Chapter 37: The Immortal-Demon Seed, a Scheme Come to Fruition

Although many believed that demon cultivators were fiercer in combat than immortal cultivators of the same realm, their later progress was extremely difficult. Because of this, many powerful demonic experts began to wonder if they could seize an immortal cultivator’s Immortal Seed and merge it with their own Demon Seed to create a legendary Immortal-Demon Seed.

The dream was beautiful, but reality was cruel. Almost every expert who attempted this failed. Over time, the Immortal-Demon Seed became a distant legend among demon cultivators. It was said that a master with such a seed would have an incredibly stable foundation, and the upper limits of their future achievements would be impossible to predict.

“The heavens have not forsaken me! By merging the Dao Heart Seed Demon Art with the Grand Art of Reincarnation, not only will he not notice anything amiss, but he will also be tempering the perfect body for me, laying the foundation for my possession! And he has even fused it into an Immortal-Demon Seed, something countless demonic experts have only dreamed of! Although its initial progress is slow, its potential is naturally far higher.”

The Undying Witch Fiend muttered to himself, pleased, but his brow furrowed when he thought of the troubles an Immortal-Demon Seed would face in its future cultivation. However, his expression quickly relaxed.

Why worry about that now? I haven’t even seized the body yet! When the time comes, a path will naturally reveal itself. If I can escape this sunless prison, how can a mere cultivation problem stop me?

Grow quickly! The day you sprout your seedling is the day I am reborn!

Full of doubt, Qin Haoxuan checked his Immortal Seed one more time. Seeing no other strange phenomena after it had enlarged, he felt slightly relieved. He returned to his dormitory, preparing to train his Spiritual Sense.

According to Elder Chu, cultivators who reached the Grand Ancestor level all placed great importance on the cultivation of their Spiritual Sense. It could be used not only in combat but also in alchemy, talisman crafting, and formations. This was incomprehensible to the other disciples, who couldn’t even imagine what Spiritual Sense was. But Qin Haoxuan, having had a taste of its power, was particularly focused on it. Especially after his last trip to the Immortal-Slaying Poison Valley, where his progress was halted after a hundred steps, he was even more determined to train it.

He lay down on his bed. It was late, and the other disciples were asleep. He safely projected his soul into the little snake. Although he wasn’t planning on going to the valley, now that he knew this was how he could train his Spiritual Sense, he decided to do it every day. That way, the next time he went, he could reach the location of that spiritual pulse and see what kind of treasure it was.

After meditating until midnight and then training his Spiritual Sense in the snake’s body until the early morning hours, Qin Haoxuan finally stopped. He had barely closed his eyes before the crowing of a rooster woke him.

He forced his eyes open. If not for the corn he had planted the day before, and his own curiosity to see how much faster the underground Spirit Spring would make it grow, he really wouldn’t have wanted to get out of bed.

After a quick breakfast, Elder Chu gathered all the new disciples and led them to the farmland.

From a distance, they could see that the fields, which had been barren the day before, were now covered in lush green sprouts, vibrant and full of life in the morning sun.

“Haha, my corn has sprouted!” a weak-seeded disciple shouted, immediately earning a wave of disdainful glares. Apart from the three plots in the far corner, which were obscured by waist-high weeds, the entire area was a sea of green. Everyone’s field had sprouts an inch high. The fields belonging to Zhang Kuang, Li Jing, and Zhang Yang had sprouts an inch and a half high, and the two plots Elder Chu had secretly planted for Xu Yu and Murong Chao had sprouts nearly two inches high.

After a moment of envy, someone started a guessing game.

“Hey, how tall do you think the sprouts are in Qin Haoxuan’s three plots?”

Another disciple tilted his head and thought for a long time. “Well, they did carry a lot of Spirit Spring water yesterday. Even if the soil is barren, it should still grow something. I’d say… about this high.”

He held up his finger, indicating the height of a fingernail.

This immediately drew a roar of laughter. Most of them, including Elder Chu, firmly believed that their fields were still completely barren. Even with Spirit Spring water, without any spiritual energy in the soil, it would be like trying to put out a burning cart with a single cup of water.

“Why guess? Let’s just go and see.”

At this suggestion, even Elder Chu was intrigued. He took the lead, following behind Qin Haoxuan’s group. The others, seeing them go, all tagged along to watch the show.

Elder Chu was still resentful about being refused the day before. Those two special seeds had ignored his advice and blindly trusted a weak seed who slept in his class. It left a sour taste in his mouth.

In his experience, such barren land, even if watered with a hundred buckets of Spirit Spring water, would be useless. He imagined the scene of the three of them being humiliated by the other disciples’ mockery, and the thought was as satisfying as eating a ginseng fruit.

Hearing the chaotic discussion behind him, Qin Haoxuan’s expression remained calm. He was tired from his all-night soul-travel and simply walked towards his plot. Xu Yu and Murong Chao, however, were not so confident. They nervously wondered how they would face the others if their crops hadn’t grown.

As they approached the weed-filled area, Qin Haoxuan, who had been walking in a daze, suddenly stopped. He realized he hadn’t seen how the others’ crops had turned out. He took a pointed look at the two plots Elder Chu had planted, smiled to himself, and then continued on without a word.

That Elder Chu is really holding a grudge. Those two plots were obviously planted for Xu Yu and Murong Chao. He used his Spirit Rain Technique yesterday, which is equivalent to a hundred buckets of water. His corn is two inches tall. But my land was nourished by a Spirit Spring all night. How can his technique possibly compare?

In the eyes of Elder Chu and the others, his pause was a sign of hesitation. They all wore playful smiles and followed closely, ready to watch the three of them make a fool of themselves.

The followers of Li Jing who had been run off the day before were already preparing their taunts, just waiting for their moment of humiliation.

They walked past the weeds, and their eyes were met with a field of vibrant, tender green. Each stalk of corn was like a masterpiece carved from the finest jade-green jadeite. Not only was the color far superior to anything in the other fields, but each stalk was a full three inches high, much taller than the corn planted by Zhang Kuang, Li Jing, or even Elder Chu. The sight left everyone, including the elder, completely dumbstruck.

Li Jing’s followers, who were at the back of the crowd and couldn’t see, thought the stunned silence was because the plots were barren. What else could grow in land as hard as a flagstone?

They immediately launched into their pre-prepared mockery. “I told you nothing could grow in that trash land! The sprouts in the fields of the elder and His Highness are at least an inch and a half tall, even ours are an inch! Poor Xu Yu and Murong Chao, all that work for nothing! That’s what you get for not listening to Elder Chu’s advice!”

Their words caused the others at the back, who were also unaware, to laugh. They began to praise Elder Chu, Zhang Kuang, and Li Jing for their superior crops.

But the louder they praised them, the more it was like slapping them in the face.

“Silence!” Seeing that they were not stopping, the utterly humiliated Elder Chu let out a furious roar. He formed a hand seal, and countless fireballs shot out, accurately striking the mouth of every sycophant, making them cry out in pain.

Only then did the flatterers realize something was wrong. They pushed their way to the front and saw the three-inch-tall, jade-like corn stalks in Qin Haoxuan’s field. They were all stunned into silence.

Not only were they a full inch taller than the corn in Elder Chu’s field, but their color and quality were also in a completely different league.

If the corn in Qin Haoxuan’s field was considered average, then Elder Chu’s didn’t even qualify as second-rate. As for the corn in Zhang Kuang’s and Li Jing’s fields… they were just weeds in comparison.

How… how was this possible? This question flashed through everyone’s mind, including Elder Chu’s.

They looked at the hard, black, dry soil beneath the jade-like corn. This land, which seemed worse than the lowest grade, had produced crops that even the best spirit fields could not match.

The fact that his crops were better than the elder’s earned him a wave of envy, but even more hatred.

If it had been Li Jing or Zhang Kuang, it would have been understandable. They were Purple Seeds, after all. But Qin Haoxuan was just a weak seed. How could his crops be better than everyone else’s?

Not only could the disciples not understand it, but even the ashamed Elder Chu was completely baffled. Could there be something special about this land?

He looked at the unperturbed Qin Haoxuan as if he were a monster. How on earth did he find these three plots? Did an immortal visit him in his dreams while he was sleeping in class?

Facing Elder Chu’s sharp, piercing gaze, Qin Haoxuan’s expression remained calm, as if it were no big deal. The side effects of his soul-travel were kicking in, and waves of sleepiness washed over him. He ignored the astonished stares of the others, lay down on the ridge of his field, and fell asleep.

The resentful Elder Chu quietly left the scene and gathered the other elders of the Spirit Field Valley to study the mystery of these three plots. They argued heatedly for a full hour, examining the mountain’s dragon veins and geography. In the end, they came to a conclusion that there was a remnant of a Spirit Spring hidden deep underground.