Qing Ling rose and accepted the Huang Zhong Li from Venerable Chi Zun, tucking it into his sleeve. He then retrieved another Huang Zhong Li from his other sleeve and presented it to Hua Geng, saying, "Please accept this, Patriarch."
Hua Geng frowned and chided, "Why should I need what you've obtained?"
Qing Ling shook his head, "At this moment, I address you as the Patriarch of Xi Shan, not as grandmother. You may indulge me as grandmother, but for the survival of the clan, the Saint Son and the Patriarch must have one act first. I know you have reached the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown realm, and the Huang Zhong Li contains the essence of the Earth and Wood Daos, greatly aiding in nurturing both energies. For the clan, for Xi Shan, you should be the one to enjoy it."
Grandmother Hua Geng's eyes flickered. She hadn't realized that the child she had poured so much of her heart into had grown. Qing Ling, though not of her blood, was dearer than any blood relative.
Even the strongest heart wavered at this moment. She was indeed growing old.
Grandmother Hua Geng shook her head and refused again, "This fruit was bestowed by the Dragon Clan and carries their karma; it cannot be easily given away."
Seeing this, Qing Ling knew Hua Geng was wavering. He smiled, "You worry too much, grandmother. This fruit is a spiritual fruit I obtained, it belongs to me. Today, I offer it to you as a junior offering to an elder. The spiritual fruit gifted by Supreme Jing Mo involves my karma with the First Ancestor of the Azure Dragon, not with the Dragon Clan. Therefore, please rest assured, grandmother."
Venerables Chi Zun and Du Zun beside them listened with confusion, not understanding their conversation.
Grandmother Hua Geng mused for a while after hearing this and finally sighed, "If you had said this before, no matter how well you put it, I would not have accepted. But with the great changes about to occur in the Eastern Wilderness, my Xi Shan is indeed too weak. I shall accept this fruit."
Qing Ling's heart eased, and he quickly nodded. His destiny was intertwined with Xi Shan; they prospered or perished together. Currently, Xi Shan relied on Grandmother Hua Geng. However, she was only at the Taiyi realm. If she could reach the Da Luo realm, Xi Shan would be secure for nearly a hundred Yuan epochs.
How could a nest remain intact if the eggs were crushed? Only if Xi Shan flourished would he, as the Saint Son, have better cultivation conditions and safety.
Qing Ling did not know how far Grandmother Hua Geng was from the Da Luo realm, but he had personally witnessed the First Ancestor Tai Geng's last shred of divine soul dissipate, sending a considerable amount of Dao rhyme to Grandmother Hua Geng. Coupled with Xi Shan's profound foundation, it was unlikely she was far from it.
After flying across the East Sea for more than ten years, Qing Ling and his party finally returned to Xi Shan without incident.
Upon their return, Qing Ling sought advice from the various Golden Immortal Venerables in the clan. He questioned all twelve Golden Immortals, each inquiry focused on the Golden Immortal realm.
Then, news spread from Xi Shan that at the Myriad Races' Sacred Sacrifice, their Saint Son had made a stunning debut, becoming the Ninth Saint Son, defeating the immensely powerful Saint Son of the Great Shang Clan, and bringing immeasurable glory to Xi Shan.
From that time on, the presence of the Spring God was no longer seen in Xi Shan, yet the land of Xi Shan continued to be blessed by the Spring God.
Qing Ling entered the Hundred Springs Valley, and within its confines, countless, countless eons passed.
Qing Ling resumed his secluded cultivation, vowing not to emerge until he broke through to the Golden Immortal realm.
He had journeyed too far, too high, and too deep on the path of the Heavenly Steps, with few in the Primordial World matching his level.
For those stronger than him, their starting point was the Golden Immortal realm; they had no Heavenly Steps to traverse. And even the most heaven-defying beings on the Heavenly Steps could not compare to him, a primordial deity.
Among the gods, demons, and deities of the world, Qing Ling would be the first god to rise from the dust, the first to emerge from the weakest Earth Tier.
Though he had once been in disarray, though he had bowed and been humble, he was the first complete god in existence, having traversed the Earth Tier, ascended to the Heavenly Tier, and was now on the cusp of reaching the Golden Immortal realm, perhaps destined for Da Luo in the future.
Just as there was a beginning to the Dao, there must be an end.
Qing Ling weighed the Huang Zhong Li against the Fusang Tree, ultimately choosing the former to complete the final step of his Heavenly Steps and achieve perfection.
Although the Fusang Tree was also one of the Ten Great Innate Spiritual Roots, and the Azure Dragon's avatar had given him its branches and leaves, while the Huang Zhong Li was merely a single fruit, Qing Ling still did not use the Fusang Tree to forge the opportunity for the Golden Immortal realm.
He hoped he was overthinking things, but when it involved the grand tribulation of heaven and earth and the future of the Dao, no amount of caution was excessive.
He had received the Fusang Tree from the Azure Dragon's avatar, making him a hidden piece left by the Dragon Clan. And the Fusang Tree itself was a link in the grand tribulation of the next epoch.
The embers of the previous epoch, even if they survived this tribulation, were already tainted by the ephemeral uncertainty of the next.
The moment the Azure Dragon's avatar produced the wood, he had foreseen this connection.
Furthermore, setting aside the distant future, the very upheaval of the current era made it impossible for him to remain detached.
Regarding the Tian Jun Salamander clan in the southwest of the Eastern Wilderness, was their destiny-bound Jade Plate connected to the old Daoist on Jade Capital Mountain?
If it was indeed the layout of Hongjun, the future Dao Ancestor, what was the meaning of his involvement with the Dragon Clan? And the White Dragon First Ancestor of the Dragon Clan, who peered into the future, how would the Dragon Ancestor, a being capable of suppressing all gods in the Primordial World, respond?
In the vast expanse of the Primordial World, with its myriad realms, where heaven and earth served as a chessboard and all beings were pawns, the three great clans played their game, ancient ancestors hid their intentions, and countless beings struggled within. Endless changes swept through, and destinies intertwined. Qing Ling wondered, when the wings he, a butterfly from beyond the world, had stirred would grow large enough, would the world itself shift by a minuscule degree?
Qing Ling's mind gradually settled. The Huang Zhong Li, a top-grade spiritual fruit, entered his serpentine belly. Regrettably, he still tasted nothing; the habit of swallowing had become ingrained.
Bit by bit, the essence of the fruit dispersed into his divine body, sinking into his Dantian, which housed a world of an eighty-million-li ocean, a realm where spiritual energy was piled like mountains and seas.
As the supreme spiritual energy contained within the Huang Zhong Li diffused, a light rain began to fall within his Dantian world.
The fine, misty rain landed on the surface of the Dantian sea, creating ripple upon ripple; the rain was continuous and delicate.
Qing Ling’s primordial spirit directed countless strands of divine consciousness, refining this precious innate spiritual fruit bit by bit, refusing to waste even a sliver.
The innate true meaning contained within the fruit also entered his primordial spirit, and then his body.
Earth and wood mingled, both benevolent and similar, the Spring Sequence Flourishing Diagram incorporated the vast and immense Dao of Earth. From then on, spring not only had green waters but also verdant mountains.
The immense True Meaning of Nine Yuan Heavy Water condensed the myriad waters within the diagram's artistic conception. The authority of the Spring God nurtured the never-withering plants and herbs. The profound Dao of Earth, introduced by the spiritual fruit, brought forth a spring rain like mist, painting distant mountains green, and morning rain and gentle breezes, new willow branches.
This diagram was the first Spring Sequence Diagram in existence to fully record the Spring Sequence!
Qing Ling had lived through four Yuan epochs. This epoch was the safest and, for most, the most desolate, but for him, it was the most comfortable.
The blessed land of Xi Shan gradually matured, its ley lines reconnected, and innate spiritual energy flowed in ceaselessly. The four directions of innate spiritual energy were endlessly drawn in. The marvel of Xi Shan's blessed land was gradually surpassing the spiritual lands of several upper clans.
And within ten thousand years after the Myriad Races' Sacred Sacrifice, Grandmother Hua Geng invited Venerable Shan Kun from the Mountain River Giant Ape clan and the three clan elders of the Tian Jun Salamander clan to Xi Shan for a joint discussion and alliance.