He firmly believed that the Great Dao leads to the heavens, rather than being a heavenly gift.

Fu Manman gained a lot.

At the moment of parting, Wenlun Ancestor’s face was full of a kindly smile. He liked Fu Manman very much. He felt that this young girl possessed a temperament vastly different from others. She gave people a feeling like the sun shining upon the world.

"What will be your course of action, senior?" Fu Manman asked with concern.

Wenlun Ancestor laughed heartily as he departed, "I have cultivated immortality once, so I shall cultivate it again."

Fu Manman watched him fade into the horizon, let out a long breath, and then floated away.

The patrol in the Changsheng Continent was about over; she felt fortunate to have met such a senior at the end. When she set out from the Changsheng Continent, she witnessed the ultimate universal immortality of the Daluo Continent, the ocean of divine techniques in the Taiyin Continent, the ethos of conflicts in Yunzhou, and the peace and tranquility of the Xue Continent.

Over the years, from Tribulation Immortals to ordinary people, she conversed with all kinds of people, delving deep into their cultivation lives, from divine techniques and cultivation techniques to insights into the Great Dao. But the deeper she looked, the more she knew, the more confused she became.

Just like Wenlun Ancestor said,

This world was too dull, with its templated cultivation system and the Dao understandings overseen by the Terminal Daoists, making cultivation seem like doing a task with only one answer.

As a Human World Executor Dao, she very much doubted whether the Terminal Daoists truly represented progress.

It wasn’t until Wenlun Ancestor explained to her that she realized that Terminal Daoists existed not for the world but for the Heavenly Dao.

The Heavenly Dao of the past was the will of all beings.

But what about now?

Before leaving, she had to indicate her presence at Tuo Mountain, a branch of the Daoist School in the Taiping Continent, to show her courtesy.

...

Unlike the small-scale force of the Wangxian Pavilion with barely a dozen people combined, Tuo Mountain was quite large. It was originally a place where cultivators from nearby came to observe and experience nature’s creations to comprehend the Dao, later transformed by the Daoist School into a Dao Mountain with several Daoist Temples, recruiting many Daoists.

Tuo Mountain interacted with external forces frequently, and most of the time, acted almost like an independent force.

Of course, the standard of Tuo Mountain was naturally not as high as the Wangxian Pavilion. After all, apart from the Immortal Continent, the overall strength of the Changsheng Continent was already considered top-tier. In contrast, the Taiping Continent, even excluding the Little South Continent, was one of the best among the bottom ranks.

At the main peak of Tuo Mountain, in the Supreme Palace,

The Mountain Master, Celestial Venerable Hongxuan, was receiving two guests from the East Continent’s He Yue Village. One was Fengxian Valley Orchid, a rising star in recent years, and the other was her master, Song Weiyu.

Celestial Venerable Hongxuan, dressed in a simple Daoist robe and holding a duster, with hair as white as a crane, showed no sign of old age, wore a very gentle smile, giving a sense of friendliness.

"Greetings to Celestial Venerable Hongxuan, I am Farmer Valley Orchid, and this is my master." Valley Orchid’s voice was thin and clean, her presence was tranquil, like someone who had spent a lifetime amidst the fields, embracing nature.

Celestial Venerable Hongxuan smiled and said, "Thank you both for coming from afar."

"It is my duty as a farmer. How could I dare to be unwilling to ensure the materials provided to the warriors of the Fallen Immortal Land have no issues." Valley Orchid’s gaze was clear, "They fight for the world and naturally deserve the best resources."

"Fengxian Valley Orchid indeed lives up to the title of Farmer Feng Immortal, truly caring for the world."

"You flatter me, Celestial Venerable. Now, please let us first see the batch of materials with issues." Valley Orchid was more concerned about this matter.

As one of the Twelve Towers and Five Cities, Tuo Mountain managed the supply management of materials from all over to the Taiping Continent. Meanwhile, the Confucian-run Changya Academy here was responsible for mobilizing and organizing personnel.

"This way, please."

Celestial Venerable Hongxuan led the two to another peak of Tuo Mountain, which was dedicated to storing supplies.

Numerous flying ships docked here, and departed from here.

The roaring sound of spirit stone engines, softened by the sound-dampening barrier, became more like a gentle mountain breeze.

The three of them entered a small world.

Inside, a vast amount of supplies were stacked, sorted into areas by raw materials, alchemy, weapons, talismans, etc. It was like a giant warehouse with many cultivators laboring in moving goods. Besides the warehouse for storing various supplies, a special warehouse was separately allocated for the batch of materials with issues.

Valley Orchid walked in for a look.

Materials sourced from various spiritual plants and beasts were neatly sorted by type. However, the materials that were supposed to exude spiritual essence gave off no spiritual essence at all, only a feeling of lifelessness and dullness.

Celestial Venerable Hongxuan replied, "Many Immortal Farmers have inspected them, including some Farmer Feng Immortals, yet none could discern the root of the issue, whether it lay in cultivation, harvesting, transportation, or storage."

Valley Orchid stepped forward to take some Jinghai Spirit Rice grains and carefully sensed them.

Her azure eyes were bright and radiant, exuding an orchid-like aura, slowly rippling from her. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

She then felt each material thoroughly before speaking to Celestial Venerable Hongxuan:

"The spiritual essence of these materials has been extracted."

Celestial Venerable Hongxuan paused, "The spiritual essence has been extracted?"

The statement was very straightforward.

Loss of spiritual essence and spiritual essence extraction are two different concepts. The former could be due to improper storage, while the latter is much more serious.

Valley Orchid said, "All these materials came from East Continent He Yue Village; they are improved varieties developed by me. Their spiritual essence is unlike regular spirit plants, being softer and more stable; it’s almost impossible for it to dissipate naturally unless subjected to a strong impact, hence it could only have been extracted."