Spirit Beast Peak.
Gou Fengying's face was livid. His room was a wreck, and even his favorite calligraphy pieces and paintings had been torn apart and thrown onto the floor, with several unusually large shoe prints stamped across them.
Not far away, Xun Bin stood with a handprint on his face, his eyes bloodshot.
"Among the Outer Elders, Yuan Jingtu's cultivation is second only to mine."
Gou Fengying forced down his fury and lowered his voice. "Fortunately, you left no evidence when you tampered with the Ghost-Crying Field this time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have stopped at coming here and making a scene."
"If the Sect Master found out... Hmph, the Azure Cloud Sect doesn't have many good days left. As long as you remain loyal, I won't let you suffer that slap for nothing!"
Xun Bin gritted his teeth. The handprint on his face burned fiercely, and he inwardly cursed Elder Yuan Jingtu of Spirit Plant Peak countless times.
He was only at late Qi Refining, sixth layer, and had been utterly helpless when Yuan Jingtu struck. If Gou Fengying hadn't intervened in time, that slap would have knocked at least half the life out of him.
Even so, his head still swam, and he felt as though his sea of consciousness was on the verge of falling into chaos.
"The angrier Yuan Jingtu gets, the more it proves there's something odd about that brat Lin Mo."
Gou Fengying narrowed his eyes and muttered, "He spent three years on the mountain without making a name for himself, then suddenly began to shine. No matter how you look at it, something about this is strange."
"I've already had someone investigate. Lin Mo comes from Locust Grass Village, just over thirty li away by mountain road. Go there on my behalf and make discreet, thorough inquiries. See whether there's anything unusual."
"Remember, do not lay a hand on Lin Mo's family. If this comes to light, even I won't be able to protect you."
Xun Bin's heart tightened, and the viciousness in his eyes indeed faded considerably.
Secretly harming a sect disciple's relatives over a personal grudge was a grave taboo within the sect. Even inner sect elders didn't dare act so recklessly.
Besides, Gou Fengying still wanted to recruit Lin Mo as his own True Disciple, so he certainly wouldn't allow Xun Bin to run wild.
"As you command, Master."
Xun Bin didn't dare delay. He immediately accepted the order and left, secured a family-visit permit from the Sect Affairs Hall, and quietly headed to Locust Grass Village under the pretense of visiting relatives.
In Locust Grass Village, the villagers worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, just as they always had.
It was noon. The adults had finished their work in the fields and were gradually returning home, while the young children played beneath the Old Locust Tree, their laughter ringing out from time to time.
"You just said this Old Locust Tree was about to wither and die, but suddenly sprouted new buds recently?"
Xun Bin stared at the dozen or so children before him, his brows tightly furrowed. "Are you sure? This Old Locust Tree is older than your grandfathers and has lived for hundreds of years?"
The children scrambled to answer, saying excitedly, "Yes! Our village's Chosen One, Big Brother Lin Mo, used to play here all the time when he was little!"
"That's right! Last time Big Brother Lin came back to the village, I even talked to him! When he comes home to visit next year, I'll pick locust blossoms for him to eat and ask him to take me up the mountain to cultivate too. Hehe!"
Xun Bin pondered for a moment, then looked up at the Old Locust Tree before him and couldn't help letting out a cold snort.
So that was it.
This Old Locust Tree had lived for hundreds of years. Perhaps, like a Mountain Demon, it had developed a measure of spiritual awareness.
Lin Mo had suddenly distinguished himself after returning home to visit his family. It had to be connected to this.
"Lin Mo, oh, Lin Mo. You never dreamed I'd discover the source of your power... You're finished!"
Xun Bin grinned viciously and, before the terrified eyes of the children, delivered a savage kick to the Old Locust Tree.
In an instant, the Old Locust Tree shook violently. Its newly sprouted buds rained down, followed by countless dead branches and rotten leaves, sending the children fleeing in tears and screams.
Having done all this, Xun Bin headed straight back to Spirit Beast Peak to report, a savage grin on his face.
What he didn't know was that, shortly after he left, pale green appeared again where the Old Locust Tree's buds had fallen. Clusters of tiny bud tips could faintly be seen, slowly yet stubbornly pushing their way out.
"The Old Locust Tree?"
At the Elders' Court on Spirit Beast Peak, Gou Fengying watched the animated Xun Bin with a somewhat doubtful gaze.
Plants developing spiritual awareness was hardly rare in the cultivation world, but Gou Fengying wasn't certain whether Lin Mo's skill at growing spirit plants had anything to do with the Old Locust Tree at the village entrance.
Still, Xun Bin had already destroyed the Old Locust Tree's vitality. It was too late to say anything now.
"My original intention was to bring Lin Mo under my command and put his ability to grow spirit plants to use for me."
Gou Fengying narrowed his eyes and slowly shook his head. "You've destroyed the source of his power. He's nothing but a cripple now... Forget it. As long as he doesn't provoke me, I can't be bothered with him anymore."
With that, he waved a hand and turned away, ignoring Xun Bin.
Xun Bin didn't leave immediately. He asked tentatively, "As for the Ghost-Crying Field..."
Without even turning his head, Gou Fengying said flatly, "Yuan Jingtu came here and made a scene. Do you think he'll give you another chance to tamper with it in secret?"
"For the next few months, don't go to Spirit Beast Peak unless you have business there, and don't go to the Black Market either, lest you attract covetous eyes. You may leave."
Xun Bin frowned, but said nothing more. He accepted the order, turned, and left.
Naturally, Lin Mo knew nothing of what had happened there.
At that moment, Lin Mo stood in his own backyard, looking at another freshly ripened crop of spirit plants, his face full of delight.
Another bountiful harvest!
Thanks to plentiful irrigation with spirit spring water, the number of mutated spirit plants had increased noticeably this time.
There were now seven mutated fire spirit fruit plants and nine mutated golden coin grass plants. The spirit wheat had already all mutated into golden-light wheat brimming with spiritual essence.
Although the spirit rice hadn't mutated, it was practically no different from a mutated crop. Not only were its yield and flavor better, it was also quite beneficial for tempering the spiritual energy within his body.
Meanwhile, his Storage Bag held more than twenty mutated spirit fruits, nearly six hundred ordinary spirit fruits, and over ten jin of spirit rice and golden-light wheat!
"This is just the right number of spirit plants to grow from now on."
Looking at the yard before him, Lin Mo's plans for his spirit field grew increasingly clear.
One hundred fire spirit fruit plants, one hundred golden coin grass plants, one hundred spirit rice plants, and one hundred golden-light wheat plants occupied exactly half a mu of spirit field. The spirit spring water needed to irrigate them was also just within what he could afford.
This way, he could harvest six hundred spirit fruits, five jin of spirit rice, and five jin of spirit wheat every two days. Not only would that meet his daily needs, he could also set some aside to trade at the Black Market.
As for the remaining spirit field, once he had enough spirit spring water, he could use it to grow other spirit plants in the future. Life held more and more promise!
"I'm not short on spirit spring water yet. I'll go to the Black Market in a few days..."
Lin Mo thought happily to himself. After finishing another round of harvesting and planting, he prepared to put away the Treasure Gourd and leave the backyard.
Suddenly.
Just as Lin Mo was about to put the Treasure Gourd into his Storage Bag, its mouth abruptly drooped to one side, then began to glow faintly.
From that faint glow, the phantom of the young man formed from ashes slowly emerged!
Before you continue