Chapter 205: Treasure Seeding Art (Monthly tickets for the start of the month! )
Chapter 205: Treasure Seeding Art (Monthly tickets for the start of the month! )
Previously, when growing trees on Peach Blossom Island, Fang Xi still had to secretly dig cellars and hide the existence of the Taisui and the Demonic Tree.
But on Dragon Fish Island, as the island master, he had no need to hide at all.
After the Taisui advanced to the second-order, Fang Xi directly designated an area in the center of Dragon Fish Island, behind the Evergreen Pavilion, as a forbidden zone. He protected it with the Azure Wood Divine Lightning formation and commanded his disciples and subordinates not to approach.
Then, he simply placed the Taisui there.
He was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator whose combat power was comparable to that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator. This was enough to deter many covetous gazes and allow him to keep some small secrets.
And once he achieved Core Formation in the future, even if cultivators from the Three Kingdoms guessed that he possessed some great opportunity, what could they do?
Wouldn't they still have to fawn over and curry favor with him, this Core Formation Ancestor!
Those who could become high-level cultivators all had some secrets of their own!
"Even the Demonic Tree. . . this time, I don't need to conceal it. I can openly plant it. . . after all, no one recognizes it."
"The second-order superior-grade formation I've conceptualized is prepared precisely for this!"
After acquiring the Song family's third-order formation inheritance, Fang Xi's attainments in the Dao of formations had once again advanced.
Furthermore, besides the third-order 'Heavenly Wolf Howling Moon Array', the Song family's formation inheritance also included three second-order superior-grade formations.
One of them, the 'Profound Wood Grand Array', required a living spiritual root as its core to establish the formation.
Fang Xi was greatly pleased upon seeing this, as it coincided with his own subtle idea of constructing a formation with the Demonic Tree as its core.
'After all, once the Demonic Tree matures, it will inherently generate a Demonic Domain. . . comparable to a quasi-third-order sealing grand array! '
'With the Demonic Tree as the core, the Demonic Domain as the primary, and the formation as the auxiliary. . . it's entirely possible to construct a formation comparable to a third-order one, without even needing a third-order spirit vein to support it. . . after all, the main body is the Demonic Tree's Demonic Domain! '
'This array can be named the 'Nine-Nethers Profound Wood Grand Array'! '
'The Song family was able to dominate the State of Yue for several centuries with just one third-order formation. . . and even then, the Black Heaven Sect had to expend all their might to barely break it. . . '
'I'm just a homebody who only knows how to grow trees; I wouldn't possibly incur heavenly wrath and popular resentment, would I? Would the Black Heaven Sect's False Core Ancestor come to fight me to the death? ! '
'Even if the Black Heaven Sect wants to fight me to the death, this time the Daoist Mu will certainly not stand on their side. . . '
'With this array's protection, I can definitely cultivate peacefully. . . and even achieve Core Formation! '
'However, a third-order grand array is too conspicuous. Normally, I'll present it as a second-order superior-grade 'Profound Wood Grand Array'. . . but in an emergency, I can immediately activate the Demonic Domain, transforming it into the third-order 'Nine-Nethers Profound Wood Grand Array', catching enemies off guard. . . '
...
Inside the secret chamber.
Fang Xi looked grim, gazing at the four Demonic Tree seeds before him.
To obtain these seeds, the Martial God Gate suffered heavy casualties. . .
And the Demonic Tree tattoo on his back continuously pulsed with a desire to annihilate these "brothers and sisters" and absorb their nutrients.
"Demonic Tree saplings are born with cruel genes. . . or perhaps, this is the true 'Heaven and Earth are inhumane, treating all living things as straw dogs'?"
Although he knew the Daoist scripture didn't mean it this way, when it came to ancient texts, their interpretation depended entirely on the individual. It was a matter of "the six classics annotating me, and I annotating the six classics."
Fang Xi selected the most vibrant seed, preparing to refine it first with the Demonic Refining Art and the Longevity Art.
He was now a martial arts Grandmaster and a Foundation Establishment immortal cultivator, no longer the beginner Qi Refinement junior he once was.
And in the Da Liang world's Martial God Gate, the Demonic Refining Art had made considerable progress and refinement.
With this dual approach, he would ensure that the last trace of the Demonic Tree's instinct was completely refined away, leaving not a single residue!
...
After dealing with the Demonic Tree seeds, Fang Xi took out three sections of Demonic Tree branches.
These three sections of demonic wood all came from the main Demonic Tree, their surfaces covered in pitch-black bark with scale-like patterns.
Inside the tree, there were no annual rings; instead, there were streaks of blood-colored patterns.
"This type of demonic wood. . . I wonder what use it has for crafting talismans or refining artifacts. . . but at the very least, it can be absorbed by the newly growing Demonic Tree saplings to enhance their foundation. . ."
"Besides that. . ."
Fang Xi pondered for a moment, and two jade slips appeared in his hand.
One of the jade slips recorded his main cultivation method, the 'Green Wood Longevity Art', which could be cultivated all the way to Core Formation.
Furthermore, it contained methods for refining several magical treasures.
After all, upon Core Formation, one would always need to refine a life-bound treasure.
When a Core Formation Ancestor unleashed their life-bound treasure, its true third-order power could make myriad cultivators yield.
Moreover, the earlier one refined a treasure, the better it could be kept in the Dantian for nurturing. The longer the period, the greater its power.
Ancestor Jiang's 'Vermilion Phoenix Ring' was not only a top-grade treasure, but it had also been nurtured by this Core Formation Ancestor with Core Qi for several centuries, its immense power evident even from the talisman artifact it produced.
Alas. . .
"The 'Green Wood Longevity Art' can only be considered upper-middle grade, and the treasures it records are far from top-tier treasures like the 'Vermilion Phoenix Ring'. . . "At the end of the 'Green Wood Longevity Art', there were only three methods for refining treasures: the 'Green Wood Seal', the 'Divine Wood Whip', and the 'Elemental Wood Shield'.
Originally, Fang Xi had already possessed the 'Green Reaping Sword' for offense, so he was more inclined towards the 'Elemental Wood Shield', a defensive treasure.
This treasure required the combined refining of several spirit woods of third-order and above. It wasn't overly strict about the types of spirit wood, so he could incorporate the fourth-order spirit wood, 'Phoenix Perching Parasol Wood', to enhance its power.
However, after killing Song Qing and carefully examining his memories and various jade slips, Fang Xi found a better option.
The other jade slip in his hand recorded various treasure refining methods that the Song family had collected over the years.
Among them, there were two wood-attributed treasures: the 'Divine Wood Cauldron' and the 'Hundred Poisons Pearl'.
The 'Divine Wood Cauldron' was a top-grade treasure, said to emit a fragrant, herbaceous aura. It possessed a wood-element divine ability with miraculous healing effects for various injuries, and could even grant cultivators unparalleled self-healing abilities, making even limb regeneration seem trivial. . . In its later stages, it was said to grant the legendary 'Indestructible Body'!
As for the 'Hundred Poisons Pearl', it leaned towards the use of poison, requiring the extraction of various exotic poisons from the cultivation world. Once unleashed, the poisonous mist it generated would turn even Foundation Establishment cultivators into white bones in an instant, and its range was vast.
"Unfortunately. . . the materials and techniques required to refine these two top-grade treasures are quite demanding. . ."
Fang Xi had no intention of refining two top-grade treasures, as the materials were too difficult to acquire.
What he truly valued was a certain method within the top-grade wood-element treasure refining arts, called—the 'Treasure Seeding Art'!
This art focused on planting a nascent form of a wood-element treasure into a spirit wood of the same origin, and then nurturing it over a long period, allowing the treasure to grow and mature on its own!
It could only be used to cultivate wood-element treasures, and it had very stringent conditions.
For example. . . the main body of the treasure had to be refined from the same type of spirit wood, and then planted into the same type of spirit wood.
In this way, the higher the grade of the spiritual root and the longer the planting period, the greater the power of the treasure!
"The 'Divine Wood Cauldron' requires the legendary 'Longevity Tree' as its main material, and the 'Hundred Poisons Pearl' requires a poison-attributed third-order demon beast's inner core. . . both are difficult to refine."
"But this 'Treasure Seeding Art' is very suitable for cultivators like me who can spend a lot of time!"
"Perhaps, it can be applied to treasure refining. . ."
"Unfortunately, the Elemental Wood Shield won't work. This treasure requires at least three types of spirit wood for mixed refining, so it cannot be planted into a spirit wood. . ."
"Besides that, only the Divine Wood Whip and the Green Wood Seal remain. . . both of these only require one type of spirit wood as the main material!"
The Divine Wood Whip had overlapping functions with his Green Reaping Sword. The Green Wood Seal was barely (barely) an offensive-defense integrated item, capable of smashing opponents or blocking attacks.
Naturally, the spiritual material Fang Xi prepared was the wood from the Progenitor Demonic Tree itself!
Using this as the main body to forge a treasure, and then planting it into a Demonic Tree of the same origin, would certainly pose no problem!
And with the Demonic Tree's bizarre growth rate, the future power of the treasure was simply unimaginable!
"Originally, I planned to obtain Demonic Tree saplings and then take materials from them, but the material from the Progenitor Demonic Tree's main body is obviously better. . ."
"Although my artifact refining ability isn't great, simply carving out a rudimentary form and then leaving it to nature and the Demonic Tree, letting the power of time ferment, should be fine. . ."
...
Having thought everything through, Fang Xi emerged from seclusion, a smile on his face.
'Young Master seems to be in a good mood lately, could it be because of that fisherman girl? '
Xiahou Ying saw this and felt a private worry, fearing that Yan Hong Xiu would snatch away his favor.
"Go call Zhong Qi and your clan brother over. . ."
Fang Xi didn't concern himself with the little maidservant's thoughts, giving his direct order.
Before long, Zhong Qi and Xiahou Zun arrived, unsure what the island master intended to instruct.
"From today onwards, all harvests from this island will first be concentrated in the warehouse, to be personally handled by me. . ."
Since he intended to grow trees, whether it was spirit fish or spirit rice, most of it would be used to supply the Taisui, achieving self-sufficiency.
As for an explanation?
A joke!
As a great Foundation Establishment cultivator and the island master, Fang Xi could store these resources to play with, or even burn them all, without issue. Why bother explaining to Qi Refinement cultivators?
"Yes, sir!"
Zhong Qi and Xiahou Zun had no objections to this, otherwise, it would be admitting they planned to control trade and embezzle funds.
Fang Xi would undoubtedly eliminate them on the spot!
"In addition, the Spirit Herb Valley will focus on cultivating spirit rice, and also open up a few more acres of spiritual fields to plant 'Green Jade Grass' and 'Mottled Tear Bamboo'!"
These two spiritual herbs were primary materials for refining low-grade talisman paper.
Fang Xi was beginning to prepare for a long period of tree cultivation.
At the very least, he had some talent in the Dao of talismans, especially for wood-attribute talismans, so he naturally had to make good use of his time.
It was a pity that the talisman paper required for third-order spirit talismans was too rare, either third-order spirit wood or the hide of a third-order demon king, making it almost impossible to acquire.
After waving his hand to dismiss them, Fang Xi continued to ponder silently:
'Finally. . . do I need to refine the 'Golden Light of Earth Travel' spiritual artifact? But that would be somewhat difficult. . . and, if I ever needed to use the Golden Light of Earth Travel treasure pattern to escape, it would mean my tree cultivation had failed. . . If tree cultivation failed, I could also flee to Da Liang; I wouldn't lack methods of escape. '
'Alas. . . it seems that for cultivators with a base they cannot abandon, escape techniques are indeed a bit of a burden. . . '
'What a shame, if only the 'Treasure Seeding Art' was useful for treasures of other attributes too. . . '
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