Not Lost

Su Qing gazed at the scene within her Niwan Palace, her mouth hanging open in sheer astonishment.

If it were just a fully grown Bodhi Tree, she wouldn't have been so shocked. But the situation was far more complex—her entire Niwan Palace had completely transformed.

At this moment, she found it difficult to describe the sight. If she had to put it into words... it was as if her Niwan Palace had become a celestial palace, or perhaps a Blessed Land?

To use a more accurate comparison, it was like the celestial palace of Li Shan Lao Mu.

It felt incredibly strange and wondrous to her.

Although Su Qing had let her imagination run wild and speculated about such a possibility before, it had only ever been a product of her idle fantasies. She had never truly considered it realistic.

No matter how she looked at it, opening a Blessed Land within one's own mind felt a bit too bizarre.

Thus, when this vision appeared before her eyes, she was stunned. After all, seeing fantasy manifest into reality was always somewhat surreal.

However, after the brief shock, Su Qing quickly regained her composure. There were still things that needed verification.

Since this 'Blessed Land' was inside her own head, she had to remain skeptical about whether its existence was real or illusory.

To put it another way, she needed to confirm whether she could actually enter it.

As for whom to ask, there seemed to be no one other than the Bodhi Tree in her mind.

Without hesitation, Su Qing immediately attempted to contact the Bodhi Tree within her Niwan Palace to ask what was going on.

However, when her consciousness reached out to the tree, it did not respond.

"Hmm? Has the Bodhi Tree not woken up yet?" Su Qing's brow twitched slightly, a hint of doubt rising in her heart.

While the Bodhi Tree often ignored her trivial questions, it usually responded to important and serious inquiries. It rarely ignored something of this magnitude.

Therefore, she assumed it simply hadn't awakened yet.

"Fine, I'll just ask later."

Su Qing didn't intend to try entering the internal Blessed Land before getting clear answers. It was inside her head, after all; if something went wrong, she would be the one to suffer. Caution was necessary.

Days passed in a flash.

During this time, Su Qing kept a close eye on the Bodhi Tree in her mind. She noticed that as the days went by, the tree continued to improve—becoming more lush and increasingly massive.

When it had been in the courtyard, it was the size of a normal tree. But inside her mind, its size had begun to grow... rather absurdly.

It had faintly reached the point where it could be called a towering, sky-reaching tree. It was even significantly larger than the other trees within that internal Blessed Land.

It was a sight to behold.

However, Su Qing wasn't concerned with its size; she was worried about when it would wake up. Even as its physical form grew, its consciousness showed no signs of life, which began to make her anxious.

She feared that the Bodhi Tree's consciousness might have completely vanished. After all, it had described the process as 'death'.

At first, she thought it was just a metaphor for shedding its 'external shell,' but now she wondered if it was a literal expression of its consciousness dissipating.

She couldn't be blamed for overthinking; the possibility was real.

"I hope... it's just my wild imagination," Su Qing thought, shaking her head.

Though she often found the Bodhi Tree foul-mouthed and exasperating, they had been together for many years. She didn't want it to disappear like this. It would mean losing another companion.

Having seen off too many old friends, Su Qing truly did not want to lose this one so unexpectedly.

Time flowed slowly.

In the blink of an eye, the Start of Winter arrived.

Su Qing sat in the courtyard, watching the snow drift down. She let out a long sigh.

So much time had passed, and the Bodhi Tree had shown no signs of life other than physical growth. In her heart, she had almost pronounced it dead. If its consciousness still existed, it surely would have responded to her by now.

"Has it... really vanished?" Su Qing sighed, looking at the withered tree in the courtyard.

As she stared, her vision blurred for a moment. In that brief haze, her gaze seemed to penetrate the dead wood.

She saw through the tree's internal structure and spotted a tiny sliver of life hidden deep within. It was a spark of vitality she hadn't noticed before.

It was extremely faint and buried very deep.

As for why she could suddenly see it... Su Qing was certain the Bodhi Tree had done something to make it visible.

She felt lucky she hadn't immediately uprooted the withered tree. Had she done so, she never would have found this spark.

"A hidden sliver of life?"

Su Qing was momentarily stunned. In that instant, she seemed to understand something.

The Bodhi Tree really did have a backup plan.

After a brief moment of thought, Su Qing immediately performed several hand seals and cast a spell.

She was now at the Heavenly Immortal stage; even the most ordinary spell could exert power far beyond its original level in her hands.

As her magic took effect, the withered Bodhi Tree actually sprouted a single new bud. However, it was only a single bud. Shortly after it emerged, that final sliver of life vanished as well.

It was as if everything Su Qing had just done was a waste of effort.

But Su Qing didn't feel that way. Because the moment that bud sprouted, she sensed a change in the Bodhi Tree within her mind.

The change was hard to describe. If she had to, she would say the tree felt more... familiar. It was as if the original Bodhi Tree had returned.

Su Qing instinctively reached out to communicate. For a moment, she didn't know what to say, so she just sent a greeting.

The Bodhi Tree responded directly: "Thank you..."

Those two short words explained a great deal. Su Qing didn't dwell on them, simply asking, "Aren't you going to explain what's going on?"

"The external body had to be completely abandoned. The internal Bodhi Tree will give birth to a new will," the tree explained more clearly after a moment of silence.

Su Qing wasn't too surprised by this answer. Recalling their past conversations, she had already harbored such a suspicion. She had just been unwilling to believe it.

Now, it seemed her guess was correct.

"So, this was your backup plan?" Su Qing asked.

"Yes! In a sense, it is," the Bodhi Tree replied immediately. "After all, didn't I say it? I didn't want to completely vanish either."

"I see... I really underestimated you. I thought... you were truly gone."

"Everyone wants to live, and I am no different," the Bodhi Tree said calmly. "Besides, I don't want to hand my mission over to a version of me that is completely different."

"Oh? Speaking of which, now that you've returned to the 'Bodhi Tree,' does that mean the new will won't be born?"

"No... she will still be born. I cannot stop that. The most I can do is coexist with her," the Bodhi Tree replied with a hint of dejection.

Clearly, it had wanted to eliminate the new consciousness but found it impossible.

Su Qing nodded, realizing her mind was going to get very crowded in the future.

"By the way, won't it be strange for you—or rather, both of you—to stay in my Niwan Palace? Won't it get noisy?"

"Please do not compare us to those chatterbox Little Sparrows. Unless necessary, I will only stay within the Niwan Palace Grotto-Heaven to protect you."

"Protect me?"

"The purpose of my existence is to deal with a Great Tribulation... helping you survive it. So, naturally, I am protecting you."

"Put that way, it makes sense," Su Qing nodded.

The Bodhi Tree had indeed helped her a lot with tribulations, like the Three Calamities she faced previously.

"But now that you're in my Niwan Palace, can you still function like before?"

"Actually, it's much more convenient now. At least you don't have to worry about leaving me behind at home," the Bodhi Tree replied quickly.

Su Qing's lips twitched. Leaving you at home? You're a tree! Do you think it's convenient to carry you around? Besides, you have a huge appetite! I don't have that much food for you in my Sleeve Universe.

Despite the internal complaints, Su Qing didn't say them out loud.

The Bodhi Tree projected a feeling of rolling its eyes and continued, "I am very tired and need to rest for a while. If you have more questions, ask them now. I'm afraid that once I fall asleep, you'll come and disturb me again."

Su Qing smiled helplessly and quickly asked the few questions she had in mind.

"This is your Niwan Palace, so your physical body cannot enter. However, you can enter this Niwan Palace Grotto-Heaven with your Divine Sense Body..."

The Bodhi Tree pondered for a moment before adding:

"Do not think of this as a true Blessed Land. To put it simply, it is still your consciousness space, just one that appears to have been opened into a Grotto-Heaven. However..."

"However, for you, immersing your divine sense into this 'Grotto-Heaven' to cultivate is possible. It can even yield twice the results with half the effort... because I am here to assist your cultivation."

"But it is impossible for anyone else to enter."

Su Qing's eyebrows rose at the answer. It seemed her earlier guess about it being a standard Blessed Land was mostly debunked. Still, even if it wasn't a conventional one, it was certainly unique.

Su Qing nodded. "Alright! I think I understand. Go ahead and rest then."

The Bodhi Tree, knowing Su Qing had no more questions, asked one last time just to be sure she wouldn't be interrupted. Upon receiving Su Qing's confirmation, it fell silent.

Su Qing clearly felt the tree's consciousness withdraw into its form, becoming exceptionally quiet. She finally let out a sigh of relief.

"That's one more worry off my mind," she thought, exhaling a breath of turbid air.

Beside her, Yudie noticed the change in her mood and said with a smile, "Mother, has the knot in your heart been untied?"

Su Qing gently ruffled the girl's hair and said, "Yes, it has. By the way, that Bodhi Tree can be cleared away in a few days. Since it's withered, there's no need to keep it in the courtyard."

"Mhm, okay Mother," Yudie nodded. "But it's such a shame. It was such a good tree, yet it withered for no reason. And without it, the spiritual energy in our yard has dropped a lot. Even the spirit herbs are growing much slower."

The spirit herbs in the garden had always relied on the Bodhi Tree to accelerate their growth. Now that the external tree was dead and the new one was inside Su Qing's head, it could no longer nourish the garden.

"Life is unpredictable!" Su Qing smiled. "But it's gone, so be it. We'll find other ways to speed up the herbs' growth."

"Mhm, if Mother doesn't mind, then Yudie doesn't either!" Yudie said brightly. "I'll clear the tree away in a few days then."

Su Qing nodded, praised Yudie for a moment, and then moved on to other topics.