Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

The library is located halfway up the mountain in Medicine Valley.

Unlike the magnificent scripture pavilion of the Flying Feather Sect.

The three-story wooden building had green tiles and flying eaves. An old cultivator at the ninth level of Qi Refining sat dozing at the entrance, holding an open book, "The Customs and Scenery of Southern Xinjiang," and snoring evenly.

On the third floor of the library at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), the east side was filled with a musty smell mixed with the sour odor of old paper pages; inhaling it felt like swallowing a handful of dry straw.

He had been to this place a few times, and it was usually not crowded. After all, most cultivators pursued combat power, realm, and magic treasures, so who had the time to study the unpopular variants of spiritual plants?

Chen Yuan climbed the last step of the wooden ladder, the wound on his right side pulling at him and causing him to groan.

The room was so empty you could hear your own heartbeat. The bookshelves in the east section were packed tightly together, and the aisles were so narrow you could barely squeeze through. A few dim fluorescent lamps hung overhead, their light barely enough to make out the words on the spines of the books.

"Illustrated Compendium of Exotic Plants in Southern Xinjiang", "Records of Plant Spirits", "Study on Lost Spiritual Species", "Three Hundred Cases of Spiritual Plant Mutations", "Illustrated Compendium of Ancient Spiritual Vines", "Study on Forbidden Plants of the Demonic Path", "Record of Heavenly Treasures", "Study on Five Elements Extraordinary Trees", "Study on Extinct Spiritual Plants"...

His fingertips traced the spines of the books, stopping before a thick, dusty volume—"A Study of Ancient Vines." The cover was made of some kind of animal hide, the edges worn white, and it was unsigned.

When I pulled it out, it was heavy and cumbersome.

Chen Yuan sat cross-legged on the floor of the passageway, turning the pages in the dim light. The writing was handwritten, with varying shades of ink, and some pages still had dried leaf specimens between them, which would crumble into powder at the slightest touch.

Preface to the Study of Ancient Vines

The vine, meaning to entwine and cling, is both supple and resilient, weak yet poisonous. In the primordial chaos, before the separation of yin and yang, a vine named "Yuan" grew from the primordial chaos. The Yuan vine fed on the primordial energy, its roots anchored in the void, and its leaves gave rise to all things. Later, when heaven and earth separated, the Yuan vine disintegrated, and its remains gave birth to all living things…

He flipped through the pages, his eyes scanning the lines of hastily written notes:

Green Spirit Vine: Its leaves are like jade, absorbing the essence of the sun by day and the moonlight by night. The "Green Spirit Fruit" it bears can help cultivators with wood spirit roots break through to higher realms. However, its cultivation requires pure wood veins, and it is now extinct.

Blood Fiend Vine: A demonic and evil creature that feeds on flesh and blood, and craves life. When mature, its vines can cover three miles of land, and all who pass by are entangled and devoured, leaving no trace of their bodies. The demonic calamity in Youzhou six hundred years ago was caused by this vine going out of control.

Ghost-Faced Vine: Grows in extremely yin places, its body bears patterns resembling human faces, and it cries like an infant at midnight. Its juice can be used to make "Soul-Locking Pills"...

There is no "bloodthirsty variant".

Chen Yuan frowned and turned the pages faster. In the latter half of the book, the handwriting became even more chaotic, interspersed with large areas of scribbles and annotations, as if the author's mind had become disordered as they wrote. When he reached the third-to-last chapter, his hand paused.

This page had been torn out, and someone had sewed another sheet onto it with rough needle and thread. The new paper was yellowed, and the ink was a glaringly dark black.

Unnamed Blood Vine (suspected to be a degraded variant of *Tinospora sinensis*)

Characteristics: When it first sprouts, it looks like an ordinary green vine, but it goes berserk when it comes into contact with blood. The vine has dark red spots, and the back of the leaves has dense blood glands that can secrete putrefactive toxins.

Record 1: In the seventh year of the Tianqi reign, a barbarian village in the southern border region presented a strange vine to the imperial court, which was placed in the imperial garden. Three months later, all the animals in the garden died, their flesh and blood dried up. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau cut it down, and black blood flowed from its severed end, the stench of which could be smelled for miles around.

Record 2: In the thirty-ninth year of Jinghe, a rogue cultivator in the Western Desert accidentally obtained a seedling of Blood Vine and nourished it with his own blood essence. Three years later, the vine matured, and the cultivator's combat power increased dramatically. He crossed the border and killed seven enemies in succession, but gradually lost his mind and finally burned himself in the desert.

Record Three (handwriting trembles, as if hastily written): I obtained a remnant seed from a rift in the netherworld and tried to cultivate it. There were no abnormalities on the first seven days, but at midnight on the eighth day, the vine suddenly grew rapidly and attacked my right arm. Fortunately, I burned it with cinnabar fire, leaving only this page as a warning.

Annotations (small cinnabar characters, in different handwriting):

This vine is no benevolent creature, but its "Blood Spirit Fruit" possesses truly miraculous effects. If controlled with forbidden techniques, it could become a great asset.

—What will the cost be?

—If one's heart is clouded by the dust of the Tao, one will forever be condemned to the path of blood sacrifice.

Appendix: Cultivation Taboos

1. Do not feed it live animals, otherwise the vine will become ferocious and turn against its owner.

Second, during the fruiting period, the vine requires a large amount of essence and blood for irrigation. If the supply is insufficient, the vine will devour its host.

Third, taking the Blood Spirit Fruit will double your combat power within three days, but after the effects wear off, you will need ten times the amount of flesh and blood to replenish the deficiency, otherwise your cultivation level will drop.

Fourth, and most importantly, the vine and the host will develop a "symbiotic imprint." Once the imprint is formed, the vine becomes the master, and the master becomes the vine, with no turning back.

Chen Yuan stared at the last line of text, and his right palm suddenly began to burn.

He rolled up his sleeves.

The dark red of the tree-shaped mark was a shade deeper than last night, and the blood vessels spreading from the edges had grown to the middle of the forearm, like the roots of a living vine running under the skin.

"Symbiotic Imprint..."

He murmured, pressing his fingertips against the skin. It didn't hurt, but there was a slight tingling sensation, like something growing and breathing beneath the skin.

"Finished watching?"

The sound came from the end of the bookshelf, dry and hoarse like sandpaper.

Chen Yuan slammed the book shut and stood up.

At the other end of the aisle stood a hunchbacked old man, wearing a faded gray robe, holding a feather duster in his hand, slowly dusting the top of the bookshelf.

The old man's eyes were squinted, as if he hadn't woken up yet, but Chen Yuan felt that the old man had heard every word on that page of paper.

When did you arrive?

"Disciple Chen Yuan greets the steward." He bowed and saluted, hiding the book behind his back.

"A steward?" The old man chuckled, revealing sparse, yellow teeth. "I'm just a gatekeeper. Did Su send you?"

Chen Yuan did not answer.

The old man didn't ask any further questions. He walked over, leaning on his feather duster, his steps as light as a cat treading on snow.

He stopped three steps in front of Chen Yuan, his cloudy eyes sweeping over the book "A Study of Ancient Vines" and then over Chen Yuan's right arm—the sleeve was still up, revealing the mark.

"It's a good book," the old man said, tapping the thick volume in Chen Yuan's hand with his feather duster. "It's just that the author... was too greedy."

"greedy?"

"Greed for life, greed for strength, greed for shortcuts." The old man reached out, his withered fingers tapping on the book cover, producing a hollow sound. "The original owner of this book was also a spirit plant master in the Medicine Valley, with a Golden Core cultivation. He became obsessed with the Blood Vine, thinking he could use it to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. And what happened in the end?"

He paused, his voice becoming almost breathy:

"He planted himself in the vine. Literally."

The hairs on Chen Yuan's back stood on end.

The old man stared at him, his eyes like two deep wells in the dim light: "Su girl asked you to investigate to give you a way out. Now that you've found out, which path do you choose?"

"This disciple does not understand."

"Playing dumb." The old man sneered, pointing the feather duster at Chen Yuan's right arm. "That thing has already been stained with blood, it's had its fill. It's tasted it, understand? You only have two choices now—"

He held up one finger.

"First, while it's still weak, dig it up by the roots. Don't burn the part on the ground, find the 'root' inside your body by following the marks, and dig it out together. Burn it with real fire until there's not even ashes left."

Chen Yuan's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Two..." The old man raised his second finger and brought it closer.

Chen Yuan smelled the strange odor on him—old ink mixed with herbs, and a deeper, sweet, fishy smell like something rotting.

"Feed it. Let it bloom and bear fruit. Then you eat the fruit and go kill all those who want to kill you." The old man said this with little expression on his face, as if he were saying, "Remember to bring in the laundry today because it's raining."

What will happen if I eat it?

"Didn't the book say it? Your combat power will double within three days." The old man grinned. "The price... your Dao heart will be clouded, and you'll be forever condemned to the path of blood and flesh. Simply put, from now on, when you meet someone, the first thing you'll see won't be their face, but rather how many days their flesh and blood can sustain you."

Chen Yuan gripped the book in his hand tightly.

The rough animal hide cover rubbed against my palms until they ached.

"Is there no third way?"

"Yes." The old man turned and walked back, his feather duster dragging on the ground, leaving a thin trail of dust. "Now turn around and jump from the third floor. You'll crash into a puddle of mud, and your blood and flesh will feed the earthworms in the mud. Your precious mark will have nothing to eat, and it will wither away on its own."

He walked to the top of the stairs, stopped, and didn't turn around.

"Return the book before dark. Also, try to avoid coming to the east section on the third floor in the future."

Why?

The old man turned half his face to the side, the dim light casting deep shadows on his wrinkles.

"Because of the things here..." He paused, his voice as soft as a sigh.

"Cannibalism."

Footsteps echoed downstairs and faded into the distance.

Chen Yuan stood there, the book in his hand as heavy as a newly unearthed tombstone.