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Chapter 165: The Fen Yuan Mu
Chapter 165: The Fen Yuan Mu
"This is the place."
Before long, the gentle female cultivator led Lu Chen and the others to a spiritual field.
The periphery of the spirit field was surrounded by a tight fence that automatically parted as the female cultivator approached, leaving a narrow passage.
In the spirit field, dozens of spirit plants were cultivated.
The spirit plants were as thick as a man's wrist and about half a man's height. They were a pale red color, and their trunks were covered in dark red veins, making them look like they were scarred all over.
"This is the spirit plant that I want my junior martial brother to help nurture. It's called the Fen Yuan Mu, a second-rate spirit plant with natural veins. Its bark and leaves are excellent materials for refining fire-attribute talismans."
The gentle female cultivator introduced it to Lu Chen.
"So these are the spirit plants that were born after stimulating the spirit seeds?"
Lu Chen asked curiously.
"Yes, there are a total of thirty-six of them, and some of the spirit seeds became waste seeds and did not give birth to spirit plants after planting."
"A batch is eliminated during the spirit seed stimulation phase, and then another batch of the resulting spirit plants needs to be eliminated. The failure rate is too high."
"No wonder I haven't heard any information about improving the quality of spirit plants in Lin Yang Fang City at all. Only sects with deep roots would dare to attempt something so bold."
Lu Chen sighed inwardly. The female cultivator's words were like a bucket of cold water, dampening his enthusiasm to showcase his skills.
"Currently, the most suitable spirit plant for variety improvement is the Ling Ying Cao. After all, it's a spirit plant with no rank, and I also possess the method to condense the spirit seeds. There's no need to worry about the source of the seeds."
"Moreover, the Ling Ying Cao is also related to my cultivation. I'll have to give it a try when I have the chance."
He decided silently as he observed the Fen Yuan Mu's growth with the gentle female cultivator.
"For the next period of time, I'll have to trouble Junior Martial Brother to take care of these Fen Yuan Mu for me."
After walking through the spirit field, the gentle female cultivator spoke softly to Lu Chen.
"As for the reward, it should not disappoint you, Junior Martial Brother Lu."
"Senior Martial Sister is too kind. I will definitely treat these Fen Yuan Mu as if they were my own spirit plants."
Lu Chen quickly assured her.
"In that case, I'm relieved." The gentle female cultivator smiled, and the faint floral fragrance emanating from her became even more alluring.
"Right, Senior Martial Sister, I have a small request. I don't know if Senior Martial Sister has any Fen Yuan Mu of the same age as these variant spirit plants in your spirit field? If so, I'd like to get a few to compare and observe their growth performance under the same cultivation conditions."
"Some that were planted at roughly the same time... We do have some, how many does Junior Martial Brother need?"
The gentle female cultivator's eyes lit up as if she was intrigued by Lu Chen's proposal.
"Ten would be enough."
"Alright, I'll have someone transplant ten ordinary Fen Yuan Mu here immediately."
The gentle female cultivator left with Yao Qing, while Lu Chen remained in the spirit field. There was a simply constructed wooden house nearby where cultivators could rest and cultivate.
Lu Chen cultivated for a while, and before long, a cultivator arrived with ten ordinary Fen Yuan Mu. They worked together to plant them in the spirit field.
After the cultivator left, Lu Chen looked around and noticed that each spirit field was concealed by a fence array, preventing prying eyes. Only then did he feel relieved.
He pretended to carefully inspect each Fen Yuan Mu, then cast two spells on a large scale: the Spirit Rain Technique and the Wood Birth Technique.
The Spirit Rain Technique promoted the absorption of spiritual energy by the spirit plants, while the Wood Birth Technique accelerated their growth and development. These two techniques were beneficial and harmless to most spirit plants, so casting them wouldn't cause any problems.
Over the past six months since joining the sect, his abilities in nurturing spirit plants and raising spirit beasts had gradually gained recognition.
First, the head of the Agricultural Temple had left him with two Sword Grass plants, promising an exceptional opportunity to become an inner disciple if he successfully cultivated them.
Then, with Huang Yuan's introduction, he helped a middle-aged Confucian scholar at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage resolve the problem of his Ink-scaled Flood Dragon's loss of appetite. Now, Yao Qing had introduced him to cultivate a variant spirit plant.
Lu Chen was naturally pleased with these developments. The stronger the cultivators he interacted with, the easier it would be for him to obtain high-grade spirit seeds or young spirit beast companions, along with more generous spirit sphere rewards.
When he had helped transplant the ten ordinary Fen Yuan Mu the day before, he had already learned about their characteristics.
The cultivation method was somewhat similar to the Red Cloud Pine he had grown before, requiring fire-attribute spiritual energy for nourishment, but in a much larger quantity.
Lu Chen approached one of the variant Fen Yuan Mu. He extended his spiritual sense into the spirit soil, cast the Earth Drawing Technique, and manipulated the soil to slowly gather the delicate roots hidden deep within. Then, he wrapped the roots with a large clump of soil and transplanted the entire plant before replanting it.
This seemingly unnecessary step was to accurately gauge the condition of each variant spirit plant.
With the Earth Drawing Technique guided by his Grand Completion realm cultivation, the roots remained untouched, giving the spirit plant a sense of being uprooted yet not truly displaced.
As he replanted the Fen Yuan Mu, a stream of information flashed through his mind.
[Fen Yuan Mu (Impaired)
. Second-rate spirit plant. Can be used to refine second-rate fire-attribute talismans when mature. Due to damage to the spirit seed, the maturation cycle of the spirit plant is extended, and it is difficult to obtain high-quality materials after maturity.]
"There seems to be a difference from the information I got from the ordinary Fen Yuan Mu yesterday. Stimulating the spirit seed must have had a reverse effect," Lu Chen deduced, making a mental note of this impaired Fen Yuan Mu.
He proceeded to the next plant, uprooting and replanting it using the same method.
The information he received was consistent with that of an ordinary Fen Yuan Mu.
The third plant also showed no variation.
However, when he inspected the fourth plant, new information appeared in his mind.
[Fen Yuan Mu (Variant)
. Second-rate spirit plant. Naturally patterned. The bark and leaves are excellent materials for refining second-rate fire-attribute talismans. The spirit seed has undergone a beneficial mutation, resulting in a slight improvement in the quality of the spirit plant after maturity.]
"It's a variant, but not a complete one. Nonetheless, the enhanced quality of the spirit plant is still beneficial, as higher-quality materials can slightly increase the success rate of talisman drawing," Lu Chen mused.
He continued down the row, sensing the detailed information of each Fen Yuan Mu.
The information categorized the plants into three types: impaired, ordinary, and variant. Finally, when he inspected the fourteenth plant, he encountered a Fen Yuan Mu with different information.
[Fen Yuan Mu. Third-rate spirit plant. Rich in fire-attribute spiritual energy and possessing profound natural patterns, it is an excellent material for refining third-rate fire-attribute talismans.]
"Not bad. Finally, a successfully improved third-rate Fen Yuan Mu," Lu Chen muttered, a slight smile of relief on his face.
The success rate of spirit plant variety improvement had taken him by surprise. Out of twelve plants, only one had been improved to a third-rate spirit plant. If they factored in the discarded spirit seeds that failed to produce spirit plants, the probability of success was alarmingly low.
(End of Chapter)
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