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Chapter 13: Better to ask for a Favour than to give an Enemy Leverage!

“Fellow Daoist, are there any more ferocious beasts near West Kunlun?”

Yuan Lian looked at Yaochi expectantly, suddenly realizing that eliminating ferocious beasts would be much easier with her help.

Yaochi can entrap those fierce beasts, her spiritual treasure restrains them- or rather it is inherently capable of restraining the resentment of Chaos Demon God.

As long as Yuan Lian keeps Yaochi by his side, and continues to ‘brush’ these fierce beasts, he can accumulate supreme foundation.

While is not very helpful for his breakthrough the middle stage of Golden Immortal, it is of great help to him in the late-stage Golden Immortal realm, and even to break through Perfected Realm.

“There should be…. Right?” Yaochi replied uncertainly.

The main reason was that she rarely left the West Kunlun Mountains, and she had only taken action because the two ferocious beasts broke in and wreaked havoc.

Well, it seems she could only consider a ‘mountain god’.

Witnessing Yaochi’s hesitant expression, Yuan Lian probably understood the reason. That being the case, he decided to put aside the matter of the beasts for the time being, Yuan Lian prepared his rhetoric, ready to discuss serious business.

“Fellow Daoist, apart from increasing my knowledge and sharpening my Dao heart during my trip to the wilderness, I also have another purpose: to find the innate spiritual root for cultivation.”

Yuan Lian explained briefly: “Fello Daoist, do you have any news regarding innate spiritual root or treasures?”

The Primordial World is vast and boundless. Aside from the peerless innate spiritual roots like Huang Zhongli, there are many ordinary innate spiritual roots and acquired spiritual roots.

Whether it is the fruit of the innate spiritual root or the refining of the innate qi, it is beneficial to practice, so it is not too abrupt to ask such a question.

After all, Yaochi herself has refined many innate spiritual roots.

“What kind of spiritual root do you desire, Fellow Daoist?” Yaochi asked after a moment of consideration.

“The spiritual roots of the five elements- I need all of them.”

“….”, Yaochi was utterly shocked. The reason why Primordial World was so chaotic, precisely because it had too many cultivators like Yuan Lian.

Suddenly, Yaochi seemed to think of something and looked at Yuan Lian suspiciously. Yuan Lian looked utterly calm, without a hint of guilt.

‘Could it be that he came to West Kunlun specially, knowing that the Flat Peach Tree with the innate spiritual root is in my hands?’ asked Yaochi to herself, before refuting it, ‘No, I have never been out of the West Kunlun Mountains since I was born, so no one will know.’

Yaochi’s Flat Peach Garden is covered by a formation, so how could Yuan Lian who attained Dao far away in the East China Sea know about it.

‘However, should I tell him that the innate spiritual root Flat Peach Tree is here?’ Yaochi thought secretly, but didn’t speak.

Although she and Yuan Lian get along well, their friendship isn’t worth this much. After all, the Flat Peach Tree is the best innate spiritual root, and its preciousness can be imagined. Although she had never left West Kunlun, she rarely interacted with other cultivators. But as an innate divine being, she is not stupid.

Yuan Lian looked at Yaochi quietly, and waited patiently.

After a little silence, Yaochi slowly opened his mouth and said, “Fellow Daoist, I do have a medium-grade innate spiritual root in my hand, which can be refined for Water Qi.”

Yaochi thought about it, but decided not to divulge the truth. However, the top-grade innate spiritual root Flat Peach Tree with has grown more than a dozen medium-grade innate spiritual roots, so she can give him one.

“The innate spiritual root of the water attribute… unfortunately. If the wood attribute it would be fine. But the water attribute, as a Proto-qi, I absolutely must have the innate spirit of the top-grade spiritual root.”

“Humph, it would be great if I could find innate top-grade spiritual root Flat Peach Tree. I can even exchange it with the branch of Huang Zhongli”, Yuan Lian sighed helplessly, with a look of pity on his face.

He could see that the Flat Peach Tree was indeed in Yaochi’s hands. But because of scruples in her heart, she doesn’t want to tell him.

Yuan Lian understood that this was also within his expectations. He deliberately said that he owns the Huang Zhongli, just to give her the handle, and to tell Yaochi that he would not snatch the Peach Tree.

Sure enough, when Yuan Lian said that he had the Huang Zhongli, Yaochi looked at Yuan Lian in shock, ‘Is he that rich?’

“Hiss! Fellow Daoist, the Proto-qi of the Huang Zongli which carried essence of the Progenitor Wood?!”

Suddenly, Yaochi seemed to understand something, she took a deep breath and stared at Yuan Lian inexplicably in horror.

‘The Proto-Wood qi with essence of the Progenitor World Tree, and not to mention Water Qi with essence of Renshui.’

‘What about gold, fire, and earth? The innate essence of the five elements to cultivate the five qi in the chest?’

Yuan Lian gave a light ‘hmm’, as if this was a very common and trivial matter.

“Fellow Daoist, no, Daoist friend, your mid-Golden Immortal stage may last for a very long time!” Yaochi couldn’t help admire him from the bottom of her heart.

Each cultivator has five qi in their chest, which lays the foundation and the Law of Heaven and Earth. It is true that Daoism can be accumulated, but if the five qi are not perfect, the cultivator wouldn’t be able to breakthrough to next realm.

Even Yaochi herself had managed to acquire Water Qi condensed innate essence of Renshui. Although the other four qi are also high-grade innate qi, they are not Proto-qi.

The innate essence of the five qi’s extremely difficult to find. Not to mention, it may be necessary to gradually complete it, and the number of resources required is unimaginable.

There are thousands of disasters and calamities in the primordial times, who knows what kind of disasters they will fall into ashes. Not everyone has the courage to linger in the mid-Gold Immortal.

“The Great Dao is long and long, and it is far away, so the gains and losses for a while are nothing”, Yuan Lian said indifferently.

When he decided to refine the essence of World Tree, he understood the difficulty of this path. But it’s not that he didn’t have advantages. At least, he roughly knows where the rest of the innate spiritual roots are.

As for the Primordial World, he probably felt that the legends of later generations were unreliable. But fortunately, people can always match up. Just like the Duke of the East, the Yaochi Golden Mother.

“Come with me,” Yaochi’s opened her mouth lightly, and after speaking, she got up and walked into the hall.

Since Yuan Lian has the Huang Zhongli, Yaochi can feel much more at ease.

First of all, she is stronger than Yuan Lian, so she is not afraid of being robbed by him.

Furthermore, everyone has the best innate spiritual roots, and it will do no one any good to leak them out.

Hurting others for no benefit to oneself is counterproductive, it is path of death, not the path of immortality. At least she thinks, based on the friendship between them, this is not the case.

“It’s done!” Yuan Lian secretly rejoiced, but followed behind her without revealing his complexion.

Of course, Yuan Lian had no evil intentions either.

His goal is very clear, to obtain the Water Qi with essence of the innate Renshui, and then it is just to accumulate and polish it.

Soon, the two came to a huge forest garden.

Yuan Lian saw spirit flowers and spirit grass vying for beauty, and the majestic aura was like mist and smoke, just like a fairyland, it was too beautiful to behold.

Although he didn’t see the Flat Peach Tree, Yuan Lian felt that the innate spiritual root was here, and it might have been covered up by some formation.

Sure enough, while Yaochi’s mana surged in front of her, she struck out a gesture with both hands.

“Open!”

As the sound fell, the light ahead stretched for millions of miles. The brilliance fell, and a forest suddenly appeared in front of their eyes.

It is said that it is a tree, but it is actually just a few dozen spiritual trees. In the very center, an ancient tree with a height of one million feet and a canopy covering the sky stands.

Above the canopy of the tree, countless radiances hang down, and the mysterious Laws and Principles are intertwined, evolving into a Law Realm spanning millions of miles.

In the Law Realm, there are more than a dozen Flat Peach Trees with the size of ten thousand feet, and dozens of small saplings with the size of about one thousand feet.

‘Flat Peach Tree! There are some middle-grade and low-grade spiritual roots, why don’t I have this many trees on my island?’

“I only have one innate spiritual root. Disappointing,” Yuan Lian murmured unconsciously.

In his Pocket Dimension, on Penglai Immortal Island, the air grew tense.

The Huang Zhongli shook its canopy suddenly, and the endless spiritual energy turned into a storm, annihilating the palace that Yuan Lian had built without a single trace.

Yuan Lian: “…”

(End of this chapter)

Tidbits:

The Proto-Qi of the Five Qi refers to the primordial, innate essence of the Five Elements (Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth) essential for high-level Daoist cultivation.

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In the realm of internal alchemy (Neidan), a cultivator must refine these pure energies into their five corresponding internal organs—Heart (Fire), Liver (Wood), Spleen (Earth), Lungs (Metal), and Kidneys (Water).

Achieving a perfect balance of these energies allows one to reach the state of “Five Qi Auditing the Origin” (Wu Qi Chao Yuan), a hallmark of the Golden Immortal realm that signifies the unification of the body’s internal microcosm with the universe’s Dao.

For more details on this concept, you can visit the Neidan (Internal Alchemy) Wikipedia Page.