Chapter 1131: Xingtang Master Was Eaten

The person before them had a face covered in large lumps, each resembling a tumor. On their head stood a scarlet, fleshy protuberance, erect and over half a meter long, like a walking... cactus!

If it weren't for the fact that their appearance hadn't changed much, one would truly suspect this person was a heart demon that had escaped from somewhere... Their look was simply too bizarre!

Didn't they just enter a heart demon passage?

How did they end up looking like this, as if they had just been beaten up?

"Hall Master!"

Hall Master Liao rushed forward, his face full of sorrow: "Even if you couldn't pass, there's no need to harm yourself..."

The heart demon passage tests one's inner self and soul, and doesn't significantly affect the physical body. For the Hall Master to appear in this state... did he feel he failed, became distraught, and self-harmed in sadness?

"You..."

Hall Master Xing nearly fainted, letting out an angry roar. He looked up at Zhang Xuan, who was not far away, pointing at the large lumps on his head and face with an almost tearful expression: "Master Sun... can you tell me what's going on?"

"Me? How would I know?"

Zhang Xuan was momentarily stunned, not expecting the question to be directed at him.

"You really don't know?"

Hall Master Xing turned around.

Upon seeing it, Zhang Xuan swayed, almost spitting blood.

On the other person's backside, a vibrant red flower bud, seemingly ready to drip, had sprouted.

"A flower on his backside, a cactus on his head..."

Zhang Xuan scratched his head, unable to comprehend what was happening to the other person. Suddenly, he thought of something, his expression changing, and his mouth twitching: "Could it be... that I didn't awaken the spirit of a weapon for him just now, but rather... that of a plant?"

Awakening the spirit of an item can be categorized into awakening the spirit of a weapon and awakening the spirit of a plant.

Plant spiritual essence allows them to grow better, becoming more lush and vibrant. Once this essence dies, it's highly likely that the entire plant will wither, losing its vitality at any moment.

Many Saint-level medicinal ingredients are like this.

Just like the Saint-level Bodhi Tree back then, its spiritual essence was dormant, making it appear dead. This caused Emperor Yu Shenqing to repeatedly seek help for its revival, and he himself almost inadvertently killed it.

For this very reason, knowing how to care for spiritual essences and ensure their survival is an extremely profound field of study, one that many dedicate their lives to researching.

"That's not right... I clearly used the technique for awakening weapon spirits..."

Zhang Xuan frowned.

Inside the other person's primordial spirit fissure, he had clearly used the method for awakening weapon spirits, not plants... How did it suddenly turn into plant spiritual essence?

As he pondered, he saw the flower bud slowly opening, emitting an uncomplimentary scent. Following this, the cactus on his head also began to bloom, growing wildly. In moments, a large cluster had grown, hanging from his head, making Hall Master Xing look like a reindeer.

"It's still growing incessantly, it's definitely plant spiritual essence... I understand!"

His mouth twitched, and he suddenly thought of a possibility: "Although I used the technique for awakening weapon spirits... his body is full of vitality, and it has the same effect as awakening a spirit in a plant... Therefore, it directly became plant spiritual essence, which is why this phenomenon occurred..."

The technique he used wasn't wrong, but... awakening a spirit within a human body is different from awakening a spirit in an inanimate object.

An inanimate object is dead, completely dark before spiritual awakening, with nothing inside. However, Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit was brimming with vitality, even more potent than growing vegetation. Once imbued with spiritual essence, it naturally began to grow wildly...

A cactus on his head, a flower on his back, who knows how many secrets I hold...

*Cough cough!*

Realizing what had happened, a strange expression appeared on Zhang Xuan's face.

Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit was powerful; at first, he could easily suppress this plant spiritual essence, preventing it from changing. However, after entering the heart demon passage, being attacked, and losing control of his mind, he immediately couldn't bear it, leading to this uncontrollable situation.

But... what exactly was this plant?

It didn't look like a cactus, and the flower on his back was unrecognizable...

Oh, even Master Kong isn't reliable!

He had followed what the other person said, not relying on the experience of predecessors but forging his own path. Yet, before he even started on that path, something like this happened...

*Crunch! Crunch!*

As he was musing, he saw that the cactus was also full of blooms, and soon it was covered in small, date-sized fruits, vibrant and seemingly dripping with freshness.

"What in the world is this monstrosity?"

Seeing himself starting to bear fruit, Hall Master Xing was on the verge of tears. He hurriedly looked towards Master Sun.

Although he didn't know the exact details, it was certainly this guy who had messed up his spiritual awakening.

Otherwise, why hadn't he bloomed or borne fruit before...

...and why did it start precisely today?

"Ahem, perhaps you ate something unclean. How about this, I'll take a look and see if I can resolve it..."

Knowing that admitting his mistake would surely lead to being beaten to death on the spot, Zhang Xuan spoke without blushing or gasping for air.

In truth, it wasn't his fault. He had originally intended to make the other person's primordial spirit more complete and powerful, making it easier to deal with the supposed opponent. Who knew... he never dreamed it would turn into this monstrous appearance.

The dignified Hall Master of the Combat Master Hall, one of the top supreme experts in the entire Qingyuan Empire, now had a head full of cacti and fragrant fruits, and a backside covered in flowers...

If news of this got out, it would probably make people burst out laughing immediately.

"Eat?" Hall Master Xing knew it was useless to dwell on it now, so he could only say: "Please, Master Sun, help me resolve this as soon as possible..."

"Alright!"

Sitting on the ground, Zhang Xuan once again employed his Spirit Awakener abilities. With a thought, his consciousness re-entered the other person's sea of consciousness.

Following the familiar path, he arrived before the fissure. After a glance, Zhang Xuan couldn't help but be stunned.

The fissure that had been there earlier was now completely filled. It seemed that over the past hour, Hall Master Xing had perfectly integrated that plant spiritual essence into his primordial spirit.

"This..."

His eyebrow twitched, and Zhang Xuan's mouth spasmed: "Hall Master Xing's primordial spirit is too powerful, isn't it..."

Other people's primordial spirits would surely reject plant spiritual essence even if it were in their sea of consciousness. But this guy, he just directly crushed it, completely integrating it in about an hour...

Originally, he just needed to come to the fissure and erase this spiritual essence to solve all problems. But now that it was integrated, how could he kill it?

If he really killed it, Hall Master Xing would probably die too.

"It's probably the heart demons interfering, causing him to unintentionally integrate it..."

If he had known this would happen, he should have stopped this guy from entering the heart demon passage. Now look... a head full of cacti and fruits, and a backside covered in flowers. How was he supposed to fix this?

"Plant spiritual essence is not aggressive. Once integrated into the primordial spirit, outsiders are powerless. He can only eliminate it himself..."

His consciousness exited the other person's sea of consciousness, and Zhang Xuan felt a headache coming on.

Plant spiritual essence is not aggressive, and many people use special secret arts to devour it to enhance their primordial spirit and soul. Although Hall Master Xing hadn't cultivated such a secret art, he was simply too powerful. He quickly integrated this spiritual essence. As a result... his primordial spirit became flawless, but the plant spiritual essence wasn't eradicated; it simply merged, naturally leading to various complications.

The latter, receiving such powerful life force nourishment, many times greater than that of a plant, naturally began to grow excitedly and incessantly...

Pondering this, he looked up and saw the cactus on Hall Master Xing's head growing even taller and larger. Especially the flower on his backside, it was blooming even more vividly. From a distance, the entire person seemed to have transformed into a giant plant, standing quietly in place.

And the fruits, they were multiplying, resembling wild dates.

"Master Sun, do you have a solution?"

Seeing him re-enter his sea of consciousness, Hall Master Xing hurriedly looked over.

"I've found the specific cause, but as for how to resolve it, I still need to think..."

He was full of awkwardness.

What kind of situation was this?

He had intended to nourish the other person's primordial spirit, but instead... he had done more harm than good...

He truly felt a bit embarrassed.

"It's good that you found the cause..."

Hall Master Xing breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the current situation was rather frustrating, it was much better than not knowing the cause at all.

Otherwise, letting him go out constantly looking like this would be worse than simply killing him with a blade.

As he was musing, the door creaked open, and Hall Master Wei strode in. Upon reaching them, he couldn't help but pause, surprised: "What a strange tree!"

Saying this, he plucked a fruit and took a bite. He then looked curiously at Hall Master Liao and Zhang Xuan: "Has the Hall Master not come out yet? It's been over an hour..."

"..." Hall Master Xing.

"..." Hall Master Liao.

"..." Zhang Xuan.

"I've been out for a while now..."

His teeth ground together with an audible *gritting* sound, Hall Master Xing was so furious he was about to explode.

Being mistaken for a plant was one thing, but being eaten was another...

"Hall Master..."

Hall Master Wei then realized that this "plant" was actually the Hall Master. He forgot to chew the fruit in his mouth, standing dumbfounded.

"Ahem, Master Sun, you should hurry and find a way to restore him... Otherwise, in this state, let alone resolving any crisis, I fear he won't even be able to face people!"

Hall Master Liao quickly said.

"Yes, in his situation, the plant spiritual essence has merged with his primordial spirit. The only solution is for him to cultivate a cultivation art that eliminates plant spiritual essence. Only by wearing it down can the hidden danger be completely resolved..."

Zhang Xuan explained.

As long as the spiritual essence in his primordial spirit remains, he will continue to grow like this. Other methods are useless.

"Master Sun, do you have such a cultivation art?" Hall Master Xing breathed a sigh of relief and quickly asked.

"I... don't!" Zhang Xuan scratched his head.

The Spirit Awakener Guild focuses on awakening the spirits of all things and nourishing souls; there's never been anything about eradicating spiritual essences. Therefore, although he knew the method, he lacked the corresponding cultivation art to resolve it.

Hall Master Xing swayed: "Am I... going to have to go out like this forever?"

"No, not necessarily. There's a temporary solution that can allow you to return to normal for a short period!"

After some thought, Zhang Xuan said: "Use a blade to cut off all these flowers and fruits, and then I'll formulate some poison for you to take to reduce the vitality within your body. This will also restrict your cultivation! In other words, after taking the medicine and pruning these plants, they won't grow back, but the prerequisite is not to use your cultivation. Otherwise, the more power you use, the faster they'll grow!"

"Take poison?"

Hall Master Xing swallowed, his face turning pale, and he couldn't help but shiver.

You just awakened my spirit and made me like this. If you really concoct poison for me to eat, who knows what will happen?

Filled with conflict, he also felt a hint of doubt: "You can concoct poison? Are you... a Poison Master?"