Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

The cracking sound started in the left leg.

Just as Chen Yuangang finished reciting the first section of the "Copper Skin Kung Fu" for the third time, a crisp "crack" sound came from his left shinbone.

He looked down and saw that the skin around the wound where he had been bitten by the tentacles was turning from dark black to an abnormal bluish-gray, and the outline of the bones under the skin was becoming exceptionally clear.

The Copper Skin Technique is taking effect—forcibly hardening bones and flesh to resist the erosion of blood and qi.

But it's too slow. The wound festers faster than the healing process can repair it.

He stopped practicing and looked at his right palm.

The dark golden veins beneath the bark's texture flickered and undulated with the breath of the silhouette deep within the blood pool, as if in response.

echo……

Chen Yuan suddenly remembered the entry in the entry tree that he had never used: [Blood Refinement Resonance].

He closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the sea of ​​knowledge.

The sapling remained the same, standing 1.6 feet tall with five leaves. However, the edges of the once vibrant green leaves now bore a ring of dark red veins.

The repair progress stopped at 60%, but a shallow crack appeared on the trunk, from which dark golden sap seeped out and dripped slowly.

He "looked" at the five leaves.

One of the leaves had particularly intricate vein patterns, interwoven in a net-like formation—this was precisely the [Blood Refinement Resonance]. The description was simple: "To establish a brief resonance with something refined with blood, the host's vital energy is required as a guide."

How do I use it? I don't know.

Chen Yuan opened his eyes and stared at his right palm.

The Blood Ginseng Root in the palm of the hand, having just absorbed the blood energy from the tentacles, is currently in a semi-activated state, trembling slightly.

He made a decision.

With his right hand outstretched and palm facing down, he pressed it directly into the viscous bloody liquid at the bottom of the pit.

laugh--

White smoke billowed up. The skin on his palm was instantly corroded, the bark texture charred and curled up.

The excruciating pain felt like a red-hot nail being driven into his bone. Chen Yuan gritted his teeth, and blood seeped from his gums.

But at the same time, the leaf on the seedling suddenly lit up!

[Blood Refinement Resonance] Activated.

It wasn't actively activated; it was passively triggered by the stimulation of blood and qi. The veins on the leaf changed from emerald green to dark red, then began to pulsate like blood vessels. With each pulsation, a stream of unfamiliar information surged into Chen Yuan's consciousness—

It's not language. It's perception.

He "saw" the outline of the structure deep within the blood pool: a tangled core of flesh and blood, with countless fine threads extending from its surface, connecting seven corpses and the rock walls of the entire forbidden area. It was dormant, yet also digesting. Digesting the flesh and souls of those who died in the forbidden area, transforming them into purer blood energy, using some for itself, and sending some... to a more distant place deep within the rock walls.

It looks like they are making offerings to something.

The resonance lasted only three breaths.

Three breaths later, the leaf's light dimmed, and fine cracks appeared along the edges of its veins—Use cost: Consumes the host's Qi and blood, and damages the attribute.

Chen Yuan withdrew his right hand. His palm was charred black, but beneath the bark's texture, the dark golden veins were thicker than before. Moreover, he sensed that the Blood Ginseng's Void Root had stolen a trace of... something else through that contact.

It's not blood or qi.

It is a kind of more fundamental, law-based "trace".

The second leaf of the sapling sprouted automatically without wind—[Law Affinity (Weak)]. This leaf, originally gray, now had a very faint golden tinge at its tip.

Chen Yuan didn't know what this meant.

But he knew what to do.

Using his left hand to brace himself, he dragged his injured left leg to the other side of the pit—the direction where the outer disciple's corpse had been. The corpse's fingers were still twitching slightly, the frequency perfectly synchronized with the breathing of the outline of the blood pool.

Chen Yuan stared at the corpse for two breaths, then suddenly raised his spirit hoe and smashed it down hard on the corpse's right index finger—the one that was pointing at the ginseng root!

The hoe blade struck the finger bone with a crisp "crack." The finger bone was broken.

The corpse shuddered violently!

It wasn't a reaction to pain, but a stress response to the disruption of the connection. At the same time, an angry growl came from the depths of the blood pool, and the blood plasma surged, but the tentacles didn't extend—the contaminated blood gas that had just been inhaled hadn't been fully digested yet.

Chen Yuan didn't stop. He bent down and picked up the shriveled ginseng root from the corpse's palm.

The ginseng root feels cool to the touch.

But the moment his fingers touched the ginseng rootlets, the third leaf of the sapling in his sea of ​​consciousness—[Cross-boundary Resonance (Extremely Microscopic Amount)]—suddenly trembled violently!

Fine cracks appeared on the surface of the leaves, and a dark golden light shone through the cracks.

A faint but clear "call" traveled along the ginseng's whiskers, traversing hundreds of miles, penetrating the earth's layers, and reaching straight into the sea of ​​consciousness—

It is a blood ginseng yin body.

Deep within the Well of Rebirth, it slumbers, yet lives. It calls to the yang body, and it also calls to… him, its host.

The resonance lasted only a moment.

But enough.

Chen Yuan gripped the ginseng whiskers tightly, pressing his right palm against his chest—the spot where the blood ginseng's yang body merged with his.

He guided the faint connection transmitted through the cross-boundary resonance and forcibly poured it into the Yang body.

The male body trembled violently.

It wasn't pain, but the greed of hunger being satisfied. It frantically absorbed that connection, like parched roots encountering water. At the same time, it gave back a pure, cold energy, carrying the aura of the Well of Rebirth, which flowed into Chen Yuan's limbs and bones along his meridians.

This energy is completely opposite to the blood energy of the forbidden area.

One is extremely yin, and the other is extremely yang.

The two forces collided and tore at each other within his meridians, like two mad beasts wrestling within his body. Chen Yuan felt a sweet taste in his throat and spat out a mouthful of black blood. The blood hit the ground, half of it solidifying into ice shards, while the other half boiled and bubbled.

dying.

That was his first thought.

But the next second, the crack on the trunk of the sapling suddenly opened up—not a crack, but an opening like a mouth, which began to frantically devour the conflicting energy within.

【Devouring Evil】Passive trigger.

It doesn't distinguish between yin and yang, or good and evil; it swallows all "abnormal energy." After swallowing it, it transforms and decomposes it in an unseen place inside the tree trunk, then spews out pure nutrients to nourish the sapling itself.

The saplings are growing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

From 1.6 feet, it grew to 1.7 feet, 1.8 feet... and finally stopped at 1.9 feet. The trunk thickened, and all five leaves unfurled, their veins becoming more distinct.

The repair progress jumped from 60% to 62%, 65%... and finally stopped at 68%.

Within Chen Yuan's body, after most of the two conflicting energies were devoured, the remaining small portion ceased fighting and instead achieved a fragile balance—the cold energy resided in the left half of his body, while the blood energy resided in the right half, with the spine as the boundary, neither invading the other.

The excruciating pain disappeared.

Instead, there was a strange sensation of extreme contrast: the left side of the body was cold and stiff, while the right side was hot and swollen.

Chen Yuan looked down at his left leg.

The wound was still there, but the festering had stopped. Beneath the bluish-gray skin, the bones were emitting a faint "crackling" sound—the Copper Skin Kung Fu was accelerating under the stimulation of the cold energy. The hardening of the copper skin, which originally required months of arduous practice to even begin, was now being completed at ten times the speed.

He clenched his left fist.

The skin on his fist gleamed with a metallic bluish-gray sheen as he slammed it into the ground.

Boom!

The sand had been smashed into a shallow pit, but the finger bone was intact, leaving only a faint red mark.

Thirty percent. He has cultivated the Copper Skin Kung Fu to at least thirty percent.

Chen Yuan, panting, pushed himself up from the ground. His left leg still ached, but he could stand steadily. He looked at his right palm—the charred blackened skin on his palm was slowly peeling away, revealing new skin underneath, still with the texture of tree bark, but the color was lighter, and the dark gold veins were more prominent.

He clenched his fist.

His strength remained unchanged, but his perception of blood energy became ten times clearer. Now, without touching it, he could "smell" the flow of blood energy in the air and "hear" the changes in the strength of each breath of the outline deep within the blood pool.

And those seven corpses...

Chen Yuan suddenly turned his head.

All seven corpses had their eyes open.

They weren't the eyes of a living person. They were empty eye sockets, from which dark red flames burned.

The flames flickered, and the corpses slowly turned their heads, their movements stiff but unified, all "looking" at Chen Yuan.

The oldest inner disciple's corpse had lips that moved, making a sound like sandpaper rubbing together.

"Blood……"

The second one, the corpse of a female cultivator from Flowing Cloud Valley: "Eat..."

The third, a young man with vacant eyes: "Hungry..."

Seven corpses, seven words, forming a sentence:

"Blood offering...return to its rightful place...sacrifice..."

They stood up at the same time.

The joints made a teeth-grinding "crack" sound, and the shriveled flesh clung tightly to the bones, like skeletons covered in human skin.

But the movements became increasingly fluid—the first few steps were unsteady, but by the third step, they were as natural as a living person's.

Chen Yuan stepped back.

The injury to his left leg slowed him down.

He retreated to the entrance of the crevice, but didn't go in—the crevice was too narrow, and if he got blocked, it would be a dead end. He could only maneuver around in this open space.

The seven corpses were scattered and arranged in a fan shape.

The corpse of the inner disciple at the front raised its right hand, fingers spread. The skin and flesh of its palm split open, and five blood-red bone spurs emerged, each a foot long with serrated edges.

It rushed towards Chen Yuan.

It wasn't fast, but it was incredibly powerful. The bone spikes tore through the air, emitting a sharp whistling sound.

Chen Yuan sidestepped, swung his spirit hoe horizontally, and smashed it into the corpse's wrist.

clang!

A metallic clang. The hoe blade struck the bone spike, sending sparks flying. The corpse's wrist shifted, but the bone spike didn't break; only a white mark appeared.

It's so hard.

Chen Yuan's heart sank. These corpses had been nourished by blood energy for countless years, and their bone hardness was probably comparable to that of low-grade magic artifacts.

He continued to back away, glancing at the blood pool out of the corner of his eye.

The surface of the pool calmed down. The silhouette was no longer angry; instead, it conveyed a sense of...anticipation. Like someone waiting to watch a show.

What is it waiting for?

Wait for the corpses to kill me so they can devour my flesh and blood?

still is……

Chen Yuan suddenly remembered the sensation transmitted by the [Blood Refinement Resonance]: the outline of the blood pool was sending blood energy into the depths of the rock wall, nourishing something.

If these corpses kill the intruders, their blood essence will be more concentrated, and their nourishment efficiency will be higher.

So it's not in a hurry to act. It's waiting to reap the rewards.

Having figured this out, Chen Yuan calmed down.

He stopped retreating, stood still, and raised his right hand—not a hoe, but his palm aimed at the corpse of the inner disciple rushing towards him.

The corpse didn't understand what he was doing and continued to rush forward.

Five steps.

Three steps.

step--

Chen Yuan clenched his right hand suddenly!

Beneath the bark-like patterns on his palm, dark golden veins burst forth with blinding light. It wasn't him exerting force; rather, the Blood Ginseng's illusory roots sensed a threat and activated automatically. Eight illusory roots emerged from his palm, not to attack the corpse, but to burrow into the ground and frantically absorb the blood energy at the bottom of the pit.

Then it completes a cycle within Chen Yuan's body, transforming into pure energy, which is then injected into his left arm.

The skin on his left arm instantly glowed with a bluish-gray metallic sheen—he was activating the Copper Skin Technique at its peak.

Chen Yuan swung his spirit hoe, no longer to chop, but to smash.

He used all his strength to smash the corpse's head.

The corpse raised its bone spikes to block.

The hoe blade struck the intersection of the bone spurs.

"Click—"

This time it wasn't a crashing sound, but a snapping sound. Two bone spurs broke in the middle, the edges jagged. The corpse paused for a moment.

Chen Yuan didn't stop. He pushed off the ground with his left leg, lunged forward, and slammed his right hand, fingers together, onto the corpse's chest.

The moment the palm touches the shriveled flesh, the passive skill [Devouring Evil] is triggered.

It doesn't devour living people—corpses don't count as living people. But the "evil energy" within the corpse, driven by the blood pool, is considered a "potential target for devouring."

The cracks in the trunk of the sapling have reopened.

A suction force burst forth from the palm.

The dark red flames in the corpse's eye sockets flickered violently, like candles in the wind. A gurgling sound came from inside its body, as if something was being forcibly drawn away.

Three breaths later, the flame went out.

The corpse froze, then crumbled—not collapsed, but truly scattered, bones crashing to the ground and piling up. The flesh quickly dried and weathered, turning to ash.

Only that faded blue robe remained, limply covering the pile of bones.

Chen Yuan, panting heavily, withdrew his right hand.

The bark texture on his palm was clearer. Meanwhile, within his mind, the sapling of the term provided satisfactory feedback—the repair progress had jumped from 68% to 69%.

It was a little full.

Chen Yuan looked up at the remaining six corpses.

They stopped. The flames in their eye sockets flickered, conveying confusion, hesitation... and even a hint of fear.

Deep within the pool of blood, the breathing rhythm of that silhouette became disordered.

It didn't expect this.

Chen Yuan grinned and smiled.

He dragged his left leg and took a step forward.

The six corpses all took a step back in unison.

The open space fell silent for a moment.

The only sounds were the bubbling of the blood pool and Chen Yuan's heavy breathing.

He bent down and picked up the two broken bone splinters from the ground. He held them in his hand and weighed them in his hand.

It's quite easy to use.

Better than a hoe.

He looked up, gazing towards the direction outside the gap.

Only one day of the three-day lockdown has passed.

Two more days.

enough.