Yi Wood Blossoms with Life
The master and his four disciples returned safely to Carefree Peak.
With something on his mind, Feng Zhuo took his leave of his master first and returned to his cave abode.
Feng Zhuo could hardly wait to enter the cultivation chamber. Sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, he neatly laid out everything he had acquired at the auction before him and began circulating the Everlasting Spring Scripture.
Abundant wood-attribute spiritual power flowed through the meridians throughout his body as he circulated the cultivation method, sweeping away all the weariness of the day.
But that was not why Feng Zhuo had chosen to circulate the cultivation method.
Earlier, while facing off against Chu Yunfei, Feng Zhuo had begun circulating the Everlasting Spring Scripture as if struck by sudden inspiration.
Yet the wood spiritual power drawn from the world around him had not been absorbed by Feng Zhuo. Instead, it had silently poured into his storage ring.
Now, before Feng Zhuo, the withered yellow Yi Wood Broken Branch showed faint signs of sprouting anew, enveloped in the wood-attribute spiritual power spilling out as he circulated the cultivation method!
Feng Zhuo suppressed his delight and deliberately controlled his spiritual power, sending it outward.
If the branch truly retained a spark of life and his cultivation method could bring it back to life, Feng Zhuo would be able to have a Yi Wood divine plant as his Life-Bound Spirit Plant from then on!
Spirit Plants came in many varieties. Some excelled in battle, while others aided cultivation. Although no one on the Profound Firmament Continent had ever been heard of contracting Yi Wood as a Life-Bound Spirit Plant,
as a divine plant, contracting Yi Wood as a Life-Bound Spirit Plant would surely bring Feng Zhuo immense benefits!
Feng Zhuo kept the spiritual power he released steady at the maximum amount he could currently control. Little by little, emerald green spread over the dead wood's original yellow.
Half an hour later, Feng Zhuo's lips were pale and sweat poured down his forehead and neck, but he did not dare stop releasing spiritual power for fear something would go wrong.
Another half hour passed, and his meridians, tempered by spirit fire, throbbed with unbearable pain. But seeing a green bud just beginning to emerge from the branch, Feng Zhuo dared not make any rash moves.
Feng Zhuo swallowed one supreme-grade Spirit Recovery Pill after another, his teeth clenched so tightly that blood stained his pale lips.
At last, nourished by his spiritual power, the green bud emerged completely!
The new bud stopped absorbing spiritual power, and Feng Zhuo relaxed a little, knowing that the Yi Wood had come back to life.
He need only plant it later and wait for the new bud to grow into a tree, and Feng Zhuo would have a divine plant as his Life-Bound Spirit Plant.
But Feng Zhuo soon realized something was wrong.
What's going on?! Why is the cultivation method still circulating?!
Feng Zhuo was startled, and in his astonishment, he discovered that the cultivation method had actually begun absorbing the life force of the little green Yi Wood bud instead!
No! Stop!
Feng Zhuo frantically tried to suppress the Everlasting Spring Scripture as it circulated on its own. He even went so far as to circulate the Nirvana Heaven-Burning Instruction, deliberately drawing spirit fire into his body to clash with the flow of wood-attribute Spiritual Qi and stop the Everlasting Spring Scripture from draining the Yi Wood's life force.
But it was no use! No use at all!
Feng Zhuo watched as the Yi Wood, which he had brought back to life with such difficulty, turned back into a dead branch bit by bit. In an instant, his heart turned to dead ash.
Even his State of Mind, untroubled since his rebirth, was nearly sullied.
He could not help resenting the Heavenly Dao. Must I really be that minor supporting character in the storybook, who died at the Golden Core Realm without even making it halfway down the Great Dao?!
Then what did my rebirth amount to?!
And why was I made to see that book after I died in my last life?!
Was it just so I could understand my death a little better in this life? Did you only want to laugh at me?!
No! I refuse to accept it!
"Pfft-!"
Fresh blood streamed down from the corner of his mouth until his red robe became a robe of blood.
His eyes crimson, Feng Zhuo frantically circulated the Nirvana Heaven-Burning Instruction, willing even to burn his meridians completely apart. Yet the Everlasting Spring Scripture showed no sign of stopping; instead, its effects reconnected his severed meridians!
Qi and Blood surged in Feng Zhuo's chest. He was utterly unwilling to accept it, yet he had no way to stop it.
Feng Zhuo spat out another mouthful of blood and fell completely unconscious.
While he was unconscious, the Everlasting Spring Scripture continued to circulate relentlessly. The Yi Wood that had sprouted a green bud returned to its original state, then shrank under the cultivation method's influence until it crumbled into dust and vanished between heaven and earth on a passing breeze.
Only then did the Everlasting Spring Scripture finally stop circulating, and color returned to Feng Zhuo's face, which had been as pale as gold paper.
When all movement ceased, the pebble Yun Li had given Feng Zhuo actually began to hop about!
It bounced into the pool of blood Feng Zhuo had spat out, then abruptly turned into an egg the size of an ordinary village dog, wreathed in fire.
An hour later, a strange-looking little crimson beast the size of a puppy sprang out of the egg. Seeing that Feng Zhuo had yet to wake, it began crunching on its eggshell.
Just then, Feng Zhuo also awoke from his stupor.
Though he heard the strange sounds coming from within the cave abode, Feng Zhuo's thoughts remained fixed on that Yi Wood.
Seeing nothing on the ground where the Yi Wood had been, Feng Zhuo searched the cave abode with his Golden Core Realm Divine Sense. He searched again and again and again, but there was still no sign of the Yi Wood, and he gave up all hope.
After this, his State of Mind would likely have a flaw, and if that flaw could not be mended, he might well develop an inner demon when advancing from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment.
After absorbing the Yi Wood Qi, the Everlasting Spring Scripture broke through to the second layer, and at the same time nourished Feng Zhuo's spirit body, which had been damaged while suppressing the spirit fire.
It also informed Feng Zhuo that, if he had enough wood Qi to spare, his Yi Wood Sacred Physique, which previously could no longer be restored, could reappear.
Though a Sacred Physique's benefits might not equal those of an existing Yi Wood that could serve as a Life-Bound Spirit Plant, at least he had not come away empty-handed.
Feng Zhuo seemed to grasp something. Cultivators contended with heaven and earth in their pursuit of immortality, but opportunities also depended on the workings of fate. Since this thing was not his by destiny, gaining it would have been his fortune, and losing it was his fate.
His temperament, which had grown increasingly arrogant since his rebirth, grew somewhat more restrained. He had once believed his rebirth was the Heavenly Dao's will and had faintly thought of himself as a son of destiny, but not a trace of that thought remained.
The Glazed Purifying Fire that had caused his death had already been devoured by the spirit fire. In this life, he had not taken Chixiao as his master, and he and Su Ruanruan were no longer fellow disciples.
So the ending of his last life could not come to pass.
He and Su Ruanruan had long since formed a life-and-death grudge, and as they contended on their Dao Paths, one of them was bound to die.
But as things stood, there was no need to take it too much to heart.
At the end of their struggle, the worst that could happen was death.
If Su Ruanruan died, it would leave Feng Zhuo's Dao Path open and unobstructed; if Feng Zhuo died, it would likewise fulfill Su Ruanruan's Great Dao.
Feng Zhuo did not fear death. He had only been unwilling to accept dying for no apparent reason and without a name in his last life.
Since Su Ruanruan represented this world's Heavenly Dao in a certain sense, Feng Zhuo also knew this confrontation was written in his fate. If he lost in the end, he would bear no further resentment; it would simply mean his skill had fallen short.
Spiritual Qi from the world around him poured madly toward Feng Zhuo on the cushion, but mindful of the Qi Refining Stage secret realm, he dared not break through to Foundation Establishment.
Feng Zhuo happened to discover that his Life-Bound Contract was connected to a little beast. Having come this far, he saw it through and transferred all his spiritual power to the little beast through the contract.
The little crimson beast was crunching on its eggshell when the abundant spiritual power poured into its body without warning.
With no time to think, it hurriedly closed its eyes to digest the spiritual power.
Only one thought remained in its mind: Haha! As expected of the master I chose so carefully! I've only just hatched, and he's already pouring spiritual power into me, helping me become a third-tier Calamity Beast!