Pondering Spiritual Treasures

In the Heavenly Court, within the Demon Emperor Hall, the atmosphere was heavy. Di Jun, seated upon the throne above, seemed like a volcano ready to erupt at any moment.

"Demon Emperor, those formation foundations Shi Mo set up in our Heavenly Court..." Kunpeng asked tentatively from the side.

Di Jun turned, his sharp and cold gaze fixed on Kunpeng. He took a deep breath before gritting out, "Destroy part of them. Do your best not to let the concentration of the Heavenly Court's stellar power drop too much."

"You needn't concern yourselves with this. I'll handle it personally, lest you damage them carelessly and render them completely unable to gather stellar power," Di Jun continued in a low voice.

"Brother, we truly miscalculated this time. Who would have thought Shi Mo would leave behind such a contingency? Those formation foundations are troublesome whether we destroy them or not," Donghuang Taiyi said through gritted teeth, filled with resentment and helplessness.

"I admit it. I underestimated him," Di Jun said, his eyes fierce enough to devour someone. "Once I grasp the mysteries of the Heavenly Stellar Formation, I can set it up anew and no longer be subjected to his threats."

"It's just that without the River Diagram and Luo Writing, deducing the Heavenly Stellar Formation will undoubtedly be far more difficult," Di Jun said, shooting Kunpeng another increasingly resentful glance.

Facing Di Jun's gaze, Kunpeng felt utterly aggrieved. Why are you looking at me? You were careless yourself—how is that my fault? I lost the Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner too. Do you think it was easy for me to obtain a top-grade innate spiritual treasure?

"Brother, Demon Master, what kind of methods does Shi Mo possess? How did he manage to seize both of your spiritual treasures?" At Donghuang Taiyi's words, Di Jun and Kunpeng both turned to look at him, their complex expressions shifting as their hearts bled.

Their gazes made Donghuang Taiyi's expression turn a little unnatural, and he nearly wanted to slap himself.

Elsewhere, atop Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain, the atmosphere was much more relaxed.

After drinking tea, chatting, and discussing the Dao with Shi Mo for a while, Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun bid farewell and departed.

Once they had left, Shi Mo went into seclusion to study the three newly acquired top-grade innate spiritual treasures.

There was no need to mention the Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner. As one of the Five Innate Banners, it ranked among the finest defensive innate spiritual treasures in the Primordial World.

Although water-attributed innate spiritual treasures did not suit Shi Mo particularly well, using the Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner to comprehend the Dao of Water was still quite beneficial.

Moreover, after refining the Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner, Shi Mo discovered that it could automatically absorb water-attributed energy from the Primordial World and gather Three Lights Divine Water.

One had to know that Three Lights Divine Water was a treasure on the same level as Xirang. They were the most fundamental energy substances of the water and earth attributes, respectively.

In Journey to the West, Guanyin Bodhisattva had relied on the innate spiritual treasure Jade-Pure Vase and the innate willow branch within it, which slowly gathered innate sweet dew over a long period, to revive the Ginseng Fruit Tree whose roots had been pried up by Sun Wukong.

Three Lights Divine Water was far more precious than Guanyin's innate sweet dew. It was an excellent thing for nurturing innate spiritual roots and healing injuries.

There were dozens of drops of Three Lights Divine Water within the Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner. They were likely all of Kunpeng's reserves, and Shi Mo had gained them all in one stroke.

Furthermore, top-grade innate spiritual treasures all possessed extraordinary might and profound wonders. Simply placing the Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner on Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain ensured that the water-attributed spiritual energy there remained incomparably pure and abundant, which was also greatly beneficial to the growth of the Peaches of Immortality and millet.

Compared to innate spiritual treasures with elemental attributes, the River Diagram and Luo Writing were even more special. Their intricate and profound patterns seemed to expound upon the most essential mysteries of the Heavenly Dao.

This pair of complementary top-grade innate spiritual treasures, one for offense and one for defense, was the best auxiliary tool in the Primordial World for comprehending formations and restrictions, yin and yang, the eight trigrams, and the arts of deduction.

Thus, Shi Mo devoted most of his attention to studying and pondering the River Diagram and Luo Writing.

As his comprehension and research deepened, Shi Mo discovered that the mysteries contained in the runes of the River Diagram and Luo Writing bore some resemblance and connection to the network of earth veins and the distribution of the stars.

Following those directions, the more he pondered, the more he gained. Shi Mo also increasingly felt that the Dao contained within the River Diagram and Luo Writing was truly profound and mysterious.

Shi Mo was so absorbed in his research that he completely lost track of time. Only when muffled thunder rang out through the earth-vein network, accompanied by violent and chaotic energy fluctuations, was he startled awake.

"Are those guys fighting a war because they have nothing better to do?" Shi Mo muttered with a frown. With a wave of his hand, he put away the River Diagram and Luo Writing before directly escaping into the underground spiritual veins.

Beneath Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain, within the ever thicker and denser earth-vein network, an Earth-Core Fire Dragon with a reddish-gold body was coiled at nearly every node.

Amid rumbling explosions, bolts of lightning descended as pillars of light, passing through every obstacle to strike those Earth-Core Fire Dragons.

"Whoa, did they arrange to undergo tribulation together, or are they looking to die?" Shi Mo said in astonishment and irritation at the sight.

Golden Flame, who was equally at a loss before this scene, immediately rushed over in relief upon seeing Shi Mo. "Master, you've finally emerged from seclusion."

"Obviously! Could I have stayed in seclusion? If you draw in a few more lightning bolts, you'll blast my cave residence apart," Shi Mo said, glaring at him. "Tell me, what's going on?"

"Master, it's because I often explain the Dao to them..." Golden Flame said with a helpless bitter smile.

"You explain the Dao to them? You're the one who made them undergo transformation lightning tribulations together?" Shi Mo interrupted before he could finish, glaring.

"No, Master, I didn't," Golden Flame hurriedly waved his hands. "Originally, only one of them was going to undergo tribulation. I don't know what happened, but all of them suddenly sensed their lightning tribulations. S-so it turned out like this!"

"One tribulation triggered all the others?" Shi Mo was slightly taken aback, his brows knitting. "Could it be that the Heavenly Dao also doesn't want too many of them to successfully undergo tribulation? But judging by the power of this lightning tribulation, barring any accidents, they shouldn't face much danger."

"Or is the Heavenly Dao being lazy and trying to save effort, unwilling to make them undergo tribulation one by one, so it simply threw them all into the same pot?" Thinking this, Shi Mo's expression became somewhat strange. As he watched the lightning tribulation gradually approach its end, dozens of Earth-Core Fire Dragons soon transformed into human forms one after another.

"Hm? Strange. Why are they all male?" Seeing their transformed appearances, Shi Mo was surprised again. "Does the Heavenly Dao not want them to reproduce too much?"

"Still, for the time being, there are enough hands," Shi Mo thought. Only after the transformed Earth-Core Fire Dragons came forward one by one to bow excitedly and respectfully did he lightly wave his hand and instruct Golden Flame,

"You'll continue leading them from now on and teach them how to cultivate and work. Oh, and the millet I had you tend before."

Upon hearing Shi Mo mention the millet, Golden Flame hurriedly said, "Master, that millet has grown too quickly. There's no longer enough room to plant it all within Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain."

"There should be quite a few seeds stored up by now, right? Later, I'll find a place outside and use it as an experimental field. It should be about time to try planting it on a large scale," Shi Mo said thoughtfully.

"Master? What is an ex... experimental field?" Golden Flame asked in confusion.

Shi Mo gave him a somewhat speechless glance before saying, "It's a field used for trial planting. Not just millet—other acquired spiritual plants and fruit trees can be planted in greater quantities as well."