Horn Wood

"You're awake. Your surgery went very smoothly. You're a cute girl now-oh, no, a Spirit Root cultivator."

Watching Dezhao bounce around after only a few hours of recovery, Jiang Wangxuan suddenly recalled a stale joke from his previous life with wicked amusement.

Perhaps it was because he had cultivated alone for years and exchanged only a few words with outsiders, yet whenever he returned to Rising Yang Mansion, he matched wits and courage with his supreme Dao wisdom. In truth, his real personality was still quite nasty.

"You two-faced schemer! You need to be thoroughly crushed! Big Fat Fish will never be a slave!"

"So you admit you're Big Fat Fish?"

"Nope, I'm the wise Big Fat Fish!"

Big Fat Fish planted her hands on her hips, looking immensely pleased with herself. Ever since she had begun eating her master's big mooncakes at every meal, Big Fat Fish had evolved once again and begun studying Foundation Establishment Realm opponents-oh, no, Cultivation Methods.

His younger brother's Spirit Root implantation had gone smoothly, but Jiang Wangxuan's main quest of getting home had made no progress. He had been running east and south these past two days, sweeping the eastern area several times with his spiritual sense and Big Fat Fish, but they had found nothing.

The city had already turned the eastern area into a historical attraction. The Yang Clan's dilapidated main residence had even been renovated into a history museum, filled with antiques of some age, but none of them were what Jiang Wangxuan wanted to find.

As for the Great Marsh to the south, a visit showed it to be nothing but swampland, with no trace of the great marsh recorded in the county annals. A few inquiries revealed that the demonic sect from a few hundred years ago had been like a circus.

Taking advantage of the chaos in southern Qinghuan, several cultivators who had learned some witchcraft had founded a sect in the "Great Marsh." In truth, they had been seizing Blood Qi to break through their realms, hoping to make one haul and then run, only to get their boxed lunches from the lords of the Thunder Palace.

Around the southern swampland, however, there was a thriving underground market, with city regulators there collecting taxes.

"Big Fat Fish, is there anywhere worth checking out west of Luzhou?"

"The land west of Luzhou is vast and sparsely populated. There are places to seek immortals and explore ancient sites, but they don't sound very closely related to what we're looking for."

Jiang Wangxuan frowned. There were indeed several widely circulated legends about the west, and he had heard them as a child.

Legend had it that an immortal had once stopped at Jinping Mountain, a hundred li west of Luzhou, to practice the zither. Several months later, having mastered the art, the immortal played so beautifully that dragons and phoenixes were drawn to dance along, and the music lingered for three months without fading. Afterward, the immortal left behind a musical score and drifted away.

As a result, Luzhou's zither trade was booming. However he looked at it, this seemed like local industry marketing.

Jinping Mountain did have another story that circulated locally. Legend said that a cicada on the mountain had absorbed the essence of the sun and moon for several hundred years before finally attaining the Dao and taking human form.

The cicada, moved by having lived alongside the villagers at the foot of Jinping Mountain for hundreds of years, often manifested divine powers to protect them. The villagers therefore went up the mountain and built a temple to receive offerings for the cicada, praying for its protection.

As time went on, various little stories about the Cicada Immortal spread throughout the area.

The legend of the Cicada Immortal was much like other little tales of immortals and gods. Jinping Mountain was also a fairly famous scenic area around Luzhou. Though tourists were not especially numerous, a place with people coming and going was probably not what Jiang Wangxuan was looking for.

There were even more stories like the Cicada Immortal's across the river to the north. He felt he had no leads. Could the dream in which he returned to his hometown have nothing to do with the Luzhou area? That made no sense!

While Jiang Wangxuan's thoughts were wandering beyond the heavens, Jiang Dezhao suddenly spoke from the living room. "Brother, I think I have Law Power."

Father Jiang and Ms. Wang were both taken aback. How could he cultivate Law Power so quickly? Dezhao probably just had not adjusted to his current body yet.

Jiang Wangxuan placed two fingers on the meridian at his younger brother's wrist. A faint but warm current of Spiritual Qi was flowing throughout Dezhao's body. His spiritual sense sank into Dezhao's lower Dantian, where the phantom of an emerald-green spirit wheel stood.

"Horn Wood Law Power?"

Why was it still the Wood Virtue Dao Lineage? Jiang Wangxuan was quite shocked. The Spirit Root itself came from Wood Virtue's eternal preservation attainment, and its "main ingredients" were also refined from Spirit Plants of other Wood Virtue Dao Lineages.

Spirit Roots were inherently of the wood element and would naturally seize Wood Virtue Spiritual Qi from the recipient's body to nourish themselves. Spirit Root cultivators therefore would not cultivate Law Power related to Wood Virtue.

This was also why Wood Virtue cultivators in present-day Qinghuan were rarer than those of the other four virtue lineages. Spirit Root cultivators rarely managed to cultivate the Law Power of the Wood Virtue Dao Lineage, and the Cultivation Methods imparted by Huaqi all belonged to other lineages.

A Wood Virtue expert had once explained it: a physician cannot heal himself.

"Could Dezhao have a natural affinity for the wood element?"

But Big Fat Fish in Rising Yang Mansion asked in puzzlement, "An affinity for the wood element, but no manifested spirit aperture? Then implanting a Spirit Root awakened his constitution? Could the power of his bloodline have been activated? Even with nourishment from Master's Lunar Essence, he shouldn't have formed Horn Wood Law Power, right?"

It was rare for Big Fat Fish to fire off several questions. She had no doubts whatsoever about the True Lord bloodline in her own body.

Jiang Dezhao had not been nervous when his Spirit Root was implanted, but seeing his brother frown, he could not help growing nervous now. Could something have gone wrong with my Spirit Root implantation?

"Brother, did something go wrong?"

Jiang Wangxuan shook his head. "Dezhao, this should count as a good thing. Someone will cover all your cultivation resources from now on."

Dezhao watched his brother pace around the living room for a long while before using their father's phone to make a call.

"Hello, is this Assistant Prefect Tan?"

A surprised voice came from the other end. "Young Master Jiang?"

Assistant Prefect Tan, who had been standing by in his office, immediately rose to his feet. Then he heard the one from Lüyu casually say:

The Spirit Root implantation surgery had gone smoothly, but somehow, his younger brother had cultivated Horn Wood Law Power and had even condensed a spirit wheel.

A blast of ice-cool Spiritual Qi shot straight to Prefectural Judge Lin's forehead. A political achievement has arrived!

Every Spirit Root cultivator who cultivates Wood Virtue Law Power is a rarity! I knew I, Tan, had an affinity with Luzhou.

As soon as I arrived in the new Luzhou, a person with a spirit aperture between his brows appeared. This year, a new student from Lüyu enrolled, and now a Wood Virtue Spirit Root cultivator has popped up.

What a coincidence-all three of them are named Jiang!

Judging by the time, the Jiang Household's eldest son must have called him as soon as he discovered the situation, rather than calling the Everlasting Protection Life Insurance group's Luyu Port branch directly. Otherwise, the person in charge of Everlasting Protection in Wancheng would have called him personally.

What did this mean? It meant a political achievement. Only if Assistant Prefect Tan reported it himself would the credit go to him.

Nothing more needed to be said. Assistant Prefect Tan felt he was already a pureblood member of the Jiang Household. Loyalty!

About two hours later, Luzhou's three top officials had gathered downstairs at the Jiang Household's building. Military Commissioner Wang had only been transferred there recently and was personally in charge of security for the Jiang Household's residential complex.

The complex had once had a name, but now everyone called it the Jiang Household's residential complex. Its residents had long since been replaced, and every apartment had sold for a sky-high Luzhou price.

The three officials all remained downstairs without going up, waiting for someone from Wancheng to take over. After a while, several groups came swooshing across the Luzhou skyline, heading straight for Yantai District.

As luck would have it, Ma Zhuren of the Hengbao Group had just left Luyu Port to inspect the surrounding branch stations when he received an urgent report from a subordinate: a Wood Virtue Spirit Root cultivator had appeared in Luzhou.

This was a rarity indeed. Ma Zhuren had naturally heard of Wood Virtue Spirit Root cultivators. Every one recorded in the archives was peculiar: some could not even condense a spirit wheel in their middle Dantian, while others seemed to have activated a cheat, completing Embryonic Breathing in a few years only to find themselves unable to refine Qi no matter what.

Naturally, there were also geniuses of exceptional talent who broke through realms as easily as drinking water, cultivating no slower than extra-large spirit aperture cultivators. There were other bizarre cases too, but not one of them was universally applicable.

What was certain, however, was that every Wood Virtue Spirit Root cultivator meant heaps of research funding. Even padding out accounts of their cultivation through the stages of Embryonic Breathing would let one publish papers until one's hands went limp.

Director Ma flew straight from downtown Wancheng to Luzhou, pushing his Foundation Establishment Realm flight speed to the limit. Fines drifted into his communications device like snowflakes.

He could not worry about all that now. Ma Zhuren was too eager to advance. If he secured this Wood Virtue Spirit Root cultivator, he was bound to rise a step in a couple of years.

Director Ma flew over his destination, braked out of a dive, and went straight past Luzhou's three top officials at the entrance. He thundered up the stairs, the sweat pouring down the face of this dignified Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. Luzhou really was a little far.

He had just knocked on the Jiang Household's door and had not even had time for a greeting when he saw a Clear Water cultivator at the Late Qi Refining Stage sitting in the living room, outrageously young.

Damn it, who got here before me?

Then he took another look and realized something was off. The cultivator wore a Cavern Spring Talismanic Words Bracelet on his wrist. Was he from Lüyu?

No, he should be from Yuanhuai Heaven. Although the bracelet was only a Foundation Establishment Realm Law Artifact,

it was an ancient Law Artifact that had existed for at least several hundred years. Items of this low grade with such a long history were generally found only in Xuantian.

Director Ma pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his face. "I am Ma Chongyun, director of the purchasing department at the Hengbao Group's Lüyu headquarters. Might I ask if this is the Jiang residence?"

Ms. Wang, who had opened the door, was taken aback. The Hengbao Group's Lüyu headquarters certainly sounded impressive, but Director Ma looked rather too bedraggled.

Jiang Wangxuan had naturally heard the sonic boom over Luzhou just now. One look at Director Ma told him the man had flown here, unafraid that the Great Qian Head Bank would fine him into bankruptcy. It seemed Wood Virtue Spirit Root cultivators were very rare indeed.

"Mom, let Director Ma in quickly. Little brother, go on, hurry and pour Director Ma some tea."

Father Jiang hurriedly welcomed Director Ma inside. Director Ma seized his hand. "Sir Jiang, your family truly has quite an affinity with immortals. Having such a young Qi Refining cultivator in your home makes me terribly envious!"

Jiang Dezhao thoughtfully brewed the tea leaves his father had hidden away and served them to Director Ma, who had come from afar. Ma Chongyun casually touched the young man's palm, and sure enough, a faint current of Horn Wood Law Power was circulating throughout his body.

"Good, good!" Director Ma let go in less than two breaths, took the tea Jiang Dezhao had brewed, and drank a satisfied sip. Mm, not bad-it was spirit tea.

Setting down the teacup, he finally addressed the Jiang Household's true decision-maker. "Dao Brother, did you come down from Lüyu?"

The Late Qi Refining Stage cultivator looked to be only around twenty; addressing him as Dao Brother was only proper.