Chapter 34 (continued)

No one practiced the same Cultivation Method as him, so he couldn't find anyone to refer to.

He tried several times, but to no avail, and had to put it aside for the time being.

Shan Heyuan: "I think it's possible that the 'Spring Transformation Art' has been around for too long, and many annotations have been lost, leaving only the dry moves. It's very difficult to comprehend them on your own."

Shen Duheng nodded understandingly. "I'll keep an eye out for you and see if I can find the original version of 'The Spring Transformation Art,' or even a better version."

Cultivation Method manuals are different from ordinary books. They contain the "mysterious" meaning of the Cultivation Method. Only cultivators who understand the Cultivation Method can turn it into a Cultivation Method and convey that "mysterious" meaning.

This also means that each manual on Cultivation Method is actually quite different; some authors can convey seven or eight parts of the "mysterious" meaning, while others can only convey five or six parts.

Shan Heyuan felt this was quite understandable. When he was on Earth, he read science books. Some books were written very concisely and clearly, and you could understand them at a glance, while others were convoluted and difficult to understand.

Some textbooks, in particular, are truly misleading and harmful to students.

Shan Heyuan: "Let me think about it some more; maybe one day I'll suddenly understand."

Shen Duheng nodded, then suddenly listened intently.

Seeing his expression, Shan Heyuan couldn't help but ask, "What are you listening to?"

Shen Duheng smiled slightly, "An uninvited guest."

Completely bewildered, Shan Heyuan went out to open the door with a mixture of belief and doubt.

As soon as the door opened, the alley was filled with cats and dogs, some standing, some lying down, all looking blissful and peaceful.

Seeing Shan Heyuan peek out, the dog standing closest grinned and stuck out its tongue. "Woof, fellow Daoist, the Spiritual Qi in your yard is so abundant, we'd like to soak up Spiritual Qi."

The other cats and dogs nodded in agreement: "Meow!" "Woof!"

Shan Heyuan: "..."

The Illusionless Tree provides Shan Heyuan with a large amount of Spiritual Power every day.

He wanted to carry a top-tier Spirit Vein with him, which would allow his cultivation speed to increase rapidly. In just a few days, he vaguely touched the threshold of the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

Presumably, given the right opportunity, he will be able to advance to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

That day, the disciples of classes C and D had no classes in the morning, Shan Heyuan didn't need to prepare Spirit Plant for class and simply went to the Sword Reverence Academy's main library.

He read for half the morning, and then borrowed three more books using his teaching assistant's token.

The book was heavy, and he couldn't bear to put it into his storage ring, so he simply held it in his hands.

None of the three books are thick; I should be able to finish reading them in the next few days.

I have a day off the day after tomorrow, so I'll return the book and borrow three new ones when I get back.

Shan Heyuan flew along the flight path to the Planting Institute.

He had just sheathed his flying sword and was about to enter the courtyard when a group of people carrying two stretchers hurried up from behind.

Judging from their attire, they should all be disciples of the Sword Reverence Academy.

Shan Heyuan quickly moved to the side to avoid being bumped into.

The disciple who passed by him hurriedly apologized and carried the person away in a flurry.

Shan Heyuan glanced ahead subconsciously.

Through the gaps in the crowd, a disciple lying on a stretcher had blackened, wrinkled fingers, a dark complexion, a slightly open mouth, and a shrunken philtrum that looked like a dark hole.

Shan Heyuan glanced at the stretcher again, his expression filled with suspicion and uncertainty. He couldn't be sure if the disciple on the stretcher was still alive, and why he was behaving this way.

Especially that hand--

He raised his hand to look at it, imagining it had been soaked in water for a long time, his fingertips wrinkled and swollen, the back of his hand red—that's probably what the disciple on the stretcher looked like.

The crowd headed towards the dean's office and quickly disappeared from Shan Heyuan's sight.

He withdrew his gaze and turned to walk towards the Spirit Plant garden of Classes C and D of the Orchid Character. However, as he turned around, he bumped into Jiang Zhi, the teacher of Class C.

Jiang Zhi was also watching the figure that had just disappeared, his expression quite wistful.

Shan Heyuan grabbed him. "What happened?"

Jiang Zhi glanced around, and seeing no one nearby, lowered his voice and said, "Were you poisoned while you were out?"

Shan Heyuan: "Those two disciples? Why weren't they sent to the clinic?"

Jiang Zhi's voice lowered even further. "Our director is an expert in poisons. When they can't identify a poison, the people at the Healing Institute will come to our director."

Shan Heyuan been at the Sword Reverence Academy for a short time and was unaware of this inside story.

Jiang Zhi: "Stop looking, this poison is probably quite dangerous, let's stay away."

Shan Heyuan: "Then I'll go and tend to the Spirit Plant."

The two parted ways, Shan Heyuan went to the Spirit Plant garden to tend to the Spirit Plant.

His planting skills are indeed quite good. When the Spirit Plant gardens of Classes C and D were first handed over to him, they were a mess, but now they are quite well-organized and no worse than the Spirit Plant gardens of the other classes.

After watering the Spirit Plant with the spiritual liquid using "Spring Breeze Turns to Rain," Shan Heyuan took out a pair of scissors, intending to take advantage of the winter to prune some of the overgrown Spirit Plant.

They need to be pruned properly, removing old branches and overly dense parts, so they can grow better next spring.

Shan Heyuan was always a diligent worker. He hadn't been working for long when a disciple rushed in and stood at the door calling out, "Assistant Instructor Shan, the Dean requests your presence."

Shan Heyuan was startled. "Dean? What is it?"

The disciple said, "You'll understand when you come over."

Shan Heyuan had no choice but to put down the scissors, Shan Heyuan hurriedly followed his disciple to the dean's office.

Before he arrived, he was still wondering what he had done recently that would make the dean look for him. He couldn't figure it out after thinking about it for a long time, and he felt a little unsure.

To my surprise, when I arrived at the dean's office, it was packed with people.

He looked closely and saw that all sixteen teaching assistants from the four sessions of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo and Peach were there, and the teachers were still arriving one after another.

Everyone stood in the room, craning their necks to look ahead, not quite understanding what was happening.

Shan Heyuan looked around and spotted his co-workers, Jiang Zhi and Li Jian, and asked in a low voice, "What happened?"

Jiang Zhi: "It should be related to those two injured disciples."

Li Jian: "They might ask us to grow the antidote; something like that has happened before."

They stood in the corner discussing in hushed tones. After a while, Huai Liu, the director of the Planting Institute, came in with several people.

The buzzing discussion in the dean's office subsided, and everyone turned to look at Huai Liu.

Huai Liu said, "Two disciples from the neighboring Sword Academy were poisoned while exploring the Dead Realm and need Verdant Dwelling Grass to make an antidote. Does anyone know how to grow Verdant Dwelling Grass?"

One stone stirs up a thousand waves.

"Verdant Dwelling Grass? Why would you need Verdant Dwelling Grass?"

"Haven't heard of Verdant Dwelling Grass in years? Did Instructor Liu plant it before?"

"It seems Instructor Liu couldn't grow it. I don't know why, but it always withers and dies just before it matures."

"Where is Verdant Dwelling Grass a specialty? I think it's from Wind Return City?"

"How many years has Wind Return City been 'dead'? How can there still be seeds of Verdant Dwelling Grass?"

Shan Heyuan had never heard of Verdant Dwelling Grass, nor had he heard of Wind Return City.

He stood in the crowd, listening to the hushed, heated discussions, but couldn't get a word in edgewise.

Jiang Zhi and Li Jian, standing to the side, remained silent, seemingly unfamiliar with the Verdant Dwelling Grass.

Among the crowd, the young-looking teachers and teaching assistants seemed to have no recollection of Verdant Dwelling Grass.

Huai Liu stood in front of the crowd and stretched out her hand, making a downward pressing gesture.

The crowd gradually quieted down and listened to him speak.

Huai Liu's gaze swept over everyone, and he said, "It seems that none of you have any Verdant Dwelling Grass left. I have a box of seeds here. Could you please help me plant them and see if they can grow?"

Huai Liu spoke, she took out a jade box engraved with runes from her storage Law Artifact and handed it to the nearest person. "Take three seeds each."

The man opened the jade box, took out three seeds, and then passed the jade box to the next person.

Huai Liu's expression was solemn. "The two disciples who have been poisoned are both chosen ones of heaven. They risked their lives for the sake of our realm. Now their lives hang by a thread, waiting for the Verdant Dwelling Grass to save them. We entrust this to everyone."