Post-Heaven High-Grade Spiritual Root... Astral Fruit Tree

After Zhunti and Jieyin exchanged smiles, Zhunti flicked his sleeve, and three streaks of light landed before Zhu Yin.

"You have followed me as my disciple for many years. Aside from the Bodhi Seed I bestowed upon you at the beginning, I have never given you any great treasure. You now possess a complete set of Dharma treasures, but most are Wood-aligned and can easily be restrained by fire."

"Today, I bestow upon you a High-Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure, the Water Spirit Pearl. It can release endless Innate True Water, restrain flames, and protect your safety."

"Additionally, there is high-grade Geng Metal Essence and Wutu Earth Essence here. They can help you cultivate the Five Qis Converging Toward the Origin, so I shall bestow them upon you as well."

Zhu Yin was overjoyed and immediately bowed in thanks.

"This disciple will not disappoint Master's high expectations. I will cultivate diligently without cease and bring glory to Mount Sumeru's lineage throughout the Primordial Wilderness!"

Before leaving, he also presented a pound of Enlightenment Tea as a token of filial respect.

This tea tree was a spiritual root born alongside the Fallen-Treasure Coin. It had existed for a million years and accumulated quite a bit of spiritual tea, making it perfect as a return gift.

Not long afterward, Zhunti and Jieyin entered seclusion to comprehend their gains, while Zhu Yin returned to his Quiet Room to continue cultivating.

He began refining the Geng Metal Essence to consolidate his cultivation.

The key to a Taiyi Golden Immortal's cultivation lay in condensing the Five Qis in the Chest. Each additional qi condensed raised one's strength by another level, and only after all five qis were perfected would one have a chance to challenge the Great Principle Golden Immortal realm.

However, not every Taiyi Golden Immortal was qualified to attain the Dao. It also depended on the depth of one's divine abilities, magical power, physical body, and Primordial Spirit, as well as the quality of the five qis.

Many Taiyi Golden Immortals lacked sufficient accumulation, causing their Dao path to end there. Even if they were fortunate enough to become Great Principle Golden Immortals, insufficient foundations would leave them stuck at the initial stage, unable to advance another inch.

Zhu Yin himself was the Upper-Grade Innate Spiritual Root, the Pure Bamboo, and naturally possessed Yimu Wood Essence. His foundation was far deeper than that of ordinary cultivators.

Now that he had obtained high-grade Geng Metal Essence, equal in quality to the Yimu Wood Essence, his foundation would be greatly enhanced through their fusion. His future cultivation would surely rise even further!

Within Immaculate Hall on Mount Sumeru.

Zhu Yin sat in the hall, his entire body enveloped in golden light, as though he had transformed into a golden divine Buddha.

He spent a full thousand years before finally refining all the Innate Geng Metal Essence within his body. Not only had his physique grown stronger, but his magical power, Primordial Spirit, and divine abilities had all surged as well. It was as though he had been reborn, and his cultivation naturally broke through to the Middle-Stage Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.

He had already stood at the threshold of the Late Taiyi Stage, but now his realm was perfected, his Dao foundation stable, and his magical power pure, without the slightest flaw.

After a brief rest, Zhu Yin continued his seclusion. He first used the Innate Wutu Earth Essence to refine his Spleen Earth Essence, then used the Water Origin contained within the Water Spirit Pearl to condense his Kidney Water Essence.

Another six thousand years passed.

Zhu Yin emerged from seclusion and stood before the hall, gazing at the lush greenery in the mountains, where birds and beasts frolicked through the forest. He felt refreshed and at ease.

His gains from this seclusion were immense. Not only had he completely refined four qis, bringing his Dao attainment and cultivation fully into harmony and reaching the Peak Late-Stage Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm, but he had also refined the many Innate Spiritual Treasures in his possession to their utmost limits.

More importantly, with the Great Dao contained within those spiritual treasures, along with the aid of the Bodhi Seed, Enlightenment Tea, and Pure-Cleansing Bell, he comprehended the Dao for a thousand years. His Dao attainment advanced by leaps and bounds, successfully breaking through to the Perfected Primordial Unity realm.

Now, all he lacked was a strand of high-grade Lihuo Fire Essence. Once he refined it, he would be completely perfected and ready to prepare for his charge toward the Great Principle Golden Immortal realm.

After cultivating quietly in the mountains for several more decades, Zhu Yin saw no sign of either his master or martial uncle emerging from seclusion. He bid farewell to the two boy attendants and left Mount Sumeru, returning to Spirit Platform Mountain.

Spirit Platform Mountain.

Zhu Yin used a divine ability to scatter a life-giving spiritual rain across the mountain, nourishing its rivers, peaks, plants, and trees.

After putting away the Vitality Treasure Vase, he summoned the two boy attendants, Wuqing and Wuxin, and lectured on the Dao for a hundred years. He then inspected the Spirit Bee hive. Seeing that they had become self-sufficient and brewed quite a bit of Spirit Honey, he was finally at ease.

Next, he resumed his usual work, delving deep underground to repair the earth veins and accumulate merit, all while continuing to comprehend the Dao.

Although he had cultivated the Great Freedom Dao to its limit in the Taiyi realm, Zhu Yin did not stop pursuing it. Instead, he turned to comprehending other Great Daos that suited him, such as earth, Water Element, and purification, using them to nourish himself and strengthen his foundation.

Now that he had reached Perfected Primordial Unity and had the treasure vase's assistance, his speed in repairing earth veins had increased considerably. Where he had once needed nine hundred years to repair one earth vein, he now needed only five hundred.

As for the Lihuo Fire Essence, he was in no hurry. First, he had advanced too quickly and needed time to settle his cultivation. Second, he knew that his master would certainly be able to find it for him.

If there truly was none, he could personally travel to the Southern Lands to search. That place had countless fire-attributed spiritual objects, and with his master accompanying him, there would naturally be nothing to worry about.

Three thousand years later, after Zhu Yin repaired six earth veins, he suddenly sensed something. He burst from the ground and looked up toward the Nine Heavens.

An enormous figure appeared high in the sky.

It was a gigantic Fierce Beast with a bull's head, a tiger's body, and a pair of huge wings. Dense Blood Baleful Intent coiled around its entire body, making it look exceptionally vicious.

It was clutching a White Tiger cub in its claws, its face twisted in savagery.

Zhu Yin recognized it at once. It was the ancient Fierce Beast... Qiongqi!

His master had mentioned during his lectures that the Qiongqi Clan and the White Tiger Clan shared an extremely deep enmity. The two clans had the same origin, both descending from the Metal-Element Demon God that had fallen beneath Pangu Axe. One had absorbed Geng Metal Essence and become the White Tiger Clan, while the other had absorbed Blood Baleful Intent and become the Qiongqi Clan.

Since ancient times, the two clans had slaughtered each other without end and formed a blood feud. Only after the Qiongqi Clan declined did it gradually fade from the world.

Yet he had encountered one in the Western Lands today!

Looking at the Little White Tiger cub that was barely clinging to life, Zhu Yin hesitated for a moment before deciding to save it.

A whip shadow tore through the air and lashed toward Qiongqi.

Though Qiongqi was only at the Late-Stage Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm, it possessed extremely rich battle experience. It immediately counterattacked with bloody light, which transformed into countless sharp blades and blocked the whip shadow.

But in the next instant, Zhu Yin unleashed the Spell-Breaking Nail, which pierced through Qiongqi's front claw in an instant and forced it to release the White Tiger cub.

Zhu Yin flashed forward, caught the cub, and gently stroked it to calm it down.

Qiongqi roared furiously and opened its mouth, spewing an overwhelming sea of flame that swept toward him like a blazing inferno capable of burning the heavens.

Zhu Yin's expression did not change. Holding the Water Spirit Pearl, he released a massive amount of Innate True Water, which collided violently with the sea of flames and formed an enormous cloud of white mist.

Using the mist as cover, he suddenly appeared above Qiongqi's head. The Six-Purities Bamboo crashed down, releasing endless sorrowful and bitter intent that left Qiongqi briefly dazed.

It was this brief instant!

Zhu Yin struck again. The Mystic Light Heavenly Plow slashed down, while the Wither-and-Bloom Whip wrapped around Qiongqi at the same time, rendering it unable to move.

"Pfft!"

Qiongqi's head was severed on the spot. Blood splashed across the sky, and all its imposing might vanished.

This battle appeared to be an easy victory for Zhu Yin, but in truth, his attacks had been clean and decisive, every step carefully calculated, each one striking directly at Qiongqi's weakness.

He was originally an Upper-Grade Innate spiritual bamboo who had taken form, as well as Zhunti's disciple. He possessed numerous Innate Spiritual Treasures and an exceptionally deep foundation. Combined with his Perfected Primordial Unity cultivation, his strength far surpassed others of the same realm.

Though this Qiongqi was strong, it was ultimately no match for him.

It had not died unfairly at all!

Inside the Bamboo Building on Spirit Platform Mountain, the Little White Tiger secretly slipped out of its room.

Its four paws touched the ground lightly as it crept along, cautiously glancing left and right as though it were about to do something bad.

Before long, the Little White Tiger arrived at the Spirit Medicine Garden. It clearly had a purpose. Although all kinds of Immortal Grasses and Spirit Herbs filled the garden in dazzling abundance, it ignored every one of them. Following only the fragrance with its nose, it wandered around until it finally stopped before a tall golden tree.

The tree was golden from top to bottom, with dense branches and leaves that shone with starlike radiance. It looked as though it had grown out of the Milky Way itself, appearing exceptionally sacred.

This was the Post-Heaven High-Grade Spiritual Root... the Astral Fruit Tree.