Chapter 541: Healing Spirit Vine

"I…" Garden Master Xue's face flushed, and she wanted to lash out but couldn't utter a word.

As the master of the Myriad Kingdom City's foremost herb garden, her understanding of medicinal herbs was certainly no less than that of Elder Liu or Elder Lu, perhaps even surpassing theirs.

This was precisely why, after learning that she had no solution for the Earth Vein Spirit Vine, no one dared to speak up.

Although spirit herbs and spirit artifacts both possess "spirit," it is fundamentally different from a human soul. People had heard of special spirit herbs nourishing the soul, but never of absorbing their spiritual essence to mend a damaged soul.

The two are intrinsically different; it's like expecting a hungry tiger to eat grass like a goat – how could that be possible?

"This..." The surrounding crowd also looked on in astonishment.

In their eyes, Garden Master Xue was a grandmaster of herb cultivation. How could she make such a mistake?

No wonder she had cultivated so many herbs over the years without selling any, not even to the Alliance Leader's mansion. So, this was the reason!

She hoped the herbs' spiritual essence could repair her soul, so naturally, the more, the better. Once sold, the reduction in herbs would inevitably lead to a decrease in this spiritual essence.

For cultivators, breaking through to the Spirit Unification Realm was worth any cost!

However, these matters were highly confidential... How did this person know?

The others had observed for so long without detecting any issue with the Earth Vein Spirit Vine, let alone realizing Garden Master Xue's true intentions. Yet, this person had merely touched the vine and the ground, then watched a set of fist movements and understood everything...

Was this not overly exaggerated?!

Lu Zhan, Song Chao, and the others also widened their eyes.

They knew he was a Master Teacher, but they hadn't expected him to be this formidable.

"When Garden Master Xue entered, I observed that her *zhenqi* was pure and her strength abundant. Judging by her age, she should only be just over a hundred years old. Women typically care for their appearance, so under normal circumstances, with her strength and age, her complexion shouldn't be so aged, unless... there was some special mishap!"

Zhang Xuan didn't stop. He calmly looked over and continued, "So, I carefully observed the fist technique she just performed. If I'm not mistaken, it was the Great Sun Fist – powerful, upright, and full of vigor. This set of fist movements, following its normal circulation path, should have *zhenqi* emerging from the Hundred Heart Acupoint. However, she made it travel an additional one-fifth of the distance, emerging from the Chapter Heart Acupoint."

"For a Transcendent Mortal Fourth Realm expert, who has already mastered cultivation to an impeccable degree, such a situation only indicates one possibility: damage to the Wisdom Bright Acupoint, which prevents her from accurately distinguishing between subtle differences in acupoints! The Wisdom Bright Acupoint, representing wisdom and clarity, is one of the crucial acupoints for a complete soul. Since it's damaged, it's natural that her soul would also be injured!"

"As for this Earth Vein Spirit Vine, you all have seen it. It shows no signs of illness or pest infestation, yet it has withered, and no medicine can help it. Initially, I didn't suspect its spiritual essence was being absorbed until I saw the spot on the ground where Garden Master Xue cultivates."

At this point, Zhang Xuan pointed. Everyone looked in unison and saw that the grass in the area where Garden Master Xue had been cultivating was thriving, appearing lush and green, growing much better than in other places.

"The grass here grows better than elsewhere, which I believe is obvious to everyone. It's understandable for plants to flourish where cultivation gathers spiritual energy. However... you'll understand when you see this!"

Approaching, Zhang Xuan extended his palm towards the patch of grass. The grass, as if sensing something terrifying, moved on its own without a breeze, scattering away.

"These are the most common green floral grasses, found everywhere on the ground, and they possess no spiritual essence. Yet, now they can avoid my hand... From this, we can deduce that someone absorbing the herbs' spiritual essence caused a leakage, imbuing even these ordinary plants with the ability to seek good fortune and avoid misfortune!"

Zhang Xuan smiled faintly, "Seeing this, drawing further conclusions becomes quite logical!"

"This..." "Truly a Master Teacher, what keen insight..."

Hearing the explanation, everyone was filled with admiration.

They had long heard that Master Teachers possessed astonishing discernment, excelling at identifying problems from the slightest clues. Now, it was clear that the reputation was well-deserved.

To deduce the core issue of the Earth Vein Spirit Vine and understand Garden Master Xue's cultivation problems simply from a set of fist movements and a patch of grass... If they hadn't witnessed it themselves, they would never have believed it.

"This..." Song Chao swallowed, his face paling.

The other party's analysis was meticulously reasoned and flawless.

While these explanations sounded simple, they were in fact incredibly difficult to achieve. Even as a Four-star Master Teacher, he couldn't do it!

Moreover, not just him, but even his own teacher and the sect elders probably couldn't deduce all this merely by a glance.

To find the cause from tiny traces... inferring lines from points, surfaces from lines, and the whole from surfaces, without a single error... Was this person cheating?

Even a Five-star Master Teacher would find this difficult!

Could it be... that the person before them was a Five-star Master Teacher?

No wonder he had been swayed by the Impartation of Heaven's Will several times in a row, without even the ability to resist. Only now did he realize how far behind he was compared to Zhang Xuan!

"It seems that mid-grade spirit stone won't be coming back. If I actually go to demand it, I'm afraid... I won't even be able to keep those low-grade spirit stones..."

He wore a dejected expression.

Being swayed every time he went, he worried that not only would he fail to reclaim the mid-grade spirit stone, but his hard-earned wealth would also be completely plundered, leaving him with nothing.

"Never mind. I'll just take this coffin back first. If it pleases the elders, it might still compensate for some losses..."

Having witnessed Zhang Xuan's methods, Song Chao was genuinely intimidated.

Nevertheless, deep down, he was genuinely full of admiration.

To deduce all this from just a few clues – truly worthy of the Master Teacher who could sway him.

While everyone else was shocked, Garden Master Xue's body trembled as well, somewhat disbelieving. "I found this method in an ancient book. Over the years, my soul injury has indeed recovered a little..."

When her soul was first damaged, it was determined that she would have no hope of reaching the Spirit Unification Realm in her lifetime.

Defying fate, she consulted countless ancient texts and finally found this method in a book: absorbing the spiritual essence of herbs to supplement her own soul...

Although she harbored doubts, for her, it was a last resort.

Furthermore, with years of persistent effort, her damaged soul had indeed recovered considerably.

"Recovered a little?" Zhang Xuan shook his head. "Is it still very far from being complete? Can you live another eighty-seven years?"

Garden Master Xue swayed. The lifespan of a Transcendent Mortal realm expert was limited; being over a hundred years old meant she had already lived more than half of it. She could live another eighty-seven years, but what about a second eighty-seven?

Even if it were fully repaired, she wouldn't live long enough to benefit from it.

So... what was the point of this restoration?

"I was wrong..."

All this time, she had focused on how to restore her damaged soul and then attempt to break through to the Spirit Unification Realm. Only now did she realize that all her efforts had been a dream.

The Spirit Unification Realm was now forever beyond her reach.

Shaking her head, she instantly seemed to age several decades. Previously, she looked around fifty, but now she appeared like an old woman in her seventies or eighties.

Seeing her in this state, although the others felt a pang of sympathy, they knew they couldn't intervene.

A belief she had held for over eighty years had been shattered in an instant. Anyone would find it unbearable.

"Master Zhang, is there a way to save this Earth Vein Spirit Vine?"

After an unknown period, Garden Master Xue slowly recovered and looked at the young man before her.

Since he could identify the root of the problem at a glance, perhaps he also had a solution.

She had no hope of breaking through, so she no longer struggled with that. However, this herb garden had been with her for most of her life, and she did not want to see it perish.

"You have cultivated here for years, consuming its spiritual essence. Now, this spirit vine is merely an empty shell. It will be difficult to restore it! However, it's not impossible, but it may require some significant cost!" Zhang Xuan said.

Before visiting the Witch Soul Tomb, he didn't know much about souls, so he wouldn't have known how to treat a plant whose spiritual essence had been consumed.

But now that he had all of Mo Hunsheng's knowledge, he understood souls extensively. Even if the Earth Vein Spirit Vine's spiritual essence was destroyed, it could still be treated, though it would require more effort.

"As long as it can be revived, I'm willing to pay any price!" Hearing there was still hope, Garden Master Xue quickly looked over.

The others also looked on in unison. They had never heard that a spirit herb could be revived after losing its spiritual essence, even though they were masters of herb cultivation, and they all wanted to learn.

"Actually, it's quite simple: it's... grafting!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Grafting?" Everyone looked puzzled.

As cultivators of herbs, they were all familiar with grafting, which involves attaching a branch or bud from one plant to the stem or root of another, allowing the two joined parts to grow into a single, complete plant.

Many new varieties of spirit herbs were developed this way.

"Exactly. Plants can be grafted, and so can spiritual essence!"

Zhang Xuan smiled faintly, "You only need to find a branch or bud from another Earth Vein Spirit Vine that contains complete spiritual essence. Graft it onto this vine, and as it grows, the spiritual essence from the branch will fuse with it, forming a single entity."

Once a spiritual branch or bud is grafted onto this vine and takes root, it will fuse into a single being.

"However, at a normal rate of fusion, it would be difficult to complete in less than several decades. If you wait that long, I'm afraid all the herbs in your garden would have already died... And to accelerate this process, the cost required would be extraordinary!"

Grafting spiritual essence sounds simple, but it is extremely difficult to execute.

First, how to completely transfer the spiritual essence to the branch or bud? There is no other method unless a Witch Soul Master intervenes.

Second, during fusion, one must also find a way to prevent rejection.

It's like soul possession: even if the Earth Vein Spirit Vine is currently like a soulless golden figure, without its spirit, it would be very difficult for the spiritual essence of a tender bud to completely consume and occupy such a large body.

It's akin to an ant trying to pull a carriage.

For such a weak spiritual essence to grow rapidly, it's impossible without paying a price.

"What do you need? I'll prepare it immediately!" Garden Master Xue gritted her teeth.

If the Earth Vein Spirit Vine dies, all the herbs in the garden will perish, resulting in even greater losses.

"One Earth Vein Spirit Vine sapling, fifty herbs with a hundred years of medicinal age, ten buckets of rootless water..." Zhang Xuan listed the necessary items.

Hearing this list, everyone exchanged glances, their expressions grim. No wonder he had mentioned a high cost; it was indeed true.

An ordinary family would likely be unable to procure these, let alone for the sole purpose of saving a single plant.

"Alright, I'll prepare them immediately!" Garden Master Xue's eyebrow twitched after hearing the items, but considering her wealth, it was acceptable.

"Don't be hasty..."

Just as she was about to go prepare the items, the young man's voice continued.

"Also, prepare a Passionflower, one that's over five hundred years old. And if you have any more mid-grade spirit stones, the more, the better!"