The Mountain God Vine

"Apparently, the birth of spirits of life wasn't a precise cycle as rigorous as a ring. They weren't born from Gaia, but evolved in ways unknown to us. Only at the moment of death did they return to Gaia."

Only after Fang Xiu created the first Spirit Plant, the Mountain God Vine, did he understand the relationship between souls and Gaia Consciousness.

Billions of years ago, the birth of life led to the emergence of spirits. Then, only through the ceaseless deaths of living things was Gaia Consciousness formed and born. After billions of years of sedimentation and accumulation, it had finally become this vast and magnificent Sea of Spirit. Moreover, as life on Earth grew ever more vigorous, it would continue to grow stronger.

"So long as life endures, Gaia Consciousness will never run dry!"

The Mountain God Vine Fang Xiu created had originally been an ordinary vine plant. However, Fang Xiu had used the method by which he created the monster Black Fiend to create its soul.

At the same time, Fang Xiu had used the Body Modification Technique to imprint its original life template, modify it, and then grafted on a branch of the Necro Tree. Afterward, it had become what it was now.

It could be considered a subsidiary plant of the Necro Tree, inheriting part of the Necro Tree's powers and abilities.

The Mountain God Vine had four primary abilities. First, it could borrow power from the Necro Tree and gradually strengthen itself, much as Fang Xiu borrowed the Necro Tree's power to extract Gaia Consciousness and cultivate.

Second, it could guide all spirits that had died within the surrounding area into the Spirit Realm.

Third, it could produce Spirit Seeds. Although they differed from the seeds produced by the Necro Tree, which could directly allow someone to enter the Qi Refining Stage in a single step, the Spirit Fruits produced by the Mountain God Vine could only allow people to establish a connection with the Spirit Realm, have their names recorded in the Book of Life and Death, and then cultivate. In this way, they would subtly change the characteristics of their souls and evolve toward the traits of the Three Souls Seven Spirits.

Fourth, it possessed the innate spell Spring God Art. Through its vines, it could connect with the entire mountain. Everything reached by its vines and roots became its ears and eyes. Throughout the areas it covered, it could use Spring God Art to control and regulate the growth of the flowers, grass, and trees on the mountain. This was a spell Fang Xiu had developed while using the Basic Body Modification Technique on plants.

Fang Xiu felt that this existence's functions and abilities were actually somewhat similar to the mountain gods and City Gods of ancient legend. Thus, he named it the Mountain God Vine.

Fang Xiu intended to subtly transform this world through this method.

"Perhaps only from this moment onward can it truly be considered so!"

"The time has come!"

Fang Xiu let out a cryptic laugh. It was unclear whether he was mocking himself or for some other reason.

A freight truck Fang Xiu had rented was parked at the entrance. He opened the truck's cargo door and propped a plank against it. With a curl of his finger, he saw the enormous ball of green vines begin to roll, entering the cargo compartment on its own.

Fang Xiu shut the door, immediately got into the truck, and drove south from Weigang City. He had long since chosen the place where the Mountain God Vine should take root.

Lord Finger Mountain and Yellow Goat Mountain both belonged to the Yu Mountain Range. Lord Finger Mountain lay at the tail end of the range and was the highest mountain in Wei Port City.

The origin of Lord Finger Mountain's name had its own story. Fang Xiu had heard it from the locals and found it rather interesting. It was said that when an emperor of the Ming Dynasty passed through this place, he raised his hand and asked the minister beside him what the mountain was called.

But how could the minister know the mountain's name? Yet he couldn't fail to answer the emperor's question. An idea struck him, and he immediately said, "This mountain is called Lord Finger Mountain." Later, regardless of what the mountain had been called before, it truly became Lord Finger Mountain.

However, unlike Yellow Goat Mountain, which had been developed into a park and reservoir, Lord Finger Mountain had been developed early on. Industrial zones and residential areas were scattered everywhere around it. Many parts of the mountain had been excavated, quarried, cut off, and flattened. Along with its proximity to the sea, weathering, soil erosion, pollution, and various other problems had gradually turned Lord Finger Mountain into a completely barren wasteland.

The Yu Gong River beneath Lord Finger Mountain had also been polluted into a river of black water.

When Fang Xiu arrived, he crossed a bridge and saw the muddy water of the Yu Gong River below, with vast amounts of garbage floating on it and a foul stench rising into the air.

He then passed through an industrial zone. Large numbers of factories and factory compounds had been built around the foot of Lord Finger Mountain on both sides of the road, along with some auto-repair shops, general stores, and the like. Farther ahead, the road essentially came to an end. He could only continue on foot; the truck could go no farther.

Fang Xiu finally saw Lord Finger Mountain. It was a great mountain composed of several peaks, with enormous pits pockmarking it everywhere and piles of earth heaped up around them.

The rocks were exposed, loose soil had been dug up everywhere, and almost no greenery could be seen. Many places had become dumping grounds, piled high with construction debris, household garbage, and other refuse.

Fang Xiu also saw several excavators and cranes parked on the mountain, seemingly working on some project. He had heard that a residential complex was soon going to be developed at the foot of the mountain. Once it was advertised, they could even claim it was nestled against the mountain with a view of the sea from the front door.

It was evening, so Fang Xiu wasn't in a hurry. He parked the truck at the foot of the mountain and waited for darkness.

Night descended. Fang Xiu watched the moon climb over the mountaintop as the calls of crickets and frogs rang through the surroundings. Only after he saw no sign of anyone did he open the truck's cargo door. At once, he saw a mass of vines crawl rapidly out of the compartment like a living creature.

It writhed on the ground and burrowed toward the depths of Lord Finger Mountain. Its long vines and leaves, like palms, swiftly climbed over slopes, cliffs, and rocks.

At last, on a cliff facing the sea, the Mountain God Vine put down roots.

The green vines looked utterly inconspicuous, but its vines and roots easily ground apart the rocks and probed deep into the stone and mountain itself, drawing on the power of the soil and water as it grew at astonishing speed. Although it appeared to occupy only part of the cliff, its roots continued probing deeper along the mountainside.

Fang Xiu stood at the foot of the mountain, lit a cigarette, and smoked while gazing at the summit.

He opened the Clock Eye. At once, the entire mountain peak transformed in his vision into a three-dimensional form. He could see countless lines extending from the cliff and constantly probing into the depths of the earth.

The roots split from one into two, three, four, and then countless strands, reaching deep into the mountain range and rock fissures, even extending into the sea.

"The power of plants! At times like this, it looks stronger and more wondrous than animals!" Fang Xiu exclaimed.

Creating the Mountain God Vine was an experiment, and placing it on Lord Finger Mountain was another. First, he wanted to see just how powerful the Mountain God Vine was, whether it could meet his requirements and achieve his goals, whether it could turn this barren and wretched mountain into a verdant paradise on earth, and whether it could change this world.

This time, he had truly gone all in. To catalyze the Mountain God Vine while continuously supplying it with energy, he had drained even the last reserves of the Necro Tree. At present, merely nurturing this single Spirit Plant to maturity had already caused Fang Xiu considerable heartache.

"If the Mountain God Vine succeeds, and the Necro Tree can continuously supply it with power, then by using various Spirit Plants to influence ordinary plants, we might even directly reshape mountains, green deserts, cultivate the seabed, build structures on the sea, and change every kind of terrain."

"I can do it subtly."

"Change the entire Earth!"

Human beings and animals depended on plants for survival. If Fang Xiu could control plants, he could control everything. But for now, this was merely a daydream. Whether the Mountain God Vine, which Fang Xiu had created by expending all his power, could change even a single Lord Finger Mountain remained entirely uncertain.

The Mountain God Vine's growth finally began to slow. By this point, its roots had spread across the entire mountain peak. As its power continued to increase, they would eventually be able to cover all of Lord Finger Mountain.

"Bang!" At that moment, a sound audible only on the soul level came from the mountaintop. Fang Xiu, who had been leaning against the truck door and smoking, immediately raised his head, delight appearing on his face.

A wondrous fluctuation of power spread from the mountaintop along the Mountain God Vine's vines and roots.

"Puff, puff!" A tender shoot burst from the earth.

"Puff, puff, puff, puff, puff!" Countless plants broke through the ground of the once-desolate mountain peak.