Chapter 6: Pangus Cultivation Will
After obtaining the Yellow Plum Tree, Minghe continued walking towards the deeper parts of Mount Buzhou. The pressure in the mountain intensified gradually. Minghe cultivated his body through the pressure. Each step he took contributed a little more towards the strengthening of his body.
The mountain became steeper as Minghe climbed upwards. He finally made it to the hillside. Besides the strong pressure, strong gale of Astral Wind swept from all directions. If a normal Primordial Unity Golden Immortal resisted the wind with his body the way Minghe did, he would already be suffering grave injuries.
On the contrary, the ferocious Astral Wind could be a tool for Minghe for cultivation. When he was first attacked by the wind, there were some scars and even cuts on his body. But after Minghe got used to the wind, there were not any cuts, let alone scars, on him.
Minghe didn’t plan to continue walking towards the peak although he had gotten used to the wind. The Astral Wind above could be more dreadful, and he may also encounter the stronger Sanmei Spiritual Wind. More importantly, he had yet to finish touring the hillside where he could find other treasures. Minghe refused to believe that there was only one treasure, the Yellow Plum Tree, in the entire Mount Buzhou.
After a long journey, Minghe still came up empty. It puzzled him. Even if there were no other Spiritual Treasures, how could there not be any Primordial Spiritual Roots, like Cucurbit Vine and Musa growing in Mount Buzhou according to legend!
Minghe had already toured around most of Mount Buzhou, but there was still no sign of the two uncommon Spiritual Roots. The cucurbits growing on Cucurbit Vine were all powerful treasures. Take the Purple Golden Cucurbit that Highest Elder Lord owned, or the Demon Hunter Flying Knife of Luya, the Demon Summoning Banner of Goddess Nvywa, and 99 Soul-Splitting Cucurbit of Hongyun. Unfortunately, the rest of the cucurbits were missing.
Musa also had an amazing backstory. According to legend, three fans were grown on the Musa. One was the Fan of Fire and Wind that Highest Elder Lord owned. The other two were Musa Fans belonging to Princess Iron Fan in Journey to the West. One blew wind, another blew rain. These two fans caused a lot of troubles for Sun Wu Kong (Monkey King).
Perhaps the right time for them to be born had not arrived. As Minghe was fretting over this, two waves of throbs were felt in his Original Spirit. Upon inspection, he found these two waves of throbs came from the Red Lotus of Fire and the half-formed Merit of Origin respectively.
Looking around, Minghe tried to find out the cause. Was it a warning or attraction from other things? No abnormalities were found nearby so it could not be a warning. Then it must be something that attracted the Red Lotus of Fire and the half-formed Merit of Origin.
Minghe gave up looking for it and followed the direction led by the Red Lotus of Fire and Merit of Origin. Minghe found himself in a valley inside of Mount Buzhou after circling around.
However, the valley was quite ordinary. It puzzled Minghe. He thought that the Red Lotus of Fire was his fully-converted inherent treasure and the Merit of Origin was gained from separating the heaven and earth. He had never felt such throbs like this, but they guided him here. He wanted to know why.
Was there something off about this valley? Ming He scanned the valley with his Spiritual Sight. "What?!" He was amazed. As soon as he tried to use his Spiritual Mind, it would be absorbed by the valley and he could detect nothing.
It seemed that this place was guarded by an extraordinary formation. Minghe felt the throbs of the Merit of Origin getting stronger and it seemed to lead him further into the valley. However, it would be quite troublesome if he was trapped in the formation.
Oddly enough, Minghe felt no danger despite existence of the strange formation. For a person with such cultivation realm like Minghe, he would instinctively detect danger. That was considered a kind of warning from the Way of Heaven.
Since there was no sense of danger, Minghe could only trust the Red Lotus of Fire and Merit of Origin. Even if he was trapped in the formation, his cultivation and various Magic Weapons was enough to ensure his survival. Minghe stepped into the formation and disappeared instantly. The valley was as silent as if no one had ever come.
Inside the formation, Minghe saw a beam of white light and he found himself in another realm built like a utopia. He was not trapped. Instead, he went past it and entered the inner part of the formation, which confused him greatly. Weird things happened everyday and now it was his turn to experience it.
Minghe’s attention was attracted to the things in front of him: a green lotus, a pool of milky liquid, and a broken jade scroll. Each of them was no simple treasure. Their mere presence could trigger a large-scale war in Untainted Land. He never expected that the Red Lotus of Fire and Merit of Origin would lead him to such a place full of treasures.
"Fate. This must be fate!" Minghe repeated the words with such excitement and he almost drooled. It was reasonable since these three things were really precious. Minghe also found out why the Red Lotus of Fire and Merit of Origin reacted so strongly.
The green lotus, named Twelve-Grade Green Lotus of Fate, was the highest-grade Primordial Spiritual Treasure which had unrivaled defense function and shared origins with the Red Lotus of Fire, Black Lotus of Destructions, and Golden Lotus of Merit. It was conceived with the combination of the Green Lotus of Chaos and its four crushed lotus seeds. The Red Lotus of Fire guided Minghe here after detecting the presence of its brethren.
The pool of milky liquid was the converted marrow of Pangu after his death, called Pangu’s Jade Essence. It could snatch and absorb fate from heaven and earth. Minghe believed that if he took the Pangu’s Jade Essence, his body would be greatly improved, and his strength could rival that of the Ancestor of Sorcery.
And though the little-broken jade scroll was not eye-catching, it was the famous Jade Butterfly of Fate. According to legends, it had the record of the three thousand Ways of Great Way. After the separation of heaven and earth, the Jade Butterfly of Fate was broken into pieces. The larger one fell into Hongjun’s hand while the smaller pieces were scattered all over Untainted Land.
Nevertheless, confronted by these treasures, Minghe began to hesitate. He was led by the Red Lotus of Fire and Merit of Origin to this place. Outside the formation, the Red Lotus of Fire did not have much reaction while the Merit of Origin fluctuated abnormally. That showed that the Merit of Origin was the key to enter this place.
Moreover, these three treasures were all related to Pangu. Upon these thoughts, Minghe knew that this place was arranged by Pangu before he died, and these treasures were left for the people with the Merit of Origin from the same lineage of Pangu.
Apart from Minghe who had half-formed Merit of Origin, the other who had the Merit of Origin in Untainted Land were Three Pure Ones and Twelve Ancestors of Sorcery who originated from the Pangu Clan. Minghe was distantly related to Pangu and possessed half-formed Merit of Origin, but he was far from being part of the Pangu Clan. Thus, these treasures were meant for Three Pure Ones or the Twelve Ancestors of Sorcery.
Minghe judged that these treasures shall be left for Three Pure Ones. It was recorded in the myth that the Twelve-Grade Green Lotus of Fate was broken into three parts. Three Pure Ones owned one respectively. The Red Flower, the White Lotus, and the Green Lotus Leaf belonged to the same religion in the past. Pangu predicted the heaven’s will before he died and tried to remind Three Pure Ones. Unfortunately, they failed to understand him and all suffered a great loss during the Investiture War, giving advantages to the West.
Since the treasures were left for Three Pure Ones, Minghe dared not to take them imprudently in case he formed a bad karmic relationship with them. One must know that Three Pure Ones would be the destined sages, Three Preordained Sages. If one owed karma to them, it would not be easy to repay them.
However, Minghe could not bring himself to return empty-handed after seeing these treasures. Minghe believed that he had a predestined fate with this place since he finally came all the way here. In addition, he was somehow related to Pangu with the half-formed Merit of Origin. Thus he deserved to have a share of the treasures.
If he took all the treasures, he would owe karma to Three Pure Ones. What about taking a portion of these treasures? Having made this decision, Minghe exerted the Merit of Origin in his Original Spirit and prayed to Heaven, "Great Divinity Pangu, I’m Minghe guided by the Merit of Origin and came here by chance. If the treasures had a predestined connection with me, then I’ll take them. If not, I’ll leave immediately."
At the end of his speech, the three treasures began to react. First, Pangu’s Jade Essence flew into Minghe’s body. The Jade Butterfly of Fate then pointed a silver light between Minghe’s brows. Lastly, three lotus seeds flew from the Green Lotus of Fate, stopping in front of him.
Minghe was pleased with the result. Although he didn’t get all the treasures, these were a lot for him. Pangu’s Jade Essence could help Minghe’s Original Spirit cultivate and reach the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal realm. The silver light from the Jade Butterfly of Fate had records of medicine, weapon, and formation which were skillsets of Three Pure Ones, but Minghe learned them all.
The three lotus seeds were part of the Green Lotus of Fate, which would allow Minghe to produce three Nine-Grade Green Lotus of Fate. Minghe’s Red Lotus of Fire had produced several red lotus seeds, but only the first three seeds could be cultivated into Nine-Grade Red Lotus of Fire, followed by some of the seeds into Six-Grade or Three-Grade Red Lotus of Fire, and the last remaining seeds could only be used to refine pills and elixirs.
Minghe cultivated a total of three top grade Nine-Grade Red Lotus of Fire, five mid-grade Six-Grade Red Lotus of Fire, and seven low grade Three-Grade ones.
The Twelve-Grade Green Lotus of Fate was the best among the four kinds. Combined with the other three, it could be restored as the Green Lotus of Chaos. Even if it was not comparable to the original, it was still a Spiritual Treasure of Chaos. the Way of Heaven would never let such things happen, so it was destined that the Green Lotus of Fate would be broken into three parts for Three Pure Ones respectively.