Chapter 89: Moon-Sustaining Ancient Lotus (Part 1)
Speaking of which, the second phase of the event was to use spiritual energy to make flowers bloom.
That would give quite an advantage to cultivators who practiced wood-attribute techniques…
…
Toying with the withered seed in his hand, Song Yan’s thoughts drifted.
Since he had not yet found new spirit seeds, he might as well try this Moon-Sustaining Ancient Lotus ahead of time.
The Spirit Flower Valley people had said that the seed of the Moon-Sustaining Ancient Lotus was essentially beyond saving with spiritual energy.
But he had only wanted to familiarize himself with the process beforehand.
He did not even pause, walking at a leisurely pace.
A wisp of spiritual energy from his fingertip slowly infused into the withered seed.
The spiritual energy was like a cow falling into the sea—the moment it was drawn in, it vanished without a trace.
“It truly has no effect at all…”
He urged the spiritual energy throughout his body, continuing to increase the input.
Still, it made no difference whatsoever.
The blackened seed was as if it had truly died, without the slightest ripple.
Spiritual energy drawn into it dissipated almost instantly.
However, Song Yan could already faintly sense what the Spirit Flower Valley cultivator had called “a single trace of remaining life force.”
That sliver of life force was incomparably weak.
The decayed aura around it condensed into a physical form, tightly wrapping that faint spark of vitality.
Actually, the principle of using spiritual energy to stimulate spirit plants was not much different from many wood-attribute techniques.
After several attempts, he had already grasped the underlying mechanism.
At the same time, he had truly passed judgment on this Moon-Sustaining Ancient Lotus seed.
“Perhaps due to the unique structure of the seed, the decay spread from the outside in. Where that trace of life force resided, a gap remained between it and the surrounding decay, so it was ‘sealed’ within.”
He speculated silently in his heart. He was about to discard the seed when he suddenly pulled his hand back.
…
All along, Song Yan had wanted to try a certain idea.
That was.
What was the qualitative difference between the sword qi evolved from the Sword Dao seed and ordinary spiritual energy?
Previously, when exploring Lin Qinglong’s cave dwelling together, he had suddenly hit upon the idea of infusing sword qi instead of spiritual energy.
But at the time, he had worried about causing trouble, wasting the trip, and being unable to fight so many people on his own.
Now, however, he could give it a try.
Use sword qi to make flowers bloom?
Even Song Yan found the idea absurd.
But it was a useless seed anyway.
A sliver of frost-white sword qi from his fingertip flowed forth, carefully sinking into the pitch-black seed shell.
However, that sharp aura, the moment it touched the decayed matter around the seed core, pierced straight through and carved a small slit in the withered seed.
Then it dissolved without a trace, just like the spiritual energy before it.
…
As expected.
A failure.
He did not feel disappointed. The seed was already withered and dead.
But from that slit that had been cut open, he had sensed a familiar aura.
The decay of spiritual things…
He thoughtfully traced the wrinkled marks on the surface of the seed shell with his fingers.
Suddenly, he remembered something.
In the world within the painting, wind and thunder on the cliff.
Beneath the wind and thunder, dead wood sprouted.
…
Song Yan cupped his five fingers loosely. A strand of sword qi spiraled slowly into his palm.
The sword qi grew increasingly solid. Golden lightning arcs suddenly crawled along the white sword shadow.
The sword qi entered the seed once more…
An abrupt change erupted!
The originally pitch-black seed shell, illuminated by the lightning, unexpectedly began to show fine, web-like patterns.
Layer upon layer of dead energy were torn open by several rifts in the sword qi.
Like spring ice melting under water.
“!”
Song Yan was startled, stunned where he stood.
Though somewhat bewildered, he still carefully guided the sword qi.
That dormant spark of life, guided by the sword qi’s wind and thunder, surged forth along the veins.
Within the span of several breaths, the ink-colored shell actually faded to the texture of white mutton jade, and a slender green shoot tremblingly pushed open the seed shell.
“So quickly?” Then, an even more crazy idea flashed through his mind.
What if this ancient lotus’s life force was, as the Spirit Flower Valley cultivator had said, but a brief flash—
Then perhaps he should…
He brought two fingers together. The spiritual qi of the surrounding plants and trees converged toward him like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, condensing within the small spirit seed in his palm.
At the same time, the sword qi within his Sword Pavilion also poured forth in torrents.
The tender shoot grew rapidly. The spiritual qi of the valley surged toward him, catching Song Yan off guard!
Fortunately, it did not last long. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a one-foot-tall lotus stem, and a lotus flower as bright as the full moon slowly bloomed amidst the lightning.
At the heart of the lotus, a pure moonlight condensed, slowly lifting a single lotus seed.
…
Song Yan stood frozen in place, staring at the lotus in his hand, dazed and lost in thought.
Just as he was perplexed, the ancient lotus’s spiritual energy suddenly began to collapse and scatter. The luminous petals started to rot and wither.
He dared not delay. He quickly touched his fingertip, drawing the lotus seed into his palm.
After a moment’s thought, he flicked his finger to produce a flame, burning the withered, decaying lotus into ash.
“Truly bizarre.”
He was unclear about the exact cause, but this lotus seed in his palm was indeed alive.
Its spiritual energy was very faint, but he could feel its surging, majestic vitality.
“I forgot to ask earlier what use this ancient lotus might have.”
Who could have imagined that his casual attempt would turn into this?
The ancient lotus born from the withered seed still could not be preserved, but he had obtained a living lotus seed.
What if this seed could grow into a living ancient lotus?
“If I had known there would be such a commotion, I would have brought it back to the small courtyard to try.”
He released his divine sense and searched in all directions. Fortunately, he did not sense anyone else’s presence.
After a moment’s thought, he decided not to inform the Spirit Flower Valley side about this matter.
The reasoning behind it was something even he could not fully understand, let alone explain to outsiders.
He gradually composed himself.
The lotus was wondrous, but it could only be considered an unexpected bonus.
For now, obtaining that ancient sword was the true priority.
He found a spot with dense spiritual qi traces and quickly strode away.
…
Half an hour later.
From the direction of Butterfly-Clapping Spring, the sound of flower bells rang out.
The flower bells chimed three times. Between the first and third chimes, only the time it took to drink a cup of tea elapsed.
If all three chimes finished and a cultivator had not returned to the spring, they could no longer participate in the Flower-Blooming Assembly.
The cultivators returned one after another.
The Flower-Blooming Assembly began shortly thereafter.
After that inexplicable Cheng Yu, Song Yan had not encountered any other strange individuals. Relying on the Mystic Adversity Spirit-Worshipping Mask, he had collected roughly eight or nine spirit seeds.
And his Senior Brother Lu Ziye, using some unknown method, had amassed over thirty flower seeds!
Combined with his exquisite wood-attribute techniques, he had surely already secured first place.
Lu Ziye lazily pointed at the spirit seeds piled like a mountain before him.
“Junior Brother Song, shall we compare?”
Song Yan waved his hand. “No, no.”
Although the Flower-Blooming Assembly was not decided solely by the number of spirit seeds found in the first round, Lu Ziye’s strength was clearly sufficient to allow him to casually choose the higher-valued seeds.
In the end, there was no surprise at all.
Lu Ziye took first place.
Second place appeared to be a female cultivator native to North Watch Mountain.
Song Yan had originally wanted to test whether sword qi could be used to stimulate ordinary spirit seeds, but he ended up slicing one of them in half, drawing exclamations of amazement from the surrounding cultivators.
Fortunately, he had enough spirit seeds to afford such waste.
In the end, he tried his hardest and barely managed to secure third place.
And Cheng Yu, who had once boasted in front of Sheng Yun, only managed fifth place.
His luck seemed rather mediocre.
An ancient and unadorned flying sword was taken from the Cosmos Bag where the Spirit Flower Valley cultivators had placed the prizes.
He accepted the flying sword.
The Two Pearl began to hum softly…