Chapter 164: Forcing the Ripening of Spirit Plants

Two days later.

Wu Jiang returned to Wangyue Island, but he did not go to see Qin Ming immediately.

Instead, holding his head high and strutting with an air of supreme arrogance, he walked up to his clansmen, wore a proud and triumphant expression, and asked the crowd, "Do you have any idea where I went these past two days?"

Seeing him acting as if he were floating on cloud nine, Mu Ruyin felt a surge of irritation. She gave Wu Jiang's waist a sharp pinch and scoffed lightly, "Look at how full of yourself you've become! Stop keeping us in suspense and just spit it out. Did Fellow Daoist Qin send you to run another wonderful errand?"

With that, she poured him a cup of tea.

The members of the Wu family looked at their young master, whose tail seemed ready to wag all the way up to the heavens, and could not help feeling extremely curious.

"Young Master Wu, could it be that Senior Qin has issued you a Foundation Establishment Pill?"

"Yes, yes, exactly!"

Hearing this, Wu Jiang was choked severely and coughed, "Cough, cough, cough!"

Only then did he recover his normal expression, glare at the person who spoke, and retort, "A Foundation Establishment Pill? How dare you even imagine such a thing?"

"Even if Fellow Daoist Qin were willing, our Wu family could only exchange it using resources of equivalent value. All of you, hurry up and put your backs into farming!"

"Strive to accumulate enough spiritual stones to lay bricks and tiles for this young master's Foundation Establishment grand cause, and work hard for the rise of the Wu clan..."

"Never mind, let's not talk about that for now."

Switching back to a beaming expression, Wu Jiang turned to his clansmen and announced, "I went to the core zone of Vast Sea Immortal City! The scenery in there, tsk tsk tsk..."

"What?!"

"The core zone, even deeper than the inner city? Is that somewhere someone like you is allowed to enter?"

Wu Jiang immediately took out the Vast Sea Token and waved it in front of everyone's eyes. "Hehe! Wouldn't I be able to get in with this?"

When Mu Ruyin recognized the gold-stamped token in his hand, she covered her small mouth in shock and asked, "It's actually the Vast Sea Token! Did Fellow Daoist Qin give this to you?"

"Heeheehee! This Vast Sea Token is truly amazing! I walked in holding this token, announced Fellow Daoist Qin's name, and was directly hosted by a middle-stage Foundation Establishment deacon of Vast Sea Immortal City in person..." Wu Jiang exaggeratedly embellished and boasted about his legendary experience over the past two days in front of his clansmen.

"So you see, following me here was an extremely wise decision. As far as I know, even Vast Sea True Person holds Fellow Daoist Qin in extremely high regard. We, the Wu family, can't go wrong by latching firmly onto this giant tree!"

After listening to Wu Jiang's brainwashing, the Wu family members were also stirred with burning enthusiasm.

For a dignified middle-stage Foundation Establishment mighty figure to condescend to host a minor Qi Refinement cultivator—just how immense was that face?

"Young Master Wu, then you must get much closer to Senior Qin."

"Indeed, indeed! Among all the Wu family disciples, I could tell ever since Young Master Wu was a child that he had the brightest future!"

"No more words needed. I am going to farm the land for Senior Qin on Wangyue Island for the rest of my life."

"Growing spiritual rice to bring honor to our ancestors!"

Watching the passionate and stirring reactions of the crowd, Wu Jiang wore a deeply satisfied expression on his face.

Mu Ruyin, standing nearby, could no longer bear to watch and urged him, "That's quite enough of you. Hurry back and report to Fellow Daoist Qin. If you delay his matters, you won't have an easy time of it!"

"Rest assured, rest assured, it won't be delayed. I'm going right now, hehe."

...

Inside the cave dwelling on the island, Qin Ming's divine sense had already observed this entire scene. The corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily, leaving him between laughter and tears. "This Wu Jiang... he really is quite interesting."

A moment later.

Having strutted and won pride for himself in front of his clansmen, Wu Jiang arrived before Qin Ming with a glowing, radiant face and handed a small pouch over. "Fellow Daoist Qin, I have successfully fulfilled your commission. I've bought back the eggshells of the Flame-Tailed Oriole. See if they are usable?"

Qin Ming took the pouch and opened it immediately. Inside lay several white eggshells the size of fists, covered with crimson spiritual patterns, which were identical to the illustrations in the spiritual botany manual.

"Mm, this is indeed the item. You've done well."

"Fellow Daoist Qin, it's only right and proper. If there are matters like this next time, just give the word." Wu Jiang promptly returned the Vast Sea Token and the remaining dozens of spiritual stones to Qin Ming.

His gaze still lingered longingly on the Vast Sea Token.

Qin Ming put away the Vast Sea Token, tossed the remaining dozens of spiritual stones back to Wu Jiang, and said, "Consider this your reward for your hard work."

"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Qin. Then... then I will accept without modesty." Regaining his senses, Wu Jiang happily stowed away the spiritual stones.

Having finished his errand, Wu Jiang returned to the foot of the island to tend to the spiritual fields alongside the others.

*It seems the Wu family's loyalty toward me has finally been maxed out...* Qin Ming watched Wu Jiang leave and shook his head internally.

*Still, I didn't expect Lü Liang to be so accommodating. The next time I visit Vast Sea Immortal City, I can have a chat with him.*

With the Flame-Tailed Oriole eggshells in hand, Qin Ming went immediately to the side of the Spirit-Transforming Herb, smashed all the eggshells into pieces, and spread them evenly over the Xun-Wood Spiritual Soil.

In a flash.

The moment these eggshell fragments made contact with the Xun-Wood Spiritual Soil, a reaction occurred. Like a small net, they gathered the wood-attribute spiritual Qi emitted by the spiritual soil within their range, and a faint crimson spiritual essence rose up, continuously nourishing the spiritual plant.

At this point, the tier-three spiritual plant, the Spirit-Transforming妖 (Demon/Monster-Transforming) Herb, had completely taken root and grown within this small patch of spiritual soil. It could be considered thoroughly rescued and successfully cultivated.

Emerald-yellow tender shoots grew anew from its roots and stems, unfurling four wondrous leaves.

The Spirit-Transforming Herb given to him by Nalan Xi was already five hundred years old, and it would bear spiritual fruit once every decade.

Qin Ming's [Ripening] prefix had already been exhausted, and he planned to plant some lower-tier spiritual herbs to refresh some new ones.

As for the [Time-Space Leaf] prefix, he only had the last three strands left in his sea of consciousness, and using them to ripen this already mature Spirit-Transforming Herb would be using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

He intended to wait until he obtained spiritual seeds before using the [Time-Space Leaf] prefix to generate a brand-new Spirit-Transforming Herb for his own use.

In the days that followed.

Qin Ming planted some fast-growing lower-tier spiritual herbs in the medicinal garden outside his cave dwelling.

A few months later.

Qin Ming once again obtained five [Ripening] prefixes. Unable to wait, he came before the Spirit-Transforming Herb.

After expending three [Ripening] prefixes, the newly sprouted tender shoots of the Spirit-Transforming Herb grew wildly right before Qin Ming's eyes in a manner visible to the naked eye.

A branch gradually took shape, its tip blooming with four palm-sized yellow leaves.

Immediately afterward, dozens of spiritual flowers bloomed, and their rich, exotic fragrance caused the Dark-Water Crocodile and the Silver-Winged Frost Bees to drool with envy.

Naturally, the pollen of these tier-three spiritual flowers could not be wasted. Qin Ming instantly summoned the swarm of bees to pollinate the spiritual plant.

A few days later, the auras of this nest of four-winged frost bees surged violently, as if they had reaped immense benefits. While flying back to brew royal jelly, they were evidently on the verge of advancing once again.

Another seven days passed, and the dozens of spiritual flowers withered one after another, ultimately leaving only three heart-shaped, cyan-colored spiritual fruits successfully formed.

Regrettably, no prefix refreshed on the spiritual plant this time.

Otherwise, Qin Ming would have been quite curious to see if the prefixes refreshed on a tier-three spiritual plant would be somewhat more powerful.

"It seems that at the stage of tier-three spiritual plants, the fruit-setting rate also becomes extremely scarce."

"Perhaps it also has some connection to the tier-two spiritual vein environment of the spiritual island."

Subsequently, Qin Ming used up the remaining two [Ripening] prefixes.

Half a day later.

The cyan spiritual fruits instantly began to grow and mature, transforming into three earth-yellow spiritual fruits the size of chicken eggs. Astonishing spiritual essence lingered around them, and a multicolored auspicious light appeared over the entire spiritual plant, looking rather miraculous.