Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

The opening was like a swallowing mouth, swallowing up the sunlight, sound, and even temperature.

The light from the illumination bead in Chen Yuan's hand suddenly contracted the moment he stepped into the cave, shrinking from three zhang to one zhang, as if it had been squeezed flat by an invisible pressure.

The light was no longer pure white, but tinged with a cool, bluish hue reminiscent of the cave walls, making the skin appear as if it were covered in a thin layer of frost.

"It's so cold..." Bai Zhi followed behind, her voice muffled as it was absorbed by the cave walls.

It's not the temperature that's low, it's the spiritual energy.

The spiritual energy here is so strong you can almost taste it—a crisp, minerally sweet scent. Each breath feels like inhaling a mouthful of chilled honey water, sliding down your throat and then exploding in your lungs with a subtle, stinging sensation.

Chen Yuan raised the luminous bead, and the halo spread outwards.

The cave walls were indeed man-made, excessively smooth, but the translucent crystal covering them made everything appear distorted and unreal. A ghostly blue light flowed within the crystals, like a frozen river.

Light shines through from deep within the crystal, creating a uniform, sourceless illumination within the channel.

And the ground—

"Look." Bai Zhi squatted down and touched the ground with her finger.

Every three steps, a pebble the size of a fist is embedded in the ground. The surface of the pebble is engraved with insect-shaped characters of the same origin as those at the cave entrance, which are now flickering extremely slowly, like breathing. The rhythm of the flickering is unrelated to the footsteps, forming its own melody.

"These stones..." Bai Zhi looked up, "are absorbing our energy."

Chen Yuan also squatted down, and the power of the silvery-white starlight probed into the pebble.

The feedback sent a chill down his spine—each pebble was a miniature sensor node, connected to a massive array spanning the entire mountain.

With each step they took, the pebbles recorded their life force, cultivation fluctuations, and even... emotional ups and downs.

"It's reading us." Chen Yuan stood up, his voice low.

"read?"

"Hmm." He pointed to the dark blue passage ahead. "This cave is a living thing. The deeper we go, the more it knows about us."

Bai Zhi's face paled, but she didn't back down: "Then... are we still leaving?"

Chen Yuan remained silent, looking ahead.

The passage sloped downwards, the incline gentle but continuous. The light from the illumination beads could only reach about ten feet before being swallowed up by the eerie blue mist.

In the mist, the floating specks of light rose and fell, like fragments of a sleeping creature's dream.

"Go," he finally said, "but don't touch anything. And don't overthink it—the more emotionally volatile it is, the clearer it reads."

Bai Zhi took a deep breath and nodded.

The two continued on their way.

After walking about twenty zhang (approximately 10 meters), the passage began to widen. The crystals on the cave walls gradually thinned, revealing the natural rock texture behind them. And on both sides of the ground, things began to appear—

moss.

It wasn't ordinary moss; it was silvery-blue, with each clump only the size of a fingernail, densely covering the ground on both sides like two luminous rivers extending deep into the passage.

The surface of the moss is covered with fine frost crystals, which reflect tiny, diamond-like sparkles when illuminated by the light from the light beads.

Bai Zhi stopped.

"This is..." her voice trembled, "'Star Frost Moss'... I've only ever seen illustrations of it in ancient books..."

Chen Yuan also squatted down to examine it closely: "What's it for?"

"A miraculous healing product." Bai Zhi's eyes shone brightly, but she dared not touch it. "When applied externally, it can instantly stop bleeding and promote tissue regeneration; when taken internally, it can repair hidden injuries to the meridians."

Most importantly—it can nourish the spirit, making it an invaluable treasure for those who cultivate spiritual methods.

She paused, then spoke even softer:

"Master said that Star Frost Moss only grows where the earth's veins condense and seep to the surface. It takes thousands of years to form clumps and tens of thousands of years to form a carpet... There are so many here, they must have been growing for at least three thousand years."

Chen Yuan stared at the endless silver-blue carpet of light spread out before him and remained silent for a few moments.

Then he stood up: "Choose."

Bai Zhi suddenly looked up: "But...you said I can't touch anything..."

"The moss is not part of the formation." Chen Yuan had already taken out a small jade shovel and a pile of jade boxes from his storage bag. "It grows naturally, only borrowing the spiritual energy here. Harvesting the surface layer will not damage the roots or trigger the formation."

He handed the tools to Bai Zhi: "You know them, so you do it. Be gentle, don't use your spiritual power, use your hands."

Bai Zhi took the jade shovel, her hands trembling slightly.

She crouched down in front of the nearest clump of star-frost moss and carefully inserted the jade shovel into the crevice between the moss and the rock.

It felt cool and soft to the touch, like cutting a piece of solidified fat. With a gentle lift of the shovel, the entire clump of moss was completely peeled away, revealing the dark red rock underneath—the rock surface had fine, vein-like patterns that were slowly pulsating.

"This stone..." Bai Zhi's voice tightened.

"Never mind." Chen Yuan didn't turn his head, keeping watch over the passageways ahead and behind. "Put it in a box and seal it. The Star Frost Moss loses its spiritual energy very quickly after being removed from the soil; using a Spirit Sealing Jade Box will preserve it for longer."

Bai Zhi gritted her teeth and quickened her pace.

She picked ten clumps and filled a jade box to the brim. When she closed the lid, fine runes automatically appeared on the surface of the jade box, locking in the spiritual energy inside.

"That's enough," Chen Yuan said. "We can't take any more with us."

Bai Zhi stood up, holding the jade box, and her face finally regained some color: "These... are enough to heal all your hidden injuries. And Lieyun, if its bones can be treated with Star Frost Moss externally, the healing speed will be three times faster."

Chen Yuan nodded and continued forward.

The passageway is getting wider and wider; it is now five zhang (approximately 10 meters) wide.

The cave ceiling rose higher, and the light from the illumination beads could no longer reach the top. Only a deep, dark blue expanse could be seen above, like an inverted sea.

Stone niches began to appear on both sides.

They weren't the kind of niches for worshipping gods; they were more like... display shelves. Each stone niche was a different size, and there were things inside.

The first niche contains a small clay figure, only the size of a palm, crudely made, but with a vertical pupil carved on its face.

The little man sat cross-legged, his hands forming a mudra, a style Chen Yuan had never seen before.

In the second stone niche was a jade scroll, the jade of which had turned yellowish and had fine cracks on its surface.

The jade slip was tied with a faded red rope, the knots of which were extremely intricate, resembling some kind of seal.

The third niche is empty.

In the fourth niche is a sword.

Chen Yuan and Bai Zhi stopped in their tracks at the same time.

The sword is three feet long, with a narrow blade, and is entirely bluish-gray, like the sky before a rainstorm.

There is no guard; the hilt and blade are cast as one piece, with lines so smooth they are almost eerie.

At the end of the sword hilt is a dark red gemstone with three swirling patterns inside, rotating slowly.

The sword hung there in the stone niche, unsupported, half a foot off the ground, floating silently.

The surface of the sword was covered with a very thin layer of frost.

It's not frost, but spiritual frost that naturally condenses after spiritual energy has been concentrated to its extreme, shimmering with a pearly luster in the deep blue light.

Bai Zhi took a step back.

"This sword..." her voice was dry.

Chen Yuan didn't move.

He did indeed feel it—a gaze. Not from the blade, but from the gem on the hilt.

The three swirling patterns, now rotating slightly faster, resembled three eyes, simultaneously locking onto them.

"A sword from the Tianmu Sect," Chen Yuan said. "The markings on the hilt are the same as those at the cave entrance."

"Should we...?" Bai Zhi swallowed hard. "Take it?"

"You want to take it?"

"I do," Bai Zhi said honestly, "but it gives me a feeling of...danger. Unlike Star Frost Moss, which is gentle, this sword is like a sleeping tiger; it will wake up at the slightest touch."

Chen Yuan stared at the sword for ten breaths.

Then he reached out—not to grab the sword, but to touch the frost on its surface.

The moment before the fingertips touch—

hum.

The sword vibrated very slightly.

It wasn't an attack, but some kind of instinctive repulsion. The spiritual frost covering the sword exploded into fine powder, scattering in the air, each grain carrying a bone-chilling cold.

At the same time, the three vortexes in the gem on the hilt of the sword suddenly stopped.

Then, rotate in the opposite direction.

"Retreat!" Chen Yuan shouted, pulling Bai Zhi back three zhang!

Almost simultaneously, the air within three feet of the sword solidified.

—It had indeed solidified into a translucent amber-like substance, encasing the sword within. Fine, lightning-shaped cracks could be seen spreading within the solidified air, emitting soft "crackling" sounds.

And the gem on the hilt began to glow. A dark red light, like dried blood.

A voice came from inside the sword.

It didn't resonate through the air, but directly entered their minds—an aged, weary voice, hoarse with a rusty quality:

"...How many...years... has it been..."

Chen Yuan gripped the probing staff tightly, channeling the power of the silvery starlight to its limit, ready to strike at any moment.

Bai Zhi gripped the terrifying stone tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"There are still... people who dare to come..." Jian's voice was broken, like a poorly transmitted message, "Tianmu... is destroyed... who... are you...?"

Chen Yuan didn't answer, but instead asked, "And who are you?"

The sword remained silent for a few moments.

Then, the light in the gem dimmed, and the three vortexes resumed rotating in the correct direction, at a speed so slow it seemed to stop.

"...The spirit guarding the sword..." the sword said, "ordered...to guard this cave...until...the Heavenly Eye reopens..."

It paused:

"But Tianmu... won't reopen... I know... I've slept for too long... so long that I've even forgotten who 'By Order' was..."

The condensed air around the sword began to melt.

Like ice thawing, it melts into a pale blue mist that slowly rises and gathers into a swirling cloud at the top of the cave.

The sword floated out of the stone niche and hovered at eye level with Chen Yuan.

This time, Chen Yuan saw the details of the sword clearly—near the hilt, there were two insect-shaped characters engraved, the same as those at the entrance of the cave, but with sharper strokes.

"This sword... is named 'Peeping at the Heavens'." The sword spirit's voice was a little more stable, but still tired. "It was originally the sword of the seventh generation leader of the Tianmu Sect... After the leader's fall, I was ordered to guard this place and wait for the successor."

It "looked" at Chen Yuan:

"You... are not a member of the Tianmu Sect."

"no."

"The method you practice... is very strange," the sword spirit said. "...Ancient... but not from the Heavenly Eye lineage."

"Um."

"And what about her?" Jian turned to Bai Zhi.

Bai Zhi was so nervous that she stopped breathing: "I...I am a herbalist cultivator..."

"Plants and trees..." the sword spirit repeated, "gentle... but useless. The way of the Heavenly Eye lies in 'seeing through,' in 'understanding,' in proving the Dao with the eyes... The way of plants and trees is too weak."

It floated back to the stone niche and hovered there.

"But..." the sword spirit's voice lowered, "The Heavenly Eye has been destroyed for three thousand years... I have waited for three thousand years, but I have not seen a true successor of the Heavenly Eye... Perhaps, the rules should be changed."

The sword suddenly lit up.

It wasn't a blood-red light, but a clear, silvery-white light that flowed from the gemstone on the hilt and down the blade like mercury spilling onto the ground.

Where the light flowed, the bluish-gray color on the sword faded, revealing a crystal-clear, jade-like texture underneath.

At the end of the sword hilt, the three vortexes within the gem began to spin faster and faster, eventually transforming into three blurry halos.

"You two," the sword spirit said, "who wants to give it a try?"

Chen Yuan didn't move.

Bai Zhi bit her lip and stepped forward: "How do we try?"

"It's simple." The sword spirit floated in front of her. "Grasp the hilt. If you can withstand the triple gaze of the 'Eye of Heaven,' you will be its new master. If not…"

The sword trembled slightly:

"Your consciousness will be torn apart, turning you into an idiot. And I will continue to wait, waiting for the next person."

Bai Zhi's face was deathly pale, but her hand had already been extended.

"Wait." Chen Yuan grabbed her wrist.

Bai Zhi turned to look at him.

Chen Yuan stared at the sword spirit: "Why now? You've waited three thousand years, why not wait another three thousand?"

The sword spirit remained silent.

After a long while, it said:

"Because... the spirit of this mountain is about to awaken."

Its sword tip points towards the ground:

"When you came in, you should have felt it—the earth's veins were pulsating, like a heartbeat. That's not a natural phenomenon; it's the mountain spirit awakening from its long slumber."

"And once the mountain spirit fully awakens, the first thing it will do is... clean up."

The Blade Spirit's voice carried a certain cold rationality:

"Cleanse everything that doesn't belong to the mountain. Including this cave, including me, including you. It will use the power of the entire mountain to crush everything here, returning it to its most primal spiritual energy."

"Therefore, I will not have another three thousand years."

"So, you don't have time to choose slowly."

The sword floated back to Bai Zhi.

"Hold on, or leave," the sword spirit said. "But if you leave, you will never leave this mountain—the mountain spirit has locked onto your presence, and once it fully awakens, you will be the first sacrifices."

Bai Zhi's hands were trembling.

Chen Yuan loosened his grip on her wrist.

"Make your choice," he said. "I respect your decision."

Bai Zhi looked at the sword in front of her, at the spinning gem on the hilt, and at the three bottomless vortexes within the gem.

She took a deep breath.

Then, he reached out and grasped the hilt of the sword.

It felt icy cold to the touch, like holding a piece of ancient ice.

A chill instantly spread up my arm, and half of my body went numb.

But the next moment, a scorching heat surged from the gemstone and rushed into her palm!

"Ah—!" Bai Zhi cried out in pain, but did not let go.

The three vortexes within the gem exploded at that moment.

It wasn't a physical explosion, but a conscious one—three completely different "perspectives" simultaneously rushed into Bai Zhi's sea of ​​consciousness!

The first gaze: the past.

She "saw" a scene from three thousand years ago—the mountain gate of the Tianmu Sect, the towering Star Gazing Tower reaching into the clouds, countless cultivators in white robes gazing up at the sky, their eyes all vertical pupils, swirling within them. Then, war broke out. Black flames descended from the sky, incinerating everything. The cultivators screamed, fled, and turned to ashes.

The second gaze: Now.

She "saw" herself—not through her own eyes, but from an extremely high, overlooking angle. She saw herself gripping a sword, her face deathly pale, her whole body trembling. She saw Chen Yuan standing three zhang behind her, his hand on his storage bag, ready to strike at any moment. She saw deeper into the cave, further away—where a huge, curled-up shadow was slowly stretching its body. That was the Mountain Spirit.

The third gaze: the future.

She "saw"... countless fragments. Shattered images, flickering light and shadow, interwoven sounds. She saw herself standing on ruins, holding this sword in her hand, its blade dripping blood. She saw Chen Yuan lying on the ground, a hole in his chest. She saw Lieyun wailing in the sky, one of its wings broken. She also saw... an endless sea of ​​blood, and within that sea of ​​blood, thousands upon thousands of eyes slowly opening.

"No...no..." Bai Zhi began to scream, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. "Stop...stop—!"

But she couldn't let go.

The sword hilt seemed to be permanently attached to her hand, with alternating waves of cold and heat crashing into her mind. Images from three different perspectives collided wildly within her, almost tearing her consciousness apart.

Chen Yuan rushed over, but was repelled by an invisible barrier—the sword spirit activated its defense.

"Hold on!" he could only shout. "Bai Zhi! Hold on! It's just an illusion! It's not real!"

Bai Zhi cannot hear.

Her consciousness had fallen into a vortex of triple gaze, sinking deeper and deeper.

Just when she was about to lose herself completely—

The jade box containing the Star Frost Moss in her arms cracked open with a "crack".

A wisp of silvery-blue, gentle spiritual energy seeped out from the crack, flowing down her clothes and onto her hand holding the sword.

The spiritual energy of the Star Frost Moss, with its instinct to nourish the divine consciousness, gently enveloped her sea of ​​consciousness, which had been battered and bruised.

It was like pouring a bucket of ice water onto a scalding hot iron.

"laugh--"

Bai Zhi took a deep breath, her consciousness momentarily breaking free from the vortex.

That one moment is enough.

With her last shred of consciousness, she bit her tongue hard!

pain!

A sharp, real pain exploded on the tip of my tongue, instantly shattering some of the illusion.

Taking advantage of the moment, she used all her strength to channel her plant-based senses—that gentle, nature-inspired power—back into the gem along the hilt of the sword!

Don't just let me "see"! She's yelling in my mind, and I need to "feel" it too!

The three vortexes within the gemstone came to a stop.

Then, they began to change.

From a purely "peeping" perspective, it slowly took on a light green hue—the green of grass and trees, the green of life, a gentle green.

The sword vibrated.

For the first time, the Blade Spirit's voice carried a hint of astonishment:

"You...you're assimilating me?"

Bai Zhi's face was covered in tears, but she grinned, a smile that was utterly tragic:

"It's not assimilation...it's sharing..."

"You've seen three thousand years... enough of the destruction of the Heavenly Eye, enough of the cruelty of war... Now, look at something else..."

She sent her memories—those warm, fragmented moments—through the senses of plants and trees into the gemstone.

When her master first taught her to identify herbs, his rough, large hands pressed down on her head.

She found a rare spiritual flower deep in the mountains, and butterflies would fly around it when it bloomed.

On rainy days, she would hide in a tree hollow, listening to the sound of rain, and feel safe in the whole world.

These images are simple, small, and insignificant.

But for a sword that has witnessed three thousand years of slaughter and destruction...

Like the first drop of rain falling in the desert.

The light on the sword changed from silver-white to a mixture of silver-white and pale green.

The three vortexes inside the gem slowed down and became calm.

Then, the sword spirit sighed softly.

That sigh contained the weariness of three thousand years, and also a trace of... relief.

"Never mind..."

The light on the sword completely subsided.

Bai Zhi felt that the sword hilt was no longer cold or scorching. It had become warm and smooth, like a piece of jade warmed by body heat.

She was finally able to let go—but she didn't loosen her grip.

She gripped the sword, pointing the tip at the ground, to support her swaying body.

"I..." she gasped, "...passed?"

The sword spirit remained silent for a few moments.

Then it said:

"You have defiled the purity of the Eye of Heaven."

Bai Zhi's face turned pale.

"But..." the sword spirit paused, "perhaps, pure 'seeing through' is not the right path. The Tianmu Sect saw through all things in heaven and earth, saw through the cycle of life and death, but it failed to see through... why it would perish."

The sword trembled slightly, then floated up from Bai Zhi's hand and hovered in front of her.

"From today onwards, you shall call it 'Moss'," the sword spirit said. "The Sky-Gazing Sect is dead, and the Moss is reborn. It is no longer the Heavenly Eye Sect's prized treasure, but merely a... sword that can be seen and felt."

Bai Zhi was stunned.

"you……"

"I'm going to sleep." The sword spirit's voice grew softer and softer. "Three thousand years... I'm so tired... This last bit of power is enough for me to have a good dream... In my dream, there should be flowers..."

The light within the gemstone went completely dark.

The three vortexes stopped spinning and solidified into three shallow scratches.

The sword's blade changed from its crystal-clear, jade-like appearance back to a bluish-gray color, but upon closer inspection, one could see a faint, silvery-blue halo flowing beneath the bluish-gray surface.

Bai Zhi reached out and gripped the sword hilt again.

This time, the touch was gentle, like holding the hand of an old friend.

A faint but clear consciousness emanated from the sword—not language, but a kind of intimate, dependent emotion, like a newly hatched chick nuzzling her palm.

Bai Zhi's tears welled up again, but this time she was smiling.

She turned around and looked at Chen Yuan:

"It...it recognizes me."

Chen Yuan walked over, glanced at the sword, and then at Bai Zhi's pale but radiant face.

"Yes," he said. "Congratulations."

Then he turned toward the depths of the cave:

"But the sword spirit just said... the mountain spirit is about to wake up."

He raised the light bulb and shone it towards the end of the passage—

There, originally, was only a pale blue mist.

But now, the fog is swirling.

Something enormous turned over in the depths of the fog.