Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

When the third leaf of the blood ginseng started to turn black, Chen Yuan knew something was wrong.

It wasn't a withered yellow, but a black like ink, spreading from the veins to the edges of the leaf.

He poured spiritual rain on it, applied fire ore powder, and even bit his fingertip to drip a drop of blood onto it—the black markings paused for a moment, then spread even faster.

In the sea of ​​consciousness, the sapling of the term is issuing a frantic warning:

[WARNING: Golden-veined Blood Ginseng has been contaminated with unknown substances]

[Sources of contamination: Residual demonic energy, impurities of obsession, and taint from yin energy]

destroy?

Chen Yuan stared at the pot of blood ginseng. The golden veins on the leaves, set against the black spots, resembled gold leaf on the face of a dying man. This was a mutation that Old Zhao had obtained with his life, and it was the only bargaining chip he had to turn the tide.

Manager Liao once said that a complete Golden-Veined Blood Ginseng is worth five hundred spirit stones.

Even if he's disabled now, as long as he doesn't die, he can still be worth two hundred when he's ready for conscription and examination.

Two hundred spirit stones are enough to pay three years' rent for eight acres of land, enough to cure Widow Li's child's illness, and enough for him to buy a decent cultivation manual to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.

It cannot be destroyed.

He grabbed a hoe and dug a shallow trench around the thatched hut. Then he took out the last three pieces of fire ore cinder from his pocket and buried them in the trench in a triangle. This was the simplest "Fire-Binding Evil Array" in the "Five Elements Basic Array Explanation". Whether it could block "evil transformation" was unknown, but it could at least isolate yin energy.

Just as I finished burying the last piece, a soft laugh came from behind me.

"Use the Fire Separation Formation to suppress the Yin Transformation? Kid, you're adding fuel to the fire."

Chen Yuan suddenly turned around.

A person stood in the shadows outside the thatched hut.

He wore a black robe and a black cloak, his entire body shrouded in darkness, with only one hand exposed—a hand as white as a dead person's, with long, thin knuckles and bluish-black nails.

"Who are you?"

The man in black robes did not answer, and slowly walked into the thatched hut.

The light from the oil lamp shone on his face, and Chen Yuan saw the face of a man in his thirties, pale, thin, with deep-set eyes and unusually gray-white pupils.

"My name is Yin Jiu." The man in black robes squatted down in front of the blood ginseng, extending his dead-looking hand, his fingertips hovering above the blackened leaves. "Demonic energy, obsession, and yin energy—you possess all three poisons. This blood ginseng of yours has already stepped halfway into the path of the dead."

"The Way of the Demons?"

"Everything can become a ghost, plants and trees are no exception." Yin Jiu withdrew his hand. "Especially spiritual plants that have been tainted by human lives, absorbed blood essence, and tainted by demonic energy. If you nurture them for another three days, they will develop sentience—of course, as evil spirits. The first one they'll eat will be you."

Chen Yuan gripped his hoe tightly: "Can you save them?"

"Yes." Yin Jiu turned to look at him, her gray pupils reflecting nothing. "But the price will be high."

"What price?"

"Use three drops of your essence blood daily for seven days." Yin Jiu stood up. "I will pass on to you a 'Blood Refining Ginseng Nourishing Technique.' You will refine the blood ginseng into your own natal spiritual plant. Its life is your life, its death is your injury. The benefit is that after refining it, you can utilize 30% of the blood ginseng's medicinal power, and your cultivation speed will be at least five times faster."

Chen Yuan remained silent.

In the cultivation world, there's the concept of a natal magic weapon, but a natal spiritual plant... I've never heard of that. Let alone something like this, a semi-evil object.

"Don't believe me?" Yin Jiu laughed, a chilling smile. "You can check with Baicaotang, or ask Feiyu Sect. But by the time they figure it out, your ginseng will have already become a spirit. When the people from Feiyu Sect arrive, the first thing they'll do is burn the ginseng and the person to ashes—they never let the innocent go free when dealing with evil spirits."

Chen Yuan stared at him: "Why are you helping me?"

"It's not about helping you, it's about helping it." Yin Jiu pointed to the Blood Ginseng. "A spiritual plant that can step into the Ghost Path is a once-in-a-century find. My cultivation technique requires this kind of 'living Yin material.' If you refine it into your natal spiritual plant, it won't wither and die immediately when I use a part of its roots in the future."

"You're going to use it to refine pills?"

"No." Yin Jiu shook his head. "Soul Refining."

Two words caused the temperature inside the thatched shed to plummet.

Chen Yuan broke out in a cold sweat.

"I'll give you one night to think it over." Yin Jiu turned and walked into the darkness. "I'll come back at midnight tomorrow. If you agree, I'll teach you the Blood Refining Technique. If you don't..."

He paused, not finishing his sentence.

His figure blended into the night, like a drop of ink falling into water.

Chen Yuan stood there for a long time before squatting down to look at the basin of blood ginseng.

The black spots on the leaves spread further, and the edges began to curl. In my mind's eye, the warning for the sapling entry had turned blood red:

[Urgent Warning: Evil Transformation Accelerating, 58 Hours Remaining]

Five hours.

He bit his fingertip and squeezed out a drop of blood onto the ginseng root.

The moment the blood seeped in, the black spot paused its spread. But only for a moment, and then it spread at an even faster rate.

"Feeding the demon with blood..." Chen Yuan smiled bitterly, "Wouldn't that be considered courting death?"

---

Chen Yuan went to Baicaotang.

Manager Liao was doing accounts behind the counter when he saw him come in. He raised his eyes and asked, "Is there a problem with the blood ginseng?"

How did you know?

"Just guessing." Manager Liao put down his abacus. "Golden-veined Blood Ginseng is difficult to cultivate to begin with, and you're feeding it blood. It's no wonder there are problems. Tell me, are the leaves starting to turn black?"

Chen Yuan nodded.

"It's hopeless." Manager Liao shook his head. "Once the blood ginseng turns black, it's been corrupted by yin energy. You either destroy it now, or wait for it to become a spirit and harm people. I suggest you choose the former."

"What if... I wanted to save them?"

Manager Liao stared at him for a long time: "Someone came looking for you? The one in the black robe, pale-faced, with hands like a dead man's?"

Chen Yuan's heart skipped a beat: "You know him?"

"Yin Jiu, a traitor of the Ghost Spirit Sect," Manager Liao lowered his voice, "He betrayed the sect three years ago to specialize in evil arts. Did he say he would teach you the 'Blood Refining Ginseng Technique,' so you could refine blood ginseng into your natal spiritual plant?"

"……yes."

"Don't agree!" Manager Liao grabbed his wrist. "That's not some ginseng cultivation technique at all, it's a 'ghost-planting technique'! He'll refine your essence and blood into one with the blood ginseng. On the surface, it looks like you're controlling it, but in reality, he's controlling you through the blood ginseng! Once the blood ginseng is completely corrupted, it will devour your soul, turning you into a living corpse to be used by him!"

Chen Yuan felt a chill run down his spine: "How do you know so much?"

"Because he came to me three years ago." Manager Liao released his grip and smiled bitterly. "Back then, one of my 'Soul Vine' plants had a similar problem. He made the same demands, which I refused. Later, I witnessed another alchemist who agreed to his demands turn into a walking corpse who only knew how to water and fertilize flowers three months later."

The thatched hut fell into dead silence.

After a long pause, Chen Yuan asked, "Is there any other way?"

"Yes." Shopkeeper Liao pulled a small wooden box from under the counter. "'Purifying Yang Powder,' specially made to purify spiritual plants corrupted by Yin energy. But your Blood Ginseng has already been corrupted by more than half, so the success rate is less than 30%. Even if it succeeds, its medicinal properties will be greatly diminished, and it will be worth at most fifty spirit stones."

"How many spirit stones does Jingyang Powder cost?"

"eighty."

Chen Yuan laughed: "I can't afford it."

"I can give you credit," Manager Liao said, pushing the wooden box towards you. "Use 30% of your next year's harvest as collateral."

"Next year?" Chen Yuan shook his head. "I can't wait until next year. There's a requisition inspection in six days. If the harvest in the fields isn't enough, I'll have to go to the mine. Once I'm in the mine, whether I can survive until next year is a question."

"and you……"

"Let me think about it some more."

Chen Yuan turned and went out.

As he reached the door, Manager Liao called out to him, "Young Chen, life is more important than money."

"I know," Chen Yuan said without turning around, "but sometimes, without money, you can lose your life."

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