Chapter 862: The Heart of an Ancient Millennial Tree
Chapter 862: The Heart of an Ancient Millennial Tree
Lu Chen's spiritual sense swept out, and he found a thin Taoist priest standing outside his cave abode.
The Taoist priest had a deep and solemn aura, and in his hand, he held an ancient gray mirror, adorned with intricate and bizarre runes along its edges. It seemed as if thousands upon thousands of demons had been haphazardly fused together.
"Perfected Core Formation realm?!" Lu Chen's heart skipped a beat.
Although the man before him showed no outward signs of demonic intrusion, Lu Chen remained vigilant. In a flash, he appeared outside his cave.
"I am Lu Chen. Apologies for not receiving you sooner, fellow Taoist. May I inquire as to your name?"
"I am Qing Song Dao Ren, an enforcer of the Tianxing Cave," the thin Taoist priest replied with a smile.
"Recently, there has been a demonic intrusion in the Lei Huo Xing Cave. These demons have even killed and possessed the patrolling guards. I have been ordered by the Star Master to investigate."
"May I ask, fellow Taoist Lu, if you have noticed any Tianxing Cave guards or other suspicious cultivators?" Qing Song Dao Ren inquired, his face solemn.
Lu Chen furrowed his brows slightly as if recalling, but soon shook his head. "I tend to my spiritual plants in my cave every day and have not noticed anything amiss."
He was unwilling to reveal that he had easily discovered and eradicated the demons. Without hesitation, he denied any knowledge.
"Very well," Qing Song Dao Ren nodded, his expression calm. "I have a request. This ancient mirror in my hand is an extraordinary treasure with an extremely sensitive perception of demons. May I trouble you to relax and let this mirror have a look?"
"Not at all," Lu Chen agreed readily.
Qing Song Dao Ren held the mirror up in front of Lu Chen, focusing intently on its surface. The mirror remained gray and showed no signs of abnormality.
"That's all. Please forgive me for any inconvenience," Qing Song Dao Ren said.
"Think nothing of it. I also wanted to clear myself of any suspicions," Lu Chen replied.
"Dao Chang Qing Song, thank you for coming to capture the demon. Here are a few spiritual fruits that I cultivated myself. They are delicious and will refresh you. Please don't refuse them," Lu Chen said as he produced several pink and white spiritual peaches in his hand.
Qing Song Dao Ren's spiritual sense swept over the fruits and he examined them with his mirror to ensure there were no issues. Then, he took one and bit into it without hesitation.
"Excellent! As expected of the most famous spiritual herbologist in Tianxing Cave," Qing Song Dao Ren praised.
"Fellow Taoist Lu, I have urgent matters to attend to. I will visit you again after I've taken care of them so we can further our acquaintance," Qing Song Dao Ren said as he prepared to leave.
"Farewell."
"Safe journey, Dao Chang. May you successfully vanquish that demon," Lu Chen smiled as he saw the Taoist off.
Having sensed no abnormalities when his consciousness was focused on the Taoist, Lu Chen felt relieved.
Immediately afterward, he activated the Wan Zhang Xuan Jing Array, sealing off his cave completely.
"They actually dispatched an enforcer from Tianxing Cave. It seems that demon caused quite a stir," Lu Chen mused as he returned to the courtyard, deep in thought.
"In that case, I should enhance the defensive capabilities of my cave abode."
"After all, I have two cave abodes, and although the Feng Yuan Xing Cave has Ling Gu keeping watch, there might be situations that we haven't prepared for."
"Fortunately, I've made some progress with the two seventh-grade formations."
"Once I have enough mature Xing Chen Guo and Wu Xing Huan Guo, I might be able to complete the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Jian Array and the Grand Five Elements Annihilation Array."
At that moment, he wished he had more Shen Mu Qing Hu so he could mature all the vital spiritual plants he needed.
"Haste makes waste. I should accumulate more pure plant and wood spiritual qi," he thought to himself.
He infused a large amount of Qing Mu Yuan Qi into the Jade Green Vessel, placed it into the Taoist Alchemical Furnace, and waited quietly for the vessel to transform the energy into higher-quality plant and wood spiritual qi.
Lu Chen allowed them to conduct their checks, and he would also secretly inspect them using the spiritual fruits and brews he offered as hospitality.
The Mirage Demon he had eradicated remained an unsolved mystery. The Heavenly Star Cave cultivators searched high and low but eventually gave up, concluding that it must have been secretly dealt with by another cultivator or escaped into the depths of the Thunder Sea to some hidden realm.
Lu Chen kept his silence, not divulging anything, and continued to play the role of a humble spiritual herbologist.
Time flew by, and several months passed in the blink of an eye.
One day, as Lu Chen was playing with the Thunder Dragon Bull and Green Mountain Qilin in the courtyard, his spiritual sense detected a slight disturbance in his spirit fields.
Threads of delicate and pure spiritual qi were emanating from the spirit plants, converging towards a central location.
Hovering above that spot was a delicate and exquisite tree nymph, absorbing the converging spiritual qi into her diminutive body.
The amount of spiritual qi emanating from each spirit plant was minuscule and had no impact on their growth, but when gathered together, it became substantial.
As the tree nymph absorbed more and more of the pure spiritual qi, verdant patterns appeared on her snowy skin, slowly spreading until they reached her face.
She exuded an increasingly pure and refreshing aura of nature, and Lu Chen's spiritual sense perceived that all the spirit plants in his cave abode seemed to be rejoicing, vibrant with life.
After absorbing all the spiritual qi, the tree nymph opened her eyes, revealing a flash of emerald green light.
"A breakthrough?" Lu Chen's attention was fully focused on the tree nymph.
[Tree Nymph: Fifth-grade complete form, rare plant spirit, born of heaven and earth, feeds on the spiritual qi of plants and trees. During its growth, it can alter the surrounding spiritual qi environment, benefiting the growth of spirit plants, and gradually gain insight into wood-related secrets and even supernatural powers.]
"Such a tiny creature, yet it's a fifth-grade spirit?" Lu Chen mused. "But going by its information, it doesn't seem to be the type that excels in combat."
"In a sense, it's a spirit herbologist among spirit beasts..."
Lu Chen found the irony amusing.
"However, its rapid growth makes sense. Being a rare plant spirit, and with so many high-grade spirit plants in my cave, its development has been greatly enhanced, leading to its swift breakthrough to a complete form."
As these thoughts crossed his mind, he reached out and gently touched the white light cluster that had quietly appeared.
The light cluster shattered silently, turning into countless tiny specks of light that swiftly flew into Lu Chen's body.
A thought flashed through his mind.
[The spirit beast, Tree Nymph, has broken through to the fifth grade, obtaining a sixth-grade treasure, the Heart of an Ancient Millennial Tree.]
A section of ancient wood, mottled with hues of green and blue, appeared before Lu Chen. Upon closer inspection with his spiritual sense, he detected a verdant green orb at the heart of the wood, emanating an incredibly pure plant and wood spiritual qi.
Lu Chen focused his mind on the ancient wood, immediately understanding its properties.
[Heart of an Ancient Millennial Tree: Sixth-grade treasure, the most refined essence of an ancient millennium tree. It provides immense benefits for the growth of wood-based spirit beasts and spirits, and can also be used to forge wood-attributed magic treasures or high-grade puppet cores.]
(End of Chapter)
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