Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower

The medicinal garden seemed like a dream, an illusion. Every plant growing there, even ordinary wild grasses, shimmered with crystalline light and possessed traces of spirituality.

It was indeed a wondrous tract of land.

The moment Di Yi stepped into the Hundred Herb Garden, he felt something like a membrane settle over him, as though a tangible field existed within this region, with the power to suppress divine radiance and runes.

"This should be the strange power created by the spilled blood of divine beings and saints." Di Yi paid it no mind. It did not affect him in the slightest.

No dust could cling to him. Even the power radiating from the field, ripples without visible substance, was still classified as dust.

"Rrr?" Unlike Di Yi, the Golden Hou had no such ability. Under the field's influence, it soon became unable to project the power of its runes and divine radiance beyond its body.

This gave it a sense of danger.

Still, it did not retreat. Its fur gleamed, its precious bones shone, and it gradually adapted until its body stabilized.

Suddenly, a purple vine coiled out like a venomous snake along their path, binding the Golden Hou's legs. As it tightened, poisonous thorns emerged, as though it intended to turn the beast into nourishment.

Clearly, this vine had awakened its spirituality and developed considerable intelligence, allowing it to attack intruders on its own.

Perhaps this was not its first time doing so. Perhaps it had even succeeded before. Unfortunately, it had chosen the wrong target this time, and its fate was already sealed.

Sure enough, the Golden Hou gave a forceful yank, uprooting it. Amid the spiritually awakened vine's ghostly wails and wolfish howls, it tore the plant to pieces and extinguished its life.

Then it turned an extremely hostile gaze on an old tree nearby.

"Don't kill me! This has nothing to do with me." Naturally, the plant the Golden Hou had fixed its gaze on was also spiritually awakened. It trembled, its leaves rustling, and spoke in a human voice.

"Roar!" The Golden Hou could not understand the old tree. The purple vine had dared attack it, and this old tree stood right beside the vine. To the Golden Hou, they were definitely in league.

It immediately moved to attack.

But just as it was about to strike, Di Yi held it back.

"You can speak. Have you produced some precious liquid?" Di Yi looked at the old tree, finding it quite novel.

To his eyes, the old tree was just like the purple vine. It had merely awakened its spirituality and developed considerable intelligence, without any trace of cultivation.

Logically, it should not have been able to speak. After all, its level of existence had yet to undergo a transformation.

Yet the old tree could not only speak; its thinking also appeared remarkably clear and coherent.

That was rather unusual.

"I have no precious liquid. I'm only an ordinary parasol tree growing in this divine garden. I was fortunate enough to be touched by pollen from the Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower, which awakened my intelligence." The old tree could not see Di Yi. Believing that the savage creature was speaking to it, it answered honestly.

"The Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower? What is that?" Di Yi had never heard that flower's name before, but if it could awaken intelligence in ordinary plants, it was certainly no simple thing.

Moreover, if even this tree could gain intelligence from its pollen, then most of the plants in the Hundred Herb Garden were probably the same. Its divine value had to be astonishing.

"It's a sacred medicinal plant growing in the divine garden. If you want to find it, I can point you in the right direction." The old tree did its utmost to prove its worth, afraid that the savage creature might smash it apart at the slightest displeasure.

"A sacred medicinal plant? Tell me more." While at the Heaven Mending Pavilion, Di Yi had read accounts of sacred medicinal plants in the Bone Scripture. They were adorned with lavish language and countless words of praise.

"I'm only an ordinary parasol tree enlightened by the Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower. Before that, I was ignorant and knew very little." Rather than answer directly, the old tree carefully made it clear that its knowledge was limited. If it said anything wrong, he must not take his anger out on it.

"Then tell me what you do know," Di Yi asked with great interest.

"That sacred medicinal plant was already in this divine garden before I was born.

"It calls itself the Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower. According to what it told me when it enlightened me, it can enlighten all ignorant, primitive life-forms on the verge of developing intelligence. Beyond that, life-forms in the divine garden capable of cultivation can also use it to comprehend the Great Dao and discover Precious Techniques more easily." "It can enlighten all ignorant, primitive life-forms on the verge of developing intelligence?" At those words, Di Yi looked at the Golden Hou.

He paid no attention to the latter half of the old tree's explanation. What concerned him was the first part.

According to the Divine Vine, the Heaven Mending Pavilion's Sacrificial Spirit, the Golden Hou would have to rely on its own growth to acquire the ability to communicate mentally or speak in a human voice. Outside forces could scarcely intervene.

"Perhaps it's worth a try... Where is it?" Di Yi believed that difficult did not mean utterly impossible.

Since the Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower claimed it could enlighten all ignorant, primitive life-forms on the verge of developing intelligence, enlightening a higher life-form that already possessed intelligence should surely be well within its capabilities.

"In the deepest part of the divine garden, beside the Undying Spring." The old tree pointed out the direction and disclosed everything it knew, warning him that dangers might lurk there.

It dared not conceal anything. If something happened in the deepest part of the divine garden to this savage creature that had shattered the purple vine so effortlessly, and it blamed the tree for failing to explain things clearly, regret would come too late.

As for whether this amounted to repaying the Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower's gift of enlightenment with ingratitude, the tree did not believe it did.

After all, the life-forms enlightened by the Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower shared a special means of communication. Once the savage creature left, the tree could send a warning.

Besides, the Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower was like a fish in water in this divine garden. Countless savage creatures had tried to obtain it, only to be smashed to pieces.

The tree believed this time would naturally be no different.

"The deepest part of the divine garden..." Di Yi nodded, then led the Golden Hou in the direction the old tree had indicated.

The divine garden was vast, overflowing with radiant colors. There were no true spiritual medicines around its outskirts. Most of the vegetation resembled the purple vine the Golden Hou had killed, plants that could merely serve as spiritual medicines.

But as they ventured deeper, the surroundings changed. Genuine spiritual medicines appeared along their route.

A rich fragrance wafted toward them, as though they had entered an ocean steeped in vital essence and spiritual energy, dazzling in its brilliance.

"Strange. Why haven't any of these spiritual medicines awakened their intelligence?" Di Yi looked at a medicinal field where young and old plants grew in successive crops. Quite a few ancient medicinal plants had even rotted into mud, becoming nutrients for those that followed.

He was somewhat surprised. Even an ordinary parasol tree had been enlightened by the Spirit-Connecting Divine Flower, so why had these entire fields of spiritual medicines not received the same treatment?

"Roar!" Unlike Di Yi, the Golden Hou had no such thoughts. With so many spiritual medicines, plant after plant, it would not let them slip away.

Back at the Heaven Mending Pavilion, it had coveted those spiritual medicines, only giving up after Di Yi had taught it a lesson.

But things were different here.

The next moment, it took to its heels and charged into the medicinal field, where the surging spiritual energy was practically becoming an ocean. It greedily inhaled the medicinal fragrance and began eating mouthful after mouthful.

Of course, it did not forget Di Yi. Selecting the most vigorous spiritual medicines, it bounded back and forth between him and the field. Before long, it had piled quite a few beside his feet.

Only the Golden Hou could have done this. Any other creature behaving that way would likely have died without even knowing what killed it.

Within that medicinal field, the field's divine power had abruptly increased more than tenfold. Ordinary experts courting death by gathering spiritual medicines like this would surely have exploded into pieces.

After all, each time the Golden Hou traveled back and forth across the medicinal field, the surrounding space visibly warped, with a terrifying power coursing through it.