Chapter 14 (Continued)

The two followed the path and soon reached a valley filled with Spirit Plants.

Terraced fields stretched from the foot of the mountain to halfway up its slopes, each plot planted with spirit herbs.

Though there were many spirit herbs here, they weren't crowded together. It was clear that whoever grew them took great care of them.

Shan Heyuan swept his gaze over them and recognized eighty percent.

Yet he had actually grown fewer than twenty percent of them himself.

This was going to be tricky.

If he botched the treatment of the spirit herbs, he couldn't afford to compensate their owner.

Shan Heyuan was staring at a Heavenly Feather Grass ahead and to his left, worth more than two hundred thousand spirit pearls, when voices suddenly came from up ahead.

The voices drew closer and clearer. "...There's no other way for now. Let's try this medicinal liquid first."

Shan Heyuan and Jiu Mingyue both looked toward the voices.

A youth in a green robe and an old Daoist with a sparse topknot emerged from behind the Spirit Plants.

The two apparently hadn't expected anyone else to come to the Spirit Plant fields at this hour. Both looked surprised when they saw Shan Heyuan and Jiu Mingyue.

The youth looked at Jiu Mingyue. "Senior brother, what brings you here? And who is this?"

Jiu Mingyue said, "I brought a new Spirit Plant cultivator over to take a look."

The old Daoist looked at Shan Heyuan with interest. "This young friend, I presume? Where are you from?"

Everyone's gaze fell on Shan Heyuan.

Shan Heyuan could feel that everyone present had a higher cultivation level than his, especially the old Daoist, who was probably at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage and exerted a heavy pressure on him.

With such a great difference in their cultivation levels, it wasn't rude for the man to question him like an elder.

Shan Heyuan cupped his hands. "Senior, I'm from Jingzhishan Town."

The old Daoist said, "Jingzhishan Town? I haven't seen you before, have I?"

The youth added from the side, "Senior Wen Chengyi is a third-grade cultivator of plants, and he's from Jingzhishan Town too."

Shan Heyuan hurriedly said, "Senior Wen, I only started cultivating recently."

Wen Chengyi chuckled. "The younger generation is formidable indeed."

Jiu Mingyue asked, "Senior Wen, did you figure out the problem today?"

Wen Chengyi shook his head. "I still think it would be best to pull out this batch of sick spirit herbs as soon as possible, so they don't infect the others."

The youth's clear voice rang out. "That may be true, but there are so many rare spirit herbs among them. It would be such a waste to pull them all out. Besides, Master isn't here, so we don't dare make the decision ourselves."

Wen Chengyi said, "You still haven't gotten in touch with your master?"

The youth said, "No. The communication talismans we sent vanished like mud into the sea. Master might be somewhere that blocks communication."

Wen Chengyi said, "Then what did your sect leader say?"

The youth said, "The sect leader said this is Master's private Spirit Plant garden, so he can't very well make the decision either. He told us to see whether the cultivators of plants had any good solutions."

Wen Chengyi shook his head and said no more.

Shan Heyuan listened from the side. Seeing that Jiu Mingyue had no intention of stopping them, he knew that part of the conversation was meant for him, to help him understand what had happened.

After asking his questions, Jiu Mingyue turned to Shan Heyuan. "Fellow Daoist Shan, shall I take you to have a look?"

Shan Heyuan said, "Sorry for the trouble."

Jiu Mingyue said, "We're the ones troubling you."

Jiu Mingyue led Shan Heyuan along the raised path between the fields.

Wen Chengyi and the youth followed behind them.

As he walked among the Spirit Plants, Shan Heyuan carefully observed their condition.

The Spirit Plants around them were growing well. Their leaves were thick, their stalks stood straight, and they were a vibrant green, giving off rich Spiritual Qi. One look was enough to tell they had been well tended.

These Spirit Plants certainly weren't the ones with a problem. It had to be others.

They walked a little farther, and Shan Heyuan suddenly felt the view ahead brighten.

Amid the continuous fields of Spirit Plants, six or seven adjoining plots were sparsely filled. Most of the leaves had fallen, leaving them unable to block the sun and wind.

When Shan Heyuan saw those spirit fields, he instinctively glanced at the top of Wen Chengyi's head.

The bald spirit fields were just like Wen Chengyi's bald head: both were too conspicuous to ignore.

Wen Chengyi noticed Shan Heyuan's gaze on the top of his head. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Can you tell what's wrong, young friend?"

Shan Heyuan shook his head and withdrew his gaze. "Let me take a look."

Shan Heyuan walked toward the bald spirit fields. Just as he was about to step inside, he noticed tiny silver runes flickering along their edges.

He lowered his head for a closer look.

Jiu Mingyue said, "Senior Wen and the others said the Spirit Plants in these fields were sick and might infect the plants in the other spirit fields, so we used a defensive array to isolate them."

Shan Heyuan asked, "Does that work?"

Jiu Mingyue's gaze flickered. "It can slow the spread of the infection."

Shan Heyuan nodded in understanding. So it wasn't much use. No wonder Wen Chengyi had suggested pulling out the sick Spirit Plants as soon as possible.

The defensive array did humans no harm.

Shan Heyuan entered the spirit field without trouble.

Once he got close enough for a careful look, he realized the situation was more serious than he had imagined.

Not only had these sick Spirit Plants lost their leaves on a massive scale, but the leaves still on their branches were badly mottled, as though someone had painted yellow pigment onto the green. The leaves were a patchwork of yellow and green, looking ready to fall at any moment.

He reached out and gently pinched a leaf. He could clearly feel that it was much thinner than the leaves of ordinary Spirit Plants, as if all the flesh had been used up, leaving only the thin skin and veins.

The leaves were also uneven and covered in bumps, nothing like their normal state.

The cultivation profession in the cultivation world was well developed, and much research had been done into plant diseases.

Mottled, uneven leaves on Spirit Plants were typical symptoms of an infection, and it was extremely difficult to treat.

Sick Spirit Plants were even more troublesome than sick humans. At present, there were only a handful of Spirit Plant diseases that could be cured in the cultivation world.

Shan Heyuan walked around the spirit field and confirmed that these Spirit Plants weren't suffering from any of the common diseases.

It would probably be difficult to find an answer in books.

He looked at the soil beneath the Spirit Plants.

There were not only fallen leaves on the soil, but also branches that someone had pruned.

Perhaps a previous cultivator had tried to cut off the diseased branches to ease the burden on the Spirit Plants.

Shan Heyuan bent down, picked up several branches, and examined their cross sections one by one.

The cross sections were utterly unremarkable, with no mold spots or signs of rot. Finding a solution to the problem through these branches was simply impossible.

That made sense. If it were so easy to solve, Jiu Mingyue wouldn't have sought him out.

The three people behind him watched his every move closely.

For a novice cultivator of plants, Shan Heyuan had made no mistakes in his inspection.

Wen Chengyi nodded inwardly and asked, "Young Friend Shan, have you found the cause?"

Shan Heyuan shook his head. "I can't tell what disease these Spirit Plants have at all. The only thing I can be sure of is that they were infected by an external disease; it didn't develop on its own."

Wen Chengyi nodded. "That's what I thought as well. In your opinion, what measures should we take?"

Shan Heyuan asked in turn, "Senior Wen, you've already applied medicine to these Spirit Plants, haven't you? Did it help?"

Wen Chengyi said, "I used Spirit-Melting Pill Liquid and Impurity-Cleansing Pill Liquid on them. Other fellow cultivators of plants also used Fragrance-Welcoming Pill Liquid, but none of them helped much."

Shan Heyuan wasn't surprised to hear that. Spirit Plant diseases were difficult to treat in the first place, and these medicinal liquids were all fairly common. It was perfectly normal for them not to suit the illness.

Shan Heyuan said to Jiu Mingyue, "Medicinal liquids applied externally can't make them better. I'd like to see if I can tackle the problem from within."

Jiu Mingyue extended a hand in invitation. "At this point, we're treating a dead horse as if it were alive. Whatever you have in mind, Fellow Daoist Shan, please go ahead."

After obtaining his consent, Shan Heyuan took a deep breath, stood before the nearest Giant Whale Branch, and used Gentle Breeze on it.

Of all the Spirit Plants in this spirit field, Giant Whale Branches were the cheapest. One at the Foundation Establishment Early Stage grade cost about a hundred thousand spirit pearls.