Chapter 486: The Selfless Heart That Disregards Gain or Loss

After mastering the Law of 'Life', Hua Changxi successfully 'obtained' two Spring Eye Pearls, but when she attempted to 'take' the third, she encountered resistance once again.

"What is happening?"

Hua Changxi frowned, first glancing at the 'Life' character halo hovering above her palm, then looking again at the Spring Eye Pearl resting on the crystal bed at the spring's bottom.

Cannot be greedy?

Can only take two?

"Why exactly two?"

Hua Changxi was completely baffled, yet upon recalling her intention to place the Spring Eye Pearls atop Danyuan Peak and Danding Peak, she gained a sudden realization.

The Undying Divine Tree nurtures Spring Eye Pearls surely to nourish the sacred lands; since she governs two peaks, can she therefore only 'take' two Spring Eye Pearls?

Hua Changxi's gaze lingered long upon the remaining seven Spring Eye Pearls, showing reluctance, before finally withdrawing slowly; she then lowered her eyes to contemplate the ceaselessly revolving 'Life' character halo on her palm.

This expedition to the 'Divine Tree Root—Dan Spring' had yielded results far exceeding expectations.

In past trials, her mind had been fixed solely on acquisition, knowing only how to seize heavenly opportunities from heaven and earth, as if all things in the world ought to belong to her.

The results she reaped, and the feedback from her surroundings, seemed to validate the legitimacy and rationality of such a state of mind.

Yet this experience granted her a different state of mind—to 'obtain' a treasure, one must first understand how to 'give'.

"Plundering, giving..."

Just as Hua Changxi carefully contemplated the differences between these two states of mind, the back of her right hand first erupted in tearing, unbearable pain, followed by a surge of heart-soothing warmth.

The pain felt like a sharp blade scraping bone or frost invading the body, carrying a devouring, destructive agitation and madness.

The warm current, however, resembled spring breeze turning into rain; in an instant, it swept through her limbs and bones, washing away all surging desires from her heart. She felt her spiritual platform become empty and bright, her entire body radiating an unprecedented clarity and lightness.

Hua Changxi subconsciously looked down, her pupils contracting sharply in shock.

There, on the back of her hand, had emerged a Yin-Yang fish diagram woven from black and white.

The black fish resembled furious waves from a deep abyss, its ink-black color so thick it seemed impossible to dissolve, occupying the vast majority of her vision and emitting a chilling, terrifying aura that made the heart tremble.

In contrast, the white fish appeared pale and powerless, its light faint and weak, its patterns broken and scattered, as if it could be completely swallowed by the surrounding darkness at any moment, struggling to take form.

Gazing at the black-and-white fish patterns, Hua Changxi's eyes trembled violently, her heart filled with indescribable shock; she immediately closed her eyes to look inward, sinking her divine consciousness into her dantian.

In the next moment, she saw countless white sparks glittering within the black flames atop her Nascent Soul's heart.

However, as the black flames flickered, the white sparks were quickly obscured.

Hua Changxi opened her eyes, watching the black-and-white fish patterns on the back of her hand vanish as well, her thoughts churning wildly.

She remembered now; previously in the Ghost Leader Forbidden Zone, when she had acted without hesitation to save someone, she had also felt a warm current sweep through her entire body.

Yet that warm current had appeared too suddenly and vanished too quickly, leaving her with no memory of it afterward.

Combining the circumstances of both appearances of the warm current, Hua Changxi seemed to understand somewhat how to ignite the white flame.

It required not only compassion and dedication to give and sacrifice, but also the fearlessness and responsibility to bear a thousand pounds; in short, it demanded the pure altruistic heart spoken of in legends—one that completely discards selfish desires and disregards personal gain or loss!

If this were truly the case, then Hua Changxi had found the reason why she had been unable to ignite the white flame all along.

A pure altruistic heart that disregards gain or loss? Sorry, she truly did not possess one, nor did she wish to have one!

However, Hua Changxi then thought of those cultivators nurtured by the imperial family who had ignited both black and white flames, and doubt arose again—if she lacked such a selfless heart, could those people possibly possess it?

"I must be mistaken."

The opportunity to ignite the white flame still needed further exploration.

Afterwards, Hua Changxi did not linger at the spring's bottom; she collected some crystals filled with vital energy from the spring bed (Vitality Stones) into her Sumeru space, then took the two Spring Eye Pearls and broke through the water to ascend.

After reaching the shore, she prepared to attempt returning along her original path.

However, before doing so, she wished to fly high up to view the full landscape of the Dan Spring.

As her body soared upward from the ground, rising rapidly into the sky, the scope of Hua Changxi's vision gradually expanded.

If Tang Gu was a rocky valley resembling a pile of volcanoes, then the Dan Spring was like a flat, boundless wilderness, level and vast.

"Hmm?"

As her figure continued to climb higher, Hua Changxi gazed into the distance, taking the entire panorama of the Dan Spring into view, while the horizon concealed an even more shocking sight.

At the eastern extreme of the Dan Spring, a massive rift valley, as if cleaved by a heavenly god's blade, stretched across heaven and earth, tearing the ground apart.

Beyond the rift to the east lay a bottomless, pitch-black void, as if even light itself had been completely devoured; although far away, she still felt that region must absolutely be a forbidden zone for life.

Yet over a thousand li west of the Dan Spring, she unexpectedly saw a towering, colossal city wall, coiling along the horizon like a steel giant dragon, carving out a clear and solemn boundary beneath the gloomy, eerie starry sky.

"Is that... the location of the formation core?"

Zhenmen Bao and Genmen Bao, which guarded the formation eyes, were located directly east and northeast of the Dan Spring respectively, yet their fortress walls were nowhere near as tall or imposing as that western city wall.

Just as Hua Changxi gazed toward Zhongmen Pass, Chu Junyi on the pass's city wall seemed to sense something and quickly looked in the direction of the Dan Spring.

"General, have you discovered something?"

"Someone is spying on Zhongmen Pass."

"Is there an enemy threat?"

"Probably not; the spying gaze originates from the location of the Dan Saint Hall's formation eye."

"The Joint Auction of the Nine Passes Ghost Market is about to convene; the Dan Saint Hall will surely send people. It is likely some undisciplined disciple scouting the four directions."

Thinking of the Joint Auction of the Nine Passes Ghost Market, Chu Junyi's expression turned solemn: "Many cultivators will soon descend into the Nine Netherworlds; every pass fortress must remain vigilant. We cannot allow the demon races and the various Nine Netherworld clans to sow chaos by taking advantage of this."

"Yes."

Just then, Chu Junyi's Thought-Communication Token vibrated; he picked it up to check, his eyes instantly brightening. After glancing toward the Dan Saint Hall's formation eye direction, he led several trusted subordinates quickly down from the city wall.

"General, what is wrong?"

"There is news regarding the Soul Realm Key."

"Really? Where?"

"Ghost Realm Fortress."

On the other side, after viewing the layout of the Dan Spring and its surroundings, Hua Changxi looked no further; she turned back to her previous landing spot, soared into the air once more, and attempted to return along her original path to the Divine Tree space, heading back to the old courtyard in the square.

Falling down was easy; climbing back up was hard.

Fortunately, Hua Changxi's body refinement had reached a high enough level; she erupted with the full force of her qi and blood to strike upward, and with great difficulty, she finally stood once more upon the roots of the divine tree.

At the same time, in the old courtyard, because Hua Changxi had closed the courtyard gate, Gu Xing could not go out and could only stand at the entrance, communicating with the others from the sacred land through the door panels.

"Elder Gu, Pavilion Master Meng has led the various Secret Realm Masters down to the Nine Netherworlds to attend the Nine Passes Joint Auction."

"Mm."

Just as he was speaking to someone about this, Gu Xing saw the wall directly opposite the courtyard gate ripple with layers of waves like water; the next second, Hua Changxi's figure stepped out from within it, suddenly appearing before his eyes.