Chapter 338: The Three-Year Deadline is Up, Returning to the Sect!
Chapter 338: The Three-Year Deadline is Up, Returning to the Sect!
A strange and peculiar spirit seed, shaped like an infant's palm, lay before Lu Chen. At first glance, he mistook it for some sinister artifact left behind by the two sinister cultivators. It was only when he sensed the faint hint of vitality within that he realized it was, in fact, a unique spirit seed.
Lu Chen made his way to the spirit field and located an empty patch of spirit soil. With a deft display of the Earth-Drawing Technique, a minuscule fissure appeared in the field, into which he carefully placed the pale palm-like spirit seed.
As he focused his spiritual sense on the bizarre spirit seed buried beneath the shallow layer of spirit soil, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
Blood Spirit Palm Root, a fourth-grade spirit herb. It feeds on the essence blood of cultivators and demonic beasts. Resembling a palm, it possesses a degree of mobility and will instinctively gravitate towards its blood sources, secretly sucking out their essence blood as it grows.
Upon reaching maturity, it can be used to cultivate sinister cultivation techniques or directly consumed to enhance one's physical body.
"A sinister and unusual spirit herb with mobility," Lu Chen mused to himself, imagining a tiny palm crawling through the earth in search of essence blood.
"Well, it will make a fine addition to the collection of sinister herbs in the Underworld Courtyard."
With the Ghost-Faced Stone Mushroom, Thorny Bones, and Hundred-Eyed Weirdwood already reaching maturity, the only sinister spirit herbs remaining in the Sword Gate Town courtyard were the fifth-grade Holy Infant Fruit Tree and the Blood Guilt Flower.
His venture into the secret realm had yielded two powerful new additions: the fourth-grade Blood Spirit Palm Root and the fifth-grade Strange Longevity Peach.
Lu Chen retrieved a bottle of Flood Dragon essence blood from his storage bag and dripped a few drops onto the spirit soil beside the delicate, pale palm.
Through his spiritual sense, he observed the buried palm greedily absorbing the fresh essence blood. Soon, thin tendrils of blood-red veins appeared, adding a sinister allure to the once pristine white palm.
After tending to the newly acquired Blood Spirit Palm Root, Lu Chen proceeded to inspect the rest of the spirit herbs in the field.
Once he had adjusted all the spirit herbs to their optimal state, he turned to head back to the house. However, just as he was about to take a step, he suddenly felt a strange sensation beneath his feet.
Looking down, he saw a pure white palm with traces of blood emerging from the soil, clutching tightly onto his pants leg. The part of his lower leg that was in contact with the palm seemed to be pulsating with blood energy.
"This Blood Spirit Palm Root certainly has impressive mobility," Lu Chen remarked as he carefully detached the palm and placed it back in its original position.
"Fortunately, its range is limited, and the Sword Gate Town courtyard is protected by the fourth-grade Thousand Illusion Misty Smoke Array. Otherwise, it might have escaped and gone on a blood-sucking spree."
Lu Chen then proceeded to plant the Strange Longevity Peach, using the Greenwood source energy to activate the dark red peach pit that was preserved in the solidified flesh.
The numerous grooves and crevices on the peach pit writhed with bloody flesh, slowly seeping into its interior as it quietly took root and sprouted.
After inspecting and nurturing all the spirit herbs, Lu Chen finally returned to the house with a sense of relief.
"This trip to the secret realm was almost a sure thing, but it still nearly ended in disaster," he thought to himself. "The combined might of two late-stage Foundation Establishment sinister cultivators and the pitch-black presence in the fetus, extinguished by the Pure Yang True Fire Canon's extremely yang and robust flames, could have easily resulted in injuries if I hadn't been careful."
"Thankfully, the rewards were well worth the risk."
"Indeed, from now on, I shall behave and stay put in the courtyard, cultivating my spirit herbs and spiritual beasts," he decided.
And for the next year or so, he did just that.
Each day was spent among his spirit herbs and spiritual beasts, with the remainder of his time dedicated to cultivating his martial arts and sword techniques.
Occasionally, he would find time to guide Song Yun in the ways of sword cultivation or impart some of his knowledge of spirit herb cultivation to Song Sining.
And whenever Stone Zhong invited him, he would join his friend for a relaxing day of fishing for sea creatures.
In the meantime, the Water Glowgrass that he had planted matured in abundance.
Nearly two hundred plants of Water Glowgrass yielded fifty condensation cultivations, while the remaining one hundred and fifty glowballs, due to the ordinary quality of the grass, resulted in thirty years' worth of cultivation bonuses.
This helped Lu Chen's cultivation, which had stagnated after reaching the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment, to progress further.
However, due to his mediocre talent, he was still far from breaking through to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
Time flew by as Lu Chen dedicated himself to his cultivation journey.
The three-year deadline passed quickly, and in this time, the ten ordinary Sword Grasses that Lu Chen had planted all matured. Because they were cultivated using the Four Seasons Sword Manual, the mature Sword Grasses possessed corresponding attributes, and the white glowballs they produced contained four different types of sword intent experience packs.
After absorbing them all, Lu Chen's control over the Four Seasons Sword Manual reached an entirely new level.
Among the remaining sword grasses, the Wind and Thunder Sword Grass showed a noticeable difference in growth progress due to the sword grass spirit seed mutating within the sword sheath at different times.
The first one he had planted was about to reach full maturity.
The third-grade Starlight Sword Grass had grown into a three-foot-long spiritual plant, with dazzling starlight converging on its sword-like body, beautiful yet exuding a powerful sword intent. It wouldn't be long before it reached complete maturity.
As for the fourth-grade Thousand Hawk Sword, as Lu Chen's control over the corresponding Thousand Hawk Sword Manual became increasingly pure and skilled, the Thousand Hawk Sword with the shortest cultivation time also entered a rapid growth phase. Dozens of sword qi hawk birds had condensed on its straight and uneven branches, merging with them as one. Their slender wings resembled sharp and slender swords.
The Strange Longevity Peach, planted over a year ago, had grown to nearly three feet tall. The peach tree exuded a compelling vitality and a tempting fragrance that could be sensed from a distance, filling one with a sense of lush vitality.
However, beneath the spirit soil, a mountain of bones had accumulated under the extensive root system of the Strange Longevity Peach, creating a stark contrast to the innocent and harmless appearance it presented above ground.
The Blood Spirit Palm Root had grown from the size of an infant's palm to that of a seven or eight-year-old child's hand. The blood-colored veins on its tiny palm were becoming thicker, and a faint redness could now be seen across the entire palm.
Moreover, its range of movement was increasing. If it couldn't absorb enough demonic beast essence blood, it would crawl around in the spirit field, and once it nearly came into contact with the young girl, Song Sining, who had come to visit.
Enraged, Lu Chen forcibly imposed a half-month blood restriction as punishment for almost exposing itself.
In terms of spiritual beasts, the Rock-Armored Turtle, Green-Horned Dragon Carp, the medicinal insect, and even the sand-condensing Tool Man, had all grown significantly.
The island of Kongming, where Lu Chen had been stationed, also remained relatively calm during this period, with no significant incidents occurring.
Occasional sea beast and fish invasions into the waters where the Kongming Spirit Fish were kept were easily handled by Lu Chen with the help of the Song family.
The emergence of the new secret realm also led to the frequent appearances of rogue cultivators on the island, but they were swiftly detected by the Cloud-Riding Lynx and monitored by Lu Chen using the Void Nightmare Eye.
Should they act against the interests of Kongming Island, they would be captured and used as nourishment for the Strange Longevity Peach and Blood Spirit Palm Root.
"Has the three-year deadline come to an end? Is it time to return to the sect?"
Lu Chen gazed out at the boundless sea, a slight smile curving his lips.
(End of Chapter)
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