreed. "Since you possess such a divine ability, please give it a try, my young friend. I would like to see whether my Spiritual Root can produce new trees."
With that settled, Zhenyuanzi led Yellow Dragon to the rear courtyard of Wuzhuang Temple.
The moment Yellow Dragon stepped through the gate, a dense wave of spiritual energy mingled with vitality washed over him. A radiant tree stood in the garden. Though only ninety-nine zhang tall, it bore an immense crown, with Dao patterns forming naturally across it.
Thirty fist-sized fruits hid among its thick leaves. They were the unripe Ginseng Fruits, their features blurred and limbs barely discernible. With their spiritual glow concealed, they looked like ordinary spirit fruits.
The Ginseng Fruit Tree was connected to the Earth Veins throughout Longevity Mountain. With every breath, it gathered spiritual energy and the laws of the Great Dao.
Yellow Dragon stood before the tree, calmed his mind, and circulated his Magic Power. As he unleashed his divine ability, he drew upon the water-element energy between heaven and earth and resonated with the Great Dao.
A moment later, a cloud brimming with vitality formed above the tree, and Sweet Dew began to fall in a gentle drizzle.
The Sweet Dew landed on the tree's branches and leaves and was absorbed at once.
When the drizzle ended, the tree had visibly gained a trace of vitality, and its foliage had grown greener. Even its thirty small fruits had grown a little.
Zhenyuanzi had watched throughout. Seeing that Yellow Dragon's Sweet Dew truly worked, he clapped his hands in admiration. "What a marvelous ability, my young friend! This Sweet Dew can truly nourish an Innate Spiritual Root and even hasten its growth!"
Now fully reassured, Zhenyuanzi swept his fly whisk without hesitation!
Three soft cracks sounded. A verdant main branch about three feet long, rich with wood Essence, and two thinner side branches came free.
The tree trembled as the main branch was severed, and its aura weakened. Taking a main branch and two side branches had clearly damaged its source!
"Senior! This..."
Yellow Dragon stared in surprise. He had never imagined Zhenyuanzi would be so decisive as to cut off part of the main branch!
Zhenyuanzi seemed unconcerned. He handed the three branches to Yellow Dragon with a smile. "With your ability, my young friend, these branches may truly take root. That would fulfill a wish of mine."
"The loss is minor. Stay at Wuzhuang Temple a while longer and let a few more showers of Sweet Dew fall. The tree will recover."
Yellow Dragon was deeply moved. He knew Zhenyuanzi had given him three branches in case some failed to take root.
Looking up at the faint spiritual energy leaking from the mother tree's broken branches, he could not bear to leave it that way. After a moment's thought, he took three drops of Three Lights Divine Water from the Creation Gourd.
"Senior, I am humbled by your generous gift. These three drops of Three Lights Divine Water can quickly restore the tree's lost source. Please don't refuse them." Yellow Dragon offered the water to Zhenyuanzi.
Zhenyuanzi was moved when he saw what it was. He and Hong Yun had once searched the entire Primordial World to find just a few drops, yet this disciple of a Sage had offered three without hesitation.
He gave Yellow Dragon a long look, then accepted the water. He applied one drop to the break in the mother tree.
Divine light flowed across the wound. It healed before their eyes, and the tree's aura swiftly recovered. Before long, it would be whole again.
Yellow Dragon then took out three jade pots beneath the mother tree, each filled with Breathing Soil.
He planted one branch in each pot. Every day, he carefully watered them with spirit rain formed by combining diluted Three Lights Divine Water with his Sweet Dew ability.
He also regularly drew wisps of pure wood energy from the Ginseng Fruit Tree to nourish the three cuttings.
Time was the one thing the Primordial World had in abundance. Suns rose and moons set; decades passed in the blink of an eye.
With Yellow Dragon sparing no expense and the mother tree sheltering them, two of the three cuttings miraculously came to life. They put down new roots and unfurled tender leaves!
Though they lacked the innate power of the mother tree, they brimmed with spiritual energy and possessed their own Dao resonance. They had reached the acquired grade!
The sapling grown from the main branch had even become a high-grade acquired Spiritual Root. The one grown from a side branch had reached the low-grade acquired level—an impressive result in its own right.
One day, as Yellow Dragon watched the two saplings put forth new shoots and felt Dao resonance descend upon them, realization struck.
He immediately sat cross-legged. Every detail of Heavenly Venerable Yuanshi's teachings on the Taiyi Realm surfaced in his mind. Jade Pure energy surrounded him as countless shifting laws produced wondrous visions.
The different laws of the Great Dao took the shape of Yellow Dragon, their forms wavering between solid and insubstantial, each reflecting the depth of his understanding.
Runes of the Great Dao appeared, revealing the profound truths of heaven and earth. The figures formed from those laws collided, then slowly merged, forging Yellow Dragon's perfected foundation of the Great Dao.
With that foundation complete, his Essence, Qi, and spirit reached their peaks!
Over the past decades, Yellow Dragon had tended the Spiritual Roots daily, sensing the changes in the laws as they grew. He had compared those insights with the Dao resonance of the Ginseng Fruit he was refining within himself, sorting through tens of thousands of years of hard-won cultivation. His understanding of the laws had grown ever more complete.
Without realizing it, Yellow Dragon had brought his foundation of the Great Dao to flawless perfection.
In an instant, a vast vortex of spiritual energy formed around him and spread across Longevity Mountain. The mountain's Innate Spiritual Energy surged toward him and poured into his body.
His Essence, Qi, and spirit—the three treasures—were rising to their ultimate heights.
Zhenyuanzi had already sensed the disturbance and appeared nearby to guard him. Seeing Yellow Dragon's condition, he nodded. "Such a perfect foundation, such profound reserves. He should be able to plant Dao seeds of the highest grade."
Without hesitation, he activated Longevity Mountain's great formation. Drawing spiritual energy from the mountain's entire network of Earth Veins, he even used the Earth Book to supply Yellow Dragon without pause and help him break through.
Yellow Dragon looked within. Above his foundation of the Great Dao, his Essence, Qi, and spirit slowly condensed into three brilliantly shining Dao seeds!
In the Taiyi Realm, one planted the seeds of the Great Dao. When the Three Flowers bloomed, one would attain Great Luo.
The three seeds slowly sank into his foundation. He had officially entered the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm and planted the seeds of his future Great Luo attainment!
The breakthrough lasted more than a hundred years. One day, Yellow Dragon's aura abruptly changed, and the pressure of the Taiyi Realm flashed forth before vanishing.
He opened his eyes. Dao laws stirred within them, as though countless laws of the Great Dao were flowing through his gaze, then faded from sight. He had become a Taiyi Golden Immortal!
After stabilizing his cultivation, Yellow Dragon went to the front courtyard, but Zhenyuanzi was nowhere to be seen. He searched and still found no trace of him.
He happened upon Qingfeng Mingyue and learned from the two young attendants that Immortal Zhenyuan had gained an insight while helping him break through. He had entered seclusion more than ten years ago.
Yellow Dragon felt both regret and gratitude. For a Quasi-Saint like Zhenyuanzi, seclusion was measured in millennia. He should not be disturbed.
Seeing no reason to wait at Wuzhuang Temple, Yellow Dragon bade Qingfeng Mingyue farewell.
Before you continue