Chapter 8: Rivers Near, Distant Mountains—Refining the Gourd
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In the realm of the Great Desolation, the center is Mount Buzhou, from which the four cardinal directions—east, south, west, and north—are divided.
These four regions are known as the Eastern Divine Continent, the Southern Verdant Continent, the Western Ox Continent, and the Northern Reed Continent. Beyond these four continents lies the Four Seas.
When the great Pan Gu first cleaved open the heavens, the Great Desolation was not as it appears today. The reason for the division into four continents stems from the final transformation during the first immeasurable catastrophe of the Dragon-Han era.
At the end of that calamity, the spiritual energy of the west was ignited, turning it into a barren land. Thus, the Great Desolation suffered, and four immense fissures appeared across the earth.
Seeing that these fissures could not be mended even by the greatest powers, they were used to delineate the four continents, establishing their origins.
The Eastern Divine Continent is home to countless treasures, most concealed by formations and rarely seen; only those with extraordinary fortune may encounter them.
Among these treasures lies an immortal mountain, a rare paradise known as Kongdong.
As the saying goes, "North of the Dipper lies Kongdong," and beneath the stars, atop Kongdong Mountain, there stands a most hidden palace.
This is the Fiery Cloud Immortal Palace of Grandmaster Hongyun.
Hongyun, transformed into cloud, returned; with a single movement, he arrived at the palace.
The gates stood wide open. Upon entering, Hongyun was greeted by the rising and falling sounds of snoring, and a trace of helplessness stirred in his heart.
“Ahem!”
He straightened his robes, feeling quite pleased, cleared his throat, and saw the other only smack their lips twice, sighing softly.
“Near Water, Distant Mountain!”
“We’re here!”
“We’re here!”
At Hongyun’s call, the two young attendants jolted awake and instinctively responded.
They looked at Hongyun, the sleepiness in their eyes vanishing, replaced by delight.
“Master has returned!”
You two little rascals...
Seeing them bounce toward him, he could not bring himself to scold them for their sloth; yet, he donned a stern face, avoided their gaze, and with a slight calculation in his mind, understood all that had transpired:
“Do you still remember my instructions before I departed, to guard that furnace of immortal pills?”
Near Water, the little girl attendant, knew at once that the truth was exposed, and without trying to deceive Hongyun, replied dryly,
“The pills were finished, but they smelled so good... so we ate them.”
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“And what about the few mysterious Yin ice sturgeons in the northwest corner of the palace?”
“Ate them...”
“And the crystalline pears from the palace orchard?”
“Ate them...”
...
Hongyun questioned every item, from spiritual pills and treasures to immortal fruits and fine brews—most had been pilfered by these two little ones.
After feasting and drinking their fill, they had slept deeply; if Hongyun had not returned, who knows how long their slumber would have lasted.
“You two truly won't let anyone else have a thing.”
Hongyun, seeing their faces full of agreement, found it amusing. Having returned with treasures himself, his mood was excellent, and he finally laughed heartily:
“Enough, enough, I won’t punish you today. Go clear out the spiritual insects and herbs in the palace’s medicine garden; let this serve as a lesson.”
Alright!
Near Water and Distant Mountain had expected their master to punish them by copying Daoist scriptures as before, and had been dejected.
Hearing this, they exchanged glances, delight shining in their eyes.
Hongyun had no inclination to discipline the two children further, his mind occupied with the gains from his journey. He left them a warning and vanished:
“Don’t slack off. When I emerge from seclusion, I will inspect.”
...
Deep within the palace lay Hongyun’s place of seclusion.
Within layers of formations, Hongyun summoned the large crimson gourd he had acquired from the innate gourd vine, and gently patted it.
“Fellow Daoist, won’t you come out?”
Buzz...
The crimson gourd, sensing Hongyun’s touch, quivered slightly. Its mouth opened, and a ray of spiritual light floated forth.
Seeing this, Hongyun squinted, speculating. Without peeling apart the light, he could see the seven-colored gourd seed within.
From the seed came a subtle movement, transforming into an intent that reached out to Hongyun, whose eyes narrowed as he listened.
At last, he nodded slightly, a touch of admiration in his gaze, and extended his palm:
“Such a marvelous feat—escaping death by deceiving heaven itself—truly admirable.”
The gourd seed hesitated briefly, then settled in his palm. The crimson gourd floated back before him.
Hongyun pondered a moment, then tossed the seed into the bamboo leaf at the center of his brow.
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After sending a strand of divine sense into the bitter bamboo, he threw the gourd seed into the muddy depths of the cold pool.
As spiritual roots complement each other, these were the best conditions he could provide.
Now, for the first time, he could truly examine his large crimson gourd.
...
Wonderful, truly wonderful—worthy of being the famed treasure of my previous life.
Hongyun gently stroked the gourd, satisfaction written across his face: three feet three inches, the entire gourd was fiery red and crystal-clear.
Within the gourd was a domain rivaling that of a nascent Da Luo—if one were to lay an innate grand formation inside, its power would be extraordinary.
Moreover, the gourd’s belly held eighty-one large crimson gourd seeds, and the inner lining shimmered with seven colors.
This must be the extra boon gained previously.
If, in time, he truly refined it into a spiritual treasure, its power...
He calculated silently, knowing this was no time for distractions, so he focused, carving upon the crimson gourd.
With the blessing of the time formation, a hundred years passed in an instant, millennia flew by, and the embryo of the gourd spiritual treasure was formed.
He thought carefully, cut a lock of red hair, and refined it into the gourd.
With a slight shake, the hair transformed into red sand, merging with the eighty-one gourd seeds, linking them together.
Drawing upon his own experience with formations and his insights into the innate companion grand formation of the bitter bamboo spiritual root, he embedded them, forming a formidable trap-and-slaughter formation.
At this point, the crimson gourd was not yet fully refined; it lacked the final "eye-opening" method.
Though it was one of the seven-colored gourds on the innate gourd vine, a spiritual root is still a spiritual root—once divided, it cannot become a treasure on its own.
What was missing was a trace of indestructible spiritual light from the Da Luo realm.
Hongyun looked at the crystal-red gourd, moved, and opened the three flowers upon his neck, plucked a petal, and with a gentle twist, sent it forward.
The petal transformed into specks of indestructible spiritual light, all falling into the gourd’s mouth. On its surface, the aura of tribulation began to appear.
Let it be named the Crimson Cloud Soul-Dispelling Gourd of Nine-Nine.
Hongyun gazed at the naturally formed spiritual treasure, delighting in his heart.
I truly am a genius at naming.
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