Chapter 3: The Blooming of the Soul Returning Wood

Soul Returning Fruit, a fourth-rank Spirit Medicine, is the main ingredient for refining fourth-rank Ziyun Pill, and is even used in many fifth-rank pills; within the entire Taiyuan Sect, it is currently the highest-grade medicinal material and also the most precious treasure.

Medicinal materials above the fourth rank can likely be counted on one's fingers among the seven or eight large and small Immortal Sects in the entire Song Kingdom; the Soul Returning Wood is even rarer, and it is estimated that only Yuqing Hall has one, which is likewise treated as an incredibly precious treasure.

Yuqing Hall is the premier large Immortal Sect in the territory of the Song Kingdom, ranking in the top ten across the entire Shenzhou, with hundreds of disciples under its banner; inside the sect, there are not only over ten Elders of the Danyuan Realm, but even several Spirit Realm Great Cultivators sitting in command, the strongest of whom can have their true spirit leave their body to take a person's head from a thousand miles away in an instant, with power so formidable that small and medium-sized Immortal Sects dare not even look up, and can only bow their heads in submission.

Pills above the fourth rank can only be consumed by Spirit Realm Great Cultivators, mainly to strengthen the Primordial Spirit; if the Soul Returning Fruit is mixed with low-grade medicinal materials and refined into second or third-rank Spirit Pills, after consuming them, a Zhenyuan Realm cultivator can greatly enhance the strength of their Soul, making cultivation not only twice as effective with half the effort, but also greatly increasing the chances of breaking through to the next stage.

Because the stronger a person's Soul is, the clearer their comprehension of cultivation will be, the more handy their cultivation will become, and the more precise and subtle their control over the timing of breakthroughs will be.

However, the Soul Returning Fruit is too rare and precious, so surely no one would use it to refine low-grade Spirit Pills; it starts at the fourth-rank pill, and it is something to be encountered by chance but not sought; the conditions for this thing to bloom and bear fruit are extremely harsh, and apart from an environment rich in Spirit Qi, there is also an element of luck, because it is said that the blooming of the Soul Returning Wood will trigger the power of the netherworld, absorbing wandering souls beyond the reach of perception, and only after finally bearing fruit does it have the efficacy of nourishing the Soul and strengthening the Primordial Spirit.

It is said that the Taiyuan Sect has kept this Soul Returning Wood for hundreds of years and has always treated it as a treasure, but unfortunately, it has not bloomed or borne fruit in the last hundred years, and it hasn't even grown a few branches; from the time Xu Chen went up the mountain, it has just been stuck in the Medicine Garden half-dead.

Originally, this Medicine Garden only had this Soul Returning Wood, but later, because it never bloomed or bore fruit, other medicinal materials were slowly planted around it, and now it has become this Medicine Garden.

And this tree became a strange item of the Medicine Garden—precious, but useless; every generation of disciples taking care of the Medicine Garden had to be carefully instructed to take good care of it, yet it remained the same; Xu Chen was the same, and from the moment he took the manure shovel from Jiu Shixiong, he buried some every time he fertilized, yet there was no movement at all for three years.

But for it to suddenly sprout branches and bloom overnight made Xu Chen completely unable to accept it.

After a full half-quarter of an hour, Xu Chen finally sobered up, then threw out his Flying Sword, rode it like an out-of-control giant bird, and headed crookedly toward the abruptly towering strange peak not far away.

This strange peak is named Zhaoyang Peak; the sect's main hall and the three Elders and several disciples who have broken through to the Zhenyuan Realm mostly live here, and the Third Elder's Pill Refining Room is also on the southeast side near the peak.

Soon, Xu Chen rode the Flying Sword and landed in the small courtyard outside the Pill Refining Room; a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes was boringly pinching seals in the courtyard to control a few bricks, which were flying all over the sky with a whooshing sound; seeing Xu Chen, he stood up with a surprised smile and said, "Yo, why did Little Junior Brother come here? Didn't you go to pick up manure today?"

Xu Chen rolled his eyes in annoyance and said, "Isn't this thanks to Jiu Shixiong, that I managed to get such a good job as picking up manure? When Master returns, I will report his contribution to picking up manure over these years to him properly."

The young man's face turned pale for a moment, and he laughed dryly and hurriedly said, "What is Junior Brother saying? Taking care of the Medicine Garden is an easy job; you don't have to do tasks or hand over treasures, and you can get Spirit Pills every year. By the way, what is Little Junior Brother here for today? The Third Elder is about to refine a furnace of precious Spirit Pills recently and cannot be disturbed, so he ordered me to help watch the door."

Xu Chen hesitated for a moment and said, "The Soul Returning Wood in the Medicine Garden has bloomed..."

"What?"

Jiu Shixiong was stunned for a moment, and the few bricks lost control and flew wildly all over the sky, then clattered down, with one hitting the roof of the Pill Refining Room just right.

"Oh no..."

Before Jiu Shixiong's face turned pale and his voice fell, a muffled bang was heard from inside the Pill Refining Room, then a burst of blue smoke rose from the roof of the room, and immediately a burnt fragrance hit their noses.

Xu Chen's face twitched and he hurriedly jumped back several feet, then the door of the Pill Refining Room was slammed open from the inside with a boom, and the Third Elder was seen with his beard and hair bristling, striding out of the room with a cloud of gray smoke; looking at the two, his face turned livid and he roared, "What are you doing?"

Jiu Shixiong looked back and found that Xu Chen was already several feet away, and with an innocent look of being uninvolved, he shivered and almost cried, so he could only bite the bullet and salute, saying, "Disciple knows he is wrong, I shouldn't have disturbed the Third Elder's pill refining."

The Third Elder snorted coldly, "Fortunately, this old man was only refining a furnace of Small Yuan Pill to warm the furnace today, otherwise it would have ruined a major event. Speak, what exactly happened?"

"Little Junior Brother came..."

Just as Jiu Shixiong was about to explain, Xu Chen ran to the Third Elder like a gust of wind and said excitedly, "Third Elder, the Soul Returning Wood in the Medicine Garden has bloomed. This disciple came to report it, and I saw Jiu Shixiong playing with bricks in the courtyard, flying all over the sky with a whooshing sound; it was so dangerous."

Jiu Shixiong:...

"You say the Soul Returning Wood actually bloomed?" The Third Elder was stunned and exclaimed.

"Exactly, this disciple felt it was strange and dared not delay, so I came to report it immediately after discovering it!" Xu Chen answered respectfully.

"Let's go, let's take a look!" The Third Elder waved his large sleeve, swept up Xu Chen, and took off into the air, turning into a stream of light and heading toward the Medicine Garden, while a majestic voice entered Jiu Shixiong's ears.

"You are punished to face the wall and reflect on your mistakes at the back mountain for one month."

Jiu Shixiong was on the verge of tears and could only cry and cup his hands: "Disciple obeys!"

At the Medicine Garden, the Third Elder stood in front of the Soul Returning Wood, looking at the few green and tender branches that had sprouted and the two flower buds that were about to bloom, his beard and eyebrows trembling with excitement; he touched the new branches lightly with trembling fingers, tears streaming down his face as he muttered to himself:

"It's been over a hundred years; that I can still see the Soul Returning Wood bloom in my lifetime is truly a great stroke of luck. Could it be that my Taiyuan Sect is going to flourish again?"

Xu Chen stood by the side with a sympathetic heart.

The Third Elder is already over a hundred years old, and his Dao heart is as steady as an old dog, yet he is so visibly shaken; it can be seen that the blooming of the Soul Returning Wood is indeed extraordinary.

However, for a piece of dead wood to come back to life and bloom, it shouldn't be enough to get this excited.

The distance from blooming to bearing fruit is still a hundred and eight thousand miles; maybe because of insufficient Spirit Qi or other reasons, these two flowers will fall off tomorrow.

Of course, he dared not say this out loud, otherwise he would be beaten until he shat by the Third Elder on the spot.

After being excited for a full half-quarter of an hour, the Third Elder seemed to come to his senses; he released his Divine Sense, which instantly enveloped the entire sect, and at the same time, a voice entered the Souls of all the Elders and disciples.

"The Soul Returning Wood has bloomed, come quickly!"

In an instant, the several peaks of the quiet Taiyuan Sect became restless at the same time; accompanied by several violent fluctuations of Divine Sense, a moment later, figures appeared, either riding swords or taking off into the air, turning into streams of light and coming toward the Medicine Garden.

The first to arrive was a middle-aged cultivator of about forty years old wearing a green Daoist robe, his whole body's Yuan Qi rolling violently; he didn't speak after landing, but walked a few steps to the side of the Third Elder and stared straight at the Soul Returning Wood, not even noticing that he had stepped on and crushed several medicinal materials under his feet; his burning eyes and actions betrayed his mood at this moment, which was not even half a bit less than the Third Elder's emotions.

Xu Chen was pressed by this aura and stepped back seven or eight steps in succession before stabilizing his figure, his heart shocked beyond measure.

The Third Elder was shocked and said, "Senior Brother, be careful, quickly restrain your Yuan Qi, do not damage the Spirit Wood!"

The middle-aged cultivator was startled and hurriedly restrained his aura; only then did Xu Chen breathe a sigh of relief, his face pale as he clutched his thumping little heart.

This middle-aged cultivator, who looked more than half younger than the Third Elder, was actually the Great Elder of the Taiyuan Sect; Xu Chen didn't know his secular name, only that his Daoist name was Danchenzi, and he was considered a famous figure in the Great Song cultivation world.

Xu Chen had been in the Taiyuan Sect for five years, but this was only the third time he had seen the Great Elder.

And this time they met, he seemed to look even younger than the previous two times, and his cultivation seemed to be much more profound.

"When did Junior Brother discover that the Soul Returning Wood had bloomed?" The Great Elder's voice trembled slightly.

The Third Elder said, "Just now, the Medicine Garden disciple discovered it and reported it, so I came to check and found it was indeed so!"

The Great Elder nodded repeatedly with an excited face: "Good, good, the Soul Returning Wood blooming is a great piece of happy news for our Taiyuan Sect."

The Third Elder also nodded excitedly: "Indeed, as long as the Soul Returning Wood successfully bears fruit, I will be able to refine the third-rank Huayu Pill to help Senior Brother break through to the Spirit Realm, and our Taiyuan Sect will be able to restore its former glory."

The Great Elder's emotions seemed to calm down all of a sudden, and he stroked his beard and shook his head lightly, saying: "It is not easy to restore the former glory. Since several Danyuan Realm senior brothers, junior brothers, and senior Elders have successively failed their breakthroughs and passed away, I don't have much confidence either; it is not easy to transform the Yuan Pill into a Primordial Spirit, and the Huayu Pill only provides that much more of a chance. Only by refining the fourth-rank Ziyun Pill can the full medicinal efficacy be exerted, but having the Soul Returning Fruit alone is not enough; the other few medicinal materials are also rare items, hard to find in the world. Sigh, forget it, in any case, the Soul Returning Wood blooming is also the greatest happy news for our Taiyuan Sect in over a hundred years. This matter is worth celebrating, but also remember to keep it secret, so as not to be coveted by other Immortal Sects if it spreads out."

"Senior Brother, rest assured, I will instruct the disciples under my sect!" The Third Elder nodded very respectfully.

While the two Elders were communicating, seven or eight figures arrived one after another, either riding swords or taking off into the air; there were men and women, and none of them dared to get close after landing in the Medicine Garden, but gathered around Xu Chen, including Jiu Shixiong, who had been punished to face the wall at the back mountain of Zhaoyang Peak.

They were all juniors, and of course, they were all fellow disciples of the same generation as Xu Chen.

The whole group of people had excited faces and were breathing hard.

This floral fragrance carried an aura that confused the Soul, making people unable to help but be intoxicated by it.

"Little Junior Brother, it seems you have made a great contribution!" Third Senior Brother poked Xu Chen's back with his hand and said softly.

"That's right, I heard this Soul Returning Wood hasn't bloomed for over a hundred years; look at the two Elders, they are so excited they can barely stand still." Fifth Senior Brother added.

The other senior brothers also began to clamor and chat along.

"Keep your voices down, watch out or Great Elder will beat you!" Thirteenth Senior Sister reminded in a low voice.

The sound of everyone chatting quieted down significantly all at once.

Great Elder has the deepest Daoist cultivation, yet his temper is not very good; it is said that beating people is like a daily routine for him, and every time he emerges from seclusion, he beats a few disciples. Eldest Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister get beaten the worst, so the two of them hardly dare to return to the sect gate, spending all year roaming outside like wild people, rarely returning to the nest more than a few times a year.

Among this group of disciples, very few have not been beaten, and Xu Chen counts as one of the luckiest, having only had the chance to meet him three times.