The rivers of faint green wood power that suddenly started converging on Hou Chulan seemed to be channeled from different parts of the Realm of Wood Spirit.
However, they had clearly undergone refinement, as the wood power they carried was significantly richer and purer than what the elders had provided.
A moment ago, the green bamboo in Hou Chulan’s domain had suddenly started absorbing wood power and growing at an alarming rate.
Since Hou Chulan’s wood power core was losing a large portion of the wood power that was meant for it to the green bamboo, the first step, core break, encountered a rough patch.
However, as Lu Yuxin, the head of the wood element sect, made a move, the problem was easily taken care of.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Crisp sounds echoed out from within Hou Chulan.
Huang Jinnan’s expression flickered with excitement. “Her spiritual cores have started cracking!”
He glanced around, convinced that Lu Yuxin’s soul awareness had descended in this area.
Nie Tian was also struck by a peculiar feeling that someone was secretly observing him.
He felt as if he had no place to hide, with all of his secrets put in broad daylight.
He immediately realized that, as a stranger to the Realm of Wood Spirit, he was being examined by the head of the wood element sect.
With a wry smile, he clasped his hands and whispered into the sky, “This humble one is Nie Tian, Senior Lu. By invitation of senior martial sister, I came here to assist her breakthrough into the Saint domain.”
There were no responses.
However, his feeling of being secretly examined by someone suddenly vanished.
This convinced him that Lu Yuxin had heard and seen him.
With the wood power shortage taken care of by Lu Yuxin, Hou Chulan’s core break went back on track.
Soon, Nie Tian noticed that Hou Chulan’s domain was gradually losing its illusory feeling, and no longer seemed like an ethereal reflection.
At the same time, tiny pieces of spiritual cores appeared at Hou Chulan’s abdomen, where they exploded and slowly fused into her domain in a wondrous manner.
Everything within her illusory domain instantly gained a sense of solidity, as if it was simply a part of the Realm of Wood Spirit.
Ripples spread on the lake’s surface as a faint mist gradually rose.
Lotuses were floating in full bloom, their leaves green and luxuriant.
On the central island, the bamboo grove held shockingly rich life force.
“Core fusion!” He Lianxiong exclaimed softly, a faint smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. Apparently, he was truly happy for Hou Chulan.
Even though Nie Tian found the man irritating, his feelings for Hou Chulan were beyond doubt. He truly hoped that Hou Chulan would enter the Saint domain successfully.
Nie Tian watched Hou Chulan’s domain gradually solidify as core fusion happened at a slow pace.
Days passed before he knew it.
With Lu Yuxin there to gather and refine wood power from all around the Realm of Wood Spirit, Hou Chulan didn’t have to worry about lacking power again during her breakthrough into the Saint domain.
All she needed was time.
Nie Tian had paid close attention to the process at first. However, as the days passed, his mind started to wander.
“Core break, core fusion, and core withdrawal… Senior martial sister is still at the second step. It seems that no mishaps will occur before the final step, core withdrawal.”
At the same time, he couldn’t help but wonder what kind of difficulties he would encounter when he attempted to break through into the Saint domain himself.
“I’ll have to work with three spiritual cores of different attributes simultaneously… The difficulty in that will surely exceed what senior martial sister is experiencing now.”
The mere thought of it gave him a headache.
Time flew. A few more days passed.
Hou Chulan’s domain finally finished the fundamental transformation: from illusory to solid!
Unlike before, the wood power in her domain now was extremely refined, and the amount of wood power it held had improved severalfold.
It was similar to what Nie Tian had experienced when he had broken through into the Soul realm, and his spiritual cores had turned from liquid to solid.
As soon as the transformation of Hou Chunlan’s domain was complete, faint wisps of wood power started falling from the starry river and converging on the growing bamboo in her domain.
Nie Tian’s expression flickered with amazement. “That bamboo of hers is channeling wood power from the starry river on its own!”
His Godspirit Tree sapling also had such an incredible ability, which seemed to be shared by only Heaven Nourished grade treasures.
He couldn’t help but turn to Huang Jinnan and ask, “Do you know anything about that bamboo?”
Huang Jinnan smiled. “It’s a Heaven Nourished grade treasure. My senior martial sister was with it when her master saw the potential in her and decided to take her in. Even though she was merely a commoner back then, her inner attribute agreed with the bamboo’s attribute perfectly. But of course, that bamboo didn’t manifest its wonders until later.
“Senior martial sister came from a remote realm, which hadn’t seen any powerful Qi warriors. In that realm, people call that bamboo the ‘Divine Bamboo’. Normally, no commoner could set foot in the place where the Divine Bamboo was, yet she somehow did, and the Divine Bamboo didn’t repel her.
“Having a rough childhood, she would usually go talk to the Divine Bamboo when she felt wronged or lonely.
“She didn’t expect it to understand her. All she wanted was to find a vent for the confusion and unhappiness that weighed down on her.
“As time passed, her aura was gradually influenced and changed by the Divine Bamboo without her knowledge.
“When her master happened to pass through that realm, the Divine Bamboo’s unique aura caught her attention. Upon arriving, she spotted her and took her back to the Realm of Wood Spirit, where she taught her wholeheartedly. Later, when she was ready to enter the Void domain, she returned to her home realm and fused the Divine Bamboo into her without meeting any resistance. Since then, her cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds.
“That Divine Bamboo can be viewed as her natal item. If she’s so lucky as to enter the God domain, then that Divine Bamboo may grow into an Immortal grade divine treasure on its own. No external tempering will be needed. However, she’ll be the only one who can wield it and bring out its full might.”
“Divine Bamboo…” Nie Tian muttered with narrowed eyes. “Is it more or less powerful than a Godspirit Tree?”
Huang Jinnan shook his head. “I haven’t heard anyone other than my senior martial sister having a Divine Bamboo, so it’s kind of hard to make the comparison.”
“So does that mean that Divine Bamboo isn’t a wood-attributed Heaven Nourished grade treasure known by the four great sects?” Nie Tian asked curiously.
“That’s right,” Huang Jinnan answered.
“Core withdrawal is about to begin,” Lou Hongyan whispered.
Nie Tian instantly ended his conversation with Huang Jinnan to refocus on Hou Chulan’s domain, and her seemingly tiny figure that was now sitting on the central island.
It was also at this moment that an ethereal figure appeared high in the heavens, looming behind a sea of clouds.
However, the figure loomed in the clouds, preventing people from getting a clear view of it.
However, the Godspirit Tree sapling within Nie Tian shrewdly discovered its existence. He jerked his head skywards and exclaimed softly, “That’s the head of the wood element sect!”
Hou Chulan’s breakthrough was a matter of great importance. Of the three steps, the last step, core withdrawal, was the most dangerous.
That was why Lu Yuxin decided to come here in person at this moment.
A scared look appeared in Hou Chulan’s eyes as she started core withdrawal, sitting in the middle of her domain.
At this moment, she suddenly realized that to finish core withdrawal, she would have to withdraw the Divine Bamboo into her spiritual sea in her dantian region, along with her domain.
However, as the Divine Bamboo went through a growth spurt, she found this out of her reach.
As she made an attempt, she found that the pieces of her broken spiritual cores that had fused into her domain stirred. However, the Divine Bamboo didn’t give even the slightest reaction. This made her anxious.
She hastily started soul communication with the Divine Bamboo. What the Divine Bamboo told her shocked her. According to it, after its growth spurt, it also wanted to cooperate with her by returning to her spiritual sea in her dantian region, but simply couldn’t.
“What’s going on?" Lu Yuxin’s ethereal voice echoed in Hou Chulan’s ears.
“Master, I have a problem withdrawing the Divine Bamboo,” Hou Chulan explained the situation without delay. “Its mad growth and untimely upgrade is giving it a hard time controlling itself. Perhaps I’ll have to give it some time to get used to the changes. But I need to finish core withdrawal now. If I don’t reform my spiritual cores in my spiritual sea, I can’t complete my breakthrough into the Saint domain.”
Even Lu Yuxin also seemed to be at her wit’s end as she said, “I don’t know much about that Divine Bamboo… I doubt that I can help you with this.”
Just as Hou Chulan was going to say something, she received another soul message from the Divine Bamboo.
The Divine Bamboo demanded that Nie Tian enter her domain!
Enveloped in her domain, Hou Chulan called out, “Nie Tian! Will you come here for a moment?!”
Surprised, Nie Tian asked, “Me?”
Huang Jinnan’s expression flickered as well. “What is she trying to do? She’ll face many more risks if you enter her transforming domain! Even if a cultivator who practices the same power and incantations as her enters her domain at this moment, his or her aura might trigger catastrophic changes in her unstable domain!”
Lou Hongyan’s face grew grim, as she also found her decision hard to understand.
He Lianxiong’s eyes couldn’t be wider. He also couldn’t fathom what was happening.
“Come on!” Hou Chulan urged him loudly.
After a moment of hesitation, Nie Tian sprang into the sky, flew over to Hou Chulan, and slowly descended towards her domain under everyone’s concerned gazes.
Before he reached the center of her domain, Hou Chulan shouted, “Stop!”
Nie Tian instantly stopped his descent.
It was also at this moment that he noticed that the Divine Bamboo that had grown significantly longer was only about a dozen meters underneath him.
Emanating a precious light, the green Divine Bamboo suddenly unleashed a gravitational force.
Without any fault of his own, wisps of his flesh power that carried the profound truths of life flew out of him downwards into the Divine Bamboo.
As soon as the wisps of crimson flesh power fused into the Divine Bamboo, it blossomed with dazzling light, making it look even more out of this world.
Nie Tian could stop his flesh power from fusing into the Divine Bamboo, or back away from it so that it wouldn’t be able to channel his flesh power that carried the mysteries of life.
However, he didn’t do so.
Instead, he took it upon himself to spare more flesh power and use it to nourish the Divine Bamboo.
Nie Tian couldn’t help but wonder. “My flesh power carries the wonders of life. That Divine Flame asked for my Blood Essence. Yin Yanan’s Frost Blood Python yearned for my flesh power… The Nine Stars Flower, Godspirit Tree sapling, and flame spark… They all grew vigorously inside of me. Not only has my bloodline awakened the Flame Dragon Armor’s Blood Core, but it has also triggered changes in the Bone Blood Demon and the Star Behemoth bone.
“Does this mean my unique bloodline has an awakening effect on all treasures like them?”
The thought thrilled him.
“Both flesh power and wood power can be considered wonders of life. Is the Divine Bamboo tapping into my flesh power because my flesh power is really going to help senior martial sister complete core withdrawal?”
Wisp after wisp of flesh power continued to fly from him into the Divine Bamboo.
Under everyone’s gaze, the Divine Bamboo manifested an unprecedented radiance. Even though it didn’t continue growing, it seemed to be undergoing fundamental changes.
It grew increasingly translucent and sparkling, and emanated increasingly fascinating light.
Overjoyed, Hou Chulan exclaimed, “That’s it! It worked!”
