The voice of the Altar Spirit faded, and Zi Linling and Ye Lingyuan disappeared from the altar once more.
The two felt a blur before their eyes, and suddenly found themselves standing in a stretch of yellow sand.
There was nothing here but endless yellow sand.
Zi Linling looked at the yellow sand before her, a look of bewilderment on her face.
“Ye Lingyuan, what does the Altar Spirit mean by this?”
Ye Lingyuan shook his head.
He had no clue either.
“Why don’t we walk forward and see? I have a strange feeling about this place.”
Although Zi Linling sensed something was amiss, she couldn’t quite pinpoint what.
The moment she steadied herself, she had already explored with her vast divine sense.
But within a thousand-meter radius, there was only sand.
Ye Lingyuan nodded. He had also searched with his divine sense but found nothing.
The two walked rapidly through the yellow sand.
An hour later, they finally discovered a problem—the yellow sand seemed to be boundless.
They exchanged a glance and sat down on the spot.
“Ye Lingyuan, what is the Altar Spirit trying to do? They sent us here but didn’t say what we needed to do.”
Ye Lingyuan frowned, saying grimly, “Yes, this place is very strange. There are no signs of life.”
Zi Linling suddenly realized.
That was why she felt something was off; it was the lack of life.
Normally, even a desert should have some life, whether it was animals or plants that could survive harsh environments.
But here, there was no trace of life, as if it were a world of absolute stillness.
A world of absolute stillness?
Origin?
What was the connection between these two?
Both of them tacitly stopped speaking, quietly contemplating this question.
Origin, as the name suggested, was the beginning of everything.
Did the Altar Spirit mean for them to complete the beginning of this world of stillness?
But this was a world, so what was its beginning?
Absolute stillness!
No life!
A flash of inspiration sparked in Zi Linling’s mind.
But it was fleeting, and she didn’t grasp it.
“Lin’er, do you think a world without life can still be called a world?”
Ye Lingyuan suddenly spoke, seemingly addressing Zi Linling, but also asking himself.
Zi Linling finally understood what that fleeting inspiration was.
The origin of a world stemmed from life. A world without life was like entering dusk, constantly on the verge of darkness and death.
Life!
So, would they pass if they simply made this world full of life?
Zi Linling looked at Ye Lingyuan with pleasant surprise and said, “You mean, we need to bestow… life upon this world?”
Ye Lingyuan nodded.
This might be as difficult as scaling the heavens for others, but for Zi Linling, it was effortless.
Because of… the Spring of Life.
The Spring of Life, belonging to the God of Life, was in Zi Linling’s possession. As long as they could find seeds, they could sprout life.
“Yes, you have the Spring of Life. As long as we can find seeds, we can bring life to this world.”
Ye Lingyuan nodded.
But where to find seeds?
His Nine Dragon Ring had everything except seeds.
The reason for needing seeds was that seeds were the most primordial state of life.
“Seeds?”
A peculiar expression crossed Zi Linling’s face.
Was this the Altar Spirit giving her special treatment?
Because she had seeds in her Divine Maiden Palace.
Otherwise, where did the medicinal garden in the Divine Maiden Palace come from?
These two crucial elements were surprisingly the easiest for Zi Linling.
Who made her an alchemist?
Who made her a cultivator of medicinal herbs?
Zi Linling contacted her divine sense.
Soon, a handful of strange seeds appeared in her hand.
“It seems we’re quite lucky!”
Zi Linling said, then tossed the seeds onto the ground.
Earth spiritual energy surged, and the seeds were buried in the yellow sand.
Normally, seeds falling on soil would take a long time to sprout and transform into life.
Moreover, in this barren yellow sand? Lacking water and nutrients, sprouting would be even more difficult.
But who knew Zi Linling had a cheat code for life?
With a thought, the life source energy in her dantian flowed ceaselessly towards the seeds in the yellow sand.
The seeds sprouted rapidly and then poked their heads out from the ground.
These were probably the first batch of life in this world of stillness, she mused.
Her thoughts raced, but the life source energy she was outputting did not stop.
This life was too fragile; it needed to be nurtured to maturity to survive.
Otherwise, if this life disappeared, all her efforts would be in vain.
Ye Lingyuan watched Zi Linling perform a miracle, his eyes gleaming.
This was his Lin’er.
She seemed to be the illegitimate daughter of the Goddess of Fortune, always surprising him.
Zi Linling directly nurtured the tender shoots until they blossomed and bore fruit, then she stopped outputting the life source energy.
One by one, spiritual herbs stood proudly in the boundless yellow sand, injecting a trace of vitality into this silent world.
Zi Linling also felt a bit dizzy and lightheaded.
Activating the life source energy required a tremendous amount of mental energy.
From sprouting to blossoming and bearing fruit took only a few breaths, but Zi Linling’s powerful mental energy was depleted by more than two-thirds.
She swayed slightly, but Ye Lingyuan, quick as lightning, caught her.
“Lin’er, you’ve worked hard!”
Ye Lingyuan looked at the pale-faced Zi Linling with concern, a hint of annoyance in his eyes.
Zi Linling understood the annoyance in his gaze and smiled, “Don’t worry, I’m fine. Have we passed this test, then?”
Ye Lingyuan scooped Zi Linling into his arms and then sat down on the spot, saying, “Good girl, rest for a while.”
Zi Linling nodded with effort and closed her eyes.
She was extremely exhausted now and couldn’t be bothered to fret about whether Ye Lingyuan was taking advantage of her.
Seeing her close her eyes, Ye Lingyuan’s expression turned grim.
They had not returned to the altar, which meant they had not passed.
Where was the problem?
Had his guess been wrong?
Looking at the “lives” that Zi Linling had nurtured, Ye Lingyuan fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, he noticed that the leaves of those “lives” were rapidly wilting.
What was happening? Why was this happening?
His expression grew even more troubled.
If these “lives” completely withered, wouldn’t Zi Linling’s efforts be in vain?
No, he would absolutely not allow such a result.
But what was going on?
Just then, Zi Linling murmured from his embrace, “Ye Lingyuan, I’m so thirsty!”