Chapter 39

Shen Duheng: "The dining table in the living room is dusty; you probably haven't sat on it for a few days."

Shan Heyuan waved his hand. "That's because I've been quite busy lately, taking Grain Avoidance Pill every day and haven't been eating much."

Shen Duheng: "No wonder you've lost weight, what have you been busy with?"

Shan Heyuan never hid anything from Shen Duheng, and told him about the moss on the spot.

Shan Heyuan: "I've tried it before, and it seemed to work quite well using moss instead of spiritual soil. I didn't expect it to be like that when I put it in my Dantian."

What do you mean by that?

"Although moss can store a lot of water and nutrients, it is a complete plant. Once it is sent into the Dantian, the Illusionless Tree can't do anything about it. Even if it takes root in the tree, it can't absorb the water and nutrients from the moss."

"That's a bit tricky."

"Yes, Jiang Zhi said it might be because the moss is too natural and hasn't been refined. I guess that's true too. As Spirit Plant, the Illusionless Tree doesn't have a very clear consciousness, nor does it have the means to steal nutrients from another Spirit Plant."

"He suggested you refine it?"

"Pretty much, but I don't know how to refine Spirit Plant and maintain their vitality. I even went to consult Senior Tong Liangji today, and he said that we can use planting to change them, since planting is essentially a refining process. But I haven't figured out how to use planting to achieve the refining method yet."

If the moss could be refined into a Law Treasure, allowing it to be artificially controlled to provide nutrients and water to the Illusionless Tree, then the problem of planting it in the Dantian would be temporarily solved.

Shan Heyuan is now focused entirely on this problem, and not just on the Illusionless Tree.

If we can overcome this problem, even if this Illusionless Tree withers, there will still be another Illusionless Tree. As long as we can plant Spirit Plant in our Dantian, we will never lack Spirit Plant in the future.

He's only at the Foundation Establishment stage now; there's still the Core Formation, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation to come... The path of cultivation is long, and now that he's finally found a direction, he naturally needs to think of more ways to achieve it.

After finishing, Shen Duheng wore a thoughtful expression.

Shan Heyuan was very familiar with his micro-expressions, and could tell from his expression that he had something on his mind, so he immediately urged, "Brother Shen, just say what you want to say."

Shen Duheng: "I remember you haven't mastered 'Return a Plum for a Peach' yet?"

Mentioning this, Shan Heyuan became dejected. "I've been stuck on this for a long time. I've consulted many planters, but no one has a solution. I still have no clue."

Shen Duheng: "You told me before that 'Return a Plum for a Peach' requires controlling the meridians of the Spirit Plant, causing it to resonate with you, forming a 'array'?"

These were Shan Heyuan's exact words, and he nodded.

Shen Duheng: "If you put moss into your Dantian, you need to control it to make it a suitable planting substrate, so that it can release moisture and nutrients for the Illusionless Tree to absorb?"

Shan Heyuan thought for a moment, "Pretty much. But even if I circulate my inner energy, I can't control the Spirit Plant in my Dantian. For example, I can't use the Gentle Breeze on the Illusionless Tree."

Shen Duheng: "The Gentle Breeze requires you to infuse your Spiritual Power into the Spirit Plant. After the Spirit Plant is placed in your Dantian, it's normal that you can't mobilize the Spiritual Power in your Dantian to do this. 'Return a Plum for a Peach' is not necessarily the case. It doesn't require your control; it only requires you to form a resonance, which might make it easier."

Shan Heyuan hadn't expected the topic to turn to cultivation Cultivation Method again, and couldn't help but sigh.

The Spring Transformation Art Technique is extremely difficult to cultivate; otherwise, he wouldn't have been stuck on it for so long.

He's actually a bit capricious, and after failing to make a breakthrough recently, he was already thinking about giving up.

Now that he's a teaching assistant at the Sword Reverence Academy, aside from anything else, there are plenty of Cultivation Method in the two large libraries, and he can look at many of them. It wouldn't be difficult for him to change Cultivation Method if he wanted to.

Even if he looked down on those ordinary ones, he still had eighty contribution points, which was more than enough to exchange for a better planting Cultivation Method.

Shen Duheng knew Shan Heyuan's problem. "Don't look so gloomy. There are so many difficulties on the path of cultivation. If you skip one, there will be another. You have to keep working on them. Take a break for a while, cheer up, and slowly work through them. Maybe you'll be able to overcome them."

Shan Heyuan: "It's easier said than done. If cultivation were that easy, there wouldn't be so many cultivators stuck at a certain level for their entire lives."

To put it simply, Tong Liangji, as a second-grade plant master, is only at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage and can't seem to advance to the Core Formation Stage no matter what.

Shen Duheng: "You've been cultivating fast enough already; taking a little time to settle down won't be a bad thing."

"The problem is that if I get stuck here, everything else will get stuck too." Shan Heyuan scratched his head, finally understanding the bitterness of cultivation. "Let me think of another way, maybe I can change to a different substrate?"

Shen Duheng bluntly stated, "The chances are slim. The principle behind placing the substrate in the Dantian is the same; even if you bypass the moss, you can't bypass this principle."

Shen Duheng's insight has always been sharp, and what he said made a lot of sense.

Shan Heyuan sighed, his worries deepening.

Chapter 39

Anyone who gets stuck in a bottleneck period will have a tough time.

Everyone could see that Shan Heyuan had been looking haggard lately. Not only did his friends ask him a few words of concern, but the students in both classes C and D also showed great concern for their young, handsome, and skilled teaching assistant.

After class that day, several disciples from Class Ding helped carry the Spirit Plant used in class back to the Spirit Plant garden. When they saw Shan Heyuan, they surrounded him and asked, "Assistant Instructor Shan, is something troubling you?"

Looking at his disciples' youthful faces, Shan Heyuan smiled and said, "It's nothing, just a bottleneck in their cultivation."

"Is the Assistant Instructor Shan studying the 'Spring Transformation Art'? The 'Spring Transformation Art' has always been difficult to master, so it's quite common to encounter bottlenecks."

"Speaking of which, I know several senior brothers and sisters who practiced the 'Spring Transformation Art,' but they all switched to Cultivation Method later."

Shan Heyuan rarely chatted with these disciples and was unaware of the intricacies involved.

Now that we're talking, I can't help but feel a bit curious. "Why is that? Since the 'Spring Transformation Art' is so difficult to learn, why didn't you choose this Cultivation Method in the first place?"

One disciple laughed and said, "The 'Spring Transformation Art' is difficult to learn, but some of the Cultivation Method and tips within it are very useful. Many major sects have plant masters who specifically use this Cultivation Method to begin their studies, and if it doesn't suit them, they can switch to another one."

Shan Heyuan nodded.

His disciples offered him advice. "Although the 'Spring Transformation Art' is difficult to learn, some powerful individuals have managed to cultivate it. If Assistant Instructor Shan has any doubts, it would be good to consult someone."

"Or go into seclusion? I often go into seclusion when I encounter a bottleneck. Once I'm in seclusion, my mind becomes calm, and I usually achieve something in the end."

"How about we walk the path that Senior Xin Xie walked again? Maybe then you'll have some ideas."

Xin Xie was the powerful creator of the "Spring Transformation Art". It is said that he encountered a bottleneck during the Spirit Transformation Realm, found a place to cultivate in seclusion, and then completely disappeared from the sight of cultivators.

This exceptionally talented senior became famous very early, even as a teenager.

His cultivation path was also observed by others, and it was mentioned in several books. In his youth, he traveled in the mountains and eventually created the "Spring Transformation Art".

The disciples' suggestions were quite useful.

Shan Heyuan thanked him sincerely and said, "I can't leave now, but I'll definitely go out to cultivate during my summer vacation."

"Why are you waiting until summer vacation, Assistant Instructor Shan? Cultivation is the most important thing. Once you have some insights, you should go out and explore."

"Exactly, there are still several months until summer vacation. Such precious time, are we Assistant Instructor Shan just sit here with this plateau?"

"Assistant Instructor Shan, you've laid such a solid foundation for the Spirit Plant Garden that even taking a month or two off isn't a problem. The previous Teaching Assistant, Gong, took a whole year off and found he still couldn't manage it all, so he resigned."

The disciples were very enthusiastic and offered many suggestions.

After listening, Shan Heyuan said he would give it serious consideration.

The disciples still had classes, so they went to class after talking to him.

Jiang Zhi, however, seemed to have gotten the information so quickly. He came over immediately after class, asking mysteriously, "Brother Shan, we heard the disciples have given you a lot of ideas, and you're interested?"

Shan Heyuan: "You can see through everything. I'm still considering it. Even if I'm going to do something, I need to sort out the things I have on hand first."