Chapter 485: The Law of Life

Hua Changxi had once read about a rare heavenly treasure of the world in the captured "Qianyuan Travel Notes"—the Spring Eye Pearl.

The book stated: "The Spring Eye Pearl forms a spring the moment it touches the ground."

At this moment, facing this fist-sized green gem before her, the reason she could recognize it at a glance as the legendary Spring Eye Pearl relied entirely on its unique power of 'inhaling and exhaling'.

It was truly too easy to identify.

"Forms a spring upon landing..."

A sharp light ignited in Hua Changxi's eyes; she had long felt the scenery of Danyuan Peak was somewhat plain, and although the diligent cultivation of the disciples had cleared away its former desolation, looking out over it, it ultimately lacked a few degrees of spiritual rhyme and vitality.

If this Spring Eye Pearl were placed at the peak's summit, the entire Danyuan Peak would thereafter possess an endless supply of spiritual springs for nourishment.

And Danding Peak, which was still under development, needed the irrigation of spiritual springs even more.

Thinking of the infinite benefits of a spiritual spring nurturing a mountain peak, Hua Changxi's gaze trembled slightly; unable to suppress the excitement in her heart, she reached out her hand, intending to take the Spring Eye Pearl into her possession.

Unexpectedly, the moment her fingertips touched the faint green glow emanating from the Spring Eye Pearl, she felt resistance as heavy as a mountain.

"Hmm?"

The green glow was gentle and harmless, yet it seemed like an invisible barrier; no matter how Hua Changxi circulated her spiritual power, she could never penetrate the green light or touch the pearl itself in the slightest.

Hua Changxi withdrew her hand without surprise; for a heavenly treasure as rare as the Spring Eye Pearl, there was naturally spiritual protection guarding it—if it were easily obtainable, that would be the strange thing.

If it were truly easy to obtain, she believed it would have long been taken away by the successor of the Dan Sheng Hall.

The bottom of the Dan Spring was not a secret place, so the successors of the sacred land had definitely explored it long ago.

The fact that the Spring Eye Pearl could still remain intact at the bottom of the spring meant it wasn't that no one had discovered it, but rather that they had discovered it yet could not take it away.

Hua Changxi forcibly suppressed the urge to seize it rising from the depths of her heart, shifted her gaze from the Spring Eye Pearl before her, and instead looked around.

"One, two... nine!"

In the deep recesses of the spring's bottom, there were a total of nine sources, where green glows shone upon each other and halos flowed like a galaxy inhaling and exhaling, creating a magnificent spectacle.

Her figure flashed as she flew to each location to investigate one by one, and she soon confirmed that the entire Dan Spring had actually nurtured nine Spring Eye Pearls.

"Nine?"

Hua Changxi's face showed contemplation; why exactly nine?

Her intuition told her that the number of Spring Eye Pearls should not have been nurtured arbitrarily; perhaps some unknown law or mystery lay hidden behind it?

Although she had doubts about this, she did not ponder it deeply, but instead quickly took out that divine wood twig which had exhausted its vitality.

Previously, collecting the vitality spiritual fluid from the divine wood leaves had been for the purpose of nourishing it; now that she was within the Dan Spring, soaking the twig in the river of green light would surely provide even more sufficient nourishment.

Hua Changxi specifically chose a spot where the river of light flowed right next to a Spring Eye Pearl and slowly placed the divine wood twig into it.

In this way, it would be convenient for her to monitor the twig's recovery status at any time, and also convenient for her to explore methods of collecting the Spring Eye Pearl.

As expected, the moment the divine wood twig entered the river of light, its originally withered branches and leaves began to devour the surrounding points of light as if starving and thirsty, shedding their withered state at a speed visible to the naked eye to become emerald-bright, plump, and full of vitality once again.

Seeing the divine wood twig recovering rapidly, Hua Changxi shifted her attention to the Spring Eye Pearl.

She currently had no other good methods, so she could only try using her spiritual power to forcibly tear open that layer of faint green glow and collect the Spring Eye Pearl.

Immediately, spiritual light gathered at Hua Changxi's fingertips, condensing into a spiritual rope as tough as a cable, which she swiftly flung toward the green glow, intending to bind the Spring Eye Pearl.

However, the instant the spiritual rope touched the green glow, that seemingly gentle barrier suddenly erupted with a terrifying rebounding force.

This was not merely a defensive counterattack, but more like a rejection, as if... the Spring Eye Pearl possessed life and detested any power bearing a nature of 'plunder'.

"Ugh~"

Hua Changxi let out a muffled groan, her figure shaken back several zhang.

Once her stance stabilized, she did not act rashly again, but only gazed solemnly at the Spring Eye Pearl.

She vaguely sensed something unusual: the protective power of the Spring Eye Pearl was not the purely offensive force she had encountered before, but rather seemed to be a will of 'rejection' directed at external objects.

To verify her conjecture, she cautiously sent out several more strands of spiritual power to test it, and without exception, the results were all rebounded back.

After several attempts, she gradually realized that the more fervent her desire to obtain it became, and the stronger her intent to take it by force, the more terrifying the rebounding force she suffered became.

"This..."

Hua Changxi felt somewhat headache-inducing; now, even seizing a treasure required controlling one's thoughts?

But having a breakthrough point was always good.

Hua Changxi sat cross-legged on the spot, began silently reciting the Heart-Calming Mantra, attempting to calm her mind, and then proceed with further attempts and verification.

At the same time, on the shore beside the Dan Spring stone tablet, several elders of the sacred land who had discovered Hua Changxi sneaked over stealthily.

"Hua Changxi has entered the Dan Spring."

"She will definitely discover the Spring Eye Pearls at the bottom of the spring."

"Even if she discovers them, she cannot take them away."

"That is not necessarily true; do not forget that she holds authority over the two main peaks, Danyuan Peak and Danding Peak."

The nine Spring Eye Pearls nurtured by the divine wood correspond to the nine main peaks, one pearl for each peak.

Of course, if the peak masters of other subsidiary peaks had the opportunity to obtain a Spring Eye Pearl first, they could also place the Spring Eye Pearl upon their subsidiary peaks.

However, looking through the history of the Dan Sheng Hall, no such exception had occurred to this day.

"If Hua Changxi truly obtains a Spring Eye Pearl but does not place it upon Danyuan Peak or Danding Peak, what then? Do not forget that she is suspiciously the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall."

"If she truly uses an item of the sacred land elsewhere, then we must definitely step forward to demand its return."

"Enough, stop talking about these ifs and buts; the Spring Eye Pearls are not so easy to obtain. Among the main peak masters of the ancient era, only a few were able to obtain the Spring Water Pearls; most relied on the Hall Master utilizing the power of the Divine Furnace to acquire the Spring Water Pearls."

Just as the elders of the sacred land were debating on the shore regarding the Spring Eye Pearls, Hua Changxi at the bottom of the spring had her mood stirred up and down by the Spring Eye Pearls as well.

Because she was silently reciting the Heart-Calming Mantra, her mood had indeed become much more peaceful, but in a moment of inattention, she allowed the Spring Eye Pearl, while inhaling and exhaling the river of light, to suck in the divine wood twig that was soaking in the river of light along with it.

Seeing the divine wood twig penetrate the green glow and touch the Spring Eye Pearl, Hua Changxi's heart nearly jumped out of her throat, fearing that the Spring Eye Pearl would swallow the divine wood twig.

Fortunately, her worry did not come to pass.

The divine wood twig floated above the Spring Eye Pearl, moving up and down with the inhaling and exhaling flow of light.

The heart hanging in Hua Changxi's chest dropped back into her stomach, her brain began functioning again, and very soon, she noticed something unusual—the divine wood twig could actually penetrate the green glow!

Seeing this, Hua Changxi's mind stirred, and she began to summon the Divine Wood Twig back.

Watching the Divine Wood Twig pass freely through the green radiance and return to her hand, Hua Changxi fell into deep thought.

"Why can the Divine Wood Twig traverse the green radiance?"

The Heart of Acquisition is truly difficult to eradicate; looking at the Divine Wood Twig, Hua Changxi wondered: if she refined it, could she then use the twig to collect the Spring Eye Pearl?

Thinking thus, she acted accordingly.

She bit her finger until it bled, dripped a drop of essence blood onto the Divine Wood Twig, and began the refinement.

Although the Divine Wood Twig had regained much vitality from soaking briefly in the River of Light, its interior remained withered; sensing this as refinement began, Hua Changxi cast the twig back into the River of Light.

As the refinement progressed, Hua Changxi gradually felt her connection to the Divine Wood Twig growing ever tighter.

When she saw the Divine Wood Twig, following the Spring Eye Pearl's rhythm of inhalation and exhalation, pierce the green radiance once more and hover above the Spring Eye Pearl, she took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing all anxiety and desire for possession in her heart; slowly closing her eyes, she ceased thinking about how to seize the Spring Eye Pearl, instead directing her entire consciousness along that Divine Wood Twig to merge with the flowing River of Light.

In this moment, she was no longer a cultivator eager to snatch a treasure, but like the Divine Wood Twig itself, yearning for the fulfillment of vitality.

She felt the pulsation of every strand of vitality within the River of Light.

It was the struggle of breaking through the soil, the joy of sprouting branches and leaves, the delight of bathing in rain and dew.

There was no plundering, only giving; no confrontation, only fusion.

She knew not how much time had passed when, just as Hua Changxi felt herself becoming a single drop within the River of Light, she suddenly sensed the aura of the power of Laws.

Having mastered the Laws of 'Rift' and 'Karma', she was no stranger to the power of Laws.

Hua Changxi's heart skipped a beat; she strove to fuse herself with the perceived power of Laws, and soon, the aura surrounding her changed: her spiritual energy, once sharp and piercing, became warm and smooth as jade, radiating a vigorous, upward-surging vitality.

Deep within her sea of consciousness and dantian, an ancient and profound Dao rhyme quietly condensed, finally forming a lush, verdant character—Life!

Once the character 'Life' fully took shape, Hua Changxi slowly opened her eyes, raised her right hand, and a green halo shimmering with the Dao script of 'Life' suddenly appeared.

The next instant, her eyes widened.

The Spring Eye Pearl, emitting dense green radiance, seemed to sense a certain call; as if endowed with spirituality, it automatically detached from the spring bed, traced a graceful arc, and obediently fell into her palm.

The pearl's body was warm, perfectly fusing with the Law of 'Life' in her palm, without the slightest hint of rejection.

"So that is how it is..."

Hua Changxi attained realization: the Spring Eye Pearl was not a lifeless object, but the embodiment of the Dao rhyme of Life; falling to earth to become a spring that nourishes all things, it was inherently the source of 'Life'.

To obtain it, one must not be a greedy 'plunderer', but rather a 'provider' of vitality.