Starting From A Son In Law To Build An Long Lasting Family Chapter 1925: 502: Fifty Children Establish Their Foundations, Goddess Furnace!
Previously on Starting From A Son In Law To Build An Long Lasting Family...
While Qu Zhenzhen observed closely, the Xuanwood Vine's green leaves and vines shifted into glittering specks, cascading down into the deep green fruit.
The fruit appeared to cycle through the phases of life and death, displaying all sorts of bizarre changes. A starry glow danced around it like a night sky brimming with stars, pulling in the vital forces of heaven and earth, enveloped in a veil of pure Qi, encircled by brilliant beams of light.
Yet in the instant that followed, it was as though the world itself fell into quiet forgetfulness, starting to fade and rot, utterly still in death, which stirred up turmoil in the underground palace's spiritual energy, making it waver between brightness and shadow.
A soft golden light from the Mount Sumeru Tree King bathed Qu Zhenzhen, shielding her from any unintended damage caused by the Xuanwood Vine Fruit.
Resembling the vast and inclusive Buddha Light, this Sumeru Light filled Qu Zhenzhen with a sense of peace and harmony, her thoughts settling into deep calm.
She felt as if she could pick up faint echoes of profound Dao rhythms from the fruit's life-death cycle right in front of her.
As she focused her gaze, she realized this hint of Dao rhythm mirrored the designs on the Mysterious Heaven Spiritual Vine, like they came from the same source, but even sharper.
Everything fades, shrivels, breaks down, flowing back to the source, shifting from motion to quiet, before the wheel of life and death turns once more, sparking fresh vitality, sprouting from the start, blooming vibrantly, and finally fading back to hush.
Flourishing and fading, ruin and renewal, all seemed to trace out threads of Dao patterns across the skies and lands.
Qu Zhenzhen’s eyes mirrored those patterns, while the fruit's life-death shift moved from vivid brilliance to muted gloom.
"Buzz!"
No one could tell how long had gone by when the fruit shook fiercely all of a sudden, cracks forming across it, erupting in blinding glory that lit up the whole underground palace like broad daylight.
Next, those cracks spread swiftly, blanketing the fruit's entire skin, joined by a pleasing, sharp crackle, as though the fruit had linked up with the heavens and earth in some deep harmony.
With the fruit's outer layer sloughing off, it broke down into shiny motes of light, floating through the air like a shower of splendor, settling onto Qu Zhenzhen, the Mysterious Heaven Spiritual Vine, the Five Elements Soil, and the Bi Yun Peak Spiritual Vein.
"Buzz!"
The Mount Sumeru Tree King perched at Bi Yun Peak's top seemed to detect the change, its roots stretching into the spiritual vein to draw in the drifting light motes.
"Hmm~"
Qu Zhenzhen blinked her eyes open, her face showing confusion, as if she had just emerged from a wondrous trance, with a certain Secret Art Technique etching itself into her thoughts.
Gazing at the sparkling light shower in front of her, she couldn't explain it, but she simply felt utterly at ease, her "Heavenly Longevity Technique" flowing smoothly and swiftly all by itself.
Still, recalling how the Xuanwood Vine Fruit had ripened, she snapped back to attention, turning her eyes forward.
There, the fruit without its shell had become a mass of radiant glow.
"What is this?"
Qu Zhenzhen longed to make it out clearly.
As the glow slowly dimmed, a gourd about the size of a baby's fist emerged, radiating a jade-like green sheen, as if forged from the purest spiritual essence of heaven and earth.
"A gourd, the very gourd my husband desired!"
Qu Zhenzhen stared at the little gourd in front of her, her features lighting up with pure happiness.
"But this gourd is so tiny, will my husband be able to make use of it..."
Eying the gourd that was just a baby's fist in size, Qu Zhenzhen grew a little concerned.
Even though she practiced the "Heavenly Longevity Technique," she hadn't ventured beyond Bi Lake Mountain for years.
Yet, as the Lu Family’s collection of books grew larger, her kids and younger kin often shared tales from the Cultivation World to amuse her, so she understood the needs for forging Magical Treasures and artifact cores.
The gourd in front of her acted as if it heard her doubts, expanding bit by bit within the glow's hold until it measured more than half a foot long, the light vanishing entirely, leaving it to rest calmly on the ground.
Qu Zhenzhen stretched out to grasp the gourd, only to discover its weight; she needed both hands to raise it.
Examining it up close, the gourd gleamed with a lush, lively green, brimming with vigor, reminiscent of fresh spring shoots in a woodland, bright and glossy.
Still, dotted over this fresh green skin were some mysterious purple-black markings, akin to those on the Mysterious Heaven Spiritual Vine.
In spite of those markings, it felt toasty in her grip, not quite like jade or timber, nor like metal.
"This gourd is truly beautiful."
Qu Zhenzhen couldn't hold back her admiration.
In the Cultivation World, folks often favored gourds as vessels, whether for wine or Elixir Medicines, and the like.
But out of every gourd she had ever come across, Qu Zhenzhen had never encountered one this stunning.
Not just its hue, which was vivid and inviting, but its feel was so organic, molding just right to the hand, and its form was flawlessly balanced, carrying a subtle elegance beyond words.
The gourd's main body swelled plump and rounded, gracefully narrowing into a slim neck, with lines that flowed seamlessly and in perfect accord.
At the gourd's opening, it looked finely smoothed, sleek and circular, ringed by a soft, enchanting glow.
Simply cradling this gourd made Qu Zhenzhen feel completely at peace, wrapped in a soothing, snug warmth.
"Sumeru elder, do you know this gourd’s grade?"
Qu Zhenzhen asked Mount Sumeru right away.
Her book learning was solid, sure, but she could only figure this gourd ranked high, without pinning down the exact level.
"Fourth rank... top-grade..."
Mount Sumeru, after a quick probe, replied in a voice that echoed with otherworldly mystery.
As a Spirit Plant, Sumeru held a keen sense for such matters.
"Only fourth rank top-grade, huh."
Qu Zhenzhen murmured with a hint of disappointment.
A fourth rank top-grade item was already a prized Heaven and Earth Treasure in the Cultivation World, but Qu Zhenzhen thought it might fall short for her husband.
All the same, as she held the gourd, her mouth curved into a grin, and her lovely eyes sparkled with eager joy.
Brimming with happiness, she pictured Lu Changsheng's shocked delight when he laid eyes on the gourd.
At that moment, inside the Mount Sumeru Cave Heaven.
"What’s going on?"
Ling Zixiao, deep in secluded cultivation, picked up on the disturbance and stepped out from the Changsheng Hall.
He noticed the spiritual energy in the Cave Heaven churning fiercely, the flora and atmosphere taking on a hint of renewal, something light and ethereal.