Yuan Tian had now learned from the memories in his mind that he had actually been reborn into the era of the Primordial Wilderness, less than ten thousand years after the world had first been split open. To the current Yuan Tian, it made no difference whether he had been reborn on Earth or in the Primordial Wilderness.
This time, the black hole had brought Yuan Tian to the Primordial Wilderness and turned him into a tree—a willow tree, Green Willow, one of the so-called Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots.
When heaven and earth had first opened, spiritual beings had been as numerous as ox hairs, and there had been no shortage of Innate ones. Yet ten were the most precious: Ginseng Fruit, Bodhi Tree, Ren Water Flat Peach, Fusang Wood, Yellow Central Plum, Bitter Bamboo, Green Willow, Immortal Apricot, Gourd, and Moon Laurel. Known as the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots, all had been nurtured before Primordial Chaos was divided and heaven and earth were opened, each possessing boundless wondrous uses.
Ginseng Fruit was also called Grass-Returning Elixir. It blossomed once every three thousand years, bore fruit after another three thousand years, and required yet another three thousand years to ripen. Only after ten thousand years could it be eaten. In those ten thousand years, it bore only thirty fruits. The fruits resembled infants less than three days old, complete with limbs and facial features. If one with fate merely smelled such a fruit, one would live another three hundred and sixty years; eating one would grant a lifespan of forty-seven thousand years. Ginseng Fruit was mutually incompatible with the Five Elements. It fell upon encountering metal, scorched upon encountering fire, dissolved upon encountering water, withered upon encountering wood, and burrowed into the ground upon encountering earth. Thus, it had to be struck down with a metal implement and caught upon silk laid over a tray. It had to be eaten from porcelain, and was one of the earth-aspect Innate Five-Element Spirit Roots.
Legend had it that the Bodhi Tree was the original body of the future Western Sage Zhun Ti. Tainted by the first trace of innate metal essence, it was one of the metal-aspect Innate Five-Element Spirit Roots!
The Ren Water Flat Peach was the most unusual among the Ten Great Spirit Roots. While every other Spirit Root existed as a single plant, it competed by sheer numbers. It was the most numerous kind, with a total of three thousand six hundred trees. Of these, one thousand two hundred bore tiny flowers and fruits and ripened once every three thousand years; those who ate them would become immortals and attain the Dao. Another one thousand two hundred ripened once every six thousand years; those who ate them would soar into the clouds and ascend, living forever without aging. The final one thousand two hundred bore purple-veined fruits with tiny pits and ripened once every nine thousand years; those who ate them would live as long as heaven and earth, the same age as the sun and moon. They were one of the water-aspect Innate Five-Element Spirit Roots!
Fusang Wood grew into a forest of trees, its leaves resembling mulberry leaves. It also bore mulberries. The tallest trees reached two thousand zhang, with trunks more than two thousand arm-spans around. The trees grew in pairs from the same roots, leaning upon one another, hence the name Fusang. It was a fire-aspect Spirit Root!
When Yellow Central Plum blossomed, it cast three shadows; when it bore fruit, it cast nine. Both its flowers and fruits bore the words "Yellow Central." It was a wood-aspect Spirit Root.
Bitter Bamboo, also known as Six Roots Pure Bamboo, could seal a person's six senses and could be refined into an Innate Spirit Treasure.
Legend said that Immortal Apricot bore two fruits in its lifetime, each possessing the attributes of wind and lightning. Whoever ate them could acquire both wind and lightning attributes.
The Gourd Vine grew on Mount Buzhou and bore seven innate gourds—red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple. If great cultivators obtained them, they could refine each gourd into an Innate Spirit Treasure. One vine, seven gourds, each an Innate Spirit Treasure; thus, the Gourd Vine possessed the ability to bear many offspring.
Moon Laurel was a Spiritual Root on the Taiyin Star, connected to the Moon Yin Spirit Vein. Therefore, unless it could be snapped in a single strike, it would immediately regenerate. Its branches were excellent materials for artifact refinement.
The Ten Great Spirit Roots each had their own wondrous uses, but they shared one common trait: they could help their owners suppress their own Fortune. There was no need to mention the Bodhi Tree, since it was the original body of the Western Sage Zhun Ti, and a Sage could suppress his own Fortune. Take the Ren Water Flat Peach and Immortal Apricot instead. The Ren Water Flat Peach had been bestowed by Dao Ancestor Hongjun upon the Queen Mother to suppress the Fortune of the Heavenly Court, so naturally it possessed that function. As for Immortal Apricot, it belonged to Yun Zhongzi of the Chan School. Yun Zhongzi was praised as a True Immortal of Fortune and Merit. The most classic example was during the Investiture of the Gods War, when each of the Chan School's Twelve Golden Immortals had the three flowers above their heads cut away and the five energies in their chests sealed, while he alone remained unharmed, skipping about outside. In terms of cultivation, Yun Zhongzi was not stronger than every one of the Twelve Golden Immortals. In terms of treasures, although he had many, most had been refined by himself and could not compare to those of most Golden Immortals. Why, then, had he emerged unscathed from the Investiture of the Gods War? Because he was called a True Immortal of Fortune and Merit? Of course not. Hongyun, the Primordial Wilderness's greatest old good man, had also been called a True Immortal of Fortune and Merit, yet what happened to him? The main reason Yun Zhongzi had been safe was that the Immortal Apricot, one of the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots, had helped him suppress his own Fortune,
keeping his Fortune from leaking away and ensuring that good luck shone upon his head. Thus, each of the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots possessed the ability to suppress Fortune. It was precisely because they could suppress Fortune that they could rank among the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots. After saying so much, they still had not gotten to Green Willow.
As one of the Ten Great Spirit Roots, Green Willow not only possessed the ability to suppress Fortune, but also had other functions.
Green Willow's trunk and branches were incomparably hard, and its innate defensive power was likewise peerless. Willow twigs were already exceptionally supple and resilient, suitable for use as vine whips. Green Willow possessed countless innate willow branches, which could bind and lash people with limitless wondrous applications. At the same time, as one of the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots, it contained Primordial Spatial Law and Devouring Law. Spatial Law and Time Law were known together as the two heaven-defying laws, while Devouring Law was also a top-tier law.
It could be said that although Green Willow lacked the ability to bear fruit for consumption, in every other respect it was stronger than the other nine Great Innate Spirit Roots.
For Yuan Tian, not dying had originally been something worth celebrating. What was more, he had crossed into the Primordial Wilderness and become Green Willow, one of the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots. That should have been even more worth celebrating. Yet Yuan Tian could not rejoice now. Why?
Because Yuan Tian was someone from a later age—or rather, someone who had lived through every major historical era. He had never heard of the Innate Spirit Root Green Willow undergoing Transformation. In other words, Green Willow had either never undergone Transformation in later generations, or had been finished off long ago. How could Yuan Tian possibly be happy?
Someone might say, wasn't there an incredibly powerful Yang Mei? Please. Yang Mei was one of the three thousand Primordial Chaos Demon Gods. Though he had attained the Dao as a willow, he was not within the Heavenly Dao, but was a Primordial Chaos Demon God beneath the Great Dao. He was absolutely not Green Willow among the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots.
Among Spirit Roots, few could undergo Transformation in the first place, and even fewer among the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots could do so. Only the Bodhi Tree and Ginseng Fruit had transformed; the others had no possibility of Transformation at all.
Of course, once any of the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots underwent Transformation, its future achievements would be immeasurable. Zhen Yuanzi, transformed from the Ginseng Fruit tree, became the ancestor of Earth Immortals. Though not a Sage, he still enjoyed immortality through Infinite Kalpas. As for the Bodhi Tree's Transformation, there was no need to say more—it had become a Sage.
Green Willow had originally found Transformation difficult, though there had still been a sliver of hope. But when Pangu split open heaven and earth and they were about to close again, Green Willow had once helped Pangu hold them apart for a moment. But was holding up heaven and earth such an easy task? Had no one seen that Pangu himself had ultimately died of exhaustion? Thus, Green Willow had tragically injured its origin. Although after Pangu's death, the Great Dao had bestowed Merit, and Green Willow had received a share, fully restoring its origin, that Merit had also elevated Green Willow's grade to another level. This could be called a good thing, but the problem lay precisely in that elevation.
Green Willow had already been one of the Ten Great Innate Spirit Roots, its grade equivalent to a Top-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure. Now, Creation-Splitting Merit had raised its grade another level, reaching the Creation-grade Innate Spirit Root, equivalent to an Innate Supreme Treasure. Green Willow had originally possessed only a sliver of a chance to undergo Transformation, but after Merit had worked it over like this, that sliver of opportunity had practically been severed. How could Yuan Tian not be anxious?
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