Chapter 8: Spiritual Roots Emerge from Dust, Auspicious Grass Appears, and Beautiful Countenance Manifests

  Here is the translation:

  Now, let's talk about Zhenyuanzi and Pangu parting ways. He then gathered his emotions and traveled alone through the vast expanse of Hongmeng. Fortunately, after another yuanhui period, Zhenyuanzi had already refined the remaining 16 layers of prohibition on the tripod furnace given by Pangu, which could be stored in the Purple Mansion, transformed at will, and used freely. This tripod furnace has a total of 28 layers of prohibition, although the treasure itself is not yet complete, it has already reached the standard of the pre-heavenly treasures of later generations, and is only one line away from the divine instrument of Zhen teaching. Its power is vast and its defense is extraordinary. With this treasure by his side, Zhenyuanzi not only doesn't have to worry about having nowhere to store the items he collects, but also, with the help of this treasure, ordinary chaotic winds and calamitous thunderbolts no longer pose a threat to him, and he can protect himself without worry.

  Through the refinement of the precious tripod, Zhenyuanzi had a deeper understanding of the Great Way, and his Taoist practice had made significant progress. Moreover, Zhenyuanzi could now devote himself to contemplating the Hongmeng Purple Qi bestowed upon him by Pangu. It is worth noting that the value of this purple qi far surpasses that of ordinary treasures, and it can be said that it is a path to sainthood. For so long, Zhenyuanzi had been focused on refining the tripod and had not even grasped one-tenth of the purple qi's essence. Now, with some leisure time, he could focus on contemplating it while traveling.

  It was as if time had stood still, and he didn't know how long it had been. Suddenly, his spiritual consciousness, immersed in the purple mist of the Hongmeng, felt a special sensation through the Ginseng fruit tree that was constantly absorbing spiritual energy from the tripod furnace. In the midst of the chaotic spiritual energy, there seemed to be an indescribable feeling, although it wasn't as exciting and thrilling as when he had encountered the calabaza root, but it was more familiar and intimate. Zhenyuanzi's heart skipped a beat: There must be another treasure nearby.

  Following the sensation for not a long time, I saw in front of me a huge dust haze covering everything, with no up or down, left or right, as big as a ball, probably tens of millions of zhang. Inside it was extremely turbid, vague and dim, all was dark yellow dust, neither sinking nor floating, neither drifting nor falling.

  "Huh? Could it be that there's a sandstorm in the Hongmeng as well? It's really too similar!" Zhenyuanzi couldn't help but recall memories of his past life, and thought to himself.

  The sandstorm in the Hongmeng is certainly different from the ordinary sandstorms in the mortal world. It stands still like a mountain, with a majestic and powerful aura, although it appears to be floating, it has a sense of solemnity.

  Hongmeng's product, can there be an ordinary product? This principle is known to Zhenyuanzi, so he doesn't dare to underestimate or rush forward. In fact, this dust also has the essence of Hunyuan's innate earth element and has the ability to give birth and nurture, its function is not inferior to Hunyuan's breath. The two are mutually complementary, each with its own wonderful use. However, such a treasure is still not the reason for Zhenyuanzi to come forward. The object that Zhenyuanzi senses is obviously not this dust, but somewhere in the dust.

  If it were in the past, Zhenyuanzi would have been helpless against this dust. But now that he has refined the cauldron, dealing with it is as easy as turning his hand over. Seeing Zhenyuanzi patting the back of his head, the gray cauldron flew out from behind his head. Zhenyuanzi pointed at the cauldron, and the cauldron rotated in mid-air, facing the dust with its mouth, spitting out black and white light. Wherever it passed, the dust was sucked in, leaving not a single thread behind.

  As the dust entered the tripod furnace, it revealed its innate ability to nourish and grow. The ginseng fruit tree and calabaza vine in the tripod furnace were nurtured by this dust, and their growth was even more rapid. The first calabaza on the vine had already turned golden yellow, but a hint of green was still visible, indicating that there was still room for further growth. The second flower on the vine had already formed a green fruit, and the third new flower had bloomed.

  However, at this time, Zhen Yuansu had no time to pay attention to the situation in the cauldron. After all the dust and dirt were removed, the treasure hidden inside revealed its true appearance, instantly attracting his full attention.

  "Carrot! Carrot! This is the real carrot!"

  In the midst of chaos, there stands an object, its entire body a bright yellow color. On top, it has sparse flowers and few leaves, with slender branches that are only several meters high. However, its roots stretch for hundreds of meters, with a massive trunk that resembles a human figure, with five distinct limbs, a clear head and neck, and even discernible facial features. Its body is covered in round protrusions resembling pearls, with spiral purple stripes wrapped around it. At the end of its roots, countless long whiskers hang down, emitting a unique fragrance that is both sweet and bitter. This is precisely the aura that Zhenyuanzi sensed.

  It seems like this, I'm afraid at least one more yuan will be added.

  "The king of all herbs! The ancestor of ginseng! It has a great affinity with me! No wonder it can evoke a sympathetic response in my heart!" Zhenyuanzi exclaimed.

  Originally, this ginseng can be called the first ginseng in the primordial chaos, but it is not the first ginseng in the primordial chaos. What is it? Someone's ginseng root was before, and it is the ginseng fruit tree of Zhenyuanzi! However, Zhenyuanzi's ginseng root obtained the great Taoist machine, had a great creation, and grew into a ginseng fruit tree, which can no longer be considered a true ginseng. Therefore, it can also be said that this ginseng is the first ginseng in the primordial chaos. Both were born in the primordial chaos, with different creations and different appearances, and their functions are not completely similar. However, strictly speaking, the two are still of the same root and species.

  It is indeed:

  Carrots were before carrots existed.

  Yin and yang create and transform differently.

  One delight is the lightness of fruit trees.

  One throw makes it muddy as the earth.

  The immortal peach can increase one's lifespan by thousands of years.

  The purple whiskers can grow for tens of thousands of years.

  All are priceless treasures of the immortal family.

  Wuzhuangguan obtains longevity.

  Zhenyuanzi used the tripod furnace to obtain the first true purple-ginseng in the chaotic world, and then thought: "The king of a hundred herbs has appeared, yin and yang are harmonious, and after a hundred herbs, it should also be nearby. Let's search carefully." So he searched carefully around him, and indeed felt a special breath again.

  After a while, I saw a large and majestic lingzhi growing on top of a withered tree trunk. Its stem was as thick as a giant pillar, its leaves layered like a pagoda, tens of feet high, with six colors: purple, red, blue, yellow, white, and black, displaying various strange shapes, like stone, wood, grass, flesh, and mushroom. The purple one looked like a snail shell, the red one like coral, the green one like a peacock feather, the yellow one like gold, the white one like ivory, and the black one like lacquer, all shining brightly and transparently, emitting waves of auspicious light and aura, dazzling to behold. Compared to that human-shaped ginseng, it lacked some solemnity and dignity, but had even more luxurious and noble air.

  Zhenyuanzi praised: "It's indeed worthy of being the descendant of Baicao and the auspicious grass of the immortal family, its quality is extraordinary!"

  The withered wood that grew there, however, was equally astonishing to Zhenyuanzi. It should be known that Zhenyuanzi's original body was a ginseng fruit tree that had grown not long after the birth of the universe, born before all other trees, and except for a few rare heavenly spiritual roots, it could also be called the ancestor of all trees. However, this withered wood was neither any kind of wooden spiritual root known to Zhenyuanzi, nor did its formation occur after that of Zhenyuanzi's ginseng fruit tree. Such an ancient tree with a great origin, yet it was unknown why it had suffered a calamity, lost its vitality, and only this withered wood remained. Although it was just a withered wood, it still emitted waves of oppressive and primordial spiritual energy.

  These lingzhi and dead wood, both have extraordinary origins, making Zhenyuanzi dare not underestimate them.

  Zhenyuanzi was about to throw out the tripod and cauldron, and just as he was about to put away these two treasures, a hoarse cry came from beside him, and a living creature shot towards him.

  Upon closer inspection, it was a small snake, its entire body red, with one eye and one horn, baring its teeth and biting towards Zhenyuanzi.

  Zhenyuanzi was already a true immortal of Daluo, how could he be afraid? However, this was the first time he had been attacked in Hongmeng, and he didn't dare to be careless. He secretly used his cauldron to guard himself from head to toe. Suddenly, there was a dull thud, and the small snake retreated several feet, its mouth tightly closed. In its eyes, there was a hint of fear, clearly it had suffered a setback.

  Apart from Pangu, Zhenyuanzi met the first creature with spiritual awareness in the chaos and felt a few points of intimacy in his heart, so he didn't force it either, but stood still. He thought that if possible, he would subdue it, and then traveling through the chaos wouldn't be so lonely.

  Although he had a near-death experience with a venomous snake, he didn't particularly like snakes. However, compared to Hongmeng's silence, he could barely tolerate them.

  However, this little snake, although it had not been formed for long and its spiritual wisdom had not yet opened, also knew the importance of this lingzhi to it. It looked at the lingzhi with a glance, suddenly opened its mouth, and shot out a water arrow!

  "The Lingzhi likes to be wet, and there must be a source of chaotic water nearby. It's definitely been obtained by this little snake!" Zhenyuanzi saw at a glance that the water arrow was not an ordinary product, but the essence of the original chaotic water, with one drop weighing several billion catties. If it were an ordinary immortal path, just touching it would cause the body to shatter and the soul to scatter. However, for Zhenyuanzi, it was still a top-grade material for refining equipment. Zhenyuanzi didn't dare to be slow, and with a slap on the back of his head, he released the cauldron and collected the water arrow."

  That little snake spouted dozens of times, all of which were collected by Zhenyuanzi. It was a great bargain for Zhenyuanzi. In his heart, Zhenyuanzi secretly rejoiced, hoping that the little snake could spray a few more times. However, he saw that it was gradually exhausting its strength and apparently had not much left.

  That little snake wasn't an idiot either. Seeing that the water arrow couldn't capture Zhenyuanzi, it suddenly became serious, stood up on its hind legs, and with a fierce hiss, a ball of flames shot out from its mouth, attacking Zhenyuanzi.

  "Dragon Candle! It's Dragon Candle!" Zhenyuanzi suddenly remembered the allusion from his previous life upon seeing this ball of flames.

  The candle dragon was born in the midst of chaos, with great magical powers. Legend has it that it had a human face and a snake's body, with a candle in its mouth, which could illuminate the chaos. When it closed its eyes, it was dark, and when it opened them, it was bright. Opening its eyes became day, and closing them became night. Its mighty power can be imagined.

  However, it currently doesn't have that kind of power, and even spitting out this ball of flames seems to be extremely strenuous, clearly not having refined it yet.

  This flame is much more precious than the previous water arrow. It's necessary to know that fire is the source of civilization, and later generations' cooking, utensil-making, and harmony with the universe all rely on fire, which has great cause and effect, and great merit. Moreover, this is the only pre-heavenly flame in the chaos, the ancestor of fire, with immense power, and it's also because of this flame that Chulong can cultivate his great divine powers and look down upon the chaos.

  Zhenyuan Zifu saw this small snake and initially thought of capturing it, keeping it by his side to alleviate boredom. However, upon seeing the ball of firelight, he realized that this snake was actually a Candle Dragon. This realization instantly dispelled his previous thoughts. The Candle Dragon is a great deity in the midst of chaos, yet due to entanglements with karma, it's difficult for it to achieve its true form. If he were to keep it by his side, it would truly be a calamity without end.

  The town's master had made up his mind and was about to take action when suddenly something unexpected happened.

  Only to see the tripod furnace in the air suddenly tremble, facing that group of flames, emitting a burst of buzzing sounds, as if it was about to escape from Zhenyuanzi's grasp.

  It is indeed:

  The spirit root emerges from the dusty veil.

  The beauty of the lotus flower is reflected in her face.

  Tripod furnace swallows water and fire

  A wise eye can distinguish between snakes and dragons.