I Outworked the Entire Cultivation World

Chapter 296: Chapter 262: Grafting the Spiritual Tree

Kongfang City was under martial law for twenty-one days before it was finally lifted, and the gates of the city opened wide.

The streets were still bustling with traffic and people, as if nothing had happened. After all, it wasn’t their family members who had died, and life goes on.

In fact, the arena battles for the Wind and Cloud Meeting’s ranking competitions were still held as usual in the city’s plaza, though there were significantly fewer participants.

Disciples of various sects and loose cultivators were leaving one after another. The checks at the city gates were extremely strict, and Jiang Yuebai heard that several well-known evil Dao cultivators with bounties on their heads were captured and killed on the spot by high-level cultivators stationed at the city gate.

The Heavenly Interence Sect, led by True Monarch Fuyi, arranged to leave together from the ancient teleportation array outside of Kongfang City three days later and return directly to the Fengxian Domain.

During these three days, Jiang Yuebai just happened to have time to handle her personal matters.

”I’ve already secured the determination tokens for talisman maker, array master, and puppet master. All that’s left is the alchemist’s. This way, I can sell my crafted talismans, array plates, and puppets through formal channels in the future.”

Jiang Yuebai, wearing a veil, arrived alone in front of a grand courtyard in the western part of the city. It was very quiet with few people around, and the air was filled with the bitter scent of various herbs.

”Alchemy Association.”

Jiang Yuebai confirmed the words on the sign and entered the courtyard.

The guilds in the Earth Spiritual Realm are jointly established and managed by the Three Alliances. The determination tokens issued by the guilds are authoritative and can help cultivators sell their homemade items at better prices.

Moreover, there are many high-paying commission tasks within the guild. Every three months, the guild sends out the latest list of commission tasks to guild members via the Hongyan Building for selection.

The service fees charged by the guild are also lower than those of external shops, and if any issues arise, the guild can guarantee full compensation.

The talisman maker’s assessment involves talisman painting, the array master’s involves arraying and breaking arrays, and the puppet master’s involves identifying mechanisms and disassembling and assembling puppet parts.

Jiang Yuebai speculated that the alchemist’s assessment would likely involve identifying spiritual medicine and refining elixirs, which posed no difficulty for her.

She had already obtained three seventh-grade tokens, which shocked both the inside and outside of the guild because the seventh grade is generally at the Golden Core Cultivator level.

”Fellow Daoist, are you here to participate in the alchemist’s determination assessment?”

Inside the courtyard, Jiang Yuebai encountered someone from the Alchemy Association. Before she could speak, the other person asked her first.

Jiang Yuebai nodded, ”Yes.”

A middle-aged Foundation Establishment male cultivator casually sized her up, ”You came just in time. The medicine identification round has just started today. Your identity token, please.”

Jiang Yuebai handed over the token. The middle-aged cultivator looked at it and exclaimed in surprise, ”You are Jiang Yuebai? The Jiang Yuebai from the Heavenly Interence Sect?”

Jiang Yuebai remained calm, as it was the same in other guilds before.

The middle-aged cultivator immediately changed his demeanor to one of caution and fawning smiles, ”Please, this way. I’ll take you to the assessment site. Rest assured with the assessment; leave the other procedures to me.”

Jiang Yuebai nodded and followed, knowing these people respected her all because of her master, True Monarch Fuyi, and True Monarch Cang Huo. Now, who in Kongfang City didn’t know that offending her would mean dealing with three True Monarchs at once?

Actually, relying on such influence felt pretty good, allowing her previous determination processes to go exceptionally smoothly, without encountering any obstacles or disdain.

Passing through the cave door, Jiang Yuebai was led into a heavily guarded courtyard. As soon as she stepped into the courtyard, an hourglass in the corner began timing.

In the courtyard, there was a lotus pond, and at the center of the pond was an extremely peculiar spiritual tree. Jiang Yuebai was immediately drawn to it upon seeing it.

The spiritual tree was over three meters high, with lush branches and leaves, and it was growing all sorts of different leaves, flowers, and fruits.

This completely overturned Jiang Yuebai’s understanding, making her believe that such a forcefully assembled spirit plant shouldn’t possibly survive, yet the tree exuded a strong vitality and truly lived before her eyes.

Jiang Yuebai quickly recognized a Bone Flower on the tree, which grows on the ground. How could it bloom on a tree?

Moreover, books recorded that even if a Bone Flower grew for a thousand years, it would only be the size of a child’s palm. But the one on the tree was already the size of a child’s head.

At the moment, three people, two men and one woman, were standing by the lotus pond, leaning in to study the tree closely, occasionally writing on paper with a writing brush.

The middle-aged cultivator said to Jiang Yuebai, ”This spiritual tree was cultivated by our guild president over a hundred years, encompassing numerous spirit plant varieties. Within a quarter of an hour, you need to identify at least ten kinds to pass the rapid medicine identification round. No Memory Jade recording or communicating with others is allowed, remember.”

Without needing to be prompted, Jiang Yuebai had already rushed to the edge of the lotus pond, leaned forward on tiptoes, and carefully examined the spiritual tree.

Her eyes shone brightly, filled with an inexplicable urge, wishing she could chop down the tree and take it home for study. How could a quarter of an hour be enough?

”So spirit plants can be grafted and grow like this. No wonder I...”

Jiang Yuebai had previously noticed some foggy ideas when observing her own vines, grasses, and fungi. Now, seeing this tree, it was like a sudden enlightenment, unveiling an extraordinary and new world.

The Little Ganoderma above her head trembled with excitement, her heart surging. This spiritual tree touched the foundation of her Path of Grass and Wood, revealing to her a new Path of Grass and Wood that ’Sea Accepts All Rivers.’

She wanted to learn it, learn everything contained in this spiritual tree.

The others beside her were looking troubled, racking their brains to find familiar spiritual medicine images from those mutated flowers and leaves, writing and erasing on paper repeatedly.

They managed to gather ten or so kinds, finally relaxing and submitting their answers early to wait on the side.

Only Jiang Yuebai kept her bright eyes focused, writing vigorously. Each time she crossed the edge of the lotus pond, she was pushed back by the barrier protecting the spiritual tree.

Until she finished, no one else could finish, as they had to wait until everyone was done to find out their respective results and advance to the next round.

”Does she even recognize those spiritual medicines? It shouldn’t take this long to identify ten kinds, right?”

”Exactly, just looks like she keeps writing, pretending to know.”

”These spiritual medicines don’t look like their original forms, and similar types can indeed be hard to identify. She’s probably writing down all possible answers and then eliminating them.”

As the others grew impatient waiting, Jiang Yuebai felt anxious inside and turned to the timekeeping middle-aged cultivator next to her.

”Can I observe a little longer? Just... half an hour more.”

Before she could finish, there were snickers all around.

”If you can’t identify them, just give up, go back and study the Grass and Wood Scripture, and come back.”

The middle-aged cultivator firmly but politely smiled, glancing at the hourglass in the corner of the courtyard. ”Half of a stick of incense remaining.”

Jiang Yuebai wiped the sweat from her forehead brought on by anxiety. The tree had an immense impact on her, hinting at her direction in demon arts, so she had to observe and understand it as much as possible.

Don’t rush; the more you rush, the more chaotic your mind becomes.

Jiang Yuebai swallowed, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and silently recited the two phrases on the Taihe Umbrella.

”In silence resides truth, subtle mechanisms in their essence, drink from the Taihe, alone the crane flies.”

Recently, in the process of taming the Crane Spirit and sacrificial refining the Taihe Umbrella, Jiang Yuebai discovered that communicating with the Crane Spirit and experiencing the intent of these two phrases could quickly calm her mind, gradually reaching a state of ’subtlety.’

The sound of crane cries echoed throughout her Sea of Consciousness, vibrating her Divine Soul, dissipating distractions.

Jiang Yuebai forgot herself, her mind gradually relaxed, her thoughts naturally released, becoming sensitive, delicate, and flexibly flowing.

She tilted her head slightly, her Divine Thought brushing through the leaves like a breeze, or like water, encompassing everything, slowly simulating the entire process of the tree’s growth from a seedling in the depths of her dark Sea of Consciousness.

She ’saw’ the finest color and vein differences between the leaves, captured the different blooming rhythms of the two flowers, and, in utmost slowness, ’watched’ as the spiritual tree quickly grew in her Sea of Consciousness.

Subtle mechanisms in their essence, all the subtle changes in the world were naturally perceived in her current silent and profound mindset.

Jiang Yuebai immersed herself in this comfortable and natural state, gradually forgetting even to observe, gently breathing the moist and gentle qi of the world.

One inhale, the spiritual tree slightly trembled, the vitality of grass and trees within it seemed to be pulled like a thread, drawn into Jiang Yuebai’s body to nourish her five viscera and six bowels.

One exhale, the pure qi within her body dispersed, feeding back to the spiritual tree, nourishing its growth, and it joyously swayed.

In each inhale and exhale, Jiang Yuebai’s breathing rhythm subtly aligned with the rhythm of the spiritual tree’s swaying, and even the world gradually pulled out threads, drawn in by Jiang Yuebai.

The lotus pond rippled in waves, koi fish underneath surfaced, breathing toward Jiang Yuebai’s direction.

Birds flew to the wall, landing on Jiang Yuebai’s shoulder, flapping their wings and chirping with joy.

Dynamic and natural, blending into the world.