Chapter 187: Snow Soul Tea and Void Bamboo

Several days later, inside the cave dwelling.

Qin Ming held the Soul-Returning Pill formula given to him by Wei Wuya in his hand, his brows tightly furrowed as he studied it repeatedly.

He had mostly mastered the majority of the refinement process, yet there were still a few points where even he remained undecided.

"If I cannot figure out several of the key points, I'm afraid no matter how much I refine, failure will be the only outcome."

"No wonder Elder Yan of Lei Yuanzong wasted over ten sets of materials in vain and gained nothing."

Thinking of this, Qin Ming took out a blank jade slip, inscribed the Soul-Returning Pill formula into it, then sequentially wrote down several questions, and finally applied a special spiritual restriction to the jade slip so that only a specific person could open it; otherwise, the contents within could not be viewed.

After doing this, Qin Ming stepped out of the cave dwelling and then sent a message transmission to Wu Jiang.

Half a cup of tea later.

Wu Jiang seemed to have just finished farming; sweating profusely, he ran up, stopped before Qin Ming, and asked with a grin: "Fellow Daoist Qin, what matter do you have for me?"

"It is like this: I have something that requires you to make a trip on my behalf and deliver it to Fellow Daoist Gu in Canghai Xiancheng."

"Ah? This—" Upon hearing this, Wu Jiang's previously spring-breeze-filled expression instantly turned into that of a bitter melon face.

"What? Is there a problem?" Qin Ming deliberately stiffened his expression and said.

"Hehe! No... no, matters instructed by Fellow Daoist Qin, I, Old Wu, would naturally climb a mountain of knives or dive into a sea of fire without hesitation!" Wu Jiang replied as if facing death without flinching.

Under normal circumstances, making any number of trips would not matter, but nowadays demonic beasts run rampant outside; for a small Qi Refining cultivator like him to go out, he would not even be enough to fill a demonic beast's teeth gap... Sigh... "Rest assured, since I am sending you, I naturally would not send you to your death in vain."

Seeing his expression, Qin Ming found it somewhat amusing and continued speaking: "The San Alliance's Dharma Boat will depart for Canghai Xiancheng this afternoon; I have already made arrangements, so you can simply travel back and forth with them; safety should not be a major issue."

Only then did Wu Jiang nod with sudden realization; he had not left the island for a long time and had recently felt stifled, wishing to go out and see the situation beyond.

Immediately, he changed to a joyful expression.

"Very well, Fellow Daoist Qin, rest assured! Leave it to me!"

"Besides delivering the letter, does Fellow Daoist Qin have any other spiritual materials needing procurement? I can bring them back together."

"Not for now."

Subsequently, Qin Ming handed over a letter and a jade slip to the other party.

Wu Jiang accepted the items, and when the San Alliance's Dharma Boat arrived in the afternoon, he followed along to attend to the matter.

Meanwhile, Qin Ming returned to his cave dwelling and continued to intensify his cultivation.

Because nowadays the situation in the Immortal Realm had become complex once again; even the three Jin Dan Old Ancestors had to personally enter the fray to fight for their lives.

As a small Foundation Establishment cultivator, he too must strive hard.

A great battle was once again brewing.

This Demon-Slaying War in the Wei State Immortal Realm would likely be unprecedented in scale.

The various major cities still had to constantly guard against the impact of beast tides from the Beast Cry Mountain Range, truly being attacked from both front and back.

Once war broke out with the Demonic Vines entrenched on Thousand Leaf Island, without the presence of Jin Dan Old Ancestors to hold the line, it would equally concern the life and death of many cultivators in other places.

Therefore, even though the three True Persons intended to slay demons, they needed to act with the speed of thunder leaving no time to cover one's ears, cutting through complications like a fast knife slicing hemp.

Otherwise, the great rear would still face the threat of beast tides.

Qin Ming silently circulated the 'Ancient Wood Longevity Art'; within his body, the cyan-green liquid longevity magic power, like a trickling stream, continuously and endlessly flowed into the Lake of Magic Power within his dantian.

A layer of pale green wood and grass essence qi enveloped his entire body; the whole person resembled an ancient, weathered tree, verdant and towering, emitting a faint fragrance of vegetation.

Several hours later.

Qin Ming opened his eyes; he turned his divine sense inward to slightly observe his own dantian.

"My cultivation base has advanced considerably again."

"The Ancient Wood Evergreen Body lacks only the final point before reaching great completion."

"Once fully cultivated, at that time my spiritual root aptitude will rival that of a peerless genius with a Heaven-grade spiritual root."

"At this pace, I should be able to reach...?"

"According to sayings within the Immortal Realm, being able to reach late Foundation Establishment before the age of sixty means one's heavenly talent and luck are already considered superior."

"Placed within a major sect, one would also qualify as a Jin Dan seed."

"Although the medicinal power of Yulin Wine is not as strong as before, it still retains some effect, sufficient to support my cultivation up to late Foundation Establishment."

After finishing his cultivation, Qin Ming walked out of the cave dwelling, cast the Great Five Elements Art once over the spiritual fields, and watered the spiritual plants. Afterwards, he checked the few tags remaining in his sea of consciousness:

【Bloodline Reversion】 x2, 【Spirit Plant Animation】 x1, 【Quality Improvement】 x5, 【Regenerative Spirit Seed】 x3; the other tags had been consumed and used during Qin Ming's daily cultivation.

Stroking his chin while staring at these tags in thought, he subsequently went to the edge of the Spirit-Gathering Tea tree and the Purple-Gold Bamboo grove.

These two types of spiritual plants were the first batch of second-rank lower-grade spiritual plants Qin Ming had planted upon first arriving at Wangyue Island.

They could be considered the veterans among all the spiritual plants on Wangyue Island.

Nowadays, under the nourishment of the third-rank spiritual vein, the growth of the Spirit-Gathering Tea and Purple-Gold Bamboo was even more gratifying.

The yield of spiritual tea leaves was also higher year by year.

"The effect of Spirit-Gathering Tea on enhancing my divine sense has nearly reached the limit of the second rank."

"As a second-rank weapon-refining spiritual material, it would indeed be a pity to cut down all the Purple-Gold Bamboo and sell it."

"Having a bamboo grove on the island still offers a unique scenery."

"Perhaps... there will be unexpected gains?"

"It is also time to upgrade the grade of these two types of spiritual plants."

Qin Ming immediately moved his mind; the two 【Bloodline Reversion】 tags in his mind instantly vanished, landing separately upon the Spirit-Gathering Tea tree and the Purple-Gold Bamboo.

In an instant.

From the unseen, a profound power from heaven and earth descended upon those two types of spiritual plants.

The form and appearance of the spiritual plants also began to undergo tremendous changes.

One could see that on that Spirit-Gathering Tea plant, many new tender leaves grew on its branches, snow-white and thin as cicada wings.

Across the entire tea plantation, a strange sight of interwoven green and white emerged!

Immediately, three golden entries refreshed in Qin Ming's vision:

【Name】: Snow Soul Tea 【Entry】: Soul Power Crystal x5 (Maturity 1%)

【Name】: Snow Soul Tea 【Entry】: Space-Time Leaf x5 (Maturity 1%)

【Name】: Snow Soul Tea 【Entry】: Faint Lifespan x5 (Maturity 1%)

Gazing at this completely renewed tea tree forest, Qin Ming's eyes suddenly brightened! In his mind floated a passage he had once read in a spirit plant book: Snow Soul Tea, a second-grade top-tier spirit plant that thrives in shade; while it offers some benefit for increasing cultivation, its greatest function lies in soothing the soul and stabilizing the spirit, reducing demonic heart invasions.

It produces miraculous effects for breaking through bottlenecks, and even aids high-level cultivators in breaking through major realms.

Legend has it that Snow Soul Tea grows only in the bitter cold lands of the Northern Border; it is so rare that it is hardly seen even within the four kingdoms of the Southern Wild Immortal Realm.

"Since it is such a top-tier spirit tea!" Qin Ming's face lit up with joy.

Then his gaze shifted toward that patch of purple-gold bamboo forest.

The purple-gold bamboo forest had also undergone earth-shaking changes; on the surfaces of the originally verdant bamboo stalks appeared strange spirit patterns, and the entire forest emanated a misty purple qi.

In Qin Ming's vision, two more golden entries refreshed: 【Name】: Void Bamboo 【Entry】: Qi and Blood Crystal x5 (Maturity 1%)

【Name】: Void Bamboo 【Entry】: Space-Time Leaf x5 (Maturity 1%)

At the same time, the term "Void Bamboo" flashed through Qin Ming's mind and vanished.

Yet after racking his brain for a long while, he could not recall a single piece of information about this spirit bamboo.

Thus, Qin Ming took out the jade slips of spirit plant books he had collected and began flipping through them one by one.

More than half a day later.

He finally found records regarding Void Bamboo in an obscure book.

This book was a hodgepodge, a travelogue written by a Jin Dan Yunxi Laozu who loved spirit plants, recording various strange and peculiar spirit plants.

This cultivator had accidentally encountered this spirit plant during an expedition and recorded that Void Bamboo exists only within an extremely dangerous secret realm, growing at the edges of spatial rifts.

This spirit plant has one major characteristic: it possesses no Five Elements attribute whatsoever and exhibits extremely high malleability.

The bamboo itself can not only perfectly integrate into any other material used for artifact refining to elevate the grade of spiritual artifacts.

What is more, within a small portion of these spirit bamboos, there is a slight chance to break through the second-grade shackles and grow into third-grade spirit plants.

"In that case, can't I upgrade my Green Phoenix Sword once again?"

(End of Chapter)