When Lin Donglai awoke, he found his spirit clear and his eyes bright.
When he closed his eyes, he could not only see the Dao Seed of the spirit root, but also his five viscera and six organs.
He was startled at once: "Isn't this the 'inner vision' ability that only comes with the fourth layer of Qi Refining, when one's spirit consciousness is born?"
With inner vision, one could know every change in one's body as if it were in the palm of one's hand. Only thus could one know the circulation routes of one's cultivation method, guide the flow of spiritual power, and better assist one's cultivation.
"So where is my spirit root?"
Lin Donglai's first instinct was to search for his spirit root, but after searching for a long while, he found nothing.
His teachers at the academy had once mentioned that after attaining inner vision, one would be able to see the location of one's spirit root.
The human body is separated from Heaven and Earth, and the spirit root is analogous to the umbilical cord between an infant and its mother. Only with this cord can one draw nourishment and primal qi from Heaven and Earth.
This is also why it is said that without a spirit root, cultivation is impossible.
"Could it be that my spirit root has been replaced by this Dao Seed?"
"The spirit root of Heaven and Earth and the spirit root within the human body are both called spirit roots. The Records of Cultivation also says that a Heaven-and-Earth spirit root, through secret sacrificial refinement, can substitute for a spirit root and allow those without one to cultivate."
"Could it be that I originally had no spirit root at all, and it was this Dao Seed that granted me one?"
Lin Donglai could not work out this question. He merely observed that the essence-blood within his body had already reached fifty-four drops, more than enough to soak the Dao Seed and be used for its sacrificial refinement.
"Tonight I begin the refinement of the Dao Seed!"
Lin Donglai maintained his normal daily routine, basking in the sun and drawing in a little earth qi.
When the appointed hour arrived, he went to see Peng Yue.
In the kitchen behind the mess hall, Peng Yue gave a slight nod upon seeing Lin Donglai, pointing at a clay pot stewing over a fire, with a spirit chicken inside.
The pot was sealed, yet a faint fragrance still drifted from it.
"Finish eating here. I used danmu twigs and simmered it over a gentle flame for a full day and night. Even the bones of this spirit chicken have been stewed soft. I also applied the Spirit-Locking Secret Art, and even the water for the broth is top-grade Yanghe Spirit Spring water. The two Peiyuan ginseng roots must have dissolved into the broth by now."
Lin Donglai opened the clay pot and saw a faint gleam of spiritual light flash, followed by a rich aroma of chicken broth. With just one sniff, his abdomen grew warm—an obvious sign of great tonic nourishment.
Ignoring the scalding heat, he drank the entire pot of broth in one go. After finishing the soup, he tore the whole spirit chicken apart by hand and stuffed it into his mouth. Sure enough, even the bones had gone soft as mud.
With the entire spirit chicken in his belly, Lin Donglai's face flushed bright red, and a gentle current of warmth flowed through his meridians.
"What an appetite indeed!"
Lin Donglai felt his whole body brimming with inexhaustible energy. Looking inward, he saw the spiritual marrow absorbing primal qi hungrily, as if starved.
Lin Donglai hurried back to his quarters at once, shut the doors and windows tight, and began running the secret art for refining the Dao Seed, mobilizing the forty-nine drops of essence-blood stored in his heart, channeling them bit by bit.
"It craves essence-blood!"
The moment Lin Donglai activated the secret art, forming hand seals with both hands, shifting the rhythm of his breathing in coordination, he uttered a true word from his throat: "Lin!"
The spirit-root Dao Seed trembled, and then an intense craving surged forth.
At the same time, Lin Donglai's tiny spark of spirit consciousness was swallowed by the Dao Seed like a whirlpool.
When he could perceive again, Lin Donglai found himself surrounded by darkness, with only faint wisps of multicolored breath.
Upon merely touching those wisps of qi, Lin Donglai understood: "These are the essences of the Five Elements."
"It craves earth qi."
"It craves sunlight."
"It craves vitality."
"It craves spiritual qi."
"It craves water!"
"It craves essence-blood!"
In the next moment, countless cravings erupted from the deepest instincts of Lin Donglai's being, as if he had become a small sapling about to break through the soil.
No, that's not right!
Lin Donglai instantly understood: "My consciousness has sunk into that spirit-root Dao Seed!"
He then tried to control the movement of the seed—and this time, to his surprise, he succeeded.
Two fine little root hairs, representing Lin Donglai's two foundational techniques: the Peiyuan Breathing Art, and the Muscle-Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing Stance.
The two root hairs thrust from the void into his flesh body, spreading through his meridians until they reached his heart, where they greedily drank in the essence-blood.
The forty-nine drops of essence-blood dyed the two root hairs red, and from within, a red thread grew, extending to the Dao Seed itself, soaking it entirely.
As a wave of weakness washed over him—the normal result of losing such a large quantity of essence-blood—a feeling of blood-connection arose from instinct, as if an invisible umbilical cord, a bridge, was being forged.
The essence-blood was slowly absorbed and transformed by the Dao Seed, and a sprouting force surged forth vigorously. The seed's shell glowed with iridescent light, mysterious and ancient.
This time, it was not merely sprouting two slender root hairs—the seed was truly about to germinate.
A pale yellow-tinted green bud tip appeared.
The plant vitality collected earlier was swiftly absorbed, and the bud directly transformed from pale yellow-green into fresh jade-green, its tip gleaming like emerald.
Even a droplet of dew could faintly be seen condensing upon it.
As the seed shell cracked and the seed entered its sprouting phase, an ancient and mighty inheritance was transmitted into the depths of Lin Donglai's sea of consciousness.
The World-Reaching Jianmu.
A Legacy Seed of the Great Dao!
The Earth Immortal Lineage!
So this seed was the Great Dao Legacy Seed of the World-Reaching Jianmu!
Jianmu, also known as the World Tree, was one of the Ten Innate Spirit Roots. Legend held that this divine tree connected all the worlds across the heavens—reaching upward to the Immortal Realm and Celestial Realm, and downward to the Netherworld. Anyone could climb up this great tree, ascending into other worlds, even climbing all the way into the Celestial Realm or the Immortal Realm!
Later, the Heavenly Emperor decreed an end to all passage between Heaven and Earth, and dispatched the Longbo Giants to fell the World-Reaching Jianmu.
But as the Longbo Giants chopped the tree, it simply regrew as fast as it was cut—it could never be felled.
The Heavenly Emperor, enraged, summoned forth the axe from the age when Heaven and Earth were first split open, and had the Longbo Giants wield this axe. Only then was Jianmu cut down.
But the Longbo Giants were crushed to death beneath the falling Jianmu.
Though Jianmu had long since developed spiritual intelligence, its massive form prevented it from taking human shape, and it could not defy the Heavenly Emperor's decree.
And so, in its final moments, it exhausted its own origin to condense a great number of seeds, scattering them across the myriad worlds, waiting to return.
To ensure its return, the Will of Jianmu deliberately left an Earth Immortal inheritance within the seeds.
This Earth Immortal lineage originated from a sovereign-grade mighty one who had walked out his own path—and that mighty one's origins were likewise that of an innate spirit root.
The Will of Jianmu deeply admired him and left behind a final testament:
"Once one attains the fruition of Earth Immortal, one may take this sovereign mighty one as one's master. When the time is ripe, one will naturally be able to sense the source of the Innate Imperishable Radiant Light, and with the aid of that sovereign mighty one, obtain the complete Innate Jianmu Spirit Root."
Lin Donglai pondered for a moment, then shook his head. According to the inheritance, attaining the Earth Immortal fruition already belonged to the level of those who could open up worlds—that level was far too high.
Setting aside such distant matters, this Jianmu Dao Seed was truly a world-shaking great opportunity!
Setting everything else aside, this Earth Immortal inheritance alone would benefit Lin Donglai endlessly.
With the Dao Seed as the core, one cultivated the Inner Landscape.
Within the Inner Landscape, one opened up the Field of Blessings.
With the Field of Blessings as the foundation, one forged the Dao Platform.
With the Dao Platform as the base, one constructed the Spirit Manor.
With the Spirit Manor as the core, one expanded outward into the fourfold void to form a Blessed Land.
Refining a Blessed Land, one cultivated the Blessed Land's Yin Spirit; then the Blessed Land was exalted into a Cave Heaven.
The master of a Cave Heaven was the Cave Heaven's Yang Spirit. The Cave Heaven would then further evolve into a Realm Heaven.
The sovereign of a Realm Heaven was the Earth Immortal, enjoying the Dao fruit of longevity, sharing the lifespan of Heaven and Earth.
Even a Realm Heaven could expand without limit, devouring other Realm Heavens.
Or one could hang one's Realm Heaven from the branches of Jianmu, evolving into myriad worlds.
The marvel of these methods and the completeness of this lineage left Lin Donglai dazzled, gasping in admiration.
"Among these, the four stages of Inner Landscape, Field of Blessings, Dao Platform, and Spirit Manor should correspond to Fetal Breath, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Purple Manor."
Lin Donglai thought to himself: "The inner vision I just achieved, observing my five viscera and six organs at will, is the work of the Inner Landscape stage."
"When I reach Qi Refining, I will be able to open up space within the Inner Landscape—that is the Field of Blessings. And the Dao Seed can take root upon this Field of Blessings, gathering primal qi from the void to expand it."
"Truly a great opportunity!"
Lin Donglai suddenly thought of that person in his dream, murdered by someone close to him. If that man had not died, this opportunity would never have fallen to him.
He died so that I might live!
What those immortals were fighting over must have been the previous owner of the Dao Seed—the fruits of his painstaking cultivation: the Inner Landscape Spirit Manor, or perhaps a Blessed Land...
A cultivator of the Earth Immortal path, once his body perishes and his Dao dissolves, can no longer gather in his Inner Landscape or transform it back into himself through the Dao. The Spirit Manor he cultivated will become an abandoned immortal manor, and his Blessed Land and Cave Heaven will become masterless things.