Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

I walked to the corner of the stone chamber, where the milky light was faintest and the shadows were deepest. I sat cross-legged, back against the wall, right hand resting on my knee, palm facing up. The tree-shaped mark gleamed with a very faint dark golden light in the shadows.

Then he closed his eyes and activated the Long Breath Technique.

This time is different.

In the past, when spiritual energy entered the body, it was like a stream flowing into a pond, requiring slow guidance and refinement.

Now that the spiritual energy has just entered, the sapling of the word tree in the sea of ​​consciousness sways gently—its roots penetrate the meridians, like countless mouths, absorbing the spiritual energy, filtering it, and then expelling it, which is already pure and docile, directly sinking into the dantian.

Efficiency has increased by at least three times.

Moreover, the sapling itself is "growing".

It wasn't that he grew taller, but that his roots extended into the void of his consciousness. With each inch they extended, Chen Yuan gained a greater awareness of the surrounding energy.

For example, right now, he can "smell" the source of the gentle energy in the stone chamber walls—deep within the jade, there is a fist-sized milky-white crystal core, slowly releasing energy similar to moonlight. He can also "hear" the faint, viscous flowing sound coming from deep underground outside the crack after the blood pool dried up, as if something is slowly crawling.

At this time, [Life Source Perception] is passively activated.

Chen Yuan opened his eyes and looked at his palm.

The mark was no longer hot; instead, it felt warm, like holding a piece of warm jade. A thought struck him, and he tried to actively activate his abilities.

The perspective has changed.

The stone chamber was still the same stone chamber, but all the surfaces of the objects were now shrouded in a faint glow: the walls were milky white, the floor was grayish white, and a very faint wisp of blood-red mist floated in the air—the lingering scent of blood from the recent battle. Outside the crack, in that darkness, a dense, impenetrable dark red aura pulsed slowly.

Blood Refinement Core.

It didn't disappear, it just went into hiding.

Chen Yuan withdrew his senses and let out a breath. The ability was useful, but it consumed a lot of energy; in just a few breaths, his dantian's spiritual power had decreased by half a percent.

Only then did he take out the jade slip titled "Blood and Bone Chapter".

Infuse with spiritual power.

The jade slip lit up, and this time more text appeared than before:

"The Blood Bone Sect's three realms of body refinement: the first realm is 'Copper Skin and Iron Bones,' the second realm is 'Blood and Qi as Mercury,' and the third realm is 'Bone Runes.' The core of this blood refinement is the ancient Blood Bone Sect's 'Trial Furnace Heart,' which uses the earth's vein blood and qi to temper the disciple's physique. With the help of the incomplete techniques of the 'Blood Bone Chapter,' one can quickly reach the Copper Skin and Iron Bones realm."

"However, the furnace core went out of control and backfired on the disciples, so the Blood Bone Sect sealed this place and guarded it with seven 'Blood Guards'. Later, the Blood Bone Sect was destroyed, and this place was lost and acquired by the Flying Feather Sect, which turned it into a punishment forbidden area."

"The heart of the furnace needs the nourishment of blood and qi. When it is hungry for a long time, it will awaken and seek food. The blood and qi have been lost in three aspects, and the heart of the furnace will awaken."

The following is a small note: "Those who cultivate this chapter must temper their bodies with the earth's veins and blood energy, and supplement it with blood refining core resonance. The pain is extreme, and those with weak will should cultivate with caution."

Chen Yuan saw the words "extremely painful" and twitched the corner of his mouth.

So this forbidden area was originally a training ground for body tempering, but later it went wrong and became a place that devoured people. The Flying Feather Sect knew about this and deliberately threw their erring disciples in here—to feed them the furnace heart?

He recalled the seven corpses by the pool, and the three "Blood Guards" from earlier.

Wang Mo let him in to "wash away the pollution," but he probably didn't expect him to leave alive. More likely, he was using the furnace's core to get rid of this troublesome figure.

Chen Yuan twitched the corner of his mouth.

"You really think highly of me."

He sat down cross-legged and placed the jade slip on his forehead.

Words flow into the sea of ​​consciousness.

The cultivation method of "Blood and Bone Chapter" is completely different from that of "Copper Skin Technique". "Copper Skin Technique" relies on spiritual power to grind and harden the skin and bones little by little, emphasizing the hard work of grinding.

The Blood and Bone Chapter follows a domineering path—drawing the earth's vein blood and energy into the body, forcibly flushing out the bones and flesh, removing impurities, and refining the blood and energy inside.

Like forging iron. Through countless hammer blows, the impurities are removed and the essence is retained.

It's efficient, but dangerous.

If one's blood and qi are not properly controlled, they can damage the meridians or drive a person insane, turning them into a blood beast that only knows how to kill.

Chen Yuan opened his eyes after reading it the first time.

He raised his right arm, the tree-shaped mark on his palm facing the dark red halo outside the crack.

[Life Source Perception] Fully activated.

Deep within the halo, the runic structure of the furnace core clearly emerged. Those runes were slowly circulating, and with each circulation, they stirred the surrounding earth's vital energy, like a heart pumping blood.

Chen Yuan found one of the runes—the simplest one, shaped like an upside-down hook. According to the "Blood and Bone Chapter," this was a "Blood-Guiding Rune," specifically designed to guide blood and qi into the body.

He tried to mobilize a wisp of spiritual power to imitate the pattern of the rune and draw it on his palm.

The moment the first stroke was finished, the furnace core outside the crack trembled violently!

A surge of pure blood energy flowed through the invisible connection and crashed into Chen Yuan's palm.

It wasn't the violent, resentful blood energy from before, but rather a relatively gentle "body-refining blood energy" filtered through the furnace core runes.

But it still hurts.

It felt like molten iron was being poured into my palm, burning down my arm to my shoulder.

Chen Yuan gritted his teeth and guided the blood energy to circulate in the bones of his left arm according to the methods of the "Blood and Bone Chapter".

A clear "snap" sound came from my left arm.

It's not that the bone is broken. It's that the old structure on the surface of the bone has been destroyed, and blood and energy have entered and begun to rebuild it.

This process lasted for ten breaths.

Ten breaths later, his blood and energy were exhausted.

Chen Yuan looked down at his left arm. The skin surface hadn't changed much, but when he pinched it, he could feel that the bone hardness had increased significantly. Moreover, there was a faint layer of blood-red lines under the skin—those were the "blood lines" that naturally appeared after the blood energy was refined into the bones.

It is at least ten times more efficient than the "Copper Skin Kung Fu".

But the price was high. In those last ten breaths, he felt as if someone had hammered his left arm bones inch by inch, breaking them apart and then piecing them back together. He was in so much pain that sweat beaded on his forehead.

He took a breath and continued.

This time, I was more skilled at drawing talismans, and I attracted more blood and energy. I poured it into my left arm to continue cleansing.

The second time, the third time...

By the fifth time, the blood vessels in his left arm had merged into a single network, covering the entire arm like a vascular system. He clenched his fist, clearly feeling the heavy, resilient force emanating from his bones.

I've practiced the "Copper Skin Kung Fu" for so long, and I've only reached the fifth level.

After half an hour of practicing the "Blood and Bone Chapter," the strength of the bones in his left arm had surpassed that of the entire body at the fifth level of the Copper Skin Technique.

But only the left arm.

Chen Yuan stopped, panting.

It wasn't just tiredness, it was pain. Every rinse was torture; his back was soaked with cold sweat.

He looked down at his right arm.

The right arm has an earth vein imprint, a blood ginseng root, and a symbiotic channel with a seedling of a word. If blood and qi are drawn in, will there be any conflict?

Try it.

Chen Yuan raised his right arm and drew a talisman on his palm again.

This time, even more blood energy was attracted—the furnace core seemed to "recognize" his aura and proactively sent more.

Blood rushed into his right arm.

Then, the anomaly occurred.

The earth vein imprint reacted first—like a wild beast that hadn't eaten for three days, it frantically devoured the surging blood energy, transforming it into pure energy to nourish Chen Yuan.

The Blood Ginseng Root followed closely behind, plunging into the blood and qi, filtering and purifying it, and extracting the "fragments of the Blood Refining Law" contained within, integrating them into itself.

The roots of the sapling stretched out and swallowed the remaining blood essence in one gulp.

The whole process was incredibly fast.

Three breaths later, his blood and energy were completely depleted.

Bleeding marks also appeared on the bones of the right arm, but the color was lighter than that of the left arm, and the lines were more complex—the shape of a tree could be vaguely seen, echoing the mark on the palm.

And it doesn't hurt.

It doesn't hurt at all.

Instead, I felt a sense of satisfaction, as if I had eaten my fill.

Chen Yuan paused for a moment, then smiled.

His smile was tinged with a hint of helplessness.

"So, for me, the 'Blood and Bone Chapter' is just a spoon to feed you?" He looked down at his right arm. "The food's already in your mouth, and I'm just picking up the scraps?"

The right arm is unresponsive.

But the tree-shaped mark on his palm was slightly warm, conveying a vague sense of "approval".

Chen Yuan shook his head and continued.

This time, he simultaneously channeled two streams of blood energy, one into his left arm to withstand the attack, and the other into his right arm to take a shortcut.

His left arm was in so much pain that his jaw was chattering.

My right arm feels warm and comfortable.

The two streams of blood and qi converged in the chest and began to spread to the bones of the torso.

The cultivation speed of "Blood and Bone Chapter" is frighteningly fast.

Two hours later, Chen Yuan's entire skeleton was covered in blood patterns. The densest patterns were on his arms and spine, while they were slightly lighter on his chest and leg bones. He stood up and stretched.

My body feels lighter.

It wasn't weight loss; rather, the increased bone strength provided better support and smoother movements. He casually punched the stone wall—using no spiritual power, just pure physical strength.

"Thump!"

A shallow pit had formed in the stone wall, and gravel fell down in a rustling sound. The fist was intact, without even a red mark.

The power of this punch was at least three times that of the fifth level of the Copper Skin Kung Fu.

Moreover, he could feel the blood patterns in his bones slowly absorbing the surrounding blood energy and automatically strengthening themselves—this technique actually had a "self-cultivation" characteristic.

Chen Yuan looked down at his hands.

The left hand has crimson blood-red markings, while the right hand has dark gold blood-red markings with tree-shaped patterns.

One bitter, one sweet—that's fair.

He sat down again and began to practice the Long Breath Technique.

Wood-attribute spiritual energy surged into the body, circulating along its usual route. But after only half a cycle, a problem arose—the meridians that had previously allowed for smooth flow of spiritual energy were now blocked by the blood-patterned bones.

It's not that it's actually blocked; it's that when spiritual energy flows through these bones, some of it is absorbed by the blood patterns.

Just like water flowing through a rock full of holes, it will leak.

The efficiency of the "Long Breath Technique" dropped sharply.

Chen Yuan frowned and tried to increase the amount of spiritual energy he inputted. But the blood pattern was like a bottomless pit; no matter how much he absorbed, it never seemed to fill up.

He stopped and looked at the seedling of words in his mind.

The sapling seemed to understand his predicament, and its roots trembled slightly—those roots that had penetrated the meridians began to adjust their positions, avoiding the area covered by the densest blood patterns, and reopening several small "spiritual energy channels".

At the same time, the sapling's leaves began to secrete a bright green sap. The sap flowed along the roots into the meridians, enveloping the spiritual energy and preventing it from being absorbed when it flowed through the blood-patterned area.

The Long Breath Technique is working again.

However, the efficiency is still 20% lower than before. Moreover, with each cycle, the sapling has to consume some of its stored energy to secrete sap.

Chen Yuan did the math.

In the future, when he cultivates the "Long Breath Technique," he will need at least 1.3 times the original spiritual energy to reach the original speed. Otherwise, he will stagnate.

cost.

This is the price of cultivating the "Blood and Bone Chapter"—physical strengthening, but hindered spiritual cultivation. Unless he has a continuous supply of spirit stones, or finds a better wood-attribute cultivation method, the sixth level of Qi Refining may be his ceiling.

Chen Yuan leaned against the stone wall and closed his eyes.

Many images flashed through my mind: the eight acres of land in the shantytown, the ghost flowers in the medicine valley, half a blood ginseng, Su Wanqing's words "spiritual plant masters are cultivators of the Dao", and Wang Mo's seemingly gentle face.

Half an hour later, he opened his eyes again.

The sixth level of Qi Refining has been stabilized; I'm just one step away from the seventh level.

The fifth level of the Copper Skin Technique was completely perfected, and the metallic texture on the surface of the bones was clearly visible.

The sapling of the entry has grown another inch taller, and its roots have penetrated even deeper into the sea of ​​consciousness.

Outside the crack, the halo of light was as quiet as if it were asleep.

Chen Yuan stood up and stretched his shoulders.

Then he walked to the edge of the crack and squeezed through sideways.

The blood pool was still dry, and the halo of light hung three feet above the bottom of the pool, slowly rotating.

Chen Yuan didn't approach it, but went around it and headed deeper into the cave—in the direction from which the blood streaks had spread earlier.

There is a passageway there.

Previously shrouded in blood mist, it is now exposed. The passage slopes downwards, the stone steps are rough, and there are traces of chiseling along the edges.

Chen Yuan walked down.

The passage wasn't long, only about twenty steps to the end. At the end was a small stone chamber, half the size of the one above, completely empty except for a stone platform in the very center.

There was a booklet on the table.

The pages were yellowed and the edges were torn. The cover had three words written on it: "Records of Forbidden Lands".

Chen Yuan opened it.

Page 1: "Detailed Rules for the Management of the Forbidden Zone of the Flying Feather Sect..."

Page Two: "The Blood Refining Furnace in the Forbidden Land needs to be fed once every three years. The best feed is something containing spiritual energy, followed by flesh and blood..."

Page 3: "If the furnace core becomes restless, you can use the jade slip containing the 'Blood and Bone Chapter' to soothe it. The jade slip can be reused..."

The following section contains records of the successive disciples who guarded the forbidden area.

The most recent one was written seven years ago:

"The furnace's appetite is increasing daily, and feeding it spirit stones is no longer enough to suppress it. I reported this to the Hall of Affairs, but have not received a reply. I fear something major is about to happen."

That's all.

Chen Yuan closed the booklet and put it back on the stone platform.

He turned and walked back into the passage, looking up at the dark red light above.

So Wang Mo let him in not to kill him—at least not immediately. He wanted to use the blood essence in his body, along with any spirit stones he might have, to feed the furnace core and keep it quiet for a few more years.

Unexpectedly, Chen Yuan had blood ginseng and saplings on him. Instead of being eaten, they temporarily satiated the furnace core.

"Really..." Chen Yuan shook his head, "They really made the most of the waste."

He walked back to the edge of the blood pool and looked at the halo of light.

The halo rotated slowly.

Chen Yuan reached out, and the tree-shaped mark on his palm felt slightly warm.

Under the [Life Source Perception], he could "see" the true form of the furnace core deep within the halo—not a heart, but a complex runic structure with a dark red crystal core embedded in its center. The surface of the crystal core was covered with cracks, from which wisps of blood seeped.

It is weakening.

At that point, it will completely spiral out of control.

Chen Yuan turned around and walked back to the crack he had come from.

It's time to go out.

Three days of confinement are almost over.

When he reached the crevice, he stopped and looked back.

The hearth hung there quietly.

The book "Records of Forbidden Lands" from the stone chamber is still on the stage.

Chen Yuan thought for a moment, then walked back and put the booklet in his pocket.

Then, without looking back, he walked into the crack, squeezed out, passed through the stone chamber, and emerged from the crack that emitted a milky white light.

He took a deep breath as he stood once again in the dark red forbidden area.

The smell of blood in the air had faded somewhat.

The two disciples from the Deacon Hall were still at the entrance to the forbidden area.

When they saw Chen Yuan come out, the two of them were stunned—they thought that what would come out would be a corpse, or a half-mad, bloodied man.

But Chen Yuan looked... perfectly normal.

Apart from his slightly torn clothes and pale complexion, he looked almost exactly the same as when he went in three days ago. In fact, his eyes were even sharper.

The person on the left subconsciously looked at Chen Yuan's right arm.

The sleeves were rolled up, revealing normal skin on the arms, except for a faint tree-shaped mark on the palm. There was no blood staining or ulceration.

"You..." the person on the right began, "your ley line mark..."

"It's washed off," Chen Yuan said. "The blood energy from the forbidden area is very effective."

The two exchanged a glance, both believing and doubting.

However, there were no signs of blood pollution on Chen Yuan's body, and when the forbidden area token was returned, the words "Blood Refinement" on it had been completely erased, turning it into an ordinary wooden plaque.

According to the rules, they had no choice but to let them pass.

When Chen Yuan emerged from the forbidden canyon, it was just dawn.

A cool breeze from the mountains blew over, and he took a deep breath. The sweet, cloying smell of blood was gone from his lungs, replaced only by the scent of grass and earth.

He glanced back into the depths of the canyon.

The dark red halo was still hanging there, slowly rotating.

"The Blood and Bones Chapter" was in his arms.

A faint connection had been formed between him and the furnace core—he had drawn upon its blood energy for cultivation, and it had remembered his presence.

We might need it someday.

Chen Yuan turned around and walked towards the Medicine Valley.