Chapter 308: Chapter 306 Planting Trees (Owe 8 more updates)_1
Fang Xi, the good samaritan through and through.
He not only gifted Zong Xiu a Yin Corpse Grass but even had the Mysterious Fire Zombie escort his and his wife’s safe departure from Blackwater Pool.
"Leaving already... I’ve stayed here for three years, why don’t I feel any attachment?"
"Perhaps it’s because I’ve mostly been hiding inside the Mountain Sea Pearl?"
"Having a portable Dongfu and a Spiritual Vein is indeed remarkable!"
Fang Xi sighed with emotion, his figure suddenly disappearing from sight, leaving behind only a blue round pearl.
The Externalization paid it no heed and continued sitting in meditation, refining the Yin Pulse Air from Blackwater Pool.
...
Inside the Mountain Sea Pearl.
The original topography had long since been significantly altered. An enormous Demon Tree dozens of zhang high, which blotted out the sky, was situated behind the Dongfu.
A lazy Taisui lay beside it, too lethargic to move.
The Azure horn Fish Dragon was scared stiff and hid shivering to one side.
Ever since it witnessed how the Demon Tree fed, it feared the day would come when its master would feed it to the Demon Tree.
Fang Xi couldn’t be bothered with this Dead Salted Fish, merely giving it a deadline: if it couldn’t advance to the third rank before his Perfect Golden Core, then it would be fed directly to the Demon Tree!
"Demon Tree, truly a marvel..."
He walked up to the Demon Tree, gently stroked its robust trunk, and muttered to himself.
Craaack!
Fang Xi sat cross-legged under the Demon Tree, a Monster Tree Tattoo emerging from his back, with Qi Roots connecting him to the Demon Tree, drawing its primordial life force.
At that moment, he felt the lifespan he had lost returning, bit by bit...
This tree, of course, wasn’t the Ancestral Demon Tree, but a seed Fang Xi had deliberately left behind before his last tree planting.
Back when he came to Blackwater Pool to create two Demon Corpses, he had a sudden inspiration to plant a Demon Tree in the Mountain Sea Pearl and then cast ’Longevity Skills’ outside the pearl to see if the connection persisted.
Unexpectedly, a delightful scene unfolded!
Even when his main body was outside the Mountain Sea Pearl, he could still feel that ’Grand Circulation’.
What followed then was a natural progression, and Fang Xi continued with his grand endeavor of tree planting.
And he was planting trees within his own space!
He not only planted a sapling of the Demon Tree but also used the secret technique ’Treasure Planting Jue’ to re-seal the ’Life-Death Seal’ within it, to enhance its power and, at the same time, conserve his own Golden Core essence.
This ’Life-Death Seal’, having only just been created, had even received praise from a Saint, a testament to its exceptional quality and power.
If given more time to cultivate, it might not be inferior to the third-rank top-grade ’Ten Thousand Souls Banner’ of the Saint.
It might even have hope of ascending to a fourth-rank Spiritual Treasure in the future!
"Although neither the quality of this Spiritual Vein nor the Demon Tree is outstanding, making the ’Eternal Green Body’ unattainable, it can still cultivate treasures and extend life!"
"As long as my lifespan is sufficient, I will be invincible among Core Formation cultivators!"
Fang Xi’s expression was invigorated.
Strictly speaking, the ’Longevity Skills’ don’t actually prolong life.
The additional lifespan that a Wooden Element Spirit Body can offer its master is also seen as a poor trade-off by many high-level cultivators.
For instance, ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ requires a thousand years of tree planting!
Even a Nascent Soul cultivator would be tormented to death by such an ordeal!
The Green Emperor Mountain lineage does possess some rare and precious techniques to accelerate the growth of a Spiritual Root, giving this some prospect of hope.
But at most, they can reduce a millennium to a few hundred years, and even the lifespan obtained from completing the ’Yi Wood Magic Body’ is merely a few hundred years.
As for the Eternal Green Body, which requires ten thousand years of tree planting, it’s enough to exhaust a Transcendent God to death without a glimpse of hope.
"The ’Kuyong Skills’ and ’Longevity Skills’ of Green Emperor Mountain are certainly complementary cultivation methods... But the added lifespan is limited, and it’s even less worthwhile for other cultivators..."
"Only the Demon Tree! It is capable of reversely rapid growth while also offering its host the benefit of extending their lifespan!"
"This tree is indeed unique to Great Liang, and even in the entire Great Liang, there is only one such bizarre Spirit Plant. I even suspect that even if it were placed in the Earth Immortal Realm, it would still be considered a rare and exotic treasure..."
"It feels like... the inheritance of the Nine Leaves Sect, whether it is ’Kuyong Mysterious Light’ or ’Longevity Skills’, seems to be missing something; perhaps there is more to it."
Fang Xi stroked his chin, his doubts about this could only have been answered by that old ghost, but unfortunately, after reaching the mid-phase of Core Formation, he tried to infiltrate the Mysterious Heaven Sect secretly, only to find Zhan Tu had disappeared without a trace. Otherwise, he would have quite liked to gauge that old ghost’s divine skills...
He had also returned to Dragon Fish Island once and saw that everything was fine, save for Liu Sanqi, who had exhausted his lifespan and passed away, which did give him some food for thought.
"Recently... I’m only lacking a high-level Spiritual Vein."
It was something he highly regretted.
Inside the Mountain Sea Pearl, the spiritual energy was only around second rank, at best akin to Dragon Fish Island, sufficient at most for cultivating a ’Yi Wood Magic Body’.
"A high-level Spiritual Vein, or at least one that is of the third rank... it’s too difficult, I must find higher grade Spirit Eye Items."
Fang Xi, having read related materials, knows whether natural or man-made, Spiritual Veins involve the profound mysteries of creation. Once formed, they can be destroyed but not moved!
Otherwise, he would have long plundered the Spiritual Veins of the Mysterious Heaven Sect and the Green Wood Sect.
Seeing that even with a Perfect Golden Core, the Saint could only access a Spirit Eye Spring and create a second rank Spiritual Vein, one can imagine the difficulty in achieving this.
If spiritual veins could be relocated, with his level of cultivation, he wouldn’t speak of fourth-grade spiritual veins; at the very least, a few third-grade spiritual veins would certainly be moved into his own Dongfu.
It’s not possible to dig out spirit stones from the spiritual veins; naturally, spirit stones can only be mined from... a spirit stone mine...
’Perhaps there truly are secret methods in the Cultivation World to extract spiritual veins, but they are of such a high level that they are beyond my reach... And to perform them would also require the cultivation of a Nascent Soul, a Transcendent God, or even higher...’
’To increase the concentration of spiritual energy within the Mountain Sea Pearl, it is still necessary to seek out top-quality spirit stones, as well as Spirit Eye Items, to fill into the great array of the spiritual veins...’
’In the three kingdoms, this is an impossible task. I must venture into the more expansive Cultivation World...’
’Wait, if we’re talking about high-grade spiritual veins... Jade Island could also be considered such a place. The Ancestral Founder of the Sect had a Nascent Soul; it’s quite possible that the island has fourth-grade spiritual veins. Even if I can’t move them into the Mountain Sea Pearl, I can still plant the Ancestral Demon Tree in the outside world...’
’Unfortunately, the late-stage Core Formation Ghost Cultivator on the island, bolstered by the Underworld Earth Vein, is almost on par with a Perfect Core Formation Cultivator, and their lifespan is extremely long... I’m not confident I could take them down.’
’However, it might serve as an option for planting trees in the future.’
Fang Xi still very much enjoyed his current ability to move trees and plant them in different locations; he wasn’t keen on being limited to a single place.
Being confined like a prisoner would not only feel restrictive, but it would also greatly reduce security.
It wasn’t a pleasant experience being stuck in one place and used as a target.
"Now 213 years old, with the help of the spiritual veins of the Green Wood Sect, I have cultivated to the mid-stage of Core Formation and have even reaped many benefits from the recent Heavenly Demon Catastrophe..."
"With such strength and foundation... I finally have the confidence to venture out on my own."
Having greatly increased his lifespan, Fang Xi looked thoughtfully at the obediently still Taisui, "Compared to that dead salted fish, maybe I should focus on increasing Taisui’s cultivation first... If I can raise it to the third grade, it will surely be the main force when I plant the Ancestral Demon Tree in the future!"
While thinking about how to enhance Taisui’s strength, he entered his Dongfu’s five-colored chamber and started reading the books collected by the Saint.
He merely skimmed over the cultural geography of Minghuan World but paid careful attention to the descriptions of the natural spiritual objects and cultivation techniques, which left him feeling enlightened.
...
Time passed unknowingly.
A figure flashed.
Fang Xi stepped out of the Mountain Sea Pearl again and saw his external incarnation still sitting cross-legged.
The Mysterious Fire Zombie had returned at some unknown time, standing guard at one side like a sentinel.
"The Devil Corpse has just returned to report; those two have been sent off," the external incarnation opened its eyes, answering with a flicker of blue light in its pupils.
"Just in time, we should set off as well."
Fang Xi picked up the Mountain Sea Pearl, chanting a series of incantations quietly.
A ball of blue magic power enveloped it before settling on his left forearm, turning into a blue spherical tattoo.
"This secret technique of the Green Wood Sect isn’t of much use... This spell is merely a temporary seal of the treasure within one’s body, to be more concealed... nothing more," he said, slightly dissatisfied.
The external incarnation made a hand gesture and threw out the storage bag from his waist, releasing a flying vehicle that looked as if it were made of pitch-black metal.
The vehicle was about the size of an ordinary carriage, entirely black, with a metallic sheen and adorned with fierce demon beast patterns on its surface.
"This ’Demon Dragon Car’ was the Saint’s mount... It’s good for long-distance escape, saving quite a bit of magic power. I suppose I’m indulging in luxury now..."
Fang Xi also patted the Spirit Beast Bag and released the Demon Blood Flood Dragon.
The Flood Dragon, already turned into a wooden Puppet, swished its tail and slithered to the front of the vehicle, fitting perfectly into the metal rings of several connecting chains, lifting the vehicle seamlessly.
"Indeed, as expected... You little Flood Dragon must have been used like this to pull the carriage for the Saint in the past. Now, not only do I have the carriage and the beast, but also the driver... all in one go," he laughed.
Fang Xi laughed heartily, took the Mysterious Fire Zombie inside, and entered the carriage.
The external incarnation moved to the driver’s seat at the front of the carriage and, with an expressionless face, gave a shout: "Go!"
The Demon Blood Flood Dragon roared, black mist swirling around it, and instantly became a dark streak of light, pulling the Demon Dragon Car, disappearing into the sky.
Indeed, its speed was as swift as the wind and lightning!
"This is just a Flood Dragon of nearly third-grade; back then, it was a third-grade mid-tier Monster King and should be even faster."
Inside the carriage, Fang Xi frowned as he watched, "It’s just a bit too conspicuous..."
The driver-incarnation immediately formed hand signs and uttered a light shout.
A dazzling light enveloped the carriage, and then the Flood Dragon, the vehicle, and their Escape Light all became semi-visible, blending flawlessly into the surrounding environment like a chameleon.
This wasn’t a spell of the Saint.
After the death of the Saint, Fang Xi could only use his perfected body cultivator form; most of the original Demon Skills and spells had, of course, dissipated.
What the Saint was using now was the ’Six Desires Mixed Sky Demon’s ability to hide.
This Devil Corpse had previously remained hidden in the Void, ambushed and left a deep impression on Fang Xi.
"A Flood Dragon pulling the carriage, with a Saint as the driver..."
"Perhaps only a Transcendent God Ancestor of the Primitive Devil Door could have such a procession... The main thing is the prestigious driver."
"Generally, Transcendent God cultivators only think about ascending as soon as possible, barely concerning themselves with sect affairs... Based on the impressions of the Saint, even the Primitive Devil Door finds it very difficult to establish contact with the Upper Realm..."
In Minghuan World, people have ascended every few hundred years, but it’s not exclusive to the Primitive Devil Door.
The Righteous Path, Buddhism, and even Individual Cultivators have individuals who ascend.
In truth, the Primitive Devil Door hasn’t produced an Ascending Immortal for a thousand years and hasn’t made contact with the Upper Realm in that time either.