Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

At the end of Yin hour, at location number seventy-three.

Chen Yuan squatted beside the Yin Soul Flower, his index finger hovering three inches above the petals, motionless.

He is "listening".

It's not about using your ears—it's about using the lingering burning sensation from the imprint of the earth vein on your palm to sense the tiny yet continuous "yin energy transformation field" at the base of the flower.

It's been three days.

Ever since that night when the earth's veins were guided and the first wisp of living yin was born, this transformation field has been like a weak heart, slowly beating deep within the soil.

too slow.

But the flowers are indeed getting better.

The most obvious evidence is the ulceration—the rotting parts along the edges of the black petals, which were slowly spreading three days ago, have now completely stopped.

A very thin, amber-like transparent substance formed at the edge of the ulcer, sealing off any possibility of further deterioration.

Chen Yuan withdrew his hand, took out the well-worn copy of "A Preliminary Exploration of Earth Vein Flow" from his pocket, and read the section on "Dredging and Clearing Yin Qi Stagnation" again in the morning light.

The book says that the earth's veins are like rivers; if they stagnate, the land dies, but if they flow freely, the land lives.

But once that's been explained, how do you get the river to "flow to the right place"?

This is the problem he is facing now: the transformation field has been formed, and living Yin has been born, but most of these living Yin have dissipated in the soil, and only a very small portion has been absorbed by the Yin Soul Flower.

"It's like the sluice gate has been opened, but the canal hasn't been repaired."

Su Wanqing's voice came from behind.

Chen Yuan stood up and bowed.

Su Wanqing waved her hand, walked to the flower and squatted down—she didn't touch the flower, but stared at the amber-like substance on the petals for a few moments.

"The hardest part of transforming dead yin into living yin is not the 'transformation,' but the 'preservation.'" She reached out and pressed her hand lightly above the soil. "The essence of living yin is delicate. If the earth's veins flow too vigorously, it will dissipate; if they flow too slowly, it will stagnate. You have to build a 'channel' for it—not a physical channel, but a path for the flow of spiritual energy."

Chen Yuan frowned: "How do we fix it?"

"Use the Five Elements." Su Wanqing spread her five fingers, hovering five inches above the flower. "Although the Yin Soul Flower is pure Yin, it still needs the support of the Five Elements to grow. However, the Five Elements it needs are not for growth and nourishment, but for 'constraint' and 'guidance'."

Five-colored lights shone from her fingertips, but this time the light was strange—not the usual blue, red, yellow, white, or black, but five shades of gray.

"The metal element governs restraint. Give the living yin a 'container' to prevent it from running wild." The grayish-white light at her fingertips fell and seeped into the petals.

The petals trembled slightly.

"Water represents movement. Let the living Yin circulate within the 'container' so as not to become stagnant." Grayish-blue light descended.

"The wood element governs the direction of growth. It tells the living shade where to go—not to dissipate, but to the flower buds, the leaf veins, and the roots." A grayish-green light.

"Fire element, activate. Prevent the cycle from becoming stagnant." A grayish-red light.

"Earth element, the Lord bears. Let all of this have a foundation, not be superficial." Grayish-yellow light.

Five-colored gray light seeped in one after another, and the entire plant of the Yin Soul Flower suddenly trembled!

Then, Chen Yuan clearly felt that the rhythm of the underground transformation field had changed.

No longer throbbing haphazardly, but with direction: from the center of the transformation field, along an extremely thin "path," it flows precisely to the roots of the flower, then up the stem, branching out to the eight petals.

Like a stream finding its course.

"This is... the Five Elements Yin Locking Formation?" Chen Yuan recalled a lesser-known formation mentioned in "An Introduction to Formations".

"It's the Five Elements Guiding Yin Technique." Su Wanqing withdrew her hand. "Those people in the Array Academy only know how to set up dead arrays, forcibly locking and filling things in. Spiritual plants are alive, you have to give them living guidance—weave a net with the five elements, not to trap the yin energy, but to guide it to the path it should take."

She stood up and looked at Chen Yuan: "That night you used the earth vein imprint to forcefully draw in yin energy, which was brute force, but it worked by accident—the earth veins remembered your aura, and now this land recognizes you. Combined with the Five Elements Guiding Yin Technique, the efficiency can be increased by 30%."

%.

Enough for the Ghost Flower to survive.

But Chen Yuan didn't breathe a sigh of relief; instead, he asked, "What about the other 70%?"

Su Wanqing raised an eyebrow: "Greedy?"

"It's not greed," Chen Yuan shook his head, "it's wasteful. Earth vein yin energy is also a kind of spiritual energy. After a transformation, 70% dissipates... It's such a pity."

Su Wanqing looked at him for a while, then suddenly laughed: "So that's the difference between a spirit plant master and a spirit farmer. A spirit farmer thinks 'good enough,' while a spirit plant master thinks 'can it be better?'"

She turned and walked deeper into the valley of herbs, her voice echoing back: "For the remaining 70%, either you find a stronger guiding method, or... let the flower learn to 'absorb' on its own. A true spiritual plant shouldn't rely on humans to feed it forever."

Chen Yuan stood there, pondering those words.

Let the flowers learn to absorb things on their own?

He looked down at the ghost flower. Its black petals gleamed with a dark luster in the morning light, and beneath the amber-like substance, festering wounds were slowly healing.

The living shadows are flowing.

But is the flower truly "absorbing" anything, or is it merely passively receiving it?

He recalled Su Wanqing's demonstration of the Five Elements Guiding Yin Technique—five shades of gray energy, not instilled, but guided. Like teaching a child to walk, not carrying them along.

Maybe... he can give it a try.

---

At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), Chen Yuan went to the library.

This time, he went straight to the third floor—the highest floor accessible only to outer disciples, where a large number of obscure, rare, and even incomplete scriptures were stored. He spent twenty contribution points to borrow three books:

An Introduction to Spiritual Plants: The True Nature of Herbs and Trees (Fragment)

"The Earth Vein Symbiosis Hypothesis and Case Studies" (Manuscript)

"Five Elements Mimicry: How to Make Spiritual Plants 'Believe' They Are in Their Most Suitable Environment" (Author: Anonymous)

All three books were old, with yellowed pages and torn edges. The latter half of "The Heart of Plants" was almost entirely damaged by insects.

Chen Yuan found a corner, spread out the book, and started taking notes on his homemade rough paper as he read.

The opening line of "The Nature of Plants" reads: "Humans have human hearts, and plants have their nature. To cultivate spiritual plants, the first step is to understand their nature."

Here's an example: A bellflower growing on a cliff will instinctively send its roots deep into the crevices of the rocks, where it feels stable. If you transplant it to fertile plains, it won't thrive—because it's "not used to" the environment.

"A grassy nature..." Chen Yuan murmured.

What are the "herbaceous" characteristics of the Ghost Flower?

It prefers shade and dislikes yang, and needs to be nourished by pure yin energy.

But now, the yin energy in this land is "alive" and flowing—is it used to it?

Chen Yuan recalled that night when the living Yin was born, and the flower root trembled slightly.

That's not resistance.

Is it...curiosity?

He closed the book and opened "The Symbiotic Hypothesis of Earth Veins." This one was even more esoteric. The author proposed that high-level spiritual plants could establish a "resonance" with the earth's veins, absorbing their spiritual energy in sync with their breathing. However, this resonance required the spiritual plant to possess a faint "consciousness"—not intelligence, but a perceptual and responsive instinct.

resonance......

Chen Yuan recalled the earth vein mark on his palm. He could sense the earth vein through the mark because it was a "scar" left by the backlash of the earth vein, and also a "connection".

What if he created a similar "connection" for the Ghost Flower?

It's not a scar from backlash, but a gentle guidance.

The moment he had this idea, he felt crazy.

However, the book "Five Elements Mimicry" records an even more outrageous case: a plant master used the Five Elements technique to simulate a "false fire vein environment" in order to allow a cold-sensitive "fire coral" to survive on the ice field. The fire coral's roots "thought" that they were rooted next to a volcano and actually lived for three years.

"A fake environment..." Chen Yuan stared at this sentence for a long time.

What if he could use the Five Elements Guiding Yin Technique to simulate a microenvironment around the Yin Soul Flower that is "most suitable for it to absorb living Yin"?

It's not about forcibly instilling knowledge, but about creating a "nest" that it loves most, so that it's willing to eat and grow on its own.

He grabbed his notebook and rushed out of the library.

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