Hermit in the Mountains

East China Sea

Gu Changsheng is currently in seclusion on a small island, breaking through to a higher realm.

In an underground cave on an unnamed island, Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged with his eyes closed and the World Pearl of Withering and Flourishing above his head.

A set of seasonal illusionary spirit arrays was set up around it for protection.

Strands of spiritual energy flowed into the cave, and after being refined by the World Pearl, the spiritual energy was transformed into spiritual essence and fell into Gu Changsheng's body.

After an unknown amount of time, a surge of energy erupted from Gu Changsheng's body, his aura intensifying.

"call--"

A long exhale sounded.

Gu Changsheng's eyelashes trembled slightly as he slowly opened his eyes, a hint of joy flashing in them.

"This is the thirty-sixth cycle of growth and decay. I should be able to break through to the next major realm in at most two months."

He calculated that this seclusion would last for three days.

In mid-March, there were still about six months until September.

After breaking through a major realm, he is expected to break through a minor realm as well.

If the spiritual energy tide arrives as scheduled in September, one can break through three minor realms by harnessing the power of creation it contains.

Each spiritual tide can save months of meditation time, which is a rare and fortunate opportunity.

Gu Changsheng introspected and temporarily generated a simple panel to easily understand his own situation.

Name: Gu Changsheng

Luck: Deep blue (containing a hint of purple luck)

Dao cultivation: 60% Dao of withering and flourishing, 30% Dao of the earth, 20% Dao of space, half a percent Dao of time, 10% Dao of the sun, moon, stars, sword, fortune, and the five elements... (Click to see omitted Dao rhymes)

Realm: 36th Cycle of Withering and Flourishing (Nine Transformations of the Dao Tree)

Constitution: Acquired withering and flourishing spiritual body

Fundamental Methods: *The Scripture of Withering and Flourishing*, *The Method of the Seed of One's Destiny*, *The Method of the Ultimate Realm of Life and Death*

Escape Techniques/Supernatural Powers: Earth Escape Technique, Shrinking the Earth to an Inch, Flowing Light and Flying Star Technique, Reaching the Ends of the Earth in an Inch, Natal Dharma Image, Domain of Withering and Flourishing.

Spells: Innate Breath Concealment Technique, Divine Transmission Technique, Soul Contract Technique, "Gathering" Daoist Incantation, Withering and Flourishing Geng Metal Sword Technique... (Click to view more)

Natal Magical Treasures: World of Withering and Flourishing (Innate Supreme Treasure Embryo), Geng Metal Sword of Withering and Flourishing, Azure Water Robe of Withering and Flourishing, Virtual Treasure Token of Withering and Flourishing

Magical artifacts: Banner of Ten Thousand Souls, Investiture of the Gods, Water Spirit Orb, Fire Spirit Orb, and Clear Breeze Cloud Pattern Shoes

Cave Heaven World: The embryonic form of the innate spiritual source - White Lotus, Miniature innate spiritual veins

Gu Changsheng carefully considered his own situation.

The purple tinge within the deep blue aura intensified, indicating a subtle breakthrough in one's own fortune.

Looking at the fifty-odd Daoist auras, he also felt a bit of a headache.

Under the protection of the laws and fortune of the Great Dao, there were some Daoist principles he had not yet comprehended, but his understanding was slowly increasing over time.

Is this the legendary happy trouble?

The natal magic weapon transforms into an embryo of a primordial supreme treasure, giving rise to a grotto-heaven world.

As his grotto-heaven world advances, he will receive feedback from his understanding of the laws.

This is one of the opportunities for the world to realize the truth.

To fully comprehend the Three Thousand Great Dao Laws would be an enormous undertaking, so he could only begin by studying the Daoist principles of a few of them.

He needed to continue comprehending the Dao of Withering and Flourishing; he always felt that different kinds of laws could be triggered within this Great Dao.

Half of it is the Dao of Time, half is derived from the Dao of Withering and Flourishing, and the other half is the feedback from the Cave Heaven World.

A grotto-heaven world must possess time and space, the five elements, the earth, and stars (the sun and the moon).

Therefore, he focused on comprehending the Daoist principles of decay and prosperity, time and space, the Five Elements, the earth, and the stars.

Other laws and principles can only be accumulated gradually.

After Gu Changsheng had a general understanding of his situation, he slowly stood up and waved his sleeves.

Jade stones emerged from the ground around the cave, flew into the sleeve, and entered the cave world.

With a thought, the World of Withering and Flourishing entered his body.

He didn't have much time left, so he tried to find as much of the innate, indestructible spiritual light source as possible within six months.

First, cultivate the White Lotus's rank.

As time goes on, the protective array will only become stronger, making it increasingly difficult to detect.

At the very least, a white lotus must be cultivated to the twelfth grade, placing it among the top-grade innate spiritual treasures.

The World Pearl of Withering and Flourishing serves as a vessel for proving the Dao, primarily carrying the Dao.

The white lotus, as a protective artifact, primarily serves defensive purposes.

With the white lotus, the heavy weapon to suppress the physical body is optional; we'll see what happens in the future and won't force it.

Finally, I'll add a top-grade innate spiritual treasure-level weapon for combat, primarily for killing and destruction.

With these three treasures in hand, I have the world at my command, and the path to enlightenment is within my grasp.

Gu Changsheng decided in his heart to prioritize cultivating three magical treasures. With a plan, he had a goal.

He used a great earth-遁术 (earth-遁术 is a type of teleportation technique) to sneak down the nameless island.

Reaching a depth of one thousand meters, he summoned the Water Spirit Orb, which hovered above his head, and stepped into the sea.

The water spirit transformed into a water dragon, and Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged on the dragon's head, beginning his treasure hunt.

He used his divine sense to scan a radius of one hundred kilometers, and used his innate breath-concealing technique to shield himself from outsiders' perception.

The Root of Heaven and Earth uses its divine power to detect fluctuations in spiritual energy within a ten-kilometer radius, while simultaneously refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to restore its magical power.

He moved slowly in the underwater world like a snail, using his supernatural powers, like antennae, to discern the fluctuations of spiritual energy around him.

A week later, perseverance paid off, and a familiar fluctuation of spiritual energy entered Gu Changsheng's senses.

He spurred the water dragon to speed southeast and stopped beside a ten-meter-high, protruding rock reef.

His gaze fell on the bubbling crevice at the bottom of the rocky reef.

His divine sense probed into the crack and found a cave of about five square meters ten meters below.

He used a teleportation technique and instantly appeared in the cave.

He looked at a ball of white mist about a meter in diameter at his feet, a newly formed spiritual energy node.

The Water Spirit Orb's protective shield spread out, keeping the seawater out of the cave.

Before long, the water cave turned into a relatively damp cave.

Looking at the newly formed spiritual energy node, Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged in mid-air, his divine sense enveloping the white mist as he probed inwards.

The protective formation has not yet been created; it is a node of water-based spiritual energy.

This time, Gu Changsheng planned to test the power of the World Pearl of Withering and Flourishing to see if he could forcibly collect spiritual energy nodes.

He summoned the World Pearl of Withering and Flourishing, suspending it above the white mist.

He used his mind to draw upon the power of the grotto to envelop the white mist.

"rise--"

He manipulated the power of the cave to pull upwards.

He hummed in response, sensing an unknown force binding the spiritual energy node.

He increased the power of his inner sanctum, shouting, "Give me the power to break—"

"jump!"

It sounded as if some thread had snapped, like a bowstring breaking.

The white mist vanished, and a ray of white light flew into the grotto world.

Gu Changsheng smiled, somewhat surprised and puzzled. "It really worked!?"

He probed the cave world with his divine sense, and a pale blue silk thread was suspended in mid-air.

A wisp of innate, indestructible spiritual light originating from the water element!

The World Pearl of Withering and Flourishing also relayed a message to him: it had consumed five-tenths of the power of the cave heaven.

In other words, the power of the grotto can replace the power of merit to sever the invisible line between the spiritual energy node and the earth vein.

One part of the cave's power can be restored each day.

He can search for spiritual energy nodes while simultaneously restoring the power of his grotto and continuously absorbing the innate, undying spiritual light source.

Different spiritual energy nodes should consume different amounts of celestial energy.

The spiritual energy nodes that protect the formation would probably require consuming several tenths of the power of the cave heaven.

At worst, we can alternate between using the power of the cave and the power of merit.

Although the daily accumulation of merit for spreading the Dao is small, it should be enough to collect a spiritual energy node in about ten days.

Gu Changsheng infused the innate, indestructible spiritual light of the water element into the white lotus.

He enveloped the white lotus with his divine sense, observing the changes inside.

The efficiency with which the white lotus roots absorb the spiritual energy in the spirit pool is increasing.

Seeing this, Gu Changsheng withdrew his divine sense from the cave world and embarked on his treasure hunt once more.