Primordial Era: Refusing Hongjun's path to sainthood, I attained the Dao of Hunyuan.

Chapter 12 Longevity Mountain Wuzhuang Temple

On this day, Xuanhuang arrived at a great mountain. Looking up at the mountain, he could vaguely see in the deepest part a great power's Taoist temple, where a Taoist monastery was built, which was very quiet and secluded.

Wanshou Mountain Wuzhuang Temple was Xuanhuang's first destination on this trip.

This is the Daoist temple of Zhen Yuanzi, who has emerged in recent years and whose fame has spread far and wide. Xuanhuang, through divination of heavenly secrets, knew the location of his abode and thus came here.

Zhen Yuanzi's origins are extraordinary. He not only possesses the Book of Earth, one of the three books of Heaven, Earth and Man, which was formed from the earth's membrane, but also has the Ginseng Fruit Tree, one of the ten spiritual roots, which is the Earth Spiritual Root.

What Xuanhuang was doing was naturally this Earth Spirit Root Ginseng Fruit Tree.

Of course, he had no grudge against Zhen Yuanzi, and Zhen Yuanzi was said to be a very kind and benevolent elder.

He was even revered as the ancestor of earth immortals. Considering this, Xuanhuang did not make things difficult for him, nor would he commit robbery-like acts.

In life, there are things one should do and things one should not do.

Xuanhuang arrived at the foot of the mountain and was admiring the scenery of Longevity Mountain when he suddenly saw the temple gate on the mountain wide open.

Then a middle-aged Taoist priest with a long beard and a purple face emerged from among them, accompanied by two young Taoist boys. This was Zhen Yuanzi.

Upon seeing this, Xuanhuang knew that he and the Ginseng Fruit Tree were both transformed from the Ten Great Spiritual Roots, and therefore there was a connection between them in the dark. Now he had come to the vicinity of Zhen Yuanzi's Daoist temple.

Since he hadn't made any special effort to conceal his presence, it was only natural that Zhen Yuanzi could sense his arrival through the ginseng fruit tree.

So Xuanhuang flashed and went straight into Longevity Mountain, arriving in front of the Taoist temple.

Looking at Zhen Yuanzi before him, he bowed and said with a smile, "Xuanhuang has taken the liberty of visiting you, fellow Daoist. I apologize for disturbing you."

Upon hearing him identify himself as Xuanhuang, Zhen Yuanzi immediately became more respectful and returned the greeting, saying, "Zhen Yuanzi greets Daoist Brother Xuanhuang."

"Brother, you're too kind. Please come in."

However, Huang Zhongli Tree is the foremost of the Ten Great Spiritual Roots, and Zhen Yuanzi also sensed that Xuanhuang's cultivation was more profound than his own, so he called Xuanhuang "Brother Dao".

Just as they were about to invite Xuanhuang into the Wuzhuang Temple, a red light suddenly shone across the eastern sky, followed by a storm and countless red clouds covering the sky.

Xuanhuang's heart skipped a beat, but Zhenyuanzi laughed loudly, "That fellow Hongyun is really lucky, he actually came at this time."

As soon as they finished speaking, a flash of red light appeared, and then a Taoist priest dressed in a bright red robe appeared in front of them.

This Taoist priest was Hongyun. The aura emanating from him was the same as that of Zhen Yuanzi, also at the mid-stage of the Great Luo Golden Immortal realm.

"Brother Zhen Yuanzi, I've come to see you again."

Hongyun laughed loudly, then suddenly noticed Xuanhuang and exclaimed in surprise, "Eh, there are other fellow Daoists? May I ask how to address this brother?"

Zhen Yuanzi quickly said, "Hongyun, please don't be rude. This is Fellow Daoist Xuanhuang, who is the manifestation of the Yellow Plum Tree, the foremost of the Ten Great Spiritual Roots. He has profound cultivation and was just about to introduce him to you."

"Xuanhuang greets fellow Daoist," Xuanhuang said with a smile.

Upon hearing Zhen Yuanzi's words, Hongyun quickly replied, "So it's Brother Xuanhuang. Hongyun greets you."

As he spoke, he gave a proper bow.

Xuanhuang also returned the courtesy.

"Alright, let's go inside and talk about it," Zhen Yuanzi said.

He then instructed the two young disciples beside him, "You two, quickly go and fetch some fruit. It's in the backyard. I'll be discussing the Dao with your Uncle Hongyun and Brother Xuanhuang."

The two boys hurried away.

Xuanhuang, being a guest, followed the host's lead and leisurely walked into the Wuzhuang Temple with Zhen Yuanzi and Hongyun.

This Taoist temple is the site of Zhen Yuanzi's Taoist practice, and its interior is exceptionally well-arranged.

It is worth mentioning that there is an altar in the temple, but it is not for anything else, but for the two characters "Heaven and Earth".

Xuanhuang saw it, nodded, and then shook his head.

Upon seeing this, Zhen Yuanzi hurriedly asked him the reason.

Xuanhuang smiled and said, "I have no other intention than to see that you worship Heaven and Earth and regard them as your parents. I am moved by your sincerity."

"The reason I shook my head was because I felt ashamed of myself. Although I was also born of heaven and earth, I never thought of giving back to heaven and earth, and only knew how to take."

After saying that, he shook his head repeatedly.

Upon hearing this, Hongyun laughed loudly and said, "So, fellow Daoist, you're also a fool."

"I laughed at Zhen Yuanzi for being foolish, but I never imagined my fellow Daoist would be just as foolish!"

Why should we worship Heaven and Earth? They reside within our own hearts!

Zhen Yuanzi was about to reprimand him, but upon hearing this, he seemed to be deep in thought.

Xuanhuang clapped and laughed, "Fellow Daoist Hongyun sees things very clearly."

"The world resides within my heart; how carefree and joyful!"

"Brother Dao, don't praise him, or he'll become even more smug," Zhen Yuanzi said, coming to his senses.

The three of them chatted and laughed all the way, and gradually arrived at the backyard of Wuzhuang Temple.

Two young Taoist disciples had already made arrangements. In the backyard, the most eye-catching feature was a towering tree.

This large tree is the Ginseng Fruit Tree, a top-grade innate spiritual root. From the outside, no branches or leaves can be seen protruding, nor are there any unusual phenomena.

However, in this backyard, one could see that the ginseng fruit tree was protected by countless restrictions.

It filled the void, folding and twisting the layers of void, causing this spiritual root to grow to an unknown size of tens of thousands of feet.

On the tree, there were also fruits hanging from the branches, all plump like babies.

It exudes a refreshing fragrance that permeates the backyard.

Even without eating ginseng fruit, simply cultivating in this backyard would be very beneficial.

When Xuanhuang saw the ginseng fruit tree, he couldn't help but wonder how the monkey could have knocked it down during the Journey to the West, given how well it was protected.

In retrospect, even if the monkey knocked down the ginseng fruit tree, it probably only knocked down a fake one.

A real ginseng fruit tree would be impossible for a monkey to even get close to.

Journey to the West, it really is a hoax!

Besides, there were clearly more than thirty fruits hanging on the ginseng fruit tree.

Xuanhuang knew that the ginseng fruit tree normally blooms once every three thousand years, bears fruit once every three thousand years, and takes another three thousand years to mature.

The whole process would take at least ten thousand years.

However, Zhen Yuanzi possesses the Earth Book, which can gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to help the ginseng fruit tree grow.

Therefore, it is quite normal for Zhen Yuanzi to use his methods to make the ginseng fruit tree bear more fruit.

Looking down at the ginseng fruit tree, there were three tables and three cushions on each table.

There were three plates on the table, all covered with brocade, but they still couldn't hide the fragrant aroma emanating from them.

Clearly, what's covered here is the ginseng fruit that the two boys knocked down.

"Brother Xuanhuang, please have a seat," Zhen Yuanzi greeted.

Xuanhuang nodded, and seeing that there was no distinction between host and guest among the three seats, he casually sat down on one of the futons.

Hongyun didn't need Zhen Yuanzi to invite him to sit down; after Xuanhuang took his seat, he followed suit.

Zhen Yuanzi finally sat down.

(End of this chapter)