Although Yuan Heng felt a tiny bit embarrassed by the lotus's question, her thick skin covered it up completely.
“Ah~ Lotus, you're not like them.”
As for how they were different, she would have to check first—since when did her origin come with its own magic treasures?
Let's take a look.
Yuan “Golden-Haired Flirt” Heng kept pressing on, her tone resolute. “Just tell me, are you my one and only lotus or not?”
The White Lotus of World Cleansing thought for a moment. “Mm! I am Master's one and only!”
Yuan Heng reached out and gently smoothed its lotus petals. “That's right~ Alright, my one and only lotus, you've worked so hard protecting me for so long. Go relax in the pool for a while...”
“Your master is going to study those magic treasures of mine that can't compare to you~”
“Okay~”
The White Lotus of World Cleansing's childish voice was so sweet that it warmed Yuan Heng's heart. She looked at the lotus floating freely in the pool, her face filled with gratification.
Ah~ Her lotus was so cute.
Yuan Heng quickly summoned her treasures. Looking at the scepter, scale, and silk sash before her, she fell into deep thought.
She roughly understood where they came from.
She also learned their names—the Scepter of All-Spirits Creation, the Scale of Life Equilibrium, and the Spirit-Nurturing Ribbon.
Yuan Heng was now starting to believe that the system that ran off at the start actually wanted to help her hit it big. This power was top-notch.
Ahem, she retracted her previous assessment of it being a bootleg system.
Then she noticed that none of them could communicate with her.
Mm... As expected, Lotus was still the best. Truly formidable.
Yuan Heng began studying how to use them. The Scepter of All-Spirits Creation... hitting someone with it would probably hurt a lot.
As for the Scale of Life Equilibrium, she thought a bit more deeply about it. If she remembered correctly, it seemed capable of conditionally resurrecting living beings?
Oh my, oh my!?
That was pretty overpowered, but it seemed it shouldn't be used lightly.
As for the Spirit-Nurturing Ribbon, Yuan Heng felt it was probably meant to be used like the Armillary Sash.
It was unmatched at binding people, but for now, in her hands... it was probably just a pretty silk sash?
Mm... After getting a basic grasp of how to use them, Yuan Heng put them away.
Both she and Lotus had benefited from Fangzhang Island. Now that she had “grown into adulthood,” she naturally had to give back a little.
Thinking this, she wanted to use her spiritual power to feed life energy back into the island, but... she didn't quite know how.
How embarrassing... She wanted to form a hand seal, but she didn't even know where to put her hands, her fingers contorting into awkward shapes.
After a moment, Yuan Heng gave up. She gathered dense spiritual power mixed with her Dao charm into her palm, then slammed her hand straight down onto the ground.
“Nourish the vitality of all things—go!”
Yuan Heng funneled her power for a long time. Endless, gentle vitality surged forth from her body, flowing along the spirit veins from where she and the White Lotus of World Cleansing stood to saturate the entire island.
She only pulled her hand back once she began to feel fatigued.
Yuan Heng looked at the scene before her—lush flowers and plants, evergreen trees... The vibrant display filled her with an inexplicable joy.
“Pretty little flowers, cute plants... and little animals! Finally, there are little animals...”
“So happy~”
Grinning wide with delight, she circulated her spiritual power.
She made a few random gestures with her hands, yet somehow manifested countless radiant spirit butterflies carrying her power of vitality.
Yuan Heng gently held out her hand to catch a butterfly about to take flight, a gentle smile curving her lips. “A happy accident, I suppose...”
“Oh well. Go to where you belong.”
“Life endures without end, vitality lingers endlessly. Go, my spirit butterflies.”
Saying that, Yuan Heng dispersed them with a gentle wave of spiritual power...
A small portion of them flew toward every corner of Fangzhang Island, while the vast majority passed through the barrier, following the slowly dissipating spatial ripples to travel far into the vast Primordial World beyond.
...
Before long, a fraction of them arrived at Mount Xumi in the West.
Someone noticed them.
“Huh? Senior Brother? Look, so many butterflies...”
Ever since Demon Ancestor Luohou blew up the western spirit veins, spiritual energy had scattered... The land here was cracked and dry, vegetation sparse, and deathly silence reigned everywhere. How could such creatures brimming with vitality ever be nurtured here?
Jieyin looked at his junior brother's wonder-filled face and offered an answer with a warm smile. “This must be the work of the fellow Daoist who took form not long ago.”
“The Dao charm upon them isn't concealed at all, making their source easy to trace.”
Zhunti, who possessed silver hair, golden eyes, and a delicate, pure face, instantly realized the truth. “So that's it... Then that fellow Daoist is quite benevolent.”
Jieyin: “...”
“Junior Brother, if you don't know how to compliment someone, it's best not to try.”
Zhunti looked at the radiant swarm of butterflies before him, then at the desolate, godforsaken domain he shared with his senior brother, an intense ambition surfacing in his eyes.
“Senior Brother, one day, our West will also be able to nurture such beautiful little butterflies!”
Firm determination resonated in Zhunti's voice, while Jieyin wore a soft smile. “Mm. It definitely will.”
Working together as fellow disciples, they would surely bring prosperity back to the West.
As if they had found where they belonged, the spirit butterflies gradually dissipated, turning into wisps of gentle vitality that seeped into the western land.
...
East Kunlun, the Three Pure Ones' courtyard.
Unnoticed, a spirit butterfly fluttered into the courtyard, alighting upon a stone table as if to rest.
Tongtian was the first to notice it. “Eldest Brother, Second Brother, there's a butterfly here...”
“Huh? The aura around it is...”
“It must belong to the newly born being from the Eastern Sea.”
Yuanshi raised his hand, and the spirit butterfly flew from the tabletop onto his palm. The vitality it carried was genuine, and it harbored no intent of spying.
It seemed to have arrived here purely by fate.
Taiqing looked at his two younger brothers, whose eyes gleamed with curiosity, and nodded slightly. “It is her.”
The spirit butterfly quietly spread its wings, circling the three of them several times before heading straight toward Taiqing's medicine garden.
“Hey~ It's heading for the medicine garden! Eldest Brother, Second Brother, shall we go take a look?”
Tongtian was lively by nature, so seeing something interesting unfold, he immediately wanted to check it out.
Taiqing nodded, and Yuanshi reluctantly agreed. “Very well.”
Still, he couldn't help offering a word of guidance. “Third Brother, do not be overly playful. Focusing on cultivation is the true priority.”
“Aiya, Second Brother, I know, I know! Stop lecturing me.”
The three followed the spirit butterfly to Taiqing's medicine garden.
Everything looked completely ordinary until the spirit butterfly flew over to a spirit herb.
The spirit herb's stem was scorched yellow and shriveled, its leaves completely withered and cracked. All life force had been severed, and even the dropped seed was shriveled and gray, completely lifeless.
Tongtian teased with a smirk, “Yo, Eldest Brother, you actually have a plant like this in your garden?”
Taiqing glanced at his playful younger brother and said calmly, “Flowers bloom and fall in their own time.”
The spirit butterfly turned into a wisp of vitality. Rather than bringing the spirit herb back to life, it seeped entirely into that lifeless seed.
Nourished by the life force, the seed's outer shell gradually relaxed, and the dormant vitality within was awakened bit by bit.
After a moment, a tiny crack split open on its shell, and a small sprout of tender green timidly poked its head out.
“Is this... the continuation of life...”
Watching this scene, Yuanshi murmured, seemingly touched by a sudden insight.
Tongtian reached out and nudged the little seed, burying it a bit deeper into the soil. “The Dao of Life... pretty interesting.”
Taiqing fanned himself lightly, a hint of approval in his eyes. “Good.”
Tongtian & Yuanshi: “...”
Eldest Brother was truly becoming more and more reticent.
Rate on N.U.
