Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

Chen Yuan stopped in front of the crack.

He glanced back.

The blood pool was empty, but the heart in the center of the skeleton cage was still beating, though the rhythm was a bit erratic—thump, thump... thump—like someone who was exhausted from running and couldn't catch their breath.

The runes on his ribs dimmed, and the light seemed to shrink into his heart.

It's about to wake up.

Chen Yuan turned back and reached out to touch the edge of the crack. The rock wall was warm and smooth to the touch, unlike stone; it felt more like some kind of warm, lustrous jade.

The crack was so narrow that you had to squeeze in sideways.

He didn't rush in.

First, squat down, place your right hand on the ground, and feel a slight burning sensation on the dark golden tree-shaped mark in your palm.

【Life Source Perception (Beginner)】Passive trigger.

A subtle ripple spread from the palm of his hand, like ripples spreading when a pebble is thrown into water. The ripple swept across the crack, and what returned was... emptiness.

There were no living creatures.

There were no living beings carrying bloodlust, resentment, or murderous intent. Only a gentle, moonlit energy flowed slowly deep within the crack.

Chen Yuan stood up and squeezed into the crack.

The rock face was very tight, and my chest and back were scraping against the stones. After moving in about ten steps, the space suddenly opened up.

It is a stone chamber.

It wasn't large, only about three zhang square, and the four walls were made of warm, milky-white jade with fine, naturally shimmering patterns on the surface, so bright that it didn't need any lights.

The ceiling is domed, with a stalactite hanging down from the center. A drop of milky white liquid is condensed at the tip of the stalactite, seemingly about to fall.

The ground was flat, covered with a thin layer of dust.

Chen Yuan walked to the center of the stone chamber and looked around.

There was no door, no window, only the crack through which he entered. The room was empty, without even a stone. But that gentle energy seeped in from all directions, and when he inhaled it, the conflicting energies of ice and fire within him calmed down somewhat.

It's a good place for cultivation.

He sat down cross-legged and had just completed half a cycle of the "Long Breath Technique" when the ground shook.

It was very light, like someone stomping their feet in the distance.

Chen Yuan opened his eyes and looked at the crack.

Outside the crack, from the direction of the blood pool, came a series of cracking sounds—the sound of bones breaking. This was followed by the scraping sound of a heavy object being dragged, growing closer and louder.

He stood up, walked to the edge of the crack, and turned to look out.

The blood pool has completely dried up.

The skeleton cage fell apart, and the three-zhang-long ribs broke into several pieces, scattered at the bottom of the pool.

And that heart... is gone.

There were three things standing by the pool.

Not those blood-soaked monsters from before. They were three "people".

The one on the left, dressed in the blue robe of an inner disciple of the Flying Feather Sect, with white hair and beard, and withered skin on his face, was the oldest corpse from before. But now the dark red flames in its eye sockets had turned into two cold, eerie blue flames, and fine, blood-red runes appeared on its skin, flickering with its breath.

In the center was a woman, her left arm severed at the shoulder, her right hand gripping the broken "Flowing Cloud" sword—a female cultivator from Flowing Cloud Valley. Her face had lost its previous deathly stillness, replaced by a strange, ambiguous smile. The broken sword was covered in streaks of blood, like veins.

On the right was a young man with empty eyes, but instead of darkness in his eye sockets, two swirling vortexes of blood swirled within them. His hands hung limply at his sides, thick black blood dripping from his fingertips.

Three "people", three different auras.

Old is like a mountain, deep, steady, and profound.

The woman was like a snake—cold, slippery, and deadly.

Youth is like a gust of wind: chaotic, restless, and full of destructive tendencies.

They all turned their heads at the same time, "looking" at the crack.

Chen Yuan knew he couldn't hide it any longer.

He retreated to the center of the stone chamber and pulled the two bone spurs from his waist with his right hand.

His left hand was empty; he had lost his hoe and could only use his bare hands.

Three "people" squeezed in through the crack.

The movements were smooth, unlike the stiff movements of the corpses from before.

They entered the stone chamber and formed a triangular formation, surrounding Chen Yuan in the middle.

The older man spoke first, his voice hoarse, but his words were clear:

"Blood offerings...come again..."

The woman chuckled, her voice high-pitched:

"He smells...so good..."

The young man didn't speak, but simply grinned, revealing a mouthful of fine, sharp teeth.

Chen Yuan took a deep breath, circulating the "Copper Skin Technique" within his body, causing his skin to turn bluish-gray. A bone spur on his right hand was held horizontally across his chest.

"If you want to fight, then fight."

"Stop talking nonsense."

The old one has moved.

It didn't charge, but instead took a step, and the entire stone chamber trembled as it stepped out. It raised its right hand, and the runes in its palm glowed with blood-red light, condensing into a semi-transparent, blood-red hand, which it then brought down.

It wasn't smashed, it was "covered"—like swatting a fly.

Chen Yuan dodged to the left, his blood-red hand slamming into the ground, causing the jade floor to crack open in a spiderweb pattern.

The woman made her move at the same time.

She didn't approach, but instead swung her broken sword in her right hand, sending three streaks of blood shooting out from the tip. The blood streaks, as thin as hair, twisted and weaved in the air, sealing off Chen Yuan's escape routes to the left, right, and above.

Chen Yuan could only retreat.

A streak of blood grazed his left shoulder, instantly corroding a hole in his clothes, and a burning sensation spread through his skin. His Copper Skin Technique blocked most of the damage, but three shallow marks still remained.

The young man did not move.

He just stared at Chen Yuan, the bloodshot vortex in his eyes swirling faster and faster.

Chen Yuan steadied himself, gripped the bone spur in his right hand, and charged towards the old one—he had to break one first.

Seeing him charge, the old man neither dodged nor evaded, but raised his left hand and clapped his hands together. Two large, blood-red hands attacked from both sides, intending to smash him into a pulp.

Just before Chen Yuan could bring his palms together, he lunged forward, sliding underneath. The bone spur thrust upwards, aiming for the old man's lower abdomen.

"clang!"

The bone spurs felt like they were being stabbed into an iron plate, only penetrating half an inch before getting stuck. Beneath the old man's abdominal skin, a layer of incredibly hard bone armor emerged.

Chen Yuan pulled back and retreated, but the old man had already kicked him.

He crossed his arms to block the attack.

"Bang!"

He was kicked away, his back slamming against the stone wall, a sweet taste rising in his throat. Before he even hit the ground, three streaks of blood from the woman appeared again. He twisted in mid-air, the blood streaks grazing his side, leaving three bloody gashes.

He landed on one knee, panting.

They've only exchanged two blows.

The old one has strong defense and great strength. The woman's attacks are tricky, and she can control the enemy from a distance. There's also a young man who hasn't moved yet.

It's tough.

Chen Yuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked at the bone spur on his right hand. The tip of the spur had a small chip, left from when he pierced the bone armor.

He suddenly remembered the new ability of the sapling entry.

【Devouring Evil】—Absorbs/purifies Yin and evil energy.

Are these three "people" in front of me considered "evil"?

Try it and you'll see.

Chen Yuan stood up and this time rushed towards the woman.

The woman sneered, swinging her broken sword repeatedly, seven or eight streaks of blood weaving into a net that enveloped her.

Chen Yuan neither dodged nor avoided, but raised his right palm, and the tree-shaped mark on his palm lit up with a dark golden light.

The blood-red web slammed into his palm.

There was no explosion, and no corrosion.

Instead, it melted and evaporated instantly, like snow meeting a hot iron, turning into wisps of black smoke. The black smoke was absorbed into the palm of the hand and disappeared without a trace.

The woman's expression froze.

Chen Yuan didn't give her time to react. He stepped in front of her, grabbed her wrist holding the sword with his left hand, and pressed his right palm against her chest.

【Devouring Evil】Activated.

The woman trembled violently, her eerie smile instantly twisting into agony. A hissing sound emanated from her body, as if something was being burned. The crimson runes on her skin rapidly dimmed and extinguished.

Three breaths later, she collapsed to the ground.

The eerie blue flames in his eyes died down, and he returned to his withered corpse.

Chen Yuan withdrew his hand, his palm slightly warm—the absorbed energy had been swallowed by the sapling, and the repair progress had increased a little, though insignificantly.

The old man roared and clapped both hands together.

Chen Yuan turned around and met the attack with his right palm.

The palms collide.

"boom--"

A shockwave erupted, sending Chen Yuan sliding three feet backward, his shoes scraping against the jade floor with a screeching sound. The old man also took a step back, two runes shattering in his palm.

It looked down at its hands; its palms were charred black, as if they had been burned.

"You..." Its voice held a hint of surprise for the first time.

Chen Yuan shook his numb right hand and grinned, "My turn."

He charged forward again, this time not to confront the old man head-on, but to circle around him. His right palm struck the old man's body from time to time—shoulders, back, side waist. With each strike, a patch of the old man's skin charred black, and several of the blood-red runes extinguished.

As people age, they become slower and their movements become stiff.

It tried to grab Chen Yuan, but Chen Yuan was as slippery as an eel; his agility at the fifth level of the Copper Skin Skill far surpassed that of ordinary people.

When the seventh blow struck the old man's chest, he finally couldn't hold on any longer.

The runes all over his body went out at the same time.

The eerie blue flames in his eyes struggled for a moment before extinguishing.

It stood frozen in place, and after three breaths, it fell apart. The green robe fell to the ground, and the bones piled up.

Chen Yuan, panting heavily, looked at the last one—

youth.

It didn't move.

But now, it has moved.

It didn't rush towards us, it... dissipated.

His entire body transformed into a cloud of blood mist, which spread and filled the entire stone chamber. From within the mist came countless faint sounds: wails, maniacal laughter, curses, pleas…

The blood mist began to swirl, forming a vortex.

At the center of the vortex, the youth's face reformed, but this time it was magnified tenfold, almost filling the entire dome of the stone chamber. It opened its mouth, but instead of a tongue, it contained countless tiny, wriggling hands.

"I'll swallow you..."

The voices overlapped, as if hundreds of people were speaking at the same time.

The blood mist vortex began to contract inward, and pressure squeezed in from all directions.

Chen Yuan felt short of breath, his skin felt like it was being scratched by countless hands, and the bluish-gray light of the Copper Skin Skill quickly dimmed under the erosion of the blood mist.

He tried using [Evil Devouring], but this time it was ineffective—the blood mist was too dispersed to be absorbed in one go.

The vortex shrank smaller and smaller.

The pressure is mounting.

Chen Yuan's knees began to buckle, and he was about to kneel down.

He gritted his teeth and endured it, pressing his right palm against his chest—the spot where the blood ginseng and yang body merged. He guided the energy of the yang body, channeling it into the tree-shaped mark in his palm.

[Cross-border Resonance] Passively triggered.

Although faint, it was enough.

A distant, icy call emanated from the mark—it was the Blood Ginseng Yin Body, deep within the Well of Rebirth. The call traversed hundreds of miles of geological layers, passed through the forbidden area's barrier, and arrived here.

Chen Yuan guided that call out and poured it into the vortex of blood mist.

The coldness clashed with the blood and qi.

The blood mist instantly solidified, like breath turning into frost in winter. The vortex stopped contracting, and the youth's giant face twisted, froze, and then, with a "crack," shattered into countless fragments.

The fragments fell to the ground, turning into pools of black water.

The blood mist dissipated.

The stone chamber returned to silence.

Chen Yuan was the only one left standing, covered in sweat, with blood still seeping from the wounds on his left shoulder and side. He looked down at his right hand; the tree-shaped mark on his palm had darkened slightly—forcibly guiding the cross-dimensional resonance had taken a considerable toll.

But the seedlings on the entry site gave a satisfactory response.

[Devouring Evil] swallowed the woman's energy, and [Cross-boundary Resonance] absorbed the fragments of resentment in the blood mist, making the sapling's roots even stronger.

Repair progress: 100% stable.

Chen Yuan walked to the center of the stone chamber and sat down cross-legged again.

This time, no one bothered us.

He closed his eyes and activated the Long Breath Technique. Gentle, milky-white energy surged in from all directions, seeping into his pores, nourishing his parched meridians, and calming the internal conflict between ice and fire.

The wounds on my left shoulder and side of my waist started to itch—that's because the flesh and blood are growing back.

He took out the trace of Yin-cold energy from the Rebirth Well that the Blood Ginseng Yang Body had fed back to him, and guided it to flow to his left side; he also guided the blood energy he had absorbed in the battle to flow to his right side.

The two are separated by the spine, and slowly circulate.

One week.

Two weeks.

Three cycles...

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Yuan opened his eyes.

The injury has healed.

The body's energy balance has been restored.

The sixth level of Qi Refining has been stabilized.

He has also fully adapted to the fifth level of copper skin technique.

He stood up, stretched his muscles and bones, and his joints made a soft "crackling" sound.

Then he went to the pile of bones—left by the old man's remains. He bent down and picked up the blue robe from the bones.

The robe was old, but the material was good, and there was a hidden pocket in the lining.

Chen Yuan reached inside and pulled out a jade slip.

The jade slip was dusty and gray, with two characters engraved on its surface: "The Blood and Bone Chapter".

He infused a wisp of spiritual energy, and the jade slip lit up, displaying several lines of text:

"The Blood Refining Forbidden Ground is actually the ancient Blood Bone Sect's body-refining trial ground. The blood pool here is the 'Blood Refining Core,' and the skeletons at the bottom of the pool are the 'Trial Guardians.' Defeating the guardians will yield fragments of the Body Refining Manual..."

The writing at the end is blurry.

Chen Yuan put away the jade slip, then walked to the woman's corpse and picked up the broken sword.

Below the two characters "Liu Yun" on the sword, there is another line of smaller characters: "Presented to my junior sister, Jiang Yurou."

He remained silent for a moment, then placed the broken sword back into the woman's hand.

Then he turned around, walked back to the center of the stone chamber, and sat down again.