When Gu Changsheng left the small world, the Fusang Divine Tree, embedded in the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, visibly sprouted slender roots. These roots burrowed into the soil, expanding and contracting as if breathing, greedily absorbing the energy provided by the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.
Before long, a bud emerged from the other end exposed to the air. Once the bud appeared, the Fusang Divine Tree—or rather, the Fusang Divine Sapling, as it should now be called—actively ceased absorbing energy, as if it had eaten too much and needed to digest before continuing.
“Don't be upset; it’s not like I forgot you on purpose, it's just that I had too much to do!”
Just then, Gu Changsheng returned, but this time accompanied by a divine herb, the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir.
The Azure Dragon Undying Elixir had been absorbing longevity essence from the Gu family to restore itself to an undying celestial herb. Upon learning that its master had created a world filled with Nine Heavens Breathing Soil, it pleaded and begged Gu Changsheng to bring it along.
Gu Changsheng had indeed forgotten about the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir, though whether it was truly due to “having too much to do” was something only Houtu knew.
But the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir genuinely believed him, because when it first followed Gu Changsheng, he was still ruling the universe, and he was indeed very busy. So, even though it felt a bit neglected, it understood.
After all, its master was the Holy Emperor revered by all races!
Gu Changsheng sensed the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir's belief and couldn't help but smile wryly. It was just as gullible as it had been back then.
He hadn't even become an emperor yet, and he had already tricked the Great Emperor's exclusive undying divine herb into joining him with just a few words.
“Oh!”
Gu Changsheng saw the sprouted Fusang Divine Sapling and said in surprise, “As expected of the number one spiritual soil; it sprouted so quickly! But to grow into a Fusang Divine Tree capable of nurturing ten Golden Crows at the Breaking Dao Realm, it will still take too long.”
Gu Changsheng wore a contemplative expression. According to his calculations, from now until the birth of ten Golden Crows at the Breaking Dao Realm, it would take at least two Chaos Epochs.
The chaos world he was in had already experienced eighteen Chaos Epoch Calamities and was now entering the end of the nineteenth Chaos Epoch.
And the duration of each Chaos Epoch was different. The first Chaos Epoch, when the Ancestral Dragon and others were born, was the longest, lasting over a hundred billion years.
The remaining Chaos Epochs averaged around forty billion years each. Two Chaos Epochs meant that it would take at least eighty billion years for the Fusang Divine Tree to grow to the point of nurturing ten Golden Crows at the Breaking Dao Realm, and the current Chaos Epoch was only about ten thousand years away from the Epoch Calamity.
He could only use time acceleration!
“Whoosh!”
At that moment, the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir eagerly plunged into the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.
“Get up, why are you so close to it?” Gu Changsheng saw that the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir had rooted itself only a few hundred feet away from the Fusang Divine Sapling and couldn't help but smile wryly.
“Buzz!”
The Azure Dragon Undying Elixir sent out a divine thought.
Gu Changsheng's expression immediately turned strange.
“How do you know it's a little sister?” Gu Changsheng asked, amused that the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir had told him it wanted to take care of its Fusang sister.
How could plants be distinguished by gender?
“Buzz, buzz!”
The Azure Dragon Undying Elixir sent out two more divine thoughts. After listening, Gu Changsheng said helplessly, “Alright, but don't steal your… Fusang sister's nutrients, or she'll become malnourished.”
The Azure Dragon Undying Elixir nodded, even using a leaf to give Gu Changsheng an OK sign and gently patting the Fusang Divine Sapling to reassure him.
Gu Changsheng shook his head with a wry smile. The two divine thoughts from the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir had left him amused and exasperated.
The first divine thought was simple: the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir said it had its own way of distinguishing gender.
The second one was outrageous; it actually said it wanted to take the Fusang sister as a child bride!
This made Gu Changsheng wonder if he hadn't been paying enough attention to it, causing it to feel lonely and develop such bizarre ideas.
However, Gu Changsheng ignored it, as long as they didn't interfere with each other's growth. Besides, he was also curious about how two different kinds of plants would fall in love.
…
Meanwhile, Tuoba Yu'er was flying all over the Gu family, something the Gu family members had become accustomed to.
“Hi, everyone!” Tuoba Yu'er waved and greeted the Gu family members.
“Greetings, Holy Maiden!”
The Gu family members also greeted Tuoba Yu'er.
Tuoba Yu'er giggled and sped up. She had a secret base.
“The Holy Maiden is going to the forbidden area again.”
“Yes, but there's nothing in the back mountain forbidden area except the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree and the Ancestor's Azure Dragon Undying Elixir. She's probably going to play with the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir.”
“But I just saw the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir leaving with the Ancestor?”
“Really?”
“I swear, I definitely didn't see wrong.”
“Then the Holy Maiden is going to be disappointed.”
…
Gu Family Forbidden Area.
Tuoba Yu'er skillfully avoided the numerous restrictions and easily entered the forbidden area.
“Azure Dragon, I'm here! Today, I'm not only going to tell you stories, but I also brought you the peach blossom wine that Holy Emperor Uncle gave me. It smells so good… Azure Dragon?”
“Huh? Not here?”
Tuoba Yu'er looked at the forbidden area, which now only contained the Enlightenment Ancient Tea Tree, and a puzzled expression appeared on her pretty face.
“What a pity, it's not here. I even specially prepared a love story about a scholar and a caterpillar for you!”
Tuoba Yu'er muttered.
In the shadows, Gu Changsheng had just emerged from the small world and heard Tuoba Yu'er mumbling something. After hearing her words, he was certain why the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir wanted a “child bride”—it was completely influenced by Tuoba Yu'er's stories.
A love story about a scholar and a caterpillar?
Even accepting a story about different species, no wonder the Azure Dragon Undying Elixir was interested in the “Fusang sister.” At least they were both plants!
It had been led astray!
“Cough, cough!”
Gu Changsheng walked out and coughed twice.
“Oh, Uncle Master, why are you here? Great, the Azure Dragon isn't here. Uncle Master, listen to me tell you a story!” Tuoba Yu'er walked up to Gu Changsheng excitedly.
“Spare me the love story about a scholar and a caterpillar!” Gu Changsheng said sternly.
“Uncle Master doesn't like that one? I also have a love story about a scholar and a stick insect, a love story about a scholar and a stink bug, a scholar and…”
“Stop, stop, stop! Don't you have any stories about people? Human and demon is fine too, but why are they all about scholars and bugs?” Gu Changsheng interrupted Tuoba Yu'er, afraid that she would continue and he would be unable to resist suppressing her.
“Uncle Master, do you like hearing these stories? I'll go find some.”
After speaking, Tuoba Yu'er was about to leave, but Gu Changsheng stopped her.
“No need, I don't like listening to stories,” Gu Changsheng said.
“Oh, really?” A trace of disappointment flashed across Tuoba Yu'er's face.
“Uncle Master, if there's nothing else, I'll leave,” Tuoba Yu'er said.
“Don't be in such a hurry, keep Uncle Master company and chat,” Gu Changsheng said with a smile.
“Okay, okay!” Tuoba Yu'er immediately agreed, a bright smile appearing on her face.
It seemed like she hadn't chatted with anyone in a long time.
