Pest infestation

Everbright Mountain, the Medicine Garden.

Zhang Gaoxia had been troubled lately, for Longbright's spirit herbs had contracted an unknown pest disease.

The Brightlight Flowers drooped low, somewhat wilted, while the Pure-Origin Peonies lay against the soil, unable to stand upright.

At first, she thought something was wrong with the soil or water. But on closer inspection, she saw tiny, densely packed specks like black sand flowing through the leaf veins, all but sucking the spirit herbs dry.

Her master, Wen Si'an, had already invited the sect leader over, but they still had no good solution. She had searched the sect's texts on Spirit Planting, yet found little and still could not identify this strange disease.

Watching the spirit herbs wither toward death one after another, she spent all day beside the fields, constantly summoning rain. Whenever her magical power ran dry, outer disciples took over, in the hope of buying a little more time.

Xu Xuan was also startled when he arrived at Longbright. Almost none of the spirit herbs in the fields had escaped the infestation. Wen Si'an called him over, and together they tried several of the sect's spirit-nurturing spells, all to no avail.

His first reaction was to send Xiao Wen to inspect the Earthflame Noon-Origin Tree. Fortunately, flowing flames covered the tree, and only one branch had developed black spots. It was not seriously affected.

"I'm afraid our only option now is to seek help from Rejuvenation Mountain."

If anyone asked which sect in Green Peaks understood Spirit Planting, that would be the answer. Xu Xuan dared not delay. A thundercloud rose beneath him, and he headed straight for Rejuvenation Mountain.

Rejuvenation Mountain was low and lush with greenery, but even this sect was in some disarray.

Xu Xuan stopped outside the formation and announced his name. An old man in a jade-green robe came out from the mountain gate to receive him. He was Shi Mingsong, the lord of Rejuvenation Mountain.

"So it's Abbot Xu. Please come inside, and we can talk." The old man seemed to have expected his visitor and showed no surprise.

Xu Xuan followed him inside, only to find Rejuvenation Mountain's disciples busy in spirit fields all across the mountainside. Most of their spirit herbs had contracted the same strange disease.

"I imagine you've come because of this infestation, Abbey Master. Apart from our sect, your abbey grows the most spirit herbs in Green Peaks."

Shi Mingsong had white hair and a youthful face, with the bearing of an immortal. His cultivation had already reached the seventh level of Qi Refining. In terms of seniority, he was likely a generation above Wen Fufeng, belonging to the same generation as Chen Weiyuan.

"Senior, these things resemble insects, yet aren't quite insects. They grow among the leaf veins, and if you disturb them with magical power, they burrow deeper. How can they be treated?"

Xu Xuan spoke plainly. His heart burned with urgency, and he wanted only to learn the remedy as quickly as possible.

Shi Mingsong sighed and said:

"This is difficult in one sense, but simple in another. Even if you hadn't come, Abbot Xu, I would have gone looking for you."

His words were shrouded in clouds and mist, leaving Xu Xuan unable to make heads or tails of them.

"Please follow me, Abbey Master."

Shi Mingsong led Xu Xuan to a central area and opened its restrictions, revealing a stalk of spirit bamboo. Its stem resembled white jade, its leaves glazed glass. This was Rejuvenation Mountain's spirit root, the jade beauty bamboo.

Although this spirit plant was far inferior to the Earthflame Noon-Origin Tree, Rejuvenation Mountain's meticulous care had actually coaxed it into producing a slightly smaller new stalk beside it. There were faint signs that another would emerge.

But drifting black spots also marked this spirit plant, and the jade bamboo showed signs of withering.

"Ordinary pests don't burrow straight into the leaf veins and root system like this. These things are exceedingly tiny and seem to possess awareness. They actively evade people while eating away at the spirit herbs bit by bit."

"When we encountered this sort of thing before, we used the [Lesser Gengjin Formation]. Disciples at the Qi Refining stage guided metal energy into the leaf veins with their spiritual sense to eliminate the pests."

Shi Mingsong explained everything in detail, then sent a disciple at the First Layer of Qi Refining to Great Scarlet with a Formation Disk to teach them the pest-removal method. Xu Xuan gave the disciple a token of identification. Watching the disciple depart using Wind-Riding, he felt a little reassured.

Shi Mingsong, however, had another matter with which he needed Xu Xuan's help: the jade beauty bamboo.

This spirit root was extremely delicate, and its profound spiritual potency obstructed probes with spiritual sense. Shi Mingsong had tried using metal energy to eliminate the infestation, but his control had faltered, injuring the bamboo's roots instead.

"Now I must ask you to use Sword Qi, Abbot Xu. Send a single wisp inside and eliminate the pests one by one, as though picking out soldiers on a battlefield."

"Sword Qi can transform, becoming as broad as a great river or as minute as dust. Chongyangzi once came here to help me rid this spirit bamboo of pests. I'm sorry to trouble you with it now, Abbot Xu."

Shi Mingsong looked sincere as he continued:

"If you succeed, I'll send several disciples to your sect to help cultivate your spirit herbs. Please lend us your aid, Abbey Master."

Tempted by the offer, Xu Xuan said only that he would try first. He immediately summoned [Cinnabar Thunder], separated out a wisp of Sword Qi, and guided it with his mind into the spirit bamboo through its roots.

The leaf veins were narrow. Concentrating fully, Xu Xuan saw black spots clinging to the inner walls of the bamboo, writhing incessantly. He slashed at them with Sword Qi and found them hollow within, without form or substance. At each one's core was something like an eight-pointed black crystal. Once crushed by Sword Qi, it dissolved into black vapor and vanished.

The process was like embroidery. Xu Xuan carefully guided the Sword Qi to cut away the black spots, while restraining its power for fear of harming the spirit bamboo.

As the black spots dwindled, the spirit bamboo gradually regained its vitality. But then the remaining spots began to change.

An eerie chill arose. Numerous black spots gathered together, bloody light flickering among them, and formed a flower, vivid red and ghastly as blood. The moment it appeared, Xu Xuan felt his spiritual sense grow sluggish, and his Sword Qi froze. He tried to withdraw his mind, but could not move. He could not even speak a word or communicate with a glance.

The flower floated straight out of the spirit bamboo, following the Sword Qi and Xu Xuan's mental connection, inching upstream as though it had no physical form.

Beside him, Shi Mingsong detected nothing unusual. Seeing only that the spirit bamboo was improving steadily, he marveled at Xu Xuan's prowess in the sword Dao.

The blood-red flower gradually approached the Bright Hall in Xu Xuan's forehead, seeking to enter his consciousness sea. But above his consciousness sea, the Ancient Seal Transformation manifested: Sword Qi formed clouds, and a Dark Flood Dragon roared in fury. Unable to enter, the thing drifted downward instead, falling straight into Xu Xuan's qi sea. It rooted itself in that small patch of thunder marsh and slowly began drawing in lightning plasma.

Only then did Xu Xuan regain his senses. Boundless terror surged through his heart, but he could only force himself to remain composed. Beside him, Shi Mingsong saw that the jade beauty bamboo had recovered and thanked him repeatedly, asking him to stay and celebrate.

Xu Xuan dared not linger now. Saying he was worried about the situation back at his sect, he took his leave. Shi Mingsong thanked him and promised to send Spirit Planting cultivators over within the next few days.

What exactly is this flower?

Xu Xuan had wanted to ask Shi Mingsong, but recalling the unusual phenomenon in his consciousness sea, he dared only ask about the origins of the black spots. He did not dare mention the red flower, lest anything abnormal be discovered. Shi Mingsong, however, had no idea where the spots had come from either.

Hurrying toward Green Luo, he sensed nothing unusual in his qi sea apart from the additional flower. After absorbing some spiritual energy, it dimmed its radiance and became completely still.

By the time he reached Green Luo, the disciple sent by Rejuvenation Mountain had already cleared away most of Longbright's infestation. Wen Si'an and the others who had reached Qi Refining were helping operate the Formation Disk. Longbright's spirit fields were not large, so the work would not take long.

Xu Xuan first concealed himself, intending to remove the black spots on the Earthflame Noon-Origin Tree with Sword Qi. But the moment he made contact, the red flower in his qi sea swayed slightly, and the black spots dispersed on their own.

Returning to Azure Sky Peak, he issued orders that no one was to disturb him for the time being. Then he searched the sect's records to find out what this thing was.

While he was leafing through the sect's texts, the sky suddenly changed. The sunlight dimmed, feeble as a dying man, and bright stars appeared all around. In broad daylight, the stars shone.

The red flower inside him grew ever more vivid, as though blood were about to drip from it.

(End of chapter)