Forging Immortality through the Dao Seed

One of the thirty-six peaks of Ling Shu Mountain, Zixia Peak.

A waterfall over a hundred feet wide cascades down from the peak, a truly spectacular sight.

The summit of the mountain is shrouded in purple clouds touching the sky, absorbing a wealth of celestial energy from the earth's spirit vein below. An enchanting mist fosters life, with radiant birds singing in harmony; it provides an ideal growth environment for spiritual plants.

And for this reason,

Zixia Peak has been allocated by Zhang Jing to be the cultivation site for Lu 38's cultivation of his Immortal Root.

Currently, Zixia Peak is full of bright purple and red colors, surrounded by majestic immortal lights. Various kinds of Immortal Roots and divine medicines grow vigorously; the lingering, dense aroma never dissipating. It's turning into an immersive Immortal Root and Divine Herb Garden.

Halfway up the mountain,

In front of an Immortal Root that gleams like jade and flickers with an ethereal bluish-green light on its branches and leaves.

"This Nine Leaf Bicolor Immortal Root is incredibly precious and requires meticulous care. You must water it at the break of dawn with Rootless Water, precisely three liang seven fen each time. Not a single fen more or less, you both must not be negligent," the doll Lu 38 transformed into instructed the two Ice Crystal Immortal Spirits in front of him.

Upon hearing this,

A serious look immediately spread across the two Ice Crystal Immortal Spirits' faces. In unison, they answered,

"Understood, please rest assured, Lord Lu!"

"Master, you really know how to nurture all these Immortal Roots. You're impressive!"

Off to the side,

Lord Ying, with his eyes wide in admiration, looked at Lu 38. Despite having been practicing the Immortal Way for many years, he had never seen such a miraculous White Deer. It made him feel like he was in the company of a natural immortal spirit.

No matter what type of Immortal Root it was, they all seemed to burst with vitality at an incredible speed under Lu 38's care, which was utterly unthinkable.

Hearing these words,

Lu 38 couldn't help but grin proudly and boasted,

"Ha-ha, of course! Otherwise, how could the Master have appointed me as the General Manager of this dojo! Ying, you should learn more from me and stop spending all your time in the Flowing Light Immortal Realm absorbing all that random knowledge."

"Wait, boss, when did the Master make you the General Manager? And what is a General Manager? How come I don't know about it?" Lord Ying immediately asked in confusion.

"Shoo, what would you know, kid? I heard yesterday from a storyteller in the Ling Pivot Immortal City that a General Manager holds the highest position by an emperor's side. And I, Lu 38, am the first to follow the Master so naturally I am suited for this position. You must not compete for it!"

"I wouldn't dare, but Bing Liangliang might."

"Damn it, that witch, always thinking about riding me! Just hearing her name makes me furious!" Upon hearing the name, Lu 38 got instantly annoyed.

While the two of them were talking,

Suddenly, an overwhelming aura emanated from a distance.

In an instant,

Everyone, including Lu 38, Lord Ying, and even the two Dharma Phase Ice Crystal Immortal Spirits by the Immortal Root, felt their minds go blank.

After a long while,

"It's terrifying. What is the Master tinkering with now?" Lu 38 stared blankly in the direction of Qingjing Hall, and muttered to himself.

"This pressure, it's from an Acquired Spiritual Treasure recorded in the Dao Treasury!"

Lord Ying, who had snapped out of it, recalled what he had read, and let out a sharp cry, his face flushed with excitement.

Does the Master actually own an Acquired Spiritual Treasure?

This was reputed to be something only a Heavenly True Monarch could possess!

...

...

Within an icy valley in the dojo,

The moment he sensed that terrible pressure,

Han Sheng woke up from his cultivation and immediately stared in the direction of Qingjing Palace, his face frozen in shock.

"This pressure, it's from the legendary Acquired Spiritual Treasure! The Master - "

...

...

As the pressure dissipated, the Heavenly Official's Three-Treasure Jade Ruyi returned to its original unadorned state and slowly landed in Zhang Jing's hand.

Boom-

Qingjing Palace shook abruptly.

Zhang Jing staggered as the force from his hand was as heavy as if he was holding an Ancient Divine Mountain. At the critical moment, the Primordial Golden Elixir in his Mud Pill Palace spun round and round, exploding with infinite Primordial Mana. He was barely able to steady himself and prevent a fall.

"What the..."

Zhang Jing's eyes reflected a trace of shock.

No long after,

Phew-

He exhaled a breath of turbid air and shook his head.

"Alas, true enough. An actual Acquired Spiritual Treasure is not something that a Golden Core Realm cultivator can wield. The previous Xuanming Black Water Flag was already difficult enough, let alone the higher ranked Heavenly Official's Three-Treasure Jade Ruyi."

"It might be somewhat wieldable in the Dharma Phase Realm, and only by reaching the Unity Realm Stage or when the Original Realm has successfully bred, can some of the power be utilized. Speaking of that, the Original Realm! I wonder how many complete Innate Divine Items can be crafted from those strange items in the Treasury."

As he thought this,

Zhang Jing's eyes narrowed, and the Treasury of Misfortune promptly appeared in his hand.

Then, his Divine Sense poured into the treasury like a flood, starting to inventory all kinds of strange items inside.

In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.

On the straw cushion...

Zhang Jing slowly opened his eyes, his face revealing a complex expression of both surprise and disappointment.

Thirteen innate divine items!

Through his relentless efforts, the peculiar objects in the treasury that were as plentiful as a sea of smoke were eventually refined into thirteen low-level innate divine items, along with some miscellaneous scraps and fragments.

Naturally, this did not include the Treasury of Misfortunes itself.

All in all, the result was quite pleasing.

After all, the Nether Night Realm was indeed not large, even the Primordial Deities that it nurtured were merely at the half-step Heavenly Immortal Realm. Furthermore, all the innate divine items had turned into fragments, scattered all over the Nether Night Realm, making them hard to collect.

To be able to obtain thirteen innate divine items was far beyond Zhang Jing's expectation.

He even felt that this was definitely thanks to the merit of the God of Fortune who had already fallen.

However.

Looking at the innate divine items laid out in front of him, radiating waves of mysterious Dao principles, Zhang Jing just couldn't bring himself to feel happy.

Because he discovered that upon these innate divine items, there was a trace of a really strange force of a curse, identical to the curse unleashed by the God of Fortune before his demise.

Zhang Jing speculated that it was due to the influence of this strange power that the powers of the fragments of the innate divine items were so peculiar.

This was exactly why they could be referred to as peculiar objects by the cultivators of the Nether Night Realm!

"Using these to nurture my Original Realm is too risky. The only choice now is to exchange them for normal innate divine items. It seems I will have to personally visit the Auction Field of All Worlds."

Zhang Jing's eyebrows furrowed slightly.

After all, these were innate divine items, and he wasn't sure whether he was capable of trading them for something suitable for the cultivation of the Original Realm.

After contemplating for a long time.

"Whatever, these are all afterthoughts." Zhang Jing chuckled, his expression suddenly taking a serious turn.

He took a deep breath.

Then, with a movement of his mind, the broken Heavenly Immortal Tao Fruit that he had got from the God of Fortune appeared instantly, bobbing up and down at his forehead, emitting lofty and sacred aura in traces, subtly connecting with the unseen Great Dao of destiny.

Simultaneously.

Inside the Mud Pill Palace, the Jade Talisman began to excitedly tremble, as if it had sensed something, following the appearance of the Dao Fruit.

An inexplicable desire arose from the bottom of Zhang Jing's heart.

Sensing the odd state of the Jade Talisman, an indistinct smile emerged on Zhang Jing's face.

When his Thick Earth Incarnation returned previously, he had already sensed the abnormality of the Jade Talisman, and had then guessed that it probably had something to do with the broken Heavenly Immortal Tao Fruit.

One look now, and it was indeed so!

Zhang Jing recalled that as his cultivation level increased, this illusory Mysterious Jade Token clearly showed signs of future condensation into a physical entity.

Having this thought.

Expectation surged in his heart.

"Could this Dao Fruit cause the Jade Talisman to metamorphosize?"

The next moment.

Under Zhang Jing's control, the broken Dao Fruit turned into a streak of light in a flash, and went straight into the Mud Pill Palace through his forehead.

And then, the Jade Talisman incredibly swallowed it up.

Hum! Hum! Hum!

Accompanied by one tremor following another, the Mysterious Jade Token suddenly radiated boundless divine light.

Zhang Jing unintentionally groaned, feeling as though a boundless massive sun had risen within the Mud Pill Palace, ready to burst the palace with its stupendous power.

...

...

In the very moment Zhang Jing took out the broken Heavenly Immortal Tao Fruit.

Millions of miles away from Ling Shu Mountain Dojo, in Dong Ming Blessed Land, a colossal ancient face slowly surfaced in the sky. The terrifying pressure spread unchecked, causing the void to fracture inch by inch.

Below.

Witnessing this spectacle, all the disciples simultaneously trembled in their hearts and fell on their knees without a word, as silent as cicadas in the cold.

"We pay our respects to the Honorable Dong Ming!"

All of them simultaneously echoed reverently.

Time passed bit by bit.

In the hollow eyes of the face in the sky, a strand of light purple divine light suddenly appeared and then started to amplify swiftly.

In just a moment.

Light purple divine light had already filled the massive eyes.

"The aura of a Dao Fruit, it's still a masterless Dao Fruit. What a great fortune! I never thought that at the point of my tribulation, I would encounter such a fortune. Could this be heaven's will? If I can refine it, I will certainly reach the rank of a Heavenly Immortal."

"I must have it, no matter the cost!"

A grand Dao sound instantly spread across the vast and limitless Dong Ming Blessed Land.

As the voice fell.

The gigantic face in the sky vanished without a trace.