Chapter 69: Tier 2 Spirit Field, Spirit Plant Inheritance

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Tier 2 Spirit Field, Spirit Plant Inheritance

Lan Cai Shen spread his hands and sighed, "Every Spirit Plant Master is a treasure to the sect. They would never be sent to the Wanzhong Mountains Range."

"Developing a Tier One Spiritual Land is one thing. You just need to set up a Spirit-Locking Talisman and have some Cultivators."

"But to develop a Tier Two Spiritual Land and turn it into a Spirit Field without its Spiritual Qi dissipating, you not only need a High-grade Spirit-Locking Talisman to lock in the Spiritual Qi, but you also need a Spirit Plant Master to gather life-force and infuse it into the Spirit Field."

"Without that life-force, no matter how high the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the Spirit Field, you can only grow a few types of resilient, low-grade Tier Two Spirit Plants."

Lan Cai Shen’s expression turned serious. "Therefore, I need you to cultivate a few Spirit Plant Masters within the next few years."

They heard the order to cultivate a few "Spirit Plant Masters."

Ma Rong quickly stood up and said, "Steward, rest assured, if there’s one thing the Spirit Field Hall doesn’t lack, it’s Cultivators who can grow Spirit Plants."

Ke Jing even promised, "Rest assured, the Spirit Field Hall has no shortage of Cultivators for planting in Spirit Fields. A few is nothing—even a dozen or several dozen wouldn’t be impossible."

Hearing this, Jin Fang and Tan Hu, who were standing to the side, felt their mouths twitch. They looked at the two with mockery in their eyes, inwardly cursing, ’What a pair of country bumpkins.’

’If Spirit Plant Masters were that easy to cultivate, would the sect be so reluctant to send them to the Wanzhong Mountains Range?’

The two of them had some understanding of Spirit Plant Masters due to their family backgrounds and master-disciple lineages.

A Spirit Plant Master wasn’t just a title. Like Talisman Masters who create talismans, Artifact Masters who practice Artifact Refining, and Pill Masters who practice Alchemy, it was a specialized profession among the hundred arts of cultivation.

And the most critical step to becoming a Spirit Plant Master was to manipulate the meridians within one’s body to construct a complex meridian chart for absorbing and storing life-force.

But meridians are innate and incredibly complex. The slightest mistake causes the agony of torn tendons, let alone trying to alter them. It was common for practitioners to be lightly injured or, in severe cases, permanently crippled.

Only those born with a meridian structure that naturally resembled the required chart for absorbing and storing life-force had a chance of success.

And that was only the first step. One also had to learn various types of Magic related to planting in Spirit Fields, and master them to at least the Minor Achievement Realm.

For example: the Minor Cloud and Rain Technique, the Spirit Containment Technique, the Golden Blade Technique, and so on...

This step alone weeded out countless more Cultivators...

After all, not everyone’s comprehension was that high. Qi Cultivation practitioners only had a lifespan of 150 years. For those with poor aptitude, it was possible they would never master even a few types of Magic to the Minor Achievement Realm in their entire lives.

Lan Cai Shen’s purpose in coming to the Spirit Field Hall was precisely for those hundreds of Cultivators who had been tending to Spirit Fields for many years.

Among them were many who had already mastered one or two planting-related types of Magic to the Minor Achievement Realm.

As long as they could successfully construct the meridian chart for absorbing and storing life-force within their bodies, they could become low-level Spirit Plant Masters after a period of nurturing.

Jin Fang and Tan Hu lowered their heads slightly, not saying a word, just listening to Ma Rong and Ke Jing boast one after another about how simple it would be.

Lan Cai Shen watched the two of them spouting nonsense, feeling rather speechless. He waved his hand, gesturing for them to sit down.

"Becoming a Spirit Plant Master is not that simple..."

Lan Cai Shen rubbed the spot between his eyebrows and proceeded to educate the two on the numerous difficulties of becoming a Spirit Plant Master.

He spoke for a full A Cup of Tea’s Time before falling silent, giving the two time to process the information.

After Ma Rong and Ke Jing understood, their faces paled and flushed in turns. They felt both ashamed and uneasy...

’Cultivate a few Spirit Plant Masters... could they really do it?’

’And what about the Cultivators who would be injured or die practicing it...’

The two fell silent at once, their eyes downcast, saying nothing.

Seeing them silent, Lan Cai Shen coughed lightly twice.

When they looked over, he flipped his hand and produced an old, dark, discolored beast hide scroll, saying slowly, "This is a Spirit Plant Master inheritance meridian chart that my father obtained during his travels. Copy it and distribute it to all the Cultivators in the Spirit Field Hall."

’Obtained during his travels? Not a Spirit Plant Master inheritance from the sect?’

Jin Fang glanced at the impassive Lan Cai Shen, and a chill ran through him when he saw the location depicted on the meridian chart.

’Others might not know, but he knew very well.’

One of the fundamental reasons it was so difficult to become a Spirit Plant Master was the nature of their inheritances.

The inheritances weren’t a case of ’the older, the better.’ On the contrary, the newer, the better.

This was because before passing on, Spirit Plant Masters would often risk their lives to try and optimize the inheritance’s meridian chart.

Some failed, and some succeeded.

Most of these Cultivators would optimize the chart to be simpler, easier, and safer.

A few would optimize the chart to be more complex, allowing it to plunder life-force more aggressively, but such cases were extremely rare.

’Because greater power also meant it was much harder to cultivate...’

Furthermore, the location for constructing the meridian chart also varied.

Some were on the hand, some on the chest, some on the abdomen, some on the foot...

The two Spirit Plant Master inheritance meridian charts of the Cyan Yang Sect were located on the top of the left foot and on the back near the right shoulder, respectively.

They were considered relatively safe charts with minimal backlash.

Lan Cai Shen’s chart looked ancient at a glance, but most importantly, its construction point was between the eyebrows!

’That’s where the Divine Palace is located.’

The danger was incomparably greater than a chart located on the foot or the back.

Ma Rong and Ke Jing went up one by one to observe it and copy it into their jade slips.

Tan Hu was about to get up when he saw the strange look in Jin Fang’s eyes as he stared at the meridian chart. A thought flickered in his mind, and he sat back down.

Lan Cai Shen saw that Jin Fang and Tan Hu hadn’t come forward to copy the chart and frowned. "Why haven’t you come to copy it?"

Jin Fang froze upon hearing this. He turned his head and saw Tan Hu looking at him with a grin.

Jin Fang: "..."

’Are we that close?’

Jin Fang shot him a glare. Facing Lan Cai Shen, he stood up and said, steeling himself, "Young Master, what if there are too many deaths and injuries?"

He was certain that anyone who attempted to construct this meridian chart would have a ninety-nine percent chance of failure, unless their innate meridians were already similar to this chart.

And once they failed, the resulting backlash would most likely turn them into an idiot, drive them insane, or even kill them... with only a small chance of just ending up with facial paralysis.

They were all outer disciples of the Cyan Yang Sect. Without a proper justification, they couldn’t just casually bring harm to them.

If there were too many casualties, he couldn’t bear the punishment from the sect.

’Too many casualties?’

Ma Rong and Ke Jing looked at the jade slips in their hands, their expressions full of doubt.

Lan Cai Shen gave Jin Fang a deep look, then smiled. "Rest assured. If there were too many casualties, it wouldn’t just be a headache for me, but for my father as well."

As he spoke, he flipped his hand and took out a small bundle of dark gray incense, placing it on the table. He explained, "This is incense that was discovered along with the beast hide."

"Through experimentation, we’ve found that if you burn this incense while cultivating this meridian chart, the backlash from failure won’t be too severe."

Lan Cai Shen said coolly, "It will only cause some minor mental damage, and facial paralysis." He paused, then added, "It’s just a little bit of backlash. If someone becomes a Spirit Plant Master, even I wouldn’t want to offend them."

"Compared to the status and benefits one could potentially gain, what are a few side effects?"

Jin Fang was taken aback for a moment, then nodded in agreement and immediately went forward to copy the meridian chart.

If what Lan Cai Shen said was true, then it really was a small price to pay to gamble for a brilliant future.

Was it worth it? For people like Lan Cai Shen and his peers, it certainly wasn’t.

But for the people of the Spirit Field Hall, it was more than worth it...