Primordial Era: Starting with the repair of Penglai Immortal Island

The patrol team first arrived at the courtyard, in front of the ginseng fruit tree planted by Huanglong!

The tree was several meters tall, its leaves as clear as jade, and among its lush branches and leaves were tiny, pale yellow flowers, no bigger than a thumb.

Although the flowers are small, each one is filled with astonishing wood energy and Daoist charm. Counting them carefully, there are exactly thirty flowers, no more and no less. It seems that the number of ginseng fruits produced by the newly cultivated ginseng fruit has not changed.

Huang Long approached for a closer look, gently stroking the smooth, jade-like tree trunk, feeling the immense vitality within it, and nodded slightly: "It seems it will take another hundred years before we can taste the ginseng fruit."

Seeing this, Zi Ling said, "Master, although Master Xuandu taught me some secret methods for cultivating spiritual herbs, they have no effect on this spiritual root. Without your life-giving rain, it's impossible to accelerate the growth of the fruit tree." There was a hint of regret in her tone.

Huang Long comforted him, "It's alright. The growth of spiritual roots is inherently slow. The fact that they can bloom successfully is already a great achievement."

Then, Zi Ling led the Yellow Dragon, rode on a cloud, and flew to the top of the Pangwu Dao Peak.

Arriving at the Qilin egg incubation pool where Huanglong opened up the world, seven Qilin eggs of different sizes floated up and down at the bottom of the pool, radiating a strong life force.

Beside the pond, the Qilin Fruit Tree, with a few fruits hanging from it, echoed the ripples emanating from the Qilin Egg in the pond.

Zi Ling pointed to the pool water and the Qilin Fruit, explaining, "Master, this Qilin Fruit ripens only once every hundred years. Each time it ripens, if it's not picked, the fruit will fall off on its own and merge into this incubation pool, where it will be absorbed by the seven Qilin eggs!"

Huanglong probed into the pool with his divine sense, carefully sensing the seven Qilin eggs.

He felt that the vitality inside the egg was far greater than when he left. Like seven small suns, it was absorbing the essence of the five elements in the pool and the medicinal power of the Qilin fruit. Its vitality and origin had been basically restored. It only needed an opportunity to hatch.

He pondered, "Since the Dragon-Han Calamity, the Qilin clan has transformed into auspicious creatures of the primordial world, symbolizing peace and good fortune for the earth. Once these seven eggs hatch, the Five Elements Grotto-Heaven will have auspicious beasts guarding it, and it will surely receive even greater favor from heaven and earth. Coupled with the three auspicious five-colored deer, the blessings will be amplified, and the fortune will converge. In the future, even if we leave Kunlun, we can easily establish a top-tier Daoist temple."

After inspecting Wudao Peak, Ziling led Huanglong to visit several other important spiritual plant areas in the cave. Most of them were remnants that had only a sliver of life left, but now they had regained their vitality, which was quite remarkable.

Finally, they arrived at Blood Jujube Peak, but not to see the Blood Jujube Forest.

On the slope on the other side of the mountain, there stands a large tree, more than ten feet tall, with lush branches and leaves, full of vitality, which is in stark contrast to the previous seedlings of the spiritual roots.

The tree was laden with green fruits, long and pointed in shape, with smooth skin that shimmered with an emerald-like luster under the sunlight.

Zi Ling pointed to the tree, her tone somewhat complicated, "This spiritual root, which Master Xuandu calls the Heavenly Spirit Pepper, is growing exceptionally fast, and this is already its second batch of fruit."

She paused, as if recalling some unpleasant experience. Her pretty face puffed out slightly, and she said with a hint of resentment, "Master, don't underestimate these green fruits! They...they are poisonous!"

"poisonous!"

Huang Long raised an eyebrow, looking at the lush, pointed fruit.

"Really!" Zi Ling nodded vigorously, as if she had found someone to confide in. "When the Heavenly Spirit Pepper first ripened, Lord Xuandu was curious and picked a bright red one to study. He tasted half of it himself and said, 'Hmm, it has a unique flavor.' Then... then he handed one to me and said I should try it too!"

Zi Ling's voice was tinged with grievance: "I didn't think much of it at the time. I saw that the fruit was cutely red, and I thought that since Lord Xuandu had eaten it, it should be fine, so I took a small bite... But after seeing me take a bite, Lord Xuandu spat it out!"

"I was poisoned! My mouth hurt so much, it was swollen up, red and hot, and I could barely speak!"

She patted her chest, still shaken. "In the end, I remembered that you said the Pure Lotus Water could purify everything. I drank a whole bellyful and it took me a while to recover. You tell me, isn't this poisonous? It's all Master Xuandu's fault for lying to me." In her words, she still had some complaints about Xuandu's "tricking" her.

Huang Long burst into laughter upon hearing this, realizing that Xuan Du could actually be such a sly fellow!

However, this chili pepper truly lived up to its reputation as a product of acquired cultivation. Even the powerful physique of the Wu Clan found the taste unusual, and ordinary creatures simply could not withstand its spiciness!

He reached out and snatched a green chili pepper from mid-air; it was slightly cool to the touch and had a smooth skin.

Using divine sense to probe, one could sense that the fruit contained a peculiar fire-attribute energy, not an ordinary toxin, but an extreme form of "spicy" and "intense".

He pondered for a moment, then brought the chili pepper close to his nose and took a gentle sniff. An extremely faint yet unusually sharp and pungent aroma entered his nasal cavity, causing him to raise an eyebrow slightly.

Then, under the tense yet curious gazes of Zi Ling and the five children, Huang Long put the chili pepper in his mouth and took a small bite.

A barely audible cracking sound.

At first there was nothing special, but a moment later, a burning sensation mixed with a stinging pain suddenly erupted in his mouth!

It wasn't a real burn, but it was more penetrating than any flame.

With his Taiyi Realm physical body, he was already immune to all poisons, yet he could clearly feel this intense "spiciness" at this moment!

"Ugh...!"

"nice one......!"

Huang Long spoke slowly, his voice steady yet carrying a hint of understanding. He looked at Zi Ling, who was tense and afraid that he too would be "poisoned," and chuckled, "This is a good thing, but your cultivation is still shallow, and you're consuming it directly, so it's natural that you can't handle it all at once."

Zi Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief, patted her chest, and said reproachfully, "So that's how it is! You scared me to death, Master! I'm so glad you're alright. It's best to avoid this 'poisonous' fruit in the future."

Huang Long looked at the relaxed Zi Ling with a hint of amusement: "When I have time, I'll deal with it; maybe you'll come to like it!"

After touring the entire Five Elements Grotto-Heaven and gaining a clear understanding of the changes that had taken place in the temple over the years, Huang Long was quite satisfied.

Back at the gate of the Five Elements Courtyard, he praised Zi Ling beside him, "Zi Ling, you did a great job while I was away. You managed the cave dwelling in perfect order, even better than before. Your contribution is invaluable."

He then said gently, "From now on, you may take whatever you need for your cultivation or management in the grotto-heaven without having to report to me every time."

Zi Ling said excitedly, "Thank you so much for your generosity, Master! I will definitely manage it well and live up to your expectations!"

Having arranged everything, he took a step forward, and his figure rose to the high sky in the center of the cave.

His body surged with magical power, drawing upon the spiritual energy of the universe and connecting with the laws of heaven and earth. He made a hand seal, and in the void, countless water vapors intertwined with the power of life, condensing into clouds full of vitality!

Huanglong stood in the void, casting spells continuously for several days until he sensed that many spiritual roots within the cave had also absorbed enough life force, at which point he slowly withdrew his supernatural powers.