The Terrifying Huai Spirit Scroll

He was puzzled, but none of the cultivators mentioned the matter again. Instead, they began discussing the spells they had each cultivated.

There were spells like the Cloud and Rain Spell, the Soil Tilling Spell, the Earth Vein Spirit Guiding Spell...

Though there were only three Foundation Establishment Cultivators present and the rest were Qi Refining Cultivators, they truly knew quite a lot. The wide variety of spells opened Li Ye's eyes.

Li Ye quietly hid among the crowd and listened to their discussion of the Dao, jotting down the occasional insights someone shared. He planned to record them directly into jade slips when he returned, then study them properly once he reached Foundation Establishment.

He had drawn more than enough attention earlier. For now, he had better keep his head down at the side and quietly make a fortune.

Fortunately, no one came looking to cause him trouble while he kept himself hidden.

Once the discussion of the Dao ended, the cultivators brought out their treasures to trade. Su Ya and the other two Foundation Establishment Cultivators respectively produced pills, manuals, and Magic Tools.

Among them, the Magic Tool brought out by Cultivator Jiang made Li Ye give it a second look.

It was an iron-forged disc.

Once a Spirit Stone was inserted, it would automatically unfold. Iron rods would extend deep into the soil, accurately delivering water and Spiritual Energy to wherever its iron pipes reached. It could even control the flow of both water and Spiritual Energy.

At most, it could extend eight pipes.

"This item is called the Earth Vein Comprehensive Disc."

"It is a simplified version of the divine ability Earth Vein Comprehensive Origin, capable of covering roughly ten mu of land."

"Though its power is not even a ten-thousandth of the original, it is still quite convenient for planting spirit plants or raising spirit beasts."

Cultivator Jiang introduced it with eloquence. "The elders of my Jiang Family have dealings with the Mo Family. Outside, a Spirit Artifact like this would cost at least five hundred Spirit Stones, but today it only costs two hundred."

Li Ye was somewhat tempted.

This thing looked like the drip irrigation pipes from before his transmigration. It could directly supply Spiritual Energy at the roots. Though he had the beavers to help him, they only knew how to water.

Besides, the dams and streams the beavers had dug were simply too numerous, making his courtyard look a little messy. With this thing, that problem could be alleviated quite a bit.

So he immediately spoke up. "Senior Jiang, I want this item!"

At his shout, the other cultivators who had still been hesitating could only give up helplessly. They could afford two hundred Spirit Stones, but spending that much merely for convenience still felt a little too painful.

"Very well." Cultivator Jiang took his two hundred Spirit Stones and directly handed him the shrunken disc. "One Spirit Stone can keep it running for a week. Remember to replace the Spirit Stone in time."

"If it is damaged, feel free to come find me at the Jiang Family Forging Workshop."

"Many thanks, Senior."

Li Ye nodded, accepted the disc, and silently stepped back.

He surveyed the items the cultivators had put up for sale, seeing whether he could find anything useful.

Then, with a sweep of his gaze, he suddenly spotted a book laid out before one cultivator. It looked utterly ordinary, its pages even slightly yellowed.

But... it was actually a spirit beast!

Name: Huai Spirit Scroll

Status: Permanently dormant. Cannot awaken without the influence of special power.

Mood: None

Bindable: Any spirit plant capable of supplying it with Spiritual Energy and awakening it.

Oh? A scroll formed from a spirit beast?

Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he walked over to the cultivator and politely asked, "I see that Fellow Daoist is selling ancient books and texts. Could they contain some profound spells?"

The cultivator hurriedly shook his head. "These are no profound spell manuals. They contain merely folk tales of strange happenings.

"My elders collected these things, and there are simply too many of them, so I wanted to bring some out in exchange for Spirit Stones.

"If Fellow Daoist finds them interesting, feel free to browse through them.

"One Spirit Stone per book will do."

Feigning curiosity, Li Ye casually flipped through two books, then naturally picked up the Huai Spirit Scroll and opened it.

To his surprise, it contained not only neat small-seal script but accompanying illustrations as well.

It roughly told of a thousand-year-old Locust Tree growing in a courtyard. This thousand-year-old Locust Tree was originally a Yin Attribute spirit plant, and after so many years, it had naturally given rise to some strange occurrences.

Not bad—the story was actually rather interesting.

"I'll take this one and this one!" Li Ye decisively took out two Spirit Stones and claimed the Huai Spirit Scroll along with another book.

The cultivator selling books beamed with delight.

His ancestors had collected far too many tales of strange occurrences, enough to pile into mountains. He had merely sneaked out a few books to see if he could trade them for some Spirit Stones.

He had never expected someone to actually be willing to exchange Spirit Stones for them.

Even in his excitement, he did not forget to try and hook this big-spending fool, Fellow Daoist Li.

"I still have some ancient books of strange tales at home."

"If Fellow Daoist enjoys them, come find my bookstall at the eastern corner of the market in a month. The stories within will certainly satisfy Fellow Daoist!"

Li Ye nodded. "Easy enough."

He, too, looked forward to this book-selling fellow Daoist giving him a few "surprises."

Both sides were very satisfied with the deal.

After buying a Magic Tool and two books, Li Ye found nothing else he wanted, so he simply hid off to the side and sampled the fresh fruits, pastries, and wine.

And so, this Peach Garden gathering came to an end amid laughter and cheerful conversation.

By then, the sky was growing late.

Li Ye declined Fellow Daoist Zhou's invitation to travel together and returned home beneath the evening sky awash in rosy clouds. First, he checked on the spiritual beasts and spiritual plants in his home and found that nothing had gone wrong.

Then he placed the Earth Vein Comprehensive Disc underground and controlled it to insert iron pipes near the roots of the wheat, water hyacinths, lotuses, and other spiritual plants. He also instructed the beavers that from now on, they only needed to pour water into the disc's inlet.

The beavers were as clever as ever. They immediately understood what he meant and even destroyed several unnecessary dams, hauling the materials back to reinforce their own den.

With some of the dams and waterways gone, the yard immediately looked much cleaner. The Earth Vein Comprehensive Disc also accurately delivered water to the soil around each spiritual plant's roots. It was truly much more convenient.

"It really does feel good not having to work so hard with my own hands."

Holding the Huai Spirit Scroll, Li Ye wandered over to the lotus. At present, it seemed that the lotus was the only thing he had with even a little more Spiritual Energy.

But the moment he tried using the panel—

Not only did the lotus tremble as it conveyed an awareness of fear, but even he himself sensed that something was wrong.

Unable to bind. Binding requires 2,000 points of Vital Essence.

The number made Li Ye swallow involuntarily.

Two thousand points!

When he had bound that second-tier Crimson-Gold Dragon Carp before, hadn't it taken only one hundred points? It had shot straight up to two thousand—what level of spiritual beast was this?

No, could this be a Spirit Demon?!

He lowered his head to look at the ancient book in his hands. If the panel had not clearly stated that it would remain permanently dormant under normal circumstances, he would have thrown it away out of wariness long ago!

Who could have imagined that it was this terrifying?