Chapter 27 - Supreme Innate Spiritual Root—Stellar Fruit Tree, Proving the Great Luo
Chapter 27: Supreme Innate Spiritual Root—Stellar Fruit Tree, Proving the Great Luo
Jade Emperor Summit earned its name in later eras for enshrining the Jade Emperor.
However, now Haotian was merely a child, likely just having taken form, and the notion of a Jade Emperor did not yet exist.
Thus, the so-called Jade Emperor Summit should, in theory, be called Celestial Pillar Peak.
This peak towered ten thousand zhang, its starlight dazzling, as if touching the heavens.
Arriving at the summit, Zhong Yue gazed at the source of the starlight, and was instantly stunned.
Atop Celestial Pillar Peak stood an ancient tree swaying in the wind, its trunk dozens of zhang in diameter, thousands of zhang tall, its body a deep, azure blue.
Its surface glimmered with star-like radiance, its grain dense as the myriad stars, as if containing the boundless mysteries of the cosmos.
Its branches were lush, thirty-six main boughs swaying, each bearing a gem-like fruit, emitting a soft, mystical glow.
The moment he saw this ancient tree, the secrets of heaven revealed themselves, countless pieces of information surfacing in Zhong Yue’s heart.
“Innate Stellar Fruit Tree?”
Zhong Yue raised an eyebrow, his eyes showing both surprise and realisation.
While observing from below, he had sensed something unusual at the peak, but never expected it to be the Innate Stellar Fruit Tree.
The Innate Stellar Fruit Tree, a supreme innate spiritual root, bloomed every thirty thousand years, bore fruit every thirty thousand years, and matured every thirty thousand years, yielding thirty-six fruits. Consuming them granted an Innate Stellar Body and ninety thousand years of cultivation.
The Innate Stellar Body could refine the body with starlight; at minor mastery, it rivalled a Golden Immortal, and at great mastery, the body could achieve Great Luo, its might extraordinary.
“I never imagined it would be another supreme innate spiritual root. Come to think of it, the Dragon King of the North Sea once gifted me a Five Elements Pine Needle Tree.”
Zhong Yue’s thoughts paused, and with a flip of his palm, the sealed Five Elements Pine Needle Tree appeared in his hand.
The next moment, he released the seal, tossing the tree out, and in an instant, it transformed into a towering ancient tree.
The Five Elements Pine Needle Tree grew in the wind, taking root beside the Innate Stellar Fruit Tree, its height no less impressive.
Two supreme innate spiritual roots stood on Celestial Pillar Peak: the Innate Stellar Fruit Tree drew boundless stellar power, while the Five Elements Pine Needle Tree channelled innate five elements power, complementing each other, swaying in the wind, casting faint divine radiance.
Gazing at the scene, Zhong Yue’s face showed approval, nodding slightly.
“Hm, not bad.”
One supreme innate spiritual root, one high-grade, one mid-grade, one low-grade, plus three innate spiritual treasures and this top-tier blessed land sanctuary—his gains were substantial.
In the following time, Zhong Yue wandered Mount Tai, refining the mountain-protecting formation.
With all his possessions now rooted in Mount Tai, his future sanctuary, it naturally required thorough protection.
Leveraging his heaven-defying comprehension [nì tiān wù xìng]^, Zhong Yue modified the Innate Yin-Yang Grand Formation, merging it with the Innate Five Elements Grand Formation, making them interdependent, each containing the other.
He then spared no expense, placing the Void Mirror at the formation’s core, harnessing spatial power to seal Mount Tai’s million-li radius.
After this, Zhong Yue went to the rear mountain, found two Chaos Origin Stones, and directly animated them.
With the radiant light of creation, the two Chaos Origin Stones soon transformed into a boy and a girl.
Being formed from Chaos Origin Stones and animated on the spot, their strength was modest, only at the early True Immortal level.
But Zhong Yue did not mind their cultivation; he animated them merely to tend to the spiritual roots and plants of his sanctuary.
“From today, you shall be called Shi Gandang, and you, Bixia. Tend well to the spiritual materials in this sanctuary.”
Zhong Yue looked at them, naming the boy Shi Gandang and the girl Bixia.
“Thanks to the Master for granting our names; Shi Gandang will obey the Master’s will.”
“Thanks to the Master for granting our names; Bixia will obey the Master’s will.”
The two knelt before Zhong Yue, bowing deeply.
Zhong Yue nodded slightly, then headed towards Jade Emperor Summit.
With two attendants to manage the sanctuary, Zhong Yue fully relaxed.
Sitting alone on Celestial Pillar Peak, he gazed out: mountains stood tall, seas of clouds churned, starlight dazzled.
Since crossing into this world, he had been on the move, never pausing.
Now, stopping to sense the vastness of heaven and earth, the immensity of the cosmos, he fell into a trance.
And this sitting lasted a full eight thousand years.
Over eight thousand years, he did not cultivate, merely gazing quietly at the mountains and earth veins.
In the path of cultivation, one must balance tension and release; this was release [yī zhāng yī chí]^.
Now, eight thousand years later, Zhong Yue rose from the ground.
As he stood, it was as if something was triggered, his entire being suddenly enveloped in boundless charm of the Dao.
“Mountains, earth veins, wind, water, yin-yang, five elements, Qiankun—all are within.”
“The earth bears all with profound virtue, mountains and rivers nurture spirits with wind and water—so that’s it, so that’s it.”
This sigh seemed to span millions of years, yet also felt like a fleeting moment of self-mockery.
As this sigh fell, a radiant five-coloured immortal light erupted from Zhong Yue’s body, soaring to the heavens.
Moved by Mount Tai’s majestic grandeur, Zhong Yue attained complete enlightenment in that moment.
A crystalline immortal flower bloomed in the sky, starlight cascading, manifesting a vision of soaring immortals.
This flower was none other than one of the three flowers of a Great Luo Golden Immortal—the Flower of Qi.
In the sky, yin-yang and the five elements seemed to evolve within the Flower of Qi, encompassing mountains and rivers, sun and moon, earth and starry rivers, nurtured by the Qiankun Great Dao.
The immortal flower bloomed brilliantly, each petal crystalline and translucent, every inch as if carved from immortal jade, pure and flawless.
Its petals radiated light, faintly revealing a great world rising and falling within.
That was Zhong Yue’s Dao, the Qiankun Great Dao.
Sitting alone on Mount Tai for eight thousand years, Zhong Yue fully grasped his heart’s intent, shattering the final shackles, everything falling into place naturally.
At the same time, he finally understood why Mount Tai had stirred his intuition [xīn xuè lái cháo]^.
It was not the Innate Yin-Yang Grand Formation, but the awe-inspiring visage of heaven and earth, allowing him to glimpse the light of the Great Dao.
In this moment, Zhong Yue successfully ascended to the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.
In the sky, the Flower of Qi bloomed to the ninth grade, its petals swaying in the wind, proclaiming Zhong Yue’s top-tier innate divine foundation [gēn jiǎo]^.
Yet, as Zhong Yue prepared to restrain his aura, the ninth-grade Flower of Qi suddenly trembled, and a hazy figure emerged from its stamen.
“What is this?”
Zhong Yue was stunned; this sudden anomaly shocked even him, the master of the Flower of Qi.
A figure gestating atop the three flowers was utterly unprecedented; in all his years traversing the Primordial Wilderness, he had never heard of such a thing.
Footnotes:
逆天悟性 (nì tiān wù xìng):
- Meaning: Literally “heaven-defying comprehension,” it refers to an extraordinary, almost supernatural ability to understand and grasp profound concepts or truths, often used in fantasy or cultivation novels to describe a character’s exceptional talent.
- Origin: Common in Chinese web novels, particularly in the xianxia (immortal hero) and xuanhuan (mystical fantasy) genres, where characters possess unique traits that defy natural limits. It draws from Daoist and mythological ideas of transcending heaven’s will.
- Cultural Significance: In Chinese culture, “heaven” (天, tiān) represents the natural order or fate. Defying it signifies breaking free from predetermined limits, a celebrated trait in stories of personal triumph and cultivation. The term underscores Zhong Yue’s prodigious intellect and potential in the narrative.
- Meaning: Literally “one tension, one release,” it refers to the balance between effort and rest, derived from Confucian and Daoist principles advocating moderation and harmony in life or endeavours.
- Origin: From the Book of Rites(Li Ji), a Confucian classic, often used in Chinese literature and xianxia to describe the need for balance in cultivation or personal growth.
- Cultural Significance: The phrase reflects the Chinese emphasis on harmony and cyclical balance, illustrating Zhong Yue’s wisdom in pacing his cultivation to achieve deeper insights through contemplation.