Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

Chen Yuan did not return to plot number 73.

He sat in the dust on the third floor of the library, leaning against the cold bookshelves, his right hand resting on his knee.

The tree-shaped mark on my palm gleamed with a dark golden light under the dim fluorite lamp.

The old man in the gray robe's words still echoed in my ears:

"The original owner of this book was also a plant master in the Medicine Valley, with a Golden Core cultivation level. He became obsessed with the Blood Vine, believing he could use it to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. And what happened in the end?"

"He planted himself in the vine. Literally."

Plant yourself...into the vine.

Chen Yuan raised his left hand and poked the blood vessels spreading on his right arm with his fingertips.

It felt warm to the touch, not painful, but there was a subtle, continuous sucking sensation—as if this arm was no longer his, but the canteen of some living creature, slowly nibbling at his blood and occasionally spitting back a bit of the sweet, grassy energy as spare change.

Automatic pop-up window for the term's view:

[Symbiotic Imprint: Blood Ginseng and Bloodthirsty Spirit Vine (Initial Entanglement)]

[Status: In dual parasitism, stability 61%]

[Warning: Once mature, the Bloodthirsty Vine will attempt to dominate the symbiotic relationship, with a backlash risk as high as 83%]

[Recommendation: Completely sever or fully control the situation within twelve hours]

Cut off, or take control.

Chen Yuan closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into his sea of ​​consciousness.

That bare tree looks a bit more substantial than it did yesterday.

Inside the translucent tree trunk, dark golden light flowed like lava slowly simmering, and five stars hung on the edge of the canopy, each shining its own light.

He stared intently at that emerald green plant—the Law of Growth.

The surface of the stars has intricate patterns, like a three-dimensional fishing net woven from countless leaf veins. Information is automatically flooding my brain:

[Entry Category: Growth Principles]

[Includes the following abilities: Attribute Assignment (Activated), Plant Communication (Unlocked), Environmental Mimicry (Unlocked)]

[Next stage unlock requirements: Successfully cultivate three mutated spirit plants, or establish a deep symbiosis with three spirit plants]

[Current progress: 2/3 (Blood Ginseng Yang Body, Remnants of Azure Vine)]

Plant communication... Environmental mimicry...

Chen Yuan opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

He got up, put "A Study of Ancient Vines" back on the bookshelf, and turned to go downstairs.

As I passed by the door, the old man in the gray robe was still dozing off. The book "Southern Xinjiang Customs and Scenery" in his arms slipped to the ground, and the open page was an illustration: a giant vine wrapped around the entire mountain, with skulls hanging all over its body.

Chen Yuan glanced at it, bent down to pick up the book, and gently placed it back on the old man's lap.

The old man's snoring paused for a moment, but without lifting his eyelids, he mumbled, "Have you made your choice?"

"...I've made my choice."

"You make your own way in the world." The old man turned his back to him. "Just don't cry out in pain."

Chen Yuan didn't reply, but pushed open the door and walked out of the library.

---

Back at plot number 75, at 3:45 noon.

The sun is blazing, but the medicine valley has a cooling system that keeps the temperature neither too hot nor too cold.

Chen Yuan squatted by the pile of rubble, staring at the dark green sprout that had already grown to three inches tall.

The bud has doubled in size, and the blood vessels on its surface have changed from fine lines to spiderweb patterns, glistening with an oily sheen in the sunlight.

The two tender leaves at the top unfold, with fine serrations along the leaf edges and dark red tips.

Entry perspective refresh:

【Bloodthirsty Spirit Vine (Rapid Growth Phase)】

[Status: Sufficient blood and flesh supply, growth accelerated by 500%]

[Estimated ripening time: three hours later]

[When ripe, it will produce: 2 Blood Spirit Fruits (estimated)]

[Warning: The moment the fruit solidifies, it will unleash a powerful bloodlust, affecting an area of ​​ten feet.]

Three hours.

Chen Yuan sat down cross-legged, pressing his right hand on the mud next to the tender sprout.

The moment his palm print touched the soil, he clearly "felt" the wildly growing network of roots underground—like a greedy mouth, opening in the darkness, waiting for the next feast of flesh and blood.

"You ate him," Chen Yuan whispered to the bud, "Now, it's my turn."

He closed his eyes and focused all his energy on the Long Breath Technique.

But this time, it wasn't spiritual energy that was being guided, but consciousness—the entire mind sank into the sea of ​​consciousness, locking onto that emerald green star of growth laws.

The stars trembled slightly, emitting a soft green light.

Chen Yuan tried to send a sliver of his consciousness inside. Countless fragments of information came from the mist: the squeezing force of a seed breaking through the soil, the itching of roots stretching out, the rhythm of leaves unfurling and curling, the throbbing of a flower blooming…

These are all fragments of the laws of "growth".

He found the node for "Communication with Spiritual Plants (Unlocked)"—a thicker green mist covered by a membrane-like barrier.

According to the information provided by the stars, to unlock this ability, one must use their own spiritual consciousness as a bridge to establish a "deep resonance" with at least one spiritual plant.

Deep resonance is equivalent to the fusion of parts of one's soul.

Chen Yuan looked at the Bloodthirsty Spirit Vine on the ground.

There is no candidate with greater "depth" than this—it has already entangled itself through Zhao Kui's flesh and blood, and with his Blood Ginseng Mark. What needs to be done now is not to sever it, but... to actively tighten the entanglement, and then, using the power of the Law of Growth, to transform it from a "parasite" into a "controllable skill".

A crazy idea.

But Chen Yuan had no way out.

Destroying it would mean losing a potential force that could turn the tide; leaving it unattended, however, could mean becoming the next Zhao Kui in three hours.

He took a breath, plunged his right hand into the soil, and gripped the main stem of the Bloodthirsty Spirit Vine!

"hiss--"

The tender buds trembled violently! The blood vessels on the surface of the stems suddenly lit up, like red-hot iron wires, making Chen Yuan's palms hiss.

A violent, hunger-filled consciousness rushed into his mind through the point of contact:

"Blood...flesh...more..."

Chen Yuan gritted his teeth and endured it, his left hand forming a seal and pressing it against his chest—the location where the Blood Ginseng Yang Body merged.

He forcibly extracted a wisp of pure blood essence stored in his yang body and poured it into the spirit vine along his right arm!

"Eat this!" he growled.

The trembling of the spirit vine stopped for a moment, and then... it went mad.

The three-inch-long stem swelled up as if inflated, turning from dark blue to deep purple, with blood vessels bulging on its surface like throbbing veins.

The tender leaves at the top rapidly thickened and hardened, their serrated edges elongating into half-inch-long thorns. A gurgling, sucking sound came from the ground, and Chen Yuan felt his vital energy being frantically drained away!

A sharp pain exploded from his right arm and spread throughout his body.

But at the same time, the emerald green star in my sea of ​​consciousness suddenly shone brightly!

The membrane on the surface of the "Spiritual Plant Communication" node began to crack under the stimulation of the Bloodthirsty Spirit Vine's gluttony for blood energy.

not enough.

A ruthless glint flashed in Chen Yuan's eyes. He slashed his right wrist with his left index finger—not just to break the skin, but by channeling the power of the "Blood Bone Chapter" to turn his finger bone into a thin blade and directly sever the wrist vein!

The blood spurted out, not dripped, but was actively drawn in by the blood threads on the stem of the spirit vine, forming a bloodline that flowed in.

"Here you go! All of it is yours!"

Chen Yuan's face turned pale rapidly, but his eyes shone with an alarming brightness. As he bled, he focused all his spiritual sense on the emerald star, like hammering red-hot iron, trying to smash through the barrier of "spiritual plant communication"!

[Warning: The rate at which the host's vital energy and blood are being lost exceeds the safe threshold]

[WARNING: The Bloodthirsty Spirit Vine's consciousness is eroding the host's spiritual center]

[Growth Law - Spiritual Plant Communication Node: Unlocking progress 37%...49%...58%...]

The spirit vine had grown to a foot tall, its stem as thick as a child's arm, and its surface was covered with twisted human face patterns—the manifestation of Zhao Kui's resentment before his death, which had been absorbed by the vine.

The two leaves at the top hardened completely, turning into a pair of dark purple, sickle-like blades that slashed unconsciously through the air, making a "whoosh" sound as they cut through the air.

Chen Yuan felt his consciousness beginning to blur.

The hunger gnawed at Ling Teng like a tidal wave, mixed with Zhao Kui's remaining killing intent and madness. He "saw" the blood mist at the bottom of the pit that night, "heard" the scraping sound of the dagger piercing his ribs, and "smelled" the sweet, metallic taste of his own blood...

It cannot sink in.

He bit his tongue hard, the sharp pain bringing him back to his senses. With his left hand, he pulled out the last three mid-grade spirit stones from his pocket, held them in his palm, and frantically drew their spiritual energy into his sea of ​​consciousness, bracing himself against the impact of the emerald star!

[Unlock progress: 71%...83%...91%...]

The spirit vine has begun to bear fruit.

It is not a regular fruit; instead, two fist-sized fleshy growths bulge at the base of the two blade-like leaves.

The surface of the sarcoma was covered with wriggling blood vessels, and something inside was beating, like two shrunken hearts.

The Blood Spirit Fruit is almost ready.

At that very moment, Chen Yuan felt the connection between himself and the spirit vine reach a critical point—his blood flowed through the vine, and the vine's roots climbed up his meridians, reaching his elbows.

A strange sense of "symbiosis" descended: he could sense the vine's every bit of thirst, and the vine could sense his every thought.

Right now!

Chen Yuan twisted all his remaining will into an invisible "nail" and hammered it hard into the last barrier of the emerald star!

"open--!"

[Growth Laws: Communication with Spiritual Plants (Unlocked)]

The emerald star trembled violently, and intricate leaf vein patterns appeared on its surface, its light shifting from soft to intense! A beam of green light shot out from the star, piercing through the sea of ​​consciousness, and flowing in reverse through the connection between Chen Yuan and the spirit vine, into the core of the spirit vine!

The spirit vine struggled violently!

It instinctively resisted this feeling of being "controlled," its blades flailing wildly, and underground, its roots writhing like snakes, trying to break free from Chen Yuan's grasp.

But Chen Yuan gripped it tightly, his five fingers almost digging into the stem, and blood stained the entire vine dark red.

"Either come with me," Chen Yuan hissed, each word dripping with blood, "or... rot together!"

He guided the power of the emerald stars, not to suppress, but to "weave"—like the most skillful weaver, binding, knotting, and mixing together the violent threads of the spirit vine's consciousness with the threads of his own spiritual awareness.

[Building a deep spiritual plant resonance...]

[Target detected as an ancient, degraded variant with bloodthirsty attributes; the resonance process carries a high risk of backlash.]

[Suspension Recommended]

Chen Yuan didn't stop.

He felt as if a piece of his soul had been torn off and stuffed into the wildly growing vine.

The vine's hunger became his hunger, and the vine's murderous intent overwhelmed the boundaries of his reason.

But he held fast to the last vestige of clarity in his mind, and with the power of the emerald stars, he carved a "mark" at the core of the vine.

It's not like the blood ginseng, a destiny mark bound to the soul.

It is a "skill mark"—a summoning technique based on the laws of growth, guided by one's own blood and energy, and carried by the spirit vine itself.

This process lasted for an unknown period of time.