Creating a paradise in an ant nest

Chapter 72 Rouge Spirit Peach, Jade Spirit Melon

The mountain peak ten miles away from Lingxiaofang Market.

The agreed-upon time for their return journey was approaching, and the members of the Qian Yuan Holy Sect arrived one after another.

Liu He gained a lot from this trip.

He changed back into his mid-grade magic robe at the Carefree Immortal Abode, stored all the purchased items in the Ant Nest's spirit artifact cave, and returned home lightly.

Of all the items purchased, the most precious was the root of the ancient Chinese toon tree.

In addition, there are three kinds of spiritual plant seeds.

The emerald melon with red flesh is more expensive than the violet radish, and it grows very quickly, maturing in just one year.

The seeds were inexpensive; Liu He spent two spirit stones to buy a bag of seeds, containing about one hundred seeds.

There was also the purple apple that Liu He had eaten.

The Purple Apple Spirit Fruit is even more precious; he bought one for three spirit stones back then. Converted to "jin" (a unit of weight), the price is about eight spirit stones per jin.

After sowing, the Purple Apple Tree takes five years to mature, flower, and bear fruit. After that, it does not flower and bear fruit every year, but rather once every five years.

The seeds were more expensive, so Liu He bought twenty seeds with three spirit stones.

There is another precious spiritual plant: the Rouge Glass Peach.

The Rouge Spirit Peach is exquisitely crafted, with a shimmering, iridescent skin. Its surface appears to be covered with a thin layer of glazed glass, its pink hue as vibrant as rouge.

It is rich in spiritual energy and comes with a high price.

A single Rouge Glass Peach costs ten spirit stones, which translates to a unit price of thirty spirit stones per pound.

Fruit trees take ten years to grow, and then flower and bear fruit once every eight years.

Liu He spent five spirit stones to buy ten peach seeds.

After purchasing the roots of the Eternal Spirit Tree, all the remaining Ten Spirit Stones were completely used up; not a single one was left.

Lingxiao Market has even more precious and higher-level spirit plant seedlings, and there are even some second-level spirit plant seedlings.

The reason Liu He didn't buy second-tier spirit plant seedlings was because second-tier spirit plant seedlings were much more expensive.

Unlike ordinary spiritual plants whose seeds and seedlings are cheap, second-tier spiritual plant seedlings are priced at more than ten or twenty times higher.

Secondly, he needs spiritual plants that can be converted into cash and sold.

"A common man is innocent, but he is guilty of possessing a treasure." It's nothing for him to sell violets, green radishes, or purple apple spirit fruits. But if he were to sell second-tier spirit plants, he, a Qi Refining cultivator, would definitely attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Liu He, have you bought anything?"

Wang Yarong and Liu He arrived one after the other, and the two chatted.

Liu He shrugged: "Lingxiao Market has so many treasures and resources, I want them all, but alas, I don't have any spirit stones. What about you?"

"Me too, I didn't buy anything. We're just here to broaden our horizons."

The resources in the Zongnei market are sufficient for our needs, and the prices are even cheaper than in other markets.

Wang Yarong doesn't need elixirs, and the spiritual weapons crafted by the Myriad Weapons Pavilion of the Qian Yuan Holy Sect are sufficient to meet the needs of Qi Refining cultivators.

She had secretly decided that she would not come to Lingxiao Market again until she broke through to the late stage of Qi Refining.

Instead of wasting two days wandering around Lingxiao Market, it's better to stay in the sect and cultivate.

"What you say is true; the cost-effectiveness of external resources is too low."

Liu He echoed.

What is a low-cost-performance ratio for others may bring unexpected surprises to him.

I can't miss this annual perk from now on.

Not long after, Meng Yunxiang returned with Meng Kaizhou.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Meng Yunxiang summoned his magical flying boat and led the group back to the Qian Yuan Holy Sect.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Lingzhi Peak, Lingmu Garden.

Liu He returned to his forest area and couldn't wait to rush into the ant nest to retrieve the roots of the ancient Chinese toon tree.

It needs to be placed in an ant nest in reality to amplify its effect by a factor of a hundred million.

"The roots of the ancient Chinese toon can be soaked in water or ground into powder and swallowed, but these roots that have been dead for who knows how many years are so tough."

He spent a lot of effort to pluck a section of root that branched into smaller branches from a foot-long root.

He placed the root into the ant nest, and an ant easily carried it into the magical artifact cave.

Liu He then entered the ant nest.

In reality, those tiny roots, only slightly thicker than a hair, grow in the anthill like the rootstock of a centuries-old sacred tree, as thick as Liu He's waist, and several meters long.

"Even if I ate this one root every day, it would take me a long time to finish it."

"Take a small bite first."

He tried to eat it like he usually did with spirit fruits, but found he couldn't bite into it.

The roots of the ancient Chinese toon are already incredibly tough, and their enormous size within the ant nest makes them even more difficult to handle.

I refuse to believe it.

He placed the roots of the Eternal Spirit Tree on a hard, large rock, and took out an obsidian bead, infusing it with a wisp of spiritual energy.

"Open it!"

The obsidian beads fell from the sky, their speed increasing rapidly.

"Click!"

The obsidian bead struck the roots of the ancient spirit tree, causing the rock below to shatter into several pieces with a crack.

A shallow pit the size of a bowl was blasted into the surface of the root, and some wood chips and fragments from the root fell down.

Liu He finally managed to break the roots apart, removed a bowl of water, and put the root and wood chips in.

The essence of the spiritual plant, which has been dormant in the roots for hundreds of years, slowly infuses into the water.

The clear water turned into a murky, woody brown color.

Liu He drank it, and the cool and mellow wood-elemental energy flowed through his body.

This energy was scarce, yet incredibly pure, subtly and silently altering Liu He's physique.

"It has indeed slightly increased the affinity with wood. Take it slow, and over time, you'll eventually be able to develop a wood-type spirit body just by drinking water."

Afterwards, Liu He planted the seeds of Emerald Spirit Melon, Rouge Spirit Peach, and Purple Apple Spirit Fruit in the Miniature Spirit Plant Garden.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

A month later.

Miniature herbal garden.

Under Liu He's careful cultivation, the seeds of the Emerald Spirit Melon, Rouge Spirit Peach, and Purple Apple Spirit Fruit sprouted one after another.

The germination rate of the Jade Spirit Melon seeds is relatively low, only about 70%.

Nine out of the ten seeds of the Rouge Spirit Peach have sprouted.

Sixteen out of the twenty seeds of the Purple Apple Spirit Fruit have sprouted.

He looked at the tender shoots emerging from the ground and felt a great sense of accomplishment.

"Viola flowers and green radishes, crimson flesh and jade melons, purple apples and spiritual fruits, rouge-colored glass peaches, and the Arhat who guards the mountain!"

The variety of spiritual plants in my spiritual plant garden has increased considerably.

With his "Green Soil Root Cultivation Technique" nourishing them daily, these spiritual plants grow exceptionally well, and their growth rate is much faster than normal.

The Purple Apple Spirit Fruit, which takes five years to mature, can be matured in just two years.

The Rouge Glass Peach, which takes ten years to mature, can be grown in just four.

"Junior Brother Liu~~"

Just then, a loud voice, like thunder from beyond the heavens, resounded from afar.

It was Huang Shideng's voice.

Because Liu He was in the miniature spiritual plant garden, his voice sounded distant yet booming.

With a thought, Liu He appeared inside the wooden house.

He stepped out of the wooden hut and saw Huang Shideng: "Senior Brother Huang, is something the matter?"

"Senior Brother Fu has summoned us to assemble. It's urgent, and he wants us to go there now."

Huang Shideng came to deliver a message.

"Oh? Okay, I'll go right away."

Liu He was surprised. Today was not the day of the routine morning meeting. Why were they suddenly summoned in such an emergency?

"Let's go. I heard something big happened in Zhao Jianlei's forest area."

Senior Brother Zhao?

Liu He made wild guesses, knowing that Zhao Jianlei and Fu Shuai had always been at odds.

I don't know if it's related to this.