Chapter 146: The Opportunity for Re‑Cultivation

"If the ancestor shaman has any heavenly question, Zhou Yi is willing to swear with his own life blood to resolve it." The youth's brow bore a mysterious Dao sigil, and a phantom of a chaotic blue lotus rose around his body.

Hou Tu brushed the dark‑yellow gourd at his waist with his fingertip, and from its mouth drifted threads of primordial earth‑guarding Qi: "The future you see… If I transform my body into the Six Realms of Reincarnation, would that be the Wu Clan's final chance for survival?"

Zhou Yi's pupils trembled slightly as the bronze lamp on the table suddenly erupted with samadhi fire. He stared at the faint Pangu life‑blood seal on Hou Tu Ancestor Shaman's forehead, and before he could speak, the goddess had already turned around.

She brushed a veil embroidered with the celestial stars across the bronze lamp tree, tracing a subtle path in the void: "No need for more words; I already know."

Watching Hou Tu Ancestor Shaman's figure recede as his resonance with the earth veins faded, Zhou Yi suddenly realized he had never truly understood this seemingly gentle Earth Ancestor Shaman.

The ground brushed by her hem sprouted blossoms of the otherworldly spider lily that Zhou Yi had never seen before.

As Hou Tu said, the Great Calamity of the Wu and Yao had long been inscribed in the Heavenly Dao's trajectory. When the Human Race's qi coalesces beyond the thirty‑three heavens into the Ziwei Imperial Star, the two races are destined to withdraw from the Honghuang stage.

By transforming his body into the Reincarnation cycle, Hou Tu can both mend the Heavenly Dao's gaps and, using the Netherworld's merit, preserve a spark for the Wu Clan. Under the protection of the Reincarnation law, even a Saint of the Heavenly Dao finds it hard to reach the Wu Clan's lingering pulse deep within the Netherworld.

Yet how can the untested Hou Tu now foresee the myriad futures? Zhou Yi stared at the Nine Nether Ice that suddenly solidified on the table, its surface reflecting phantom images of the Six Realms of Reincarnation.

Is it guidance from Heaven and Earth's will, or some other unknown causal thread entangling everything?

After lingering in the Wu Clan's territory for over a month, Zhou Yi finally packed his belongings and prepared to set out.

The campfire in foreign lands may be warm, but it never matches the smoke of his homeland, especially after deducing certain heavenly mechanisms, when he yearned even more to see his clan's safety with his own eyes.

The secret conversation with Hou Tu Ancestor Shaman on the eve of departure still echoed in his ears; the Earth‑wielding ancestor shaman held phantom images of the Six Realms of Reincarnation hovering over his palm, while his fingertips clung to unfallen starlight.

"Companion, the perils of the You Ming Blood Sea you mentioned have already been etched into the ancestor shaman hall's totems," Hou Tu gestured lightly, and an image of Ming He Ancestor treading a blazing red lotus appeared in the void, "But have you ever considered, if the Asura Race could become guardians of the Reincarnation cycle…"

Before the words finished, the scene shattered into three thousand points of light, and twelve ancestor shaman totems interwove in the void, devouring all the lingering phantoms.

It was this deduction that convinced Zhou Yi that for the Wu Clan to accomplish the grand Reincarnation scheme, they must forge the formation diagram using three Jiazi cycles of time.

Moreover, he must seize this window to sharpen the Human Race's unawakened sword into a cold blade.

When a flash of evading light that shrank the earth to a foot streaked past the foothills of Mount Buzhou, Zhou Yi suddenly felt the jade pendant at his waist heat up. It was the warning device he had pledged with Sui Huang, and now it radiated warmth rather than alarm.

Upon landing, the scene was immediate: the sparse thatched huts of his memory transformed into a continuous hundred‑mile expanse of stone‑wood structures, and the Xinfire altar at the central square spouted a nine‑zhang crimson flame, lighting the night as bright as day.

"Human Ancestor!" Three elders stepped down from the clouds, and the foremost brandished a fire‑patterned wooden staff that had already formed a dragon Dao sigil, "The Xinfire Manual you left is truly profound; three hundred and twenty warriors can now command the earth‑vein dragon qi."

You Chao stroked his beard and replied, "Only that the threshold of the Immortal Platform realm resembles a heavenly trench; even the most outstanding seedlings get stuck in the Reincarnation Sea's secret realm."

Zhou Yi smiled without speaking, and a jade sapling materialized in his palm. As its branches unfurled, Three Thousand Great Dao runes swirled like a galaxy, and the leaves fluttered, stirring a tide of law.

The three elders had not yet recovered, yet Zhou Yi's Dao robe fluttered without wind, and three flower‑shaped phantoms appeared above his head.

"This is called the Enlightened Path Ancient Tea, born at Chaos's Beginning," Zhou Yi snapped his fingers, planting the spirit root at the center of the square; as the serpentine root pierced the earth, the entire mountain range resonated and trembled, "Anyone who drinks tea brewed from these leaves can glimpse the Heavenly Dao for seven days."

The system interface flickered into view at the right moment:

"Chaos Enlightenment Tree (Primordial Spirit Seed)

Exchange Requirement: eight thousand Dao cycles

Traits: the canopy forms its own law domain, leaf veins hide three thousand Dao traces. Half an hour of cultivation beneath the tree equals a hundred days' worth

Gazing at the surging golden waves in the Qi Luck Pool, Zhou Yi's gaze pierced the clouds. When the ancient tea tree's seventh round of branches unfurled, he saw a certain day in the future, the scene of Human Race cultivators riding the Nine-Dragon War Chariot crossing the star sea.

Gazing at the golden surges in the qi‑flow pool, Zhou Yi's eyes pierced the clouds. When the seventh cycle of the ancient tea tree's branches unfurled, he saw a future scene of Human cultivators riding Nine Dragon War Chariots across the star sea.

Inside the Human Sanctum, a primordial spirit root swirling with Dao resonance hovered in Zhou Yi's palm as he explained to the three Sui Huang:

"This Enlightened Path Tea tree is a companion of the chaotic blue lotus; its leaf veins align with the numbers of the celestial stars. Compared with the collective Dao realm of the Bodhi ancient tree, these 108 golden leaves bearing Dao runes are specifically for those breaking through bottlenecks— even quasi‑Saints can benefit."

The account jade slips unfolded in the void, numbers flickering with a pale gold sheen. Zhou Yi lightly tapped the projection of the long river of qi:

"Since the propagation of the Void Emperor Scripture, the Human Race's qi has amassed to twenty‑three‑thousand‑four hundred points. Eight hundred years ago, to aid you in breaking through the Great Luo realm, I nearly exhausted my reserves; now I can plan at leisure."

He scanned the quasi‑Saint aura surging around the three Human Primogenitors, a smile curling his lips.

Sui Huang stared at the two hovering primordial spirit roots, while perpetual cosmic true fire erupted uncontrollably around his body:

"Your Imperial Majesty's wisdom— back then the three of us brothers received the fragment of the Imperial Scripture you bestowed, and after a millennium of arduous cultivation we attained the Great Luo Dao fruit. Now with this complete inheritance and the two chaotic spirit roots, we fear that within five hundred years we can reach the quasi‑Saint threshold."

You Chao flicked ripples in the void, and behind him a phantom of the Nine Heavens palace materialized: "The Void Emperor Scripture aligns with my Dao; just the other day I comprehended the method of fitting a mustard seed into Mount Sumeru, and I now need the Enlightened Path Tea to perfect my spatial folding technique."

Cang Wen, holding a turtle shell, mused: "The disaster‑substitution technique recorded in the chaotic ancient scriptures might be able to use the tea tree's Dao leaves as a vessel."

"Your Imperial Majesty!" Sui Huang suddenly recalled something, waved his hand to summon a water‑mirror projection: "During your seclusion, a newborn of the Human Race named Zi Yi, an innate cultivator, attained the Taiyi fruit through the art of weaving plants and wood. This youth has keen insights into the myriad crafts of livelihood and may inherit your innovative Dao."

When the youth clad in a robe woven from vines and vines was ushered into the sanctum, a strange brilliance flashed in Zhou Yi's eyes.

He snapped his fingers, conjuring twelve streams of profound yellow Qi, sketching the outline of a loom in the void: "Observe the cosmic weave, discern the warmth and cold of all beings. Young Zi Yi, have you ever considered merging your plant‑weaving Dao with mundane needs?"

Zi Yi trembled violently, his innate treasure—the Thousand‑Mechanism Shuttle—materializing automatically, weaving countless threads in the void: "I am foolish! In the past I only refined defensive formations, never considering the suffering of mortals' constrained bodies. If we take clouds as the warp and earth veins as the weft…"

He suddenly knelt toward the east, and a radiant Dao light rose around him: "I humbly request Your Imperial Majesty to permit me to establish a weaving sanctum, to craft garments and crowns for the Human Race for ten thousand generations."

Setting those thoughts aside for now, Zhou Yi produced the Nine‑Nine Soul‑Scattering Gourd, from which the lingering soul of the Wan Huo Ancestor emerged. With the formal shaping of the Six Realms of Reincarnation, the Wan Huo Ancestor also gained a chance for rebirth and re‑cultivation.

【46】 "This post‑calamity life is entirely thanks to your steadfast assistance, so let this serve as a token of gratitude!"