Chapter 629: All Preparations Ready
Chapter 629: All Preparations Ready
A drop of Divine Spirit Elixir appeared before Lu Chen, a result of his fleeting thought.
The elixir was pure and flawless, with a faint, ethereal aura swirling around it. Through his spiritual sense, Lu Chen could see the surrounding scenery refracted and concentrated within the drop, many times clearer than before.
The ethereal aura dispersed in all directions, forming faint, pale blue ripples that were almost imperceptible. Wherever these ripples went, the spiritual energy in the area became purer instantly.
Lu Chen focused his mind on the elixir, and in an instant, he knew everything about it.
Clear Marrow Jade Liquid, a sixth-grade treasure refined from ten thousand-year-old jade marrow. When consumed, it allows a cultivator's spiritual power and spiritual sense to achieve a state of harmony and perfection, greatly increasing the success rate of Core Formation.
"A sixth-grade treasure!"
Lu Chen's heart rejoiced. Even though he had experienced the wonders of the glowing spheres countless times, he never tired of the unknown and powerful treasures they contained.
"No fancy effects, just one benefit: a greatly increased success rate for Core Formation."
The elixir's effect was singular, but to Lu Chen's current situation, this drop of Clear Marrow Jade Liquid was the most valuable treasure he could ask for.
He was just a hair's breadth away from Core Formation, yet countless cultivators had failed at this very last step. What seemed so close was actually out of reach, like an insurmountable chasm.
However, Lu Chen was confident about his chances. Most of his spiritual power came from the glowing spheres, free from any impurities, and of the highest quality. His physical body was also free from hidden ailments, making it no weaker than those of body cultivators who focused on tempering their bodies.
As for his spiritual sense, it had been constantly nourished by the Yunshen Tie, and his years of cultivating the Shenyan Jing had further enhanced it, far surpassing that of other Foundation Establishment cultivators.
His divine soul and will had also been tempered within the Hongchen Tablet, turning his once-weakest attribute into a strength.
Nevertheless, no matter how confident he was, as long as the odds weren't 100%, there was still a risk of failure.
Fortunately, the glowing spheres had provided him with three major items beneficial to Core Formation, including a drop of the sixth-grade Clear Marrow Jade Liquid, greatly increasing his chances of success.
"All I need to do now is continue tempering my will and divine soul, and wait patiently for the Ice Fireflies to mature."
With Core Formation insight, Lu Chen was eager yet patient, focusing his attention on tending to the spiritual plants in his spirit fields without any distractions.
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye. During this period, Lu Chen spent most of his time in his cave abode, occasionally venturing to the Thunder Sea to obtain some Thunder Fluid from the exotic Thunder Rhino Beast and collect the spiritual thunder required for his thunder-attributed spirit plants.
Sometimes, he would visit the Star-Plucking Tower and enter the Hailou branch to identify the exotic spirit plants from various realms and worlds.
To avoid attracting too much attention, Lu Chen deliberately concealed his full capabilities, only revealing a small portion of the spirit plants' varieties and effects.
However, even this limited display impressed the high-ranking members of the Hailou Commerce Guild. After all, the spirit plants presented to Lu Chen had already gone through rigorous screening by numerous spirit plant experts, and Lu Chen's ability to identify them further validated their decision to invite him as a guest advisor.
For the rest of the time, Lu Chen remained in his cave abode, cultivating his spirit plants, tempering his will, and strengthening his divine soul, gradually accumulating power for his upcoming Core Formation breakthrough.
During this period, several spirit plants in his spirit fields matured, including the remaining Misty Immortal Peaches, the dual-attribute Ice and Fire Spirit Fruits, and some common spirit fruits used for brewing the Hundred Spirit Fruit Juice.
None of these spirit plants were of particularly high grade, and the glowing spheres they produced were mostly second and third-grade treasures, with only a small portion being fourth-grade. Lu Chen stored them all in his storage bag, planning to exchange them for spirit stones when the opportunity arose.
On this day, Lu Chen slowly patrolled his spirit fields, carefully inspecting the growth of each spirit plant.
In this corner, within an area of several meters, only one spirit plant was cultivated. Its trunk was adorned with numerous peculiar dark green branches, and its bark resembled that of an old woman—dry and wrinkled.
At this moment, the countless dark green branches were whipping about, creating afterimages as they relentlessly struck the Cloud-Stepping Lynx enclosed within.
Upon learning of the Sha Lao tree demon's extremely aggressive nature, Lu Chen had intentionally planted it in a secluded corner of his cave and set up a simple restriction to prevent the other spiritual beasts in the cave from wandering too close.
However, this restriction was of little concern to the Cloud-Stepping Lynx, who was highly active and possessed a pair of divine eyes. It easily entered the territory of the Sha Lao tree demon, and in a moment of inattention, it found itself under a frenzied attack by the little tree.
This was the first time the Cloud-Stepping Lynx had encountered such a situation in the cave, and it fled in disarray. After returning to Lu Chen's side, it considered sparing the little tree due to their shared residence in the cave.
But as it thought about it more, it grew angrier, and so it returned to the corner, once again entering the territory of the Sha Lao tree demon.
Thus, a special love-hate relationship formed between a spirit plant and a spirit beast.
From time to time, the Cloud-Stepping Lynx would venture into the tree demon's territory, cautiously probing the edges. Whenever the Sha Lao tree demon launched its frenzied assault, the lynx's body would transform into a black beam of light, nimbly dodging the onslaught of branches.
As soon as it sensed Lu Chen's approach, the Cloud-Stepping Lynx stopped in its tracks, letting out a low growl before lifting its head slightly, its ears perked with tufts of grayish-white fur gently swaying.
"You're back to wreak havoc on my spirit plant again!"
Lu Chen sensed the warmth in the lynx's heart and grabbed it by the neck, ruffling the tufts of fur into a heart shape.
Although the Sha Lao tree demon was ferocious, it was as docile as could be in front of Lu Chen. This was mainly because it had tried to attack Lu Chen in the past but was easily blocked, and it even had a few of its branches yanked off, leaving a deep impression on the little tree, which possessed a simple spiritual intelligence.
Moreover, it was well aware that its growth depended entirely on Lu Chen, and so it had no choice but to bow its head and submit.
As for the other two sixth-grade spirit plants obtained from the auction, the Ghost-Eating Vine had already grown a short segment, its dark black buds taking on a peculiar shape. It enveloped a mass of pitch-black yin energy within, from which faint wails of vengeful spirits could be heard, indicating that a low-grade yin entity was slowly taking form.
Over the past six months, the vengeful spirits fed to the Ghost-Eating Vine had all been of the lowest grade, but they were sufficient to sustain the vine's initial growth.
As for the remaining spirit plant, the Sitting Buddha Lotus, it had been planted near the Vajra Bodhi, basking in the light of the Subdue Demon Stake artifact. Vibrant and full of life, it showed signs of taking root and sprouting.
Lu Chen strolled through the furrows of his spirit fields, gazing upon the vast expanse of thriving spirit plants with a sense of immense satisfaction.
Many of the spirit plants in the fields had entered their maturity stage, including the fourth-grade Green Lotus Sword Grass. Additionally, the Dragonvine, Earthfire Heart Lotus, and Five Elements Fruit that he had planted before leaving the Sky Sword Sect were also nearing maturity, and the harvest of glowing spheres was imminent.
"The Ice Firefly Grass is almost ready, too."
Finally, he arrived at a spirit field covered in a thin layer of frost, where over a dozen extremely cold Ice Firefly Grass plants were growing in a neat arrangement. He couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
All preparations were now complete, and he was ready to take the next step.
(End of Chapter)
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