Chapter 397 Anomaly
Behind the Dragon and Phoenix Palace in the Danxue Mountains, Ji Rong, who had returned, once again watched Qing Pingzi engrave and type the book. After watching for half a day, she would go to the back mountain to add a page, which was very regular.
Qingpingzi has finished writing the chapter on objects and has started writing the chapter on insects.
The insect species are diverse; they can contain spiritual energy, but many species cannot truly gain intelligence and embark on the path of cultivation.
They seem to be born to provide food for many intelligent creatures, and occasionally some of them mutate into spirits, which are relatively powerful and difficult to kill.
Not long after Shan Shui left, Ji Rong's Source Regeneration Pool began to fluctuate regularly, with a small movement every half month and a large movement every three months. Having learned from her previous experience, Ji Rong was not worried. She would just glance at it and then continue with her own business.
However, the spiritual energy fed back from the tree trunk allowed Ji Rong to maintain a state of passive cultivation, especially now that she was connecting to more and more spiritual veins, and the amount of energy returning to her was also increasing.
This abnormality often caused Ji Rong to experience throbbing pain in her meridians, making her feel like a mosquito that had eaten too much but couldn't expel it. Whenever this happened, she could only sit down and rest.
Generally speaking, the state of being able to increase one's cultivation level by relying on external forces without having to cultivate oneself should appear in the first four realms. After passing the mortal and demon realms, the level one can reach depends on the cultivator's financial resources, opportunities, and awareness.
However, Ji Rong has never been normal since she began cultivating. Therefore, when she was in unbearable pain, she could only wake up Qing Pingzi and call Jiao Jue, hoping to find a solution: to allow the spiritual energy to circulate naturally in her body, break through obstacles, and smoothly enter the next realm.
Upon learning of Ji Rong's unusual behavior, Qingpingzi, who was engrossed in recording, immediately stopped writing and discussed the matter with Jiaojue.
In the end, they all agreed that Ji Rong was too young and not yet ready for a breakthrough.
After all, for someone of Ji Rong's age to achieve the King realm is already a testament to exceptional talent, and now, Ji Rong has surpassed that by a great margin.
So they both said in unison, "The ancient method of self-cultivation is to let spiritual energy constantly cleanse the meridians, and guide the excess to the spiritual platform so that it can break through on its own. Ji Rong, you give it a try."
Ji Rong did as instructed, and it worked! Every time her spiritual energy surged, she used this method to calm it down. Each time it calmed down, Ji Rong gained new insights into all things.
These insights became clearer after experiencing physical and mental suffering. Ji Rong often spoke eloquently, as if he were a walking, bird-shaped book.
Because of Ji Rong's abnormal behavior, Qingpingzi was really worried. So, he resumed his double-claw engraving mode and decided to finish engraving the "Great Compendium of Ten Thousand Races" as soon as possible to create momentum for Ji Rong.
Reputation can enhance an individual's fortune and prestige at any time. This powerful appeal, similar to the power of will, can reduce some rule-related troubles during promotion and also avoid unnecessary prying.
Jiaojue also returned to live by the tree, only leaving when there was something important to do.
Two years after Shan Shui left, Ji Rong suddenly felt something strange about the tree. She looked up and saw that the tree was swaying without wind and the branches and leaves were rustling. The spiritual energy surging in her body could no longer be suppressed, and a tearing sensation swept over every part of her body.
So she immediately called out to the horned jade lying under the tree trunk, "Big brother, move aside, if I can't hold back any longer, I'll be promoted."
Since the tree trunk was fixed in the Source Regeneration Pool and could not be stored, Ji Rong took the initiative to run towards the tree trunk and merge into it.
As soon as Ji Rong entered, she was overwhelmed by the extensive root system. The tree trunk was growing at an incredibly fast rate after entering the Source Stream Regeneration Pool! The fine, hair-like roots had already grown deeply together with the various spiritual veins.
With a single thought, Ji Rong could sense changes in soil temperature, humidity, and spiritual energy through those tiny roots;
With a single thought, Ji Rong could sense the thickness of the clouds and the intensity of the light through the dense branches and leaves.
With a single thought, Ji Rong found herself in the center of the tree, where there was a viscous substance that resembled water but was not. As she wandered through it, she felt her spirit become even stronger.
The sensation was so wonderful, as if one were living at the center of the universe, with spiritual veins, mountain paths, waterways, and airways all within the tendrils. Golden chains of order swayed on the leaves, appearing and disappearing, as if Ji Rong could pluck one off and examine it closely if she so desired.
Countless thick aerial roots sprouted from the tree trunk following this thought, poised to strike like claws.
As Ji Rong moved in, the tree's rings expanded one by one. Ji Rong discovered that the viscous substance was gradually being absorbed by her, and the tree's heart gradually became hollow.
"Will the tree die if its heartwood is hollowed out?" Ji Rong wondered, and then her bird form and celestial form appeared out of thin air and entered the inner room.
The bird said, "Fool, for a tree, what's important is the root system, not the branches. As long as there are roots, if one trunk falls, another will grow. How can it die?"
The celestial being spoke up, "What does it matter to us whether we live or die? This place is warm and comfortable, and it can shelter us from the wind and rain. It's the best place to live."
As soon as the bird-bodied and celestial-bodied beings entered, Ji Rong felt as if she had eyes and could "see" them. It was a luminous bird and a luminous little person talking on either side of her.
But what they said was rather strange, so Ji Rong said, "Am I not a tree?"
The bird laughed and said, "You're really silly. When did you become a tree? You just possess it."
That day, the human body also said, "Now is the time for this tree to return to the earth."
Ji Rong then asked, "You say I'm not a tree, then what am I?"
The bird said, "You were born from a bird's egg, so naturally you are a bird."
That day, the human said, "If you feel in your heart that you are a person, then you can be a person."
"And what about this tree?"
"Own it."
"Irrigate it."
"Let it grow to the sky."
......
The bird-like body and the celestial body spoke one sentence at a time, faster and faster, until Ji Rong couldn't hear them anymore. Ji Rong found these two clones extremely noisy, and they even started teaching her how to do things instead of Tian Gang!
“That’s right,” Ji Rong thought, “How could they be teaching me how to do things? I’ve transformed into three bodies before, and back then I knew what each body was going to say and what actions it would take. Their every move was a manifestation of my inner thoughts. But this situation is not right!”
With this thought in mind, she looked around and tried to connect with her surroundings, but the bird-bodied and celestial-bodied figures remained standing on either side, calling out, making it impossible for Ji Rong to calm down.
"How dare you! You're so noisy! You're just a part of me, it's not your place to tell me what to do!" Ji Rong shouted, and the bird body and the celestial body softened little by little like tattered sacks, with viscous liquid flowing out from their bodies and filling the tree trunk again.
As soon as the liquid was released, Ji Rong felt her entire soul enveloped in warmth once again, feeling drowsy and sleepy. But whenever she wanted to sleep, a cool sensation would surge within her soul, restoring her to a state of clarity.
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