Chapter 42: Chapter 42: Consecutive Binding
After returning to his own home, Li Ye took out the Spirit Vein Plate and placed it in a corner of the courtyard, then probed it with his Divine Sense.
Under the influence of Spiritual Power, he could clearly feel his Divine Sense flowing out along with a peculiar mist.
It was outlining and delineating the areas that needed Spirit Vein circulation.
The Gen Trigram glowed faintly on the Spirit Vein Plate, and the Spirit Vein Pearl also shimmered with the Gen Trigram’s glow, causing the Spirit Veins inside to start trembling.
After about half a cup of tea’s time, Li Ye lifted his head and rubbed his slightly aching forehead.
"Is it done?"
He saw a yellow-brown Spirit Vein already flowing out, with its gaseous Spiritual Qi slowly advancing across the ground.
The soil it passed over became soft and moist, with ordinary yellow earth being transformed by the power of the Earth Spirit Vein, gradually turning into spirit soil.
This is the magic of the Spirit Vein; compared to other sources of Spiritual Qi, it encompasses everything.
At that moment, Li Ye quickly took out the Spirit Vein Willow, which had been soaking in Spiritual Liquid all along.
Then he directly threw it all into the flowing Spirit Vein.
The originally ordinary and Qi-less Spirit Vein Willow pieces unexpectedly melted away, merging entirely into the main body of the Spirit Vein.
"It really is like this, huh."
Li Ye watched the pieces of the Spirit Vein Willow melt, as they seemed to be undergoing self-repair.
The majority of the Spiritual Qi flowing out of this Spirit Vein was completely absorbed by the Spirit Vein Willow.
Li Ye let out a slight sigh of relief.
Suddenly—
"Crack."
A crisp sound made his relaxed eyebrows completely knit together—he saw a small root segment emerging from the Spirit Vein Pearl containing the Spirit Vein body, forcibly cracking the pearl apart.
Immediately afterward, a small willow tree, about half an inch tall, sprouted directly from where the Spirit Vein had been flowing.
Unlike ordinary willows, its branches were yellow-brown, writhing underground, turning all its passages into tiny Spirit Veins.
If Li Ye hadn’t quickly snatched up the Spirit Vein Plate, even the plate itself probably would have been destroyed.
That was the Spirit Vein and Spirit Vein Plate he had just purchased!
"The Spirit Vein Willow, it really is a Spirit Vein."
Wait... can this thing be bound with the Locust Spirit Scroll?
He narrowed his eyes, reaching out to stroke the trunk of the Spirit Vein Willow.
The latter raised a branch with spirituality, gently resting it on his hand, feeling the Spiritual Qi flowing through its soft branches.
Clearly, this fellow knew it had been saved by him.
This worked out well; after all, it was a Spirit Vein he had spent ten thousand Spirit Stones to purchase to save it, and if it didn’t repay him, it would break his heart.
He gently caressed the Spirit Vein Willow’s branches, which were soft yet slightly resilient, noticing that his cultivation technique had started to change, with the unique effects of the Five Elements Spirit Ascension Technique beginning to manifest.
Now he had received the Spiritual Qi blessings from various Spirit Plants and Spirit Beasts such as the Flint Fire Crystal Insect, Silver Moon Grass, Spirit Water Phoenix Eye Lotus, Golden Red Dragon Carp, Peach Blossom Jade Branch, Weichuan Beaver, Hungry Bone, Spiritual Grain, and Lotus Flower.
If other cultivators were in his place, they would likely become exhausted daily from having to purify all these different Spiritual Qi attributes, but fortunately, he learned the Five Elements Spirit Ascension Technique.
During casual conversations with Su Ya, he had learned that this technique’s most notable trait was its adaptability to Spiritual Qi, without the many requirements of other techniques—pretty much any Spiritual Qi would allow cultivation.
—This was considered the basic ability of the technique; allowing Spirit Plant and Spirit Beast powers to affect magic was its special hidden capability, and this ability depended on close relationships and connections.
Coincidentally, after Li Ye bound them through the symbiosis panel with his own Vital Essence, they established very close connections, achieving mutual enhancement.
So now, the Spirit Plants and Spirit Beasts processed through his symbiosis panel seemed more affectionate toward him.
While those not processed were simply grateful and fond, without as tight a bond.
The ability the Spirit Vein Willow gave him...
He tried gently crooking his finger at the land in front of him.
Accompanied by the surging of Spiritual Qi, the ground’s earth seemed to move at his command, forming a small beaver statue, carved with vivid lifelikeness.
No... that’s earth control ability, originally he could only till the land, but now somehow it’s been enhanced to this level.
Which means that the Spirit Vein Willow inherently had such strong earth control ability.
Truly remarkable.
Li Ye then tried digging channels in the ground with the soil.
In the end, he found he could control the earth up and down by a foot; any deeper, and he couldn’t, overall enhancing his control ability.
"Going forward, you’ll help take care of the Spirit Plants and Spirit Beasts in the courtyard for me. Soon, I’ll have things for you to assist with."
He gently patted the Spirit Vein Willow and took a deep breath, standing up to return indoors, where he retrieved an ancient book from the brocade box in the cabinet.
"Locust Spirit Scroll."
"Two thousand points of Vital Essence."
"If you really are a Golden Core, then I’ll have an ace up my sleeve in the future."
Li Ye murmured a few words, lightly pressing the purchased Forbidden Character technique onto the cover of the Locust Spirit Scroll.
Then he infused his own unique Spiritual Power into the Forbidden Character.
The Forbidden Character, which had settled on the yellow paper, completely melted around it, turning the yellow paper into viscous Spiritual Liquid, slowly permeating the Locust Spirit Scroll.
And it itself was thoroughly imprinted on the scroll’s cover.
Throughout the entire process, the Locust Spirit Scroll did not change at all.
"Success."
"Next comes symbiosis."
The smoothness of this process was not unexpected; the real test would come when the Locust Spirit Scroll fully awakened.
He carried the Locust Spirit Scroll over to the Spirit Vein Willow and was surprised to find many Golden Horned Ants had appeared around the willow without him noticing.
They were busily transporting soil nurtured by the Spirit Vein Willow.
The Golden Horned Ants seemed to really like the Spirit Vein Willow, and the willow did not refuse their approach.
"...You all really know how to show up."
"But, can a triple symbiosis work?"
Li Ye thought it was worth a try, but surely he couldn’t use so much of the symbiosis panel on all the Golden Horned Ants at once, or he’d definitely run out of Vital Essence.
He chose the Queen Ant of the Golden Horned Ants.
After extracting the Queen Ant from the nest and bringing it to the Spirit Vein Willow, he tried letting the two come into contact, then decisively activated the panel’s ability.
[Binding successful.]
His Vital Essence rapidly decreased at a visible rate.
In the end, as much as six hundred points had reduced!
Previously, the First and Second Tier symbiosis used twenty and one hundred points respectively, but this time it reduced by a full six hundred; meaning the Third Tier is six hundred?
Two thousand points must be the Fourth Tier at least.
"No time to accumulate slowly, I need a solution right now."
He set down the Golden Horned Ant Queen and silently retrieved a few Pills from his pocket, swallowing them down.
These Pills were bought from Su Ya and were meant to replenish vitality and strengthen the body.
Swallowing down several Pills, the six hundred points lost were quickly restored.
"Let’s see what mysterious abilities you hold."
Taking a deep breath, he chose to bind the Locust Spirit Scroll and the Spirit Vein Willow in symbiosis again.
The Spirit Vein Willow was still happy to share its Spiritual Power, as it could faintly sense the unique arboreal energy within this scroll.
Thus, it was very willing to form a symbiosis.
[Binding successful.]
As much as two thousand points of Vital Essence rapidly drained, even causing him some discomfort, while the Locust Spirit Scroll in his hand began undergoing indescribable changes.