Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

Noon, at plot number 73.

Chen Yuan sat cross-legged beside the flowers, with his notebook and the three books spread out in front of him.

He first tried the simplest method: adjusting the proportions of the Five Elements Yin-Guiding Technique.

During Su Wanqing's demonstration, the five-colored gray light was uniform. However, Chen Yuan, based on the theory of "Five Elements Mimicry," attempted adjustments—strengthening the metal element by 20%, because the Yin Soul Flower needed a more stable "container"; weakening the water element by 10%, to prevent the circulation from too quickly dispersing the living Yin; and slightly adjusting the direction of the wood element, focusing on guiding it towards the flower's stamen...

He extended his right hand, palm down.

The earth vein imprint was slightly warm.

He closed his eyes, recalling Su Wanqing's technique, and then mobilized his spiritual power—not from his dantian, but from the earth's vein imprint, drawing out the aura that shared the same origin as this land.

The five-colored gray light reappeared.

But this time, the intensity of the light was clearly different: grayish-white was the brightest, grayish-blue was the darkest, and grayish-green, grayish-red, and grayish-yellow were moderate.

He carefully lowered the light.

It seeps into the soil and into the roots of the flowers.

The Ghost Flower trembled violently!

It wasn't the slight tremor as before; the entire plant was shaking violently, its black petals rustling loudly.

Chen Yuan's heart tightened—had they failed?

But the next second, he felt the underground conversion field suddenly accelerate its flow!

It wasn't a chaotic acceleration, but rather, following the "path" he had adjusted, it flowed precisely, orderly, and efficiently towards the flower roots, as if combed by an invisible hand.

The flower stopped trembling and instead unfolded—its eight petals slightly parted. The pale light at the center of the stamen brightened a little.

Chen Yuan held his breath.

He dared not stop and continued to maintain the output of the five elements.

At the same time, he spared a sliver of his attention to "listen" to the flower's reaction through the earth's vein markings.

At first, I just passively accepted it.

But ten breaths later, he "heard" a very faint "acceptance".

Like an infant instinctively sucking, like roots instinctively stretching towards the water source—the roots of the Yin Soul Flower begin to actively and subtly extend towards the direction of the transformation field.

It is "searching" for living Yin.

Although it was slow, and although it was just instinct.

But it is searching.

Chen Yuan opened his eyes, looked at the black flower that was unfolding in the gray light, and a smile appeared on his lips.

After laughing for a few moments, he suddenly remembered something, jumped up, and ran towards Su Wanqing's herb garden.

---

Deep within the medicinal garden lies a specially crafted soil for nourishing the soul.

The half-cut blood ginseng stood quietly in the soil, the tiny crack on the ginseng head still visible, and the little bit of dark golden sap that had seeped out had solidified, like a drop of amber tear.

Chen Yuan squatted down by the garden and looked at it carefully.

Of the eight golden-veined leaves, four were completely withered, and the remaining four were also wilted, their golden veins faded. The transparent gel layer at the cross-section of the ginseng head was still there, but its color had become somewhat cloudy.

The twelve-hour survival period has almost passed by.

Su Wanqing stood behind him: "Soul-Nourishing Soil can slow down the loss of vitality, but it only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. What it lacks is not soil, but 'roots'—without roots connecting to the earth's veins, it is like water without a source."

Chen Yuan reached out and lightly touched a wilted leaf with his fingertips.

It's cold.

It lacks the warmth that blood ginseng should have.

"The graft of destiny makes it forever yours," Su Wanqing said, "but it also makes it forever incomplete. The yin body is in the Well of Rebirth, and the yang body is here—separated, it can never truly 'come alive' again."

"What if..." Chen Yuan looked up, "What if I could create a 'false root' for it?"

Su Wanqing raised an eyebrow: "A fake root?"

"Like the Five Elements Mimicry says, simulate an environment it needs." Chen Yuan's speech quickened. "Blood ginseng prefers the sun and needs the nourishment of the earth's blood and qi. I use the Five Elements technique to simulate the blood and qi environment, and then use guiding methods to make it think that its roots are still in the soil, still absorbing..."

He stopped halfway through his sentence.

Because Su Wanqing was shaking her head.

"You've overlooked two things." She crouched down to be at eye level with Chen Yuan. "First, the root of the Blood Ginseng isn't an ordinary root; it's a 'Blood Refining Root.' It doesn't need ordinary ley lines; it needs special ley lines that contain blood energy—and in the entire Flying Feather Sect, there's only a small section of this kind of ley line in the forbidden area behind the mountain, which is locked by the sect's grand formation, and no one can touch it."

Chen Yuan's heart sank.

"Secondly," Su Wanqing pointed to the crack in the ginseng head, "the crack left by the fateful grafting is oozing the sap of the soul. What does this mean? It means that the 'yin body' and 'yang body' of this ginseng are no longer a simple physical separation, but a tear at the level of the soul. No matter how realistic the fake root you create, it cannot mend the wound of the soul."

She paused, her voice softening slightly: "Chen Yuan, some things, once broken, are broken forever. You can glue them back together, but they will never be the same piece of jade again."

Chen Yuan looked at the half-eaten ginseng.

Looked for a long time.

Then he said, "So it can only hang there, half-dead, until it withers away completely someday?"

"Unless you can find its yin body and reunite the two," Su Wanqing stood up, "but the yin body is in the Well of Rebirth—a place where even Nascent Soul cultivators might not be able to come out."

she left.

Chen Yuan squatted alone by the garden.

He reached out and gently placed his palm on the soul-nourishing soil.

The earth vein imprint conveyed a faint sense—this soil was very "fertile" and full of spiritual energy, but it did not have blood energy, nor the "yang earth vein" characteristics required by blood ginseng.

He tried to mobilize the five elements to simulate a blood-and-qi environment.

But it failed.

It's not a technical problem, it's a problem of "texture"—he can use fire to simulate warmth, earth to simulate heaviness, and even metal to simulate killing intent (blood refining requires killing intent), but no matter how he combines them, he can't simulate that unique "blood smell" with a rusty, sweet, and fishy taste.

That was the scent of slaughter, death, and the essence of life that had been accumulated deep within the earth's veins for thousands of years.

It cannot be created by humans.

Chen Yuan withdrew his hand and looked down at his palm.

The dark purple ley line imprint, nourished by the spiritual energy of the soul-nourishing soil, lessened its hidden pain.

He suddenly remembered something.

This mark was left because he forcibly connected to the earth's veins.

And the earth's veins... are interconnected.

Although the Flying Feather Sect has locked the Blood Refining Earth Vein in the back mountain, the earth vein itself is like the blood vessel network of the human body. A fluctuation in one place will be transmitted to other places along the network, but it will be weakened and distorted.

What if he used his own ley line imprint as a "transfer station" to filter and refine an extremely faint trace of blood energy from ordinary ley lines?

Just like extracting salt from seawater.

The efficiency will be ridiculously low, but maybe... enough for Bloodgin to catch its breath?

This idea is too risky.

The earth vein imprint is already very fragile. Forcibly refining blood energy may cause the imprint to collapse completely, or even trigger a more serious backlash.

But Chen Yuan looked at the half-eaten ginseng.

Looking at those four withered leaves, and at the amber tear on the ginseng head.

He recalled the excruciating pain he felt when he performed the fateful graft, the emptiness of having ten years of lifespan taken away, and the nights this ginseng had kept him company in the shantytown.

It saved his life.

Now, it's his turn.

Chen Yuan took a deep breath and placed his right hand on the soul-nourishing soil.

Place your left hand on the ley line mark on your right arm.

Then, he closed his eyes.

At 5 PM, on the edge of the Medicine Valley, in the wasteland.

Zhou Ming was carrying a basket of freshly picked "Qingxin grass" when he passed by and saw Chen Yuan sitting by his half-acre experimental field, his face as pale as paper.

"Senior Brother Chen?" Zhou Ming ran over. "What's wrong?"

Chen Yuan opened his eyes, his gaze somewhat unfocused, but a smile played on his lips.

"It's nothing," he said in a hoarse voice. "I tried something, but I'm a little tired."

Zhou Ming looked at his right arm—the sleeve was rolled up, revealing a darker earth vein mark, which had turned from dark purple to purplish-black, with a trace of blood seeping from the edge.

"You've disturbed the earth's veins again?!" Zhou Ming exclaimed anxiously. "Didn't Master Su say..."

"We didn't disturb the earth's veins this time," Chen Yuan interrupted him. "We just... borrowed some things."

He stood up, leaning on the edge of the field, but his legs gave way and he almost fell. Zhou Ming quickly helped him up.

"I'm really fine." Chen Yuan steadied himself and looked at the three Edelweiss seeds in the experimental field.

The seeds planted three days ago have all sprouted. One of them is particularly robust, its tender shoots a deep red, swaying gently in the evening breeze.

"Look," Chen Yuan pointed to the seedling, "it's alive."

Zhou Ming followed his finger and stared in disbelief: "This is... edelweiss? Why is it this color?"

"I don't know." Chen Yuan grinned. "Maybe it likes this land."

He bent down and gently touched the bright red bud with his finger.

The bud tip trembled slightly, as if in response.

Chen Yuan smiled.

He looked a little silly with his smile.

Then he straightened up and said to Zhou Ming, "Do me a favor. Starting tomorrow, come here every day at Chenshi (7-9 AM) and water this land with half a spoonful of spiritual spring water—just half a spoonful, no more, no less."

"Why?" Zhou Ming asked, puzzled.

"Because I'm teaching it," Chen Yuan said, "teaching it how to find water by itself."

He turned and walked toward his residence, his steps unsteady, but his back was very straight.

Zhou Ming stood there, watching his back, then looking at the bright red edelweiss seedling in the field.

A gentle evening breeze blew, and the seedlings swayed lightly.

In the distance, towards plot number seventy-three, the Ghost Flower blooms quietly in the twilight.

In the center of the black petals, the pale light was twice as bright as it had been three days ago.

Meanwhile, in the Soul-Nourishing Soil of the Herb Garden, on the edge of the withered leaf of the half-cut Blood Ginseng, a tiny, almost invisible, tender golden bud quietly sprouted.

It's only the size of a needle tip.

But indeed, it is a new sprout.