Night spread, and a thin cloud of mist slowly emerged, then vanished without a trace, revealing a long-legged girl in short sleeves and a short skirt.
"Little Pine Tree, I'm back."
Yan Shanshui stood before the pine beside the calligraphy and painting shop's entrance, her hands behind her back and a smile on her face. "You haven't forgotten me again, have you?"
A face emerged on the bark of the pine's trunk and stared blankly at Yan Shanshui. Only after a long while did it open its mouth and slowly say, "I remember."
"Little Pine Tree, your master said you're in my care from now on. He also agreed to let you cultivate and take human form, so you'd better behave."
Yan Shanshui smiled and stroked its bark. "Wait a moment. I'll set up the Heaven-Praying Altar now and ask the Defiled Earth Jianmu lineage in the upper realm to grant you a Dharma Body."
"Thank you," the pine's face said slowly.
With a wave of her hand, a square rosewood table appeared on the empty ground before her. A thin layer of grayish-white bark covered its surface, painted with strange patterns in resin. Together, the many patterns seemed to form something like a tree diagram.
She explained with a smile, "This is the Heaven-Praying Altar. Our Defiled Earth Jianmu lineage requires a wooden altar table, with bark to bear the principles of the path. Only then can we communicate with Defiled Earth Jianmu far away in the Heavenly Realm."
The pine's face gazed at the patterns on the table in bewilderment.
"And then there are the offerings."
Standing before the table, Yan Shanshui extended a slender hand and slowly swept it through the air above the tabletop. Offerings began appearing on it one after another.
There were ginseng, licorice, reishi, snow lotus, fleeceflower root... all sorts of medicinal herbs, fruits, and flowers, along with three kinds of tree roots and thirty-six leaves of different varieties. A string of bronze bells hung in the very center.
"Three kinds of tree roots, eighteen kinds of flowers, herbs, and fruits, thirty-six kinds of leaves... mm, that's about everything."
Yan Shanshui checked the offerings on the table and explained casually, "This first Heaven-Praying Altar will only grant you a Dharma Body for the first Heavenly Pass, so the requirements for the offerings are very basic. With modern technology, these plants are easy to grow, so I collected everything during the day."
She waved her hand again, placing a thick wooden board on an empty part of the table, then began arranging wooden plaques on it.
Written on the plaques were the names of mythological figures: Fuxi, Nuwa, Shennong, Gonggong, Zhurong, Goumang, Rushou...
Yan Shanshui's gaze swept over the divine tablets one by one. "Little Pine Tree, has Senior Lin taught you the official history of the Cultivation World?"
A trace of confusion crossed the pine's face. It shook its head, its needles swaying gently along with it.
"Then let me give you a quick lesson."
Yan Shanshui smiled. "It's really not that complicated. Basically...
"A very, very long time ago, a great catastrophe struck this world, bringing drastic changes to heaven and earth. Outer Demons roamed unchecked, and Cultivators could no longer absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to cultivate. They were nearly wiped out by the Outer Demons, too. So the Immortals and Gods of the upper realm devised a new path of cultivation-the path of the Dharma Body we use today.
"A Dharma Body could be described as a miniature, simplified shell of an immortal or god. Uh... you could also call it a knockoff.
"By using a Heaven-Praying Altar to communicate with the lineages of the Immortals and Gods in the Heavenly Realm, you can attract the attention of their wills. Once one of them chooses you, that immortal or god will send down power, forming the power of their legacy into a Dharma Body and passing it on to a mortal. That gives you a certain measure of an immortal or god's power.
"Though it's only a knockoff, vastly inferior to the original, it still offers a glimpse of immortal divine abilities. It's also what mortals rely on to fight Outer Demons."
At this point, she noticed that the pine's face looked rather confused, as though it hadn't understood. Taken aback, she said:
"Uh, you only understand modern vocabulary, don't you?
"Let me think... hmm... in modern terms, this Heaven-Praying Altar is basically a job fair. Each lineage is a company recruiting employees. My Defiled Earth Jianmu, the Infinite Heaven, Eternal Night Spirit Mountain, the Lunar Abyss... you can think of all these lineages as different companies.
"And right now, you're attending an interview. The company interviewing you is our Defiled Earth Jianmu lineage, and the interviewers are the wills of the Immortals and Gods represented by these wooden tablets."
After Yan Shanshui finished her rambling explanation, the rather dim-witted pine stared blankly for a while before finally nodding as though it had understood.
Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief. "So you understand now, right? This Heaven-Praying Altar is helping you apply for a Dharma Body legacy. If an immortal or god takes a liking to you, you'll be able to start cultivating a Dharma Body."
The face on the pine thought for a moment, then asked apprehensively, "What if none of them takes a liking to me?"
"That won't happen."
Yan Shanshui shook her head. "Throughout the history of the Cultivation World, there have been almost no cases of a Heaven-Praying Altar failing. Even if the high-ranking Immortals and Gods don't want you, there are those a rank below them. If those don't want you either, there are others a rank lower still... someone will choose you eventually. Besides, you're a pine that gained sentience, awakened by an immortal powerhouse like Senior Lin. You might even be in high demand."
"What if lots of them take a liking to me?" the pine asked in confusion.
"That's fine, too," Yan Shanshui said with a smile. "You can choose whichever immortal or god you want. That's your freedom."
The pine thought for another moment, then asked in puzzlement, "Is there a difference between high and low divine ranks?"
"There is, but it isn't that big."
Yan Shanshui folded her arms and explained patiently, "Generally speaking, the higher an immortal or god's divine rank, the stronger their Dharma Body's divine abilities. But the difference isn't too extreme. After all, the biggest difference between divine ranks is their upper limit, and in the mortal world, that limit is actually meaningless. Even an unrivaled master who has broken through the fifth Heavenly Pass and perfected their Dharma Body can't compare to a true immortal or god."
"Oh, so I can just pick one I like the look of, right?" The pine nodded somewhat sluggishly.
"Uh... you could put it that way."
Yan Shanshui nodded hesitantly, then added, "But you can't go wrong trying to choose a higher-ranking immortal or god. Though you're a tree spirit, quite a few of the Dharma Bodies among our Defiled Earth Jianmu's Immortals and Gods would suit you. For example, the Azure Emperor of the five emperors, or Goumang, the god of wood."
"Of course..."
She paused, then said, "The ideal Dharma Body for you would be Shennong, one of the three sovereigns. Unfortunately, the three sovereigns' status is too high. Throughout history, very few people have inherited their Dharma Bodies, so the chances are slim."
"Oh, I understand," the pine said eagerly. "Then let's begin."
Yan Shanshui smiled. "All right. To preside over this Heaven-Praying Altar, we need at least one Cultivator from the same lineage who has passed the first Heavenly Pass. I happen to meet those requirements."
The pine couldn't help asking in confusion, "Then where did the first Dharma Body Cultivator come from?"
"How would I know? It's like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg. It doesn't really matter anyway."
Yan Shanshui shrugged and said no more. She walked up to the Heaven-Praying Altar, quietly recited an incantation, and touched her fingertip to the edge of the bark spread over the table, right at the root of the tree diagram.
Before long, though nothing unusual happened on the Heaven-Praying Altar itself, the wooden divine tablets on the second tier began to tremble slightly, and the bronze bells rang with clear chimes.
She knew the wills of the Immortals and Gods had now turned their attention here.
"Go."
Yan Shanshui gave a soft cry. As her magic power flowed steadily into the altar, she also transferred those invisible wills to the pine behind her.
Meanwhile, she watched the many divine tablets with anticipation.
Which Immortals and Gods would take a liking to Little Pine Tree and manifest for it?
The next moment, the wooden divine tablets on the table gradually grew still.
Then, after a brief silence, indistinct apparitions slowly emerged from the wooden tablets, projecting into the air.
At that moment, the many apparitions hovered in midair, each radiating a majestic presence that made the heart tremble.
Three figures stood foremost, surrounded by the others like a moon amid stars: a woman in feathered robes with a loving smile, a dignified man holding a wondrous book of star charts, and an old man draped in countless herbs, his smile warm and easygoing.
Led by those three, every apparition gazed without exception at the still rather young pine a short distance away.
"How... how is this possible...?"
Yan Shanshui stared at the sight in a near stupor and murmured, "They actually... all came..."