Cyan Rock

Ye Qin used his divine sense once more, intending to move the sand grains into the floating island. To his surprise, he failed. While these ordinary sand grains could be moved out of the floating island, strangely enough, they could not be moved back in.

A trace of bewilderment appeared in his eyes as his mind began to race, constantly running through various deductions.

The little Dew Grass needed to eat to grow.

They could consume light.

Then, they should be even more capable of consuming the nutrients in soil.

Herbs grew in soil by nature, relying on the sun's rays to thrive!

Ye Qin realized this and slapped his forehead.

Oh, I spent all that time thinking and never considered this point. Perhaps I should dig up some soil and let them have a good taste.

He hurriedly dug up several handfuls of rich, thick soil from among the rocks and weeds on the mountain peak. Then, he tried to move them into the floating island. However, he encountered failure once again. These seemingly rich, thick soils could not be moved into the floating island at all; not a single grain could enter.

What was going on?

Ye Qin was somewhat at a loss.

This problem did not stump him for long. He soon recalled a fact: the little Dew Grass had been collected from a protruding rock near an eagle's nest on the back mountain cliff, and the soil that had entered the floating island along with the Dew Grass had also been collected from that same protruding rock. The soil on that specific rock must be capable of being moved in.

Looking at the sky, it was currently morning, and the sun had only just risen.

Ye Qin acted on his thought. He brought two coils of rope, a small herb basket, a small wood-chopping knife, a small iron shovel, a herb-collecting knife, and other tools, then headed to the back mountain to climb the cliff, descending along the thick rope.

The Grey Eagles circling the mountain still posed a significant threat to him, so he had to be cautious.

Half an hour later, Ye Qin descended to the protruding rock on the cliff and stood firm. Looking left and right, he saw that several more eagle nests had appeared on the nearby cliff face and couldn't help but smile to himself. He had once destroyed all the nests here, never expecting them to be rebuilt.

In the distance, two or three Grey Eagles discovered Ye Qin's presence and flew over, screeching, "Chirp—!" However, they stopped abruptly halfway, not daring to approach, merely circling and crying out anxiously.

Ye Qin had already gripped his wood-chopping knife, prepared to kill the eagles, but seeing them afraid to come closer, he couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief. He pondered to himself, Could these be the same Grey Eagles I encountered before? Do they recognize me? These feathered beasts certainly have good memories.

This saved him some trouble.

Since those Grey Eagles dared not approach, Ye Qin quickly switched to his iron shovel and began digging at the edge of the protruding rock, right where the little Dew Grass had once grown. Soon, he had dug up quite a bit of soil.

Ye Qin grabbed a handful, rubbed it, and suspiciously brought it to his nose to sniff. He couldn't see any difference between this soil and the ordinary soil on the mountain peak; apart from giving a feeling of purity, it didn't seem special.

He attempted to use his divine sense to transfer them into the Purple Mansion floating island.

Eh!

Most of the soil vanished from his hand, with only a small amount of sand remaining.

Ye Qin was practically stunned, unable to believe he had actually succeeded. In an instant, a surge of wild joy welled up in his heart. The soil here could indeed be moved in. This also meant that the little Dew Grass growing on the floating island now had nutrients to absorb.

He dared not immediately sink his divine sense into the floating island to check the specific situation; after all, on this dangerous mountain cliff, the Grey Eagles might launch a surprise attack at any moment, and those were deadly creatures.

He continued to dig more soil, filled his small herb basket, and then climbed back to the mountain peak.

Arriving at the open-air camp beneath the giant rock on the peak, Ye Qin finally set aside his herb-collecting gear, sat cross-legged, and sent his divine sense into the Purple Mansion floating island within the endless void.

On the floating island in the void.

A faint, small white ball of light, one-tenth brighter than it had been a year ago, quickly drifted out from the light-shielding circle of the Life Primordial Spirit Stele and flew impatiently to the spot where the little Dew Grass grew.

That large handful of light, spiritual soil moved into the floating island was placed near the five stalks of little Dew Grass.

Inside this floating island, with Ye Qin as the ball of light, his spiritual perception was even more sensitive. He could clearly feel that this soil seemed to carry a certain faint spiritual energy. Although not dense, this feeling was absolutely unmistakable.

He moved the soil to the roots of the five stalks of little Dew Grass.

He saw that as soon as the roots of the Dew Grass touched the soil, they suddenly moved, rapidly "burrowing" into the earth, and then began to grow at a speed visible to the naked eye—flowering, bearing fruit, the seeds germinating, and new stalks of little Dew Grass sprouting.

As for that spiritual soil, it rapidly lost its spiritual energy, turning into very ordinary sand.

Ye Qin didn't even dare to blink, carefully observing the entire process, barely able to suppress the wild joy in his heart. His deduction was correct: as long as there was enough "food," the little Dew Grass could be cultivated and grown extremely quickly within the floating island.

All his doubts were finally resolved by the scene before him. The initial single stalk of Dew Grass becoming five was entirely due to this soil. With the problem of cultivating the Dew Grass solved, rapidly practicing the <Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra: Sitting and Forgetting Selflessness> was no longer an impossible task.

Over the next few days.

Ye Qin climbed the cliff every day, digging for spiritual soil on the protruding rock and transferring it to the floating island to cultivate the little Dew Grass.

Although the protruding rock on the cliff was hard, it could not withstand his digging and began to shrink at a noticeable rate. The outermost layer of the rock was some soil, but as he dug deeper, Ye Qin was surprised to find that the interior was entirely composed of cyan rock. The texture of the Cyan Rock seemed to have an excellent effect, causing the Dew Grass to grow even more.

Especially in the center of the Cyan Rock, Ye Qin discovered a thumb-sized piece of pure green Cyan Rock Marrow, brimming with spiritual energy.

He found it quite pleasing, so he placed it in the floating island for safekeeping, not using it to cultivate spiritual herbs.

It took three days of effort for Ye Qin to move all the Cyan Rock that could be transferred into the Purple Mansion floating island. After searching the entire mountain and finding no more, he finally left this peak to head elsewhere, collecting herbs and practicing along the way.

Just like that, Ye Qin began to cultivate with single-minded devotion in the deep mountains and old forests of Zhuqi County, spanning over a thousand miles.

He moved all the little Dew Grass and Cyan Rock to the very center of the Purple Mansion island, marking out a one-zhang-sized herb garden around the Life Primordial Spirit Stele for small-scale cultivation. He planted over a hundred stalks in one go, the lush green sight bringing him immense joy.

Ye Qin did not use up all the Cyan Rock. Most of it was stacked to the side, to be used for cultivating herbs in the future.

In this endless void, on the grey, desolate floating island, a small patch of incredibly vibrant green had finally appeared.

Ye Qin would no longer feel bored while on the Purple Mansion floating island.