Chapter 198 - 173: Spirit Plant

Chapter 198: Chapter 173: Spirit Plant

Now that Big Flower had awakened its innate Magic, he could finally feel at ease.

After all, having awakened its innate Magic, it was no longer just a piece of livestock at the mercy of others. From then on, it had a chance to cross into the Demon Realm, and its value would soar.

A short while later, the crisp sound of chopping vegetables came from the kitchen, occasionally punctuated by a few hummed notes, revealing just how good his mood was.

「An hour later.」

Li Changsheng squatted to the side, chuckling as he watched the family of four noisily gobbling down their food.

Once upon a time, he had even dreamed of becoming the "King of Pig Farmers."

Unfortunately, his dream had died halfway through.

He hadn’t succeeded in raising pigs and ended up becoming a farmer instead. It was just as he’d once said: "If only I could eat Spirit Rice every day, how wonderful would that be!"

"Haha..."

As Li Changsheng mulled it over, he couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh.

After Xiaohua and her family finished eating, Li Changsheng patted Xiaohua’s head. He didn’t climb on this time, instead walking slowly out of the small courtyard with his hands behind his back.

OINK OINK...

Xiaohua grunted and followed behind him.

The man and the pig soon arrived at the edge of the Spirit Field.

Li Changsheng’s gaze swept across the Spirit Field, which was lush and verdant.

Half a year had passed.

The Concentration Flowers had already grown to be calf-high. Their thin leaves seemed to shimmer with a faint halo, and at their tips grew flower buds the size of a fingernail.

Li Changsheng fixed his gaze on one of the plants.

[Target: Concentration Flower]

[First-Order Mid-Grade: 75%]

[Efficacy: Spirit Nourishing.]

[Status: Healthy.]

Looking at the information on the panel, Li Changsheng silently made a calculation.

The three mu of Concentration Flowers would need about five more months to mature. Once Ma Rong delivered the Jade Bamboo, he could use it to speed up the cultivation and reduce that time by two months.

’Just three more months...’

At this thought, the tension in Li Changsheng’s brow eased slightly.

After selling the Concentration Flowers, his wealth would instantly surpass the Qi Cultivation Realm standard. Even among Nascent Soul Cultivators, he wouldn’t be at the very bottom.

What’s more, he could harvest this much every year.

And that wasn’t even counting the mid-grade and top-grade Spirit Medicines he was planting, or the compensation promised by the sect.

In less than ten years, his wealth would surpass that of the vast majority of Nascent Soul Realm Cultivators.

Li Changsheng mused happily to himself as he rode Xiaohua to the Mid-grade Spirit Field.

The first thing that caught his eye were the Jade Ganoderma Fruits, which resembled lustrous white jade. They had already grown to the size of a baby’s fist, each one wreathed in a circular layer of Spiritual Mist. They were an incredibly pleasing sight to behold.

With a mere thought from Li Changsheng, the swarm of insects surrounding him surged forward, pouring into the Spirit Field.

A short while later, several insects flew out dragging a palm-sized weed and dropped it on the ridge of the field.

Then, more and more insects flew out of the Spirit Field, dragging weeds of various sizes.

Only a few insects caught and devoured hidden pests and snake-like beasts.

Ever since Li Changsheng’s cultivation had advanced and his mental energy had expanded severalfold, the weeds he once had to clear himself were now a task he could delegate directly to his insect swarm.

Watching the swarm swiftly clean the Spirit Field, he felt that he was becoming increasingly reliant on them.

’With such a diligent swarm at my command, what’s to fear on the path to immortality!’

「A Cup of Tea’s Time later.」

Li Changsheng fixed his gaze on one of the Jade Ganoderma Fruits.

[Target: Jade Ganoderma Fruit]

[First-Order Mid-Grade: 15%]

[Efficacy: Meridian Widening and Spirit Nurturing.]

[Status: Healthy.]

’It’s a shame I can’t reveal the cultivation method for the Jade Ganoderma Fruit yet.’

Looking at its growth progress, Li Changsheng shook his head and walked over to the Spirit Field where the Earth Spirit Roots were planted.

The Earth Spirit Roots now had lush, green leaves and branches. A quick glance revealed them planted in neat, eye-catching clumps throughout the field.

Li Changsheng checked the plant’s information while directing his insect swarm to clean the Spirit Field.

[Target: Earth Spirit Root]

[First-Order Mid-Grade: 15%]

[Efficacy: Body Strengthening and Essence Cultivating.]

[Status: Healthy.]

The growth progress of the Earth Spirit Root was no different from that of the Jade Ganoderma Fruit.

After finishing the cleanup, Li Changsheng went to the Spirit Field where the Thousand Silk Pupils were planted.

He looked at the Spirit Field before him, at the ghastly white eyeballs, each surrounded by dozens to hundreds of crimson root-filaments.

Li Changsheng didn’t feel as repulsed as before, but he still couldn’t bring himself to like them.

The aesthetic of Demonic Spirit Plants was simply too bizarre.

Their growth progress was the same as the Jade Ganoderma Fruits and Earth Spirit Roots in the previous two fields.

As Li Changsheng directed the insect swarm to clean the Spirit Field, he looked at the closed pupils, and an idea suddenly sparked in his mind.

’What would happen if it opened its eye?’

’Would its medicinal properties just drain away, causing it to die? Or would some other change occur?’

Once the idea took root, Li Changsheng couldn’t get it out of his head, growing eager to give it a try.

’Should I give it a try?’

’Just one plant...’

Li Changsheng had the insect swarm quickly finish cleaning the Spirit Field. After a moment’s thought, he flipped his hand over and took out a jade box.

’I definitely can’t use my own blood. What if something unexpected happens?’

’Xiaohua’s hide is too thick; it’d be a pain to cut.’

So, he decided to try using the blood of a cultivator from the beast-herding lineage.

Li Changsheng opened the jade box, casually picked up a blade of grass, and dipped it in some fresh blood. Then, he directed an insect to carry the grass stalk over to one of the Thousand Silk Pupils.

As the crimson blood slowly dripped onto the ghastly white pupil, the visible blue veins on its surface suddenly bulged, as if it were struggling to open.

The instant the blood-stained grass stalk landed on the pupil, its swaying root-filaments froze solid.

The next instant, a soft ripping sound echoed out. RIIIP...

The ghastly white pupil slowly split open from top to bottom, and streams of crimson blood trickled out.

Just as Li Changsheng looked at it, the ghastly white exterior of the Thousand Silk Pupils retracted like an eyelid, revealing a dark brown iris that stared fixedly at him.

"AHH!"

A blood-curdling scream echoed in Li Changsheng’s mind, and a blurry figure seemed to flash before his eyes and vanish.

Then, he saw dense, bloodshot veins spread across the dark brown iris, as if it were glaring at him in a rage.

Just as he was about to get a closer look, POP... the Thousand Silk Pupils suddenly exploded. The crimson roots beneath it withered in an instant, turning into a puddle of filth.

Li Changsheng walked forward, looking at the puddle of filth in the Spirit Field. He recalled the blood-curdling scream in his mind and the figure that had flashed by.

After a moment of silence, he turned and headed for the High-grade Spirit Field.

He no longer held out any hope for this Demonic Spirit Plant.

Li Changsheng had lost all interest. He cleaned up the Spirit Field, checked the progress, then got on Xiaohua and left.

Afterwards, he headed straight for the Spirit Fields tended to by Xu Li and the others.

He looked over the Spirit Fields one by one. Although the growth progress of the Concentration Flowers, Water Spirit Flowers, and Golden Embryo Grass planted within was a bit behind his own, they were mostly healthy, which was decent enough.

After his inspection, Li Changsheng rode Xiaohua back to his small courtyard.

He checked on Xiaobai, who was still deep in its slumber and advancing, then went up to the third floor to slowly refine his Spiritual Power.

「Meanwhile.」

A thousand li from the Spiritual Land, in the center of a swamp that spanned several hundred li...

A massive vortex, hundreds of meters in circumference, spun slowly. Its immense gravitational force pulled the toxic miasma that had accumulated over the swamp for a thousand years, causing it to surge violently downward into the vortex.

This strange phenomenon had already been going on for over ten days.

The multicolored miasma, which had once blotted out the sky, had grown much thinner under this constant absorption.

At its edges, bright sunlight, long absent, finally fell upon the swamp.

High in the sky, a green-robed elder stood suspended in the air, his gaze fixed on the phenomenon below. He stroked his beard and said in praise, "Advancing to the Dao Foundation using the Lifebound Spirit Insect method... Judging by this phenomenon, it must be one of the Middle Three Grades Dao Foundation."

"Not bad, not bad at all."

"This one has great potential, hahaha..."