Chapter Sixty-Six: The Divine Power of Flourishing Years, Arrival of the Lord of Plagues (Special Release! Please Subscribe!)

The following morning.

On Chisong Mountain, deep within the Spirit Spring Valley.

The clear spring bubbled up from the wellhead, its waters streaming along several winding brooks that led toward the medicine fields nestled within various Daoist palaces.

A weathered, ancient bitter apricot tree and a cold, proud white plum tree stood tall on opposite banks of the spring, forming two natural focal points for the flow of energy.

The air was thick with the essence of spiritual herbs, gathering in the void above as auspicious clouds and mist.

Bai Yi stood beneath the white plum tree, taking a deep breath of the medicinal fragrance, which instantly sent a mild, intoxicating warmth rushing to her cheeks.

She gazed at the scene before her—a sight of otherworldly beauty—and for a moment was lost in awe. She had never imagined that in less than half a month, this place could transform from a barren, thorn-infested wasteland into a land blessed like a mountain of the immortals.

Such a feat was nothing short of miraculous, the work of a true immortal on earth.

With this thought, her gaze drifted to a spot not far away.

There, several hundred paces from the white plum, the Daoist disciples had cleared a vast expanse of land, where hundreds of five-inch apricot saplings had been planted.

Amidst these saplings stood Lin You, clad in a flowing blue Daoist robe. He seemed almost ethereal, like a recluse immortal untouched by the mundane world.

He walked leisurely among the saplings and medicine fields, surveying them with a discerning eye. Each planting had been arranged according to his design, tracing the veins of the spirit spring, with clear order and pleasing harmony.

Meanwhile, Elder Yujing and the disciples had shed their formal robes and now watched Lin You intently from afar, each carrying a large bamboo basket.

In the eyes of the disciples, Lin You was no longer merely a revered elder; he was practically an immortal incarnate. Now, witnessing him perform divine arts, they could scarcely keep their eyes from bursting with eager anticipation.

Under their expectant gazes, Lin You's aura grew ever more lofty and inscrutable, as if he was merging with heaven and earth itself.

Then, his figure began to slowly "vanish" from their sight.

But this vanishing was not that he disappeared from their eyes; rather, although he stood right before them, they could no longer sense his presence at all, as if he had dissolved into nature itself.

His heart one with heaven, his form one with the Dao!

Since stepping through the gateway of the Immortal Path, Lin You's connection with Chisong Daoist Sanctuary had grown ever deeper, and his understanding of heaven and earth ever more profound.

Once, he could only "use" the sanctuary; now, he could "command" it.

With this mastery, employing the sanctuary's power to channel his arts required far less energy, while the effects were multiplied many times over.

In that moment, thirty-six streams of true qi wove and flowed about him, connecting as if to the world itself, each imbued with mysterious profundity.

Within his mind's sea, the small tree glowed with a gentle radiance, acting as a living bridge between his true qi and the forces of heaven and earth.

On the branch, the jade leaf of divine art shone with brilliant light, the great Dao seemingly circulating within it.

As Lin You activated his art, an area a mile in radius centered on him suddenly felt cut off from the rest of the world.

Within that space, the order of the seasons and the flow of time seemed to accelerate a thousandfold in an instant.

All eyes were riveted by the scene unfolding within that pocket realm.

It was as if they witnessed the withering and flourishing of plants, the fleeting passage of time.

In but a single heartbeat, the spiritual herbs and apricot saplings within that domain appeared to have weathered more than a decade of change.

New shoots burst forth, leaves fell and grew anew, blossoms bloomed and bore fruit.

It was as if a ripple had arisen in the river of time.

"Am I dreaming?" a disciple murmured in disbelief.

Staring at the apricot saplings he himself had planted, now flourishing and laden with fruit in the blink of an eye, as if they had truly endured ten years of seasons, he was overwhelmed with incredulity.

Even the others—Elder Yujing included, though she had witnessed Lin You's mysterious arts before—stood with mouths agape, unable to close them for a long time.

"Uncle-Master Yuchen is truly an immortal," murmured Qingyangzi, his gaze reverent.

He recalled when this uncle-master first arrived at Chisong Daoist Palace: back then, the sanctuary faced crisis within and without, teetering on the edge of ruin.

Since the arrival of this uncle-master, not only had the palace's decline been reversed, and several elders broken through to new realms, but even he himself had achieved the rank of grandmaster just the day before.

It seemed as if the very land itself was undergoing transformation, becoming ever more akin to a mountain of immortals.

A mountain is renowned not for its height, but for the immortals dwelling upon it. Water is revered not for its depth, but for the dragons within.

It is not that people become immortals by residing on a mountain, but that a mountain is sanctified by the immortals who dwell there.

As the moment of flourishing and withering faded, a rich apricot fragrance spread through the air, making mouths water involuntarily.

Within that apricot scent was an even stronger aroma of rare medicinal herbs.

The precious spiritual plants in the surrounding fields also became more vibrant and potent in that fleeting instant, their medicinal power greatly enhanced.

Lin You gazed upon the apricot grove now heavy with fruit and couldn't help but marvel at the extraordinary power of the Withering and Flourishing Divine Art.

To manipulate the flow of seasons and time in this way was almost beyond mortal comprehension.

He could only wonder at the origins of that jade cup.

Glancing at the sky, Lin You saw that noon was not far off.

He turned to Elder Yujing and said, "Senior brother, you may have the disciples harvest the apricots now."

Elder Yujing quickly instructed the disciples to bring their bamboo baskets and begin picking the large, ripe apricots.

Even Yujing and Yuyin themselves couldn't help joining in; the joy of such a harvest was simply irresistible.

As soon as Lin You finished, Bai Yi hurried over, her curiosity piqued. "Master, you’ve cultivated so many apricots—do you plan to trade them?"

Lin You smiled and shook his head, then pointed at the apricot trees and asked, "Fellow Daoist Bai Yi, do you know how many apricots a single tree can bear?"

Bai Yi counted carefully and replied, "About three hundred."

Lin You nodded, his gaze distant, and gestured toward the grove. "Within this apricot grove, there are precisely twelve thousand eight hundred apricots. They may not be true spirit apricots, but they are worthy of being called medicinal apricots."

Bai Yi's eyes widened—wouldn't this bring the Daoist palace untold wealth?

Lin You seemed to read her thoughts and laughed gently. "If you tend to them with care, a single apricot seed could one day yield thousands, even tens of thousands of apricot trees. A bitter apricot forest can ward off disaster and disease, protecting an entire region. How could such things be compared to mere wealth?"

Bai Yi nodded, still a little confused, but she knew that whatever Master was doing must certainly be a very, very good thing.

Moments later, the disciples had picked every last apricot from the grove.

Over ten thousand apricots filled more than eighty large bamboo baskets. Fortunately, all the disciples had recently advanced in their martial cultivation, so carrying the heavy loads was not too difficult.

Otherwise, transporting them down the mountain would have been a cumbersome task.

—

At that very moment, a young man draped in the ceremonial robes of the Plague Sect arrived at the foot of Chisong Mountain.

Liu Wen tilted his head to study the peak, noting the lush pines and verdant cypresses, a stark contrast to the withered hills nearby.

"That scoundrel didn’t deceive me—this place is indeed remarkable."

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