Born with immortal seed

Chapter 696 Overseas Immortal Mountains
"Senior Brother Wei, I'd like to visit Senior Jiuyue. What do you think?"

After dismissing everyone else, leaving only herself and Wei Dao in the hall, Ma Ruoxi finally showed a worried expression.

As a fifth-order spiritual vein, Lankeshan is comparable only to the former Jinyue Sect in the Eastern Region.

In terms of the distribution of spiritual sites, vertical development space, and secret medicinal gardens, Rotten Axe Mountain is far superior.

If it weren't for Bai Zichen, the Qingfeng Sect would never have been qualified to occupy such a spiritual vein.

Even if considered as the main sect of the Nascent Soul level, Rotten Axe Mountain is in no way inferior.

Ma Ruoxi's concerns were very real: if her master did not return for a long time, how could they possibly protect this legacy?

This mountain-guarding formation alone, without a Nascent Soul True Monarch to oversee it, cannot stop the powerful wolf's ambition.

The current laws in the Eastern Region protect newly established sects within three generations, which is based on the deterrent power of Bai Zichen's words.

He had initially agreed with the Moral Sect that he would promote this method in the Eastern Region without needing the consent of other sects in the Eastern Region.

The disappearance of the highest-ranking enforcers of order will undoubtedly cause unrest throughout the Eastern Region.

Unless the Moral Sect intervenes, the Eastern Region, which has just stabilized, will inevitably descend into chaos again after some time.

The power of the Sword Lord of Time will eventually run out. When everyone accepts that he cannot return or even perishes, the law will become a worthless piece of paper.

This trip was at the invitation of the Great True Lord of September, who even made several special visits to ask for permission.

Now that Yi Fang has returned unharmed, but Bai Zichen's fate remains unknown, everyone is bound to have doubts and wonder if there is a conspiracy involved.

Even if there was no such thing, Ma Ruoxi, as a disciple, wanted to find out exactly what had happened.

“This approach is feasible. The Great True Monarch of September owes Old Ancestor Bai a favor by asking him for help... If he could step forward and speak up at this time, it would extinguish the ambitions of many restless cultivators.”

While Wei Dao expressed agreement, his thoughts differed.

"The two spirit beasts that Master took in were both contracted through the sect. The tokens are in my hands, and I can see that they are alive and well."

Ma Ruoxi sighed inwardly, composed herself, and revealed a long-lost sharpness on her face.

"If the two spirit beast seniors return, with them guarding the mountain gate, we will not fear any villains."

When the contract was signed, Ao Quan and the Red-Bearded Man each severed a wisp of their divine souls to make a vow.

Having the token in hand doesn't mean you have the power of life and death, but at least you can communicate on an equal footing and command the sect's guardian spirit beast to do some things.

Unfortunately, neither of the two spirit beasts returned, which explains why Ma Ruoxi had other ideas.

"Should we bring Junior Brother Li back?"

Wei Dao had never met either of the two great demons; he only knew of their existence, but his understanding of them was extremely limited.

They had no say in this matter, and when it came to strengthening the power of Rotten Axe Mountain, they could only think of Li Guizhen, who had been guarding Chilong Island.

"No need. At present, it makes no difference whether there is one more or one less Core Formation cultivator... As for general affairs, please ask Senior Brother Wei to take care of things and inform me immediately if you have any news about where the Great True Monarch Jiuyue is staying."

Ma Ruoxi waved her hand, saying that Qingfeng Sect had been elevated to a level that did not belong to it because of Bai Zichen's presence.

Once the Zijingliang Bridge was removed, the people below simply couldn't hold their own; the gap was too vast.

It would actually be better for Li Guizhen to stay on Chilong Island.

The Fish Dragon Sect is, after all, a sect appointed by both the Morality Sect and the Sword Lord of Time, and with the Cunsi Peak guarding the Black Sea, far fewer people would dare to make a move against it.

From the most pessimistic perspective, Ma Ruoxi also didn't want her master's two disciples to be together.

If we were to be wiped out completely, not even a single seed would remain, and our lineage would be extinguished.

"Human hearts are unpredictable, and the world is as cold as frost... Only the sword in your hand is the most trustworthy partner."

A person arrived at Qingxia Cave. Ma Ruoxi picked up the Lihe Guishui Sword given to her by her master and brandished it with all her might.

The sword light moved with the will of the sword, twisting and turning as it pleased, forming streaks of water that simultaneously pierced the bubbles scattered throughout the air, creating a continuous burst of sound.

Ma Ruoxi danced until she was exhausted, her black hair mixed with sweat sticking to her cheeks, and the confusion in her heart lessened a lot.

After things calmed down, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my swordsmanship, which had been stagnant for a long time, had successfully reached the level of "one sword can break through all laws".

……

"Goddess Yuan Chen, Great Auspicious Yuan Chen, Merit Officer Yuan Chen... Appear with the banner and cover my battle!"

Bai Zichen gazed at the chaotic void, then took out the Twelve Yuan Chen Star Array Flag and unfurled it, causing ten top-grade spirit stones to fall onto the flag.

At this moment, one should be delighted to possess a rare treasure that can be activated with just spirit stones.

They completely forgot that when they first obtained the array flag, they disliked how much spirit stones it consumed and thought it would basically be left idle and gathering dust.

Three points of starlight shot out from the banner, transforming into three guardian deities, majestic and imposing, forming a three-element formation to protect Bai Zichen in the center.

Even when the three joined forces, they could only barely withstand the void turbulence for a few breaths before being torn to pieces.

Fortunately, the banners were erected, and the few stars on the banners dimmed, indicating that new guardian deities would soon be born.

This time, having learned from his experience, a guardian deity with an indigo blue body stepped forward, raising a bronze whip to meet the chaotic void.

The other two guardian deities, one of whom lit a butter lamp in his hand, shone with an orange-yellow spiritual light, making his whole body feel warm.

The key is that the internal injuries have all improved significantly, and there are still traces of true essence being generated.

The other figure threw out the prayer beads in its hand, which transformed into a raft. It stood steadily on the raft and spread its arms to protect Bai Zichen.

Traveling through the void was even faster than fully controlling a flying sword.

"It's unbelievable that there's a guardian deity who's skilled in healing magic..."

Unlike magic weapons, the Twelve Constellation Array Flags do not require careful refinement; they can be fed with spirit stones before battle.

The first time I activated it, I was completely unfamiliar with the Zodiac Gods and didn't know the details of each God's strength.

By the time all twelve palace generals had perished and the banners had lost their light, Bai Zichen had already held on until the tail end of the void turbulence.

He blocked with the Purple Star Thunder Sword, and the aftershock tore open a hole, allowing light to shine through.

Even the little purple sword spirit couldn't stop it; a tremendous force instantly sucked it in.

Pfft!
After an unknown amount of time, Bai Zichen crashed onto the beach, half of him sinking into the sand dune, feeling dizzy and lightheaded.

A salty sea breeze swept by, and after struggling to crawl out, I found that the nascent soul in my dantian had its eyes closed, clutching the Supreme Pure Micro Sword Box, unconscious.

"To actually escape the void like that, I'm incredibly lucky..."

Bai Zichen struggled to his feet, only to discover that the cave was sealed off and he could no longer sense it.

"Perhaps the Nascent Soul is sealed, which means I've been demoted to the Core Formation stage, and that's why this is happening?"

He crumpled the Twelve Constellation Flags into a ball, stuffed it in front of his chest, and stood up from the beach, using the Ziwei Dazzling Thunder Sword as a crutch.

After calming myself down, I focused on my own condition.

To resist the void turbulence, Xiao Bai's nascent soul exerted its strength once again, further injuring itself and directly triggering a chain reaction.

Currently, the true essence that can be mobilized is equivalent to the peak of the Core Formation stage, and the only magic weapon left is the Ziwei Xuanlei Sword in his hand; all other treasures are unusable.

At least it's not like I'm losing all my cultivation and having to start over. As long as I completely heal my injuries, the problem of the Nascent Soul stage will be easily solved.

Even with his cultivation greatly reduced, he is still someone that ordinary Nascent Soul cultivators cannot afford to provoke, even if he wields the Purple Thunder Dazzling Sword.

He was only in the mid-stage of Core Formation back then, yet he was able to reverse the Nascent Soul stage with his swordsmanship. There's no reason why, more than a hundred years later, with even deeper cultivation and more refined swordsmanship, he would have lost the courage to draw his sword.

Looking at the surrounding environment, it's a large island in the sea, with no coastline in sight.

The spiritual energy concentration is around level two; it should be even higher if we go further into the island to reach more spiritual lands.

"It doesn't seem like the Immortal Realm. How could one cross the void passage so easily, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is still the same as before... I wonder if it's a small world hidden in the void, or if it crossed the Black Sea and arrived at the legendary Ten Continents and Eight Seas."

Bai Zichen also did not want to ascend so quickly, firstly because there were still many regrets in the mortal realm, and he had not been able to complete them all.

Secondly, even in the era before the Ascension Platform disappeared, there were minimum requirements for becoming a Deity.

Not to mention that after the Middle Ages, those who were not at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage didn't even have a chance to try.

If he is truly an ascended cultivator who hasn't even reached the Nascent Soul stage, he will undoubtedly become the focus of attention in the Upper Realm.

Unfortunately, Bai Zichen is full of secrets and cannot withstand scrutiny, which will inevitably lead to many troubles.

Before he possesses the strength to protect himself in the Immortal Realm, keeping a low profile is not a bad thing.

I looked up at the blazing sun to determine my direction, then started walking towards the island. After walking for dozens of miles, I didn't see any signs of human habitation.

From afar, a giant pillar came into view, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a towering ancient tree with a fruit hanging every few feet, swaying in the wind.

In a short while, the fruit peel turned from green to purple, split open, and a clean, white baby fell out, with a vine growing from its head.

In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen babies appeared on the ground, crying loudly.

Before long, it stood up on its own, tore off two leaves to cover itself, and hopped and skipped into the mountains, quickly disappearing into the dust.

"An ancient tree bears fruit, nurturing a spiritual embryo... I've never imagined that such a way of giving birth to life exists in the world!"

Bai Zichen was dumbfounded. The scene before him was beyond his comprehension and conflicted with his common knowledge of the cultivation world.

Even the highest-level spiritual plants are still essentially confined to the shell of grass and wood, making it much more difficult for them than for beasts to climb the Great Dao.

Aside from those with special bloodlines, demonic beasts can transform into human form at the fourth rank, while plant spirits, without a great destiny or opportunity, cannot shed their mortal form even after tens or hundreds of thousands of years of growth.

This can be seen from the number of innate spiritual roots.

Even for those with innate spiritual roots, their origin is only enough for one fruit to take form; how could they be without limitations?

Take the Yellow Springs Gourd in his cave as an example; it grew on the same immortal vine as the Gourd Boy.

However, regardless of the order of events, the gourd boy successfully transformed into human form and, with the help of a benefactor, ascended to immortality long ago.

The Yellow Springs Gourd became an inanimate object, unknown in the cultivation world, and no one knew that there was actually a second fruit on the gourd vine.

Even if this ancient tree has innate spiritual roots, it's impossible for all of its dozen or so fruits to take human form.

Bai Zichen was injured and deliberately took a few steps further away to avoid getting close.

The priority now is to figure out where I am, and then find a safe and secure place to properly recover from my injuries.

Otherwise, if the nascent soul remains dormant for a long time, there may be irreversible sequelae.

Fortunately, although his Five Crystal Glass Body was destroyed, his body tempering cultivation did not disappear, which became his greatest source of confidence when he was seriously injured.

They strode swiftly along the rugged mountain paths, often through countless mountains and trails where no one or even birds could be seen.

To make matters worse, the weather was extremely harsh. During the day it was scorching hot enough to melt metal and stone, but at night the temperature plummeted to rock bottom, becoming bitterly cold.

Along the way, there was not a single human figure, nor even any beasts or plants to be seen; that towering ancient tree seemed to be the only living thing in the area.

It took three whole days to climb a high ridge. Looking back, he saw that he had awakened in a sand dune that stretched for thousands of miles and was constantly moving. He could vaguely see several large vortexes sucking in everything around him.

With the ridge where he stood as the boundary, the sunny side was full of volcanoes with flames flying everywhere, while the shady side was covered with glaciers with a chilling atmosphere.

This is what creates his unique experience while climbing: extreme alternations of hot and cold.

Only someone at the fourth level of body tempering, immune to heat and cold, could withstand such a condition; most cultivators simply couldn't.

"From this perspective, this island is at least ten times larger than Chilong Island, and it's almost the size of a medium-sized country..."

Even from this height, Bai Zichen couldn't see the entire island; the coastline was obscured by the pervasive mist, making it impossible to see clearly.

Even the Yin-Yang Eyes of the Candle Dragon, without the blessing of the sacred beast's aura, could only vaguely perceive a few dark shadows, as if some kind of power was covering the island.

He looked around and was about to continue forward when he suddenly turned his head, feeling a shiver run through his body as if an electric current had passed through him, and his hair stood on end.

"Overseas fairy mountains, where the water's eye ends, boundless shifting sands, and hundred-foot glaciers..."

Bai Zichen muttered to himself, comparing the scene before him one by one, and finally realized the source of the familiarity.

"Penglai Immortal Island! This is the legendary Penglai Immortal Island, the birthplace of Ancestor Qingfeng, and the origin of our sect's lineage!"

He once found a broken piece of ancient bronze, with two floral and bird inscriptions on it, which told the story of Penglai, a fairyland overseas.

Senior Brother Ge Cang also mentioned that Ancestor Qingfeng came from Penglai, a place with a cultivation world completely different from Zuzhou.

However, Master Qingfeng left no words as to why he left Penglai or how he crossed the boundless outer sea.

Following in the footsteps of the Qingfeng Ancestor and seeking the origin of the lineage has always been the dream of the Qingfeng Sect members.

However, the mountain gate is far away in the northern region, the ancestral temple is high overseas, and it is the Penglai Immortal Island that no one has ever been to before. This dream can only remain a thought.

Even Bai Zichen and Ge Cang, the two most outstanding cultivators since the sect began to have officials, did not really take this matter to heart.

The main problem is that Penglai Island is too ethereal and its existence is difficult to confirm.

Apart from a few mentions in the classics passed down by the Qingfeng Sect, the cultivation world generally classifies these immortal islands as myths and legends, leaving them largely unresolved.

Unexpectedly, he was caught in a void turbulence, which led him to this place.

"Could it be that there truly is a cause and effect, a destiny that brought me to this place, allowing me to receive the complete lineage?"

The concept of fate and the art of prophecy are profound principles that only cultivators from the upper realms can access.

Bai Zichen didn't delve into the details; he only thought about whether arriving at Penglai Immortal Island was a good or bad thing.

"It's better than going to some unknown small world or a continent where it's hard to return... If Ancestor Qingfeng could go to the Ancestral Continent, I should be able to do it too after my strength is restored."

(End of this chapter)