Generally speaking, it was perfectly normal for tender green buds like these to sprout on a tree.
But when Firewood Trees growing on Firewood Mountain put out such tender green buds, there was something unusual about them.
While gathering firewood, Ling Qing had seen plenty of newly sprouted buds. They were usually grayish green.
Once they grew larger, their branches turned grayish brown, and their leaves became dark green.
That was because the miscellaneous energies contained in the turbid Sha within the trees had eroded them.
But this one before him...
Well, its color had darkened a little.
That might be why he hadn't noticed it before.
Besides the Firewood Trees being spaced farther apart than ordinary trees, his attention had mostly been on chopping and carrying firewood, leaving him no time to look around.
The short time this anomaly had been around was another important reason.
Even if someone else had spotted it, they would probably have just remarked on it like he had, then thought no more of it.
Ling Qing released his perception and carefully focused his attention on the newly sprouted bud before him.
A vigorous life force radiated from the bean-sprout-like bud, as strong as that of a full-grown tiger.
It was hard to believe that such vitality came from a tiny bud no bigger than a soybean.
More importantly, its body did not contain much turbid Sha.
Only a little Turbid Sha Essence was slowly nurturing it from within.
It absorbed and adapted to the increasingly impure turbid Sha, allowing it to grow quickly.
Turbid Sha Essence was the essence of turbid Sha. It possessed the qualities of turbid Sha, but lacked its soul-rending, spirit-shattering corrosiveness.
The Sha Refining Technique in the Spirit Transformation Method included a method for refining away Sha's soul-rending, spirit-shattering