"Alright."
Xu Taiping obeyed and pulled a bean pod from the bean stalk. He carefully opened it with his hand.
"Fairy, what is this?"
After opening the pod, Xu Taiping was surprised to see not beans, but small crystal-like beads that emitted a dazzling light.
"This is the Spirit Crystal, the crystallization of the spiritual energy contained within this land. In the future, when you practice, you can hold one in your mouth and combine it with the medicine formula I give you. Even the White Bone can quickly cultivate," said Lingyue Fairy confidently.
"Really?" Xu Taiping couldn't help but exclaim.
"White Bone cultivation is not difficult. It's just that the cultivation traditions in this land have mostly been lost, which is why White Bone cannot cultivate," Lingyue Fairy replied dismissively, nodding. "Among the treasures born from the Earth Tomb Fruit, the Spirit Crystal is actually one of the lowest-ranked. However, due to the barren nature of this land, only such a low-grade treasure could be born. Even if it were allowed to grow for a while longer, it would only slightly improve the quality of the Spirit Crystal, but it couldn't give birth to a true magic weapon with divine powers."
After hearing this, Xu Taiping pondered for a moment before asking, "If I plant this seed on Seven Peaks, will it then give birth to the kind of divine magic weapon you mentioned?"
"Exactly! If I weren't a remnant soul, I would want to take you as my disciple," Lingyue Fairy said with a smile, increasingly fond of Xu Taiping.
Xu Taiping felt a bit shy from the compliment, awkwardly scratching his head.
"However, to make the Earth Tomb Fruit produce more powerful treasures, in addition to planting the seed in a place with more abundant spiritual energy like Seven Peaks, there's still one more thing we need to do," Lingyue Fairy said, continuing.
"What is it?" Xu Taiping quickly asked.
"Taiping, first pick the remaining two pods from the bean stalk and carefully open them in your hands," Lingyue Fairy instructed, pointing to the two green pods still on the stalk.
"Alright."
Having decided to trust Lingyue Fairy, Xu Taiping acted decisively, without hesitation, plucking the two pods and carefully opening them.
When Xu Taiping opened the two pods, he found, as Lingyue Fairy had said, that inside them were more Spirit Crystals, each one resembling a small yellow bean.
"Fairy," Xu Taiping said, gathering the Spirit Crystals into his hand. He then held out the remaining ones toward Lingyue Fairy's ethereal form.
He kept his promise—he didn't take any more than what was his, and for what belonged to him, he didn't give any extra.
Lingyue Fairy silently nodded in approval. She praised him inwardly, thinking:
"This child is cautious, yet not afraid of action, and works swiftly and decisively. Truly someone of our kind."
However, she didn't say this aloud. Instead, she nodded at him and then inhaled the Spirit Crystals from his hands, drawing them into her form.
"Whoosh..."
With a slight sound of sucking, Xu Taiping watched as the seven or eight Spirit Crystals in his palm instantly transformed into threads of purple mist. Like a river merging into the sea, the mist gathered and was absorbed into Lingyue Fairy's form.
After absorbing the purple mist from the Spirit Crystals, Xu Taiping clearly noticed that her image had become much clearer and no longer swayed like mist in the wind.
"Thank you, young friend Taiping, for extending my life," Lingyue Fairy said gratefully.
"No need to thank me, Fairy. This is our transaction," Xu Taiping said calmly, unconcerned with any praise, shaking his head.
"Well said." Lingyue Fairy nodded in approval, then pointed to the bean stalk below. "Look at what has happened to this bean stalk."
Hearing this, Xu Taiping looked down in surprise. He was startled to see that the once vibrant bean stalk had now completely withered, resembling a dead weed.
"Fairy, this bean stalk has withered. How do we harvest the seeds?" Xu Taiping asked, though still curious and not frightened, as he trusted Lingyue Fairy had a solution.
"Good question," Lingyue Fairy smiled.
"This is the second thing I wanted you to do," she continued.
Xu Taiping listened attentively, focusing his gaze on Lingyue Fairy.
Lingyue Fairy explained, "After the Earth Tomb Fruit bears fruit, once all the fruit has been harvested, the plant will wither on its own. Even if you wait until the next year, it won't bear fruit again."
"To make it bear fruit again, you must use the Rootless Fire to burn the withered plant. Once it has been completely reduced to ash, the seeds will emerge from the ashes. This process is known as 'burning the seeds.'"
Xu Taiping was once again amazed, but what interested him more than the burning process was the mention of the Rootless Fire.
"Fairy, what is the Rootless Fire?" Xu Taiping asked.
Lingyue Fairy seemed to have been waiting for this question. When Xu Taiping asked, she smiled and then explained, "The Rootless Fire, as the name suggests, is a flame that does not need an external ignition source."
"There are two kinds of Rootless Fire. One is naturally occurring, and the other is refined by cultivators using their true qi and cultivation techniques. We call this 'True Fire.'"
"The naturally occurring Rootless Fire is also known as 'Spirit Fire.' These divine objects are rare and hard to come by."
"So, the Rootless Fire you can find is most likely the True Fire refined by cultivators, which is often stored in magic tools or talismans."
Lingyue Fairy's explanation went into such detail that Xu Taiping realized she was guiding him toward cultivation.
"Thank you for your guidance, Fairy," Xu Taiping said sincerely.
"So, you want me to find a talisman with True Fire, right?" Xu Taiping asked to confirm.
"Smart," Lingyue Fairy said, nodding approvingly. "Although True Fire talismans are not particularly rare, and the first 'burning of seeds' does not require a high-grade True Fire, at your current level, you likely cannot afford to purchase one. Therefore, either you will cultivate True Fire yourself when you advance, or you can earn enough merit and rewards by managing the medicine garden to exchange for one. There's no need to rush."
"Rest assured, Fairy, I will work hard to cultivate and manage the garden, so I can get the True Fire for burning the seeds as soon as possible," Xu Taiping replied seriously.
4o mini