Book One: The Witch-Demon Cataclysm 197. Mount Sumeru Opens a Blessed Land, and Tongtian Takes Disciples

“Indeed, the spiritual energy has grown far denser!”

Suddenly, the two men felt the spiritual qi around them continuing to rise, and smiles appeared on both their faces.

For so many years, they had done everything in their power, in secret and in the open, to foster the growth of the Western lands. Yet none of their efforts had borne much fruit.

Whenever they had gone to the Eastern lands and sensed the far richer spiritual energy there, they had been filled with envy.

Now, at last, the West had a promising beginning of its own.

Jieyin could not help but feel deeply relieved that Zhunti had once proposed visiting Mount Buzhou.

“This is only the beginning. In the future, it can still be improved further, though not to the extent it is now.”

Before the two of them could speak, Qingkong looked at them directly.

“Very well. What comes next is the most important part. It will bring no small improvement, both for the two of you and for the Western lands.”

“Please do as you wish, senior.”

Having tasted success, the two knew Qingkong’s earlier words had not been false, and they quickly replied.

Thus, Qingkong led the group to the sky above Mount Sumeru, then turned to Zhenyuanzi.

From here on, he no longer needed to do anything himself; he could leave it entirely to Zhenyuanzi.

Over the years, Zhenyuanzi had already opened up blessed lands on countless famed mountains and great rivers across the Eastern Continent. He had even set foot in many places of the South.

When it came to carving out blessed lands, Zhenyuanzi could already be said to have made it second nature.

Seeing Qingkong’s signal, several figures stepped out from Zhenyuanzi’s body.

“This is...”

Jieyin and Zhunti immediately understood that these were Zhenyuanzi’s incarnations.

Yet what shocked them was that these incarnations were entirely different from their own corpse avatars.

Not only did they possess formidable strength, but more importantly, each one carried a different path of the Dao.

This only deepened the two men’s curiosity about Qingxuan’s mystery.

However, when Jieyin and the other man looked toward him, Qingkong acted as though he knew nothing at all and paid them no heed.

Seeing this, the two of them could only feel disappointed.

By then, Zhenyuanzi had already brought out the Earth Book in full and begun drawing upon the earth veins of Mount Sumeru.

At the same time, the incarnations around him rapidly revealed the rhythms and profundities of the laws of the five elements, space, heaven and earth, and more, assisting him in the creation of the blessed land.

“As expected, they each possess a different Dao!”

Zhunti and Jieyin exchanged a look after realizing this.

Though both had cultivated to this day and were not ignorant of one or two Heavenly Dao laws, they still mainly cultivated only the law tied to their own supreme path.

Yet now, they were actually seeing an entirely different style of cultivation in Zhenyuanzi.

More than that, they could tell that Zhenyuanzi’s Dao was the Dao of the Great Path itself.

It was not like theirs, forced to follow the Heavenly Dao. Still, they understood that such a method of cultivation was clearly Qingxuan’s unique secret art.

Ordinary people would simply never have any chance of learning it.

In the end, the two could only sigh in regret.

Meanwhile, on the Eastern lands...

Three daoists, one old, one middle-aged, and one young, were strolling along at an unhurried pace.

They were the Three Pure Ones who had come down from Kunlun.

Suddenly, the daoist who appeared to be the youngest brightened and said to the two beside him,

“Two elder brothers, I sense a living being here who has the fate to become my disciple.”

“Oh? We are also quite curious to see what sort of being could have such a destined connection with Third Brother.”

After hearing Tongtian’s words, the other two immediately spoke with delight.

“In that case, let the three of us go together and see just what sort of creature this fated disciple of Third Brother actually is!”

Grand Supreme suggested at once.

So the three of them followed Tongtian onward.

After traveling not far, they saw a young man with a broad face and large ears.

The instant he saw the three of them, he dropped to his knees in a bow.

“Please, exalted ones, take me in!”

Upon hearing this, Primordial Beginning looked toward Tongtian. Among the three of them, only Tongtian had sensed a destined disciple.

Tongtian looked at the young man as well and discovered that he was a spirit transformed from a peculiar treasure-seeking mouse.

“Oh? Who are you, and do you have a name?”

Seeing the gazes of his two elder brothers, Tongtian turned to the young man and asked.

“Replying to you, senior: ever since I was born, I have lived here except for a few fortunate encounters. I have no name as yet. I beg you to take pity on my earnest desire to cultivate and accept me!”

As the man looked at Tongtian while answering, he felt a closeness rising from him.

So he pleaded with Tongtian to take him in.

After hearing his words, Primordial Beginning also saw through the man’s origin.

He was about to speak, but then noticed Grand Supreme looking at him from the side.

Thus, the words that were about to leave his mouth were forced back down.

At this moment, Tongtian was entirely focused on the young man and did not notice the expressions of his two brothers at all.

The moment he saw him, Tongtian had thought that he himself seemed to be especially fated with treasures, and wondered whether this was truly ordained by Heaven.

“I see that you are likely transformed from a Treasure-Seeking Mouse, and you do have some connection with this poor daoist. Since you ask so sincerely to be accepted, you may first remain by my side for a time.

If, in every respect, you can earn my approval, then it would not be impossible to take you as a disciple. But if you cannot meet my standards, then you will leave on your own in due course.”

Tongtian looked at the young man, whose earnestness stirred even his own heart with pleasure. Though he very much wanted to accept him as a disciple, he soon remembered that the bond among the three brothers was now tightly joined together. If he were to take disciples, he could no longer act entirely on impulse.

After hearing Tongtian’s words, Grand Supreme’s eyes filled with a relieved smile.

At the same time, the faint displeasure that had once been in Primordial Beginning’s heart also completely faded.

He too began to reflect. He did not want the relationship among the three, already much improved, to return to the days of sharp words and cutting remarks.

Grand Supreme, likewise, observed the subtle changes in the two men.

After their fortunes had become linked, he had long brooded over this matter, but now he actually felt that perhaps this was not a bad thing after all.

After Tongtian temporarily took the young man in, he turned to the man before him.

“Since you will be following me for now, you cannot even lack a name. You are a Treasure-Seeking Mouse who has taken human form, so I shall call you Treasure.”

“Many thanks, Master of Treasure!”

Seeing this, Tongtian quickly stopped him.

“Only for now are you not yet my disciple. It will not be too late to address me so once you have passed my trial.”

At Mount Sumeru, with Zhenyuanzi and his incarnations working together, the blessed land was nearly complete.

Zhenyuanzi swiftly activated the Earth Book, and after the incarnations successfully drew in countless streams of power and infused them into the formation, all of it was guided toward fusion with Mount Sumeru.

Once the two became fully merged, a surge of powerful innate spiritual energy erupted from the mountain.

“Wonderful!”

Jieyin and Zhunti both wore broad smiles.

They could clearly feel that Mount Sumeru was now not far from many places in the West.

Given enough time, outstanding talents of the Western lands, and even treasures and other marvels, would soon begin to emerge one after another.