Bamboo Mound

Chapter 154 Withering and Growth

"Holy crap, isn't this a graduation thesis? It even has anti-plagiarism features, that's really advanced." Ning Chang's eye twitched as he commented to himself.

Although he barely graduated from high school when he came here and had never attended university, he had heard about the various "thesis" projects in universities.

Hearing the name "Withering Growth" made him feel a bit familiar, and he quickly remembered that he had seen this technique before, but he didn't take it because he thought it was useless. Now it seems that if the speed is enough, it should be more practical than "Blood Planting"!

Xie Jun cleared his throat and continued his introduction.

"The withering growth and rapid growth are essentially similar, both of which use spiritual power to directly and quickly promote plant growth. However, the difference is that this technique is too powerful and severely disrupts the natural laws and life structure of the accelerated plant itself."

Plants grown using this method wither and decay rapidly after the growth process is complete, including their mature produce. Furthermore, the smaller the plant after the growth process stops, the faster it decays, usually within half a day.

Seeing Ning Chang's puzzled expression, Xie Jun smiled slightly and said, "I happen to have some fruit here, so I might as well demonstrate for you."

"You're learning this too?"

"Of course." Xie Jun nodded.

"Before becoming an elder, I was also a mentor, specializing in peach cultivation."

After saying that, he took out a plump and round peach from his storage ring, and without any effort, the peach split in two!

He handed half of the fruit to Ning Chang, then took the other half and ate it himself, throwing the peach pit on the ground.

Immediately afterwards, he flicked his two fingers and pushed forward, and spiritual energy immediately surged towards the peach pit like a tide.

In just a few breaths, the green bud broke through the shell and quickly grew into a sturdy peach tree. However, because it was not covered with soil, almost all of its roots were coiled on the ground.

In just a few breaths, the peach tree was covered in blossoms, and before the blossoms could fall, they were burst open by the rapidly growing fruit and buried in the leaves that grew with the fruit. At the same time, plump, red peaches hung all over the branches!

At this point, Ning Chang had only taken a bite of the half peach in his hand and hadn't even finished chewing and swallowing it when he saw this amazing scene. He was stunned for a moment, so much so that he didn't even notice the obvious irregularity!

He took two steps forward, reached out and picked a peach, but the moment he picked it, the peach began to dehydrate and shrivel rapidly.

Wow!

Ning Chang exclaimed and hurriedly threw it to the ground. In no time, the peach turned into a pile of dust, and even the peach pit disappeared without a trace!

"This is the manifestation after the withering growth ends and the induced growth begins."

Xie Jun had clearly gotten used to the changes in the peaches.

Then, he flipped his hand and took out a polygon, each face of which was engraved with different patterns.

Xie Jun flipped it over a few times, then manipulated his spiritual power to replicate the patterns on the top side, enlarged them, and placed them under the peach tree, enveloping it.

Ning Chang immediately saw the array barrier appear for a moment, making him realize that it was actually an array!

Under the influence of this formation, time seemed to be accelerated. Peaches fell one by one, branches and leaves withered one by one, and then the entire peach tree withered and decayed at a speed visible to the naked eye. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, it turned into a pile of black soil!

Xie Jun waved his hand lightly, and the pile of black soil was turned into the ground, as if the peach tree had never grown there!

Looking at everything before him, Ning Chang couldn't help but nod in approval.

Although both of these techniques have obvious drawbacks, their speed of development is truly astonishing.

If this peach tree were to be grown using rapid growth techniques, it would take several times longer to reach this size!

"However, it only started to rot after the growth-inducing process was completed. All I needed was to induce the bamboo seed to grow into a bamboo shoot. If I immediately used a spirit core to control its growth after that, I wonder if it would still rot..."

Ning Chang fell silent, trying to gauge the feasibility of this approach, but was quickly interrupted by Xie Jun.

"This isn't the maximum speed at which the withered plants can grow, but it should be enough to stimulate the Azure Bamboo. Alternatively, you could try to figure out the Blood Plant yourself, but please be careful."

As he spoke, he flicked a hidden stone into Ning Chang's hand.

Ning Chang put away the treasure stone and cupped his hands in thanks: "Thank you, senior."

"Ah."

After saying goodbye to Xie Jun, Ning Chang did not return to his small valley. Since he had come out, he might as well take care of things together.

He roughly listed a few things he still remembered, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the central square of Medicine King Valley.

He needs to exchange for some flesh and blood of different strengths first, in order to understand the speed of the blood plant.

As soon as he landed on the ground, Ning Chang noticed an unnatural gaze coming from him.

Although it was perfectly normal for him to attract attention wherever he went, given his current attire and jade pendant, for some reason, he still sensed an emotion that was distinctly different from reverence!

Looking around, he indeed spotted a somewhat familiar figure not far away, being surrounded by a group of disciples and moving away from him.

"Emperor Ruyan, how could you have forgotten about her? What should we do? What if it's just a case of having the same name...?"

"No! Even if we don't share the same name, we can't let her develop unchecked. Let's do it for the sake of all living beings, or for those who will suffer undeserved calamities because of her in the future."

He could tell that she was ambitious and knew how to endure for the time being. Even though she was punished by being barred from becoming a disciple of the Discipline Hall for a period of time, she was still forming cliques and making preparations.

At the same time, he's not very reasonable; he's the type who would cause the entire world to perish if he were to fall in love.

"Let's talk about it later. When she leaves the sect... I don't even know when she'll leave..."

"Forget about her for now. At least she can't cause any trouble while Ning Tongyu is around."

Shaking his head, he stopped thinking nonsense and quickly went to the counter in the far corner of the exchange hall, avoiding the disciples who bowed to him along the way.

Upon seeing him sit down, the disciple behind the stage immediately sat up straight. "Elder... what are your orders?"

"Do you have any exotic beast meat materials with a fetal heart state?"

"Yes, elders. The highest-grade meat in the warehouse is Red-winged Horned Tiger, with an eighth-level fetal heart, which costs two thousand merit points per serving."

"It's quite cheap. How much is in one serving?"

"One jin (500 grams) is counted as one portion."

Ning Chang nodded, though he couldn't really estimate how much a pound was. "Not bad. Two portions of each of the following levels: Fetal Heart Level 8, Fetal Heart Level 2, Spirit Platform Level 7, Spirit Platform Level 2, Spirit Fusion Level 7, Spirit Fusion Level 2."

"Fetal heart rate 8.2, Spiritual Platform 7.2, Spiritual Fusion 7.2... Elder, we currently have no stock of Spiritual Platform 2nd rank and Spiritual Fusion 7th rank meat from the Crimson Winged Horned Tiger. Shall we exchange it for Spiritual Platform 3rd rank and Spiritual Fusion 8th rank meat?"

The disciple checked the contents of a thin book, then looked up and asked.