The Life of Vegetation Is Movement; the Support of the Earth Is Stillness

The Ninth-Grade White Lotus was a Superior Innate Spiritual Treasure. Resources in the Western Lands were already scarce, and even Zhunti himself possessed only a few such treasures.

Yet Jieyin merely smiled faintly and waved a hand. "Since he is your chief disciple and has considerable talent in the Purity Dao, this White Lotus was prepared for him in the first place. It should be bestowed upon him."

Zhunti nodded in agreement. Only then did Zhu Yin solemnly thank his martial uncle and put away the White Lotus.

His manners were impeccable and his attitude respectful, earning him even greater favor from the two great cultivators.

Zhunti smiled as well. "Your martial uncle has given you a spiritual treasure, so as your master, I cannot be stingy. This Supreme Bodhi Seed can steady the soul and calm the spirit, inspiring wisdom. I bestow it upon you as a gift for becoming my disciple. Cultivate diligently, and do not disappoint us."

Zhu Yin was overjoyed and deeply grateful.

To receive such precious treasures the moment he entered the sect showed just how highly the two saints regarded him. He silently vowed that he would never fail their expectations.

By the Lotus Pond, Zhu Yin did not immediately refine the Ninth-Grade White Lotus. Instead, he first refined the Bodhi Seed, then sat cross-legged upon a cushion and listened to Master Zhunti expound the Dao.

The sound of the Dao echoed through the great hall, as resonant as bells and drums, yet as gentle as heavenly music. Every word was a pearl of wisdom, every sentence profound and mysterious, intoxicating the mind and spirit.

Golden light spread through the hall as the aura of the Great Dao rushed forth. The entire palace seemed to transform into a sacred ground for expounding the Dao, with wondrous phenomena appearing everywhere.

Zhu Yin's comprehension had already been exceptional, and with the Bodhi Seed's support, wisps of wisdom light appeared above his head. His entire being sank into an endless ocean of Dao principles.

He seemed to see himself repairing the shattered earth veins of the Western Wasteland, reviving the barren land. He saw himself planting spiritual herbs and roots, vegetation flourishing and flowers and fruit covering the mountains.

He seemed to stand in a place of ultimate purity, without conflict of any kind around him. Heaven and earth operated naturally, while his heart was peaceful and serene, without joy or sorrow. His Dharma body was unstained by dust, as though the Heavenly Dao itself had manifested.

As the sermon deepened, the mana within him changed as well. It fused with the Western Wondrous Dharma, and because his true body was a Netherworld Bamboo, his mana gained a rich aura of life, brimming with vitality.

A Daoist Auspicious Cloud appeared above his head, transforming into a Heaven-Piercing Jade Bamboo with lush branches and leaves, like a divine object born naturally between heaven and earth.

The spiritual energy of the lotus blossoms in the pond was also absorbed and refined by him. Part strengthened his physical body, part nourished his Primordial Spirit, and the rest transformed into mana.

A thousand years passed before the sound of the Dao gradually ceased.

Zhu Yin remained immersed in the lingering resonance of the Great Dao. Only after another hundred years did he slowly awaken.

He rose and bowed, saying sincerely, "This disciple thanks Master for the grace of transmitting the Dao. I will certainly cultivate diligently without slacking."

Zhunti nodded and ordered the boy attendant to take him away to rest, so he could continue his secluded cultivation and digest his gains.

Within Immaculate Hall.

Zhu Yin sat cross-legged in quiet cultivation, his expression calm. Three hundred years later, he opened his eyes. His gaze was clear and bright, while his mind was empty and free of stray thoughts.

He walked to the window and gazed at the mountains beyond, filled with immense joy.

After a thousand years of listening to the Dao and three hundred years of careful study, he had not only integrated the methods of the Western Lands into himself, but also made breakthroughs in divine abilities, alchemy, artifact refinement, formations, and other paths. Both his cultivation and physical body had risen to a new level.

Then he took out the Ninth-Grade White Lotus and began refining it.

Innate Spiritual Treasures differed from acquired treasures. They contained the laws of the Great Dao, could assist one in comprehending the Dao, and could bear the Three Corpses. They had always been treasures coveted by cultivators.

As Zhu Yin refined the White Lotus, his Primordial Spirit merged with it, and he learned of its origins...

It was actually a Ninth-Grade Purifying World White Lotus cultivated from a Twelfth-Grade Pure World White Lotus Seed. It possessed formidable defensive power and could also release Purification Divine Light.

The Dao Zhu Yin cultivated happened to encompass both vitality and purification, making him perfectly compatible with this lotus.

Time flowed like water. As he continued refining it, his understanding of the Dao of Purification deepened as well.

The number of Innate Dao Restrictions within an Innate Spiritual Treasure determined its grade:

Eighteen restrictions made it low-grade,

Twenty-seven restrictions made it mid-grade,

Thirty-six restrictions made it high-grade,

Forty-five restrictions made it top-grade,

While the supreme Innate Supreme Treasures possessed forty-nine and a half restrictions.

This Ninth-Grade Purifying World White Lotus possessed thirty-six Innate Dao Restrictions, making it one of the finest among high-grade spiritual treasures.

Although his current realm was limited and he had refined only nine of them, his gains were still immense.

Four hundred years later, Zhu Yin emerged from cultivation. Purity Divine Light surrounded his body, his aura was steady, and his mana was deep and abundant.

Looking back on this period, he had spent:

A thousand years repairing earth veins;

A thousand years listening to his master expound the Dao;

Three hundred years carefully refining his understanding;

Four hundred years refining a spiritual treasure;

A full two thousand seven hundred years!

And now, his cultivation had finally broken through from the Early Golden Immortal realm, formally entering the Mid Golden Immortal realm!

Within Mount Sumeru.

Zhu Yin's days had been exceptionally quiet lately.

Master Zhunti had gone somewhere unknown, while Martial Uncle Jieyin had entered seclusion once more. Mount Sumeru had become somewhat less lively.

Apart from cultivating each day, he wandered through the mountain, strolling and observing, watching the wind and listening to the rain as he comprehended the Dao of Vitality within heaven, earth, plants, and trees.

One day, on a sudden whim, he sealed his mana and walked from the foot of the mountain to its summit step by step. Like an ordinary person, he used the simplest method to feel the pulse of heaven and earth.

He stepped upon the earth with his feet, observed all things with his eyes, and sensed with his heart the changing seasons and the flourishing and withering of flowers and grass.

When rain fell, he traveled cloaked; when snow drifted, he climbed through it. When fierce winds howled, he neither hid nor avoided them. Even when mountain fires spread, he strode through them without retreating.

His figure was resolute and upright, like jade bamboo in the wind—pure and gentle, with steady steps.

Day after day, year after year.

For three thousand years, he never stopped walking. Until one day, he suddenly halted, sat down where he stood, closed his eyes, and comprehended the Dao.

At first, this journey through the mountain had merely been a sudden notion. But as time passed, he became increasingly immersed in it, treating the walk as true cultivation.

Over those three thousand years, he witnessed too many cycles and changes of life.

He saw birds hatch eggs and beasts raise their young. He saw green grass break through the soil and old trees grow new buds. He felt dead wood revive after lightning strikes, and sensed young bamboo bend beneath wind and rain without breaking.

Even barren hills reduced to ashes by wildfire could see all things revive when the spring breeze arrived.

He gradually came to understand that life force was not merely the splendor of flourishing flowers. It also existed amid the decline and cycles of all things.

Withering was life force; falling away was also life force. Life force was not only found in "life," but was hidden within "death" as well.

As this understanding deepened, his aura became increasingly gentle and profound. Even the surrounding vegetation grew wildly because of him, great trees bursting from the earth while vines wound around the mountain rocks.

Yet he always felt that something was still missing, that he had yet to truly touch upon a certain core.

Until one day, inspiration flashed through his mind, and he suddenly understood.

Over these three thousand years of walking, what he had understood most deeply was not the vitality of birds and beasts, but the steadiness and tolerance of the earth beneath his feet.

The earth said nothing, yet it bore the life, death, flourishing, and decline of all things. It itself was a form of life force at the deepest level.

"Life force has both movement and stillness."

"The life of vegetation is movement; the support of the earth is stillness."

At that moment, a magnificent mountain shadow emerged above his Immortal Dao Auspicious Cloud. It was the manifestation of Mount Sumeru, which he had measured over three thousand years. Upon it appeared two ancient, simple characters... Mount Sumeru!

That mountain symbolized the "Earthly Vitality" he had comprehended.

Five hundred years later, a vast aura surged from his body into the sky. Zhu Yin opened his eyes, Dao light flowing within them, his face filled with joy.

He had broken through!

After three thousand years of walking the mountain and five hundred years of comprehending the Dao, not only had his cultivation leaped to the Late Golden Immortal realm, but he had also created a powerful mountain-suppressing divine ability.

Using the entire Mount Sumeru as its foundation, it gathered the life force of all things within the mountain to suppress enemies. So long as a single breath of this mountain remained, even if it was reduced to dust, it could condense and regenerate anew, embodying the true meaning of the Great Dao of endless life.

After his comprehension ended, Zhu Yin was preparing to return and enter seclusion to consolidate his cultivation when a familiar voice suddenly sounded beside his ear:

"Come see me at once!" It was Zhunti's voice transmission!