Cultivation begins with planting techniques

The corpse in front of Li Ye had burned to ashes, leaving only a pool of black ash.

With a light stomp of the foot, the tree roots stirred, tearing the ground apart and burying themselves in the soil.

As for the broken flying sword, it can be used as material to upgrade the ironwood staff.

Once the golden energy within is exhausted, the flying sword will naturally become vulnerable, and then it can be destroyed and buried, leaving no residue.

They killed the attacking old man Pan, leaving not even a trace of his body.

Just now, Li Ye had personally sown and gathered a forest over many years to form an array, which was combined with the power of the Void Tree's domain to provide cover.

Although the internal fighting was quite intense, causing the old man Pan to run around in circles for a while, he still couldn't figure out the key points of the formation, and couldn't even distinguish the illusions in the void. He was just wandering around in a small area.

As long as the formation is not broken, cultivators outside will not be able to detect any problems.

The woods were calm and still.

Looking up at the sky, there were no clouds and the stars were twinkling.

Everything remained the same as always, without the slightest disturbance; the herb garden was serene.

He paced back and forth, using the "growth-promoting" technique to smooth the wounds of each slightly damaged tree and restore them to their original state.

Li Ye was also pondering his plans after dealing with Old Man Pan.

He already had a plan; whether or not to kill Old Man Pan depended entirely on whether the guy harbored malicious intentions and came to his door to harm him.

If this guy hadn't made a move until he broke through to the Innate Realm, Li Ye would have let it go, even considering the many spiritual items he had given him earlier. He could have even taken matters into his own hands and refined pills to heal his injuries.

Based on the original situation, Pan Yuexing had no intention of taking action, at least in the short term, while Li Ye was almost finished cultivating the evil energy in the forest.

In a little while, less than a year, he will be able to successfully condense his evil energy and break through to the Innate Realm.

By then, Old Man Pan might not have the guts to make a move again, and he could avoid unnecessary killing.

But after that unfamiliar innate deacon arrived, he changed somewhat, and not long after, he suddenly chose to come and take action.

The previous thought of waiting until he reached at least the ninth level of the Qi Gathering Realm before taking action, seeing his extremely high cultivation efficiency, was completely gone.

"Junior Sister Shao..."

As Li Ye murmured the title, he seemed to be deep in thought.

Old Pan is nearing the end of his life, yet he's single-mindedly focused on seizing the foundation of this junior to prolong his own life. He's even changing his mind to avenge others.

It is unknown how "Junior Sister Shao," who was most likely also a congenital steward, died.

It would be fine if he died at the hands of a rogue cultivator.

However, if it involves cultivators from other Nascent Soul sects, it may not be a coincidence, and more conflicts will likely arise.

If handled well, it will at most be a local conflict; if not handled well, it may escalate into a struggle between the two factions.

If the benefits are insufficient, Nascent Soul cultivators may not intervene, but most of the sect's Innate Deacons will be conscripted to participate in the war.

"Although this matter is still uncertain and we need to pay close attention to the news in the coming days, if possible, I should break through to the Innate Realm as soon as possible and take over the responsibilities of this Spirit Herb Garden when the sect discovers that Old Man Pan is dead..."

Li Ye murmured to himself, and then made his decision.

Although he had attained the Innate Realm, he did not intend to remain confined to the Spirit Herb Garden.

After all, his purpose in coming to this realm was to see that ancient tree in the void.

The sooner he finds it, the sooner he can contact his original body, and perhaps even help his original body to cross over.

Thus, a seed is sown in this realm, and with the blessing of the inscription, spiritual plants are cultivated, and changes in spiritual energy are regulated, so as to truly resolve the past ills of this realm and try to obtain the blessing of the realm's origin.

However, achieving this goal ultimately requires sufficient strength. And there is still a vast area of ​​this spirit herb garden that has not been utilized. Once he secures the position here, he can spend some time planting it all.

By then, the feedback from the vast forests and spiritual fields will be enough to rapidly raise his rank as a Sacred Tree Walker, thereby gaining combat power.

Therefore, he should do his best to secure a position at the Spirit Medicine Garden.

In case a war were to break out, other innate deacons might choose to take on logistical duties to avoid being sent to the front lines and dying, thus thus successfully avoiding war.

This was not Li Ye's unfounded worry, but a judgment he made based on his experience accumulated through his cultivation.

Even in a sect as formidable as the Heavenly Sword Sect, where swordsmanship is the core of the sect's atmosphere, there are certainly not a few innate deacons like Pan Yuexing whose foundations have been damaged and whose combat power has greatly declined.

They had already faced life and death once and suffered greatly, so naturally they would not be willing to fight to the death again.

It's perfectly normal to make alternative plans.

At that time, places like the herb garden, which are usually lucrative and arduous, will become surprisingly sought-after.

This is similar to how Old Man Pan was surprised when Li Ye first arrived at the Spirit Herb Garden, assuming he had come to avoid the battle.

Clearly, this has become standard practice for these major sects!
However, Li Ye was not in a hurry.

Old Man Pan's actions this time were very secretive, and their battle of magic was completely concealed by the formation he had planned and arranged.

It can be said that apart from him, no one else in the entire Spirit Medicine Garden knew where Old Man Pan had gone.

Especially since he hadn't reappeared since his visit by that unfamiliar innate deacon, others would at most assume that he was still in seclusion.

No one would realize he was dead until the next time the sect came to collect the elixir.

This gave Li Ye ample time to make a breakthrough.

"Hmm... but this is still not very safe. We still need to check if there are any last words or anything left behind in Old Man Pan's cave."

After repairing the damaged trees, Li Ye leaped forward and transformed into the shape of a kingfisher.

He took out two talismans and slapped them on his body, immediately concealing his aura and making his figure fade, almost invisible.

If a divine sense were to scan it, there would still be a chance that this method would be discovered.

But it's more than enough to fool the cultivators in the Spirit Herb Garden.

With their small size, kingfishers might not even notice them when they fly overhead.

With a flap of his wings, Li Ye swiftly flew out of the edge of the valley where he was located under the cover of night, crossed the vast and wide spiritual fields, and passed by the residences of several spiritual farmers along the way, but did not see a single person outside.

Now is the time for cultivation. Even if one is not that diligent, one should not still be outside watching over the spirit fields.

Under the effect of [Communication Plants], all the plants along the way are feeding back information to Li Ye.

Apart from Pan Yuexing, no one else seems to have come out.

This confirms the secrecy surrounding the previous battle in the valley.

Once this is accomplished, handling Old Man Pan's funeral arrangements will be much simpler.

Li Ye has now reached level ten in the Sacred Tree Walker realm, and even though he is still a transformed kingfisher, his abilities are incomparable to what they were before.

Crossing the herb garden was a matter of moments.

He approached Old Man Pan's treehouse, kept his distance, and checked the area to make sure there were no other people hiding there before quietly getting closer.

With a flap of its wings, it unleashed several wind blades, precisely striking the restrictive nodes around the treehouse, creating a small opening through which it slipped inside.

As he entered, the slightly activated restriction immediately reverted to its original state. (End of Chapter)