Chapter 80 Exploring the Remnant Garden, Four Women Display Their Abilities

Early the next morning, Lin Yue rose early to head to Zizhi Garden and the old site of Baicao Valley to fulfill the handover arrangements.

Lin Yue brought A He, Su Qingyuan, Luo Ningshuang, and Ling Wei with him, and together with Gongsun Lüe and Lin Dexuan, the group of seven stepped through the morning mist toward the West Mountain Medicine Garden.

Upon arriving at Zizhi Garden, everyone was shocked by the scene before them: the once lush spiritual fields were in shambles, high-grade Spirit Medicine had been uprooted, and broken branches and withered leaves covered the ridges. The Formation Flags of the protective Formation were stuck upside down in the ground, the Formation base had been destroyed by brute force, and deep trenches split the ground, with black gas overflowing from them—this was the foul Qi generated after the Spiritual Vein was damaged.

"Wu Tianli intends to destroy the Foundation!" Ling Wei squatted down, her fingertips brushing over the blackened soil, her expression grave. "He used the Xuantian Spirit-Eroding Rune to contaminate the topsoil; ordinary spiritual plants planted here will wither within three days."

Gongsun Lüe frowned as she surveyed the surroundings. "The West Mountain Medicine Garden was originally a second-tier Spiritual Vein node of the Sect. Now that the Spiritual Vein's Qi is chaotic, I fear the main trunk of the Spiritual Vein underground has also suffered."

"Let me try." A He stepped forward, her bare feet pressing onto the soil. She fully activated her Azure Vine Mysterious Water Spiritual Root, and a pale green spiritual light seeped into the ground through the soles of her feet.

She closed her eyes, and a faint light shimmered in her amber pupils. "Husband, the main trunk of the Spiritual Vein three zhang underground is severed, and foul Qi is spreading along the cracks. There are also three branch Spiritual Veins blocked by foul-natured Magical Artifacts; the Spiritual Qi cannot rise at all."

Her fingertips moved slightly, and a wisp of spiritual light was pulled out from underground, wrapped around a small piece of blackened Magical Artifact debris, which still had residual Spirit-Eroding black Qi on it.

"Leave this foul Qi to me." Su Qingyuan stepped forward, and her crimson flame skyfall sword was unsheathed. Her Green Fire Sword Intent coalesced into a sword net, enveloping the entire spiritual field.

The moment the sword net descended, the foul Qi ignited upon contact with the fire, making a "sizzling" sound before dissipating into wisps of black smoke. The poisonous insects and Yao Beasts lurking in the soil were terrified by the Sword Intent and scrambled to escape, only to be singed by the green fire at the edge of the sword net, instantly turning into fly ash.

Her posture was upright, and as the sword light flowed, the once lifeless spiritual field gradually regained some clarity. She said coldly, "The Yao Beasts and poisonous insects have been cleared, and the surface foul Qi has been removed. The rest can only be thoroughly purified once the Spiritual Vein recovers."

Luo Ningshuang walked to the center of the spiritual field and took out paper and brush to quickly sketch. "The terrain of the West Mountain Medicine Garden is higher in the west and lower in the east, which is suitable for layered planting. The higher areas should be planted with drought-resistant purple pill ginseng and red essence reishi; the middle layers with ice heart grass and moon heart orchid, which require spiritual spring nourishment; and the lower areas should have irrigation channels dug to plant moisture-loving Nine-Leaf Mysterious Ginseng. This combination can maximize the use of the Spiritual Vein's Spiritual Qi while allowing the medicinal properties of different Spirit Medicines to complement each other, increasing the success rate of pill refinement."

Her brush tip paused, and she added, "I can refine 'Foul-Clearing Pills' to mix with the spiritual soil and scatter on the surface; it will neutralize the residual Spirit-Eroding Qi within three days. Then, supplemented with 'Growth-Inducing Liquid', it can accelerate the rooting of the Spirit Medicine."

"Leave the Formation aspect to me." Ling Wei took out a black jade tablet and quickly carved Formation runes on it with her fingertips. "The Spiritual Vein of the West Mountain Medicine Garden is damaged, so it is not suitable to set up a complex grand Formation. I will use the 'Three-Ring Spirit Gathering Array': the outer ring will clear foulness, the middle ring will gather Qi, and the inner ring will nurture spirits. It only requires twelve mid-grade Formation Flags to activate. However, to completely stabilize the main trunk of the Spiritual Vein, a Golden Core Grade Magic Treasure is needed to suppress the fracture, otherwise, Spiritual Qi will continue to leak."

Working together, the group finished the preliminary cleanup of the West Mountain Medicine Garden in less than half a day.

When the group moved on to the Baicao Medicine Garden, the Holy Land that was once shrouded in mist and filled with the refreshing fragrance of medicine was now left with nothing but dust in the sky, and the scene was even more unbearable to behold.

The Spiritual Vein at the old site of Baicao Valley had already been damaged by the wars of the past, and after Wu Tianli's destruction, the underground Spiritual Vein was almost completely severed. The soil had hardened like iron, making it difficult even for weeds to grow. Only a few withered remnants of medicinal herb roots remained, showing that this place had once been a Holy Land for medicinal planting.

Luo Ningshuang's footsteps were half a beat slower than they had been at Zizhi Garden.

She did not immediately squat down to investigate like Ling Wei, nor did she show anger like Su Qingyuan. She simply stood under the long-withered thousand-year-old ancient medicinal vine in the valley, her gaze falling upon a deep mark on the ground—that was the seedling area her Master had marked out for her when she first began learning to plant. Now, however, it had been eroded by foul Qi into a blackened trench.

She slowly bent down, her fingertips brushing over the hardened soil. It felt as hard as iron, and she could not even detect a trace of Spiritual Qi.

Her once lively eyes were now as deep and still as a cold pool, and her long eyelashes drooped, concealing the surging emotions in her eyes. Only when her fingertips touched a piece of withered root that still bore familiar patterns did they curl slightly—that was the first medicinal vine she had planted with her own hands, which had survived three cold waves under her Master's guidance, but now only charred remains were left.

"The Spiritual Vein here... was severed intentionally." Her voice was a few degrees lower than usual, devoid of much emotion, yet carrying a chill.

Ling Wei condensed a wisp of pale green spiritual power at her fingertips and slowly seeped it deep into the soil. "There are signs of a fracture five zhang underground, with the fluctuations of the Xuantian Spirit-Eroding Rune remaining on the edges, along with the aura of 'Spirit-Locking Nails'—Wu Tianli not only destroyed the surface, but also nailed shut any possibility of the Spiritual Vein recovering."

Luo Ningshuang nodded and said, "The hardened soil needs to be dissolved with 'Soil-Splitting Pills', then mixed with triple the dosage of Foul-Clearing Pills and filled in layers. The fracture in the Spiritual Vein cannot be suppressed with ordinary Magic Treasures; a 'Baicao Soul-Suppressing Seal' must be refined to draw the residual Spiritual Qi from underground upward."

Su Qingyuan drew her sword, and her Sword Intent probed into the cracks in the ground. "There are many surviving Yao insects hidden underground; they are Blood-Thirsting Insects nourished by foul Qi. Their numbers are vast, and I fear they have already built a nest underground." Before her voice had faded, she leaped up, her Green Fire Sword Intent transforming into several sword blades that fiercely pierced into the ground.

"Boom!" The ground shook, and countless dark red Blood-Thirsting Insects burst out of the soil, crawling toward the group in a dense swarm.

Su Qingyuan unfolded her sword stance, and her Heaven-Burning Sword Intent was like a prairie fire. Wherever it passed, the Blood-Thirsting Insects were instantly burned to A Hes, leaving not even a trace of odor.

In less than half an incense stick of time, the insect nest underground was completely cleared.

Luo Ningshuang squatted down, her fingertips pinching a bit of Spiritual Vein powder. "The difficulty of repairing the Spiritual Vein here is immense. It requires 'Spirit-Gathering Jade Marrow' mixed with Spirit Medicine sap to fill the void in the core of the Spiritual Vein, supplemented by long-term nourishment."

Ling Wei walked to the Formation eye of the South Mountain Medicine Garden, and the Formation runes on the black jade tablet lit up. "The Baicao Medicine Garden needs the 'Seven-Star Vein-Suppressing Array' to be set up. Each of the seven Formation eyes requires a Golden Core Grade Magic Treasure to suppress it, in order to forcibly draw in Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to nourish the exhausted Spiritual Vein core. Adding the vein-suppressing Magic Treasure for the West Mountain Medicine Garden, a total of eight Golden Core Grade Magic Treasures are needed; otherwise, these two Medicine Gardens can only become wastelands."

Luo Ningshuang, however, said, "As long as the Formation and Magic Treasures are in place, I can design a 'Medicinal Plant Cycle' plan, using low-grade Spirit Medicine to cultivate companion herbs for high-grade Spirit Medicine, and then use the sap of the companion herbs to nourish the Spiritual Vein, which can save thirty percent of Spirit Stone consumption. But the prerequisite for all of this is to first gather the vein-suppressing Magic Treasures."

Ling Wei put away the black jade tablet. "I have already drawn the Formation diagrams for the Three-Ring Spirit Gathering Array and the Seven-Star Vein-Suppressing Array. As long as the Magic Treasures are in place, they can be set up in a single day. However, the power of Golden Core Grade Magic Treasures is extremely strong, and they must be presided over and refined by someone with sufficient cultivation, otherwise, it is easy to trigger a spiritual power backlash."

Lin Yue's brows were locked in a frown. Eight Golden Core Grade Magic Treasures—he could only borrow them from the Sect Elders. The only ones capable of suppressing the grand Formation were the Golden Core Elders of the Sect.

And the only Elder he knew was his Revered Master, Liu Qingyan.

"I will go to the East Peak to find Revered Master." Lin Yue made a prompt decision. "As a Golden Core Elder, Master Liu might have a way."