The splendid bloom of the sacred plant astonished all who beheld it, yet the heart, steeped in love, remained restless and longing.
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Shen Yi tapped his knuckles on the jade-green display table, and suddenly the root system of the Star-Patterned Orchid began to exude a pale moon-white sap. As the first drop fell into the ice-patterned porcelain cup reserved for the judges, even the spiritual wind chimes hanging beneath the eaves ceased their swaying.
“Everyone, please observe.” He flicked off the frost-coated mycelium with his fingers, and the milky white substance suddenly blossomed into a six-pointed ice flower in midair.
The cinnabar that Leng Xuan had deliberately knocked over was creeping along the tile seams, but at the moment it touched the ice flower, it faded to a pale gray.
The Spirit Plant Master’s spirit identification ruler suddenly burst with seven-colored rainbow light, and the taotie pattern carved at its tail emitted a low, joyful hum.
The white-haired elder abruptly steadied himself against the rosewood desk of the judges’ panel, purple sandalwood incense ash falling in clumps from his sleeve to Shen Yi’s feet. “This is...”
“Purifying Spirit Cluster, it consumes turbid qi to generate pure dew.” Shen Yi crushed the bronze fragments mixed in the incense ash absentmindedly. The root system of the Star-Patterned Orchid at his wrist extended three tendrils to entwine the spirit identification ruler.
The cracks in the ruler’s body, originally marred by the Immortal Realm’s turbid qi, were visibly healing before their eyes.
From the audience came a chorus of gasps.
A female cultivator wearing a jade thumb ring accidentally knocked over the spirit fruit platter. A bright red Vermilion Fruit rolled toward Shen Yi’s display. When the root system of the Star-Patterned Orchid gently lifted it, its skin shed the dull scars and regained a lustrous, agate-like sheen.
“Trickery!” Leng Xuan suddenly crushed a jade walnut in his hand; the shattered jade splinters transformed into thirty-six streaks of azure light, darting toward the display.
But the hidden weapons froze midair the moment they touched the ice flower, as if caught in a spider’s web, their surfaces gradually revealing spiderweb-like purification patterns.
Out of the corner of his eye, Shen Yi caught sight of a gray-robed figure at the far right of the judges’ panel forming hand seals.
The left pinky finger of that person’s concealed hand was missing halfway — exactly matching the characteristics of a puppeteer identified by the system scan.
He deliberately raised his voice: “Just like now, the Star-Patterned Orchid is purifying the residual poison of the Soul-Chasing Nails deliberately smuggled into the competition.”
The spirit identification ruler suddenly emitted a clear phoenix cry; on its body appeared the ghostly image of the previously encased Soul-Chasing Nail.
The Spirit Plant Master abruptly rose; the Nine-Hole Exquisite Pendant hanging from his waist resonated with the Star-Patterned Orchid on Shen Yi’s wrist, projecting a complete spiritual energy diagram of the Soul-Chasing Nail on the ground.
“Absurd!” The gray-robed judge suddenly slammed the table. The ghostface fern used for spiritual energy testing on the desk suddenly grew wildly.
As the jet-black vines entangled the Star-Patterned Orchid, the unique purple sandalwood incense scent of the judges’ seats was suddenly tinged with the metallic stench of blood — the residual aura of Gao Yao’s sword qi.
Shen Yi’s fingertips trembled slightly; the severed mycelia suddenly emerged from the earth, wrapping the ghostface fern’s leaves, which exuded a silver-white sap.
The originally grotesque black plant suddenly curled into a ball; the crimson points flowing along its veins condensed into the pattern of a bronze mask.
“All things generate and restrain one another.” He pinched the fading ghostface fern, allowing it to bloom a small ice crystal flower in his palm. “Just as the Purifying Spirit Cluster can suppress the insidious poison of the Soul-Chasing Nails, the Star-Patterned Orchid can also dissolve the ferocity of the ghostface fern — isn’t this the profound secret of spirit plants?”
Amid the sudden burst of cheers from the audience, Shen Yi noticed Leng Xuan quietly retreating.
That young nobleman, who always favored a scarlet brocade robe, now had soil from the dragon vein stuck to his boots, which was faintly warm — perfectly matching the system’s monitoring of abnormal earth vein fluctuations.
“Wait.” The gray-robed judge suddenly slid out half a bronze talisman from his sleeve; the patterns on the talisman were eerily similar to the ice-crack pattern lingering on Gao Yao’s window lattice. “Such a forceful reversal of the spirit plant’s nature may well violate the Heavenly Dao...”
Shen Yi suddenly pressed the Star-Patterned Orchid into the Soul-Chasing Nail fragment on the jade-green table.
The friction between the mycelia and metal sparked brilliant flames, and amid gasps from all, they traced the full forbidden totem of the Immortal Realm.
When the last pattern lit up, the century-old Jade-Bone Epiphyllum on the judges’ desk suddenly bloomed; golden pollen drifting from its stamen formed the characters “Safe and Sound” in the air.
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The Spirit Plant Master suddenly laughed aloud, making the jade pendant at his waist jingle: “A fine example of fighting poison with poison!
This method of purifying spirit reminds me of two centuries ago…” He abruptly stopped speaking, his gaze turning complex toward the corner of the display — where a sword tassel wrapped in mycelia lay quietly, frost congealed on its tassel reflecting a pale violet moonlight.
Shen Yi was about to press his advantage when a metallic taste surged in his throat.
Forcibly activating the Star-Patterned Orchid to purify the Soul-Chasing Nails had still triggered the old injury from the dragon vein’s backlash last night.
He bent over under the pretense of tidying the display, but saw his shadow on the jade tile distort suddenly — like the peculiar spiritual energy ripple that appeared when Gao Yao’s sword qi cut through the night sky.
As the thunderous applause gradually subsided, Shen Yi casually glanced toward the southeast stands.
The seat where an Immortal Sect disciple should have been was now only covered with frost flowers clinging to the backrest, forming half of a fragmented sword imprint.
The cushioned seat still held some warmth, but its armrests were coated with a thin layer of ice that stubbornly refused to melt.
Suddenly the dragon vein beneath the display trembled violently; even Leng Xuan staggered and steadied himself against a corridor pillar.
The root system of the Star-Patterned Orchid on Shen Yi’s wrist wildly swayed, carving a warning symbol on the jade-green table that only he could decipher — its shape perfectly matching the cracks in Gao Yao’s window lattice.
Unconsciously, Shen Yi rubbed his palm along the edge of the jade table; his palm lines subtly resonated with the Star-Patterned Orchid’s veins.
As the mountain breeze carrying the scent of pine nut candy passed his nose, he faintly recalled Gao Yao standing on tiptoe to place a candy ball in his mouth, the pale violet hem of her skirt brushing against the newly sprouted evening primrose in the herb field.
“Daoist Shen?” Ya’er tugged at the spirit plant pouch hanging from his waist; the newly changed lily of the valley hairpin in the girl’s hair tinkled softly.
The sound pulled Shen Yi from his memories. He then noticed the spiritual energy diagram he had drawn with mycelia on the spirit identification ruler’s light screen trembling gently — just like when Gao Yao’s sword tassel brushed his palm, the ice crystals at its tip collided softly.
Leng Xuan suddenly slammed his folded fan onto the adjacent display; the malachite inlaid ribs shook three vermilion chess pieces loose.
As those pieces rolled toward Shen Yi’s feet, the Star-Patterned Orchid stretched out its mycelia to string them into a pendant shape — the very nine-linked ring style that Gao Yao often wore.
“Your exhibits are truly interesting.” The gray-robed judge’s bronze talisman had somehow become covered in mycelia, silver-white threads weaving miniature star maps along the talisman’s patterns. “But for the second stage of the spirit plant competition, it’s time to test the plants’ practical effectiveness.”
Shen Yi felt the Star-Patterned Orchid at his wrist suddenly tighten, as if warning him to pay attention to the black jade slip that slipped from the judge’s sleeve.
When the slip’s inscription projected into midair, he clearly saw the Xuan Bird carved at its head was missing half a wing — perfectly matching the pattern on Gao Yao’s sword hilt.
“Please, all participants, use your spirit plants to dispel the Xuan Yin Sha qi.” The Spirit Plant Master raised his hand and threw out an ink jade gourd; the black mist pouring from its mouth instantly condensed into thirty-six floating blades.
The crimson patches flowing along the blades resembled the sword qi that Gao Yao had mistaken as hostile that night, slicing through his sleeve.
Shen Yi’s temples throbbed; the scent of cedar mixed with ice crystals suddenly filled his nostrils — the fragrance that forever clung to Gao Yao’s hair.
He instinctively parted two fingers to stroke the Star-Patterned Orchid’s leaves; the milky white plant suddenly shed seven dewdrops, each reflecting the crescent moon scar from different angles.
Those were the scorch marks on the sword guard when Gao Yao had held her sword at his throat three nights ago during the rain.
“Shen Yi! The evidence of your collusion with demonic cultivators is here!” The scolding voice from memory mixed with the sound of vicious blades cutting through the air in reality, and Shen Yi nearly crushed the cleansing sand he had just taken from the system space.
Suddenly the dragon vein monitor in the display’s corner emitted a buzzing alarm; the golden-red light flowing from the earth quietly altered the root direction of the Star-Patterned Orchid.
“Big Brother Shen, be careful!” Ya’er suddenly cried out. Her protective mirror deflected one of the Sha qi blades; its surface reflected a streak of icy blue sword light darting across the highest stands.
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Shen Yi’s heart clenched sharply. That fleeting glimpse of the sword technique’s opening movement was unmistakably Gao Yao’s unique “Snow Tapping Heaven’s Gate.”
The Star-Patterned Orchid suddenly divided, the milky white mycelia spreading wildly across the display in a Bagua formation.
When the twin-flowered lotus at the formation’s center bloomed golden stamens, Shen Yi faintly saw Gao Yao squatting beside the herb field, using sword qi to prune the rotting roots of his spirit plant, dewdrops on her hair tips falling onto the tender sprouts, scattering eight-petal star lights.
“Break!” The gray-robed judge suddenly crushed the teacup in his hand; splintered porcelain wrapped in Sha qi flew straight at Shen Yi’s face.
But the hidden weapons were shredded to dust the moment they touched the mycelia Bagua formation, struck by a suddenly manifest bronze sword shadow — the ice crystals drifting from the sword’s tail were indistinguishable from the tears Gao Yao shed when she misunderstood and turned away.
The metallic taste in Shen Yi’s throat intensified.
Using the motion of wiping the display as cover, he mixed the healing pill from the system with cleansing sand and scattered it over the Star-Patterned Orchid.
The roots of the plant suddenly glowed with healing green light, sketching half of an incomplete endless knot in the tile cracks — a gift he had woven from the earth vein’s wisteria all night for Gao Yao’s birthday last year but never dared to give.
“Daoist Shen’s spirit plant can even trigger sword intent resonance?” The Spirit Plant Master leaned in with great interest to examine the formation; the wooden hairpin in his white hair suddenly oozed blue-green sap.
As the sap dripped onto the edge of the Bagua formation, the Star-Patterned Orchid frantically swayed toward the southeast — the direction where the frost-laden sword intent on the stands had yet to dissipate.
Leng Xuan sneered coldly: “Must have used some illicit trick.” The cast-iron abacus beads slipped from his sleeve and struck the formation’s center precisely but were stopped midair by a suddenly formed ice shield.
Shen Yi’s pupils contracted slightly; the delicate cracks on the ice shield’s surface overlapped perfectly with the marks Gao Yao left when sealing doors with sword qi.
A chorus of astonishment arose from beneath the display.
An elderly cultivator carrying an herb basket shakily raised a shadow-capturing stone; within the purification halo projected by the stone, faint icy blue sword qi could be seen guarding the Star-Patterned Orchid’s roots.
Shen Yi felt a massive stone pressing on his chest crack open — perhaps those sword energies really were Gao Yao’s...
“The second stage is over!” The Spirit Plant Master suddenly struck the nine-tone bell; the chime startled two blue-feathered sparrows perched on the eaves.
One sparrow clutched a half-length icy blue hair ribbon, the silver bell at its tip tied in the same knot style as the one on Gao Yao’s sword tassel.
Shen Yi’s spirit plant pouch suddenly moved on its own without wind; the glass bottle containing dragon vein soil rolled to the edge of the display.
The golden-red sand inside was arranging and recombining, eventually forming an arrow pointing northwest — the direction of Gao Yao’s sect.
The gray-robed judge clapped his hands and laughed: “Truly worthy of a spirit plant that can purify Soul-Chasing Nails. But the final stage...” His deliberately prolonged tone coincided with the bronze compass in his sleeve spinning wildly; the star map on its face lacked the third house, which represents marriage ties.
At the same time, the dragon vein monitor beneath the display emitted a piercing red light. The Star-Patterned Orchid on Shen Yi’s wrist suddenly retracted all its mycelia into a bud shape.
When the first petal bloomed, the spiritual energy phantom at its core revealed Gao Yao’s profile, frost flowers on her eyelashes slowly melting.
The Spirit Plant Master stood, the jade pendant at his waist resonating mysteriously with the system’s prompt tone: “The final stage will shift to the source of the dragon vein. Whether your spirit plants can survive three days in chaotic spiritual energy will be the deciding factor.”
Shen Yi suddenly clenched the ice crystal shard in his palm — a memory residue extracted by the Star-Patterned Orchid from the earth vein. In the image, Gao Yao was burying the blood-stained sword tassel at the edge of the dragon vein’s cedar forest, which just so happened to be the site for the final stage of the contest.