Spell-Breaking Nail!
This Medium-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure moved incredibly fast and excelled at shattering protective spiritual light. Unfortunately, it was useless against Zhu Yin's high-grade spiritual treasure.
Zhu Yin had also refined the Ox Monster's Natal Magical Treasure... the Mystic Light Heavenly Plow. It was a High-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure originally used to cultivate spiritual fields and increase their fertility, but it could also unleash sharp mystic light capable of cleaving through all things.
The Mystic Light Heavenly Plow was a hereditary spiritual treasure of the Azure Ox Clan. Only the Ox Monster, as the clan chief's son, had been qualified to use it.
The rat monster's Spell-Breaking Nail had been obtained by chance ten thousand years ago from the cave dwelling of a rat clan senior. Aside from these two spiritual treasures, the two demons' Storage Bags contained a great number of Heaven and Earth Treasures, as well as several Low-Grade Acquired Spiritual Treasures.
Of course, their truly valuable collections and Divine Weapons and Sharp Blades had not been carried on them. They had been left in their cave dwellings within the Heavenly Court. Zhu Yin found it regrettable, but he was not greedy.
He knew well that after gaining such a huge advantage, he had to know when to stop. Pursuing more would only bring trouble upon himself.
Thinking of the Mystic Light Heavenly Plow, he could not help recalling that the future Sage Taiqing's mount was an Azure Ox, and that there was also a Heavenly Plow in the Eight Views Palace. Could it have been this one? Only later renamed the Xuandu Heavenly Plow?
Still, even if that were true, it did not matter. Sage Taiqing had not yet become a Sage, and even after he did, that Azure Ox would not join the Taiqing Lineage until after the Witch-Monster War. By then, the Mystic Light Heavenly Plow would have long since been lost, and Zhu Yin had nothing to do with that karma.
Even if the Azure Ox Clan sought to settle the matter in the future, Zhu Yin was not afraid. He did not like causing trouble, but neither was he someone who feared it.
What was more, he was Sage Zhunti's Direct Disciple and the future chief disciple of the Western Teaching. In terms of backing, the Azure Ox Clan could not compare at all.
Even if that Great Principle Golden Immortal of the Azure Ox Clan followed the thread of karma to find him now, the Heavenly Court would not provoke the future disciple of a Sage over a dead junior and a spiritual treasure.
After all, the Ox Monster had brought this upon himself.
Seeking the Dao at Buzhou
In the blink of an eye, a thousand years passed, and Zhu Yin appeared at the foot of Buzhou Mountain, one of the famous mountains of the Primordial Wilderness.
He had once heard someone say, "He who has never reached the Great Wall is no true man."
And in the Primordial Wilderness, this "Great Wall" was Buzhou Mountain.
Although the Traces of the Great Dao left here by Pangu had become exceedingly faint, and although countless cultivators had already scoured this place, making great treasures difficult to find, he had still come.
First, to pay homage to Pangu's mighty power; second, to seek a thread of fortune here.
Standing at the foot of the mountain and looking up, he saw a peak so high its end was invisible, so broad it seemed like a Heavenly Pillar supporting the entire continent. Zhu Yin gazed at it, his heart filled with reverence.
Just how powerful had Pangu been? He had actually used his spine to support such a massive mountain! Zhu Yin did not know the answer, but he knew that he had to seek the Dao and pursue the Dao.
He cast aside distracting thoughts, took a deep breath, calmed his mind, and began climbing.
Step by step, leaving one footprint after another, he used not a shred of mana. He simply walked upon the earth, sensing all things and recovering that pure heart of cultivation. Just like when he had first set foot upon the Western Continent, it was as though he were measuring heaven and earth, and measuring his own Dao Heart as well.
The earth whispered in his ears, Life Force flourished all around him, and his expression remained focused as his steps stayed firm.
Not only did he use his own talent to communicate with plants and trees, seeking to understand the Dao of Vitality, but he also used his tranquil Dao Heart to question the mountain:
"What is the Great Dao?"
"What is tranquility?"
"What is freedom?"
The mountain wind was Pangu's breath; the swaying vegetation was Pangu's Dao Heart; the rise and fall of birds and beasts was Pangu's will.
Zhu Yin climbed higher step by step, never ceasing his questions.
Suddenly, a fine rain fell from the heavens and gradually became a torrential downpour.
At first, it was spring rain, fine as ox hair. Thunder cracked, and the plants rejoiced; then it became summer rain, thunder roaring as heaven and earth fell silent.
Yet Zhu Yin remained unmoved and continued onward.
Birds cried, herds of beasts galloped, pines and cypresses stretched out their branches, and flowers released their fragrance; fish leaped from the water, and insects entered the ponds.
He continued climbing.
Only when the rain stopped and night descended did heaven and earth become quiet.
Birds returned to their nests, beasts entered their dens, flowers and grass closed up, and all things fell silent.
At last, Zhu Yin sat down cross-legged at the summit.
He had climbed the mountain for three thousand years and sought the Dao for three thousand years. Buzhou Mountain had silently answered him for three thousand years as well.
Finally, he understood.
He had grasped a trace of the true essence of Pangu's Great Dao.
All things, whether tangible or intangible, were manifestations of Life Force;
Between movement and stillness, whether turmoil or peace, all was tranquility;
The union of firmness and softness, inner and outer as one, was true freedom.
The Great Dao was not far away. It was beneath one's feet, and it was within one's heart.
As long as the heart was at peace, the Dao existed everywhere.
...The Great Dao had always been what the heart desired.
A hundred years later, a mysterious Grand Unity aura rose from Zhu Yin's body.
Although his cultivation had only just entered the Early Taiyi Stage, his accumulated understanding of the Dao had already reached the level of the Late Taiyi Stage.
All of this was the foundation laid by his six thousand years of travel.
He had traveled the Eastern Lands for three thousand years and climbed Buzhou Mountain for three thousand years, only then attaining today's harvest.
Buzhou Mountain was a majestic divine mountain overflowing with spiritual energy.
Zhu Yin entered the mountain alone and began gathering all kinds of Heaven and Earth Treasures, seeking an opportunity to break through himself.
Though cultivators often set foot on this mountain, its treasures were plentiful and its spiritual opportunities abundant. Even with so many people, it still concealed many fortuitous chances. To the resource-starved Western Lands, it was practically a treasure land.
Over the next three thousand years, Zhu Yin roamed throughout the mountain and harvested countless spiritual herbs, exotic flowers, immortal medicines, and spiritual materials. He even discovered several precious Acquired Spiritual Roots, including one of high grade.
Three hundred years later, he suddenly felt a stir in his heart. He immediately followed that feeling and eventually discovered an Innate Grand Formation at the bottom of a lake.
Several decades later, he stepped precisely upon the formation's nodes, successfully passed through the grand formation, and brought out a treasure vase from the lakebed, jade-green all over and warm as polished jade.
This treasure vase was a High-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure called the [Vitality Treasure Vase].
Every thousand years, it could condense a drop of "Water of Vitality," which could replenish the Primordial Spirit, nourish the body, and cure all poisons. Every ten thousand years, it could also produce a drop of "Three Lights Divine Water," whose healing effects were extraordinarily powerful and could benefit even Great Principle Golden Immortals.
This treasure had existed for a long time, and a great quantity of spiritual water had already accumulated within it, even forming an entire Lake of Vitality. Among it were over a thousand drops of Three Lights Divine Water alone!
Because Zhu Yin cultivated the Vitality Great Dao, the treasure vase sensed his aura and took him as its master of its own accord.
After remaining on Buzhou Mountain for another two hundred years, he did not obtain any more Innate Spiritual Treasures, but he acquired a kind of Spirit Bee called Jiaochong. These Spirit Bees possessed Heavenly Immortal cultivation and excelled at brewing honey, so he collected several to bring back to his Dao Field for breeding.
Before leaving, he took out some Water of Vitality and sprinkled it over Buzhou Mountain's ranges as thanks.
Then his figure flashed, tearing through the air as he flew back toward the Western Lands.
There were still over a thousand years until Hongjun finished preaching the Dao. He had to return to the Western Lands as soon as possible to avoid missing an important opportunity. After all, no matter how good a treasure was, it was useless if one could not keep one's life.
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