“Yimu Azure Heaven Art?”
Qin Chuan stared blankly at the spirit orange tree that had, in the blink of an eye, revived from withered wood to spring life. The shock in his heart was beyond measure.
Before this, he had only held a vague imagining of Old Huo’s title as “Sacred Hand of Spirit Plants,” never knowing just how formidable it truly was. Seeing it with his own eyes today, he finally understood how perfectly those four words fit him—how utterly genuine they were.
Yet in the next moment, he saw Old Huo exhale a deep breath of turbid air and shake his head.
“Though this method is excellent for treating spirit plants, at present it can only address the symptoms, not the root. That finger just now merely restored seventy to eighty percent of the spirit tree’s condition for the time being. At its source, the problem remains that a spirit seed from beyond the heavens finds it difficult to adapt to Jiuchuan’s soil and water. Added to that, this tree has an extremely high demand for spiritual qi. These two mu of red spirit soil are already top-grade, yet still somewhat insufficient. Unless it can be nourished by one or two falls of spirit rain to improve the soil and increase the spiritual qi, this calamity may not be completely eased.”
“Then what should we do?” Qin Chuan’s brows knitted tightly.
Though he had long anticipated that this tree would be difficult to tend, when the crisis truly arrived, the feeling of helplessness still left him suffocating.
If the spirit orange trees truly withered and died on a large scale, his path of Dao would likely be severed then and there.
“For now, the only option is to use the Yimu Azure Heaven Art each day to hold on to their vitality, while also having the temple submit a written report to the county temple and apply for spirit rain to be sent down. If the heavens take pity, perhaps some of the fruit trees can be preserved,” Old Huo said in a low voice.
“Then… Old Huo, could you?” Qin Chuan’s heart stirred, and he probed carefully.
But Huo Yuanjue looked at him with a deep gaze. “Then this old man will speak plainly to you. If I interfere with this spirit orange field now, I will be inviting trouble upon myself and risking my reputation in my twilight years. Tell me, is it worth it for this old man to place himself beneath such a dangerous wall for the sake of one fire-working disciple like you?”
His position in Nongling Temple was transcendent. The moment he clearly intervened, it would be no different from publicly declaring where he stood and becoming thoroughly entangled in this matter.
Alas!
The sliver of hope that had just risen in Qin Chuan’s heart shattered at once, and he could not help sighing inwardly.
In the end… was it still impossible?
Could it be that his immortal road would truly be cut off here? Where was he supposed to go from this point onward?
After finally brushing against immortal fortune, finally touching the threshold of “longevity,” the most tempting thing in this world, how could he resign himself to reaching the gate only to fail to enter, to perish midway?
“Do I really have to abandon this future under the Heavenly Register and go down the mountain to run a private sect?”
Yet even if establishing his own sect would allow him to cultivate, he already understood all too well the chasm between a mere “talisman writ” and the “Heavenly Register.”
Even if he founded a sect and cultivated to the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realm, before the immortal officials of the Heavenly Court, he would still have to bow and scrape.
That was absolutely not the “immortal” he sought!
A true immortal ought to hold power, authority, and freedom entirely in his own hands.
To go down into the mortal sea and found a sect—possessing divine abilities but without heaven’s will bestowed upon him—no matter how strong he became, he would be no more than some local “demon king” from Journey to the West, unable to attain the proper fruit or achieve longevity.
With one careless move, if he offended the heavenly hearing and provoked the Heavenly Court’s armies into suppression, it would be nothing more than a matter casually handled.
Just as his thoughts were in turmoil, Old Huo suddenly spoke.
“Are you willing to learn this Yimu Azure Heaven Art?”
Qin Chuan was startled. “Old Huo is willing to teach me this divine ability?”
“This method is still far from deserving the name ‘divine ability,’ but if you learn it and cultivate it to above the third layer in the short term, you can extend the lives of these spirit trees each day on your own,” Old Huo said slowly. “At the same time, submit a request to the temple in your own name, and have the temple forward it to the Wind and Rain Office of the county temple to apply for spirit rain. If you truly can obtain sweet rain, perhaps some of the fruit trees can be saved.”
In the end, he had taken a liking to Qin Chuan’s talent.
Though it was inconvenient for him to intervene personally, he was willing to impart what he had learned.
If this child could, by luck, keep the spirit trees going for a period of time, until he reached the fourth level of Qi Refining and held on until next year, when new personnel joined…
At that time, there would naturally be another fire-worker to take over this hot potato, and he would also gain an exceptionally gifted successor—of course, the premise of all this was that this batch of trees could survive this year.
After saying this, he took a thin booklet from his robes and tossed it to Qin Chuan.
Qin Chuan caught it instinctively.
“Study it well. It would be best to cultivate both spiritual qi and this method together. To use this method, you must at least reach the third level of Qi Refining and ‘transform light into qi’ before you can generate wood-attribute true qi capable of treating spirit plants.”
After Old Huo finished speaking, he did not wait for Qin Chuan’s response before leaving with his hands clasped behind his back.
“Greenwood Vitality Art…”
Qin Chuan gazed deeply at that retreating figure, committing this kindness to heart, then lowered his head to look at the booklet in his hands. Opening it, his eyes suddenly lit up—
Although the cover was titled Greenwood Vitality Art, what was recorded within was shockingly the complete Yimu Azure Heaven Art, including the latter three layers!
Qin Chuan immediately found a secluded place and began cultivating with full concentration.
—Greenwood Vitality Art (Not Yet Initiated)
Seeing this method appear on the panel, and that it could be enhanced, Qin Chuan did not hesitate. With a thought, he acted.
“Add points!”
Crack!
One point of Dharma Essence shattered in response.
The first layer of the Greenwood Vitality Art was completed in an instant!
Qin Chuan pinched his fingers together and regulated his breath, guiding spiritual light out through his body and gathering it into a swirl of azure light in his palm.
Yet after only a moment, the light swirl dispersed on its own.
“If my cultivation has not reached the third level of Qi Refining, then even if I complete the first layer of the art, it is still only an empty shell, unable to be put to real use?”
“What if I continue adding points?”
He clearly remembered that after the Silver Gleam White-Hair Needle reached the sixth layer, though it still required spiritual waves to control the needles, that transcendent needle realm already allowed him to perform acupuncture on himself and regulate his hidden injuries.
Crack, crack, crack, crack!
Dharma Essence shattered one after another.
Second layer of the Greenwood Vitality Art! Third layer! Fourth layer! Fifth layer!
Qin Chuan had actually pushed this method straight to the utmost limit attainable by the original manual in an instant!
Looking again at his Dharma Essence points:
Forty points had vanished without a trace.
Only five remained.
Yet this method’s accumulation of Dharma nature at the fifth layer had reached two percent progress.
“I still need at least fifty points before I can push the Greenwood Vitality Art to the sixth layer and truly step into the domain of the Yimu Azure Heaven Art.”
Qin Chuan understood inwardly.
Immediately after, he quieted his mind and comprehended the profundities of the Greenwood Vitality Art, now at the fifth layer.
As the incantation circulated, Qin Chuan was shocked to discover that he seemed to have become a plant between heaven and earth. He could actually clearly sense the breathing of every spirit herb and spirit plant within the six mu of spirit fields under his care, resonating and breathing in the same rhythm with them.
Inhale—exhale—
He subconsciously performed one cycle of breathing and actually began drawing spiritual qi directly from deep within the earth, just like a spirit plant!
Opening his eyes, Qin Chuan’s feelings were strange.
“This… doesn’t this make it even more convenient for me to fleece public spiritual qi?”
He instinctively glanced in the direction of the wooden hut and thought to himself:
“When the Greenwood Vitality Art is cultivated to the fifth layer, one can actually breathe in rhythm with plants and trees, as though roots have grown from beneath one’s feet, greatly drawing in spiritual qi from the spirit fields… Old Huo must know this, yet he did not state it outright. Could it be that back then, he also relied on this cultivation method to secretly draw spiritual qi from the spirit fields and fleece the wool?”
This thought flashed by, but he did not have time to investigate it deeply. Instead, he turned his thoughts to the matter of applying for spirit rain.
“No matter what, I’ll submit the application first.”
…………
“Temple Chief Liu, this is the application submitted by Qin Chuan, requesting a ‘rain writ’ for the six mu of spirit fields under his care: one hour of rainfall, one chi, three cun, and three fen in depth. Please take a look—should this request be submitted to the Wind and Rain Office?”
A clerical Daoist held the document and respectfully asked Deputy Temple Chief Liu Shichang for instructions.
A light shifted in Liu Shichang’s eyes, and he immediately understood—this must have been the idea Huo Yuanjue gave that boy.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly. He had not expected Old Huo to be so well versed in this path as well.
“Of course it should be submitted,” Liu Shichang said slowly. “Back then, County God Sun came personally to the temple and stated clearly that she would resolve the matter of spiritual qi. Now that the spirit oranges require rain, how can there be any delay?”
The clerical Daoist nodded in assent and was just about to turn around and head to the Wind and Rain Office to submit it.
“Wait.”
Liu Shichang stopped him.
The clerical Daoist turned back in confusion.
Under Liu Shichang’s silent gaze, that Daoist suddenly came to a realization.
“This subordinate understands. The old rules.”
Liu Shichang nodded slightly and waved for him to withdraw.
After leaving the office, that Daoist immediately returned to his desk, took up his brush, and rewrote a new copy. On the amount of rainfall, area, and duration Qin Chuan had applied for, he quietly altered the figures to several times what was needed.
Twenty mu of spirit field, five hours of rainfall, with a depth of six chi, six cun, and six fen.