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Chapter 280 - A Sudden Breakthrough
Chapter 280 - A Sudden Breakthrough
After seeing the White Luan and the White Ape off, Lu Chen returned to his courtyard and began to clean up. Sitting on a white jade meditation pillow, he activated the Grand Five Phases Technique, absorbing the pure spiritual qi from his surroundings into his meridians like a whale drawing water.
Liao Yu Fang's appearance had given him a deeper realization. Even within the safety of the sect, there was no guarantee of peace. Strength and power attracted the interests of others, while weakness invited bullying, whether intentional or not.
He had dodged a potential disaster with the help of the sect's young guardian beasts, but he knew he couldn't rely on luck every time. Thus, the most important thing was to deepen his cultivation and strengthen his power.
About an hour later, Lu Chen opened his eyes and exhaled a deep breath. "It feels like I've improved a bit, yet somehow, it also feels like nothing changed."
After an hour of diligent cultivation, he couldn't sense much difference in the spiritual liquid within his dantian.
Long ago, Lu Chen had come to terms with his mediocre talent for cultivation, and thus, he remained unfazed and unaffected by this reality.
"Cultivation isn't the main focus," he said to himself. "It's those spirit plants in the cave that matter."
With his spiritual sense, he felt the dense wood and plant spirit qi emanating from the surrounding peaks and smiled.
For the next half month or so, Lu Chen stayed mostly on the peak, rarely venturing out, focusing solely on nurturing his spirit plants and beasts.
Liao Yu Fang's appearance had been but a slight ripple in the calm waters of his days, and no further incidents occurred, much to Lu Chen's relief.
In the courtyard, a deep purple sword light danced gracefully, like a startled swan or a roaming dragon. The sword energy crisscrossed, and where the sword tip pointed, starlight twinkled, dazzling and brilliant, yet imbued with a dense killing intent.
With a clang, the Purple Electric Sword was sheathed in its scabbard, and the electric light surging from the sword caused the ancient scabbard to tremble incessantly.
"I've finally entered the initial stages of the Starlight Sword Art. It's time to try cultivating the three-star Starlight Sword Grass."
He took out the sword grass spirit seed, which had tiny flickers of starlight on its surface, and planted it in the spirit soil, allowing the strands of spirit rain to permeate it.
[Starlight Sword Grass, Three-star Spirit Plant: Cultivated with Starlight Sword Qi, the mature sword grass contains a hint of stellar power that can be used directly or refined into a corresponding three-star flying sword.]
Lu Chen carefully felt the detailed status of the Starlight Sword Grass spirit seed and, with a flick of his flying sword, sent a thin strand of starlight sword qi through the spirit soil and into the seed.
"Being able to sense the sword grass's subtle needs is my greatest advantage compared to other disciples of the Sword Hall who cultivate sword grass." Lu Chen sighed inwardly.
Due to his limited talent, he had not yet entered the more challenging Four-star Thousand Falcon Sword Art, so the Thousand Falcon spirit seed could only be temporarily set aside.
He carefully inspected the spirit fields, observing the growth of each spirit plant.
In a secluded corner of the peak, several Enchanting Immortal Peach trees stood in solitary beauty.
Among the lush pinkish-white peach leaves, small spiritual peaches had begun to grow.
The spiritual peaches were white with a hint of red, peeking through the leaves, half-hidden, half-revealed, looking exceedingly unripe. Yet, the more one gazed at them, the more they seemed to exude a natural allure.
It was as if they were telling Lu Chen of their juicy fullness, enticing him to pounce and take a bite.
Lu Chen's spiritual sense detected something amiss, and as his spiritual power stirred, a hazy green light descended upon the trees.
A cool breeze blew through his mind, clearing his gaze, and the small spiritual peaches returned to their normal state.
He looked down at the Demon Ghost Vine by his feet. The gray vine had grown numerous large and small tendrils, wriggling toward the Enchanting Peach trees in a bizarre fashion.
Lu Chen cast another Cleansing Chant, instantly snapping the Demon Ghost Vine out of its trance, induced by the allure of the Enchanting Peach trees.
In the spirit field lined with Wuling soil, the Primordial Spirit Grass would have easily been confused with the unknown spirit grass growing not far away if it hadn't been for the concentrated essence hidden deep within its stalks, revealing the treasure trove of spiritual energy it contained.
The Five Elements Fruit, under Lu Chen's meticulous care, thrived with abundant and complementary Five Elements energy, naturally converting between them.
In another spirit field, the Spirit-Filled Pines, sensing Lu Chen's proximity, enthusiastically welcomed him with a rustling of their branches, as if cheering and rejoicing together.
Lu Chen gently brushed his spiritual sense over the Spirit-Filled Pines, feeling an unprecedented sense of etherealness and naturalness.
As the Illusion Sound Bamboo grew taller, the cracks on its stalks increased, and from a distance, one could hear hundreds, even thousands, of bizarre sounds emanating from them, assaulting Lu Chen's eardrums.
Without hesitation, the Demon Ghost Vine stealthily slithered over and extended its numerous tendrils, plugging the countless cracks with its ashen-gray vines.
The bizarre sounds abruptly ceased.
"Indeed, there is a solution to every problem," Lu Chen remarked, watching as the Demon Ghost Vine reluctantly withdrew its tendrils from the cracks of the Illusion Sound Bamboo.
He then made his way to the underground cave where the Earthfire tributary flowed.
The Fourth-Rank Earthfire Heart Lotus sat in the scorching lava, allowing it to wash over and cleanse it. The irregularly shaped pale-red crystalline stems culminated in a vivid red lotus bud, its surface adorned with subtle protrusions from which fiery-red spiritual energy seeped out.
The Fourth-Rank Earthfire Heart Lotus had entered the stage of forming its lotus seeds.
In the concave section of the overhead cave wall.
At the center of the charred Phoenix Tree, the red lotus flame had shrunk significantly, and the illusory lotus petals trembled gently as if they could shatter at any moment.
However, the pair of phoenix illusions within appeared more substantial than when they had first appeared, oblivious to the fragile state of the lotus flame as they continued to dance joyfully.
"It's about time to replace the Red Lotus Flame with a new one," Lu Chen murmured to himself. Fortunately, the Fiery Flame Fruit's white light had blossomed into several Third-Rank Red Lotus Flames, enough to sustain the Sixth-Rank Phoenix Tree's initial growth needs.
Leaving the Earthfire cave, Lu Chen noticed that the Water Glow Grass he had planted earlier was gradually reaching full maturity.
The deep blue, slender leaves filled the entire spirit field, glowing with a dazzling radiance that resembled a small, sparkling starry sky.
[Harvest a Second-Rank Water Glow Grass and gain one year of cultivation.]
[Harvest a Second-Rank Water Glow Grass and obtain a Second-Rank Enriched Spirit Pill.]
...
Over eighty strands of Water Glow Grass entered the fully mature stage, with subtle differences among them, as indicated by the semi-transparent progress bars below each plant.
Since they were only Second-Rank spirit plants and had already reached full maturity, they wouldn't consume much of the Green Wood Primeval Qi. Lu Chen decided not to wait for them to mature naturally and instead forcibly ripened fifty strands of Water Glow Grass.
He left the remaining thirty-plus strands to refine their spirit seeds, intending to increase the number of Water Glow Grass for the next planting.
As he collected the glowing orbs, various treasures appeared one after another.
One or two years of cultivation, Second-Rank Enriched Spirit Pills, Third-Rank Water Dragon Talismans, formulas for Second-Rank Enriched Spirit Pills...
Out of the fifty strands of Water Glow Grass, sixteen brought cultivation rewards, instantly granting him an additional twenty-eight years of cultivation.
"Years of bitter cultivation cannot compare to the gains from cultivating a single field," Lu Chen mused, feeling the surging spiritual liquid within him.
(End of Chapter)
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