Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

Five hundred years have passed in the blink of an eye. Deep within the Chaos Treasure Palace, the mysterious gate formed by condensed ice crystals quietly opened, silently and without a sound, yet it seemed like a rift in the heavens, opening from the ancient cold abyss.

A figure slowly emerged from the cocoon formed by the extreme cold Daoist aura. Her body condensed into nine tails, and she wore a white dress. It was Xue'er, who had been in seclusion for many years. With a light touch of her jade feet, nine frost flowers, like an inverted Milky Way, flowed endlessly around her body. Her aura contained the true meaning of extreme cold. Behind her, the nine tails swayed, and flowers bloomed in the void with each step. Ice crystals bloomed and withered in an instant, just like the wheel of fate turning silently.

With his bloodline returning to its ancestral form, the Nine Extremes Celestial Fox Dharma Body was perfected, and the ultimate realm was achieved in a single day, causing heaven and earth to bow down in his presence.

Xue'er opened her icy eyes slightly, her divine sense surging like a tide, gazing at the Chaos Dao Tree above the Treasure Mansion that pierced through reality and illusion. The unknown lands extending from its roots were extremely yin and cold, and extremely yang and intensely hot... More than ten realms, like stars guarding them, were all firmly maintained by that invisible root, together weaving a Dao net that spanned several realms.

Xue'er's heart trembled violently.

With the Chaos Dao Tree as its root, more than ten realms are scattered like stars in the sky, their Dao principles connected, their realm powers complementing each other, and their Dao rhythms mutually generating each other; this is no ordinary rule, but rather the creation of a nascent universe with supreme power!

Before heaven and earth were separated, at the very beginning of the primordial chaos, it was nothing more than this.

Xue'er's gaze shifted, finally settling on the figure in green robes deep within the Spirit Garden.

Li Mu stood with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering lightly in the chaotic air currents. Behind him, a phantom of a chaotic Dao tree, seemingly real yet illusory, floated silently. Its roots, like writhing dragons, were deeply embedded in the endless void, connecting all realms, while its branches reached into the unknowable realm, as if supporting the eternal sky and bearing the destiny of all heavens.

Xue'er parted her lips slightly, her figure swayed slightly, and she transformed into human form. Dressed in white, pure as snow and spotless, she moved gracefully and quietly appeared beside Li Mu. Her icy eyes, reflecting a strange light, asked in surprise, "Brother Li, where does this tree... lead now?"

Li Mu lowered his eyes, his gaze seemingly sparkling like a river of stars. He reached out and stroked her flowing black hair, smiling as he said, "When your cultivation advances further, I will take you to the treetops so we can enjoy the scenery beyond the Dao."

Before the words were finished, the two figures had vanished. When they reappeared, they were already in the Spirit Garden at the core of the Chaos Treasure Palace.

This place is entirely different from the battles and carnage of the outside world; the chaotic energy transforms into a misty spiritual fog, swirling among the jade-like herbs and immortal flowers, nourishing countless innate spiritual plants that have long since vanished from the heavens. Streams murmur, their waters resonating like the soft chimes of jade chimes, their Daoist sounds echoing, soothing the soul. Several innate spiritual roots stretch out their branches and leaves, absorbing and releasing the primordial chaos, each vein seemingly engraved with the ultimate truths of heaven and earth.

The two strolled hand in hand, wandering among the flowers, silent for a moment, with only the gentle sounds of Taoist chants filling the air, a scene of serene beauty.

Xue'er nestled against Li Mu's shoulder, feeling the surging, extremely cold Dao power within her body resonate harmoniously with this world. This tranquility was merely a moment of peace before the storm; the Daoist couple had plotted for eternity, conquering all heavens, and the beauty of this world would eventually be replaced by a new storm.

Just as the two were enjoying a moment of peace, the more than ten realms maintained by the roots of the Chaos Dao Tree were operating at an unprecedented speed.

Golden Puppet Realm, Myriad Machine Heavenly City.

The "Forging Platform" hangs high above the metal sky, roaring incessantly; the embers of the Xuan Yuan Jin Realm are like dragons, and the "Divine Thought Crystals" of the Huan Ling Realm are like stars, all pouring into the body of the new generation of "Chaotic God Puppet". The strange patterns intertwine, causing the golden energy of the whole world to resonate.
The Xuan Yuan Ash Realm, the core of the Chaos Ash City.

The "Emberfire Refining Tower" is ten thousand feet tall, with the "Core of Time" rotating at its top. It was forged from fragments of the Time Ruins Realm. The flow of time inside the tower is subtly adjusted. One day outside is equivalent to several decades or even hundreds of years inside the tower. Countless elites from immortal dynasties have been cultivating here, their auras rising steadily, and signs of breaking through realms are frequently revealed.

Beneath the Time Ruins, beneath the Great Tower of Time.

The array masters and puppet craftsmen joined forces to embed the "illusory and real Dao patterns" of the Illusionary Spirit Realm into time nodes stabilized by the Chaotic Dao Root; the chaotic time currents are being gradually transformed into "Time Secret Realms" that can aid in enlightenment, accumulating foundations for future conquests.

The Realm of Illusions, the City of Illusions.

Inside the "Illusory Trial Hall," cultivators of the Immortal Dynasty confront their inner demons amidst a labyrinthine illusion, their Dao hearts growing ever stronger through collapse and reconstruction. Outside the hall, in the plaza, the newly formed "Divine Soul Legion," led by the Illusory Puppet Guards under Mingyue's command, practices an invisible divine thought attack technique. Their killing intent is intangible, yet powerful enough to tear apart even gods…

A mysterious rhythm quietly spread from the center of the Chaos Treasure Palace, pulsating throughout the entire domain network like a heartbeat.

Inside the Spirit Garden, Xue'er was bending down to gently smell a "Nine Apertures Lotus" when she suddenly looked up, her icy eyes narrowing slightly.

"Brother Li, is the Dao Tree acting strangely? Has something happened?"

Li Mu remained unmoved, his gaze still fixed on the waterfall formed by the chaotic spiritual liquid, as if he had already seen through everything. He gestured and said, "It's alright. There are many extraordinary people and events in the Three Thousand Main Realms. They are testing each other's boundaries."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mu lightly raised his fingertip, and a wisp of chaotic energy escaped and disappeared into the void.

In an instant, the subtle friction of laws among all realms vanished, the roots of the Chaos Dao Tree swayed gently, emanating a Daoist charm that encompassed all things, and the illusory image of the Dao Tree became perfectly harmonious and unobstructed.

Xue'er felt a chill run down her spine; her Daoist partner's control over the foundation of this realm was already incredibly precise.

“This ‘interconnected worlds’ situation,” Li Mu said with a slight smile, “is more interesting than I expected.”

Li Mu's gaze seemed to pierce through the void, reaching beyond the interconnected patterns to the depths of endless chaos. He smiled and gestured, "The collision, adaptation, and fusion of the three thousand main realms... this process itself is a manifestation of the wonders of creation."

After speaking, Li Mu looked at Xue'er with gentle eyes and asked with concern, "You have just attained the ultimate path, have you had any insights?"

Xue'er pondered for a moment, her body swirling with an extremely cold Daoist aura, and ice crystals condensed into intricate Daoist patterns in the void. "I can now control my power at will. However... I feel that the path of this body is not limited to cold."

Li Mu nodded, his eyes flashing with approval, and praised, "The Nine Extremes Celestial Fox bloodline is a unique species of heaven and earth, inherently close to the Great Dao. Extreme cold is the origin of your bloodline, but it is not the end of the Dao."

"Chaos encompasses everything and can transform into all things. Your way lies in the balance between 'ice' and 'fire,' 'stillness' and 'movement,' 'birth' and 'death.'"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mu condensed his chaotic domain in his palm and began to demonstrate the transformation of the Dao principles for it.

Xue'er gazed intently, absorbed in Li Mu's performance.

At that moment, the two of them almost simultaneously had a thought and looked towards the direction of the Illusionary Realm.

Above that dreamlike realm, pure air rose, and a pure and vast spiritual thought soared into the sky. Though it was fleeting, it carried the peace and joy of breaking free from shackles and attaining great freedom.

That was the will of heaven and earth of the Illusionary Spirit Realm, which, under the nourishment of the Chaos Dao Tree and the cleansing of the fortunes of all realms, shed its resentment and regained its spirituality!
This move was like the finishing touch on a painting. The various realms, which were originally unified by great power, now have an inner harmony. The flow of laws has become less contrived and more mysterious, a product of nature's creation.

A smile appeared in Li Mu's eyes as he gently pulled Xue'er into his arms, gesturing with a smile, "Your foundation is solid, and your potential is beginning to emerge. Once your realm is stable, I will take you to travel through all the realms." Xue'er nestled in his arms, her icy eyes filled with dependence.

However, the peace did not last long.

The "Star Chart of All Realms" located at the core of the Treasure Mansion suddenly rippled. On the star chart, the known territories were brightly lit, while in the unlit darkness, a point of blood-red light quietly flashed and then disappeared.

The fluctuation was extremely subtle and fleeting, yet it did not escape Li Mu's perception.

Xue'er sensed something; a chill permeated her body, and the temperature in the Spirit Garden plummeted.

Li Mu patted her back gently, and the chill vanished instantly. He took Xue'er's hand and softly said, "Today, let's not talk about war, but only about romance."

After saying that, Li Mu led Xue'er to a corner of the Spirit Garden, took a tea table made of Chaos Stone, dug some spiritual soil next to it, and took out a glass-like seed containing seven-colored light and the power of dreams.

"This is the 'Dreamlike Ephemeral Flower,' obtained from the depths of the Illusionary Spirit Realm. It blooms only once every ten thousand years, reflecting the image of the heart." Li Mu handed the seed to Xue'er. "Today, you and I will plant it together."

Xue'er took the seed; it was warm to the touch. The two bent down and together planted the seed in the spiritual soil. Li Mu drew upon the Chaos Spiritual Spring to irrigate it, while Xue'er covered it with a thin layer of frost using her extremely cold Daoist energy, locking in its vitality.

They exchanged a smile, and a tacit understanding arose spontaneously.

Beside the tea table, elegant tea sets are displayed. The tea leaves are the tender leaves of the Chaos Dao Tree, nourished by the ancient chaotic energy, containing the true essence of the Great Dao. The boiling water is the Three Lights Divine Water, and the teapot is made from the Xuanhuang Mother Qi Root.

Boiling water and brewing tea are done with effortless grace, revealing a natural and profound artistic conception. The tea soup is as murky as mist, but upon closer inspection, one can see countless points of radiant light and subtle, ethereal patterns.

"Xue'er, please." Li Mu pushed the cup towards her.

Xue'er picked it up, took a gentle sniff, and her mind became clear; she took a small sip, and a warm current flowed through her body, quietly smoothing out the cracks in her cultivation.

Sitting face to face under the moon, they would discuss the mysteries of the "Taoist Way," with Li Mu dissecting the laws in a simple and profound way, or reminisce about their first encounter. The aroma of tea wafted through the air, and the sounds of Taoism echoed softly. Only the reflections in each other's eyes remained clear and vivid.

The tranquility was suddenly broken, and the swirling spiritual mist within the Chaos Treasure Palace paused slightly.

Mingyue's figure suddenly appeared, her silver armor covered in frost, a layer of deep worry etched on her brow. She urgently reported to Li Mu, "Master, 'Erosion Rifts' have appeared on the void walls connecting the three realms—the easternmost point of the Ruins Realm, the northern abyss of the Illusionary Spirit Realm, and the western border of the Profound Abyss Realm! A dark power is seeping in from the other side, its nature strange and cold, not belonging to any known force. It is feared that... the power of another realm has invaded!"

With a flick of his finger, Mingyue unfurled a screen of light, revealing the scenes of three boundary walls. The once stable boundary walls now resembled rotten silk, with dark, spiderweb-like cracks appearing on them. Wisps of black energy crawled and probed like living creatures, causing the laws of the boundary to distort and stagnate wherever they passed. Even the Daoist energy of the roots extending from the Chaos Dao Tree seemed to be disturbed by an invisible force, its flow obstructed.

Data flowed through Mingyue's golden eyes, and the analysis report stated: "The aura of the three realm rifts is of the same origin, and the erosion method is also exactly the same. Its power is similar to a kind of 'parasitic' and 'tampering' method, which attempts to dismantle the realms from the level of fundamental laws. I deduce that it is probably because the manifestation of the Chaos Dao Tree has caused the aura of the interconnected realms to leak out, attracting the attention of some 'predators' roaming in the depths of chaos."

Li Mu's gaze darkened slightly, but he was not surprised by this. The interconnected worlds and their intertwined fortunes acted like a lighthouse. How could they remain hidden for long among the three thousand main worlds?
Li Mu slightly closed his eyes, and his aura instantly became ethereal and lofty. An invisible and intangible yet vast divine thought, as boundless as the starry sea, spread out along the roots of the Chaos Dao Tree, traversing layers of void, and reaching the three violently fluctuating boundary nodes.

The moment the divine sense touched the rift, countless chaotic and distorted fragments of information poured in.

...It was a shattered continent adrift in endless haze. The sky hung low, adorned with nine dark, irregularly shaped "eclipsing moons." The earth was riddled with holes, flowing with viscous, decaying torrents. Countless distorted, half-real shadows darted through the haze, devouring light, devouring spiritual energy, even...devouring the very concept of "existence." The laws here exhibited a chilling "inertia," and all things tended towards annihilation and nothingness...

...Perception detected a faint, chilling will that transcended all living beings. It dwelled in the crevices of the three thousand main realms, like a lurking spider queen, extending its tentacles to other worlds through countless "corrosion rifts," drawing nourishment and expanding the territory of its "Domain of Annihilation." Its power was characterized by erosion, assimilation, and the reduction of all things to "nothingness"...

Li Mu withdrew his divine sense, opened his eyes, and saw a chaotic vortex rising and falling in his eyes, indicating that he had already understood the root cause.

“The Ancient Realm of Lunar Eclipse.” Li Mu uttered four words, and the surrounding chaotic energy condensed: “An ancient being that feeds on the origin of a realm. Its ‘Law of Lunar Eclipse’ is adept at corrupting all paths and turning existence into nothingness; this time, it has come after smelling the scent.”

Li Mu turned his gaze to the bright moon and ordered, "Send word to Xiao Jingtian to activate the 'Interdimensional Joint Defense'; using the 'Ten Thousand Weapon Barrier' of the Golden Puppet Realm as the backbone, the 'Ember Fire' of the Profound Abyss Realm as the blade, the 'Time Sequence Lock' of the Time Ruins Realm as the network, and the 'Mind Barrier' of the Illusionary Spirit Realm as the soul, the laws of the four realms intertwine to jointly defend against external evils. Order him to select elites to form the 'Sky Patrol Guards' and carry the 'Curse-Breaking Golden Boat' to patrol the boundary walls. Anyone who encounters rifts that erode the boundary will be executed without mercy."

"Yes!"

Mingyue accepted the order, and her figure vanished in a flash.

Li Mu stood alone in the Spirit Garden, gazing into the void. His green robes fluttered without wind, and the phantom of the Chaos Dao Tree appeared behind him, its roots piercing into the endless void. The power and laws of more than ten realms resonated in unison.

The formation of the interconnected realms has just been completed when such hostile neighbors have arrived. This is a crisis, but also a whetstone for forging this "mixed fruit".

“The Ancient Realm of Lunar Eclipse… Let’s see if your ‘Path of Nothingness’ can erode my ‘Root of Chaos’.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Mu's mind stirred slightly, and the roots of the Chaos Dao Tree suddenly lit up with brilliant Dao patterns, connecting the veins of all realms. The sharpness of metal, the ferocity of fire, the flow of time, the illusion of the heart, Yin, Yang Dao, and more than a dozen Dao principles surged like rivers, converging at the three rifts in the boundary walls under the guidance of the tree roots.

At the easternmost point of the Time Ruins Realm, the void was like shattered glass. Chains of time condensed from the nothingness, wrapping around the rifts in the eroded realm, forcibly freezing the distorted flow of time.

The Sky Guardian piloted the Calamity-Breaking Golden Ship, which patrolled the area. The "Purification Talisman" engraved on the ship's hull emitted a clear light, colliding fiercely with the permeating haze and producing a piercing sound of dissolving.

In the Northern Abyss of the Illusionary Spirit Realm, a mental barrier shrouded the boundary like a light veil. Countless pure spiritual thoughts intertwined into a net. When the dark power touched the barrier, it immediately dissipated like ice and snow meeting the sun amidst bursts of shrill spiritual screams.

Mingyue personally led the Illusionary Puppet Guards to guard this place. The guards' eyes gleamed with a ghostly light, devouring all the scattered negative emotions.

At the western edge of the Xuan Yuan Jin Realm, the Wanji Barrier stands majestically, its surface ablaze with raging flames that collide violently with the decaying, turbid currents of the Eclipse Moon Ancient Realm. The Valley Master of Burning Heaven, his red hair flying, stands atop the barrier, his palms wielding raging flames that incinerate the dark aura attempting to corrupt the barrier into nothingness.

……

At the three boundary battlefields, the laws clashed, resulting in a stalemate for a time. (End of Chapter)