Chapter 28

Shan Heyuan looked toward their destination, glad he had asked for leave from the Supreme Harmony Sect in advance. As things stood, he certainly wouldn't make it back in time for the next scheduled tending of the Spirit Plants.

When they arrived, the two found the spirit spring without much difficulty.

It wasn't that Spiritual Power was spilling out of the spring or anything like that. Rather, a gigantic Demon Beast bull was guarding it.

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng concealed themselves in the sky and looked down.

The gigantic demon bull looked as though its entire body had been cast from iron. Its two enormous horns curved outward, their tips polished snow-white. One look brought to mind what would happen if they pierced someone: probably not even a trace of blood would cling to them.

Shan Heyuan knew the demon bull was no pushover because there was a pile of ghastly white bones downwind of the spirit spring.

Judging by the marks on the bones, they had likely been gored to death by the demon bull.

The teeth marks on the bones showed that the demon bull was no herbivore.

The spirit spring water really isn't easy to get, Shan Heyuan thought silently. Fortunately, Shen Duheng had negotiated the price. If they had accepted Wen Chengyi's original offer, they would definitely have taken a loss on this trip.

The two stood on the sword and watched.

The demon bull lay beside the spirit spring, its tail swishing contentedly from side to side. Every so often, it turned its head to take a drink of spring water, then snorted out a blast of scorching breath.

It made no attempt to conceal itself.

In this land, a demon bull at Core Formation truly had no need to hide.

Shan Heyuan's expression grew grave as he mouthed, "Are we really going to fight it like this? Its hide is so thick, I'm afraid it'll be hard to beat."

The demon bull had clearly polished its hide. Some patches had been rubbed bald, and its whole hide gleamed black.

Even though Shan Heyuan wasn't skilled in combat, he knew a hide like that would be hard to pierce.

Shen Duheng retreated with Shan Heyuan and said softly, "I'll get you settled somewhere first."

A moment later, they came to a stop atop a nearby mountain.

Demon Beasts rarely ventured here, and it was easy to defend and hard to attack, making it a good temporary refuge.

Shan Heyuan pulled defensive talismans from his storage ring and slapped them onto himself. Then he took out concealment talismans and, using the method Zhong Shuran had taught him, set up a small concealment array beneath his feet.

Shen Duheng stood guard beside him, holding his sword, intending to leave once Shan Heyuan was ready.

As Shan Heyuan rummaged through his things, he glanced at Shen Duheng's spirit sword and paused.

Shen Duheng's spirit sword was an ordinary one bought from the Hidden Spirits General Store. It looked utterly unremarkable, and it was just as unremarkable in truth, lending him none of a sword cultivator's imposing air.

Shan Heyuan suddenly worried whether such an ordinary spirit sword could pierce the demon bull's defenses.

Even if it could, it would surely be difficult.

Seeing him slow down, Shen Duheng asked, "What is it?"

Shan Heyuan lowered his hands. "Today's fight is bound to be a tough one, isn't it?"

Shen Duheng said, "Every fight a sword cultivator faces is a tough one."

Shan Heyuan said, "You haven't refined your lifebound spirit sword. That'll put you at a disadvantage."

Shen Duheng could tell there was more behind his words. "Do you have another idea?"

Shan Heyuan sniffed and gazed up at the bright, clear sky. "There's bound to be heavy fog tomorrow," he murmured.

As a grower, reading the weather was a basic skill. With this humidity and temperature, fog was certain to roll in tomorrow.

Shan Heyuan said, "I have Drunken Ox Grass seeds in my storage ring. Maybe we could try getting it drunk first. That way, we wouldn't have to fight so hard."

Shen Duheng said, "If I remember correctly, Drunken Ox Grass seeds are only Qi Refining grade?"

Shan Heyuan gave a conservative estimate. "I might be able to spur it to Qi Refining Great Perfection. We're not in such a hurry that it has to be done today. Shall we give it a try?"

Shen Duheng thought for a moment. "All right. I'll stand guard for you."

Chapter 28

Spurring Spirit Plants to grow was a basic skill for a grower.

After settling down on the mountaintop, Shan Heyuan took out the Drunken Ox Grass seeds, along with the materials for preparing spirit liquid and some Qi Refining-grade spirit spring water, and began mixing the liquid.

After preparing it so many times, he knew the process inside out. He could practically have done it with his eyes closed.

Even though conditions on the mountaintop were less than ideal, he quickly and skillfully mixed a large bucket of spirit liquid.

Next came spurring the Drunken Ox Grass seeds to grow.

Drunken Ox Grass was a common spirit herb.

Jingzhishan Town was not a particularly developed town. Even now, cultivators still farmed in the villages outside it, and Drunken Ox Grass was a herb those farming cultivators often used to feed their cattle.

According to the books, after cattle ate the spirit herb, they would become drunk, relax completely, and fall into a deep sleep. When they woke again, they would be back in peak condition.

Shan Heyuan had bought Drunken Ox Grass seeds because they contained a good amount of Spiritual Power. He had planned to grow a batch in the terraced fields on the mountain to use as base material for the Spirit-Imbuing Heap-Burning Method. He hadn't expected to put them to use now.

The Drunken Ox Grass seeds looked somewhat like millet, each one tiny and pointed at both ends.

Shan Heyuan took a handful, soaked them briefly in the spirit liquid, then took them out and spurred them to grow with Spiritual Power.

As a low-grade spirit herb, the Drunken Ox Grass put out tender shoots almost the instant it came into contact with Spiritual Power, quickly sending up stems and leaves.

Its stems were pale yellow at first, then quickly turned green as they lengthened and the leaves unfurled.

In the blink of an eye, a great tangle of Drunken Ox Grass had grown over the ground around Shan Heyuan, forming a carpet directly beneath his feet.

Generally speaking, once a spurred spirit herb had grown enough stems and leaves, there was no need to continue. Any further growth would only waste Spiritual Power.

Seeing that the Drunken Ox Grass had grown, Shan Heyuan intended to stop.

But the spirit liquid had worked a little better than he expected, and the growth process had gone unusually smoothly. Even after he withdrew his Spiritual Power, the Drunken Ox Grass continued growing for a while, stopping only when it had produced small, pale purple flowers.

Shan Heyuan stared at the pale purple flowers, his hand pausing.

Shen Duheng noticed. "What is it?"

Shan Heyuan turned to look at him. "I have an idea—what do you think about me trying to cultivate Foundation Establishment-grade Drunken Ox Grass?"

The Drunken Ox Grass seeds he had brought were only Qi Refining grade. If he grew a large quantity and concentrated it into spirit liquid, it would certainly work on the demon bull.

As for just how well it would work, that would depend on the circumstances when the time came.

If he could cultivate Foundation Establishment-grade Drunken Ox Grass, their chances of winning would be much greater.

But cultivating a higher-grade spirit herb was probably not something that could be accomplished overnight.

Shen Duheng was in tune with him and knew what he was thinking from a glance at his expression. "If you want to cultivate it, go ahead. At worst, we'll stay here a few more days."

With his support, Shan Heyuan felt relieved. "Then I'll give it a try? If it hasn't worked after a couple of days, we'll go back to the original plan and use concentrated Drunken Ox Grass spirit liquid to deal with that demon bull."

Shen Duheng said, "Go ahead. There's no rush."

They had brought plenty of supplies on this trip, and Shen Duheng was a Core Formation Cultivator. Staying here for eight or ten years wouldn't be a problem.

The two put up a simple shelter where they were, and Shan Heyuan immediately set about cultivating a new batch of Drunken Ox Grass.

For a grower, there were actually many ways to cultivate higher-grade Spirit Plants.

The more abundant the resources at hand, the more methods there were.

Shan Heyuan's cultivation wasn't especially high, and he didn't have many supplies. To cultivate Foundation Establishment-grade Drunken Ox Grass, he could only grow it crop after crop.

He continued spurring the flowering Drunken Ox Grass to grow, pollinated it by hand, and had it produce seeds.

Then he selected seeds from plants with relatively abundant Spiritual Qi and planted them again.

The newly formed seeds had a coating on the outside and looked tender and plump.

Under normal procedure, he should have dried the seeds in the sun, waited for their dormant period to pass, and then selected the best ones to plant.

There was no time for that now, so he directly used Spiritual Power to force the seeds to take root and sprout.

He planted them like this, over and over again.

Shen Duheng stood guard over him most of the time. Occasionally, he went out to gather relatively high-grade spirit herbs for Shan Heyuan to place in his Dantian for cultivation.

More than ten days passed in a flash.

During that time, he sent Jiu Mingyue a communication talisman, asking him to arrange for another grower to manage the Spirit Plant garden on Thousand Cries Peak and his master's private garden.