Chapter 47 Form is emptiness, emptiness is form, therefore emptiness is form.

The sun was high.

After sending Xuan Ran back to her room, Lin Xiao began to take stock of the gains from this trip to Wutan City.

First was the World Tree fragment.

Including the two he had obtained before, he had now collected three fragments.

[Ding! Detected that the host has collected all World Tree fragments. Proceed with Fusion?]

The System's mechanical voice sounded at the right moment.

Lin Xiao did not hesitate in the slightest.

"Fusion!"

As soon as his voice fell, Lin Xiao felt his vision go dark, and his consciousness was instantly pulled into an endless Void Realm.

Everything around was silent, save for the three fragments chasing each other in the darkness.

As the lights intertwined, the three fragments collided with a boom, eventually merging into a seed emitting a soft green glow.

The seed drifted down leisurely, then unexpectedly sprouted roots that pierced into the Void Realm.

Immediately after, a tender sprout broke through the shell and began to shoot up at a terrifying speed visible to the naked eye.

In just a few breaths, it grew into a towering giant tree. Its trunk was thick like a coiled Dragon, and Dao runes flowed on its emerald leaves, with faint phantoms of stars being born and dying flickering within.

Vast life energy transformed into green mist, swirling around the canopy.

[Ding! World Tree has been implanted into the host's body.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining an undying body. The Physical Body is indestructible, and the Divine Soul is immortal.]

[Friendly reminder: Each resurrection requires consuming one minor Realm of the host's Cultivate as a price.]

Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes, feeling the vast vitality lying dormant within his body, and muttered softly:

"Although I have an undying body, this entire journey has relied on my own sweat and hard work. Cultivate is hard-won, so if I can avoid dying, I'd rather not."

[Host, you haven't really been Cultivate-ing, have you?]

Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly and retorted righteously:

"What do you know? Is Dual Cultivation not Cultivate? I toil day and night; is the strength I expend any less than those who sit in meditation?"

[...]

Lin Xiao moved his mind, his consciousness exited the void space, and he returned to the room.

He lifted his hand, and an unremarkable stone suddenly appeared in his palm.

It was the ancient relic he had snatched from Ye Bufan at the auction.

"Sister System, how do I open this thing?"

Lin Xiao looked up and down at the stubborn stone, finding it difficult to start for a moment.

[Smash it.]

Lin Xiao was stunned for a moment, then his face showed displeasure:

"Hey, Sister System, what do you mean? Why are you calling me names?"

[...]

[This System is not calling you names! It is literally what it means; just smash it!]

Lin Xiao suddenly realized.

"You should have said so earlier. You almost made me think you were one of those tsundere heroines in a gacha game who calls everyone 'Trash'."

[...]

Lin Xiao put away his joking thoughts and exerted force with his five fingers.

With a crisp "crack" sound.

Fine cracks appeared on the surface of the grey stone, and then it shattered with a boom, turning into a pile of stone powder.

Amidst the flying stone chips, a simple-looking bead appeared in his palm.

The bead was not made of transparent glass, but looked like stone yet not stone, turbid and ancient, with ancient spiritual runes faintly flowing on its surface.

Lin Xiao pinched it between his fingertips; it felt warm, yet he could not feel any Spiritual Qi fluctuations.

"Sister System, what is this bead used for?"

[This object is called the tianxuan bead. It contains a Small World within, and the time flow is different from the outside world.]

[The current time flow is 10:1, meaning ten days pass inside the bead, while only one day passes outside.]

[Furthermore, the time flow inside the bead does not affect the user's true bone age and Lifespan. The Law of time in the tianxuan bead can be upgraded later based on the rare treasures or Luck obtained by the host.]

[In the original timeline, Ye Bufan relied on this object in the early stages to grow Spiritual Plants on a large scale, and used the time difference to crazily Cultivate, eventually achieving a lane-changing overtake to become a peerless Prodigy who suppressed his generation.]

After hearing the System's introduction, Lin Xiao felt a bit familiar.

He seemed to have seen a similar Golden Finger in some classic cultivation novel, but he couldn't quite recall it for a moment.

A flash of brilliance crossed Lin Xiao's eyes, and a bold idea suddenly popped into his mind.

"Then if I practice and discuss the Dao with others inside, wouldn't it be one day equal to ten?"

The System was silent for a full 2.5 seconds.

[Theoretically, that is correct... but your idea seems a bit unique, Host.]

[Other Sons of Luck, if they obtained such a Heaven-Defying treasure, would be terrified of others knowing and would cover it up tightly. They wouldn't even dare to tell their closest Dao Companion or Revered Master. Usually, they only use it to secretly plant rare spiritual items, or hide inside to seclude themselves and Cultivate alone, so as to amaze everyone.]

Lin Xiao smiled triumphantly:

"As the saying goes, form is emptiness, emptiness is form."

"But I am different. I have sex whenever there is emptiness, hehehe!"

The System was silent again.

She even couldn't help but regret revealing her human form in front of Lin Xiao.

"When this kid is strong enough, won't he not even spare this System?"

Before the System could introduce more, Lin Xiao had already pressed his index and middle fingers together and forced out a drop of bright red essence blood.

He flipped his fingertips.

The essence blood dripped precisely onto the surface of the tianxuan bead.

The blood was instantly absorbed by the stone surface, turning into a dark red stream of light that sank into the body of the bead.

[Host, how did you know the method to make the tianxuan bead recognize its Revered Master?]

Lin Xiao paused, slowly raising his head.

His eyes were deep as he looked up at the intricately carved dome of the bedroom at a forty-five-degree angle.

"Do you think all the web novels I read before were for nothing?"

Lin Xiao's tone was vicissitudinous, carrying three parts mockery, three parts desolation, and four parts nonchalance.

"Actually, my original dream was to become a platinum author standing at the pinnacle of the web novel world."

"I am well-read in various Xuanhuan power fantasies, well-versed in the core essence of broken engagement tropes, Trash tropes, and System tropes. I thought I could write a masterpiece that would make thousands of readers stay up late to chase updates and tip crazily."

The System was stunned by his sudden depth.

[And then?]

"Then? Then I didn't even get a test recommendation before I flopped to the earth's core! The first order after going on sale was eleven, ten of which were my own alt accounts!"

"If it weren't for the fact that I couldn't even pay the electricity bill later, why would I choose to be a kept man!"

"I, Lin Xiao, hate being a kept man the most!"

"If I could, I would want to give this opportunity to be a kept man to all my readers!"

[...]

After the Revered Master recognition was successful, the tianxuan bead let out a hum.

With a flash of white light.

Lin Xiao's figure instantly disappeared from the bedroom.

Opening his eyes again, he was already in an independent Small World.

There was no day and night cycle here, nor the changing of seasons.

There was only a grey sky and the vast yet desolate land beneath his feet.

The surroundings were silent, like a corner forgotten by the river of time.

"Although this place looks barren, there is still great potential for development if I develop it. I want to build a dedicated training base here!"

"This grey sky needs to be changed; let's get some large-scale illusion arrays and make it into a sky full of starlight. Build a row of hot spring cottages on the left, and set up a few stilted bamboo buildings on the right. Create a large plaza in the middle, and dig a few secret rooms underground to store investigation tools."

"In the future, any Daughter of Luck I snatch will be brought here to participate in training!"

"Ye Bufan, oh Ye Bufan, if such a good thing fell into your hands, it would truly be a waste of natural resources."

The Son of Luck would only treat this as a farm for planting, while he, Lin Xiao, was bound to turn this into his own exclusive training base!

He moved his mind.

The surrounding space twisted.

Lin Xiao returned to the bedroom.

Before he went in, he specifically checked the length of the incense stick.

He had spent about the time of one incense stick planning the training blueprint inside the tianxuan bead.

And at this moment, the calming incense in reality had only burned one-tenth.

Upholding the great theory that practice brings true knowledge, Lin Xiao immediately called Xuan Ran over to practice with her...