Hermit in the Mountains

Gu Changsheng seemed to be riding on wheels of fire, speeding through the bamboo forest at a speed of twenty meters per second. Wherever he passed, a gust of wind blew, and the vegetable leaves in the vegetable garden swayed from side to side.

Gu Changsheng's sword strike caused quite a commotion, and the three pets noticed it and rushed towards the bamboo forest upon seeing their master.

Da Hong was the fastest, gliding through the air from the mulberry tree branches to keep up with Gu Changsheng's pace;

Big Yellow is also quite fast. It possesses a wind-attribute spiritual root. Although it has not truly cultivated, it is agile and incredibly fast.

The blue ox, on the other hand, was unhurried and walked with steady steps, just like an old man taking a stroll.

Gu Changsheng stood in front of the bamboo forest, looking at the row of golden bamboo inlaid with jade that had been cut in half and fallen in front of him. "It's a bit of a waste."

He stepped forward and touched the broken part of the bamboo. The cut was neat, revealing the sharpness of the spiritual energy sword.

He continued walking in, and as he went further in, the cuts in the bamboo changed, as if the bamboo had been blown apart.

Reaching the end of the bamboo forest, Gu Changsheng looked at the last bamboo stalk with a crack and touched it.

A faint trace of wood spirit energy remains at the crack in the bamboo; the attack power should disappear at this point, with an effective attack range of one hundred meters.

"Woof woof woof..."

"Coo coo coo..."

"Moo—"

Gu Changsheng heard a familiar voice behind him, and he knew without turning around that his three pets had come over after hearing the noise.

He turned and walked back, patted the green ox's head as he left the bamboo forest, and said, "Let's go, I'm in a good mood today, so I'll treat you to a nice meal when we get back."

Big Yellow wagged its tail and trotted ahead, clearing the way.

Da Hong transformed into a free-range chicken and followed Gu Changsheng side by side with Qing Niu.

Back in the cabin, Gu Changsheng fetched a cushion and placed it under the eaves by the door, then plopped down and sat cross-legged.

The yellow, red, and blue oxen were arranged in order of size from smallest to largest, two meters away from Gu Changsheng.

Da Huang imitated Gu Changsheng by squatting on the ground, supporting himself with his front feet, sitting upright, and panting obsequiously.

Big Red sat on the ground in the most comfortable position for incubating the eggs.

The blue ox lay down and slept in its usual spot.

Once the three pets were seated, Gu Changsheng raised his left hand and pointed it at Big Yellow with a sword-like gesture.

"Gather..."

"Feng Linglai..."

In an instant, a phantom "Gathering" seal appeared on the ground where Big Yellow was squatting.

The Dao Seal took shape, the Dao Patterns circulated, and the surrounding wind spiritual energy particles converged towards the Great Yellow.

Big Yellow felt a cool breeze blowing into its bottom, which felt very comfortable. It squinted its eyes and showed an expression of enjoyment.

Big Red and Green Ox, standing to the side, turned their heads and stared curiously at Big Yellow.

Gu Changsheng remained calm, his pupils changing color in the blink of an eye. He used his divine eye to observe the spiritual root within Da Huang's body, while simultaneously channeling spiritual energy towards Da Huang's spiritual root using his divine sense.

He planned to use Dahuang as a guinea pig, forcibly injecting a large amount of spiritual energy into its spiritual root to see if any new changes would occur.

As the wind-spirit particles gathered within Da Huang's body, they merged to form a nine-inch-long thread of spirit energy.

The moment the spiritual energy threads took shape, Big Yellow let out a scream, trembled all over, fell to the ground writhing, and kicked its limbs desperately.

"Woof...woof...woof..."

"Mmm...mmm...mmm..."

Hearing Da Huang's screams and seeing it rolling on the ground, Da Hong and Qing Niu shrank back and moved away from Da Huang's location.

Under his divine eye, Gu Changsheng could see that the blood vessels and meridians in Da Huang's body were being severed by the wind spiritual energy. He transmitted his thoughts to Da Huang, "Hold on, Da Huang. If you can survive this, you will become an immortal among dogs."

"Your second and third brothers are still watching. As the eldest brother, you need to take responsibility."

"As the eldest brother, you have to set a good example. If you fail, they will become timid and follow in your footsteps. If you all die, you won't be able to stay by my side."

Perhaps sensing Dahuang's pain, Dahong and Qingniu whimpered softly, as if trying to encourage Dahuang.

"Coo coo coo............" (Go, Dog Bro!)

"Moo—" (Little Yellow, you can do it!)

The voice of Gu Changsheng echoed in Dahuang's mind. Hearing the familiar voice, it struggled to get up, endured the pain, lay on the ground, gritted its teeth, and made a low growl.

"Mmm, mmm, mmm..."

Blood began to seep from the large, golden fur, the bright red blood mixed with black stains.

"Woof woof woof..."

Suddenly, Da Huang screamed wildly, his whole body convulsed, his voice grew weaker and weaker, his struggles lessened, his breath grew weaker, and he lay on the ground on the verge of death.

The vitality within Dahuang's body was growing weaker and weaker, but its spiritual root was nurturing some kind of energy, waiting for the right moment to burst forth.

Gu Changsheng also noticed the changes in Da Huang's body. He pinched his middle finger with his right thumb, as if he were snapping his fingers, and a wisp of "Rong Zhi power" hidden in his middle finger was ready to be released.

If Da Huang really can't hold on, he will intervene when his life force is about to be extinguished, injecting life force to save Da Huang's life. However, Da Huang will probably lose the opportunity to cultivate, or his spiritual root will be damaged, making him unable to sense spiritual energy and absorb it for his own use.

Whether Da Huang is first ravaged and worn down by spiritual energy, or whether the power within its spiritual root erupts first, will determine whether Da Huang lives or dies.

Gu Changsheng frowned as he saw through his Dharma Eye that the rate at which his life force was decreasing was faster than the rate at which the power within his spiritual root was accumulating.

The consumption and recovery are not proportional; if this ratio continues, Dahuang will most likely fail.

He originally wanted Da Huang to experience the great terror between life and death, to seek a glimmer of hope from death, and to maximize the potential of his spiritual root.

If he intervenes prematurely, the power nurtured within the spiritual root will cease, meaning its potential cannot be maximized.

The opportunity to transform from mortal to spirit only comes once in a lifetime. If Da Huang misses this opportunity, it will be difficult to make up for it or enhance its potential in the future.

Seeing that Dahuang was on its last breath, its pupils were dilated, and it was covered in blood, Gu Changsheng sighed softly.

"That's enough—"

As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Changsheng released his right hand from the gesture of making a finger pact, raised his right hand towards the room, and an invisible divine sense transformed into a ten-foot-long arm to retrieve a jade bottle from the bedroom.

A bizarre scene was unfolding inside the room: the bedside table drawer opened by itself, and a jade bottle appeared out of thin air.

The jade bottle seemed to grow legs, floating in mid-air towards the outside of the house, and finally flying into Gu Changsheng's right hand.

Having broken through to a higher realm, Gu Changsheng's divine sense was strengthened, making it easy for him to manipulate objects weighing over ten kilograms remotely. Retrieving a small jade bottle from a distance was a trivial matter.

Gu Changsheng grasped the jade bottle, brought his right hand back to his front, and flicked the cap forward with his thumb, causing it to fall onto his thigh and clothes.

He placed the opened jade bottle steadily on the floor in front of him, and gently flicked his right hand toward the bottle opening. A drop of pale blue liquid, the size of a mung bean, floated out and he flicked his finger toward Big Yellow.

The pale blue wood spirit liquid flew into Da Huang's body. As soon as the liquid entered Da Huang's body, it dispersed and repaired the wounds that had been torn by the wind spirit energy.

Drop by drop of Wood Spirit Liquid flew into Dahuang's body. Nourished by the Wood Spirit Liquid, Dahuang's convulsing body began to stop, and its tense limbs began to relax.

Soon his breathing became steady, and Da Huang fell into a deep sleep.

Gu Changsheng rolled his eyes when he saw that Da Huang was asleep, thinking to himself, "I went through all that trouble to help you transcend the mortal realm, and you just sleep by yourself."

"Who is the true master here? This is a complete reversal of the natural order!"

His eyes flickered, and an idea formed in his mind. "Once I successfully transform into a mortal, I'll throw Big Yellow into the mountains and let it use its dog nose to find the spiritual herbs. If it can't find them, it shouldn't come back."

Gu Changsheng came to his senses and focused on putting the medicine back into Dahuang's body. He saw that the power within Dahuang's spiritual root was rapidly accumulating, but he also sensed that some unknown power was accumulating more slowly and fading away.

Even with Gu Changsheng's discerning eye, he still couldn't find where that unknown power was. What was it?

My cultivation level is still insufficient; I can only see the superficial level of power.

His divine eye can see the causal lines and destiny charts of living beings, but he still looks down on fortune and merit.

I don't know if it's because my cultivation is insufficient, or if my luck and merits haven't manifested yet, or if I simply lack luck and merits.

Just as Gu Changsheng was pondering, the spiritual root within Dahuang burst forth with immense vitality.

The movement inside Dahuang pulled Gu Changsheng back to reality. Gu Changsheng's eyes lit up, "It's done."