(It is said that the Wooden Valley Cauldron was born from the essence of heaven and earth, and contained within the cauldron with the power of all the stars of heaven and earth.
An ancient poem says: The divine furnace is born in the wood valley, and the spirit is hidden within. It can hold the sky above and the earth below.
Judging from this line of ancient poetry, the wooden valley cauldron seems to have nothing to do with alchemy.
But another ancient god's words are: The divine furnace is born in the wood valley, the elixir is hidden in the belly. It can heal gods and demons above and save all souls below.
Regarding this, I once sought advice from my ancestors, and the reply they gave was completely beyond my expectations.
My ancestors said: These two ancient poems were written by Star Emperor Hui Di, who was the closest confidant of my grandfather Kellen the great in his life!
This made the Mugu Elixir even more mysterious and enigmatic in later records of the history of gods and demons.
-- Excerpted from "The Ruins of the Flourishing of Gods and Demons," by Feng Bona, the great-great-grandson of Kellen the Great, a doctor of history of the Creation of the Divine Frontier.
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With a string of curious questions, Kellen accompanies Wanxin slowly into the depths of the Wood Valley.
The deep woods, the lush forest. From time to time, one can see multicolored long worms and short snakes, either lazily lying on the treetops or ghostly coiled in the grass. The hissing sounds never cease, and the rustling sounds come from time to time. On closer look, there were not only snakes, but also colorful chameleons with their long tails curled upside down, lightly clinging to the tips of the branches. Among the grass and on the rocks, the greenish-tailed lizards, when they saw Wan and Feng from afar, flapped their four palm-like little claws and flew away without a trace.
A pair of pupils, with a faint green glow, stared coldly at Wan and Feng, showing no sign of retreat or fear, just hissing out the snake's sign, sucking the scent of Wan and Feng in the wind, as if trying to distinguish something. For example: to tell whether a person's heart is good or bad, or to tell whether a person is a spirit or a ghost, or just a highly alert signal of the spirit snake itself.
Under the broad leaves, there are chameleons, carrying two long rows of sword bones, with a long hook-shaped tail, or turning green like the leaves; Or it turned brown like the bark of the tree; Or, like flowers, pale pink, purplish red... The cold vertical pupils never left the two of Wan and Feng. Pairs of little claws crept up the branches quietly. It seemed that they were afraid that Wan and Feng would suddenly disappear from their eyes, or perhaps they were simply afraid of the arrival of Wan and Feng, so they were trying to leave silently.
As they went further into the woods, the light seemed dimmer, and the leaves were even more lush. Even the sunlight above could only pass through the gaps between the leaves, with great difficulty, into the woods. The atmosphere was rather muggy and oppressive, with an uncomfortable feeling of depression, chest tightness, and even nausea and vomiting in every breath.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"
A green shadow flashed before her eyes, and Kellen thought she had run into a monster here for no reason. Looking closely, she finally understood. It turned out to be a bluish-green pheasant dragon chasing a dark, spiny wild boar like lightning.
"Bang bang --"
A series of loud, bouncy sounds rushed through the forest. From a distance, two or three yellow-scaled jumping dragons were seen flying through the depths of the forest. It seems to be chasing some prey, and more like an alert fleeing when encountering an enemy.
Kellen looked closely around and exclaimed, "Whoosh!" In this strange wooden valley, there are many rare flowers and trees, rare herbs, strangely shaped dragons, strange insects and moths, strange birds and beasts... Too many to see, too many to count. I never thought there would be such a mysterious primeval jungle in the Wood Spirit tribe.
Further into the wood valley, I saw a ten-thousand-year-old locust tree, which was surrounded by ten people, broken in half. The broken wounds were blackened, but not dry. The wounds were prickly, like black swords standing tall, like black thorns with invincible blades. It seems that the wound was not caused by a sharp object. A sharp object should have a smooth cut, but this ancient locust tree doesn't.
The wounds of the ancient locust tree are so prickly that it looks more like a natural hurricane that has knocked it down. If it had been broken, the wound should not have been black, but rather bitter and yellowish-brown. Besides, if it were caused by a hurricane, why would the surrounding trees remain intact?
The ten-thousand-year-old locust tree, the abode of gods and demons.
Generally, people of faith would worship the ancient locust tree as a deity. It is believed that the larger the locust tree, the more spiritual it is. The common people are so afraid of it that they dare not hurt it. This ten-thousand-year-old locust tree has been broken in half for no reason. It is undoubtedly the work of an external force and not a sign of good fortune. Look at the luxuriant branches and leaves of the ancient locust tree, still glowing green, maintaining the freshness of the branches and leaves, rippling in the breeze as if it had not died.
In fact, an ancient locust tree without roots, even if it had a ten-thousand-year-old spirit, would probably never come back to life if it were broken in half.
Kellen and Wanxin, both of whom have profound Taoist cultivation, stared blankly at the ten-thousand-year-old locust tree, their minds filled with suspicion. Wanxin wondered if the immortal Mugu had met with something bad. How could a ten-thousand-year-old locust tree suddenly collapse?
What Kellen wondered about was - the demonic aura! Unlike Wanxin, Kellen saw a black mass covering the entire ancient locust tree. The black mass, like smoke and mist, could spread freely around the ancient locust tree. This black mass is neither smoke nor fog, for ordinary people cannot see it clearly. For instance, even a monk like Wanxin couldn't see it. This black mass is like a shadow, indistinct and indistinct, appearing and disappearing, supernatural and ghostly, and in Kellen's eyes it is demonic!
What's more, if it weren't for the demonic aura, how could this ten-thousand-year-old locust tree have fallen here?
The mysterious wood valley, the illusory "Eight Arrays Subduing Demons", the dwelling place of gods and demons for ten thousand years, a lingering demonic aura... A series of questions, a series of wonders, in Kellen's mind grew more and more chaotic, more and more confused, and at the same time, more and more strange...
Wanxin quickened her pace, her whole body was already floating, a light "floating". She was more concerned about the safety of the immortal Mugu, after all, this man was a good friend of Jinlang, a friendship of different ages, and a thousand-year-old bond.
Kellen quickened her pace, following Wanxin's side, with a lot of thoughts. What he was worried about was whether the abode of the immortal Mugu would be occupied by demonic energy? Does Wanxin know that there is demonic energy here? She moved so fast, did she notice it? Without any consultation, they quickened their pace as if they were in sync. As if they were "floating", a light "floating".
If it were really a demon, would it be as mysterious as a god, could one see the appearance of a demon? Kellen doesn't have much idea about demons. In his mind, the so-called demon was probably similar to the scale-faced feathered spirits in the Abyss of the Startled Beast. If the demons were to look like that, one punch could break the ten-thousand-year-old locust tree. The question is, how could there be such a demon here?
There won't be. That kind of demon has a broad gait. If it takes two steps in such a thick forest, it will surely ruin a large area of the forest and leave a trail of big footprints. But no footprints were found along the way. Even if the demon really has no feet, some clues should have been left. But Kellen had just looked closely and left nothing but a broken tree.
What on earth is going on?
In the midst of all these doubts, a vast expanse of thick jungle has vanished from sight to ears. They 'floated' so fast that they didn't have time to see the shape of the tree, let alone have the mood to look. Before long, the "special abode" of the immortal Mugu was already in the sight of Wan and Feng.
Mugu Immortal, as his name is Mugu Immortal, his abode is extraordinary. Kellen was shocked again at the first sight of the strange abode.
What appeared before her eyes was not a palace or a pavilion. Not a farmyard, nor a noble manor. It was a lacquer-yellow "gourd" shaped suspended "alchemy furnace" several hundred feet high and several hundred feet wide! From a distance, it could be seen that beneath the alchemy furnace were three thick, huge wooden tripods. Since they were tripods, of course they were placed on huge square tripods. But the three giant tripods were not supported on the square tripod, but on the cauldron that looked like a huge "gourd", which looked very secure. It is weathered by the passage of time and remains intact through ten thousand years of rain and snow.
Three giant tripod legs in the shape of a dragon, three huge dragon tails and six hind legs firmly resting on the ground, three dragon heads and six front claws forcefully propping up the "alchemy furnace". Auspicious clouds float around the dragon's body, and the knife work is extremely fine and lifelike. The entire "gourd" is divided into eight directions: south of Gan, north of Kun, east of Li, west of Kan, southeast of Dui, Northeast of Zhen, southwest of Xun, northwest of Gen. On each corresponding position, the eight Trigrams are elaborately carved.
On the round base of the "gourd", there is a strikingly carved circular pattern of Taiji Yin-Yang. The pattern may not seem so magical on ordinary days, but when it is carved on such a huge gourd base that is several hundred feet in size, it appears extremely magnificent.
Beneath the gourd, in the middle of the three tripods, is a silver fire platform that is several hundred feet in size. The fire platform was in the shape of a disc, almost touching the ground. The fire platform was very flat and silvery, as if the silvery radiance would not fade even after thousands of years. In the middle of the fire table was a pattern of Tai Chi Yin and Yang, which corresponded exactly to the pattern of Tai Chi Yin and Yang on the base of the gourd. Although one is suspended and the other is on the ground, it is obvious to the naked eye that the two patterns are in perfect harmony.
There is a ring-shaped gap on the mouth of the gourd, which appears to be able to be pulled open. Not only that, but at the top, there was a long stretch of vine attached to it, with a small broken branch hanging from it. From a distance, it looks like a newly ripe yellow gourd that has been plucked from a vine and placed here. If it weren't for the fact that such a huge yellow gourd doesn't exist in the world, it would be almost mistaken for a real one.
Wanxin floated around the magical alchemy furnace, looking bewildered, and said, "Strange."
"There's no door, right?" Kellen thought the strangest thing about this magical immortal abode was that there was no door in sight on such a large "gourd"!
"No." Wanxin shook her head and stopped in the position of Gan Nan. The beautiful stargaze, looking up at the tall gourd, sighed: "There would have been a special wooden stake here, and the incantation of that day would be left on it. As long as you recite the spell to the alchemy furnace at the opposite position of the stake, you will enter it!
There is no door in the alchemy furnace, so there is nothing strange about it. The strange thing is that the stakes are gone, and of course there won't be spells either. Eight directions, no one can guess which direction is on duty today (by "on duty", it means the day of duty.) If we can't guess what the spell is, then how can we get in?"
Kellen thought for a moment: "Since Jinlang... I'm Kino's best friend, then - could Kino have left some rather special spells? Like some kind of privilege, privilege and spell that only I can enter?"
Kellen's guess led Wanxin to think of something. Wanxin had some confusion in her eyes, but still managed to say, "Well, maybe we can give it a try."
Wanxin's green robe, as ethereal as a fairy, flutted without the wind. Between her slightly closed eyes, there flickered a faint golden glow. In the slender, clasped hands, a glimmer of light met the sky. Wanxin spoke sweetly like a pearl and murmured softly: "Heaven and earth, all living things! Bloom!"