Chapter 73: 3-Leaf Spirit-Gathering Meridian Diagram

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: 3-Leaf Spirit-Gathering Meridian Diagram

He wondered what it would look like when they finally faced failure.

Li Changsheng shook his head, pushing the thought from his mind.

Their future had nothing to do with him.

’The question now is, should I cultivate this or not?’

He didn’t care about the backlash causing facial paralysis—it was just a physical shell, after all. What he cared about was the damage to his consciousness.

Steward Ma had said it would only cause "a little" damage to one’s consciousness, but Li Changsheng was worried about how much "a little" truly was.

Right now, more than half of his abilities were tied to his insect swarm.

And with the Red-winged Blood Bamboo Larvae hatching, the swarm’s role would only become more significant in the future.

He would have to rely on the swarm to protect his very life until he advanced to the Vein Condensation Realm.

If his consciousness was too severely damaged, his bond with the swarm would be restricted, which would seriously impact his path to immortality.

’There’s still plenty of time. I’ll wait and see. No need to rush...’

Li Changsheng shook his head, summoned Xiaohua and his swarm, then climbed onto Xiaohua’s back. He took out the jade slip and pressed it between his eyebrows.

[Spirit Plant Master Legacy: Recorded. Complete. Ready for cultivation...]

Just then, a complex diagram entered his mind.

It was an abstract pattern of a small, three-leafed blade of grass, composed of over a hundred tiny, intricate pathways.

[Three-leaf Spirit Absorption Vein Map: When used with Soothing Incense to help shape the veins, it can plunder and absorb the vital life energy from vegetation.]

[Note: Due to the complexity of the pathways, cultivation can easily lead to ruptured veins, a turbulent Divine Sea, and damage to the consciousness.]

Li Changsheng frowned. With a turn of his hand, he produced the incense Steward Ma had given him and stared at it.

[Soothing Incense: For use when cultivating the Three-leaf Spirit Absorption Vein Map. Has the effect of calming the soul and focusing the consciousness...]

’It really is complex... and dangerous,’

Li Changsheng sighed. He put away the jade slip and incense, then glanced back at the fervent, excited crowd not far behind him, his expression growing complicated.

According to the notes from his Golden Finger.

He estimated that, at most, one or two of these people would succeed by a fluke. Perhaps not even one would succeed.

In other words,

He would likely be running into people with listless, expressionless faces whenever he went out from now on.

If someone was unwilling to give up and continued to force their cultivation after using up the Soothing Incense, they might just drop dead on the spot.

’I have to be careful...’

Li Changsheng shook his head, closed his eyes, and carefully recalled the Three-leaf Spirit Absorption Vein Map in his mind.

He absolutely would not attempt to cultivate it until he had studied it from every possible angle.

Returning to his small courtyard, Li Changsheng went about his usual routine: feeding the pigs, tending to the Spirit Field, and consuming Spirit Pills for his cultivation.

「Meanwhile.」

The crowd discussed excitedly for a long while before slowly dispersing.

After returning to their respective homes, they couldn’t wait to take out the jade slips and examine them.

Upon seeing the complex vein map inside the jade slip, they were all stunned for a moment, their scalps tingling with apprehension.

’Is this really something a human can cultivate?’

Upon closer inspection, there were over a hundred complex pathways.

That alone wasn’t a big deal. No matter how many pathways there were, they could always be opened with enough time.

What made them feel helpless was that they needed to manipulate the pathways to form the shape of this map.

They understood the difficulty of it with just a moment’s thought.

In that moment, who knew how many hearts sank.

Dong Xing was one of them. The arm holding the jade slip was trembling slightly, and his lips quivered as he said, "This might be my last chance..."

Yun Wan was another. She looked at the jade slip, then at her two daughters who were diligently copying their lessons. Her hesitant expression immediately hardened with determination.

As everyone remained lost in their thoughts,

three months passed in the blink of an eye.

「In a remote corner of D Zone, on the second floor of a wooden house in a small courtyard.」

A wide smile spread across Li Changsheng’s face as he watched the adult Red-winged Blood Bamboos occasionally fly out of the large vat.

The first batch of Red-winged Blood Bamboo Larvae had matured. Although a dozen or so had died in the process, over a hundred remained.

Li Changsheng turned and walked to his bed, took out a wooden bowl, circulated his Spiritual Power to his right index finger, and lightly swiped it across his palm.

A bloody cut appeared, and fresh blood immediately gushed out, dripping into the wooden bowl.

He let out almost half a bowl of blood.

’That’s enough.’

Li Changsheng circulated Spiritual Power to stop the bleeding. He formed a hand seal, and his Spiritual Power quickly infused a strange, slightly incomplete pathway map.

As the spiritual light coalesced and took form,

Li Changsheng’s hand seal changed, and he let out a low shout, "Go."

As his voice fell, a thumb-thick stream of pale gray light shot from his palm into the wooden bowl, merging with the blood.

Spiritual Power surged, and the blood in the wooden bowl quickly coagulated into a palm-sized gray solid that emitted a strange odor.

’It’s done.’

A smile appeared on Li Changsheng’s face as he quickly walked away from the bed.

BZZZ...

With a loud buzzing of wings, a dense swarm of Red-winged Blood Bamboos flew out of the large vat and landed on the solid in the wooden bowl.

A Cup of Tea’s Time passed.

The gray solid had vanished, and the tea table was now covered with a dense layer of Red-winged Blood Bamboos.

Li Changsheng sensed the magical connection within their bodies. With a flicker of his consciousness, he activated it.

Pinpricks of faint light appeared, and patterns quickly spread across the Red-winged Blood Bamboos. In the blink of an eye, the patterns covered their entire bodies.

As the spiritual light flashed, the thumb-sized bodies of the Red-winged Blood Bamboos instantly doubled in size.

Li Changsheng felt subtle connections flooding into his mind. In just a few breaths, over a hundred new connections had formed.

The sudden surge of connections made him dizzy for a moment, but the feeling quickly passed.

With a thought from Li Changsheng,

BZZZ...

the swarm took flight, circling slowly around him.

An hour later.

Li Changsheng dismissed the swarm and focused his gaze inward.

[Target: Li Changsheng]

[Cultivation: Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer "65%"]

[Cultivation Technique: "Golden Turtle Spirit Technique (4/9)" Properties: "Resilience, Spirit Recovery"]

[Magic: Insect Seal (Incomplete) "Major Accomplishment 3%" / Golden Turtle Shield "Minor Accomplishment 5%" / Lesser Cloud and Rain Art "Minor Accomplishment 10%" / Sharp Metal Art "Minor Accomplishment 3%" / Three-leaf Spirit Absorption Vein Map...]

[Status: Healthy.]

’It’s a shame the Spirit Gathering Pills are completely useless to me now.’

Li Changsheng sighed internally. With a thought, he dismissed the panel and went downstairs.

He walked out the door, grabbed the straw hat and sickle that were leaning against the wall, strode into the courtyard, and swung himself onto Xiaohua’s back.

"Let’s go, Xiaohua."

SNORT SNORT...

Xiaohua grunted twice and ambled out of the small courtyard, heading straight for a field of golden Spirit Rice not far away.

Three months had passed, and the Yellow Seed Spirit Rice in his Spirit Field was now ripe for harvest.

Arriving at the edge of the Spirit Field, Li Changsheng dismounted and gazed at the vast expanse of golden Spirit Rice, an irrepressible joy welling up inside him.

Six months of hard work were finally about to pay off.

With a thought from Li Changsheng,

the swarm, now twice its original size, descended swiftly from mid-air into the Spirit Field. Each Red-winged Blood Bamboo landed at the base of a Yellow Seed Spirit Rice stalk and pierced it with its sharp mouthparts.

Li Changsheng didn’t stay idle either. He formed a hand seal, and as his Spiritual Power circulated, a faint golden light suffused his palm. He then wiped it across the sickle in his hand.

A golden light coated the sickle, giving it a sharp, glistening sheen.

He stretched his back slightly, then stepped into the Spirit Field and began to harvest the Spirit Rice.

As he was busy at work,

an older man who looked to be about fifty, hands clasped behind his back and holding a sickle, slowly approached his Spirit Field.