Chapter 244 Assisting in Its Demise_l
Translator: 549690339
“Oh? A third-grade Qingyu branch? Could the junior apprentice step forward and let us take a look?”
A flicker of interest ignited in Lu Xuan’s heart. This third-grade Qingyu branch was extremely rare, a fact he’d come to know from a book in the Scripture Treasury Pavilion. Sky Sword Sect didn’t have corresponding spiritual seeds available for exchange.
The gloomy-looking young man took out an oddly shaped tree branch from his storage bag.
The branch was slender and a deep cyan color, its top was adorned with corallike fine branches that resembled jade of light cyan hue, emanating a glossy texture.
Lu Xuan’s sharp eyes spotted many almost invisible tiny cracks on the jade-like fine branches, which could be easily overlooked by the naked eye.
The cracks were too subtle, their patterns extended naturally, not looking like they were caused by human interference.
“Junior Apprentice, how long has this Qingyu branch been in this condition?”
Lu Xuan curiously asked.
“Less than three days, I am not too sure about the specifics. I only discovered
this today.”
The gloomy-looking young man replied indifferently.
Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan nodded and started inspecting the third-grade
Qingyu branch in his hand, his thoughts swirling.
“What could be the cause? Judging from the trend of the cracks, it’s unlikely to be any external forces. The focus should be on internal factors.”
“So, what could it be? Invasion of Evil Spite Qi? Unknown strange worm? Or it simply wants to crack on its own?”
“Uncle Master, were you able to figure out the problem?
Growing impatient, the gloomy young man asked anxiously.
“Not yet, please give me a bit more time.”
Lu Xuan continued carefully examining the third-grade Qingyu branch in his
hands.
After half a moment, he and the other Outer Sect Disciples who were attracted to this scene, were still at a loss. Their proposed solutions only treated the symptoms but not the root cause, and they were unable to find where the problem lay.
“Uncle Master, if you can’t figure out the problem, maybe we should move on.
I’ll try to ask another Uncle Master for help.”,
The young man replied with a hint of doubt in his voice.
“May I attempt to plant this Qingyu branch?”
He calmly asked the gloomy young man for his permission.
In face of this uncertain situation, Lu Xuan planned to utilize his accurate understanding of the growth state of spirit plants, and try planting the branch to figure out the cause.
“Uncle Master, there’s no need to go to such lengths.”
“I have a strong affinity with growing spiritual plants, and I can generally sense their feelings and needs.
Once the Qingyu branch is planted, I can use a few Spirit Plant Methods to get
an approximation.”
“As long as it doesn’t damage the Qingyu branch.”
After some hesitation, the young man agreed, even though he found Lu Xuan’s proposition somewhat absurd.
“Rest assured, junior apprentice, I guarantee that it will not aggravate any damage to the spirit plant.”
With the permission from the owner of the Qingyu branch, Lu Xuan found an empty space, used the Earth Pulling Technique, and planted the Qingyu branch in the Spirit Field.
Among the many Outer Sect Disciples who had come to attend the class, quite a few gathered around to watch how Lu Xuan would resolve this problem.
The Qingyu branch was perfectly lodged in a crevice.
Lu Xuan cast the Spirit Rain Technique on the spirit plant, and strands of Spirit Qi Rain Silk seeped into the roots and leaves of the Qingyu branch.
With a focused mind, he received detailed information about the Qingyu branch.
[Qingyu branch, third-grade spiritual plant, rare and precious. It requires absorbance of jade essence during its growth process. Once mature, it can be used in refining jade Ruyi, jade pendants, jade slips, and other evil-expelling
artifacts.]
[Losing vitality. A hidden wood insect has parasitized the spiritual plant, which caused the loss of vitality. If this continues for a long time, the jade stone at the top is likely to slowly disintegrate.]
“Hidden Wood Insect? What’s that?”
Having pinpointed the problem, Lu Xuan instantly felt relieved.
However, he had never heard of the Hidden Wood Insect hiding within the spiritual plant before. Out of curiosity, his Spiritual Sense began to converge throughout the spiritual plant.
Perhaps upon encountering the main body of the Hidden Wood Insect, information about the Hidden Wood Insect quickly flashed across his mind.
[Hidden Wood Insect, a third-grade Strange Worm, it has lower attack power among its kind, but its ability to conceal itself is extremely strong, enabling it to cleverly meld with spiritual plants.]
[It can form a symbiotic relationship with certain spiritual plants, growing together. It can also parasite within other spiritual plants, slowly draining their vitality.]
[Wood Element Artifacts or charms can be used to lure it out.] “Being able to meld with spiritual plants, no wonder I couldn’t find any trace.”
” Symbiosis parasitism ”
Lu Xuan mused, then suddenly, it felt like a lightning bolt struck his mind. “This Green Jade Branch in front of me clearly isn’t the symbiotic target of the Hidden Wood Insect, so why is there trace of the Hidden Wood Insect inside the spiritual plant?”
“Perhaps someone deliberately placed the Hidden Wood Insect inside the spiritual plant?”
The more Lu Xuan thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
The passive relationship between the Hidden Wood Insect and the parasitic spiritual plant, coupled with the obviously short time that the Green Jade Branch exhibited abnormal conditions.
Lu Xuan thought quickly, the more he considered it, the more plausible it seemed.
“If someone deliberately placed the Hidden Wood Insect into the Green Jade Branch, what was their aim?”
“To disrupt the class?”
He could already envision the ensuing scene.
As a Spirit Plant Master who could teach in the Hall of Transference, being powerless in dealing with the fracturing issue of the Third-Grade Green Jade Branch, only to have an unknown Qi Cultivator solve it afterwards.
Such a stark contrast would likely affect his reputation in the path of spiritual plants.
“Who could be the mastermind behind all this?”
The first people Lu Xuan thought of were the three individuals in the Blessed Land. He usually kept a low profile and was kind-hearted to others. Due to the major dispute over the Phoenix Wood with the three individuals, it was very unlikely anyone else was involved.
“Using the short-in-supply Third-Grade Green Jade Branch as bait, deliberately inserting a Hidden Wood Insect that would be highly challenging to detect, it was anticipated that I would be unable to handle the situation, and my reputation would fall. Subsequently, they could use a specific Magic Artifact to lure the Hidden Wood Insect out of the spiritual plant, allowing the slightly declining vitality of the Green Jade Branch to recover quickly.
“Coming up with such a flawlessly deceptive method in less than half a day is by no means easy.”
“Unfortunately, after all their planning and scheming, they didn’t anticipate that I would detect traces of the Hidden Wood Insect.
Lu Xuan’s mouth imperceptibly curled into a smirk.
Being able to grasp the immediate state of the spiritual plants allowed him to immediately identify any abnormalities, and thereby find a solution.
“By placing the Hidden Wood Insect into the precious Green Jade Branch that can’t establish a symbiotic relationship, they obviously have no intention of preserving the spiritual plant.”
“In that case, I’ll just throw a spanner in their works.”
“Accelerating the demise of the Green Jade Branch.”
He held the Green Jade Branch in his hand, and a fine stream of Qingmu Origin Energy flowed from the tip of his little finger into the spiritual plant.
The Qingmu Origin Energy contained a large amount of pure plant spiritual energy that most spiritual plants and Strange Worms like the Hidden Wood
Insect favored.
The moment the Hidden Wood Insect inside the Green Jade Branch absorbed it, it could drastically accelerate its growth, integrating even more deeply and seamlessly with the spiritual plant, till they were indistinguishable.
The people behind this wanted to undermine Lu Xuan and then separate the Hidden Wood Insect from the Green Jade Branch, but Lu Xuan, not one to do things by halves, directly welded the two firmly together, eliminating the possibility of separation.
“Junior Brother, I’ve thoroughly checked it out, there seems to be a third-grade Hidden Wood Insect hidden inside the Green Jade Branch.
“However, it has been there for quite some time already, it’s a chronic illness, too far gone, I’m afraid it will be very difficult to restore the spiritual plant to normal.”
Just as he finished speaking, there was a crackling sound from the jade branch at the top of the Green Jade Branch. The originally barely visible cracks instantly lengthened and widened, becoming crisp and clear.