https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-107-Monkey-Faced-Orchid-a-Natural-Emoji-/12543863/
Chapter 108: Dynamic Expressions
Chapter 108: Dynamic Expressions
"Since Brother Lu has chosen this task, you must have a good grasp of the Spirit Rain Art?" The graceful woman smiled at Lu Chen.
"Somewhat," Lu Chen replied humbly.
"To cultivate these Monkey-faced Orchids, we usually do two things. One is to periodically use the Spirit Rain Art to nourish them, and the other is to feed them spirit insects on time," she explained.
"The spirit insects are specially bred by our sect, and many varieties can be used for refining pills, cultivating spiritual herbs, and feeding spiritual beasts," she added.
The graceful woman led Lu Chen into the valley, where an ordinary-looking young man awaited them in front of a wooden cabin.
"This is Yan Ping, and Lu Chen, this is your junior brother Yan Ping," Senior Sister Yao introduced them to each other.
"From now on, the two of you will be mainly responsible for cultivating these Monkey-faced Orchids. I'll be staying in the valley, so feel free to come to me if you have any questions," she said.
Lu Chen nodded in acknowledgment. He chatted briefly with Yan Ping and then chose an empty wooden cabin to use for his cultivation and rest.
After resting for almost half an hour, Yan Ping came to call him.
"Brother Lu, it's time to start using the Spirit Rain Art on the Monkey-faced Orchids. Why don't we each take a section to work on?" Yan Ping suggested.
Lu Chen nodded in agreement and made his way to his assigned section.
The myriad of Monkey-faced Orchids, each with their unique expressions, seemed frozen in time.
Lu Chen's spiritual power surged, and delicate strands of spirit rain descended, dripping onto the petals and stems of the orchids, permeating them.
"Your spirit rain is fine and prolonged, and your control over the range of the art is precise. I didn't expect you to have such a deep understanding of the Spirit Rain Art," Yan Ping commented, noticing the subtleties of Lu Chen's technique from a distance.
"I'm actually a Spirit Herb Master, so I've performed the Spirit Rain Art countless times. With practice, my skill in this art has naturally improved," Lu Chen explained with a smile.
Due to his meticulous cultivation of spiritual herbs, Lu Chen had cast the Spirit Rain Art numerous times daily, even without the experience pack. His proficiency in the art had reached a high level.
His casting speed was faster, his spiritual energy consumption was minimized, and he could precisely control the range of the spirit rain's descent. He could even slightly adjust the thickness of the delicate strands to meet the various subtle requirements of the spiritual herbs.
After performing the Spirit Rain Art in the spirit field, the Monkey-faced Orchids in the spirit soil remained stagnant, their gazes fixed as the expressions within their petals remained unchanged.
After a brief rest, Yan Ping returned with a basin of variously shaped insects from the graceful woman.
"These are for feeding the Monkey-faced Orchids. Just insert them into the petals, and the orchids will actively devour and absorb the insects," Yan Ping instructed.
"Feed each orchid one insect. Feeding them too much isn't good," he added.
Lu Chen nodded in understanding and took half of the insects.
Compared to the wild Black Bud Worms he had encountered before, these insects were much weaker in terms of attack power and damage to spiritual herbs. They were specially bred by the sect on a large scale for various purposes.
He approached one of the Monkey-faced Orchids, its petals expressing extreme anger.
Lu Chen picked up a slender white worm and inserted it into the orchid's petals.
Instantly, countless sharp spines emerged from the center of the petals, piercing the white worm's body.
The petals then closed, forming a bud that trembled slightly, indicating the intense activity within.
Soon, the petals reopened, and an insect skin, devoid of any flesh or blood, fell to the ground, as white as a sheet of paper.
"Hmm? Why are you still looking at me with such anger after I just fed you a delicious treat?"
Lu Chen noticed that even after feeding the White Worm to the Monkey-faced Orchid, the flower retained its angry expression within its reopened petals.
He shook his head with a smile and continued to feed the rest of the Monkey-faced Orchids with the strange insects.
As he finished his task, Lu Chen was about to head back to the wooden cabin to rest when he suddenly paused.
His gaze fell upon a particular Monkey-faced Orchid, its petals now bearing a faint smile.
"If I'm not mistaken, this is the same plant I fed earlier, the one with the angry expression. But why has it changed?"
"What causes the dynamic expressions within the petals of the Monkey-faced Orchid, instead of static ones?"
Lu Chen furrowed his brows, his eyes fixed on the spirit herb field, deep in thought.
"Lu Chen, why are you still standing there? You're done with your tasks, aren't you?"
Yan Ping, on his way back to the cabin for cultivation, asked curiously.
"Senior Brother Yan, I have a question about the Monkey-faced Orchids. With your extensive experience in cultivating these spirit herbs, perhaps you can help me understand something," Lu Chen replied.
"Go ahead, Lu Chen."
"Are the expressions that form within the petals truly random, or is there some pattern to them? For instance, could there be certain conditions that trigger a change in expression?"
"You're overthinking things, Lu Chen," Yan Ping said with a smile. "Apparently, the first spirit herbalist who planted the Monkey-faced Orchid had the same speculation as you. However, after conducting experiments, they found nothing out of the ordinary."
"Using conventional methods to cultivate these orchids still yields mature spirit herbs of normal quality. So, they concluded that these expressions are simply a natural characteristic of the Monkey-faced Orchid."
"Lu Chen, consider this: even the Core Formation stage masters in our sect couldn't find any patterns. That should be proof that there's nothing unusual going on."
"Therefore, let's just focus on our task of cultivating these herbs and not let our imaginations run wild." Yan Ping spoke with a serious tone.
"Senior Brother Yan's words make sense. I was merely curious, but I won't let it affect our work with the Monkey-faced Orchids," Lu Chen assured him.
Glancing at the Monkey-faced Orchid with a cold expression, Lu Chen turned and headed back to the wooden cabin with Yan Ping to take a short break.
"I still wonder why the expressions change. Is it related to my use of the Spirit Rain Art or the feeding of the strange insects? And if so, why do they still display anger after being nourished by the Spirit Rain Art?"
Lu Chen sat in a chair, gazing out the window at the spirit herb field filled with Monkey-faced Orchids, each bearing a unique expression.
He believed that there must be certain factors influencing the changes in expressions, something that cultivators had not yet discovered.
All things have a spirit, and even ordinary plants exhibit various habits and behaviors. How much more so for spirit herbs?
Adding the word 'spirit' to their name indicated an elevated level of life, and it was only natural to expect them to display peculiar behaviors.
From his past experiences with cultivating numerous spirit herbs, Lu Chen had sensed a hint of sentience in many of them, especially those of higher grades. The higher the grade, the stronger their sentience seemed to be.
This further convinced him that there was more to the changing expressions of these second-grade Monkey-faced Orchids than met the eye.
"I think I'll need to find an opportunity to dig up one of these Monkey-faced Orchids and examine it more closely."
The thought crossed his mind as he contemplated the mysterious nature of these unique spirit herbs.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
