"According to the growth cycle, it takes half a year for the Fire Crystal Fruit to mature into a plant, and a full year to bear fruit. It'll take me over six months before I can even eat one!"
After inspecting the Fire Crystal Fruit plant for a short while, Chen Jinshu quickly realized a major problem. She had started cultivating it from the spiritual seed, which naturally required more time to grow. Most spiritual farmers, however, would cut a portion of the plant's stem and regrow it, saving considerable time.
"If I'd known earlier, I would've just bought some Fire Crystal Fruit cuttings for cultivation."
"Oh well, I'll ask my senior brother next time I see him. He might have a way."
She had only recently learned that her sixth senior brother had a wide network on Medicine King Peak, with ties to almost every known cultivator trading in spirit plants. The Wood Spirit Fruits she had planted beside her wooden hut had now begun to flower—but it would probably take another year before they bore fruit.
It had already been three to four years since she'd planted them. With the difference in time flow inside her spiritual space, these three trees had technically grown for eight to nine years. And with all the growth-accelerating potions she'd poured into them, it was more like ten years.
The next day, after waking up, Chen Jinshu decided to visit the medicinal garden and ask her senior brother about cultivating Fire Crystal Fruit branches.
Back when Gu Zhēnrén was lecturing, he had never mentioned anything about growing from cuttings. She had also heard a rumor: Gu Zhēnrén was extremely opposed to such practices. He believed it violated the natural laws of spiritual plant growth and considered each plant an independent life form.
Thinking back now, Chen Jinshu couldn't help but feel grateful she hadn't taken him as her master. If she had to face that stubborn old man every day, she probably wouldn't last long. Her senior brother Wen Yushu had several acres of spiritual farmland at Green Pine Medicine Garden, so she always went straight there to find him.
He was almost always around.
She had been lucky enough to tour his fields before. Unlike those spiritual farmers who worked merely for contribution points, Wen Yushu's gardens were full of diversity. What had started as six acres of farmland had been turned into a veritable garden of thousands of medicinal herbs.
Every time she visited, she was in awe.
When she arrived at his garden today, she heard the rustling sounds of work inside. She lightly tapped on the formation guarding the garden. Before long, her senior brother welcomed her in. His medicine garden was quite valuable and always protected by a high-level array.
"Senior Brother, I wanted to ask about cultivating Fire Crystal Fruit from stem cuttings."
"Why the sudden interest?" Wen Yushu asked, a bit curious.
"To be honest, I want to grow them and sell the fruits for spirit stones. It won't take me more than an hour or two a day. It won't interfere with my alchemy practice," she quickly added, worried he might misunderstand her priorities.
These days, she refined at least one furnace of pills a day to keep her skills sharp.
"No need to explain. You do what you think is best. I won't interfere. I did grow some Fire Crystal Fruit plants about ten years ago. They're in the third field. Not many left though. Be gentle with them."
"Senior Brother, your garden is a treasure trove. It has everything."
Chen Jinshu sighed with admiration, but she also knew she couldn't always rely on his resources. She took out a small bundle of white spiritual rice grains and a Blackwood Ginseng from her storage bag.
"This is a little thank-you gift from me. Please accept it."
"What are these? White rice? A purple carrot?" Wen Yushu glanced over and casually joked—then suddenly shook his head.
"Wait—that's Blackwood Ginseng, and it's even developed a spiritual essence! Where did you get this?"
His eyes lit up.
"It was an unexpected find during that last demon-cleansing mission. The white rice came from demonized rice that mutated. Thought you might find it interesting."
"Thank you! You can dig up those Fire Crystal Fruit trees if you want," Wen Yushu said, completely distracted by the gifts.
Chen Jinshu had expected this and kept a neutral expression. She then headed to the third field and found six Fire Crystal Fruit trees, each about ten meters tall, with intricate, well-maintained branches. Clearly, her senior brother had taken good care of them.
"These are huge… it'd be impossible to move them as is."
Of course, she wasn't foolish enough to ruin her image by trying. She carefully selected a dozen thick branches and stored them away, leaving the rest untouched.
Half a month passed.
Chen Jinshu's newly cultivated Fire Crystal Fruit trees in her spiritual garden had finally sprouted and taken root. They were now ten inches taller than naturally grown ones—saving her about six months of waiting.
"Thank goodness I had the foresight. Otherwise, I'd be waiting one or two years—by then, even the flowers would have wilted!"
With proper care, the ten saplings she had might even bear fruit within half a year. Just after she finished watering her spirit field, a sudden call came from her sea of consciousness—from Xiao Yin. It was urgent and excited.
"Don't tell me it's refined that Xuanyin Luan feather already?"
That bluish-green feather held the essence of the Xuanyin Luan bird's bloodline and was brimming with powerful spiritual energy.
For a mutant-bloodline spirit bird like the Shadowpeak Finch, it was an extraordinary supplement—even stronger than the Moon-Devouring Demon Lotus Seed it had consumed before.
When she arrived beneath the plum-blossom tree, she was met with a flurry of blue-green feathers, and the copper bells on the eaves chimed as a large shadow passed. A bird the size of a white goose appeared before her, casting a long shadow across the ground.
"Xiao Yin?"
Chen Jinshu was taken aback. She hadn't expected a single feather to cause such a massive transformation. It was nothing short of a full rebirth. The spirit bird, once no more than a small creature with moderate combat ability, had now shed its former limitations. It could now grow to immense sizes, fly higher, and witness broader horizons.
Flutter! Flutter!
The Shadowpeak Finch flapped its dark-blue wings, now gleaming with a metallic luster. Tiny sparkles ran down each feather shaft. Its half-meter-long tail feathers emitted a glowing blue aura. Its talons were like those of a hawk—sharp and imposing. Its once golden eyes were now a deeper amber gold.
"Master! I've gotten bigger!"
"Congratulations, you've been reborn!" Chen Jinshu smiled brightly.
Xiao Yin's transformation reminded her of her own—back when she shed her past as the Chen family's unwanted daughter to become a direct disciple of a Golden Core master.
"Do you know your new race?"
"I feel a connection to the Xuanyin Luans… but I'm also a bit different."
"Then let's call you a Blue-Feathered Sound Luan."
"Nice name! But… I still like it better when Master calls me Xiao Yin."
"Alright. Then you'll always be my Xiao Yin."