txolops Chapter 272 The Spirit Ginseng Appears
Chapter 272 The Spirit Ginseng Appears
"Oh? Please speak, senior." Luo Ming perked up.
"About 150 paces to your right, within the 'Phoenix Eye Tree' with its three-colored leaves, the wood spirit energy gathers in an unusual form. At its core lies an extremely pure and spiritually rich source of wood spirit essence, its shape constantly shifting, seemingly mimicking some kind of small beast... If I'm not mistaken, that is the spirit body transformed from the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng, hiding within that spirit tree, using its wood energy to conceal itself," Tianjing Sanren pointed out.
"Possessing a spirit tree?" Luo Ming's heart stirred; this was indeed a clever method of concealment.
Upon realizing this, Luo Ming discovered the oversight he had made during his earlier investigation. Without further hesitation, he activated the drop of primordial blood from the Azure Dragon using his internal magic power. The Wood Escape Technique was activated silently, and his aura quickly assimilated with the ancient tree behind him. His figure rippled like water, silently merging into the thick tree trunk.
Upon entering the wood, his senses were instantly transformed. The rich and vibrant wood-attribute spiritual energy enveloped him like a tide, and the subtle fluctuations of wood spirit that he previously had to consciously probe to perceive became crystal clear. The breath of every leaf, the stretching of every root, and even the ripples of spiritual energy created by the breeze on the distant grass and trees were as clear as the lines on his palm.
Following the guidance of the Heavenly Mirror Hermit, he transformed his divine sense into an extremely subtle perception and quietly probed towards the "Phoenix Eye Tree". Sure enough, within the purest wood spirit energy at the core of the tree, he "saw" a small figure composed of pure spiritual light.
The figure resembled a plump rabbit, its entire body a warm, jade-white color, except for its two striking blood-red eyes. It seemed extremely alert, its small body pressed tightly against the inner wall of the tree, its blood-red pupils fixed on the open jade box at the center of the formation through the tree's natural "holes," or more precisely, on the dark, alluring pile of musk orchid beast dung inside the jade box.
On the little creature's lively face, one could actually see a remarkably human-like longing, struggle, and cunning. It seemed to be assessing the risks, its little paws unconsciously scratching at the "wall." Clearly, the "delicious" food was incredibly attractive to it, but the faint fluctuations of spiritual energy and the aura of the human cultivators around it instinctively made it feel danger and dare not easily reveal itself.
Luo Ming looked at the little guy's conflicted expression, scratching his head, drooling, and trying hard to suppress his desire. He couldn't help but smile, and the tension he felt earlier from the palpitations lessened a bit.
"You little rascal, you went to such lengths to hide it so well, and you were so wary..." He shook his head inwardly, laughing and crying at the same time, "After all that, it was just for a bite... um, that stuff?"
The inexplicable wariness in Luo Ming's heart did not dissipate after discovering the comical hiding place of the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng. The being that could cause him such a persistent feeling of unease was definitely not simple, and it was certainly not comparable to that "cute" spirit ginseng.
He forcibly suppressed his agitation at the unknown probing, focused his mind, and pushed the power of his Qianyang Fire Eyes to its limit. At the same time, with the help of his extraordinary sensitivity to wood spiritual energy under the Wood Escape Technique, he meticulously scanned every inch of land and every wisp of spiritual energy fluctuation within a range of several thousand feet around him, as if using the most precise probe. Every detail flowed through his mind.
However, there was nothing. Apart from the natural aura of plants, Han Li's steady fluctuations of magical power, the subtle chill of the Xuan Bone, and the striking pure wood spirit of the Spirit Ginseng, he detected no other "abnormal" powerful aura or lurking creature. Yet, the unease that lingered in his heart, like a thorn in his back, was like a leech, impossible to shake off.
"What exactly is it?" Luo Ming's expression darkened slightly, and the unease he felt about the situation slipping out of his control intensified. Was it some Nascent Soul level monster who was skilled in concealment and even the Heavenly Mirror Hermit hadn't been able to fully detect? Or had some Nascent Soul level spirit, transcending common sense and whose aura was completely integrated with the plants and mountains within this Void Heaven Palace?
"It seems my own supernatural abilities are still insufficient..." he gritted his teeth inwardly. The feeling of being so close yet unable to "see" danger is the most agonizing.
At that moment, deep within his dantian, a special cyan spiritual energy, nurtured by his fiery wood body over many years and different from ordinary magical power, carrying a vibrant life force, was stirred by his thoughts and quietly surged upwards, like two clear springs flowing into his eyes.
"Buzz—!"
The instant that special spiritual energy combined with the Qianyang Fire Eye Divine Power, Luo Ming felt a strange sensation of slight swelling and coolness intertwined in his eyes, and the scene in his vision suddenly changed drastically!
His originally crimson-gold pupils instantly transformed into a vast, ancient, and vibrant azure color! Two almost invisible azure rays flashed and disappeared from his eyes.
The next moment, the world he "saw" was clearer and more transparent than before.
The solid earth, the rugged rocks, the verdant trees... all the physical outlines became somewhat blurred and illusory, as if veiled by a layer of green gauze.
Instead, there were endless blue light spots everywhere, filling the heavens and earth! These light spots, some bright and some dim, some clustered and some scattered, were like living spirits, slowly flowing and swirling, converging into strands and wisps of blue "ribbons," some thick and some thin, that meandered and drifted in the void, forming an incomparably magnificent and mysterious spiritual world.
"This is... the purest wood-attribute spiritual energy that roams freely in the world!" Luo Ming was shocked. He could sense spiritual energy before, but he had never "seen" its form and flow so clearly and directly! At this moment, the wood spiritual energy was no longer an ethereal sensation to him, but a real existence with "form" and "color".
In his "Azure Vision," there were two places where the azure light spots were so dense that they resembled tangible clusters of light, making them exceptionally striking.
One of them was the "Jade Rabbit" formed from the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng. It was itself a crystallization of the purest wood spirit energy. At this moment, in Luo Ming's eyes, it was like a small blue sun, with soft light but extremely high density.
The other location was Han Li's hiding place, several hundred feet away. Han Li cultivated the "Azure Origin Sword Technique," a top-tier wood-attribute cultivation method. The pure and powerful Azure Origin Sword Qi within his dantian appeared to Luo Ming as a constantly rotating azure nebula. At the core of that "nebula," seventy-two more condensed sword shadows, each containing a terrifying and destructive golden lightning, could be vaguely seen.
"Junior Brother Han's foundation is truly remarkable..." Luo Ming thought to himself, gaining a more intuitive understanding of the power of the seventy-two Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords.
However, just as he was adjusting to this new view and marveling at it, another strange sight at the edge of his vision made his expression suddenly change!
"Wait! There's a third person nearby! They also cultivate wood-attribute techniques!"
About four or five hundred feet away from him, at the core of the trunk of an exceptionally tall, ancient tree with a canopy-like crown, Luo Ming "saw" a very faint "trace" that was clearly different from the trajectory of natural spiritual energy flow.
It was an almost imperceptible lingering spiritual energy formed by the residual pure wood-attribute magic power, as if someone had just passed through this place with extremely high wood-escape skills, leaving behind a brief, lingering "ripple" in the wood spirit veins.
These marks are very fresh; they certainly didn't form over many years!
"Someone has been lurking nearby! And their mastery of Wood Release Technique is extremely high, almost completely assimilated with the giant tree, so much so that even Senior Tianjing's powerful divine sense could not easily detect them!" Luo Ming's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately followed that faint trace, extending the perception of "Azure Vision" to explore further and more subtle places, trying to capture the true form or whereabouts of the lurker.
Just as he was completely absorbed in tracking down the mysterious third person—
"Whoosh!"
At the center of the formation, the allure of the "Musk Orchid Beast Excrement" in the jade box finally overwhelmed the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng's last remaining vigilance. The phoenix-eye wood hidden within the "Jade Rabbit" spirit trembled slightly, and a blurry, jade-white phantom shot out from the tree trunk with lightning speed, heading straight for the jade box! Its speed was so fast that it almost left a trail of afterimages in the air.
Han Li, who had been preparing for this moment, would not miss this opportunity. Without hesitation, he formed hand seals and shouted, "Formation activated!"
"Buzz!"
The originally dim Four Symbols Xuanwu Formation was instantly activated. The four earthen-yellow array flags shone brightly, and a thick and heavy yellow light curtain rose up like an inverted giant bowl, firmly covering an area of a hundred feet in radius. It also trapped the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng spirit body, which had pounced on the jade box and was happily devouring a small piece of "delicacy," in the center!
Startled, the jade rabbit spirit abruptly dropped the "delicious food," its body radiating jade light as it charged left and right, but its collisions with the yellow light barrier only caused ripples, making it difficult to break through for the time being.
"Brother Luo, this thing is trapped by the formation. It's your turn to make a move!" Han Li's clear voice rang out, his gaze turning towards the ancient tree where Luo Ming was hiding, his tone carrying a hint of relief after completing the task.
However, when he saw Luo Ming slowly walk out from behind that ancient tree, a deep sense of doubt flashed across his eyes.
Just now, at the moment the formation was activated and the spirit ginseng was trapped, even with his divine sense far surpassing that of his peers, he was unable to clearly perceive Luo Ming's aura and location. It was as if the other party had completely merged with the ancient tree. Only when he appeared at this moment did his aura become "clear" again.
"Senior Brother Luo's ability to conceal his aura... when did it become so exquisite? It can even deceive my divine sense?" Han Li thought to himself with awe, and his evaluation of this mysterious senior brother's methods rose even higher.
Luo Ming walked to the light screen, glanced at the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng inside, which was panicking and trying to burrow into the ground but was repeatedly forced back by the power of the formation, and then casually glanced at the direction of the giant tree where the abnormal wood spirit traces had just been discovered. His expression was calm, showing no sign of anything unusual.
"Junior Brother Han's control of this formation is truly precise." He casually praised, and with a flick of his wrist, the ancient three-colored bracelet quietly slid into his palm, shimmering with a faint light.
Suddenly, the three-colored bracelet shone brightly, with blue, gold, and red lights intertwining and flowing, emitting a soft and cheerful hum.