Chapter 374 - 372_1
Chapter 374: Chapter 372_1
Upon first glance at this bizarre spiritual plant, Lu Xuan was instantly reminded of his five-grade Demonic Vine.
There were some similarities between the two, both possessing intense aggression. However, perhaps due to its higher rank, the Demonic Vine exhibited some level of spiritual intelligence. The behavior of this spiritual plant seemed more instinctual.
“Brother Ge, where did this strange spiritual plant come from?” Lu Xuan asked curiously.
“Recently, our sect and a few others have jointly explored a newly discovered blessed land, where we found many such spiritual plants,” Ge Pu simply
replied.
Lu Xuan nodded, studying carefully.
“Odd, this spiritual plant is highly aggressive, but I can’t detect any evil aura on
it.”
After all these years, he had already planted many varieties of spiritual plants. Among them, a few had aggressive traits, such as the Sword Nurturing Gourd and various ranks of Sword Grass planted in his cave mansion, but they were passive attackers, requiring cultivators to manipulate them.
Also several underworld plants possessed active aggression, such as the mature Hundred Pupils’ Bizarre Tree, and the Blood Spirit Palm and Holy Baby Fruit, which were still being cultivated.
Although the plant in front of him also had an active offense, there was no trace of an evil aura inside it.
Neither the Immaculate Jade around Lu Xuan’s neck, nor the use of Formula Methods like Spirit Cleansing Talisman and Evil-Exorcising Talisman, revealed any abnormalities.
“We brought this weird plant here for you, Junior Brother Lu, to research it and see if you can discover anything,”
“There are large numbers of these kinds of plants in the blessed land. If we can figure out their secrets, our fellow sect members may have an easier time
there.”
Ge Pu said slowly from the side.
Although Lu Xuan wasn’t well-known within the Sky Sword Sect and kept a low profile, those who were familiar with him knew that he had profound knowledge of spiritual plants.
He had solved several significant issues related to spiritual plants and magical beasts, even leaving a deep impression on two Core Formation Elders. Although his cultivation level was only at the Foundation Establishment Realm, in terms of understanding spiritual plants and magical beasts, even the Core Formation Elders and True Disciples within the sect may not surpass him.
“Alright, then I’ll give it a try and see if I can find anything from this strange spiritual plant.”
Hearing this, Lu Xuan did not hesitate, nodding and taking the odd spiritual plant from Ge Pu’shand.
“Appreciate your help, Junior Brother Lu. If you discover anything, feel free to pop me a message.”
Seeing this, Ge Pu nodded satisfactorily, leaving Lu Xuan a sentence before a black and white yin-yang pattern emerged behind him. It spun and expanded rapidly, vanishing in the blink of an eye with Zhong Jing Shan.
Lu Xuan watched as the two left, turning his attention back to the strange spiritual plant.
“A spiritual plant from a blessed land…”
He murmured in awe.
The Cultivation World had all types of secret lands, but those reaching the level of blessed lands were few and far between.
Blessed Lands were usually hidden in extremely dangerous territories, or even in the void, making them hard to discover.
The Sky Sword Sect controlled three blessed lands. Lu Xuan had visited one of them, the Langyue Blessed Land, and had obtained a five-grade Demonic Vine, a four-grade Spirit Gathering Pine, and a “Sixth-rank Phoenix Tree.” The gains were massive.
Going by what Ge Pu had just said, the blessed land where this spiritual plant came from was a recent discovery by the sect. They were currently exploring and developing it in cooperation with other sects. Surely, many rare treasures would be uncovered from within.
With this thought, Lu Xuan’s heart heated up but immediately cooled down, restoring his rationality.
New blessed lands meant plentiful opportunities and treasures, but they also harbor unknown dangers, hence the need for a Core Formation Elder to lead the team for safety.
With his current cultivation level, it’s better not to harbor too many hopes. “Perhaps, if I can work out the origins of this spiritual plant, I might make a great contribution and could even be rewarded by the sect,” he thought. Suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation from his fingers.
Looking down, he saw that at some point, a crack in the weird spiritual plant’s trunk had swallowed one of his fingers, its jagged edges gnawing continuously, and a tremendous suction force emanating from the inside of the trunk.
“This little thing sure knows how to bite,” Lu Xuan said, letting the strange plant gnaw at his finger.
He cultivated ‘LiuLi Bone-Tempering Method’ and ‘Transforming Dragon in the Void’, two body-refinement cultivation techniques, and consumed rare spirit fruits like the Jade Scale Fruit and Gold Marrow Jade Liquid to enhance his flesh body’s strength. His flesh was no weaker than some third-grade magic artifacts, so to him, the strange plant’s nibbling felt like no more than a ticklish scratch.
Looking at the cracked, peculiar spiritual plant, he felt a playful thought rising in his heart. He abruptly shoved his finger deep into the trunk and began to stir around inside it.
When he pulled out his finger, all the jagged teeth on the cracks had fallen off, scattering on the ground.
After his mischief, the strange spiritual plant learned its lesson and showed no reaction, even when Lu Xuan deliberately brought his finger close.
“It seems to lack much spiritual intelligence, but it does possess the basic instinct to chase benefits and avoid harm,” Lu Xuan commented, continuing to observe the strange spiritual plant that had become more docile in his hand.
Upon examination, there was nothing new to discover other than its extraordinarily aggressive nature.
“When in doubt, feed it,” he thought.
“Whether it’s a spiritual plant a spirit beast or perhaps a hybrid of both, just feed it something random and it will reveal its true self before me.” With that in mind, his internal spiritual power surged, causing the clouds above the spirit plant to shift, and a Spirit Rain Technique poured down like a slender waterfall, precisely irrigating the spiritual plant’s trunk and leaves.
After the strange spiritual plant had absorbed it, he focused his mind on the plant and a thought immediately emerged in his mind.
[Unknown spiritual plant, third grade, originated from a grade-three dragon- patterned wood. Long term exposure to an unknown powerful flesh and blood force gradually caused it to mutate into a new spiritual plant species.]
[As a result, it possesses greater vitality and is aggressive in nature and could pose a great threat to cultivators below the Foundation Establishment Realm.] [It can be used to concoct elixirs for body enhancement, and after proper processing, it can also assist in practicing certain body-refining cultivation techniques.]
“Amutated spiritual plant with a third-grade dragon patterned wood as its original form…”
Lu Xuan had seen records about the third-grade dragon-patterned wood in one of the scriptures at the Scripture Treasury Pavilion. It was extremely hard and was a superior material for refining magic artifacts and flying swords.
However, according to the records, it had significant differences in form when compared to the spiritual plant in his hand; the two could be described as quite unrelated.
“Exactly what kind of flesh and blood inhabitants could have caused a third- grade spiritual plant to mutate into this form?” Lu Xuan murmured to himself. Although he had gained a general understanding of the strange spiritual plant before him, he decided to conduct further research.
Otherwise, it would be too conspicuous if he revealed information about spiritual plants as soon as Ge Pu left.
While he didn’t mind showing off his ‘talents’ in the path of spiritual plants, he didn’t want to draw too much attention either. He preferred to quietly make a fortune.
“Now that I know the origins of this spiritual plant, the next thing I have to do is observe its habits and preferences to see if I can find the best way to deal with it,” Lu Xuan thought to himself.