On the Tianjun Divine Mountain, the Twelve Cave Masters all looked up at Dugang. Hongjun's Good Corpse exclaimed, "This child is born with great fortune, perhaps he can be of use."
In the depths of the East Sea, on the Azure Dragon Divine Mountain, the Azure Dragon avatar's eyes showed appreciation, and it murmured, "Perhaps after countless years, he will truly protect the Dragon Clan."
On the Jianmu, absorbing the merit of heaven and earth, carrying the will of heaven and earth, Jianmu was no longer an ordinary tree, but the tree of heaven and earth.
Because Jianmu carried the will of heaven and earth, even if a mighty being broke this tree, they would be entangled by karma.
The Qi Dao cultivation Azure Python, coiling around the Jianmu, returned to its Qing Ling physical body, and its primordial spirit also descended back into its body.
But the Qing Ling Dao body had already connected with Jianmu, making them inseparable.
Qing Ling stood up, looked back at the giant Jianmu behind him, and smiled gently, "Jianmu, you and I will exist together in heaven and earth, the future is promising!"
The tall Jianmu's thoughts were connected, and the vine branches at the very top swayed, responding to him from afar.
Qing Ling turned his head to look at the surroundings. The calls of the spirits, "Master of Dao Qing Xuan," made his mind waver for a moment. When was it that he could also be called a Master of Dao?
Even within this Dugang wilderness, even with only the combat power of a Grand Unity, he was rare in the world.
Qing Ling sat back at the base of Jianmu. Above his head, clouds rose and fell. An acre of green auspicious cloud was born. The three flowers gathered at the crown, the five qi returned to the origin. The green qi cascaded down, entwining black and white threads of the path of life and death, forming a phantom image of Jianmu.
The Miantian Rope coiled around the Jianmu phantom, and the Taixu Divine Bell hung there, jingling.
An acre of land manifested his Dao cultivation.
Qing Ling's three flowers and five qi had already formed, but he could not ascend the Dao Ladder to prove his Dao fruit, hence he could never fully achieve Grand Unity.
Only when Jianmu grew to truly touch the firmament would it be time for them to ascend the Heavenly Ladder and prove their Grand Unity Dao fruit.
Qing Ling's primordial spirit stirred, and spiritual energy from all directions surged towards him. He used the power of a mighty being to cultivate the Qi Sea of a Grand Unity. His Qi Dao, regardless of the purity, quality, or quantity of his magic power, had already far surpassed that of Grand Unity mighty cultivators.
The Qi Sea of his dantian at the Heavenly rank was vast and deep, spanning millions of miles, its profound foundation transforming into extraordinary strength at the Golden Immortal stage. Now, at the Grand Unity stage, it had been built into a high platform far exceeding that of all beings.
An acre of auspicious cloud manifested, and the mighty primordial spirit guided the spiritual energy and laws of the four directions, transforming them into an acre of auspicious cloud, a fusion of Dao and Dharma.
The acre of auspicious cloud gradually expanded. With Qing Ling sitting cross-legged, every inhale and exhale drew spiritual energy from the four directions to form clouds, and the profound laws of heaven and earth became auspiciousness.
The green auspicious cloud grew little by little, expanding and extending, while threads of wood energy were also infused into the Jianmu behind him.
The roots of Jianmu spread over millions of miles, even tens of millions of miles, drawing on the Dao laws of heaven and earth to strengthen itself, fortify its body, strengthen its bones, and grow taller, preparing for the moment it would prop up the sky.
Ten years, a hundred years, a thousand years. For Qing Ling now, the sensitivity to time was gone. Thousands of years were like a mere trifle.
Indeed, the divine sense of a mighty being, with a single expansion and contraction, could encompass all things in heaven and earth. Divine sense was faster than time and could also traverse space. Therefore, for mighty beings, time was merely a thought.
Ten thousand years passed. Jianmu grew another three million six hundred and fifty thousand feet taller, but it was still far from the first layer of the Nine Heavens.
Jianmu grew three feet and three inches every day, a total of one Zhang daily, day and night without interruption, rain or shine.
Birds and beasts gradually began to inhabit and reproduce on the vast Jianmu, because the entire Dugang was in eternal spring, with no summer, autumn, or winter.
Jianmu stood tall in the firmament, surrounded by clouds and mist. Countless birds and beasts flourished on its branches and vines, or flew around the tree. From a distance, it looked like a divine omen, bringing good fortune to the world.
Qing Ling never left the land of Dugang, nor could he leave it, but no one in Dugang bothered him.
A hundred flowers bloomed, ten thousand grasses were always green, spring breezes brought rain, and new trees were verdant again.
When heaven and earth passed another Yuan and Hui, the green mountains remained, and people were still present. The green water flowed long, and time slipped away.
The Xi Mountains passed down from generation to generation, and in the blink of an eye, it had been tens of thousands of generations.
The strength of the Xi Mountains once again flourished, with as many as nine Grand Unity mighty cultivators guarding the various territories of the Xi Mountains.
One of the newly promoted Grand Unity mighty cultivators was named Yao, who possessed the Ringed Snake bloodline. He was currently stationed at the Qingmu Long Town, guarding the tribal territory at the border with the Black Lizard Upper Clan.
The Black Lizard Upper Clan had already occupied nearly half of the Giant Crocodile Upper Clan's territory. The Giant Crocodile Upper Clan had finally joined forces with the Tianjun Salamander Clan, the Xi Mountain Snake Clan, and the Shanhe Giant Ape Clan ten thousand years ago to jointly curb the Black Lizard Upper Clan's forces.
Yao stood on the high wall, looking at the more than ten tribal juniors who bowed to him, and said with a light laugh, "You may rise.
Those I have summoned today are all tribesmen from the East Qing border with the greatest potential to achieve Golden Immortal.
Having been tempered by battles here, it is time for you to step into the realm of Golden Immortal."
The more than ten people below could not hide their joy and said, "Thank you, Elder of the Clan."
They knew that the Elder Yao before them was one of the nine great elders, and in the clan, excluding the clan leader, the nine great elders held three points more actual power than the Holy Son.
Elder Yao raised his hand to gently support them, and they could no longer bow.
"Although you have the opportunity to become Golden Immortals, this opportunity is not very great. However, our clan has extraordinary foundations, and we can still help you along the way.
Do you know that besides the nine great elders, the Holy Son, and the clan leader, there is also an ancestor in our clan?"
"Ancestor? What ancestor? I, who have lived for tens of thousands of years, have never heard of it."
"Yes, does our clan truly have an ancestor?"
...
Seeing the looks on their faces, Yao couldn't help but sigh. It was true that they couldn't be blamed.
After all, it had been too long since the ancestor revealed himself, so long that he had grown from a mere Earth-tier spirit snake to a Grand Unity mighty cultivator!
A full fifteen Yuan and Hui had passed. Such a long period of time made it difficult for people not to forget.
"Never mind, you are too young, so it is natural that you do not know many things." Yao shook his head, a hint of reminiscence appearing on his face, and said, "About twenty Yuan and Hui ago from now, there was a legend about the God of Spring in the Xi Mountains. This legend has been passed down from generation to generation among the tribesmen since ancient times."
"I know this!" A snake woman who looked like a maiden interrupted, "My grandmother still remembers every day when she has free time, she worships a statue of the God of Spring in the cave, praying for new opportunities and good fortune. She says this has been passed down from generation to generation and must not be abandoned as a snake custom.
Elder, is the God of Spring you mentioned this God of Spring?"
Yao nodded and smiled, "Indeed, it is the legend of the God of Spring.
This God of Spring, Qi Chun, who has been passed down in our Xi Mountain tribe for over a million years, has a small festival every eight hundred years and a major festival every three thousand years. This story is true."