“I…”
Garden Owner Xue’s face flushed red. She wanted to lash out, but she couldn’t find a word to say.
As the number one garden owner of Myriad Kingdom City, her level of comprehension toward medicinal herbs was in no way inferior to Elder Liu and Elder Lu, or perhaps, she might even be above them.
This was precisely the reason why no one thought well of the situation after learning that even she was helpless before the problem of the Earth Vein Spirit Vine.
Spirit herb and Spirit tools; even though there was a ‘spirit’ in their names, they were different from the souls of humans. Even though unique spirit herbs could nourish one’s soul, there had never been a case where one could heal one’s soul through absorbing the spirit contained within a spirit herb.
The nature of the two were completely different from the start. It was just like how one couldn’t expect a tiger to feast on grass like a goat when it’s hungry!
“This…”
The crowd was astonished.
Garden Owner Xue was the most knowledgeable herbologist of their group, how could she possibly make such a fundamental error?
It was no wonder why she refused to sell the medicinal herbs which she had nurtured. So, this was the reason!
Since she hoped to heal her wounded soul through the spirit of the medicinal herbs, naturally, the more spirit herbs there were, the more effective the treatment should be.
To a cultivator, there was no price too great to reach the Consonant Spirit realm!
Just that, these were all her deepest secrets… How did this fellow learn of it?
Everyone had examined the situation for so long but they were unable to uncover the problem with the Earth Vein Spirit Vine. It was also completely out of their imagination that Garden Owner Xue would act like this… Just by touching the vine and watching a punching routine from Garden Owner Xue, that young man was actually able to deduce so much…
Could things get any more exaggerated!
Lu Zhan and Song Chao’s eyes were also completely widened.
They both knew that Zhang Xuan was a capable master teacher, but they never thought that he would be that formidable.
“When Garden Owner Xue first entered the banquet hall, I had already noticed that something was amiss. Judging from her zhenqi and vitality, she should only be in her early hundreds. It’s normal for a woman to value her appearance, and under normal circumstances, she should have never looked that old… Unless there was something causing it!”
Zhang Xuan continued, “Thus, I paid close attention to the punching routine she executed just now. If I’m not mistaken, the fist art used was ‘Great Heliacal Punch’. Going by the conventional zhenqi pathway for the technique, one’s zhenqi should gush out from the Baixin acupoint. Yet, she deviated slightly such that the zhenqi came out from her Zhangxin acupoint instead.
“As a Transcendent Mortal 4-dan expert, her grasp of cultivation should have already reached an incredible level. As such, there is only one explanation behind this peculiarity… Her Huiming acupoint is damaged, causing her to be unable to discern between the minute differences in her acupoints. Huiming is an acupoint governing one’s perception, and it is one of the most important acupoints that determining the wholeness of one’s soul. Since it’s damaged, naturally, her soul must be damaged as well!
“I believe everyone should have seen the Earth Vein Spirit Vine for themselves. It isn’t ill, and it isn’t infested with bugs either. Yet, it’s withering, and nothing seemed to work on it. At the very start, I also didn’t think that it might be due to its spirit being absorbed until I saw the area where I deduced to be where Garden Owner Xue often cultivates.”
At which, Zhang Xuan pointed toward the area where he touched the medicinal herbs previously.
Everyone turned their gazes over. The grass growing in that area was both lush and green, seemingly faring much better than anywhere else in the herb field.
“I believe everyone can see that the grass in that area is growing much better than anywhere else in the herb field. When cultivating, spiritual energy would be drawn into one’s surroundings, which would in turn nourish the plants in the area and allow them to grow better. However… take a look at this!”
Stepping forward, Zhang Xuan stretched out his hand toward the grass.
Hu!
The grass seemed to have seen something fearsome and despite the lack of wind, they hurriedly avoided his hand.
“This is just ordinary grass that can be found everywhere. It shouldn’t possess any spirit and yet, it is now avoiding my hand on its own accord… From this, it can be deduced that someone has been absorbing spirit from the medicinal herbs, thus granting even ordinary plants like this to possess the ability to avoid harm!”
Chuckling lightly, “With this, it isn’t too difficult to deduce the rest!”
“This…”
“As expected of a master teacher, what frightening eye of discernment…”
Hearing the other party’s explanation, everyone couldn’t help but feel awed.
They had long heard of a master teacher’s fearsome discernment ability, and from the looks of it now, they indeed lived up to their name.
With just a punching routine and a field of grass, the other party was able to deduce the entire story… If not for the fact that they were witnessing this situation for themselves, they would have never dared believe this to be possible.
“This…” Song Chao swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and his face turned pale.
The other party’s deduction was completely rational, and he couldn’t find any problem with it.
While the other party had spoken of it easily, he knew that it was no easy feat to do so. Even a 4-star master teacher like him was incapable of doing the same!
In fact, even his teacher and the elders of his sect couldn’t possibly tell so much with just a glance.
To uncover the root of the problem through examining insignificant details like this… Linking up all of the evidences to put together a whole picture… Not to mention, they had to fit together perfectly… Was this fellow actually a seer?
Even a 5-star master teacher should be incapable of doing so!
Or… could the fellow before him actually be a 5-star master teacher?
That would explain why he fell for the other party’s Impartation of Heaven’s Will easily! Only now did he realize that there was a huge gap between him and this Zhang Xuan!
Song Chao was depressed.
“It seems like it’ll be impossible for me to take back my middle-tier spirit stone. If I were really to ask him for it, I might even lose those low-tier spirit stones of mine…”
He was beguiled every single time he tried to approach the other party. He was afraid that not only would he fail to get back his middle-tier spirit stone, all of the fortune that he had raked up with great difficulty might even be swiped clean.
“Forget it, I should just bring this coffin back. Perhaps, if the elder is happy with this, I might be able to recoup my losses…”
Zhang Xuan’s means had truly left Song Chao terrified.
But at the same time, he was also earnestly impressed by the other party as well.
To be able to deduce the entire situation with just a few minor clues, as expected of a master teacher who could beguile him.
…
While everyone was overwhelmed by shock, Garden Owner Xue’s body was trembling violently in disbelief, “I found that method in an ancient book, and throughout the years, the damage on my soul has indeed alleviated a bit…”
Back then, when her soul was injured, she was doomed to be unable to reach Consonant Spirit realm in her entire life.
However, she didn’t believe it, and after flipping through innumerable ancient texts, she finally found the method of absorbing spirit from medicinal herbs to nourish her own soul…
Even though she carried her doubts to the feasibility of the solution, she had no other better alternatives.
Besides, after years of hard work, her damaged soul had indeed recovered to a small extent.
“Alleviated a bit?” Zhang Xuan shook his head. “Aren’t you still very far from making a full recovery? Do you think that you can live for another eighty years?”
Garden Owner Xue’s body trembled.
There was a limit to the lifespan of a Transcendent Mortal expert. Being beyond hundred, she had already lived half of her lifespan. At the rate which she was recovering at, could her soul possibly make a full recovery before she comes to an end of her lifespan?
Even if it did, what use would it be when she was already knocking on death’s door?
Then… what was the use of it in the first place?
“I was wrong…”
All along, Garden Owner Xue had been thinking of how she could heal her own soul and attempt to break into the Consonant Spirit realm. However, at this moment, she finally realized that it was nothing more than a pipe dream.
Consonant Spirit realm was destined to be beyond her reach.
Shaking her head, she seemed to have suddenly aged decade in an instant.
Seeing her state, even though everyone felt sympathy, they couldn’t find any suitable words to console her.
She had driven herself with this faith for eighty years, and yet, her bubble was burst in an instant. No one could take such a blow lightly.
After a long period of time, Garden Owner Xue finally pulled herself together and asked the young man before her, “Zhang shi, is there any way to save this Earth Vein Spirit Vine?”
Since the other party was able to determine the problem with a glance, perhaps he might have a solution for the problem.
Since her fate was sealed, she decided not to struggle any longer. However, this herb garden had accompanied her for more than half of her life. She didn’t want to see it destroyed just like that.
“As you have cultivated here frequently over many years, this vine is nothing more than an empty shell now. It’ll be difficult to revert it back to its original state! However, I do have a solution in mind, but it will be expensive!” Zhang Xuan said.
If it was before the trip to the soul oracle tomb, given his limited understanding of souls then, it would indeed be difficult for him to deal with such a problem.
However, after attaining Mo Hunsheng’s lifetime worth of knowledge and comprehension, his understanding toward souls had reached an extremely profound level. Even though the Earth Vein Spirit Vine was on the verge of dying, he was still able to treat it. Just that, it might take a little more effort.
Upon hearing that there was hope, Garden Owner Xue hurriedly said in agitation, “As long as you can save it, I’m willing to pay any price!”
Everyone else also turned their gazes over.
Even expert herbologists like them had never heard that a spirit herb losing its spirit could be treated. Thus, they were intent to learn a thing or two from this.
“The solution is actually quite simple… grafting!” Zhang Xuan said.
“Grafting?”
Everyone was perplexed.
As herbologists, the term ‘grafting’ wasn’t foreign to them. It consisted of implanting a bud onto the stem of another plant to form a whole plant.
Many new spirit herbs were created through this mean.
“That’s right. Plants can be grafted, spirits are the same as well!”
Zhang Xuan chuckled lightly, “As long as you can find another Earth Vein Spirit Vine bud with intact spirit and graft it to this spirit vein, over time, the spirit of the bud will fuse together with the original Earth Vein Spirit Vine, thus forming one entity.
If the grafting succeeded, the two plants would become one, and the spirit of the original Earth Vein Spirit Vine would be replenished.
“However… Given the normal rate of growth of Earth Vein Spirit Vines, it’ll be hard to succeed without decades passing. By then, all of the medicinal herbs in your herb garden would have long died… Thus, the growth of the Earth Vein Spirit Vine must be hastened, and the price of doing so will be extremely heavy!”
The concept of grafting was simple in theory, but it was terribly difficult in practice.
Firstly, the implantation of the spirit from the bud onto the Earth Vein Spirit Vine would already require the ability of a soul oracle, thus making it out of question for almost all herbologists.
Also, during the fusing process, one had to ensure that the original Earth Vein Spirit Vine would not reject the bud.
In truth, this grafting was no different from possession. Even though the original Earth Vein Spirit Vine was empty at the moment, it would still be difficult for the immature spirit of a bud to possess the body of such a huge vein.
It was just like an ant trying to pull a carriage.
And the price for hastening the growth of the spirit would be extremely hefty.
“What do you need? I’ll prepare it all now!” Garden Owner Xue gritted her teeth.
If the Earth Vein Spirit Vine were to die, all of the medicinal herbs in the herb garden would die. Her loss would only be greater then.
“An Earth Vein Spirit Vine bud, fifty medicinal herbs with at least a hundred years of maturity, ten buckets of Stemless Water…” Zhang Xuan began reciting the things he required for the operation.
Hearing those words, the crowd stared at one another with an awful complexion. The price was indeed a heavy one to pay.
Ordinary herbologist clans would surely be unable to take out all of these things, let alone, use them to save a single plant.
“Alright, I’ll prepare them now!” Hearing the items that were required, Garden Owner Xue’s eyebrows twitched as well. Even so, it was still within an acceptable range for her.
“Wait a moment…”
Just as she was about to prepare the goods, the young man’s voice sounded once more.
“Prepare a Sentiment Drowning Flower as well. It’ll be best if it has a maturity of five hundred years and above. Also, bring as many middle-tier spirit stones as you can!”
