Cultivation Begins From The Desert

"The 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree bears fruit approximately once every two hundred years. Its blooming period varies between thirty to fifty years, and once it bears fruit, it takes a hundred years for the fruit to mature.

As long as the mature 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' is not entirely picked, the 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree will not bloom again. This is why, when Zhouyang discovered the fruit tree years ago, the tree still had fruits despite decades having passed.

Generally, after being picked, the fruit of the 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree undergoes a dormancy period of several decades before blooming and fruiting again.

In the wild, a 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree left untended will have an extended dormancy period, sometimes lasting up to a hundred years.

However, a 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree cared for by a Spirit Plant Cultivator will have a much shorter dormancy period, and the yield will be significantly higher compared to those in the wild.

Of course, shortening the dormancy period and increasing the yield of the 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree comes at a considerable cost.

When the Zhou Family transplanted this 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree, to enhance its survival rate and help it quickly adapt to the new environment, Xiao Ying obtained two pieces of top-grade spirit stones with wood attributes from Zhouyang, crushed them, and buried them at the roots, while personally collecting Wood Essence Qi and using Spirit Plant Secret Techniques to infuse it into the tree to enhance its vitality.

Over the years, the Zhou Family has collected various treasures to formulate a special spirit liquid to water the tree, enabling it to pass through the dormancy period faster and enter the next blooming period more quickly.

Now that the tree has bloomed, for it to bear more fruits, the Zhou Family's Spirit Plant Cultivators need to put in great effort to care for the tree.

"Currently, Ying'er is still in seclusion, and the person in the clan most familiar with this 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree is none other than Guangxiang. It seems that she must come over to keep an eye on it to prevent any mishaps!"

Zhouyang glanced at the white flowers covering the tree, making a silent decision in his heart.

The importance of the 'Yuan Condensing Fruit' tree is beyond doubt. To ensure nothing goes wrong with it, Zhouyang promptly mounted the Golden-winged Thunder Eagle and hurried to Rhino Horn Continent to bring Zhou Guangxiang back to Red Tiger Mountain to specifically look after this tree.

Only then did he head to the underground relic to meet Xu Song, who had returned there to research the teleportation array.

"You want me to release a demon soul to investigate the situation on the opposite side of the teleportation array?"

Inside the underground relic, upon learning of Zhouyang's intention, Xu Song was immensely surprised.

It turned out that Zhouyang had come to him this time, intending to activate the teleportation array and have Xu Song send a demon soul over to test the situation on the other side of the teleportation array.

"That's right. According to your statement, elder, thirty-six top-grade spirit stones as energy can activate the teleportation array twice. Therefore, I certainly cannot recklessly bring people over!"

With a calm expression, Zhouyang looked at Xu Song, his tone very resolute.

Upon hearing his words, Xu Song couldn't help but say, "But you must know, once a demon soul leaves my side by more than a thousand miles, I won't be able to learn anything through the demon soul or issue any commands to it!"

"Moreover, since the teleportation array on the opposite side might not have been destroyed, even though I've placed profound crystal stones on it multiple times without anyone teleporting over, it indicates the situation on the other side is reasonably good; at least, no one is lurking there!"

He made a valid point, but since this concerns his own life safety, Zhouyang couldn't afford not to be cautious.

With a decisive wave of his hand, Zhouyang said, "There is no need for the demon soul to transmit any information. As long as the demon soul being sent over doesn't fall after a period, it will prove the opposite side is reasonably safe, at least not an abyss or a death zone!"

The fact that the Great Brightness Immortal Palace hadn't sent anyone to check the situation here said much about various matters. Zhouyang's biggest fear was that the other side of the teleportation array had already become such a forbidden or death zone that even the Great Brightness Immortal Palace had to voluntarily abandon this teleportation array.

Though as long as the teleportation array remains intact, it can still be used. Even if the opposite side turns out to be in some death zone or forbidden area, he can teleport back.

However, he must consider one thing: once this large remote teleportation array is activated, in the absence of array concealment or interception, the spiritual qi fluctuation emanated is enough for cultivators above the Foundation Establishment stage within a thousand miles to sense.

Should the opposite side truly become a death or forbidden zone, and some formidable existence within it be drawn by the spiritual qi fluctuations, he may not have time to trigger the teleportation array to return.

Therefore, cautiously, Zhouyang thought it was best to probe first.

Seeing this, Xu Song no longer tried to persuade him but just nodded and said, "Alright, since you insist, I won't stop you. After all, it's just sacrificing a demon soul."

Immediately, he inserted the thirty-six top-grade spirit stones Zhouyang gave him into the recesses of the large remote teleportation array, then placed the human-head-sized profound crystal stone in the central position of the teleportation array.

Once these items were set, he raised his hand, summoning his black demon banner and directly shaking the banner to release a demon soul formed from a Tier Four Wolf Soul.

During the battle on Rhino Horn Continent, two Tier Four Demon Wolf Beast Souls were slain, and ultimately, Xu Song took possession of them. This demon soul formed from a wolf soul was one of them.

However, upon seeing this demon soul, Zhouyang couldn't help but immediately stop him, saying, "Wait, won't the strength of this demon soul be too weak? What if it can't withstand the force of spatial tearing during teleportation and dies?"

Hearing his words, Xu Song couldn't help but roll his ghostly eyes, glaring at him without good mood, and said, "Then what do you suggest we do? Surely you don't mean to let me sacrifice a main soul refined from a Tier Five Beast Soul just to explore a path!"

Zhouyang did possess a "Great Transposition Order," but he certainly wasn't going to use it on a demon soul that was merely being used as cannon fodder to explore the path, hence Xu Song's remark.

Yuan faced his scorn but didn't seem angry; he simply smiled and said, "Elder, please don't be angry yet. I have a Teleportation Talisman here. Do you think this could offer protection?"

With those words, he waved his hand and retrieved a Jade Box from his Storage Ring, opening it to reveal a Teleportation Talisman that had been sealed away for a long time.

This talisman was originally given to him by Xu Zhengyang for protection when he used the Teleportation Array of the Profound Sun Immortal Sect in Immortal Sun City, to escape being hunted by Beast Taming Sect cultivators.

However, Xu Zhengyang didn't realize at the time that Yuan's strength made it unnecessary for him to use it, so he stored it away.

Unexpectedly, after several decades, it finally had a day to be put to use.

"I didn't expect you to have something like this!"

Xu Song took the Teleportation Talisman from Yuan's hand with a flick of his sleeve, giving him a surprised glance, then nodded and said, "It's enough. This talisman is crafted by all sects as a replica of the Great Transposition Order. Though its effect is not as strong and it can't be reused, with its protection, the demon soul can definitely hold until the teleportation ends!"

After speaking, he pressed the talisman onto the demon soul's forehead, then performed a spell at the Profound Crystal Stone at the core of the Teleportation Array, activating the array.

Buzz buzz buzz!

There came a loud humming noise as the Teleportation Array was activated, sending out a powerful wave of Spiritual Power from its base, so intense it was even more violent than that created by battles among Golden Core Stage cultivators.

If it weren't for the underground relic being shielded by arrays and located deep within the deserted underground of the Desert Sea, Foundation Establishment cultivators within a thousand miles might have sensed this Spiritual Power wave.

Meanwhile, after the wave of Spiritual Power spread, a circular transparent barrier suddenly rose from the base of the Teleportation Array, enveloping the entire altar where the array was located.

It was Yuan's first time observing the activation of a Teleportation Array, and he stared unblinkingly at the demon soul within, trying to understand how teleportation worked.

As the circular barrier rose, the demon soul inside the array started to blur and vanish like an illusion.

If Yuan were to describe the sensation, it felt like "logging off."

Yes, "logging off."

What he had just observed was akin to playing computer games in a past life; when he logged out, the characters in the game suddenly faded away.

"Is this teleportation?"

"Elder Xu, are all teleportations like this?"

Yuan looked at Xu Song with a puzzled expression, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Though there's a bit of an uproar, indeed, all teleportation scenes are similar to what you just witnessed."

"According to Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, the space of our world is folded in layers, like a piece of folded white paper. An ant starting from one end must navigate many obstacles to reach the other side, but if you make a hole in the middle, the ant can directly pass through to the other side."

"The role of the Teleportation Array is actually to create a hole in the folded space, allowing us to pass through and quickly reach a distant place!"

Xu Song murmured as he answered Yuan's query, enlightening him while pondering something.

Hearing this, Yuan couldn't help but bow his head in contemplation.

For a moment, neither man nor ghost spoke, patiently waiting for the teleportation results.

...

In a dark and damp underground cave, after a shimmer of Spiritual Light, a wolf-shaped demon soul suddenly appeared on a circular altar within the cave.

Upon appearing on the altar, the wolf-shaped demon soul first stared blankly at the cave ceiling, dazed for a moment, then it suddenly remembered something, yowling and leaping off the altar, heading into a passage ahead.

Moments later, the wolf-shaped demon soul emerged at the bottom of a desolate lake, where the deep waters showed no signs of life, not even a stalk of aquatic plant.

However, this desolate lake was a treasure trove for the wolf-shaped demon soul.

After roaming the lake bottom for a while, it quickly found a place dense with death energy and engaged in battle with a humanoid corpse meditating there.

Soon, the humanoid corpse was torn into pieces by the wolf-shaped demon soul, and the place dense with death energy became the wolf-shaped demon soul's new home.