Gou Dao and Cultivation of Immortals, Start from Farming

Within the Chaos Treasure Palace, the gray Dao light receded like the tide.

Li Mu sat cross-legged beneath the towering Dao tree, his eyes closed, his aura gradually calming down from its chaotic state.

"All heretical doctrines are dissolved, and chaos returns to its true nature."

Li Mu opened his eyes and woke up, his face showing joy.

The next moment, the Chaos Dao Tree behind him trembled violently, and the nine layers of the "Chaos Creation Diagram" on the main trunk suddenly came to life. The clear and the turbid separated, the five elements rotated, the stars were arranged, and the mountains and rivers took shape... Layers of Dao rhyme surged like a waterfall, rushing up from the roots of the tree and penetrating the entire Dao Tree, while the Chaos Dao Fire subsided.

The Chaos Dao Tree's countless roots continued to extend, deeply penetrating the vast earth and fully absorbing the primordial energy of the earth. The injury to his Dao was completely resolved, and Li Mu had no more worries.

Within a radius of tens of millions of miles, the flow of primordial energy suddenly intensified, forcibly drawn out by the roots of the Chaos Dao Tree and surging wildly into its roots.

The Chaos Dao Tree frantically refined the primordial energy of the vast earth, causing its trunk to grow wildly at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Two hundred and thirty million zhang... two hundred and fifty million zhang... three hundred and fifty million zhang... In just over a hundred days, the Chaos Dao Tree broke through the five hundred million zhang barrier, and its growth momentum showed no signs of slowing down.

The canopy of the Chaos Dao Tree spread out like clouds hanging from the sky, with each Chaos Dao leaf stretching to tens of thousands of feet, thirty thousand feet, fifty thousand feet... The spiritual light flowing between the veins of the leaves gradually changed from gray to a mixture of five colors: red, blue, black, white, and yellow, faintly revealing various other colors such as purple lightning, emerald green, ethereal white, and dark shadows, evolving into the scene of the five elements rotating and all things being born and dying.

Li Mu's aura steadily increased, his Dao foundation in the mid-stage of the Dao Integration Realm was completely solidified, and he was steadily moving towards the late-stage of the Dao Integration Realm.

"Chaos is the root, and all realms are the leaves. Only today do we know what the Great Dao is."

Li Mu smiled and gestured, causing the Primordial Dao Fruit on the branch to shine brightly. The "Chaotic Myriad Realms Map" on its surface became several times clearer, fully displaying the grandeur of each realm: the Ice and Snow Fox Realm had ten thousand miles of crystal-clear glaciers, the Vajra Ape Realm had a hundred thousand towering mountains, and the Profound Water Dragon Realm had a vast ocean; the Myriad Manifestations Puppet Realm had a surging sea of ​​data light, and the Myriad Gu Insect Realm was filled with insect spirits... All thirty-six realms had grown from nascent realm embryos into "complete great realms" with complete laws and abundant life.

……

The Realm of Ice and Snow Foxes.

Deep within the vast glaciers, the Snow Fox Ancestral Temple stands majestically.

At the core of the ancestral hall, Xue'er sat upright on the ancestral throne. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and woke up. Behind her, nine snow-white fox tails swayed slightly, connecting with the earth veins of this world. Her aura was stable at the peak of the Dao attainment stage. The Heavenly Fox Ancestral Mark between her brows flowed with moonlight, deeply connected with the origin of the realm.

On the altar in front of the palace, nine celestial fox priests, dressed in snow-white robes, chanted in unison a demonic incantation, drawing upon the extreme cold of the realm that had accumulated over hundreds of years.

At the center of the altar, a crystal-clear "Extreme Cold Dao Seed" floats, radiating a bone-chilling cold. It is the first Dao seed nurtured after the laws of the Ice and Snow Fox Realm were perfected.

"With my bloodline, I draw upon the true essence of Taiyin; with the origin of the realm, I nurture the spiritual embryo of the Dao!"

Xue'er opened her lips slightly, and her nine tails swayed behind her. Nine icy blue beams of light shot up from the tips of her tails, converging at the top of the dome and transforming into a beam of cold moonlight that fell down and was injected into the extremely cold Dao Seed.

The seed suddenly shone with a brilliant blue light, and dense Dao patterns appeared on its surface. Inside, a miniature nine-tailed snow fox phantom could be seen curled up and sleeping.

"The seed of Dao has been formed, and today the first Snow Fox Priest of the Dao Realm will be born."

Xue'er's gaze fell on the first person on the left side of the altar, a young female priestess with white hair reaching her waist and icy blue eyes, named "Frost Moon". She was the most talented among the first batch of snow foxes to be enlightened. After a thousand years of hard work, she had reached the peak of the ultimate path.

"Shuangyue, come here," Xue'er called out.

"Yes!" Shuangyue bowed and stepped into the center of the altar, looking up respectfully at the Fox Ancestor - Xue'er, her eyes filled with piety.

Xue'er raised her hand and gestured, and the Dao Seed floated up and quickly entered Shuangyue's brow.

In an instant, a blinding blue light burst forth from Frost Moon's body, resonating with the vast glaciers. The extreme cold laws of the realm flowed into her body like rivers converging into the sea. The barrier to the pinnacle of the ultimate path shattered in response, and her aura surged upwards. Behind her, a three-hundred-foot-tall nine-tailed snow fox dharma image appeared, its eyes icy blue, faintly echoing the ten-thousand-foot-tall dharma image above the ancestral hall.

The Dao Realm has been achieved!
Shuangyue opened her eyes and bowed deeply to Xue'er: "Shuangyue thanks the Ancestor for bestowing the Dao."

Xue'er nodded and said calmly, "From this day forward, you will be the chief priest of the Ice and Snow Fox Realm, in charge of all matters related to sacrifices, the transmission of magic, and the enactment of laws within the realm. You should cultivate diligently, guide your people, and not fail the origin of this realm."

"Frosty Moon respectfully follows the decree of the progenitor."

Shuangyue bowed respectfully again, her Daoist aura blending seamlessly with the entire Ice and Snow Fox Realm.

……

The Realm of the Golden Ape.

The Ten Thousand Mountains stand majestically, their bodies a dark gold color. At the summit of the central main peak, an ancestral temple, carved from a single piece of "diamond-black iron," stands proudly.

The plaza in front of the palace was as vast as a plain, and at this moment, 100,000 elite members of the Vajra Ape Clan had gathered.

Deep within the ancestral hall, the golden-armored giant ape transformed from Xiao Jin sat cross-legged like a mountain, with a dark golden, heavy marrow floating in front of it—the thirteenth "Vajra Essence" that was nourished after the Vajra Ape Realm's laws were perfected.

Previously, only a wisp of Vajra Essence had been derived, all of which had been refined into the body by the Azure-Eyed Golden Ape, pushing the Undying Battle Body to the Great Perfection realm. This mass was so thick that Little Golden wanted to take a risky move to break through to the legendary "ultimate form".

"The Undying Battle Body is rooted in strength and driven by the will to fight. As long as the will to fight endures, the battle body will never perish..."

Xiao Jin opened his mouth and swallowed the ball of Vajra Essence.

The next moment, the mighty Vajra Dao principles burst forth from the marrow fluid, like thousands of steel needles piercing through the meridians of the whole body. Xiao Jin's eyes burst forth with crimson-gold flames, his muscles bulged as if cast in steel, and his dark gold hair stood on end.

"war!"

The azure-eyed golden ape roared to the sky, its voice shaking the mountains. Behind it, the giant ape's Dharma form suddenly solidified, its fists grasping stars and its feet treading mountains and rivers, its pure power filling the entire realm.

Outside the secret cave, 100,000 elite apes roared in unison, their fighting spirit soaring to the sky, resonating with the ancestral mountain. The power of the entire Vajra Ape Realm surged towards the ancestral hall like a tide, pouring into its body.

"Undying Battle Body, Final State Activated!"

Xiao Jin pounded his chest with both fists, producing a deafening roar. Dark gold blood gushed out like a spring, transforming into blood-red Dao patterns that were imprinted on his skin. The giant ape dharma image on his back shrank abruptly, transforming into a crimson-gold battle pattern that was imprinted on his spine.

Xiao Jin stood up, his towering golden ape body, thousands of feet tall, stood like a mountain. When he clenched his fist, the surrounding void distorted, and pure power waves rippled out, shaking the entire ancestral hall.

The ultimate form of the Undying Battle Body has been perfected!

……

With the healing of the Dao's wounds, the Chaos Dao Tree grew rapidly, and the Dao Sources of the thirty-six realms all received the gifts of the Great Dao, approaching perfection.

At the same time, on the newly sprouted branches of the tree canopy, a hundred chaotic Dao leaves quietly unfolded, nurturing a world embryo.

These newly formed chaotic Dao leaves vary in size, some as small as a thousand feet and others exceeding ten thousand feet. Their veins are grayish, containing images of undifferentiated chaos. These are the embryonic forms of new worlds naturally conceived after the origin of the chaotic Dao tree has grown stronger.

Li Mu's mind merged with the Chaos Dao Tree, clearly perceiving the state of the hundred newly formed world embryos. They were like blank sheets of paper waiting to be written on, containing infinite possibilities. With the continuous nourishment of the Dao Source and the guidance of the laws, they could transform into a true realm. "A hundred newly formed world embryos... the Great Dao of Chaos, should diverge and evolve, each displaying its own strengths." Li Mu's eyes narrowed slightly, as if deep in thought.

Li Mu channeled his divine sense into a hundred newly formed world embryos, and under the guidance of his Daoist thoughts, each embryo was assigned an attribute, containing a chaotic branch of the Dao, including thunder and fire, mysterious ice, netherworld, illusion, longevity, thick earth, void, Geng metal, weak water, Xun wind... all kinds of great Daos were contained within them.

……

Within the Chaos Treasure Palace, time suddenly seemed to be folded and stretched by an invisible hand.

Beneath the Chaos Dao Tree, Li Mu formed hand seals, condensing the Chaos Origin Dao Seal, generating a vast temporal Dao Source, which condensed in the new world of the Dao Leaf, doubling the flow of time.

In the blink of an eye, the world changes for a hundred years!

This is the "Time Folding" technique newly comprehended by Li Mu Rong, who integrated the true meaning of Gui Cang into the chaos. It uses the characteristic of the chaotic Dao to encompass time and space to artificially accelerate the growth of the world embryo in the shortest possible time.

One hundred newly formed Chaos Dao Leaves are growing at an accelerated pace amidst the power of folded time.

The chaotic, undifferentiated state between the veins of the leaves rapidly differentiated, with the clear rising and the turbid descending, the five elements rotating, and stars spontaneously generated... A hundred days passed outside, while ten thousand years had passed inside the palace.

Ten thousand years is enough for a primordial embryo to embark on the process of initial natural evolution.

Three Dao leaves, crimson as fire, pulsate with fiery spirits, evolving into the pure "Heavenly Realm of Departing Fire"; three Dao leaves, jet black as ink, contain aura of death from the netherworld, condensing into the "Nine Netherworld Realm"; three Dao leaves, azure as jade, brimming with vitality, transform into the "Azure Realm of Longevity";...

The central branch, with its nine chaotic leaves, is particularly peculiar. The veins of the leaves are a chaotic gray, and the scene inside is both real and illusory. Sometimes mountains and rivers are upside down, sometimes the sun and moon shine together, and sometimes the phantoms of living beings are born and die in rotation.

It is the "Reincarnation Trial Realm" that Li Mu created based on his newly comprehended "Chaos Reincarnation Pattern," specifically designed to hone one's Dao heart and refine one's soul.

A hundred realms are gradually taking shape, displaying a myriad of phenomena.

Li Mu's mind divided into a hundred paths, each connected to the origin of the world. Using the chaotic Dao thought as a guide, he framed the general direction of evolution for each world, allowing it to grow freely and evolve naturally.

The way of chaos should embrace disorder in order to reveal its true meaning.

……

Time flies, and five hundred years have passed in the outside world.

Li Mu awoke from the state of assisting the evolution of the Dao principles of a hundred new world embryos. He opened his eyes, and the chaotic star vortex in his eyes had completely transformed into a deep vortex. Within the vortex, there seemed to be scenes of the birth and death of all worlds and the cycle of reincarnation.

"The five-hundred-year period is up, it's time to keep the promise to Xingyan."

Li Mu rose, his blue robe fluttering, untouched by dust.

The next moment, Li Mu took a step forward and appeared outside the Chaos Treasure Palace.

The outside world came into view: a dark and vast land, a hazy sea of ​​light hanging down, and the distant Forest of Ten Thousand Ancestors looming in the distance.

The moment Li Mu appeared, strange phenomena suddenly occurred!

With Li Mu's position as the center, the primordial energy of the vast land within a radius of hundreds of millions of miles boiled endlessly, like hundreds of rivers flowing into the sea, naturally converging and condensing into a series of hazy "primordial energy steps" in the void. The steps stretched endlessly, pointing directly towards the Star Evolution Platform.

Li Mu smiled slightly, turned around and glanced at the Chaos Dao Tree behind him.

The Chaos Dao Tree has already grown to 1.2 billion zhang. Compared with the trillion-zhang ancestral trees in the Ancestral Tree Forest, it is still a seedling, just starting out. However, the Chaos Dao Tree's roots are deeply embedded in the vast soil, and its foundation is already established. Given enough time, it will surely grow into a billion-zhang ancestral tree.

Li Mu remained calm as he stepped onto the Origin Qi Dao Steps and vanished in an instant.

In a short while, the Starry Sky Platform came into view.

Nine star skeletons floated as before, the Myriad Phenomena Star Array flowed endlessly, and the jade face of the Dao Platform reflected the dark sea of ​​light, creating a magnificent scene.

At this moment, eight figures stood silently waiting on the platform.

Haotian Daozu sat upright in the main seat of the Dao platform, his star-studded Dao robe fluttering without wind; Qingyuan Daozu sat cross-legged in the western seat, his azure light shimmering; Leiyan Daozu sat in the eastern seat, his eyes fixed on Li Mu, a mixture of surprise and doubt in them; Chaoyuan, Yinghong, Youguang, and Yeyan, the four ancestors, occupied the four directions, each with a different expression; Gu Xi sat beside an empty seat, looking at Li Mu with a kind smile on his face.

The auras of all the Dao Ancestors merged into one, like an invisible celestial curtain enveloping the Dao Platform, exuding immense pressure.

Five hundred years is a long time for ordinary people, but for beings like the Dao Ancestors, it is but a fleeting moment.

Five hundred years later, when the Dao Ancestors saw Li Mu again, they wore calm smiles and seemed unconcerned, but in reality, they were extremely shocked. Compared to when they first met at Xingyan, the level of Dao Source condensation around Li Mu was like heaven and earth.

Li Mu did not deliberately reveal his aura. He stood quietly at the edge of the platform. Behind him, an invisible Dao shadow seemed to support a chaotic area. The gray Dao light was restrained like the deep sea. Thunder patterns appeared and disappeared, green light flowed, and white light floated. All kinds of strange phenomena were integrated into the chaos as one, perfectly natural.

"Five hundred years have passed since we last met, and Fellow Daoist Li has arrived as scheduled. His Daoist aura is perfect, and his presence is even more impressive than before. This is truly a cause for celebration!" Dao Ancestor Haotian sat in the main seat, smiling and nodding in praise.

"In just five hundred years, Fellow Daoist Li has made such great progress in the Great Dao of Chaos. He has absorbed all things from the formless and returned to the true meaning of nature. I admire him greatly!" Gu Xi looked at Li Mu and nodded repeatedly in admiration.

Lei Yan Daozu gave Li Mu a deep look, snorted coldly, and said only, "It's good that you've come!"

You Guang, Ye Yan, and several other Dao Ancestors cast their gazes at them, scrutinizing or praising them, but their faces were all filled with friendly Daoist expressions, as if the "gift of source" incident from back then had never happened.

"Fellow Daoists, you have been waiting for me." Li Mu smiled slightly, bowed to the Dao Ancestors, and walked to the empty seat next to Gu Xi from back then, and sat down.

Gu Xi looked at Li Mu, stroked his beard and smiled, and secretly transmitted his voice: "Fellow Daoist Li, you have gained a lot from this seclusion!"

Li Mu slightly turned his head and replied telepathically, "Thanks to your guidance, senior, I have gained some insights."

Seeing everyone arrive, Dao Ancestor Haotian spoke first, saying, "The five-hundred-year period has ended. Today, we meet again at the Star Evolution Platform to discuss the progress of the Chaos Hub and the various preparations before the calamity. Fellow Daoist Li, I wonder how the Chaos Dao Tree has grown during these five hundred years? Has the method for constructing the Origin Qi circulation channel taken shape?"

All the Dao Ancestors focused their attention on Li Mu, confirming the effectiveness of his seclusion.

Li Mu raised his sleeve and flicked it lightly, and a chaotic light screen unfolded from his palm, revealing a majestic illusory image of a Dao tree. Its roots were embedded in the dark soil, and its branches and leaves reached into the sea of ​​light, displaying a magnificent aura. On the tree trunk, thirty-six core Dao leaves were clearly visible, shining brightly, and more than a hundred new leaf buds contained Daoist charm, showing the rudiments of various laws.

"Thanks to the Dao Sources 'gifted' by you fellow Daoists in the past, I, Li, was fortunate enough to refine them, allowing the Chaos Dao Tree to stabilize its foundation and make some progress." Li Mu looked at the Dao Ancestors, offering a meaningful expression of gratitude, and continued, "Now, the Chaos Dao Tree is over a billion feet tall, and the thirty-six core realms have all achieved perfect laws, with abundant life. It can serve as a buffer for the source Qi during calamities, and the embryos of the new hundred realms are just beginning to form, awaiting guidance and evolution. In the future, it may even be able to share the burden of the dissipating Dao Rhyme..."

"As for the source energy circulation channel—Li has comprehended the Dao principles of Guizang and Void, and has a basic understanding of the methods of sealing and guiding. Before the calamity, he should be able to differentiate into 30 root Dao patterns, and use the veins of the Star Evolution Array to initially connect with the Dao domain of the wish. However, the specific details such as the stability of the channel, the distribution of source flow, and the sharing of calamity power still need to be gradually deduced according to the actual situation of each domain."

After speaking, Li Mu withdrew his Dao Domain and looked at the Dao Ancestors without saying another word.

Upon hearing this, all the Dao Ancestors fell silent; the Star Evolution Dao Platform became so quiet you could hear a pin drop, the atmosphere strangely tense. (End of Chapter)