"Ancestor of Earth Immortals!"
Surprised and overjoyed, Xu Ying hurriedly gave a formal salute and said with a smile, "Dao Brother, I have long heard of your great name! I once even spoke of Patriarch to Qingfeng and Mingyue! In Wuzhuang Temple, I also received great benefits from Dao Brother's Ginseng Fruit Tree! I cannot thank you enough!"
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals smiled. "The Ginseng Fruit Tree is the tree of the Great Dao belonging to the Earth Immortal Realm. I was merely fortunate enough to refine it into my own Dao tree. How fare Qingfeng and Mingyue?"
Remembering the deaths of the two boys, Xu Ying's face darkened with grief.
Seeing this, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals understood the reason. After a moment of silence, he said, "It is time and destiny. Perhaps they have already transformed into other forms of life and dwell somewhere in the Three Realms. Fellow Daoist Xu, you harbor an old friend of mine upon your person. May I trouble you to invite it out so we may meet?"
Inside Xu Ying's Martial Dao cave abyss was a Ginseng Fruit Tree.
Back when he was crippled by Immortal Emperor Supreme Meng Shanming, he rebuilt his cultivation through the Martial Dao, absorbing two Ginseng Dao fruits to boost his Martial Dao cultivation. Unexpectedly, after the two Dao fruits dissolved, such a Ginseng Fruit Tree had sprouted within his Martial Dao cave abyss.
The tree had grown within the Martial Dao cave abyss ever since, expanding slowly with the passage of time. Now lush and luxuriant, its canopy shaded the immortal mountains of the cave abyss, trailing countless streaks of rosy light and auspicious mist. However, Xu Ying walked the New Dao system and did not practice the Old Dao, so he had never known what purpose this Dao tree served.
Moreover, after slaying Immortal Emperor Supreme Meng Shanming, he had seized the Earth Immortal Realm's original Ginseng Fruit Tree, which was now entrusted to Immortal Emperor Xu Jing.
Xu Ying immediately summoned his Martial Dao cave abyss.
The cave abyss was boundless, enveloping the surrounding spacetime. Xu Ying and the Ancestor of Earth Immortals walked beneath the Ginseng Fruit Tree. The Ancestor looked upon this Earth Immortal Realm Dao tree, overwhelmed with emotion. After a moment, he said, "Old fellow daoist, long time no see. Yet your fruit has ripened and fallen from the stalk, and you have found a new master."
He turned to Xu Ying and said, "Fellow Daoist Xu, the Ginseng Fruit Tree is a spiritual root of the heaven and earth of the Earth Immortal Realm. It is exceedingly rare, containing the heaven-and-earth Great Dao of the Earth Immortal Realm—a Dao fruit of the realm itself. I once received its favor and benefited immensely. Now that a new Ginseng Fruit Tree has grown in your cave abyss, it indicates that this tree has chosen you as its Dao Lord. Your fortune far surpasses mine!"
Seeing Xu Ying's confusion, he smiled and explained, "The original Ginseng Fruit Tree is the Dao tree of the Earth Immortal Realm. By using it as my Dao tree, I certainly possessed immense dharmic power and cultivation, but if I leave the Earth Immortal Realm, I cannot take it with me. That is because the tree does not belong to me. But this tree of yours belongs to you; it is a true universe-grade Dao tree."
Xu Ying's heart pounded at his words. "A universe-grade Dao tree?"
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals said, "Legend has it that when a universe's Great Origin first forms, a chaotic spiritual root is born alongside it. The spiritual root born alongside the Great Origin of our Three Realms' universe was most likely this very Ginseng Fruit Tree. However, for reasons unknown, this chaotic spiritual root fell into the Earth Immortal Realm and became a local spiritual root, never having the opportunity to grow to its full potential."
A thought stirred in Xu Ying's mind, and he realized the reason at once. "The reason the Ginseng Fruit Tree could not grow was most likely because a hundred million years ago, the Lord of Great Dao of the Origin Realm Universe discovered the Three Realms' Great Origin and forcibly split the heavens, stunting the tree's growth!"
After a long pause, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals said, "We never knew that such a terrifying group of prehistoric beings lay dormant at the borders of the Three Realms. Fortunately, you and the others were there; otherwise, the Three Realms might have been annihilated."
Trapped in the Tianjing Ruins, their situation was awkward. The other shore treated them as roving bandits, frequently sending forces to wipe them out, yet they could find no path back to the Three Realms and could only remain in the Tianjing Ruins to unearth its secrets.
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals continued, "The Ginseng Fruit Tree bore Dao fruits that grew into a new tree in your cave abyss. This tree is your Dao tree. It can help you command all the Great Daos you cultivate, elevate them to a higher tier, and bear Dao fruits."
Xu Ying smiled. "Dao Brother, I no longer cultivate Dao trees or Dao fruits. The path of Dao trees and Dao fruits is what we call the Old Dao. Nowadays, we cultivate cave abysses, which we call the New Dao. Unworthy as I am, I am the Dao Ancestor of the New Dao."
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals said solemnly, "To think Fellow Daoist Xu possesses such genius. Truly admirable!"
Then, changing his tone, he smiled. "The New Dao and the Old Dao each have their own emphasis. Why not cultivate both?"
Xu Ying was astonished. "Can that even be done?"
Xu Ying froze. Prompted by the Ancestor of Earth Immortals, he suddenly realized: cultivating to the Indestructible realm meant achieving a body commensurate with the Great Dao!
If the underlying architecture of one's Great Dao was not inferior to the other shore's, then an Indestructible practitioner of the Old Dao might not be inferior to an Indestructible of the other shore!
This was because both sides had bodies identical with the Dao, stature commensurate with the Great Dao, differing only in the basic architecture of their Daos!
And once one reached the realm of Lord of Great Dao, one became the sovereign of the Dao—at that level, one did not even need a basic Dao architecture!
Because the realm of Lord of Great Dao had already achieved Daos without structure, unified into a singular Hunyuan whole!
The words of the Ancestor of Earth Immortals opened a new world for Xu Ying, making his eyes light up.
"What is more, Fellow Daoist Xu, you do not need to turn back and re-cultivate the Old Dao from scratch; your Dao tree is already formed and on the verge of flowering and fruiting," the Ancestor of Earth Immortals said with a smile. "You can very well treat your cave abyss as your Great Origin and the Ginseng Fruit Tree as your universal Dao tree. Within your own body, you can reenact the Great Origin and carve out a new universe, harmonizing myriad Qi, aligning myriad Daos, and becoming your own Dao Lord!"
Xu Ying stared blankly, murmuring, "Reenact the Great Origin, carve out a new universe?"
Harmonize myriad Qi, align myriad Daos, and become one's own Dao Lord!
Of course, this realm was merely a mock realm—a simulation. He could only govern the various Great Daos within his own body and could not yet unify the Great Daos of the outside world.
However, unifying the Daos within one's body and becoming the master of myriad Daos was clearly superior to merely having a stature commensurate with the Great Dao!
What was more, Xu Ying had gathered a vast amount of Dao Qi this time, much of which belonged to Great Daos he had never touched upon and was difficult to refine.
He had originally planned to gather these varieties of Dao Qi, then search for corresponding cultivation arts from the other shore, decipher them, form corresponding cave abysses, and only then refine the Dao Qi.
Yet that would clearly be an arduous undertaking, requiring a massive amount of time and effort to accomplish.
He might not even be able to finish it at all!
However, if he relied on the Ginseng Fruit Tree to unify the Dao Qi and then used the Martial Dao cave abyss to reach the state of Daos without structure, he could bypass the entire process, refining the Dao Qi directly and obtaining the profound mysteries of their corresponding Great Daos!
"Dao Brother, there is still one thing I do not understand—my karmic fortune..."
Coming back to his senses, Xu Ying turned to ask the Ancestor of Earth Immortals about the karmic fortune, but there was no trace of him left.
Evidently, while he had been lost in thought, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals had quietly departed.
Xu Ying sighed. Aside from the Tianjing karmic fortune, he had also planned to ask whether some grand figure of Tianjing was pulling the strings behind it all.
He always felt that the dense emergence of so many Dao lands and fortuitous opportunities was not as simple as it seemed.
Furthermore, he had wanted to ask about the whereabouts of Daoist Tongtian. The Zhuxian broken sword was Daoist Tongtian's sword, yet since arriving at the other shore, it had never sensed Daoist Tongtian's aura, leaving Xu Ying worried for the Daoist's safety.
Unfortunately, the Ancestor of Earth Immortals had left too quickly.
Even so, the arrival of the Ancestor of Earth Immortals had revealed a brand-new path to Xu Ying—a transcendent path!
"Zhuo Daochun, I will definitely catch up to you, and even surpass you!"
While searching for new Dao lands, Xu Ying revised his Martial Ultimate Dao Attainment Scripture. Because he had cultivated the Three Qi and achieved the Nine Profounds Unified, the scripture had been condensed to an utmost simplicity—a single art that could effortlessly mobilize all his cave abysses to empower the Martial Dao.
Now, incorporating the Ginseng Fruit Tree merely added another pathway for the circulation of vital energy, which remained exceptionally simple.
With slight modifications, Xu Ying directly circulated the Martial Ultimate Dao Attainment Scripture. Strands of Innate Dao Qi from each of his cave abysses poured in like an endless stream, entering through the roots and stems of the Ginseng Fruit Tree, converging in its trunk, and diffusing through its branches and leaves.
The Ginseng Fruit Tree had originally been planted here haphazardly without ever receiving his nourishment, growing to its current stature solely by absorbing the spiritual energy and Dao power of the Martial Dao cave abyss on its own.
Now that Xu Ying integrated the Dao tree into his cultivation, the Ginseng Fruit Tree began growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, sprouting branches and budding leaves, becoming increasingly robust as its canopy cast an ever-wider shade!
To Xu Ying's astonishment, the tree's roots gradually extended beyond the Martial Dao cave abyss, appearing in his various cave abysses: Taiyi, Martial Ultimate, Hongmeng, Chaos, Samsara, and more!
Nourished by him, the fruit tree even probed its roots toward the Great Origin Xu Ying had collected!
However, that Great Origin was guarded by the chaos lotus. The chaos lotus immediately waved its lotus leaves, thrashing and slapping away the Ginseng Fruit Tree's roots until they retreated.
Xu Ying was furious. "You thieving lotus! You eat, wear, and use everything of mine, yet you dare bully my Dao tree!"
Absorbing the Qi of Chaos, the chaos lotus ignored him, continuing to toss the Chaos Great Dao it couldn't absorb over to Xu Ying.
Magnanimous as ever, Xu Ying didn't hold it against the plant, saying, "Lord Lotus, don't let there be a next time."
The Ginseng Fruit Tree began absorbing the Dao Qi Xu Ying had been unable to refine. As its roots plunged into the Dao Qi, the wondrous principles of various Great Daos flooded in.
Xu Ying circulated the Martial Ultimate Dao Attainment Scripture. Behind his head, cave abyss after cave abyss swiftly formed, grew, and then vanished, merging into his Martial Dao cave abyss.
'Why are they merging into the Martial Dao cave abyss?'
The moment the thought crossed Xu Ying's mind, he understood: the Martial Dao was without structure, and with the Ginseng Fruit Tree unifying all Daos, he was now effectively the Lord of Great Dao of his own Martial Dao cave abyss!
In just two or three days, Xu Ying had unified all the various types of Dao Qi he had collected, refining them into cave abyss after cave abyss and integrating them into his Martial Dao cave abyss.
This was a path of reverting to the Innate—using the Martial Dao to attain the Innate, cultivate toward becoming a Dao Lord, and achieve supreme Dao fruits.
In the past, Xu Ying had bragged to Imperial Son Mingxi that he was reverting to the Innate, but that had only been boasting.
Now, the boast he had made was gradually becoming reality beneath his hands!
The Ginseng Fruit Tree burst into full bloom with various Dao flowers, two hundred and sixty-eight in all. Each Dao flower represented a Great Dao that Xu Ying cultivated.
Xu Ying charged into a Dao land and summoned the Taiyi Myriad Daos Cauldron, collecting half of the Dao Qi there. The Dao power of the place surged toward him as a torrential divine power. Xu Ying raised his hand to block, executing the Chaos Heaven-Muddling Hand. It clashed against the Dao power with a thunderous impact.
His body swayed slightly, but circulating the Martial Ultimate Dao Attainment Scripture dissipated the terrifying Dao power without harming him.
He strode out of the Dao land, fed the gathered Dao Qi to the Ginseng Fruit Tree to absorb, and made his way toward other Dao lands.
Behind him, yet another new cave abyss formed, expanded, and merged into the Martial Dao cave abyss. The sheer speed of his cultivation was staggering.
'Whether this tide of the Great Dao is good or bad, and whether someone is pulling strings from the shadows or not, I will simply eat the bait and refuse to take the hook!' Xu Ying's eyes gleamed as he thought, 'I'll take half of every bait, and leave the being-hooked part to everyone else!'
Suddenly, figures flickered ahead. A thought struck Xu Ying, and he immediately gave chase. His eyes lit up and he shouted, "Shi Yuting, halt! Stop or I'll beat you to death! What treasures did you get... Pull them out and let me see... I don't have this kind of Dao Qi, give me half... I'm not taking your stuff for free; I have other Dao Qi to trade with you!"
"Nangong Hao, don't even think about running! Let me see what Dao Qi you've collected!"
Through a mix of extortion and trading along the way, Xu Ying collected more and more varieties of Dao Qi. The Dao flowers upon the Ginseng Fruit Tree fully bloomed, open in all their splendor, and began bearing green Dao fruits.
Xu Ying felt his dharmic power growing stronger and stronger, his mastery of various Dao methods answering his every whim.
Watching the Ancestor of Earth Immortals return, Dao Ancestor Yuxu hurriedly asked, "Dao Brother, were you not protecting Xu Ying in secret? Why have you returned so soon?"
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals replied, "Giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish. I have already imparted to him the finest method I can teach. The Grand Dao Lord of Life and Death has been wounded by Xuhuang, and few other Grand Dao Lords have designs on him, so I returned."
Dao Ancestor Yuxu said, "He is the sole fledgling of my Kunlun Realm. Back then, I wronged his ancestor; I cannot let anything happen to him."
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals chuckled. "He was the one who ascended to the Tianjing Ruins twice back then, was he not?"
First sent back by the Buddha Ancestor, then sent back by Xuhuang.
The lad was certainly persistent, managing to accurately ascend to the Tianjing Ruins on both occasions.
He paused, then added, "Because he ascended twice, he also gained the karmic fortune of Tianjing, making him equivalent to a Tianjing immortal. In this tide of the Great Dao, he has his own opportunities as well. Regrettably, he is not a true native of Tianjing, so the opportunities he receives are rather meager."
Dao Ancestor Yuxu asked hastily, "How can we send some opportunities his way?"
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals laughed. "He has already plundered more than enough—even more than that Zhuo Daochun. Why would we ever need to send him anything?"
As they spoke, Great Dao Lord Xuhuang's voice drifted over, sounding somewhat weak. "Fellow Daoists, have you sensed it?"
The Ancestor of Earth Immortals and Dao Ancestor Yuxu immediately focused their senses, their expressions turning grave.
"This aura..." Dao Ancestor Yuxu murmured, "It is far too deep and profound. Who could be this powerful?"
Great Dao Lord Xuhuang said languidly, "The Lord of Great Dao of Tianjing... His Great Dao has begun to awaken."
Chapter 743