Chapter 447: Spiritual Plant Assumes Human Form, Divine Infant Lingzhi [6k, Requesting Monthly Votes]

Tian Linger fiddled with the tea set; as the spirit spring water boiled, a misty vapor of spiritual moisture drifted out from the black earthenware pot.

Her pink, tender little hand held a palm-leaf fan, gently fanning to control the heat.

Before long, an extremely unique mellow aroma of spirit tea instantly filled the entire thatched cottage, refreshing everyone's spirit.

It felt like bathing in a boundless sea of clouds, with one's mind and heart immersed within it.

Amidst the boiling, these water vapors, refracted by sunlight, transformed into a lush, dew-laden green mist, swirling and coalescing without dispersing.

Gulu gulu~

Once the tea water boiled, the misty green essence surprisingly all converged and fell back into the earthenware pot, appearing incredibly miraculous.

"Master, the Spirit Mulberry Bitter Tea is ready."

A sweet smile appeared on Tian Linger's little face, and she then placed an exquisite teacup before each person.

She even placed one before the Shi Tian Shu.

Without any extra fuss, she used her small hands to take the black earthenware pot off the stove and carefully poured tea for everyone.

Clear, emerald-green tea soup flowed out, brewing with a rich spiritual energy within, obviously holding a universe inside.

Qin Ming lifted the spirit tea to taste slightly, his eyes brightening as he exclaimed in praise: "Truly excellent tea!"

"Fellow Daoist Long Mu's Spirit Mulberry Bitter Tea truly has a unique flavor; bitterness gives way to sweetness, and its taste is the best spirit tea Qin Mou has drunk in nearly a hundred years. More importantly, it can actually increase one's Nascent Soul magic power by a slight margin."

"It is likely a fourth-grade spirit tea, correct?"

Zhenjun Long Mu nodded with a smile: "Indeed; if Qin Ming likes it, he may drink more."

At this moment.

Tian Linger and the Shi Tian Shu also sat at another small wooden table to taste the tea.

After finishing his cup, the Shi Tian Shu also found the aftertaste endless, and his cultivation became several degrees more condensed.

He secretly stole a glance at Qin Ming and Zhenjun Long Mu, who were conversing.

Then, the Shi Tian Shu sneakily sidled up to Tian Linger's ear and lowered his voice to say: "Little girl, this Great Master here has a fine treasure; how about I trade it with you for some spirit tea leaves?"

Having said this, he pulled out a spirit clam pearl and waved it before Tian Linger.

"Senior, this Spirit Mulberry Bitter Tea is a fourth-grade spirit tea personally planted by my master; it is famous throughout the entire Eastern Sea Immortal Realm, growing atop a ten-thousand-year spirit rock, and the Penglai Sect possesses only this single plant."

"Furthermore, only ten jin of Spirit Mulberry tea leaves can be harvested once every sixty years; the yield is limited and extremely rare," Tian Linger said crisply, sipping a small mouthful from her teacup.

"Therefore, I fear I must disappoint you."

"Ah? Only that little bit?" The Shi Tian Shu could only say dejectedly, "That is truly a pity; it is not even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth."

This was because, in his understanding, the high-grade spirit teas in Qin Ming's spiritual plant garden were so abundant they could never be finished.

The third-grade spirit teas that others begged for yet could not obtain were things he could drink by the crate; naturally, both Qin Ming and Zhenjun Long Mu saw all of this, yet neither spoke.

Instead, they continued tasting the spirit tea while exchanging insights on the Dao of spiritual plants.

Both men were profoundly accomplished in this path; inside the thatched cottage, they lost track of time, conversing for a full three days and three nights.

"By the way, Fellow Daoist Long Mu, Qin Mou came out of his way this time to gather spiritual items for cultivating Blood Serpent Green Rice; do you happen to have any here?"

Qin Ming set down the teacup in his hand and asked with a faint smile.

"Alas~ do not mention it; although this old one has methods for cultivating spirit rice, despite traveling to many places over these years, I have only managed to gather late third-grade essence blood of snake-serpent types."

"As for the other few items, I have obtained nothing at all."

"I wonder how things stand with Fellow Daoist Qin?"

Qin Ming had not expected that even a Nascent Soul sect like the other party's would lack these rare spiritual items.

However, after a brief consideration, he felt it made sense; after all, Blood Serpent Green Rice is a mid-grade fourth-grade spirit rice with the effect of enhancing cultivation for Nascent Soul cultivators, so it is not something easily cultivated.

The spiritual items required for its breeding are all rare treasures seldom seen in the Immortal Realm; even a cultivator like Zhenjun Long Mu would find it difficult to gather them all at once.

Qin Ming had originally planned to exchange what each had with the other to quickly gather the spiritual materials, cultivate the spirit rice, and conveniently brush up his attributes.

As a result, after inquiring, he found the other party's progress was even slower and less advanced than his own.

"Qin Mou here is still missing the final item, the Azure Sky Spiritual Soil; as for the Xuanhuang Essence Qi, I fortunately obtained a small bottle, but I estimate it will not be enough," Qin Ming said.

As for the source of this bottle of Xuanhuang Essence Qi, he did not mention it, after all, Li Huo Shangren had already perished.

Upon hearing this, Zhenjun Long Mu did not take it too much to heart, merely saying with a smile: "Fellow Daoist Qin need not worry; once the 'Immortal Mansion Grand Gathering' is convened, these spiritual items will surely appear."

"This old one is very confident about this."

Qin Ming nodded, then his gaze shifted to look at Tian Linger again; she was currently inside the room, very quietly holding a medical classic and reading.

"Fellow Daoist Long Mu, this beloved disciple of yours probably has an extraordinary background, correct?"

Upon hearing this, Zhenjun Long Mu smiled slightly; since she had brought Qin Ming to this place, she naturally had no intention of hiding it from him.

"Hehe! Exactly so; Fellow Daoist Qin truly possesses unique insight! I wonder how you discovered it? Ordinary Nascent Soul peers would not be able to detect the slightest anomaly at all."

"This indicates that Fellow Daoist Qin's affinity with vegetation has also reached an extremely profound realm."

Qin Ming said with a faint smile: "Qin Mou has cultivated a spiritual plant divine ability, hence I can sense a thing or two; however, forgive my shallow knowledge, as I do not know exactly what kind of being your beloved disciple is."

Upon hearing this, Zhenjun Long Mu immediately glowed with spirit, revealing a hint of pride:

"This was also a chance encounter for this old one years ago; while comprehending an inheritance within a Penglai Immortal Tree, I obtained a stalk of Divine Infant Lingzhi; however, under the nurturing of the immortal tree, this spiritual plant unexpectedly underwent some transformation, not only condensing an Essence of Ten Thousand Trees but also birthing spiritual intelligence, followed immediately by the spiritual plant assuming human form—"

"To be able to cultivate and raise Tian Linger to adulthood is, speaking of which, the greatest achievement of this old one's entire life."

"This matter is not any sort of secret within the sect."

When Qin Ming heard this, he also clicked his tongue in silent astonishment; he had not expected this little girl to be nurtured and born from that Penglai Immortal Tree.

"Essence of Ten Thousand Trees, tsk tsk tsk, incredible!"

"I did not expect this old woman to have such unfathomable luck, actually obtaining such an inheritance and fortune."

"Do not look at how small this Divine Infant Lingzhi is; in reality, it is likely already several thousand years old, and merely in its juvenile stage, it is already a mid-grade fourth-grade spiritual plant; if it grows up in the future, who knows what might happen—perhaps it has hope of reaching an even higher grade," even Yan Laomo secretly felt extremely surprised.

"Do not be fooled by this old woman's words; her attainment in spiritual plants today is mostly bestowed upon her by the feedback of this Divine Infant Lingzhi."

"When you attempt to break through to the Soul Transformation stage in the future, you might just have to return and make a deal with this old woman."

After hearing this, Qin Ming suddenly understood, marveling at the wonder of the Dao's creation, which could even give birth to such a shape-shifting spiritual plant.

He felt quite envious of this as well.

"What does this have to do with my breakthrough to Soul Transformation? Isn't this far too early?" Qin Ming couldn't help but ask secretly.

However, Yan Laomo seemed to realize he had slipped up and quickly fell silent. Afterwards, Qin Ming took out that 'Penglai Immortal Token' and asked Long Mu Zhenjun:

"Fellow Daoist Long Mu, regarding the inheritance comprehension of the immortal tree you just mentioned, can this token also be used for one opportunity?"

"That is correct, however, the comprehension of the Dao on the Penglai Immortal Tree has restrictions for cultivators outside the sect," Long Mu Zhenjun answered truthfully. "Generally speaking, the number of these Penglai Immortal Tokens sent out externally is extremely small."

Qin Ming asked in surprise, "Oh? What restrictions are there?"

"Cultivators who obtain a Penglai Immortal Token from outside the sect can only comprehend the Dao below the fifth layer of the tree canopy, and cannot obtain the core inheritance of our sect."

"But as long as one is an elder or disciple within our sect, there is no such restriction; if one's cultivation is sufficient, they may go to the higher layers of the tree canopy to perceive the inheritance," Long Mu Zhenjun explained thus.

Then, she suddenly changed the subject, smiling brightly as she said to him, "Why not just join the Penglai Sect, Fellow Daoist Qin? With your attainments in spiritual plants, you might just obtain tremendous opportunities on the Penglai Immortal Tree, who knows."

Upon hearing this, the corners of Qin Ming's mouth twitched immediately; was she trying this routine again?

'Shi Tian Shu was right; I am already so outstanding that now every Nascent Soul sect wants to recruit me, a rogue cultivator, to join them.'

"Heh! Thank you for your kind intention, Fellow Daoist Long Mu, but Qin Mou is not very interested in joining a faction," Qin Ming declined politely.

Long Mu Zhenjun felt regretful, yet still sighed and said:

"Alas~ that is truly a pity; since Fellow Daoist Qin's ambitions do not lie here, this old one cannot force the matter."

"In that case, rather than ascending the immortal tree to comprehend the Dao, this old one suggests Fellow Daoist Qin use this Penglai Immortal Token to visit the Scripture Pavilion instead."

"What do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist Long Mu?" Qin Ming asked.

"Because comprehending the Dao on the Penglai Immortal Tree is not so easy to obtain; the higher up the tree canopy one goes, the harder it is to gain anything."

"Even among the disciples within our sect, in a thousand years, only a handful have gained anything."

"Rather than wasting a Penglai Immortal Token in vain, it is better to go to the Scripture Pavilion to read; after all, as a great spiritual plant sect inherited from ancient times, our sect possesses quite a few books regarding fourth-tier spiritual plants, which I believe will help improve Fellow Daoist Qin's abilities."

"However, how to use this token depends entirely on Fellow Daoist Qin's choice."

Long Mu Zhenjun sincerely wished to befriend Qin Ming, so she analyzed the pros and cons for him in detail.

"I see, so the higher up the tree canopy one goes to comprehend the Dao, the richer the rewards obtained?" Qin Ming asked again.

Long Mu Zhenjun nodded and said, "That is correct; the rewards obtained from the Penglai Immortal Tree are all random; some might be heavenly treasures and earthly materials, some might be alchemical classics or medicinal books, some could be high-grade pills, or possibly a complete set of skill inheritances, not limited to the path of spiritual plants."

Thinking that the other party had obtained such a good thing as a shape-shifting spiritual plant from just one session of comprehension, Qin Ming immediately felt his heart itch with desire.

He possessed the life-bound spiritual plant Yin-Yang Xuanteng; even if he gained nothing himself, letting it absorb some of the luck from this fifth-tier divine tree would still be no loss.

Qin Ming's calculations were clicking away loudly in his mind.

Thus, he said to Long Mu Zhenjun, "In that case, Qin Mou will use this Immortal Token to ascend the Penglai Immortal Tree and comprehend the Dao once."

"Since I have already come here, Qin Mou must personally experience the mystery of the immortal tree no matter what."

Long Mu Zhenjun felt quite surprised; after all, she had already said her piece, yet she hadn't expected Qin Ming to make such a choice.

"Fellow Daoist Qin should think this through clearly; for an outsider like you to ascend the tree and comprehend, the probability of gaining nothing is the greatest."

"Mm, even so, Qin Mou accepts the consequence."

"Very well, however, right now, Fellow Daoist Qin cannot temporarily enter the fifth layer of the tree canopy," Long Mu Zhenjun added.

Qin Ming asked, "Why is that?"

"Elder Chen Muzhi of our sect has just entered this layer to seclude himself and comprehend; it is estimated he will need some time before emerging, briefly a few months, or at most a year or two," Long Mu Zhenjun explained.

Qin Ming suddenly realized, "I see; if it is only such a short time, Qin Mou can wait; coincidentally, the Immortal Mansion Grand Meeting still has two and a half years before it begins."

He hadn't expected that even ascending the immortal tree to comprehend required queuing.

"At that time, this old one will send a message to Fellow Daoist Qin. If Fellow Daoist Qin has nowhere else to go, why not stay here with this old one? There are plenty of empty houses and cave dwellings anyway," Long Mu Zhenjun invited warmly.

Qin Ming cupped his fists and said, "Thank you for your kind intention, Fellow Daoist Long Mu, but Qin Mou has finally come to the East Sea Immortal Realm and plans to travel around and see things for himself."

"Mm, that is fine too," Long Mu Zhenjun nodded.

Afterwards.

Qin Ming and the other party exchanged items, swapping some spiritual plant seeds slightly, before rising to take his leave.

Ever since Shi Tian Shu learned that Tian Linger was a rare shape-shifting spiritual plant called 'Shenying Zhi'.

He had been drooling and sniffing at her relentlessly, as if sniffing her could grant some tremendous benefit, making the little girl feel embarrassed.

"What are you doing? Look at your appearance! If I don't beat you for three days, you start lifting tiles off the roof again."

Qin Ming grabbed Shi Tian Shu with one large hand and, without any mercy, immediately threw him into the Small Spirit Realm.

"Failing to control my subordinates properly, I really have made a fool of myself before Fellow Daoist Long Mu."

"Heh! It doesn't matter; this Rat King spirit pet of Fellow Daoist Qin has greatly opened its spiritual intelligence, which is quite rare; it has actually broken through to the third-tier peak realm, so surely the day it advances to become a shape-shifting great demon is not far off?" Long Mu Zhenjun did not mind.

Qin Ming smiled faintly, "This fellow still has a long way to go; the Shape-Shifting Heavenly Tribulation is not so easy to survive."

"Speaking of which, this old one noticed that black steel trident in the Rat King's hand; its material is extraordinary, likely forged from Black Essence Meteoric Iron; if Fellow Daoist Qin can find some fourth-tier or higher extraterrestrial strange metals to blend into it and refine it, perhaps it can be upgraded to the level of a fourth-tier spiritual treasure."

"Both Black Essence Meteoric Iron and extraterrestrial strange metals have tremendous effects in resisting Lei Jie," Long Mu Zhenjun said slowly.

Qin Ming hadn't expected Long Mu Zhenjun to actually notice that black trident in Shi Tian Shu's hand.

Immediately, he summoned Shi Tian Shu out again and said to him, "Take out that black steel trident of yours and let Fellow Daoist Long Mu have a look."

Shi Tian Shu, having just been scolded by Qin Ming, felt quite awkward; he immediately put on a smiling face, nodded and bowed hurriedly, took out the black steel trident, and respectfully handed it to Long Mu Zhenjun.

Long Mu Zhenjun took the trident, lightly stroked it while injecting magic power to verify and inspect it, then nodded and said, "Mm, correct, it is confirmed to be Black Essence Meteoric Iron without error."

"This iron has extremely strong plasticity, is full of toughness, and can even absorb the power of Lei Ting."

Qin Ming took the black steel trident and examined it for a long time; he hadn't paid much attention to it before, never realizing that the steel trident Shi Tian Shu swung around in his hand every day was actually a rare strange treasure.

If it weren't for the fact that Shi Tian Shu had liked this treasure so much back then, pestering relentlessly, Qin Ming might not necessarily have bestowed it upon him.

Never did he expect it to be such a rare item as extraterrestrial Black Essence Meteoric Iron.

"Heh! Fellow Daoist Qin need not be strange; this substance is only recorded in small amounts within the Record of Strange Objects in our sect's Scripture Pavilion."

"Let alone you, even other Nascent Soul peers might not know."

"This old one estimates that the artifact refiner who originally forged this black fork did not know its true purpose either, which is why it was hastily crafted into such a crude appearance," Long Mu Zhenjun said with a smile.

Upon hearing that its black steel fork was a great treasure capable of helping it withstand the Shapeshifting Heavenly Tribulation, the Shi Tian Shu immediately burst with joy.

"I knew it! When I smelled it back then, why did it carry such a long-lost, dense aura of a precious treasure? Hehehe!"

Qin Ming tossed the black steel fork back to it, letting it sneak off to enjoy its happiness alone.

Afterwards.

Qin Ming bid farewell to Long Mu Zhenjun and left the Penglai Sect.

Long Mu Zhenjun was quite polite, personally escorting him all the way out beyond the island.

Not long after Qin Ming had departed into the distance.

A golden streak of light arrived belatedly, landing near Penglai Island, where it happened to encounter Wang Jingqiu and others who were patrolling the area.

Wang Jingqiu had already encountered several Nascent Soul Zhenjun in succession; as a mere Jin Dan cultivator, she was trembling with fear, and now that she had even bumped into a mid-stage Nascent Soul great expert, she wondered what taboo she had recently violated.

"Junior Wang Jingqiu of the Penglai Sect pays respects to Senior Longyang Zhenjun!"

Long Yangzi, with white beard and hair, asked anxiously, "Has Zhenjun Wangyue visited your sect?"

"Replying to Senior, Senior Zhenjun Wangyue just departed this morning," Wang Jingqiu answered truthfully.

"Ah? Alas! These demonic cultivators have truly delayed my affairs!" Long Yangzi let out a heavy sigh.

He had originally followed closely behind Qin Ming; with his mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivation, he should naturally have been able to catch up to the other party very quickly.

But who could have expected that midway through, he would encounter a void anomaly, delaying him for several days, which truly made him feel extremely depressed.

"Fate has not yet arrived; never mind. Daoist Wangyue will sooner or later return to Tianlan Xiancheng," Long Yangzi shook his head.

Seeing his demeanor, Wang Jingqiu timidly asked, "Senior Longyang Zhenjun, does Senior need this junior to report to my grandmaster?"

"Forget it, forget it; this old man has no desire to see that madwoman."

Long Yangzi blew on his beard and glared, then his figure blurred and he instantly vanished from the spot.

Leaving only Wang Jingqiu standing awkwardly in place, at a loss for what to do.

A full incense stick's worth of time passed before she confirmed that Long Yangzi had already left far away, only then did she wipe away a cold sweat.

"Alas! I will never accept this patrol duty again; for such a meager amount of contribution points, I keep encountering Nascent Soul Zhenjun every few days—who can withstand that?"

On the other side.

After leaving the Penglai Sect, Qin Ming drove the Lingxiao Precious Carriage, speeding across the boundless sea surface.

The Black Water Crocodile and eight Emerald Wave Sea Horses were straining hard to pull the carriage forward.

Qin Ming enjoyed the Shi Tian Shu's service while taking out a jade slip of the East Sea map to examine it.

"Master, where shall we go next?"

The Shi Tian Shu stood on Qin Ming's shoulder, gently peeling the skin off a spirit fruit before feeding it into his mouth.

"Mm, go to Black Abyss Island in the Northeast Sea region."

Qin Ming said indifferently.

Black Abyss Island was a place similar to a black market within this sea region, where many shady transactions took place.

Therefore, the possibility of finding high-grade Extraterrestrial Strange Metal was greatest here, and incidentally, he could also dispose of and exchange some items he currently held.

Several days later.

A pitch-black island appeared within Qin Ming's divine sense vision.

He immediately stored the Lingxiao Precious Carriage, transformed into the appearance of a burly, bearded man, but did not conceal his cultivation, first revealing his Nascent Soul realm.

After all, he was going this time to scheme for fourth-grade Strange Metal, so he would inevitably have to deal with peers of the same rank.

Black Abyss Island was not large; the island was utterly desolate, lacking even a protective formation, and was covered with densely packed houses, all stone dwellings piled from black stone.

Qin Ming transformed into a crimson streak of light and landed on the island; the surrounding cultivators, seeing such a great expert descend, immediately scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in panic without choosing a path.

Following the records on the jade slip, he walked straight toward a nine-story pavilion in the center of the island.

The pavilion was also entirely constructed from black stone and had no hanging signboard.

Qin Ming immediately strode inside, causing the cultivators along his path to retreat and give way.

But before he had even entered, a streak of purple escape light landed before him, revealing a middle-aged female cultivator at the late Jin Dan stage wearing a purple gauze long skirt.

"Respectfully welcoming this Zhenjun senior to our Black Abyss Island; please come inside for a discussion."

Qin Ming did not speak much, merely nodding, then followed the woman in the purple gauze long skirt into the pavilion.

Upon entering, he found the furnishings here to be extremely simple, which made him somewhat doubt whether they would have what he needed.

Because the moment he arrived, he had enveloped the entire Black Abyss Island under his divine sense and inspected it thoroughly.

He actually discovered that the person with the highest cultivation was precisely this middle-aged female cultivator in purple robes at the late Jin Dan stage standing before him.

Seeming to notice Qin Ming's doubtful expression, the female cultivator in purple first poured him a cup of spirit wine, then smiled and explained, "Does Senior have items to sell? Or perhaps something you need to gather? Just tell this junior."

"No matter what it is, we can obtain it; our 'Black Abyss Island' has always established itself in the East Sea Immortal Realm based on its reputation."

Qin Ming nodded and cut straight to the point: "This one needs some Extraterrestrial Strange Metal above the fourth grade; the higher the grade, the better. Do you have any here?"

"No matter the price, this one can afford it."

"Fourth-grade Extraterrestrial Strange Metal??"

"This..." The middle-aged female cultivator in purple hesitated, replying with slight embarrassment, "Replying to Senior, such high-grade Strange Metal, I'm afraid, does not exist on this island."

"Hmph! Then how dare you make such bold claims?"

"Are you merely trifling with this one?"

The burly, bearded man that Qin Ming had transformed into flew into a rage; the terrifying spiritual pressure emanating from his body shocked the female cultivator in purple until her face turned pale.

Just at this moment.

"Fellow Daoist, please do not lose your temper."

"Whatever item you need, this old man will resolve it for you."

A streak of black fleeing light fell into the stone chamber, revealing an old man with a bald head and black robes; his face was withered and his back hunched, yet he unmistakably radiated the aura of an early Nascent Soul cultivator.

The black-robed old man waved his hand, drawing the female cultivator in the purple robe over, casting a shield of spiritual light, and enclosing her within it.

Seeing this, Qin Ming's eyes suddenly narrowed to slits, and magic power comparable to a mid Nascent Soul stage erupted from him; the black-robed old man opposite changed color, immediately feeling a mountain-toppling, sea-overturning spiritual pressure crash down upon him.

He could no longer protect that female cultivator.

His face could no longer maintain its composure, and he hastily cried out, "Fellow Daoist, show mercy!"

As the black-robed old man yielded, the immense spiritual pressure receded like a tide.

"Hehe! This old one is Black Profound Immortal, the operator of this black market; if my subordinates have offended you, Fellow Daoist, please do not take it to heart," the bald, black-robed old man said with a dry laugh to Qin Ming.

At the same time.

Black Profound Immortal was also secretly shocked, wondering where such a mighty figure had suddenly appeared from.

His strength seemed far above his own.

(End of Chapter)