More time passed. The little plant once again grew up from within the sludge. It looked different than before, as if it were some type of seaweed. It looked almost like hair as it grew longer and longer.
Later, the sea dried up, and the plant withered and eventually disappeared. Then, a tree grew up in its place. That tree became a forest, within which was a tree that seemed to be the same tiny plant from years ago.
Time flowed. Meng Hao watched as the huge tree eventually began to grow smaller. The other trees around it withered in death, but it grew stronger and stronger until, eventually, it attracted the attention of lightning.
The lightning struck it, and it dried up. In the moment that it died, a sprout appeared, which became the only green thing in the whole world, growing up out of the dead husk of the tree.
Meng Hao stared at the sprout in shock. A powerful aura gradually began to emanate from the sprout, and after much time passed, a hand appeared in the void, which slowly reached out and harvested the tiny sprout.
“Sure enough, it became a Holy medicinal plant,” said an ancient voice, the same voice that had spoken on the previous levels of the Medicine pavilion. The images Meng Hao was seeing crumbled away.
He breathed heavily as everything faded away, and he found himself standing in a medicinal plant garden, within which grew a single medicinal plant.
It was a tiny sprout, the same one whose lives Meng Hao had seen passing by in his vision.
He stared at the sprout in shock, and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
“Do you understand?” asked the voice.
“What is the highest realm of plants and vegetation? No one can truly answer this question. Everyone has their own explanation!
“A tiny plant from the ancient age that experienced all sorts of good fortune… Who can say whether or not that plant will become some sort of shocking holy medicinal plant?!
“All living things are mundane, and yet, all living things can also be extraordinary!
“Cultivators practice cultivation because of their desire to shed the limitations of the mortal world. They wish to be like the carp that leapt over the dragon gate…. Plants and vegetation are similar. When concocting them into medicinal pills and consuming them, one should not solely focus on strengthening themselves, but should also strive to sense the plant’s fundamental will.
“It might seem like the plant dies in the process of becoming a pill, but who can truly say whether or not this is just a rebirth into another stage of life for them?”
As the ancient voice echoed out, Meng Hao sat down cross-legged and looked at the tiny sprout. All of a sudden, he thought about the image of the first generation Patriarch incarnated as a planet.
He became a planet, from which grew countless types of plants and vegetation….
“This….” Meng Hao murmured. He felt as if he were just on the verge of grasping something profound, but he wasn’t able to put it into words. It was as if countless threads were swirling around in his head, making it impossible to find the correct train of thought.
“Reincarnation?” he said, looking up.
Almost as soon as the word left his mouth, the entire world collapsed. The fragments then formed back together, causing another shocking vision to appear.
The vision was exactly the same as what he had experienced when he first set foot into the ninth level. He saw the world of ancient times, and he saw the tiny plant growing up from under the rock.
The vision appeared to be identical, except that this time, the hand was present, as if he was now seeing the true beginning to the story.
A voice echoed out within the vision: “Stuck under a boulder, but you still want to live and grow. Well then, allow me to give you a chance at life.”
The hand then tapped the plant lightly.
The little plant swayed, then returned to normal. The hand vanished, as if it had never existed in the first place.
The vision faded away, and the void of the ninth level appeared again. The ancient voice echoed out again.
“It’s not just reincarnation, but creation! From my perspective, the pinnacle of plants and vegetation is actually creation.” After the voice finished speaking, a door appeared next to Meng Hao, a door which led to the outside.
Meng Hao maintained his silence. The little plant had been ordinary, but because it had been tapped by that finger, its entire life and fate changed. In the end, the lightning struck it, and it became a Holy medicinal plant.
That definitely was a kind of creation.