Chapter 7: Acquiring the Bitter Bamboo

Redcloud “looked” at the lingering threads of tribulation energy swirling around him, drifting in all directions, laden with malice. Gazing again at the innate spiritual root in the cold pool, he understood the current state of the Bitter Bamboo and realized why, when he broke the formation earlier, no formation spirit had intervened. The great formation outside was likely born from the Bitter Bamboo itself, an innate spiritual array, its purpose to conceal and hide its existence. The master spirit of the formation was, naturally, this innate spiritual root.

Now, its state clearly resembled the ordeal faced earlier by the Innate Gourd Vine, also one of the ten great innate spiritual roots. Yet, this situation was clearly superior: at least Redcloud could still sense a faint true spirit within the Bitter Bamboo. Its tribulation had evidently been overcome! Yet, even so, its condition was hardly better: the green snake was likely the companion spirit of the Bitter Bamboo, their fates intertwined, sharing both fortune and loss. Judging by its appearance, the snake was already running on mere instinct, its true spirit nearly dissipated.

With the innate spiritual root nearly within reach, Redcloud’s thoughts swirled endlessly. Yet, after much reflection, he refrained from taking it by force. Perceiving the tribulation energy around him suddenly behaving abnormally, he carefully adjusted his crimson Daoist robe and bowed deeply to the Bitter Bamboo:

“Friend Bitter Bamboo, I am Daoist Redcloud from Huoyun Immortal Palace, Mount Kongtong, in the Eastern Continent of the Great Desolation. I greet you. You have just survived one calamity, and another arises. Not every enlightened being will seek to negotiate as I do. If you delay your decision any longer, unforeseen changes may occur.”

Upon hearing Redcloud’s words, the emerald glow about the Bitter Bamboo dimmed noticeably. The green snake lying atop the cold pool, sensing a faint threat, mustered its strength to coil around the bamboo, its serpent eyes burning with fury.

Seeing this, Redcloud knew that no amount of clever speech could surpass the weight of truth, so he spoke earnestly:

“Why do you still hesitate, my friend? In the workings of the Great Dao, out of fifty, one is always hidden. If you continue to waver, you may lose your chance, and all hope will vanish. As long as you are willing, I will do all within my power to support you, and together we shall seek the ultimate Dao!”

As one of the ten great innate spiritual roots of the Great Desolation, Bitter Bamboo naturally possessed the wisdom to seek fortune and avoid disaster. Sensing subtle changes in its surroundings, it finally shook its stalk, its verdant leaves swaying gently.

A rustling sound filled the air as the bamboo leaves gradually turned yellow. All the green vitality of the plant gathered in a single leaf at the very top, its rich life force leaving Redcloud in awe.

With a crisp snapping sound, the leaf detached from the Bitter Bamboo, spiraling through the air until it landed on Redcloud’s brow.

In that instant, Redcloud felt boundless vitality explode within his sea of consciousness. The Great Dao of Life, the Dao of Wood, the Dao of Renewal—all became as tangible as objects in his palm. The previously grave expression on his face was now replaced with undisguised joy.

It was not merely the bamboo leaf itself, but what it signified: Bitter Bamboo, one of the ten great innate spiritual roots, had agreed to let him take it away! It was, in a sense, entrusting its entire being to him, choosing rebirth through surrender.

Without waiting for Redcloud to urge further, the Bitter Bamboo transformed into a streak of green light, sweeping up the cold pool and entering the leaf now imprinted on Redcloud’s forehead.

Redcloud could sense the tribulation energy in the place growing ever denser. With the Bitter Bamboo gone, the tribulation energy, lacking a host, began to disperse.

Knowing it was unsafe to linger, fearing unpredictable changes, he swept his sleeve, extending it toward the innate formation that had protected the Bitter Bamboo within this fragment of Buzhou Mountain.

The formation existed solely for the Bitter Bamboo. Now that Redcloud had gained its approval, it was as if he possessed half its true spirit. Coupled with his mastery of formation arts, it took only a few breaths for him to collect the entire formation into his sleeve.

Looking around, he realized he had left many traces of his presence. Fearing that future calculations might reveal his actions, he saw the tribulation energy begin to gather around him, forming the shadow of a giant eye. Deciding to act decisively, he took a handkerchief from his robe and tossed it downward.

“Transform!”

Redcloud activated the handkerchief, which instantly expanded to the size of the entire mountain fragment, sucking it upwards and wrapping it within, leaving behind a gaping void.

Erasing all traces would be too troublesome; it was simpler, as before, to take the entire fragment of Buzhou Mountain away. If not for the risk of his aura leaking when opening his Great Luo Celestial Grotto, he could have acted even faster.

Once the handkerchief returned to his hand, he wasted no time. Instead of using escape light, he transformed into an immortal cloud of Buzhou Mountain, drifting aimlessly for sixty years before finally steering the cloud away from Buzhou’s borders and heading back to his lair.

……

Six years after Redcloud collected the mountain fragment, two Daoists rode clouds of law to this vicinity.

“Senior brother, you say your fortune lies nearby?”

Zhun Ti’s eyes flashed with golden light as he gazed below, frowning slightly.

“I just looked, and while there are some natural treasures here, even if all were gathered, they wouldn’t match the worth of a single postnatal spiritual treasure. Surely, senior brother, you must have miscalculated?”

“This is truly odd. I previously sensed a fated opportunity for myself in this area, yet how has it vanished…”

Receiving Daoist formed a hand seal and pointed downward, sending immortal light to sweep across the entire region of Buzhou Mountain below, leaving nothing hidden from view.

This…

Zhun Ti could see his senior brother wasn’t pretending. Though their cultivation was profound, they possessed pitifully few treasures compared to other Great Luo immortals. Both were most skilled in the arts of causality. Examining the area carefully, he could glean only faint clues, and for a moment, he was uncertain.

“This is all your fault, junior brother. Had I not been protecting you as you refined and comprehended the…”

“Junior brother!” Receiving Daoist quickly cut him off before he could finish, rebuking in a low voice, “Words, once spoken, leave traces. Do you want others to covet what we seek?”

As he finished, a cold gleam appeared in his eyes, and his usually sorrowful face took on a murderous edge, his teeth clenched in frustration.

“Let’s work together to deduce the cause and effect of this place. We’ll see which fellow Daoist has meddled here!”

With that, the two sat cross-legged in the sky, forming seals with their hands, probing into the river of causality that flowed alongside the great river of time.

With all their might, their avatars stood within the river of causality, disturbing its surface, able only to see a fragment of Buzhou Mountain below being uprooted and vanishing without a trace.

Looking closer, they saw that the tribulation energy of the Bitter Bamboo, following the thread of fate, had discovered them within the web of causality.

That tribulation energy transformed into a giant eye, staring straight at them, instantly shattering that thread of fate and leaving the two of them coughing blood in disarray.