Jade Pool shook her head slightly. "If he won't say, there's no need to ask. As long as he gets it done, let him do it his way!"
Haotian nodded and said no more.
Back beneath the Flat Peach Tree, Yellow Dragon sent his Primordial Spirit into the Spiritual Root's origin once more.
That faint glow came to meet him at once, carrying a hint of urgency. "Well? Did they agree?"
Yellow Dragon's thought was grave. "They did. But I have a few conditions."
The True Spirit asked excitedly, "What conditions?"
"First, you must leave behind ninety percent of your origin."
The True Spirit hesitated. "All right. Ten percent will be enough for me."
"Second, you must spread your origin among three thousand six hundred offshoots!"
The True Spirit's glow flickered wildly, as though it were calculating something. After a long while, it asked timidly, "Three... three thousand six hundred?"
Yellow Dragon nodded. "That's right."
The Peach True Spirit fell silent again. At last, it said, "Fine! As long as I can leave, I'll do as you say."
Yellow Dragon nodded and waved a hand, gathering up the five Acquired Spiritual Roots he had cultivated earlier, soil and all, and placing them inside the Chaos Yin-Yang Pearl.
Those five Flat Peach Trees could not match an Innate Spiritual Root, but they were Acquired Spiritual Roots nonetheless. They would come in handy someday.
Then he reached out to the Peach True Spirit again. "Begin!"
The True Spirit's glow flashed, sending him an urgent thought. Quick! Quick!
The entire Ren Water Flat Peach Tree began to tremble violently.
The tremor ran from trunk to branches and leaves, from branches and leaves to roots, then from the roots through the entire expanse of spirit soil.
The Flat Peach Tree's roots began stretching outward.