Chapter 272

On the way back to the realm, Wei Yuan acted as if nothing had happened, calmly recounting his experiences in the Arhat's Pure Heshan and displaying the Red Lotus Honglian Puti.

"This is a supreme treasure from before the Buddha, with the miraculous effect of clearing away karma. The further you go, the more useful it becomes. However, you must learn some karmic secret arts, lest the karma you don't want to give up gets cleared away," Ji Seeing Ji Liuli reminded him.

Zhang Sheng also said, "That 'Red Lotus Salvation Mantra' can also be considered a type of karmic secret art, but it is only from the Buddhist side. You must also learn some secret arts of our Daoist school to achieve balance."

Apart from this, Zhang Sheng and Ji Seeing Ji Liuli didn't say much more, and Wei Yuan's hanging heart finally settled a little.

Both Zhang Sheng and Ji Seeing Ji Liuli valued the Red Lotus Honglian Puti quite highly, but there was also a faint sense of detachment, as if they viewed it as mere passing smoke. To the two of them, once their cultivation reached success in the future, any kind of immortal treasure could be obtained. If one could ascend to immortality, one could even turn everyday objects into immortal treasures; the saying "when one person attains the Dao, their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven" originated from this.

It was just that there was still a slight difference between the two. Ji Seeing Ji Liuli didn't care because she already had immortal items of the same level in her hands, and could have more if she wanted. After all, while True Lord Zhenjun Yan Shi's Dao power was hard to judge, his financial power was firmly in the top two of the Grand Void Palace, capable of contending with the Master of the Creation Temple.

As for Zhang Sheng's indifference, it was simply because this item was too far removed from him, just as a poor family wouldn't concern themselves with the price of a grand mansion with vermilion gates.

The journey was peaceful, and they finally returned to the realm, escaping the sight of his teacher and Senior Sister.

Returning to his room, Wei Yuan sank his consciousness into his sea of consciousness, appearing upon the Ten Thousand Li Heshan. He reached out and looked; that Red Lotus Honglian Puti was indeed lying safely in his palm.

It really is a divine object... Wei Yuan mused to himself. Divine objects have spirits, and many can freely transform between the virtual and the real; for instance, the Laurel Immortal Tree is like this, and this Red Lotus Honglian Puti is the same.

As the Red Lotus Honglian Puti entered the Ten Thousand Li Heshan, the Laurel Immortal Tree suddenly trembled. A sword Qi flew over to take a look, then retracted. Afterward, the entire tree became much quieter, and its arrogance diminished by thirty percent without him even noticing.

Wei Yuan suddenly felt a sense of inspiration. He wandered as his heart desired, finally walking to a certain spot, feeling that this was the place to plant the Honglian Puti. He looked up and saw that this place was exactly thirty-three zhang, three chi, and three cun away from Mount Yushan.

Wei Yuan placed the Honglian Puti seed on the ground, and it sank into the soil on its own, finally settling at a depth of three chi and three cun.

Does the number three seem to have special significance for the Red Lotus Honglian Puti?

With the Honglian Puti seed in the ground, Wei Yuan intended to leave. According to normal logic, the more immortal or divine a plant is, the longer its growth period; look at that Heavenly Star Tianxing Longkui, which hadn't even sprouted yet. For a divine object like the Red Lotus Honglian Puti, it would be normal for it not to sprout even after being buried for three or five years.

But just at this moment, Wei Yuan suddenly felt an invisible, intangible force appear, sucking a little something away from him.

Wei Yuan stopped in surprise; that bit of invisible force was still continuously extracting something from him. What it extracted was very thin, yet dark, viscous, and carried a hint of dampness and slaughter.

A realization dawned in Wei Yuan's heart: this seemed to be the human karma connected to him. Some of it was from people he had killed, and some were from those who had died due to his orders—for instance, on the journey from Quliu Town to the realm, it was inevitable that some people would collapse and die by the roadside.

Although the resentment wasn't much, and it had always been countered by the Azure Qi of his fortune, some deep-seated resentment still fell upon Wei Yuan. This resentment was very little and couldn't be felt at all in daily life, but over a long time, as it accumulated day by day, the consequences would only gradually manifest once the resentment reached a certain level. This was one of the reasons why great generals who had fought for years in ancient times often met with sudden deaths.

This resentment on Wei Yuan was sucked away and cast into the ground at a depth of three chi and three cun. Besides this, some floating black Qi in the surroundings appeared and was also sucked into the ground. Wei Yuan couldn't see these floating vapors at all in daily life, but now they all manifested one by one.

The Red Lotus Honglian Puti underground continuously absorbed the resentment and karma, gradually swelling, and then a crack appeared on its surface, revealing the translucent white fruit flesh inside. A tender sprout poked out from the flesh, growing segment by segment.

The moment it broke through the soil, a burst of spiritual energy sprayed out!

This spiritual energy was so thick it was almost substantial; in Wei Yuan's eyes, it was like a fountain under the sun, brilliant and dazzling, accompanied by streaks of rainbows.

This stream of spiritual energy sprayed for a full cup of tea's time before gradually stopping. Just this alone saved Wei Yuan three years of bitter cultivation. Wei Yuan was joyful in his heart, finding that bean-sized sprout pleasing no matter how he looked at it. It truly was a Honglian Puti from before the Buddha, fundamentally incomparable to some wild immortal plants!

Just as he was satisfied and preparing to leave, wind suddenly rose in the surroundings again.

Within three hundred and thirty-three zhang, countless floating black vapors appeared and were all sucked in. The sprout grew taller segment by segment, branching out and leafing, and in the blink of an eye, another wave of spiritual energy surged forth.

Another three years of bitter cultivation saved! Wei Yuan praised in his heart.

After this round of spiritual energy surged, the Honglian Puti tree rested for a moment, then suddenly its branches and leaves swayed, beginning to absorb the karmic resentment within three hundred and thirty-three zhang above and below.

Wei Yuan had already learned patience, and after a moment, he waited for the spiritual energy to surge, saving another three years of bitter cultivation.

But the Honglian Puti tree wasn't satisfied yet, and finally began to suck out a small amount of floating karma from Mount Yushan. This karma was what remained after the Shaman tribe's sentient beings had been dissolved into the Black Pool; as a result, they were all swept out by the Honglian Puti tree.

Since Wei Yuan took control of the Azure Void, he had slaughtered over one hundred thousand Shaman tribe members—what a massive amount of karma that was! Although most of it had been dissolved by the Black Pool, and the Honglian Puti tree only absorbed a small fraction of the residue, it still continued to grow. Finally, the spiritual energy surged like a long whale emerging from the water, saving Wei Yuan six years of bitter cultivation in one breath!

Only then did the Honglian Puti treasure tree calm down, preparing to grow quietly. At this moment, it was already a small tree of three chi and three cun, not much shorter than the Laurel Immortal Tree next door.

At this moment, a certain spot on the ground suddenly moved, and a tender sprout, deep in color throughout, broke through the soil, instantly putting out two new branches and growing to a height of about a chi.

Filthy Earth Tianxing Longkui!

!.

It finally grew out; if it hadn't, Wei Yuan had intended to dig it up to take a look. If it really couldn't sprout, he could at least boil it for soup.

This Filthy Earth Tianxing Longkui truly didn't waste the massive amount of fortune Wei Yuan had invested in it; as soon as it emerged, it contributed spiritual energy equivalent to a month of bitter cultivation, and then continuously emitted wisps of spiritual energy, visible to the naked eye.

The Red Jade Lantern was exceptionally joyful, immediately swimming over and coiling into a circle around the Filthy Earth Tianxing Longkui. At this moment, the Filthy Earth Tianxing Longkui was still too small; it seemed to be waiting for it to grow a bit larger before climbing up.

Not far away, the Laurel Tianxing Longkui had also grown a section taller, now reaching two chi.

Wei Yuan immediately discovered that all spiritual plants within three hundred and thirty-three zhang of the Honglian Puti tree had grown taller, while those outside this range remained as they were.

The most obvious was the patch of Wood Spirit Ginseng, which happened to be half inside the circle and half outside. Those inside the circle had directly grown by an inch, while those outside remained in place. For a spiritual plant like the Wood Spirit Ginseng, an inch meant several decades of growth.

With this, the Red Lotus Honglian Puti, along with its various miscellaneous effects, had saved Wei Yuan over fifteen years of bitter cultivation in total. Now, Wei Yuan estimated that he would only need about a year to successfully solidify his foundation. This progress barely caught up to the average level of the Grand Void Palace.

But happiness is always fleeting; once he left the Ten Thousand Li Heshan, Wei Yuan had to face reality again.

He had someone call Cui Yu over and said, "I need information on the Western Jin royal family, especially who the Crown Prince is, how many princes there are, and what their backgrounds are—the more detailed, the better."

Cui Yu found this a bit strange and subconsciously asked, "Are you planning to participate in the struggle for the throne?"

(End of chapter)