The Essence of Dharma

The platform has an odd shape; it's an irregular triangle.

The platform is divided into three layers, with the outermost layer being the largest.

Kneeling on the highest level of the platform was a barbarian with a long, black headdress pointing upwards, wearing a snow-white robe embroidered with the patterns of the Myojin Torii gate, his face painted with white powder, and his lips blood-red.

This guy knelt on the stage for a long time, talking nonsense, then stood up and jumped around, finally bumping his head in the south.

All the barbarians followed his movement, kneeling and kowtowing to the south, piously shouting, "Supreme God!"

After the barbarians finished their worship, they each entered the "Thousand Lakes Wasteland" to the north in their pre-arranged groups.

......

Beside a marshland on the southern outskirts of the "Thousand Lakes Wasteland," two groups of barbarians, each a hundred strong, are parting ways.

"Mr. Ma, you're in luck this time during the hunt!"

The short, stocky Aoi Niu patted Ozawa Masashi's shoulder forcefully and said with a grin.

Ozawa Masashi shoved Aoi Niu Er, his face relaxed, but he said irritably.

"What kind of good luck is this? If we can't catch any prey, we'll have to pay for it ourselves. That would be a huge loss!"

"How come I can't hit it!"

Aoi Niu Er let out an exaggerated, strange cry.

"Takeda-kun said there would be no resistance there, only fleeing!"

As Aoi Niu Er spoke, he patted the family crest embroidered on Ozawa Mali's chest.

"Go, Ma Li! Let's work together this hunt and get lots of prey to bring glory to our clan!"

Ozawa Masahiro also said, "May the gods protect you! Niu Er-kun, keep up the good work!"

After the two groups of barbarians separated, they were divided into dozens of small teams under the arrangement of Ozawa Mali and Aoi Niu Er, and they used a net-like approach to invade the "Thousand Lakes Wasteland".

......

Deep within the mountain behind the third peak of Qifeng Mountain, Xu Yunxin sat cross-legged, intently staring at the system panel.

[Advancing: Progress 99.8%......99.9%......100%!]

[Advanced Level Completed!]

[The essence of the Dharma has been extracted; shall we extract it?]

"Pick it!"

[Retrieved successfully...]

As the system notification appeared, a tall, majestic, and entirely golden phantom tree suddenly appeared before Xu Yunxin's eyes.

On the crown of this golden Buddha tree, a fruit with a reddish-gold skin and shimmering with five-colored light is ripening.

The fruit, only the size of a three-pointed cherry, had already fallen from the tree canopy and landed directly on Xu Yunxin's forehead.

"Snap!"

The fruit touched Xu Yunxin's brow and disappeared instantly, leaving only a very faint sound, like the sound of raindrops falling or the sound of bells being struck.

The fruit fell between Xu Yunxin's eyebrows and instantly blossomed.

In an instant, within Xu Yunxin's spiritual sea of ​​consciousness, five colors—green, red, yellow, white, and black—condensed into precious light, necklaces, pearls, copper coins, and gourds, all supported by golden lotuses.

These golden lotus flowers, scattered like petals, fell towards the spiritual phenomenon—the World Tree Sprout—that was Xu Yunxin's incarnation.

The golden lotus containing the gourd and the pearl fell quickly, and before Xu Yunxin could react, it had already passed by the World Tree Sprout and disappeared.

"You have to catch it yourself!?"

The golden lotus fell very quickly, and in that brief moment of hesitation, only a small portion of it remained on the sea of ​​consciousness.

Xu Yunxin had no time to feel annoyed. He hurriedly focused on the golden lotus closest to him, which contained two jewels, and stretched out his tiny World Tree bud to catch it.

After the golden lotus touched Xu Yunxin's mental phenomenon, it immediately merged into his mental phenomenon.

The tiny World Tree bud suddenly trembled, and a dazzling light burst forth from its entire spiritual sea.

Xu Yunxin suddenly gained a wealth of information and insights, like a hidden mountain of knowledge emerging from the water, which now belonged entirely to him.

This also made him instantly aware of the name of the Dharma that the two necklaces represented.

"It's 'Whispers of the Forest' and 'Manipulating Wood and Soil'!"

Just as Xu Yunxin clearly sensed the two essences of Dharma he had captured, he noticed an extremely abundant surge of spiritual energy gushing out from his spiritual sea of ​​consciousness.

They are those fallen golden lotuses!

These spiritual energies flowed into his meridians, spontaneously circulating throughout his body.

Xu Yunxin had a sudden inspiration and immediately began to circulate the spiritual power within his body and this abundant spiritual energy together to launch an attack on the mid-stage Qi Refining barrier!

It's unclear whether it was because the spiritual energy transformed from the golden lotus was too pure and abundant, or because Xu Yunxin's accumulation was already sufficient.

The four-layered barrier of Qi is like an eggshell; it shatters with the slightest tap.

The falling spiritual energy surged like a tidal wave, rushing into the fifth level of Qi Refining, and then to the sixth level before finally subsiding!

Xu Yunxin absorbed all of this spiritual energy into his own spiritual power, and his Qi Refining Level 6 realm has been stabilized.

Then the spiritual energy within him surged into the previously unrefined corners of his body, beginning to further transform his physical form.

This transformation was incredibly comfortable, like having countless soft, gentle hands giving him a deep massage.

Once the spiritual energy within his body subsided, Xu Yunxin opened his eyes again.

Suddenly, I felt that my eyes could see farther and more clearly and meticulously.

He had grown taller, his muscles were more toned, and his limbs were full of power.

After sensing his body, he opened the system to check.

[World Tree Buds: Xu Yunxin]

[Class: Druid LV5 (6.64/1000)]

【Lifespan: 16/110】

[Cultivation Level: Qi Refining Level 6]

[Destiny: Harmony with nature, drawing from nature, and companionship with animals.]

[World Tree Sprout: Golden Buddha Tree (Red), Growth Rate 0% (Can be increased by consuming Red Essence).]

[Spell: Whispers of the Forest, Manipulation of Wood and Earth. (Cannot be upgraded)]

[Skill: Wild Transformation LV0 (31/100)]

[Skill: Animal Spirit Contract LV2 (Available), already contracted with a Tier 2 low-grade spirit beast, Crimson-tailed Green Serpent (mutant species, bloodline evolution level: 13.5‰), number of spirit contracts (1).]

[Skill: Mist Breathing Clouds LV0 (1/100)]

【技能：世界树赐福LV0（36/500）消耗本源使用（10颗/1次）】

[Original Source: 0 (Red); 144.63 (White)]

[Nature's Blessing: 1‰]

Focusing on the spell, more detailed information is available.

[Whispers of the Forest: Listen to the whispers of the forest and feel the heart of all the trees (the range of perception is related to one's cultivation level; currently, it can perceive a radius of ten feet around the body).]

[Manipulating Wood and Soil: Allows the user to manipulate trees and soil, change the shape of trees, and bestow spirituality upon them (not permanent; the bestowal of spirituality is related to cultivation level, and cannot be granted at the current cultivation level).]

"Is it related to the level of magical power?"

With a slight thought, Xu Yunxin transformed some soil around him into a sharp spike, which shot out with a "whoosh" and slammed into the cave wall.

Xu Yunxin tried his best again and found that he could currently condense at most twenty spikes in an instant, or create a solid earthen shield one foot thick.

Although I can't test its specific power yet, the feeling of learning it directly without any training is just amazing!

If he had had that ability back then, he would have definitely become the top scholar in the imperial examination!