23: Planting Qingling Vine

After discovering the first mutated willow leaf, Lin Yan successively found several more.

At this rate, it was estimated that all these willow trees would grow mutated Azure Blade Willow Leaves.

"There must be something special about this Azure Blade Willow."

Lin Yan discovered that all the mutated willow leaves eventually transformed into Azure Blade Willow Leaves.

It should be known that in the Canglan Realm, willow trees were an extremely vast plant System, and the various Spirit Willows derived from them were countless.

Just within the jurisdiction of the Spirit Herb Hall, there was a mountain famous for its willows: Ten Thousand Willow Peak.

This Ten Thousand Willow Peak grew all kinds of Spirit Willows.

Some older Spirit Willows would gestate century-old willow leaves or millennium-old willow leaves that contained a certain amount of medicinal power.

These types of willow leaves could be directly refined to increase cultivation, or used as medicine, and were of great value.

Many Spirit Herb Hall Disciples would run the mountain in their spare time to collect century-old willow leaves.

Why did these willow leaves not mutate in the direction of other Spirit Willows, such as century-old willow leaves, but instead favored the Azure Blade Willow?

Lin Yan speculated that this matter must have something to do with the Sword Pavilion.

For this reason, he even specifically went to inquire about it.

The Azure Blade Willow seemed to have a remarkable background; it was a special spirit plant related to a great expert predecessor of the Spirit Herb Hall and was once a famous spirit plant of the Sword Pavilion.

But with the passing of that predecessor, spirit plants like the Azure Blade Willow within the Sword Pavilion gradually withered away.

Now, neither the Spirit Herb Hall nor the entire Wood Lineage of the Sword Pavilion had any true Azure Blade Willows left.

As for why the passing of a great expert would affect the growth of spirit plants, this involved some extremely profound cultivation secrets.

Within Lin Yan's circle, he could not yet fathom such secrets.

There was only a rumor that Ten Thousand Willow Peak was once the dojo of that great expert who cultivated the Azure Blade Willow.

Not only Ten Thousand Willow Peak, but within the Spirit Herb Hall's jurisdiction, there were other spirit mountains like Qingzhu Peak, which were also rumored to be dojos left behind by predecessor great experts.

These types of spirit mountains produced some unique spirit materials and were very popular among Disciples.

...

After the willow trees were planted and established, he began the cultivation of the Azure Spirit Vine and Hidden Mist Grass.

Lin Yan squatted on the edge of the ridge, a cloth bag slung across his waist, pinching a few seeds with his fingertips.

Some seeds were entirely emerald green, with vine-like patterns faintly emerging on the surface; these were the seeds of the "Azure Spirit Vine."

There were also some seeds like silver-gray particles condensed from mist; when brought close, one could smell a cool herbal fragrance; these were the seeds of the "Hidden Mist Grass."

Lin Yan first paced around the spirit field, his gaze like a ruler, measuring the distance between the willow trees and the ridge.

He finally settled on a distance of three feet from the willow trees, a spot that would neither hinder the willow trees' growth nor allow the Azure Spirit Vines to climb up using the willow branches.

The planting of the Azure Spirit Vine began first.

Lin Yan dug a shallow pit the width of a palm, gently placed the emerald spirit seed inside, and covered it with a layer of fine soil dug from the spirit field.

The soil of the spirit field had been improved and was more suitable for the growth of spirit plants.

Of course, this was not enough.

Both the Azure Spirit Vine and the Hidden Mist Grass were Second-Order Spiritual Plants, so if they were to grow normally here, the spirit fertilizer had to be sufficient.

A large ladle of greenish spirit fertilizer was poured directly down, and the soil even shimmered with a pale green spiritual light.

spirit fertilizer was a special medicinal liquid of the Spirit Herb Hall, which not only benefited plant growth but also improved soil quality.

For soil that was already fertile like this, after reclaiming it and pouring spirit fertilizer a few times, it could be upgraded to a First-Order spirit field.

After pouring the spirit fertilizer, he pinched his fingers to form a seal, and a stream of azure spiritual power was injected into the pit.

As the "Azure Wood Technique" operated, Lin Yan began to catalyze the Azure Spirit Vine seeds in the soil.

Seeds were the initial life stage of a spirit plant and were essentially a spirit plant themselves.

Through the threads of spiritual power, he could clearly feel the seeds in the soil rapidly changing.

The green shells broke open, and the tender cotyledons and root Systems began to grow.

Before long, Lin Yan discovered a familiar system panel appearing on the soil:

【spirit plant Name: Azure Spirit Vine】

【growth progress: 1 / 1000】

【Growth Status: Continuous catalysis, experience + 1】

...

The growth progress of ordinary plants was 10 points, and the total growth progress of First-Order spirit plants like Spirit Rice was 100 points.

The Azure Spirit Vine was a Second-Order Spiritual Plant, with a total growth progress of 1000 points.

Of course, this was just the System digitizing the spirit plants, which did not completely correspond to the actual situation.

For example, the willow trees and the Alfalfa both had a growth progress of 10 points.

But it was very difficult for the willow trees to increase 1 point of growth progress, while the Alfalfa's growth progress increased very quickly.

After clicking for experience, the growth progress of this Azure Spirit Vine became two points.

In an instant, a subtle "pop" sound came from the pit, and the emerald seed instantly broke through the soil.

The tender sprout looked like it was carved from jade, with green seed coats still hanging on the two nascent leaves.

Even more astonishing was that the speed at which the sprout shot up was visible to the naked eye; in just three breaths, it had grown into a young vine three inches long.

Fine Spirit Patterns appeared on the vine body, and even a few tendrils extended from the end, tentatively reaching out towards the surrounding willow trees.

"With only two points of growth progress, it has already grown to three inches long." Lin Yan estimated:

"According to this progress, when the Azure Spirit Vine matures, it can grow to fifty meters long."

Of course, according to Lin Yan's understanding of this type of spirit plant, fifty meters was by no means its upper limit.

It was just that when it grew to fifty meters, the Azure Spirit Vine could be considered to have entered the mature stage.

His four mu of spirit fields were each reclaimed very neatly, all square.

Their side lengths were just about twenty or thirty meters.

Lin Yan estimated that by planting an Azure Spirit Vine every five meters, he could plant exactly twenty Azure Spirit Vines around one spirit field, for a total of eighty Azure Spirit Vines.

There were over a hundred seeds each of Azure Spirit Vine and Hidden Mist Grass bought from the Treasure Pavilion, which was completely enough.

To avoid being discovered by Xu Shuangyuan or others, Lin Yan chose to add experience to the spirit plants at night.

When adding experience during the early growth stage of spirit plants, the changes in the spirit plants were too obvious.

Originally, Second-Order Spiritual Plants were extremely difficult to grow in this kind of environment, but fortunately, the System's point addition was of great benefit to the growth of spirit plants.

These Azure Spirit Vines of Lin Yan's not only grew very well but also far exceeded normally cultivated Azure Spirit Vines.

...

After planting the Azure Spirit Vines, the next step was the Hidden Mist Grass.

The Hidden Mist Grass did not need to climb the willow trees; one could be planted between every two Azure Spirit Vines, with the same quantity for both.

Digging a pit, placing the silver-gray Hidden Mist Grass seed, and covering it with fine soil dug from the spirit field.

Pouring spirit fertilizer, performing the "Azure Wood Technique" to catalyze, all done in one go.

At night, when it was quiet and still.

The sounds of insects like crickets and frogs echoed around the valley, intertwining and resounding throughout the entire valley.

In the mountains behind the valley, the roar of a wild beast could be heard from time to time.

Usually, only Lin Yan and Xu Shuangyuan were here, and it was livelier at night than during the day.

Over these past few days, Little Fatty had already harvested all the Spirit Rice, and the spirit fields were empty.

As for the harvested Spirit Rice, it had been transferred to Lin Yan's temporary warehouse.

After Zhao Qiyang and Tu Lei left, two small wooden houses were vacated, which were now used as temporary warehouses to store the Spirit Rice.

...

Lin Yan was alone; he first quietly dug up the Qinglu Rice plants by the roots and transferred them behind the small wooden house where he lived.

Spirit Rice had strong vitality, and basically, all could survive after being transplanted into a suitable environment.

After transplanting the Qinglu Rice, Lin Yan turned his attention to the Hidden Mist Grass.

【spirit plant Name: Hidden Mist Grass】

【growth progress: 1 / 1000】

【Growth Status: Continuous catalysis, experience + 1】

【Absorbing a small amount of spirit fertilizer, experience + 1】

...

He deftly clicked for experience twice, and the growth progress of the Hidden Mist Grass became 3 points.

In an instant, a hazy mist rose from the soil, and the seeds swelled as if they had been immersed in water.

In just five breaths, a silver-gray grass sprout broke through the soil and quickly grew into a two-inch-tall Hidden Mist Grass.

Its leaves were like thin gauze condensed from rime, with silver light gleaming on the edges, and mist-like Spiritual Qi faintly flowing in the leaf veins.

The most magical thing was that as the grass leaves unfurled, the air around the Hidden Mist Grass gradually became hazy, as if covered by a layer of thin gauze.

"Tsk tsk, this growth speed, it doesn't look like I planted seeds, it looks more like I planted seedlings." Lin Yan sighed inwardly.

If anyone asked, he would definitely say he planted seedlings, since no one saw it anyway.

Without stopping, he continued to add experience to the other Hidden Mist Grasses.

One after another, the silver-gray Hidden Mist Grasses broke through the soil.

When passing by an Azure Spirit Vine, Lin Yan had an unexpected discovery.

【spirit plant Name: Azure Spirit Vine】

【growth progress: 3 / 1000】

【mutation progress: 1%】

【Growth Status: None】