Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique

As a disciple of the Azure Elixir Sect, Liu Yuanchen could not remain in the Blessed Land forever. He still had duties to fulfill, including tending the spirit fields on Yujin Mountain.

As for leaving the Azure Elixir Sect, he had no such plans for now.

It was not that he felt any deep attachment to the Azure Elixir Sect. It was simply too difficult to survive on the Red Wasteland.

For a Qi-Nourishing Realm cultivator to cultivate steadily, they needed the protection of a faction.

Especially after opening a Blessed Land Embryo, stability was even more necessary.

Although a Blessed Land could provide some cultivation resources, fully realizing the value of a Blessed Land Embryo required the Divine Farmer Art, which could increase spirit plant yields, as well as Alchemy Art, which could turn spirit herbs into pills.

These two happened to be the Azure Elixir Sect's most closely guarded inheritances.

As an Azure Elixir Sect disciple, even if he was merely an overlooked outer disciple,

he could obtain low-tier inheritances in Alchemy Art and the Divine Farmer Art at a very small cost, along with guidance from genuine Alchemy Masters and Spirit Apothecaries.

If he displayed sufficient talent, he might even receive preferential allocation of sect resources.

Independent cultivators could only dream of such treatment.

Although the Azure Elixir Sect's strongest cultivator was only in the Condensed Origin Realm, there were truly few factions worth mentioning in this godforsaken Red Wasteland.

Within several tens of thousands of miles, the Azure Elixir Sect was already considered a major power.

The only forces capable of challenging the Azure Elixir Sect were the Demoncloud Sect to the northeast and Iron Cauldron Mountain in the west.

The Demoncloud Sect was a stronghold of rogue cultivators and possessed the greatest strength.

Iron Cauldron Mountain was also an orthodox sect, one focused primarily on artifact refining.

Small clans such as the Liu Family and Chen Household, as well as minor sects without a Condensed Origin Realm cultivator, could only cling to the powerful.

No matter how he looked at it, remaining in the Azure Elixir Sect offered considerable benefits.

Liu Yuanchen looked over the soil within the Blessed Land Embryo and casually grabbed a handful.

The rich spirit qi in the soil seemed ready to burst forth.

Compared to this soil, the soil in Yujin Mountain's spirit fields was simply trash.

The source of this soil had been sealed within the meteorite alongside the Ginseng Fruit, so it was naturally extraordinary.

Moreover, when he awakened his Immortal Seed, the meteorite had shattered, and there had been a Ginseng Fruit inside.

Although the Ginseng Fruit had turned to dust and merged with the soil,

a divine object like the Ginseng Fruit would never become ordinary even after turning to dust.

It would truly be a waste not to plant some spirit plants in such extraordinary spirit fields.

He took a storage bag from his sleeve. After opening it, he found a good deal of Golden-Thread Rice inside, more than ten pounds in total.

As the caretaker of Yujin Mountain's spirit fields, he was poor as a church mouse.

Though he worked wholeheartedly for the public good, he still had to eat.

Keeping a portion of the spirit fields' output for himself was perfectly reasonable.

As long as he ensured the minimum yield, those above would not bother over such trivial matters.

Thus, Liu Yuanchen kept several dozen pounds of Golden-Thread Rice each year.

As for Scarlet Millet, Liu Yuanchen was utterly selfless and had not kept a single grain.

Yujin Mountain was deficient in spirit qi, and regularly eating Golden-Thread Rice was immensely beneficial to cultivation.

He selected the large grains rich in spirit qi from among the Golden-Thread Rice, scattered them across the spirit fields, and watered them.

Although Golden-Thread Rice was a rice-type spirit grain, it was extremely easy to manage.

Simply scattering it across spirit fields was enough for it to grow well, provided the soil contained abundant spirit qi.

He planted Golden-Thread Rice across roughly thirty percent of the spirit fields in the Blessed Land.

In the remaining land, he planted spirit herbs for refining Qi-Nourishing Pills and Spirit-Restoring Pills, along with some Charcoalwood.

Qi-Nourishing Pills were used to help Qi-Nourishing Realm cultivators accelerate their cultivation. They were also among the best-selling first-tier pills.

Spirit-Restoring Pills rapidly restored spirit qi and were indispensable during combat.

As for Charcoalwood, it was not the name of a particular spirit plant, but a category of spirit plants.

Such spirit plants were unsuitable for use as spirit herbs or artifact refining materials. They were only suitable for making charcoal.

The charcoal they produced was naturally used for alchemy and artifact refining, since earthfire was not available everywhere.

Skilled Alchemy Masters and Artifact Refining Masters could also sustain flames using their own spiritual power, but controlling the fire was more difficult and consumed much more spiritual power.

Liu Yuanchen had remained at the fourth level of the Qi-Nourishing Realm for more than a year and was already on the verge of a breakthrough.

It was simply that Yujin Mountain's spirit qi was too thin, making a breakthrough there rather difficult.

His previous breakthrough to the fourth level of the Qi-Nourishing Realm had relied on pills and Spirit Stones.

Now that he had the support of a Blessed Land Embryo, it was the perfect opportunity to break through.

He sat cross-legged beside the Ginseng Fruit Tree and circulated the Azure Wood Formula, continuously drawing spirit qi into his body.

Abundant spirit qi flowed into him without cease, and Liu Yuanchen felt as though his entire body had become light and weightless.

Before long, he had completely entered meditation.

At that moment, the scene of Grand Immortal Zhenyuan lecturing appeared in his Sea of Consciousness once more.

This time, he could hear more of the content.

Beyond the material related to opening a Blessed Land, he also heard something new.

The newly added lecture concerned a cultivation technique called the "Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique."

Grand Immortal Zhenyuan had casually created this technique to nurture newly initiated disciples.

No matter how casually the Ancestor of Earth Immortals had created it, to Liu Yuanchen, a Qi-Nourishing Realm cultivator, it was a supreme sacred canon.

This technique naturally possessed extraordinary aspects. If mastered, it allowed one to borrow the might of divine wood and command all vegetation.

In places where vegetation flourished, any spell related to plants would gain vastly increased power and might even acquire certain special effects.

Furthermore, the technique included a secret art for enlightening spirit plants.

Naturally, cultivating the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique also had prerequisites.

One needed to visualize a divine tree, comprehend its essence, and imprint a Divine Tree True-Form Diagram within the Sea of Consciousness.

The technique's power depended on how much of that essence its practitioner could comprehend.

Moreover, the suppressive object within the Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land also had to be related to divine wood.

For ordinary people, the conditions for cultivating the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique were exceedingly harsh.

To visualize a divine tree, the best method was naturally to have one nearby and comprehend its essence firsthand.

At the very least, one needed to visualize the True Form Diagram of a divine tree and copy it into the Sea of Consciousness.

But a True Form Diagram could not simply be drawn at will; it had to contain the tree's essence.

Even a Divine Tree True-Form Diagram was something no force in the entire Red Wasteland could obtain.

As for the suppressive object of a Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land needing to be related to divine wood, that was even more difficult.

In this godforsaken Red Wasteland, one could not even find high-tier spirit plants, much less divine trees.

Yet for Liu Yuanchen, these conditions were laughably easy.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree Sapling in the Blessed Land Embryo should count as divine wood.

As for the divine tree's essence, he had stared at it for the past seven or eight years. How could he have gained no insight at all?

After memorizing the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique, he began imprinting the image of divine wood in his Sea of Consciousness according to the appearance of the Ginseng Fruit Tree in Five Villages Abbey from his memories.

The entire process required an enormous amount of spiritual power and part of his Divine Sense.

In the past, he would have had no hope of completing it.

But now, with the sapling constantly supplying him with pure spiritual power, he could endure.

After two days, he finally imprinted the True Form Diagram of the Ginseng Fruit Mother Tree in his Sea of Consciousness.

Though it could not be considered a perfect likeness in both form and spirit, it could still imitate a trace of its essence.

Yet the instant he completed the imprint, his Immortal Seed shone brilliantly, and emerald-green light filled his entire Sea of Consciousness.

When the light faded, the Ginseng Fruit Tree True Form Diagram had vanished without a trace.

Liu Yuanchen was not disheartened, because he could still sense the True Form Diagram's existence. It had merely fused with his Immortal Seed.

No matter what, the task of imprinting the True Form Diagram had been completed.

Even fused with the Immortal Seed, it could still serve its purpose. He should be able to cultivate this technique.

With a slight circulation of the technique, the sapling phantom in his Sea of Consciousness rapidly expanded, transforming into the appearance of the previous True Form Diagram.

Perhaps because Grand Immortal Zhenyuan's inheritance was exceptionally compatible with the Ginseng Fruit Tree, Liu Yuanchen cultivated this technique with remarkable smoothness.

Within the tiny Blessed Land Embryo, a Spirit Qi Wind began to blow.

An immense amount of spirit qi surged madly into Liu Yuanchen's body and gathered in his Sea of Consciousness.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree phantom devoured all the spirit qi, along with the spiritual power Liu Yuanchen had originally possessed.

In little more than ten breaths, pure spiritual power erupted from the Ginseng Fruit Tree phantom.

After switching to the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique, his speed of refining spirit qi increased severalfold.

Following the technique's records, Liu Yuanchen guided his spiritual power through his entire body before finally directing it into the Middle Dantian in his chest.

Humans had three dantians: upper, middle, and lower. The Upper Dantian was the Sea of Consciousness between the brows, where the "spirit" among essence, qi, and spirit gathered.

The Middle Dantian was the Shanzhong acupoint beneath the breastbone, where "qi" gathered.

The Lower Dantian was the Guanyuan acupoint three inches below the navel, where "essence" gathered.

Spiritual power belonged to the category of qi, so it was naturally stored in the Middle Dantian.

As the technique circulated, the Middle Dantian, previously completely empty, rapidly filled with spiritual power.

However, the speed at which the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique absorbed spirit qi exceeded Liu Yuanchen's expectations.

The Immortal Seed produced too much spiritual power for his current cultivation to contain completely.

Releasing it directly would be such a waste.

Liu Yuanchen made up his mind to use this chance to break through to the fifth level of the Qi-Nourishing Realm.

He continuously circulated the technique, guiding spiritual power through his meridians before forcibly squeezing it into the Middle Dantian.

More and more spiritual power poured in, while the spiritual power within the Middle Dantian was compressed without cease.

Liu Yuanchen felt his Middle Dantian faintly swelling, and as time passed, the distending pain grew increasingly intense.

Half a day later, after a sharp stab of pain, the swelling sensation vanished completely.

The excess spiritual power in his meridians instantly flooded into the Middle Dantian.

There was no doubt about it. He had successfully broken through.

The technique created by Grand Immortal Zhenyuan was far superior to the Azure Wood Formula.

He had broken through a minor realm in such a short time, while also converting all the spiritual power he had accumulated before.

Not only that, even his vitality and blood had strengthened somewhat.

After all, before opening the Blessed Land Embryo, absorbing the life force of vegetation had already strengthened his body.

Now that he cultivated a technique so compatible with the Ginseng Fruit Tree, its effect on strengthening his body should naturally be even greater.

Liu Yuanchen stopped circulating the technique. The True Form Diagram in his Sea of Consciousness rapidly shrank and once more became the sapling phantom from before.

Having completed his switch in cultivation techniques, Liu Yuanchen studied the Enlightenment Secret Art for a while.

According to Grand Immortal Zhenyuan, this secret art could enlighten spirit plants.

So-called enlightenment of spirit plants meant granting spirit plants intelligence.

Plants possessed neither intelligence nor souls by nature, and even spirit plants were no exception.

Even certain divine trees that had lived for endless ages remained mere trees, without the slightest trace of intelligence.

However, there would always be exceptions in the world.

By fortunate coincidence, some plants developed a degree of intelligence and even transformed into living beings capable of running, jumping, and cultivating.

Such beings were called Wood Spirits.

Developing intelligence was the first step for plants to give rise to Wood Spirits, and it was also the hardest step.

Once they possessed intelligence, plants giving rise to Wood Spirits became merely a matter of time and resources.

Wood Spirits with intelligence could inherit all of their original body's abilities, and some abilities would even be strengthened.

The greatest advantage of Wood Spirits was their exceptionally long lifespans.

For high-tier spirit plants, living tens of thousands of years was perfectly normal.

Their growth rate was also far faster than that of the original spirit plants.

Even major powers would nurture a Wood Spirit transformed from a high-tier spirit plant as a precious treasure of the sect.

The Enlightenment Secret Art included with the Heaven-Reaching Divine Wood Technique could cause plants to develop intelligence.

The environment within the Blessed Land Embryo was also highly suitable for the growth of spirit plants.

If he casually cultivated several formidable Wood Spirits, he would gain several more fighters—and fighters with nearly limitless lifespans at that.

Whenever action was needed in the future, he could simply send out one or two powerful Wood Spirits to solve the problem, without needing to act personally.

Moreover, spirit plants that had undergone enlightenment would return some benefit to the one who enlightened them as they absorbed spirit qi.

As for how great that feedback would be, it depended on the spirit plant's rank.

Liu Yuanchen understood this well. A divine tree like the Ginseng Fruit Tree Sapling only returned such a small amount of spiritual power.

Ordinary spirit plants would likely provide feedback so insignificant that it was barely worth mentioning.

Unfortunately, the Enlightenment Secret Art could not be used casually.

According to what Grand Immortal Zhenyuan had said during his lecture, enlightening spirit plants consumed the power of divine wood.

Whether that power was merely spiritual energy, life force, or even potential was difficult to say.

The Blessed Land Embryo had only just been opened and was not yet particularly stable.

The Ginseng Fruit Tree was only a sapling. If too much of its life force were consumed and the sapling withered, he would have nowhere to cry.

Besides, Liu Yuanchen did not have any high-tier spirit plants available.

Spirit grain-type plants, for example, did not survive even a year at the first tier, so enlightening them was almost completely worthless.

Charcoalwood lived long, but it had no combat power.

He absolutely dared not attempt to enlighten divine wood like the Ginseng Fruit Tree Sapling.

Setting aside whether it would even work, the consumption would definitely not be small. It might directly send the sapling to its death.

Even if the enlightenment succeeded and the Ginseng Fruit Tree developed its own consciousness, if it refused to obey and occupied the Blessed Land, Liu Yuanchen would have nowhere to cry.

Azure Silk Vine had some value, but unfortunately, it was only a mid-grade first-tier spirit plant with ordinary potential.

Liu Yuanchen felt that he faced no life-or-death danger at the moment. For a long time to come, he would only need to tend to the Blessed Land and Yujin Mountain's Spirit Fields, while practicing the Divine Farmer Art and Alchemy Art.

Even if he awakened spiritual plants now, it would only slightly enhance their abilities.

To cultivate a true Wood Spirit, he would still need to spend an enormous amount of time and resources.

He did not particularly need a Wood Spirit right now. There was simply no need to expend vast resources and risk the Ginseng Fruit Tree Sapling.

He stood and looked around.

The spiritual grain seeds he had planted in the Blessed Land earlier had already sprouted, which greatly surprised Liu Yuanchen.

Engraving the Divine Tree True-Form Diagram, switching cultivation methods, and breaking through had taken less than three days in total.

As an experienced first-rank Spirit Apothecary, he was extremely familiar with the growth cycle of Golden-Thread Rice.

After Golden-Thread Rice was planted, it would take at least five days to sprout, even under the best conditions.

If the soil lacked spiritual energy, the sprouting time could drag on for more than half a month.

Yet the Golden-Thread Rice in the Blessed Land Embryo had sprouted in less than three days, growing about twice as fast as normal.