Chapter 329 - The New Scripture and the Golden Root

Chapter 329: Chapter 329 - The New Scripture and the Golden Root

By the time Su Bai returned to Clear Cloud Peak, Radiant Sky Sect had become unusually quiet.

The excitement following his revival had not disappeared, but almost everyone who had benefited from the tribulation had eventually realized that standing around discussing it was wasting an opportunity.

Disciples returned to their residences and entered meditation.

Elders did the same.

Even the Ancestors withdrew to consolidate what they had gained from the Heavenly Blessing, Heavenly Soul Benediction, and the brief glimpse of Heavenly Law forced upon them by the Heavenly Burial Palm.

The Main Peak was left to Huo Yan and a group of elders who stared at the destroyed training ground with expressions that suggested rebuilding it would be considerably less enjoyable than watching it break.

Su Bai did not volunteer to help.

He had died there once already.

As far as he was concerned, that counted as sufficient contribution.

Lu Canghai escorted him back to Clear Cloud Peak personally. He only left after examining Su Bai several more times and confirming that his heartbeat, breathing, and cultivation foundation were all continuing to recover.

Su Bai did not complain.

After seeing his master cry over his corpse, he could tolerate a little excessive concern.

Once he was alone inside his residence, Su Bai sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

The moment his awareness sank inward, the changes became impossible to ignore.

His connection to the Nascent Soul felt completely different from before the Heavenly Burial Palm.

Perhaps dying and being forced to rebuild that connection had strengthened it. Perhaps completing the cycle between the Nascent Soul and physical foundation after experiencing complete separation had simply allowed him to understand it better.

Whatever the reason, there was no longer even the faintest unfamiliarity between them.

His Nascent Soul rested naturally within the Nascent Origin.

The nine Tribulation Marks had already dimmed, leaving only faint traces across the dark crystalline structure. Outside them, the Void Ring was turning again.

Around all of it, the Macro-Taiji circulated with a smoothness Su Bai had never experienced before.

He observed the cycle for a long time.

The physical and spiritual sides no longer felt like two different systems that happened to cooperate.

They were one cultivation foundation.

That realization naturally brought his attention toward the method governing it.

Su Bai shifted his awareness toward the Crystalline Tree Spirit Root.

The Dao-Devouring Blank Stele remained embedded within it.

Something had changed on its surface.

The former name had disappeared.

In its place were several new characters.

Supreme Dual-Origin Scripture.

Su Bai stared at them.

His expression slowly became strange.

’The software upgraded again.’

He had expected the Binary Void-Sun Supreme Method to change eventually. His foundation had already exceeded what the old method was designed to guide.

Still, seeing another transformation brought back memories of where everything had begun.

The original technique had only been the Sunflower Method.

Somewhere along the way, the Sunflower Method had turned into the Binary Void-Sun Supreme Method.

Now even Void and Sun had disappeared from the name.

Su Bai almost felt sorry for the original technique.

’You’ve come a long way.’

He directed his awareness into the Blank Stele.

Information immediately unfolded within his mind.

The new scripture was built around the foundation he possessed now.

The previous method had guided the physical and spiritual sides through Void State and Sun State, allowing the two to develop while maintaining balance.

That division was no longer appropriate.

His Nascent Soul had formed.

The Macro-Taiji now linked the spiritual and physical foundations continuously, while the Nascent Origin served as their anchor.

Cultivation at the Nascent Soul Realm therefore no longer focused on simply accumulating and refining power within one central foundation.

The two sides had to cultivate together.

Su Bai carefully followed the circulation recorded within the scripture.

Spiritual energy entered his body.

Instead of being drawn directly toward a single center, it was carried through the wider cultivation network.

The physical foundation refined one portion while the Macro-Taiji guided the circulation toward the Nascent Origin.

His Nascent Soul responded.

The spiritual aspect of the refined energy flowed through it before returning through the other half of the cycle.

One complete circulation nourished both sides.

Su Bai opened his eyes briefly.

"That is much better."

The scripture showed him that the Nascent Soul would become increasingly substantial as his realm advanced. Its spiritual density, stability, capacity, and connection to the physical foundation would continue deepening.

Its ability to remain outside his body would also improve.

More importantly, every advancement would strengthen the integrated cycle rather than developing the Nascent Soul separately.

Su Bai returned his attention inward.

There was far more contained within the Supreme Dual-Origin Scripture than he could understand in one sitting.

He decided not to rush.

His realm had only just stabilized enough for him to sit here without technically being a corpse.

There were other changes he needed to inspect first.

His awareness spread toward the nine Gateway Dantians.

One rested at the crown of his head, another between his brows, and a third around his throat.

Below them were the chest and solar plexus Gateways.

The remaining four were distributed symmetrically through his palms and the soles of his feet.

Together with the Infinite Dantian in his lower abdomen, they formed the ten cultivation centers linked by the Myriad-Path Meridian Web.

Three of those nine Gateways immediately attracted his attention.

The first was the one in his chest.

Su Bai focused on it.

The Root Seed that had once existed there had completely transformed.

What remained still possessed the appearance of a plant, but calling it an ordinary sprout was no longer appropriate.

A slender golden stem rose from the center of the Gateway Dantian. Several translucent leaves spread from it like pieces of condensed sunlight, while fine white-gold veins ran through each leaf.

Every few breaths, tiny arcs of lightning traveled along those veins and jumped silently between them.

Beneath the stem, thin root-like filaments extended through the spiritual foundation as threads of pale golden light.

Su Bai studied it with interest.

This was the first of the nine Root Seeds to fully mature.

Su Bai extended his awareness toward the root.

Light gathered.

A small golden radiance appeared above his palm.

Nothing happened to him.

There was no discomfort.

Su Bai nodded slowly.

He changed the nature of the light.

Instead of simply allowing it to exist as radiance, he attempted to guide it toward his body as a gentle restorative force.

The reaction was immediate.

An unpleasant sensation spread across his skin.

Su Bai dismissed the light before it could develop further.

His expression relaxed.

That answered one question.

The Spirit Root had not somehow made him immune to blessings.

Raw Light itself was harmless.

The problem began when he shaped that Light into something beneficial and directed the effect toward himself.

Reversal still recognized the benefit.

It would still turn against him.

"Good."

Su Bai was strangely relieved.

He had already dealt with enough changes today. Discovering that one of the fundamental rules of his body had suddenly disappeared would have created even more questions.

His attention returned to the golden root.

Lightning gathered next.

White-gold arcs crawled across his fingertips.

Unlike the destructive heavenly lightning that had once fallen upon him, this power responded completely to his thoughts.

It belonged to him.

Su Bai finally understood the distinction.

The Heavenly Blessing had not given the Spirit Root a blessing affinity.

It had merely contained nourishment compatible with what the root was becoming.

Light and Lightning.

The blessing itself had been food.

The attributes that remained were his.

That explained what happened when he used the root to process the stored Heavenly Blessing.

Su Bai smiled.

That was much more useful.

He could work with Light and Lightning.

A Spirit Root that constantly tried to bless its owner would have been considerably less cooperative.

His attention moved lower.

Within the Gateway Dantian at his solar plexus, another Root Sprout remained incomplete.

Ash-gray fire lingered around one side.

A weaker red flame existed opposite it.

The two had not fused completely.

The stronger Yin-fire characteristic came from the Ashen-Frost Blight Flame.

The weaker Yang-fire characteristic originated from the stone Yan Changkong had given him.

The sprout remained far from maturity, but its direction had become obvious.

Su Bai watched the two flames circle one another without interfering.

He was curious what would happen once the weaker Yang side caught up.

For now, there was little reason to force it.

His attention rose toward the throat Gateway Dantian.

The third unusual sprout remained there.

It looked almost ordinary.

Until Su Bai sent the faintest vibration through his spiritual foundation.

One of its leaves trembled.

Su Bai stopped.

The leaf became still.

He produced another subtle vibration.

It responded again.

His expression became increasingly thoughtful.

The Heavenly Soul Benediction had nourished this sprout through the bell and chanting.

At first, he had thought it might simply develop a Sound affinity.

Now that he could examine it properly, that seemed too narrow.

The sprout had not reacted only to sound.

It had responded to vibration and spiritual resonance carried through the sound.

He withdrew his awareness before he began arguing with a plant inside his own throat.

There were still six unfinished Root Sprouts distributed among the remaining Gateway Dantians.

None had shown a clear affinity yet.

Su Bai preferred it that way.

Three strange roots were enough to study for the moment.

He returned his attention to the completed golden root.

The chest Gateway Dantian pulsed gently.

Light traveled through the Meridian Web.

A white-gold arc followed.

The two attributes moved naturally through his cultivation foundation without triggering Reversal.

Only when he deliberately tried to turn Light into a beneficial effect upon himself did his body object.

That rule was simple enough.

Su Bai could live with simple rules.

His gaze shifted toward the opened Immortal storage ring nearby.

The ring sat where it had been brought back with him, along with the Immortal Stone he had used throughout the breakthrough.

Su Bai reached toward it, but his hand suddenly stopped.

A thought struck him.

He picked up the Immortal Stone and sent his spiritual sense into it.

During the tribulation, he had drawn multiple threads of Immortal Qi from this stone.

When the Heavenly Soul Benediction became dangerous, he had even used a considerably larger portion.

Yet the amount inside...

Su Bai stared.

It barely seemed different.

The density of Immortal Qi contained within the stone was absurd.

What had felt enormous to him was apparently still insignificant compared to what remained sealed inside.

Su Bai fell silent.

Memories of the tribulation returned.

The dragon changing from one blessing property to another.

The Heavenly Soul Benediction.

The enormous Heavenly Burial Palm smashing him until his heart stopped.

Su Bai slowly looked at the Immortal Stone.

"So it’s because of you...?"

The stone naturally offered no defense.

Su Bai narrowed his eyes.

He could not prove it.

His foundation itself was already abnormal enough to anger the heavens, and his previous tribulations had never been normal.

Still, he had repeatedly drawn on Immortal Qi during a breakthrough occurring beneath the direct attention of the heavens.

It was difficult not to wonder whether that had made things worse.

Perhaps the heavens had sensed energy that did not belong to the cultivation world.

Perhaps it had treated that interference as another anomaly that needed correction.

Perhaps the Immortal Stone had nothing to do with it and the heavens simply hated him personally.

Su Bai considered all three possibilities.

The last one remained surprisingly convincing.

He sighed and placed the Immortal Stone down.

"I’ll blame you partially."

That seemed fair.

The stone remained silent.

Su Bai closed his eyes again and activated the Supreme Dual-Origin Scripture.

For now, speculation could wait.

His realm needed stabilization.

His physical body still needed recovery.

His new Spirit Root needed study.

His new cultivation method contained enough information to occupy him for days.

For once, Su Bai intended to stay quietly on Clear Cloud Peak and cultivate.

Considering what had happened the last time he tried to break through peacefully, that was already an ambitious plan.