"Fellow Daoist Yang, have a taste of this rice too."
Facing Yang Hong's admiration, Ancestor Chaoyang could only offer a wry smile, his earlier arrogance gone.
He extended a hand, his divine sense surging, and a dozen rice grains detached from the stalks, flying towards them and shedding their husks mid-air.
Yang Hong's mind stirred, and five grains of rice entered his mouth. The next moment, his expression shifted dramatically.
"Mmm—hmm? This—it's actually so—so unpalatable!"
First, these five grains of rice were all spirit plants, or spirit rice. Four were low-grade first-rank, and one was mid-grade first-rank, demonstrating Ancestor Chaoyang's extraordinary spirit plant skills and profound magic power.
However, the taste of this spirit rice was truly difficult to compliment.
Not only did it lack the sweet freshness of spirit rice, but it also carried a distinct bitterness and a faint tearing sensation.
Such spirit rice would at most be considered difficult to swallow for cultivators stepping onto the path of immortality. But for ordinary mortals, it was poison.
The tearing taste was a result of unstable five-element spiritual energy erupting in conflict. If a mortal consumed ten catties of such rice, they would likely be on their way to the afterlife.
"Fellow Daoist Yang, have you discovered the issue?"
"Mmm— this paddy has become a spirit plant, but the five-element spiritual energy is unstable. Let me try some others."
As he spoke, Yang Hong raised a hand, and wheat, soybeans, millet, and Bai Ji uprooted themselves and flew towards him.
He carefully tasted each type of crop, and finally, he even plucked seeds from the wild grass on the ridges and tried them.
Seeing Yang Hong's meticulous and professional approach, Ancestor Chaoyang asked expectantly, "Fellow Daoist Yang, what do you think?"
"These plants have all evolved, gaining spiritual energy, but the spiritual energy is unstable. If ordinary mortals eat too much, they will surely die!
Let's find another plot of land and continue experimenting. I have some ideas."
"Good!"
Two beings of immense power, one a seventh-tier Integration stage cultivator, and the other a late ninth-tier Mahayana stage grand cultivator, known as a half-step immortal, were on this plain, wreaking havoc on mortal crops.
Wherever they passed, all crops matured, regardless of the season. Even the wild grass on the ridges was not spared.
After hundreds of experiments and trials on tens of thousands of mu of land, Yang Hong came to a definitive discovery:
All plants on the Taiyuan Continent were evolving, transforming into spirit plants!
However, this evolution was occurring at an extremely rapid pace, so fast that the plants themselves could not adapt. This directly led to sparse fruiting, unstable spiritual energy within the seeds, and even conflict.
Subsequently, the two found a spiritual mountain and conducted experiments on spirit herbs and medicinal plants there.
"Fellow Daoist Chaoyang, I don't know whether to call this a great fortune or a great disaster.
As you must have noticed, it is the plants throughout the entire Taiyuan Realm that are evolving. Logically, this is a good thing. However, the sudden, rapid evolution prevents both ordinary plants and spirit plants from adapting quickly, resulting in unstable spiritual energy within the seeds.
The consequence of this is that various crops, which were originally edible, have become poisons!"
"Indeed, they've become delicious food turned into poison. Moreover, if demonic beasts, spirit beasts, and wild beasts consume such food excessively, they will also mutate, becoming more irritable, aggressive, and dangerous."
"That's why this old Daoist sought out Fellow Daoist Yang, knowing your expertise in spirit plants, hoping you might have a solution."
As he spoke, the old man shamelessly bowed to Yang Hong, his etiquette impeccably standard.
Unfortunately for him, Yang Hong was no longer a naive cultivator. As Ancestor Chaoyang bowed, Yang Hong dodged with a flash.
Once he accepted Ancestor Chaoyang's bow, it would mean accepting karma, and he would be responsible for the issue of plant fruiting from then on.
He had no intention of taking on that burden.
He understood that Ancestor Chaoyang had, perhaps inadvertently, thrust a heavy burden and karmic responsibility upon himself. Finding Yang Hong might not have been about believing he had the ability to solve it, but more about shifting the blame.
"Fellow Daoist Chaoyang, you overestimate this humble one. I am but a small shrimp at the Integration stage, how could I possibly solve this seed problem?"
"How about this: I will return to Qingfeng Villa now and consult ancient texts to see if the ancient sages left behind any solutions."
"Fellow Daoist Yang, you are too modest. Your spirit plant techniques are the strongest in the entire Taiyuan Continent, you will surely be able to..."
"Old man, don't try to flatter me. I will go back now to see if I can find a way to increase the plant fruiting rate, but I cannot guarantee success, nor will I agree to anything you ask.
However, I can give you two spirit plant techniques."
Not wanting to waste more words with the old man, Yang Hong directly took out two blank jade slips from his storage ring and recorded the techniques "Moonlight Jade Fluid Elixir" and "Yang Creation Technique" directly onto them for Ancestor Chaoyang.
These two spirit plant techniques were as effortless for him to perform as breathing, yet to this day, no one else at Qingfeng Villa had managed to learn them.
If someone from the Chaoyang Sect could learn them, that would be their own capability.
He didn't even mind if they were spread further.
These were purely spirit plant-related spells, possessing no combat power, only useful for cultivating spirit plants, and therefore incapable of threatening Qingfeng Villa.
Ancestor Chaoyang accepted the jade slips with visible excitement, but his joy quickly subsided. He asked Yang Hong with a hint of curiosity,
"These two techniques are only Grade Eight? But I feel as if—as if they are Grade Nine."
"That is because I have comprehended the rules of creation, which enhances my spirit plant techniques."
"So that's how it is."
Ancestor Chaoyang nodded in understanding, but he was not yet ready to let Yang Hong go.
"Fellow Daoist Yang, that rule of creation..."
"Farewell then~"
Yang Hong was no Bodhisattva of Compassion. Hearing Ancestor Chaoyang's unfinished question, he vanished instantly via teleportation, giving the old man no chance to catch up. He returned directly to his own spirit plant teleportation array and transmitted himself back to the [Qianran Plains].
"This—this Yang Hong is too nimble. He simply won't fall for any tricks.
It seems I will have to seek help from the Ten Great Immortal Sects."
Watching the green and silver lights disappear and the spirit plant teleportation array revert to its ordinary valley appearance, Ancestor Chaoyang also teleported away.
He first returned to Chaoyang Immortal City, copied Yang Hong's two spirit plant techniques hundreds of times. Half were sent back with disciples of the Chaoyang Sect to begin widespread teaching and practice within the sect.
With the other half, he stepped onto a teleportation array, embarking on a journey to seek aid from across the cultivation world of Taiyuan.
...
While Ancestor Chaoyang was seeking help from various immortal sects, one sect had been paying close attention.
The Imperial Beast Sect, one of the two major powers in the same Yuru Plains as the eight ninth-grade sects, also began actively seeking assistance.
On the main peak of the Imperial Beast Sect, Divine Dragon Peak, Grand Elder Master Yulong sat in the main seat, having just removed a jade slip from his forehead.
"Cultivate these two spirit plant techniques as well. They can increase the plant fruiting rate by thirty percent."
"Yes~"
A transmission elder immediately took the jade slip to make copies. And for someone else's cultivation method, he would certainly make many, many copies; this was already a tradition of the Imperial Beast Sect.
"Yu Bainian, what is the situation with your contact with other sects?"
As soon as Master Yulong finished speaking, the sect leader of the Imperial Beast Sect, seated to his right, stood up:
"Replying to the Grand Elder, all the sects in the Buddhist Alliance have discovered that the spirit plant fruiting has decreased and has become poisonous and mutated.
This situation seems to have begun ten years ago.
The Immovable Temple and Thunderclap Temple have begun investigations, suspecting demonic energy intrusion; a Bodhisattva from the upper realm also mentioned that faint demonic energy is appearing in the Taiyuan Realm."
Yu Bainian's reply was detailed, as the Imperial Beast Sect, which raised a large number of demonic and spirit beasts, had a greater demand for food compared to other sects.