【nine-leaf azure lotus】
【Grade: Fourth Order Spiritual Plant】
【Characteristics: Azure Spirit Rhyme, Spirit-Filled Vitality, Water Element Condensation, Enlightenment Lotus Seeds.】
【Status: Spiritually Saturated, Vitality Abundant】
【The nine-leaf azure lotus prefers to be planted in clear spiritual lakes or clear water sources. Places with dense water Spiritual Qi can promote its faster growth. The nine-leaf azure lotus takes ten years to root, fifty years to mature, and a hundred-year mature nine-leaf azure lotus will produce a hundred azure spirit lotus seeds. The azure spirit lotus seeds have an auxiliary effect on water Spiritual Root Cultivators and are one of the main Materials for refining Third Order Spirit Opening Pills.】
The environmental requirements for planting the nine-leaf azure lotus are not high; like other Fourth Order Spiritual Plants, it has specific environmental requirements for cultivation. When planted in water, it requires abundant Azure Spirit Qi.
This saved the trouble of cultivating a Spiritual Field.
It only needs dense water Spiritual Qi, plus Fourth Order Azure Spirit Qi Materials – Azure Spirit Water – to help it grow freely.
Thus, Li Mu sowed thirty mu of nine-leaf azure lotus spiritual seeds into Qingning Lake. The moment the nine-leaf azure lotus spiritual seeds touched the water, they immediately split open, sprouting more than a dozen slender spiritual whiskers.
These spiritual whiskers seemed to come alive, extending deep into the lake bottom, and water spiritual fluctuations rippled out.
Beneath the Spiritual Lake, all the fish Yao Beasts were actually attracted by the special spiritual rhyme emitted by the nine-leaf azure lotus spiritual seeds, voluntarily becoming its guardian Spirit Beasts, and fiercely fighting each other, just to compete for the right to guard a single nine-leaf azure lotus.
Seeing this, Li Mu frowned and pondered seriously.
Once Spiritual Plants and Spirit Medicine beneficial to Spirit Beasts appear, Spirit Beasts who understand the benefits of these Spirit Medicines will occupy the area, guard them, and wait for them to mature before devouring them to strengthen their own spirituality and Cultivation.
Planting the nine-leaf azure lotus in this lake had clearly attracted the attention of these spiritual fish and fish Yao Beasts. The growth on the azure lotus leaves and the lotus seeds produced after maturity would be a great tonic for these Spirit Beasts, and this needed to be carefully guarded against.
If the nine-leaf azure lotus were to be taken by this group of fish Yao Beasts after maturing, the loss would be significant.
Should I kill all the spiritual fish and fish Yao Beasts in the entire Spiritual Lake?
Li Mu frowned and abandoned this decision. While the safety of the Spiritual Plants was important, the ecology of the Treasure Mansion Space could not be destroyed.
There were no less than ten thousand spiritual fish in the lake; if all were killed, the blood Qi would permeate and contaminate the purity of the lake water, which would be detrimental to the growth of the nine-leaf azure lotus.
Bringing in a high-grade water Spirit Beast to guard this place would solve this problem.
Wait a minute!
Li Mu recalled the Spirit Beast intelligence he had purchased from Tianji Pavilion earlier. Due to his focus on acquiring Heavenly Fire, this matter had been delayed.
The location of a Sixth Order Flood Dragon, in particular, seemed to be very close to his current position.
Li Mu quickly took out the intelligence Jade Slip from his nine storage spiritual pearl and immersed his Divine Sense into it.
“Twin-Horned Azure Moon Flood Dragon, Late Stage Sixth Order, grows in Wangxing Sea, powerful, strength doubled with the advantage of the sea, can contend with Soul Transformation Late Stage Realm.”
“This Yao Beast has occupied the Wangxing Sea for hundreds of years, advanced to Sixth Order a hundred years ago, despises Human Race Cultivators, frequently attacks passing Human Race Cultivators, is extremely bloodthirsty, and cunning by nature. Merchant associations gathered and besieged him three times, but he managed to escape each time. One Soul Transformation Early Stage powerhouse and twelve Nascent Soul True Lords unfortunately perished in the three encirclements.”
“The last encirclement battle occurred two years ago. This Flood Dragon is estimated to have suffered severe injuries and is recuperating in the deep sea. He has rarely appeared this year, and incidents of attacking passing Human Race Cultivators have not recurred.”
...
After checking the intelligence on the Twin-Horned Azure Moon Flood Dragon, Li Mu frowned. If there were no surprises, this Wangxing Sea was where Li Xiaotian had slain the Bihai Mad Flood Dragon!
Wangxing Sea is a vast southern sea area of the Southern Spirit Continent, a place where the Yao Race truly flourishes, with sea Yao Beasts everywhere and in extremely vast numbers.
The sea area is far vaster than the Southern Spirit Continent, and the number of sea Yao Beasts far exceeds that of land Yao Beasts, being thousands, even tens of thousands of times more numerous than Human Race Cultivators. It is a major potential hidden danger, and at the same time, an inexhaustible source of Cultivation resources.
Fortunately, the internal species of the sea Yao Beasts are diverse and not united. Coupled with the fact that sea Yao Beasts dislike land, a certain balance has been reached between the two sides. Although small-scale battles often occur, large-scale wars have not happened.
Li Mu pondered for a moment and decided to go investigate once.
Sea Yao Beasts occupy the main battlefield at the bottom of the sea. However, Li Mu had refined many water-element Fifth Order Spiritual Artifacts, and he himself possessed the Five Elements Dao Body, with his water Spiritual Root also reaching the perfect realm.
To some extent, combat in water areas did not affect Li Mu's full display of strength.
However, under this premise, he first needed to plant the Golden Source Spiritual Fruit. Compared to other Fourth Order Spiritual Plants, the Golden Source Spiritual Fruit did not require a special planting location.
Li Mu found a piece of High Grade Spiritual Field, cleared the Spiritual Plants, and precisely scattered the Golden Source Spiritual Fruit seeds into each reserved spot in the Spiritual Field.
Then, he cast the Qingfeng Huanyu Technique, and a torrential spiritual rain poured down.
Li Mu then summoned a hundred water-element Fourth Order Spiritual Swords and arranged an upgraded version of the Fourth Order golden origin Formation, encircling the thirty mu of Spiritual Field in the center. Visibly, golden Spiritual Qi converged into a stream, entering the Formation to nourish each Golden Source Spiritual Fruit seed.
Li Mu instructed the Azure-Eyed White Ape to patrol this Spiritual Plant area.
Subsequently, he inspected several other Spiritual Fields, and after confirming everything was in order, Li Mu left the Painting World Treasure Mansion and returned to his courtyard.
In the courtyard, Little Gold, Little Tile, and Crimson Wolf were playing and frolicking, having a wonderful time.
Seeing Li Mu return, they all obediently ran over. Little Tile and Little Gold, as always, rubbed against Li Mu.
Crimson Wolf, meanwhile, obediently lay beside Li Mu. Having entered his old age, his body had deteriorated, and his movements had become sluggish.
Li Mu, with a benevolent expression, gently stroked Crimson Wolf's head and played with them for a while.
After feeding them some Spirit Pills, Li Mu put them into his spirit control treasure bracelet and, with a wave of his hand, deactivated the protective Formation in the courtyard.
Li Mu left his residence, preparing to go out and look around.
Just then, a Golden Core cultivator, stepping on a cloud disc, flew towards Li Mu. Upon reaching Li Mu, he respectfully cupped his hands and said, “True Lord, I apologize, but waiting travelers are not allowed to move freely within the Sect. Where are you going?”
“Can't I go out?”
His movement was obstructed, but Li Mu was not annoyed. On someone else's territory, one must abide by their rules.
“Senior, you can certainly go out. However, when you return to your residence, you will need to go through layers of questioning, which is quite troublesome. Please bear with us, Senior!”
The Golden Core cultivator's words made Li Mu frown.
“Do you know how far Wangxing Sea is from this city?” Li Mu nodded and asked the other party.
“Senior, Wangxing Sea is about twelve thousand li from this city, but there is no direct teleportation Formation. You must fly there. With your Cultivation, it will take about half a month!” The Golden Core cultivator looked at Li Mu and responded respectfully.
Li Mu frowned, not expecting it would only take half a month of flying to reach Wangxing Sea. It wasn't a waste of time to make a trip?
If he took the Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship, he could arrive seven or eight days earlier.
After weighing his options, Li Mu immediately made a decision to temporarily alter his itinerary for that Sixth Order water-element Flood Dragon.
“Do you have a map?” To avoid getting lost, Li Mu looked at the other party and asked for a map.
“Senior, yes, I happen to have a map of the route to Wangxing Sea on me. However, Wangxing Sea has not been peaceful recently. It is said that it has become very dangerous there, and many Seniors dare not go into the sea again.” The Golden Core cultivator quickly replied.
“Dare not go into the sea? What happened?” Li Mu's curiosity was piqued, and he asked inquisitively.
“Senior, I am truly sorry, but I only learned bits and pieces from colleagues who returned from there. I did not inquire too much about the specific situation, but it is just a bit restless there. Senior, this Jade Slip records the route to Wangxing Sea.” The Golden Core cultivator explained in detail and took out a Jade Slip from his storage bracelet, handing it to Li Mu.
Taking the Jade Slip, Li Mu casually pulled out a dozen High-Grade Spirit Stones and rewarded them to the other party, considering it a reward for his map.
This made the other party extremely happy, bowing and thanking Li Mu repeatedly.
“By the way, I was originally planning to go to Barren Ancient City and needed to take the teleportation Formation in ten days. However, I have something urgent, which might delay this trip. Will this opportunity to use the teleportation Formation be forfeited?” Li Mu looked at the other party and asked with concern.
To use the teleportation Formation, Li Mu had paid nearly four thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones at once. If it were to be lost without reaching his destination, that would be too much of a loss!
Having received Li Mu's favor, the Golden Core cultivator was quite enthusiastic and patiently explained: “Senior, rest assured! Since you paid the full fare, you naturally don't need to pay a second time. The great teleportation Formation opens once every month. If you miss this one, you only need to bring your universal pass token and come back next month to take it.”
Hearing this, Li Mu was delighted. With no more worries, he no longer lingered. He summoned his Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship, ascended into it, and, transforming into a streak of light, vanished in the direction of Wangxing Sea.
Inside the Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship, Li Mu multitasked: he controlled the Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship's flight direction, used his Divine Sense to scout for safety ahead, and at the same time, summoned the Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix, condensed the Skyfire Refining Furnace, and took out various high-grade Artifact Refining Materials from his nine storage spiritual pearl—Fifth Order Dark Absolute Spirit Vine, Fifth Order Snow Dusk Silkworm Silk, Fifth Order Grand Unity Gold Stone, Fifth Order As You Wish Stone, and so on—one by one, he threw them into the Skyfire Refining Furnace and began refining a water-element Spiritual Artifact.
The Skyfire Refining Furnace, condensed by the Eightfold Heavenly Fire Tempering Method, did not leak a single trace of high temperature inside the Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship's cabin. Yet, those difficult-to-refine Fifth Order Artifact Refining Materials quickly melted and adhered together within the Skyfire Refining Furnace.
Li Mu formed hand seals with his ten fingers, and the Skyfire Refining Furnace condensed a fire hammer, beginning to hammer the artifact embryo within the furnace.
Li Mu immersed his Divine Thought into the Skyfire Refining Furnace, effortlessly controlling the furnace's temperature, the shape of the molten Materials, the refining effect, the degree of mixing... With the assistance of the Heavenly Fire Spirit, an artifact embryo in the shape of a fishing net condensed and took form in the flames.
Li Mu summoned a soul gathering bottle and released a Fifth Order water-element Lizard spirit.
Under the ‘persuasion’ of the Heavenly Fire Spirit, the giant lizard spirit was very sensible and, without much communication, plunged into the spirit net artifact embryo, willingly becoming the new artifact spirit.
With the assistance of the Heavenly Fire Hammer, Li Mu easily condensed the artifact patterns for it. Streams of spiritual power flowed out, and artifact patterns quickly formed. The ‘buzzing’ sound of the artifact indicated the birth of a new Spiritual Artifact.
When the last artifact pattern condensed, the ‘fishing net’ bloomed with dense water Qi ripples, forming an illusion of a sea wave, turbulent and full of spirituality.
“Not bad! It actually shows signs of condensing water-element Dao principles!”
Li Mu's eyes lit up. This water-element illusion felt incredibly real when one was within it. The surging waves felt cool to the touch.
The Artifact Spirit—Water Lizard—circled continuously within the sea currents, seemingly looking for an opportunity to escape. Just then, the Purple-Gold Fire Phoenix flew out from the Skyfire Refining Furnace, releasing a dense Heavenly Fire aura, incredibly majestic.
Seeing the appearance of the Heavenly Fire Spirit, the Artifact Spirit—Water Lizard—immediately cowered, as docile as a cat, and voluntarily lay at Li Mu's feet, not daring to make any further moves.
“Interesting!”
Li Mu laughed heartily, reaching out to pat the water lizard's head. The surrounding water curtain illusion suddenly dissipated, transforming into a net-shaped Spiritual Artifact, obediently lying in his palm.
【Unnamed (Water)】
【Grade: Fifth Grade High Grade Spiritual Artifact】
【Characteristics: Boundless Giant Net, Startling Wave Illusion, Size As You Wish, Spirit Sealing and Soul Imprisonment, Spiritual Power Absorption】
【Status: Spiritually Nascent, Water Element Full.】
【A spirit-trapping Spiritual Artifact refined with Fifth Order Dark Absolute Spirit Vine, Fifth Order Snow Dusk Silkworm Silk, Fifth Order Grand Unity Gold Stone, and Fifth Order As You Wish Stone as main Artifact Refining Materials, and tempered by Heavenly Fire. It is net-shaped, its size can be adjusted at will. Once covered by the Water Spirit Heavenly Net, one will be pulled into a marine illusion. The more one struggles, the more spiritual power is absorbed, and it has the effect of spirit sealing and soul imprisonment.】
Through the activation of his Heavenly Talent - Identifying Myriad Spirits, all the attributes of the fishing net Spiritual Artifact were displayed in the character log box.
Li Mu smiled slightly. Of all the Spiritual Artifacts he had refined, this water-element net-shaped Spiritual Artifact was his first. It should prove quite useful against sea Yao Beasts.
Immediately, Li Mu infused a stream of spiritual power and refined this Fifth Order Spiritual Artifact.
The Fifth Order Water Lizard had a gentle disposition and, becoming an Artifact Spirit, showed no intention of resisting. Li Mu refined it with great ease.
Holding the spiritual net, it felt as light as a feather and exuded a faint coolness. Li Mu smiled and named it: “I'll call you ‘Heaven-Trapping’ Spiritual Net.”
The Artifact Spirit—Water Lizard—climbed onto Li Mu's shoulder and rubbed its small face against Li Mu's cheek, seemingly very fond of the name 'Heaven-Trapping'.
Just as Li Mu was wondering whether to find a place to test the power of Heaven-Trapping, his Divine Thought suddenly discovered a gigantic Spirit Ship behind him, rushing towards his direction with lightning speed.
Its body was enormous, five stories high and ten zhang tall, forty to fifty times the size of the Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship. As it advanced rapidly, it created an immense force that tore through the air, like thunder. If he didn't dodge in time, he would certainly be hit.
Li Mu cursed inwardly and maneuvered the Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship to dodge sharply to the left.
The next second, the giant Spirit Ship flew past, narrowly missing him.
It ‘ignored’ the existence of the Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship, acting extremely arrogant!
‘Watching’ the giant Spirit Ship fly away into the distance, Li Mu was utterly disgusted.
It must be a Spirit Ship belonging to some Sect power to be so arrogant and overbearing.
If Li Mu hadn't been multitasking just now, constantly keeping his Divine Thought aware of the situation within a hundred-li radius of the Celestial Shuttle Spirit Ship, and had dodged a little slower, he would definitely have been crashed into, resulting in the destruction of his ship and his death!
That giant Spirit Ship was definitely intentional!
Damn it!
This world not only had demonic Cultivators and demons, but also disciples of large Sects who treated human lives as mere weeds.
Li Mu urgently wanted to deal with the Sixth Order Twin-Horned Azure Moon Flood Dragon, and then hide in Yin Yang Valley, living a reclusive life of farming.