"Could the Sect Master be an immortal?"
"Even an immortal wouldn't possess such wondrous abilities."
"He conjured an oasis in the blink of an eye!"
"Quick—quick—get moving and gather the Iron Thorn Fruits! Let's see just how miraculous the Sect Master's magic is."
The disciples of Qingfeng Villa flushed with excitement. With such a powerful Sect Master, how could they not feel thrilled and proud?
Yang Hong didn't disappoint them, or rather, he continued to astonish them.
After the Iron Thorn Fruits, all subsequent spiritual plants grew at an astonishing rate, blooming, bearing fruit, and ripening within the span of an hour.
During the day, Yang Hong cast the eighth-tier spiritual plant technique: [Solar Creation Art], to continue harvesting Iron Thorn Fruits.
They harvested nine times before the cultivation cycle ended with the wilting of the Iron Thorn Grass.
The disciples of Qingfeng Villa merely witnessed the heaven-defying power of Yang Hong's spiritual plant techniques.
However, Zhu Yuyan and the other two seized the opportunity to comprehend the laws of time.
In this instance of spellcasting, the Law of Creation was merely a facade; the true core was the application of the Law of Time!
"Organize yourselves and sell these Iron Thorn Fruits. Anything unsold can be brought back to comprehensively clear the Li Fire Locust eggs within the Qingfeng Villa area."
Watching the Iron Thorn Grass slowly wither and turn into fertilizer, Yang Hong turned to Zhang Zhenyan and the others, instructing them to sell the fruits. How much spiritual stone they could exchange for was no longer important.
What mattered was that Zhu Yuyan had entered a state of enlightenment.
With a wave of his hand, Yang Hong sent all the Qingfeng Villa disciples to a distant location. He then walked to Zhu Yuyan's side, exuding his own temporal dao rhyme to aid her enlightenment.
Wanwan and Song Yuzhi exchanged glances and sat down cross-legged beside Zhu Yuyan, drawing upon the temporal dao rhyme emanating from them to begin their own comprehension.
Yang Hong recalled that Zhu Yuyan's comprehension was 26, Wanwan's 21, and Song Yuzhi's 16. Indeed, comprehending laws depended greatly on one's aptitude.
On the eighth day of Zhu Yuyan's enlightenment, Wanwan also began to experience an epiphany. Only Song Yuzhi was still struggling to grasp that fleeting sense of understanding.
Though it might be cruel, Yang Hong still interrupted Song Yuzhi's cultivation state.
"Yuzhi, if you cannot comprehend it this time, do not rush. Take your time next time. Remember, too much of a good thing can be bad."
"Mm— I understand."
Song Yuzhi's demeanor was quite good. After Yang Hong interrupted her enlightenment, she smiled serenely and stopped cultivating, instead observing Zhu Yuyan and Wanwan as they enlightened, acting as their guardian.
On the eighteenth day, Wanwan awoke first.
"Husband, I have comprehended the ability of time deceleration. I can create a circular area about ten zhang in size. Within this area, I can slow down the flow of time by half."
Upon waking, Wanwan pouted slightly, a hint of disappointment in her voice, clearly not satisfied with her newfound ability.
Yang Hong ruffled her hair and said, "Don't be ungrateful. This is a very powerful skill, especially in combat. As long as they enter your domain, they will be slowed down, and it's a deceleration based on the laws of time. You've gained a significant advantage."
"Oh— this is indeed a method, but the skill I wanted, the one that restores youth, is it still not available?"
"Thump! What are you thinking about, it's all in your head. I still don't know the skill of time reversal. This current state of mine is due to cultivation errors, not a deliberate rewind."
Hearing Wanwan's dissatisfied words, Yang Hong flicked her forehead, eliciting a tooth-baring grin from her.
Three days later, Zhu Yuyan also concluded her enlightenment. The ability she comprehended was time acceleration. It wasn't as immediately useful as Wanwan's instant deceleration, but Yang Hong had a premonition that if Zhu Yuyan continued her comprehension, she would eventually grasp the ability of time deceleration.
As for Wanwan, comprehending time acceleration would be extremely difficult.
"Husband, I'm still so old, even older—Wah—"
Just as Yang Hong was about to praise Zhu Yuyan, she suddenly burst into tears.
It turned out that this comprehension of the Law of Time had turned Zhu Yuyan's lustrous black hair into shimmering silver frost.
This truly broke her heart.
"Hehe— it's alright, the current you is even more beautiful. I like you even more."
"Wuwu— you— you're lying."
Zhu Yuyan continued to cry. She had been a person who valued her appearance even before cultivating. The crow's feet she had before had already distressed her for a long time, and now, with her hair turning white overnight, she was inconsolable.
"Alright, I'm truly not lying. I love the current Yuyan the most."
After speaking, Yang Hong directly embraced Zhu Yuyan and teleported back to Qingfeng Mountain. They engaged in ten days and ten nights of dual cultivation, and he also taught her how to initially control temporal power, allowing her to return her frost-white hair to its original raven black.
"Husband, tell me, can we have a little baby this time?"
Lying in Yang Hong's embrace, the languid Zhu Yuyan suddenly asked on a whim.
Hearing Zhu Yuyan's question, Yang Hong sighed slightly and said:
"Alas— not yet. Because I have repeatedly devoured the souls of true demons and true immortals, my life essence has transformed. You three still have the physique of cultivators and cannot withstand my life seed. We will need to ascend to the Immortal Realm before we can have offspring."
Yang Hong had understood this point while comprehending the Law of Creation.
Although there was a slight regret, at least there was a clear goal to strive for, which was—
Ascension!
"Husband, then let's cultivate diligently. Your improved 'Immovable Joyful Buddha' can accelerate our cultivation."
Zhu Yuyan, with renewed excitement, lunged at him again. In those ten days, she had broken through from the sixth level of Nascent Soul to the seventh, and without any side effects.
"No rush. We can't cultivate as frequently as before. We need a planned, step-by-step approach. Next, we still need to plant spiritual plants, planting them on a large scale."
"Yes, Husband's cultivation advancement relies on planting spiritual plants for amplification and return. As long as more spiritual plants are planted, his cultivation can increase rapidly. It's a pity that Husband still has a seal on him, otherwise, it would be even faster."
"Mm—"
Yang Hong nodded, not explaining that his system had already been refined. There was no need to worry Zhu Yuyan and the others.
Although he had lost the ability to gain cultivation through amplified plant returns, he could still receive small feedback when spiritual plants matured.
Perhaps not as much cultivation as before, or as quickly, but the feedback he received had increased.
The energy from the feedback of spiritual plants covering a thousand-mile radius was not much different from before. It was just a bit more tiring.
He also briefed Wanwan and Song Yuzhi, leaving the operation of Qingfeng Villa to the three of them. Yang Hong, carrying spiritual stones and Iron Thorn Grass seeds, entered the desert once more.
He began a routine of early departure and late return, planting Iron Thorn Grass during the day and dual cultivating at night.
...
The sun set and the moon rose, days and nights passed, and time always slipped away unnoticed. Unconsciously, ten years had gone by.
Zhang Zhenyan and Qiu Kun, along with a hundred Nascent Soul cultivators, were now advancing rapidly across a verdant grassland.
Looking at the endless expanse of grassland, he couldn't help but question the nature of reality.
Any normal person would find it unimaginable that this vast grassland, spanning millions of miles, was created by cultivators over ten years.
But this was the reality.
Yang Hong had simply planted Iron Thorn Grass all the way, constantly accelerating its growth. After nine cycles, he left, and then the disciples of Qingfeng Villa took over planting various spiritual plants.
However, the foundation of the spiritual fields was entirely laid by Yang Hong alone. This was an undeniable miracle in the lifeless Li Fire Desert.
Moo—
A bovine bellow pulled Zhang Zhenyan's attention back. It was a herd of first-tier demonic beasts, Azure Oxen. In front of the ox herd was a mortal village.
A group of mortals, who had not yet begun cultivating, were practicing martial arts in the center of the village before ten stone tablets.
These were also martial arts techniques researched by Yang Hong, which, when cultivated to the extreme, could activate a weak spiritual root in mortals without one.
With that faint spiritual root, they could begin to cultivate.
The era of true universal cultivation had arrived.
However, there were still many limitations to achieving universal cultivation, and Yang Hong was continuously working towards this goal!
At least, that's what Zhang Zhenyan believed.