Spirit Plant Entry: Immortality Begins with Farming

Twenty days later, at dawn.

Widow Li was stunned when she passed by the fields.

The four acres at the east end are covered in a soft, golden foliage.

Not just a few trees, not just a few rows, but a full four acres, all neatly arranged, like a soft, breathing blanket covering the black soil.

The grass blades were slender, with a faint golden shimmer in their veins, almost imperceptible to the naked eye. A breeze rustled across the ground, and a very faint yet clear coolness spread like ripples on water, flowing over the dirt paths and slipping to her feet.

She crouched down and carefully touched the nearest blade of grass with her fingers.

It's cool. The veins of the leaf pulsate slightly under my fingertips, like the veins of a living thing.

"This...it really worked?" she murmured to herself.

"Mom! Look!" Ping An popped out from behind her, pointing his little finger at the field, "The grass shines!"

It wasn't glowing; it was the faint golden light from the veins of the leaf that created the illusion in the morning glow. But the child didn't understand; he just found it strange.

Widow Li stood up, her heart pounding.

Half of him was shocked that Chen Yuan had actually done it; the other half was panicked that he really had to take this grass out to exchange for spirit stones.

"Sister Li! Sister Li!" Zhou Ming came running from the other end of the alley, panting but his face beaming. "See that? Everyone in the shantytown is talking about our patch of grass! It's got spirit! It really does! I stand by the field and take a couple of breaths, and my mind clears up!"

"Keep your voice down!" Widow Li hurriedly pulled him back into the shop and closed the door. "Brother Chen instructed that the grass isn't fully ripe yet, so we can't make a fuss about it."

"What are we waiting for? It's ripe!" Zhou Ming rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming. "This morning I went to the fields and at least ten people asked me if I was selling this grass! Liu Laosan, Zhang Heizi from the mine, and Old Sun from the west end... they all said that breathing in the air from this grass makes them feel light and healthy! Sister Li, we're going to make a fortune!"

Widow Li didn't reply. She went behind the counter and took out the wooden board that Chen Yuan had left behind yesterday.

The charcoal writing is crystal clear:

"The Tranquilizing Golden Thread Grass Ring will be redeemed in ten days."

"A bundle of grass (enough to weave three rings) can be exchanged for one standard spirit stone or an equivalent item."

"Effects: Surrounded by a faint spiritual energy, it calms the mind and relieves fatigue (effective for mortals and low-level cultivators)."

"Starting today, registration is limited to three bundles per person, with priority redemption upon presentation of the bamboo token."

She stared at the line "Exchange for one standard spirit stone," her throat going dry. Spirit stones... how many people in the shantytowns would save up only a dozen or twenty for half their lives, those were their life-saving money.

"Would someone really trade spirit stones for a grass ring?" Her voice was hoarse.

"Definitely!" Zhou Ming said decisively. "Sister Li, you don't understand! For us cultivators, spirit stones are trash. They leave a mottled residue when absorbed, making cultivation difficult and insufficient for array formations. They're only good for pocket change. But for mortals? They can't use them either. They just hoard them as stones! Now, we can use one stone to exchange for a grass ring that might make us feel more comfortable and less prone to illness, which we can wear for a few months... Don't you think we should exchange it?"

He leaned closer and lowered his voice: "I've inquired. The lowest grade of 'Heart-Cleansing Talisman' in the market costs five spirit stones, and its effect only lasts for one or two days. If our grass ring can really last for one or two months... just think about it."

Widow Li gripped the hem of her apron tightly. The logic was sound, but…

"No buts!" Zhou Ming grabbed the wooden board. "I'll hang it up right now! Register first! Check back in ten days, I guarantee there will be a huge crowd!"

As soon as the wooden planks were hung on the door, passing miners stopped to walk by.

"Golden thread grass ring? What's that?" a burly man muttered, squinting.

Zhou Ming quickly stepped forward, his face beaming: "Fellow Daoist, this is a new product we're testing! Have you seen those four acres of Golden Thread Grass on the east side? Senior Brother Chen—the one from Medicine Valley—grown it using a secret method, and it carries a faint spiritual energy! Wear it as a ring; it calms the mind and relieves fatigue! It'll be available for exchange in ten days. One bundle of grass makes three rings, and it only costs one spirit stone! Register today for priority!"

The man looked at the wooden plank suspiciously, then gazed at the faintly glowing field to the east: "Is it really magical? I think it's just a hoax."

"Go stand by the field for a while and take a couple of puffs!" Zhou Ming patted his chest confidently. "If that doesn't work, you can twist my head off and use it as a ball!"

The man, still somewhat skeptical, went to the edge of the field. He returned a quarter of an hour later, his eyes wide with amazement: "Hey! Amazing! A few puffs and my brain feels completely refreshed! Manager Li, register me! I want three bundles!"

Once it started, it couldn't be stopped.

Miners finishing their work, farm women selling their vegetables, peddlers going from street to street... curious people, onlookers, and those who genuinely thought it was useful, all crowded in front of the shop one after another.

"Get on board too!"

"Widow Li, does this straw ring really work? My mother has been coughing for half a year..."

"Register first! Write your name here, right?"

The noise made Widow Li dizzy, so she could only mechanically collect the bamboo tokens, memorize the names, and repeat Chen Yuan's instructions: "Ten days later... come and redeem with the tokens... the grass isn't fully ripe yet..."

Zhou Ming helped maintain order from the side, his voice became hoarse from shouting, but his face was flushed with excitement.

The shop owners across the street, selling low-level herbs and talismans, leaned against their doorframes and watched coldly.

"A crooked and unorthodox approach," the tall, thin herbalist spat.

"Exactly!" snorted the short, stout man at the talisman shop next door. "What kind of spiritual energy could Golden Thread Grass possibly have? It must have been concocted using some evil magic! Just wait, trouble is bound to happen sooner or later!"

---

The news spread like wildfire, reaching the entire shantytown in half a day.

It also scraped into Xiong Kui's ear.

He had just finished his shift and hadn't even taken off his leather armor when a familiar face from the patrol team grabbed him: "Brother Xiong! Have you heard? Widow Li's shop at the east end is selling some kind of Golden Thread Grass Rings, which can be exchanged for spirit stones! There's a long line of people registering!"

Xiong Kui paused, "...Did someone really register?"

"More than that!" the man clicked his tongue. "I went to check it out. Standing by the field for a while, that grass really does have something special about it! Breathing in it makes you feel light and refreshed! Quite a few miners have registered, saying they wear it down the mine, maybe it'll reduce their risk of 'lithiasis'!"

Xiong Kui silently removed his leather armor and hung it on the wall. The movement was slow.

"Brother Xiong," the man leaned closer and lowered his voice, "Widow Li... is she... you? Won't the way she's running this shop cause trouble? I heard that the other shops across the street are green with envy."

"The shop belongs to Brother Chen," Xiong Kui said calmly. "She's just helping out at the shop."

"We still have to be careful!" the brother said. "Spirit fragments... no matter how worthless they are, they're still something cultivators would consider. Now that so many mortals are using spirit fragments to exchange for grass rings, what will those high and mighty lords think?"

Xiong Kui didn't speak, but fetched water to wash his face. The icy water splashed on his face, but it couldn't calm the turmoil in his heart.

He knew Chen Yuan was capable, but this time... it was too conspicuous.

In the evening, he went around to "Yuancaotang".

The shop was already closed, but the wooden planks on the door were still gleaming. In the last rays of daylight, he could see the dense scratches on them—registration marks, at least a hundred of them.

Widow Li was having dinner with Ping An in the inner room when she heard a knock on the door. She asked warily, "Who is it?"

"I."

The door opened a crack, and Widow Li saw it was him. She breathed a sigh of relief and stepped aside to let him in.

The aroma of porridge filled the room. Ping An called out "Uncle Xiong" and buried his head in his porridge.

"Today..." Widow Li rubbed her hands, unsure where to begin, "So many people came to register. More than a hundred... Zhou Ming said there will probably be even more tomorrow."

"Hmm." Xiong Kui sat down at the table, looking at the pile of marked bamboo plaques. "Brother Chen has come to see them?"

"They came yesterday and said the grass needs to rest for a few more days, and the exchange will begin in ten days." Widow Li served him a bowl of porridge, her voice lowered. "Xiong Kui, I'm...uneasy. Broken spirit stones...can you just accept them so easily? What if someone causes trouble, what if..."

"There's no 'what if'," Xiong Kui interrupted her, his voice steady. "The shop belongs to Brother Chen, and it was his decision. If he says it can be taken over, then it can be taken over."

Widow Li looked up at him, her eyes filled with grievance and dependence: "But you also think this is risky, don't you?"

Xiong Kui slowly took a sip of the porridge. The porridge was thin, with only a few grains of rice, but it was hot.

"Whether it's risky or not depends on the outcome." He put down his bowl. "Brother Chen isn't reckless. He dared to do this because he has the confidence. We... just listen, watch, and protect the shop's safety."

"I'm just afraid I won't be able to protect them!" Widow Li's voice choked with sobs. "Those families across the street today, their eyes were like knives! And... Third Sister Liu came this afternoon too, walked around the shop twice with a smile on her face, but that smile sent chills down my spine!"

Xiong Kui's eyes darkened: "What did she say?"

"He didn't come in, just looked at the wooden planks and said to the person next to him, 'Brother Chen really knows how to make money.'" Widow Li clenched her clothes. "Xiong Kui, I have a feeling... something bad is going to happen."

The room fell silent, with only the soft swallowing sound of Ping An drinking porridge.

After a long while, Xiong Kui reached out and gently patted Widow Li's hand across the table. The movement was very light, revealing her thick calluses.

"If something really happens," he said in a low voice, as heavy as a stone, "I'm here for you."

Widow Li's eyes reddened, she turned her face away and wiped her eyes.

Ping An looked up at his mother, then at Xiong Kui, and whispered, "Mom, Uncle Xiong, Uncle Chen's grass... is really nice. I played by the field today, it was so comfortable."

Children's innocent words eased the heavy atmosphere in the room slightly.

Xiong Kui rubbed Ping An's head: "Yeah. Your Uncle Chen is really capable."

But the tension in my heart only increased.

Chen Yuan stood at the entrance of his shack, gazing at the fields to the east.

The blood and vine marks on my right arm felt slightly warm; I didn't know if it was a connection with the spiritual plant or something else.

He turned and went inside, closing the creaking wooden door behind him.

On the table are seeds of golden thread grass to be sown in another four acres of empty land tomorrow.

The seeds were quietly stored in the coarse cloth bag.