Innate Gourd Vine

Shi Mo had just left when, moments later, three streaks of light swiftly flew up from below and transformed into three figures.

They were Laozi, holding a whisk; Yuanshi Tianzun, who looked refined and upright; and Daoist Tongtian, cradling a cyan divine sword and radiating a sharp aura.

"Elder Brother, what happened? That disturbance just now..." Yuanshi Tianzun frowned as he looked at Laozi in surprise.

Laozi merely shook his head with a sigh. "Who would have thought that, after us three brothers had cultivated diligently on Mount Buzhou for so many years, we would not know there was another mystery here? Someone else has taken advantage of it."

"Elder Brother, what exactly is here?" Tongtian could not help but ask with a frown.

"Though I cannot determine what is here, judging from the earlier disturbance, it is no ordinary object. I fear it is no less remarkable than the twelve-petaled Creation Green Lotus we brothers encountered before." Yuanshi and Tongtian's expressions changed upon hearing this.

"Even after the Creation Green Lotus split into three, it became three top-grade innate spirit treasures of immense power." Tongtian spoke with unconcealed unwillingness. "What treasure was it? Who took it?"

"Though I was fortunate enough to succeed in severing my corpse during this period of secluded cultivation, I missed such an opportunity. It seems this treasure was ultimately not destined for us!" Laozi sighed softly, and Yuanshi and Tongtian's expressions grew even uglier.

Just then, an invisible ripple of aura suddenly spread from somewhere on Mount Buzhou, causing Laozi and the others to turn in astonishment.

"An innate spirit treasure has emerged? What a powerful aura fluctuation!"

"What is going on? How can treasures be appearing on Mount Buzhou one after another?" Yuanshi Tianzun asked, frowning in confusion.

"Who cares what is going on? Hurry! If we are too slow, someone else will snatch it away," Tongtian said, transforming into a streak of light and rushing off first.

Yuanshi and Laozi exchanged a glance before hurriedly following after him.

It was not as if they had failed to notice the commotion caused by Kunpeng and Minghe's battle earlier. Yet knowing that neither Kunpeng nor Minghe was easy to provoke, and with Laozi in secluded cultivation, Yuanshi and Tongtian had not dared rashly contend with them.

Later, when Shi Mo made his move, drawing upon the power of the stars to wound Kunpeng and drive Minghe away, Yuanshi and Tongtian had even less courage to approach.

Now that Laozi had emerged from seclusion and severed his corpse to become a Quasi-Sage, the confident Three Pure Ones had the confidence to contend for any opportunity or treasure.

Elsewhere, Shi Mo, who had left from underground and just returned to the surface, was preparing to return to Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain to settle the transplanted Yellow Central Plum when his body suddenly stiffened. Turning his head, his expression became somewhat strange.

"This aura... the fluctuation of an innate spirit root or spirit treasure being born? Something emerging at this time—could it be..."

Having formed a suspicion, Shi Mo immediately gave up on leaving in haste. His true body and good corpse avatar separated, and he had the good corpse avatar take the Yellow Central Plum, wrapped in the Northern Xuanyuan Water-Control Banner, back to Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain as quickly as possible. His true body hurriedly turned back toward Mount Buzhou.

Within an inconspicuous valley somewhere on Mount Buzhou, seven-colored radiance rose, while a peculiar, profound aura spread from within.

As the Three Pure Ones arrived first, streaks of light soon came flying in from all across the Primordial World. In the blink of an eye, they had all gathered above the valley: Nuwa and Fuxi, the Demon Emperor Di Jun and Donghuang Taiyi, as well as the ever-inseparable Hongyun and Zhen Yuanzi.

"Ha ha... it truly is an innate object!" Seeing the seven gourds of different colors and sizes, arranged like the Big Dipper upon the lush green vine in the valley, Tongtian's eyes lit up as he laughed aloud.

Yuanshi swept his gaze across the crowd. "Everyone, this Innate Gourd Vine grows on Mount Buzhou. It should rightfully belong to us, the Pangu Three Pure Ones."

"Hmph! Mount Buzhou was formed from Great God Pangu's spine. Even if you Three Pure Ones cultivate here, Mount Buzhou does not belong to you," Di Jun snorted before Yuanshi had even finished speaking.

"That is right! Fellow Daoist Yuanshi, my sister sensed that something on Mount Buzhou was destined for her, which is why we came here. Surely everyone else came because they sensed something as well? Since that is so, it means these seven gourds are destined for everyone, not exclusively for anyone," Fuxi hurriedly added.

Yuanshi frowned at this and instinctively looked toward Laozi. Laozi, whose expression had remained calm throughout, spoke indifferently. "Since we came here because of destiny, we can simply divide them among ourselves. Why argue?"

"Heh heh... Fellow Daoist Laozi speaks wisely," Hongyun said with a smile.

Di Jun, however, gave a low snort. "There are only seven gourds here, but there are nine of us. How are we meant to divide them?"

"There are indeed seven gourds, but there are not nine people." Amid a clear laugh, Shi Mo arrived shortly afterward.

Di Jun and Donghuang Taiyi's expressions darkened at the sight of Shi Mo. The Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, and Fuxi also showed slight changes in expression, while Hongyun hurried forward to greet him courteously.

"Ha ha... Brother Shi Mo, you came at just the right time," Hongyun laughed in delight, while Zhen Yuanzi beside him also revealed a relaxed smile.

"But now that you are here, there are ten of us, which makes these seven gourds even harder to divide," Hongyun said teasingly. Then, as if noticing something, he frowned at Shi Mo. "Brother Shi Mo, your aura... you severed your corpse and became a Quasi-Sage?"

"A Quasi-Sage?" The expressions of the Three Pure Ones, Nuwa, and Fuxi shifted as well, while Di Jun and Donghuang Taiyi looked even more displeased.

Shi Mo nodded lightly to Hongyun, then looked at the crowd with a smile. "Everyone, there are seven gourds on this Innate Gourd Vine, but ten of us. How should we divide them?"

"How does Fellow Daoist Shi Mo think they should be divided?" Laozi, foremost among the Three Pure Ones, asked in return with a solemn frown.

Shi Mo smiled. "Though there are ten of us, we are actually four parties. Not everyone is necessarily destined for these seven gourds. So let each party take one first!"

One each? The Three Pure Ones all frowned, somewhat dissatisfied. The three of them would only receive one?

"Fine, we agree!" Fuxi was the first to speak, while Di Jun moved even faster, plucking a yellow gourd.

Nuwa acted immediately afterward, plucking an orange gourd.

At Shi Mo's signal, Hongyun likewise stepped forward and plucked the largest red gourd.

Seeing this, Yuanshi, who had been about to object, no longer had the chance to speak. Laozi hurried forward and plucked the purple gourd.

Shi Mo hesitated slightly before reaching out to pluck the blue gourd. Then he said to the Three Pure Ones, Di Jun, and the others, whose expressions had shifted slightly, "The two parties with more people may each take one additional gourd!"

The Three Pure Ones' expressions immediately eased, and Tongtian hurried forward without wanting to fall behind, plucking the cyan gourd.

Yuanshi's expression changed slightly at the sight, and he instinctively reached out to pluck the smallest green gourd.

Seeing the Three Pure Ones being so greedy, Di Jun and Donghuang Taiyi's expressions changed as well, and they indignantly prepared to make their move.

At that moment, the remaining green gourd suddenly erupted with intense green light, as though it had devoured all the life energy of the entire gourd vine, causing the vine to wither rapidly.

Then, as if lacking sufficient energy, the green gourd's light dimmed. It shriveled, dried up, and fell from the vine.