Hermit in the Mountains

Gu Changsheng suddenly looked toward the direction of the medicinal field. If there was one that was most suitable for cultivating his self-created "Benming Dao Seed Method", neither humans nor animals could compare to plants. Wasn't the spiritual ginseng he had personally cultivated the most destined first disciple?

The moment a thought arises, cause and effect suddenly appear.

A wisp of causal thread flew out from above Gu Changsheng's head, connecting remotely to the nine-inch-long ginseng root in the medicinal field.

Gu Changsheng was suddenly taken aback. After realizing what was happening, he chuckled and said, "Hahaha, it seems we are destined to be master and disciple."

He got up, walked out of the wooden house, and headed towards the medicinal herb field.

In the very center of the medicinal field, Gu Changsheng squatted down and placed his right hand over the roots of the ginseng through the soil.

"The Origin Dao Guides... Condenses..."

A wisp of primordial power detached from Gu Changsheng's Dao Root and condensed into a 'Dao Guide', which slid into the ground along his right palm and merged into the roots of the spiritual ginseng.

His divine sense spread out, enveloping the roots of the spiritual ginseng and guiding them to transform into a seed of the Dao.

Before long, the roots of the ginseng in the soil disappeared and turned into a pale yellow seed.

Gu Changsheng could clearly sense the defect in the seed with his divine sense.

His Dao Seed of Withering and Flourishing is formed by the condensation of soul, spiritual root, essence blood, and spiritual energy, while the spiritual ginseng only has earth attributes and a trace of spirituality. Earth energy can replace spiritual energy, but it lacks essence blood.

Gu Changsheng raised his right hand, sat cross-legged, and focused his mind on his lower dantian, forcing out a drop of his own essence blood.

He extended his right middle finger and pointed it at the seed, saying, "Today I will use my essence and blood to shape your body."

As soon as he finished speaking, a drop of amber-like essence blood, brimming with vitality, flew out from Gu Changsheng's middle finger, passed through the soil, and disappeared into the ginseng seed.

The moment his essence and blood left his body, Gu Changsheng frowned, his face paled, and he felt weak all over.

The consumption of a wisp of his original power and a drop of his life essence still had some impact on Gu Changsheng, requiring about a month of recuperation.

Gu Changsheng did not retract his right hand. His five fingers were spread out like an inverted mountain above the seed. "To see this through to the end, I will help you condense the Earth Dao Seed today."

Gu Changsheng activated the "Root of Heaven and Earth" divine power, drawing in the "earth energy" within a radius of two hundred meters and injecting it all into the seed.

Nourished by a massive amount of "earth energy," the earth attributes, spirituality, earth energy, and essence within the seed blend together under the action of "Daoist guidance" as a binder.

The ginseng seed and the earth seed are perfectly integrated into one; the ginseng is the earth seed, and the earth seed is the ginseng.

At first glance, the Earth Spirit Ginseng seems more suited to cultivating the "Benming Dao Seed Method" than its creator, Gu Changsheng.

The pale yellow seed suddenly split open, revealing a yellowish-brown seed the size of a glass bead.

"It's done."

Gu Changsheng spoke with a hint of joy. He withdrew his supernatural powers and allowed the spiritual ginseng to absorb the earth's energy to improve its cultivation.

The moment the yellow ginseng seed appeared, Gu Changsheng was overjoyed, but his eyes suddenly went blank. His mind was pulled into a white space by a force, and in an instant, his mind returned to his body.

When Gu Changsheng came to his senses, he couldn't remember why he had been distracted for a moment. Then, a movement came from his Dao Root, and all his attention was drawn to his body.

Gu Changsheng could clearly sense the location of the spiritual ginseng and the distance between him through his 'natal root of life and death'.

Under the watchful eye of the Dharma, Gu Changsheng could see the Earth Spirit Ginseng instinctively absorbing the surrounding 'earth energy' from within a meter to enhance its own strength.

Judging from the current situation, the Earth Spirit Ginseng seems to have no other abilities besides instinctively absorbing 'earth energy'.

He's also started playing a simulation game.

It would be quite fulfilling to train a disciple who could produce divine medicine in the future, reminding Gu Changsheng of the stories in which Heavenly Emperors, Great Powers, and Dao Ancestors would have immortal pets and divine medicines by their side.

The standard setup for a Dao Ancestor-level powerhouse includes: a self-created Dao, a treasure for proving the Dao, self-created scriptures, celestial pets and divine beasts as a mount, divine medicines by their side, and several top-tier disciples.

In comparison, Gu Changsheng couldn't help but sigh, "I also have the potential to become a Dao Ancestor-level powerhouse."

It forms its own unique system with a "Taoist seed system";

His self-created scriptures include "The Method of Cultivating the Path of Destiny";

The mythical beasts were trained to become the Heavenly Dog (Dahuang), the Golden Crow (Dahong), and the Green Ox (Banjiao Green Ox).

If the Earth Spirit Ginseng is properly nurtured, the divine medicine and the disciple will be combined, making it perfect for guarding Longevity Peak.

After taking stock of his abilities, Gu Changsheng nodded, becoming increasingly confident that he had the potential to become a Dao Ancestor.

He suddenly remembered a pretentious line from a certain novel.

"My son Wang Teng has the bearing of an emperor."

This phrase is so catchy, it has been circulating in the online literature world for a long time, and its popularity has never waned.

Gu Changsheng shook his head, clearing away the jumbled thoughts, calming his mind, and focusing his spiritual energy on the Earth Spirit Ginseng.

Before we knew it, night fell, the moon rose and set.

"Coo coo... Oh—"

The loud, bright red crowing of dawn rang out precisely on time.

As the 'purple aura' of the nascent sun was born, Gu Changsheng used his divine sense to grasp a wisp of 'purple aura' and throw it toward the Earth Spirit Ginseng.

When the Yang Purple Qi entered the body of the Earth Spirit Ginseng, Gu Changsheng withdrew his attention to refine the forty-five strands of Purple Qi within his body.

After refining the Primordial Sun's "Purple Qi," Gu Changsheng examined his inner self and found that his "Innate Dao Root" had not changed. He then cultivated for another hour before stopping.

He stood up, reached behind him to brush the dust off his clothes, and stretched his body in front of the rising sun in the east.

Gu Changsheng withdrew his gaze, noticed that the soil in the medicinal field was a bit dry, raised his hands and stretched them outwards.

"The Gathering Technique... Spiritual Rain... Gathering..."

As the voice rang out, the Dao Seal of the Gathering Word Technique appeared one meter above the medicinal field, slowly unfolding to cover the entire field.

A transparent cyclone formed above the medicinal field, and water molecules formed a cloud of white mist near the Dao seal.

The wood-elemental energy formed long, pale blue threads that flowed into the white mist and finally into the Dao seal.

Soon after, raindrops began to patter and pound on the medicinal herb field.

After three minutes of rain, Gu Changsheng waved his hand and said, "Disperse—".

As the word "scatter" rang out, the illusory Dao seal of the Gathering Technique disappeared, the white mist, no longer restrained, dispersed in all directions, and the pale blue threads vanished into the world.

Gu Changsheng continued to use his Spirit Rain Technique on the nearby vegetable garden, the bamboo forest on three sides, the agarwood forest on the cliff edge, the back mountain, and the front mountain.

He used to be overly cautious, afraid that satellites in the sky would take pictures of him. Later, he found out that most satellites cannot touch the fog on the ground.

Since then, he no longer needs to water the trees at night. However, when he casts the Spirit Rain spell or the Rainfall spell, he will lower the height of the Dao Seal to one meter above the ground, so that he only needs to water the roots of the trees.

After breaking through to the Dao Root Realm, Gu Changsheng was able to use off-body attack techniques, so he no longer had to be as careful as before to hide his spells.

With his current strength, it doesn't matter if people discover that he has mastered magic; it can even enhance his deterrent power and intimidate villains.

He doesn't like to show off in front of others and lets things take their course.

Otherwise, they could learn from the protagonists in those storybooks who appear miraculous in front of others, appearing to ordinary people as if they were immortals in the world. Countless people would chase after them to become their disciples, offering gifts, money, cars, houses, and beautiful women, all just to win a smile from the protagonist.