Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 120 Planting Bamboo and Vine
When Fang Jingxuan saw Mo Guinong's expression, he knew that the old man wanted to take advantage of him. But if the Enlightenment Vine really had the effect he said, no, even if it only had one-third of the effect, he would definitely have to give it a try.

The Breakthrough Pill is only a one-time use item, but if the Enlightenment Vine is kept alive, it will continue to play a role when breaking through bottlenecks in the future.

Even though this is a damaged branch of a second-tier mid-grade spiritual plant, I hope Old Mo won't ask for an exorbitant price.

Seeing Fang Jingxuan's unusual expression, Mo Guinong knew there was a chance, and he quickly pressed his advantage, saying:

"Don't worry, it won't be very expensive. It's just a broken branch that broke off from a genuine third-tier 'Enlightenment Vine'. You should know that vines, as a spiritual material, grow very vigorously and need to be pruned from time to time to ensure they grow well."

And that's how these broken branches came about. According to the classification system, those detached from third-tier spiritual plants are generally classified as second-tier, but whether they can survive and grow well cannot be guaranteed.

Mo Guinong explained repeatedly, afraid that Fang Jingxuan would back down. He said that he had actually traded this broken vine with someone when he went to the Spirit Wood Alliance to attend a gathering for spiritual plant practitioners to exchange ideas some time ago.

The Spiritwood Alliance values ​​Spirit Planters highly, and therefore intentionally gives them preferential treatment when they come from other regions to exchange ideas, as a way of establishing goodwill in advance.

At that time, Mo Guinong was a first-level spirit plant cultivator, but there were also many second-level spirit plant cultivators present. Moreover, these people were all very kind and did not put on airs.

These remnants of the Enlightenment Vine were distributed to each of the Spirit Plant Ladies present, serving not only as a perk but also as a testament to their Spirit Plant skills.

If the transplanted plant survives, it will qualify the candidate to join the Spirit Wood Alliance. Such a spirit planter is a highly valued talent for the Spirit Wood Alliance.

Unfortunately, after Mo Guinong returned, he tried various methods, but the vine remained half-dead and was still far from truly surviving and growing strong.

In the end, Mo Guinong had no choice but to give up on any unrealistic ideas about the matter.

Now that Fang Jingxuan wanted this kind of spiritual plant, Mo Guinong thought of this vine. Since it was just like this in his hands anyway, he might as well take it out and sell it for some spirit stones.

Fang Jingxuan was unaware of the reasons behind this; he was only concerned with whether the Enlightenment Vine was truly so effective.

"So how much are you asking for? Let me make this clear in advance: if it's too expensive, then there's no room for sentimentality between us."

Fang Jingxuan stared intently at the old man. He always felt that beneath Old Mo's honest and simple appearance, there was always another face that was about to trick him.

"I know, it won't be too expensive. Based on the price of a typical second-tier mid-grade spiritual plant, considering its function, age, and condition, this Enlightenment Vine would cost five thousand low-grade spirit stones."

At this point, seeing Fang Jingxuan's face turn green, Mo Guinong immediately continued:
"However, this Enlightenment Vine is not in good condition; it's just a broken branch, which greatly diminishes its value. So, what do you think of three thousand low-grade spirit stones?"

Fang Jingxuan immediately retorted:
“I don’t think this is appropriate. Can a mere broken branch survive? Forget it, I shouldn’t expect such a second-tier spiritual plant. Just sell me a few Enlightenment Bamboo plants instead.”

"Hey, the price is negotiable. Name your price, and we'll talk about it."

Finally, Fang Jingxuan used 1,800 low-grade spirit stones to obtain a foot-long remnant branch of the Enlightenment Vine from Mo Guinong.

In addition, Mo Guinong sent five more thirty-year-old Enlightenment Bamboos, which he also packaged and gave to Fang Jingxuan.

In addition, various kinds of spiritual soil and spiritual fertilizer were also given away in large quantities. Moreover, Fang Jingxuan made Mo Guinong make a five-year after-sales promise, which means that if any problems occur in the growth process of the Enlightenment Bamboo, except for the Enlightenment Vine, he will solve them for free.

After Fang Jingxuan rode away on Tuoyuan, carrying five Enlightenment Bamboos with their roots wrapped in spiritual soil, Mo Guinong, behind him, laughed so hard his eyes almost disappeared.

Upon returning home, the first thing Fang Jingxuan did was to transplant the five Enlightenment Bamboo stalks to an open space in the front courtyard.

Then, several low-grade wood-element spirit stones were buried around the roots of the Enlightenment Bamboo to slowly release spiritual energy to meet the needs of the bamboo. These five Enlightenment Bamboos were only thirty years old, not the best. Generally speaking, only a hundred-year-old Enlightenment Bamboo could achieve the effect described by Mo Guinong.

However, the price of century-old Enlightenment Bamboo is very high, and Mo Gui Nong does not have any of this quality. He can only purchase it from the Spirit Wood Alliance.

Fang Jingxuan didn't want to go through all that trouble. The main problem was that he was short of spirit stones. After buying the Enlightenment Vine, he now had less than a thousand spirit stones left.

Fang Jingxuan put the matter of spirit stones aside for the time being. After settling Tuoyuan, he hurriedly returned to the quiet room and took out the broken branch of the Enlightenment Vine.

This broken branch is thinner at the front and thicker at the back, with a very neat cut at the base, as if it had been chopped off with a single stroke.

Judging from the cut, the woody tissue of this vine is purple, and three leaves remain above the vine, which are now showing signs of withering.

Fang Jingxuan then recalled Mo Guinong's instructions: before planting this withered vine, it was best to soak it in spiritual liquid to stimulate its activity.

This spiritual liquid requires the essence of top-grade spiritual wood, and Mo Guinong stingily only gave out one bottle of this essence.

Fang Jingxuan carefully inserted the vine into the jade bottle containing the spiritual liquid, and then all that was left was to wait patiently.

However, looking at the vine, Fang Jingxuan felt that it looked like it was about to die. After thinking for a moment, he took out the bottle containing Moon Dew from his storage bag, opened the stopper, and carefully poured three or four drops into the base of the vine.

The Moon Dew has a very good effect on Tuoyuan and Liugu, and it has a strong effect on promoting growth. So it should also have an effect on this kind of spiritual plant.

If Fang Jingxuan hadn't been worried that the expensive remnants of the Enlightenment Vine wouldn't survive, he wouldn't have been willing to use Moon Essence Dew to nourish it. This Moon Essence Dew would obviously be more suitable for Liu Gu.

After pouring out a few drops, Fang Jingxuan quickly plugged the bottle. He could only collect about sixty-four or sixty-five drops a month, and this was enough for two days.

If Tuoyuan knew, it would probably complain that Fang Jingxuan was withholding its food.

Let's see how it goes. Fang Jingxuan didn't have much hope at the moment, thinking that as long as he could live, that would be enough.

Over the next ten days or so, Fang Jingxuan gradually returned to his previous lifestyle, practicing his martial arts and meditation as usual in the evenings.

Although his cultivation progress had stopped increasing, Fang Jingxuan felt that his grasp of the "Three-Turn Wheel Meridian Technique" had deepened after each meditation session.

Since taking the Breakthrough Pill last time, Fang Jingxuan realized that his understanding of this technique was still lacking in many aspects.

In the past, I only focused on cultivation and increasing my magical power, but I didn't have a thorough understanding of the cultivation method itself. Now I can make up for this shortcoming.

He practiced martial arts at night and drew talismans to refine his body during the day, and his life began to become more regular.

The only difference from before was that there was no one to eat with. Sometimes, when Fang Jingxuan looked at the empty seat across from him, he felt a little empty inside.

More than half a month later, Fang Jingxuan checked on the condition of the Enlightenment Bamboo and the Enlightenment Vine as usual.

But this time, a few tiny buds quietly sprouted on the Enlightenment Vine inserted in the jade bottle.

(End of this chapter)