Continuous Binding

After returning home, Li Ye took out the Spirit Vein Plate and placed it in a corner of the courtyard, then sent his Divine Sense into it.

With the aid of spiritual power, he could clearly sense his Divine Sense flowing out along with a strange mist.

It was tracing and outlining the areas through which the spirit vein needed to flow.

The Gen trigram halo on the Spirit Vein Plate flickered gently, and the crystalline Spirit Vein Orb also glimmered with the Gen trigram's radiance as the spirit vein within began to stir.

About the time it took to drink half a cup of tea later, Li Ye raised his head and rubbed his slightly swollen, aching temples.

"So it's done?"

He saw an earth-yellow spirit vein already flowing out, gaseous Spiritual Energy slowly creeping forward along the ground.

Wherever it passed, the soil became loose and moist. Ordinary yellow earth was being transformed by the power of the earth spirit vein, gradually turning into spiritual soil.

That was the wonder of spirit veins. Compared to other sources of Spiritual Energy, they were far more all-encompassing.

At that moment, Li Ye swiftly took out the Spirit Vein Willow that had been soaking in spiritual liquid.

Then he tossed all of it directly into the spirit vein flowing forward.

The Spirit Vein Willow fragments, which had seemed utterly ordinary and held barely any Spiritual Energy, suddenly melted away and merged completely into the main body of the spirit vein.

"So it really works like that."

Li Ye watched the melted Spirit Vein Willow fragments. They seemed to be repairing themselves.

The vast majority of the Spiritual Energy gushing from this spirit vein was absorbed by the Spirit Vein Willow.

Just as Li Ye let out a small breath of relief—

"Crack."

The crisp sound made his relaxed brow knot tightly at once—within the Spirit Vein Orb housing the spirit vein's main body, a small section of roots had appeared, forcibly cracking the orb apart.

Right after that, a tiny willow tree, only about half an inch tall, grew directly from where the spirit vein had originally flowed.

It was completely unlike an ordinary willow tree. Earth-yellow willow branches writhed underground, and everywhere they passed transformed into tiny spirit veins.

If Li Ye had not been quick enough to snatch the Spirit Vein Plate into his arms, even the plate would likely have been destroyed.

That was a spirit vein and Spirit Vein Plate he had just bought!

"Spirit Vein Willow... it really is a spirit vein."

Wait... could this thing bind with the Huai Spirit Scroll?

He narrowed his eyes and reached out, trying to stroke the Spirit Vein Willow's trunk.

As if it possessed great intelligence, it lifted a willow branch and gently rested it against the back of his hand. He could feel Spiritual Energy flowing through the soft willow twig.

Clearly, this fellow also knew that he was the one who had saved it.

That was good. After all, he had spent ten thousand Spirit Stones on a spirit vein to save it. If it did not know how to repay kindness, that would truly break his heart.

He slowly stroked the Spirit Vein Willow's soft yet faintly resilient branches. His cultivation art had already begun to change, and the special effect belonging to the "Five Elements Ascending Spirit Art" began to take effect.

By now, he had received gifts of Spiritual Energy from spiritual plants and beasts such as the Flint Crystal Worm, Silver Moon Grass, Spirit Water Phoenix-Eye Lotus, Crimson-Gold Dragon Carp, Peach Blossom Jade Branch, Micro-Stream Beaver, Hungry Bone, spirit wheat, and lotus flowers.

If it had been any other cultivator, they would likely have been exhausted from having to purify these different attributes of Spiritual Energy every day. But the cultivation art Li Ye happened to practice was the "Five Elements Ascending Spirit Art."

In his casual chats with Su Ya, he had learned that this cultivation art excelled most in its adaptability toward Spiritual Energy. It had nowhere near the demands of other cultivation arts; as long as there was even a little Spiritual Energy, one could cultivate with it.

—That was merely the cultivation art's basic ability. As for allowing the powers of spiritual beasts and plants to influence spells, that was considered a special hidden ability. This ability depended on intimacy and close bonds.

By using his Vital Essence to bind them to one another through the symbiosis panel, Li Ye had happened to forge an exceptionally close connection with them, allowing them to support one another.

That was why the spiritual beasts and plants processed through his symbiosis panel now felt much closer to him.

Those that had not undergone it merely felt simple gratitude and affection, without such a close connection.

The ability the Spirit Vein Willow granted him...

He tried lightly curling a finger toward the soil before him.

As Spiritual Energy surged, the dirt on the ground moved as though it were his own arm, forming a small beaver statue so lifelike it seemed almost alive.

No...

This was earth-control ability. Originally, his control over earth had only been enough to turn over soil, yet it had actually been strengthened to this extent.

That meant the Spirit Vein Willow itself possessed such formidable earth-control ability.

Truly not bad.

Li Ye tried again, controlling the soil to dig trenches across the ground.

He discovered that he could control dirt about one foot deep; any deeper, and it would not work. Overall, it counted as an enhancement to his control.

"From now on, help me tend the spiritual plants and beasts in the courtyard. I'll have something else for you to help with later."

He gently patted the Spirit Vein Willow, took a deep breath, and rose to return indoors. From a brocade box in the cabinet, he took out an ancient-looking book.

"Huai Spirit Scroll."

"Two thousand points of Vital Essence."

"If you really are a Golden Core, then I'll have a trump card from now on."

Li Ye muttered to himself for a moment, then gently pressed the Seal Character restriction he had purchased onto the cover of the Huai Spirit Scroll.

Next, he injected his own unique spiritual power into the Seal Character.

The Seal Characters that had been resting quietly on the surface of the yellow paper all melted away. The yellow paper turned into viscous spiritual fluid and slowly seeped into the Huai Spirit Scroll.

Meanwhile, the Seal Character itself was firmly branded onto the scroll's cover.

Throughout the entire process, the Huai Spirit Scroll showed no change whatsoever.

"Success."

"Next comes symbiosis."

The smoothness of this process did not surprise him. When the Huai Spirit Scroll fully awakened, that would be the crucial moment.

He carried the Huai Spirit Scroll over to the Spirit Vein Willow, only to discover that, at some point, Golden Horn Ants had appeared all around it.

They were huffing and puffing as they carried away the soil nourished by the Spirit Vein Willow.

The Golden Horn Ants seemed especially fond of the Spirit Vein Willow, and the Spirit Vein Willow did not reject their approach either.

"...You really know how to pick a place."

"But can there be three-way symbiosis?"

Li Ye felt he could give it a try. Of course, he definitely could not use the panel on all the Golden Horn Ants at once, or his supply of Vital Essence would absolutely not be enough.

He chose the Golden Horn Ants' Ant Queen.

After taking the Ant Queen from the nest and bringing her over to the Spirit Vein Willow, he first let the two make contact, then decisively activated the panel's ability.

Binding successful.

His Vital Essence rapidly dwindled at a rate visible to the naked eye.

In the end, a full six hundred points had vanished!

When he had carried out first- and second-tier symbiosis before, the costs had been twenty and one hundred respectively. Yet this time, it had consumed a full six hundred points. Did that mean third-tier required six hundred?

Two thousand points would be at least fourth-tier.

"There's no time to slowly save up. I need to solve this now."

He set down the Golden Horn Ant Queen and silently took several pills from his pocket, swallowing them.

He had bought all these pills from Su Ya; they could replenish vitality and strengthen the body.

The moment the pills went down his throat, the six hundred points he had lost immediately returned.

"I'd like to see just what's so extraordinary about you."

Taking a deep breath, he once again selected the Huai Spirit Scroll and the Spirit Vein Willow for symbiotic binding.

The Spirit Vein Willow was still quite willing to share its spiritual power. It could also vaguely sense the unique plant-and-wood spiritual power within the scroll.

So it was very willing to form a symbiosis.

Binding successful.

A full two thousand points of Vital Essence rapidly drained away. Even he felt somewhat unwell, while the Huai Spirit Scroll in his hand was undergoing an indescribable transformation.