Hermit in the Mountains

Gu Changsheng raised his right hand towards the spirit orange tree, and wisps of withered human flesh flew into the tree's body.

The lush green leaves of the orange tree quickly turned yellow, withered, and fell.

After more than ten minutes, under the onslaught of the withering power, all the life force of the spirit orange tree converged towards its core, leaving only a withered tree.

A seed glowing green flew out from the dead tree.

The green ox, gazing at the spirit orange tree seeds, suddenly asked a question.

"Master, could you please help me integrate this wisp of innate, undying wood-elemental energy into Little Orange's body?"

Gu Changsheng turned his gaze to the green ox, where a wisp of pale green primordial energy floated in front of its head.

"Are you really willing to give it up?"

The green ox nodded. "I'll trouble you to help, sir."

Gu Changsheng didn't ask anything, and with his right hand, he drew a line from the air towards the seed, pointing the pale blue primordial energy.

The innate, indestructible energy of the wood element entered the spirit orange seed.

His right hand, enveloped in a grayish-brown, withered power, enveloped the seed.

The power of withering forces the spirit orange seeds to absorb the original energy of the wood element more quickly.

The spirit orange seed was connected to the wood element's original energy, showing initial signs of fusion. Gu Changsheng withdrew his withered power.

He placed the seeds in front of the green ox, saying, "Take these back to the Longevity Cave and plant them in your courtyard."

"Go ask that girl Silver Moon for a few drops of Emperor's Essence; it will help the Spirit Orange seeds germinate and grow faster."

"Thank you, sir!" The green ox thanked him and put the seed into the bronze ring.

"Master, I'll head back now."

"Go, go!" Gu Changsheng waved his hand.

The Green Ox opened the portal and left, while Gu Changsheng transformed into a streak of light and headed straight for the edge of a cliff dozens of kilometers away.

He stood on a steep cliff platform, with a sheer drop of thousands of feet below.

Three meters in front of him, a three-meter-tall tea tree was rooted on the cliff face.

The divine sense probed into the tea tree's body, conveying the idea of ​​transplanting the tea tree to its spiritual essence.

Receiving a response from the tranquil tea tree, Gu Changsheng channeled his withered energy into the tree to help it quickly transform into a seed.

He held the Power of Glory in his left hand, ready to provide assistance in case of an emergency.

With the addition of Taoist seed cultivation methods to the plant and tree species, the risk of these innate spiritual plants transforming into seed species is extremely small.

Several tens of minutes later, he delivered the Qingjing tea tree to the Changsheng Cave and planted it in the eastern corner of the Lingzhen Garden.

Gu Changsheng transformed into a streak of light and descended rapidly down the cliff face, arriving at the foot of the mountain in no time.

He stood where the Five Elements Gourd Vine was rooted, his right hand resting on the vine.

He used his consciousness to communicate with the gourd vine.

The Five Elements Gourd Vine and the Purple Jade Grape Vine are not the core of the formation and have not received much cultivation.

They were fortunate in their own way; this surge of spiritual energy allowed them to gain enlightenment.

For plants that have been given innate wisdom but lack specific functional positioning, he would still seek the other party's opinion.

He won't force someone to move if they don't want to.

There wasn't much difference between them being rooted in Changsheng Cave and Kurong Mountain.

There is no room for negotiation for the innate spiritual plants that bear the responsibility of the formation; they must enter the Longevity Cave Heaven to enhance its foundation.

Within the Five Elements Gourd Vine, a hazy, gray sea of ​​consciousness.

As Gu Changsheng's figure appeared, he saw a phantom little boy dressed in a Five Elements Daoist robe.

Upon seeing Gu Changsheng arrive, the little boy cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Disciple Hu Wu greets Sect Leader."

Gu Changsheng cut to the chase, "I have created a grotto-heaven world and intend to transplant you into it."

"Do you want to stay on Mount Kurong, or transplant it to Lingzhen Garden?"

"Lingzhen Garden is relatively small. If you transplant it there, you can only climb a rockery that is several tens of meters high."

"You will have to abandon your body for hundreds of kilometers right now."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Five Elements Gourd Vine immediately replied, "This disciple is willing to abandon his original form and be transplanted to the Longevity Cave Heaven."

Gu Changsheng suddenly countered, "It's a pity to abandon your hundreds of kilometers of physical body. Can you shrink all your spiritual power into your Dao Seed?"

"It will devour the spiritual energy nodes next to your roots as well."

"This is a good opportunity for you to solidify your foundation."

"The essence of your being should not be pursued in a grand manner, as this will excessively dilute your spiritual power and spirituality."

When the Five Elements Gourd heard the sect leader pointing out his future cultivation direction, he was overjoyed.

"This disciple will remember the teachings of our Master!"

"It's a pity that the five Five Elements Single Gourds formed by my true form were destroyed. I hope the Sect Leader will accept them with a smile."

"Let's begin. I'll protect you from the side." After saying that, Gu Changsheng withdrew his divine sense from the Five Elements Gourd Sea of ​​Consciousness.

He stood beside the Five Elements Gourd Vine, his divine sense spreading out to envelop the gourd vine itself.

With a slight thought, the five gourds—gold, green, blue, red, and yellow—detached from their vines and flew towards him.

He flicked his sleeve with his right hand, storing it into the Myriad Paths Pearl.

After signaling the Five Elements Gourd Vine to begin, he used his divine sense to observe the process of the Five Elements Gourd Vine transforming into a seed.

Gu Changsheng sat cross-legged in the void for three days before the Five Elements Gourd Vine completed its transformation and absorption of spiritual energy.

He sent the Five Elements Gourd seeds into the Longevity Cave and planted them in the northern corner of the Lingzhen Garden.

Purple Jade Grapevine, Star Tree, Golden Thunder Bamboo, Fire Tree, Mysterious Ice Bamboo, Green Wood Bamboo, Hibiscus Tree, Peach Tree, Laurel Tree, Plum Tree.

On average, one naturally occurring spiritual plant is transplanted every three days.

Large open spaces appeared on Mount Kurong and its four peaks, with huge dead tree trunks lying across them.

He only transplanted innate-level spiritual plants; he didn't touch any ordinary spiritual plants or herbs.

He will not interfere if his disciples want to plant common spiritual plants and herbs on various islands in the future.

His focus is on innate-level spiritual plants and herbs.

To put it bluntly, he looks down on ordinary spiritual herbs and plants because they are useless to his cultivation and would just take up space if he brought them back.

Large tracts of bamboo forests, agarwood forests, peach forests, and plum forests still remain on Mount Kurong.

Of all the spiritual energy nodes on and off Mount Kurong, Gu Changsheng only left behind the spiritual pool derived from the water-based spiritual energy node on Silver Moon Peak.

Six strands of the innate, indestructible primordial energy of the Five Elements were collected on Silver Moon Peak.

The withered and flourishing Geng metal sword contains a wisp of innate, indestructible metal-based primordial energy.

The Breaking Ruler contains the prototypes of nine innate restrictions.

To cultivate the Law-Breaking Ruler into a Primordial Treasure Embryo, it still needs thirty-six strands of primordial energy.

Having set up the Longevity Cave and established the Longevity Coin currency system, I urgently need to go out and search for treasure.

Gu Changsheng stood above Changsheng Peak, his divine sense sweeping across the entire Kuru Mountain, where thousands of miniature spirit-gathering arrays were hidden in various locations.

The success rate of artificial aura nodes has plummeted to rock bottom.

He set some up casually, hoping one would come to fruition.

With a wave of his right hand, three streams of light disappeared into the Hall of Longevity below.

He did not bring the three supreme treasures—the Investiture of the Gods, the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls, and the Seal of the Human Emperor—into the Longevity Cave.

These three treasures were created at the behest of a certain sixth brother, who feared there might be a backdoor inside them.

He sensed something was wrong when the Withering and Flourishing Treasure Token merged with the Withering and Flourishing World Pearl.

He hid in the primordial space of the Dao Tree, where the Pure White Lotus and the World Pearl were fully open, obscuring the sky and isolating cause and effect.

When the Withering and Flourishing Treasure Token merged into the World Pearl, the ominous warning of failure disappeared.

From that moment on, he was 98% certain that a sixth brother was guiding him from the shadows, especially in the area of ​​weapon crafting.

The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls, the Investiture of the Gods, and the Seal of the Human Emperor were all the work of the unknown Lao Liu.

Perhaps it is the will of Heaven, Earth, or Humanity, or perhaps it is some other powerful being; he simply cannot know.

He now keeps his distance from the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls, the Investiture of the Gods, and the Seal of the Human Emperor.

The Longevity Cave Heaven is the new base camp. From the beginning, these three supreme treasures were not brought in to avoid leaving spatial coordinate marks in secret.

The three supreme treasures fell into the Hall of Longevity. Gu Changsheng formed hand seals and with a thought, a barrier rose up and enveloped the Hall of Longevity below.

After doing all this, his figure disappeared into the air and reappeared on Changsheng Island the next second.

In the rear hall of the Hall of Longevity, Gu Changsheng stood beside the Spirit Pool and flicked his finger at the lotus seed in the pool.

A burst of glorious power entered the lotus seed.

The rhizomes that sprout from the newly hatched lotus seeds double in size.

He tucked his right hand into his left sleeve, crossed his arms, stood on the Spirit Pool Plate, and dispersed his divine consciousness.

A month later, the scenery and layout of Changsheng Cave came into view.

The body of Di Yuanzi is in the center.

The tranquil tea tree is located in the east.

The Star Tree is located in the south, surrounded by the Jade Pool.

The purple grapevine is located in the west, with three-meter-long pale purple vines climbing on a jade trellis that is ten meters long and three meters high.

The Five Elements Gourd Vine is located in the north, and its newly grown one-meter-long vine is climbing on a jade mountain that is thirty-six meters high.

One kilometer below Changsheng Island on all four sides, the four upside-down islands are no longer the desolate islands they once were. They are now home to various spiritual plants, herbs, and palace complexes.

One kilometer below the four islands of direct disciples, four newly born islands float, each covered with bamboo forests.

The island where the Green Bamboo, Golden Thunder Bamboo, and Mysterious Ice Bamboo grows is covered with bamboo forests.

On the island where the Fire Tree is located, there is only one lonely three-meter-tall Fire Tree.

Gu Changsheng named the four islands as follows:

Aoki Island, Jinlei Island, Xuanbing Island, Lihuo Island.