Chapter 60: Eternal Evergreen Technique
âBrother Lin, are you alright?â
âFellow Daoist Lin, what happened to this Azure-Horned Bull! I have a few healing pills hereâquickly give them to your spirit beast.â
Upon returning to the courtyard, they happened to see Lu Qingqing handing the child over to Wei Buyi, preparing to rush out, when she coincidentally saw Lin Chang'an returning.
But Lin Chang'an had no mind to concern himself with the pair's actions. He was only focused on treating the Azure-Horned Bull, while pretending to speak angrily:
âThe marketplace is getting more and more chaotic these days. If thereâs no need, donât go out easily.â
Wei Buyi leaned on his iron cane and fed healing pills to the Azure-Horned Bull as Lin Chang'an recounted the incident with the rogue cultivator.
âThat rogue cultivator wasn't weak. I just lured him away and fled back. But due to carelessness, the Azure-Horned Bull was severely injured.â
At this moment, the Azure-Horned Bull lay on the ground, its pair of weak bovine eyes filled with reliance and concern toward Lin Chang'an.
Holding the Beast Command Token, Lin Chang'an could clearly feel this emotion, which left a complicated feeling in his heart.
Only now did he understand why many cultivators spent their lives accompanied by spirit beasts. Sometimes, spirit beasts were indeed more reliable than people.
âFellow Daoist Wei, will this silly bull be alright?â
Lin Chang'an couldnât help but ask with concern. Wei Buyi smiled, stood up leaning on his cane again, and reassured him:
âDonât worry. This injury is indeed quite serious. If it were us cultivators, we might not survive it. But spirit beasts are naturally resilientâjust give it proper rest and itâll recover.â
Hearing that the Azure-Horned Bull was fine, Lin Chang'an finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then recounted the whole incident to the two of them.
By evening, Shen Lie returned and learned of the matter. He and his wife brought their child over again to offer a solemn thank-you.
Rogue cultivators might be all too familiar to them, but to the child, they were their reverse scale.
âŠâŠ
As night fell, Lin Chang'an, now alone in the cultivation room, finally had time to cautiously inspect the storage pouch of the Wang Clan remnant.
âThe two great sects offered such a high bounty. I heard that the captured survivors were all soul-searched by Core Formation elders themselves. This Wang Clan almost certainly obtained some opportunity within the Secret Realm.â
Inside the storage pouch, not a single spirit stone remained. There was only half a bottle of healing pills, plus an empty vialâthough from the scent, it clearly once contained Fasting Elixirs.
The rest consisted of the premium magic tool Flaming Sun Sword and fragments of a defensive magic tool left on the body after Fireball Spell burned it to ashesâall of which he had taken back.
It was obvious that Wang Lin had engaged in a duel before fleeing. His defensive magic tool had long since shattered.
âThis guy probably hid in a grave and held his breath for several months to avoid pursuit. Clearly, he only came out after exhausting all his spirit stones and Fasting Elixirs.â
Lin Chang'an was secretly shocked. But when he saw the last item, a puzzled expression crossed his face.
âWhat is this!?â
On what looked like a withered leaf, mysterious characters were imprintedâunfamiliar to him. But the moment Lin Chang'an laid eyes on it, his gaze turned vacant, and a sensation etched into his soul surged forth.
Yet in the blink of an eye, Lin Chang'an regained clarity. At this moment, he was utterly astonishedâhis shock beyond words.
âCould this opportunity have fallen into my hands!?â
This was an ancient cultivation technique capable of being cultivated to the Nascent Soul stage, named ăEternal Evergreen Techniqueă.
âCould the might described in this technique actually be real?â
Looking at this technique now imprinted in his mind, Lin Chang'an couldnât even begin to describe its power.
The ăEternal Evergreen Techniqueă, once mastered, could significantly extend oneâs lifespan, strengthen qi channels, and grant magical power far beyond others at the same stage. It even came with an innate physique divine abilityââRegenerative Bodyâ.
Regenerative Body was a special physique only possessed by spirit beasts and spirit beings. To put it plainly, it allowed for limb regeneration and, as cultivation deepened, became increasingly powerful.
âItâs said only the most powerful techniques come with divine abilities.â
Lin Chang'an was in awe. With this technique in hand, in the perilous world of cultivation, his chances of survival would rise dramatically.
âHowever, thereâs also a restrictionâcultivating this technique requires refining a âHeaven and Earth Spirit Rootâ as the foundation, turning it into the cultivatorâs âLife-bound Spirit Plantâ.â
Seeing the requirement to refine a Life-bound Spirit Plant, Lin Chang'an couldnât help but nod secretly.
âIndeed, only with difficulty can something be called an ancient technique. How could it be that easy to cultivate?â
The demanding part of this technique lay in that Heaven and Earth Spirit Root. At the very least, one needed a spirit plant over three thousand years old to barely make use of itâand that was just the start.
Future cultivation of this technique would also require long-term nourishment with spirit spring and spirit liquid, continuously strengthening the plant in mutual symbiosis with the cultivator.
âA three-thousand-year-old spiritual herbâlet alone Core Formation cultivatorsâeven Nascent Soul cultivators would fight to the death over one.â
Thinking of this, Lin Chang'an couldnât help but shake his head.
âBut although there arenât any three-thousand-year-old spirit herbs, the Cloudmist Mountain Range is full of spirit plants over a thousand, even ten thousand years old.â
Just like the deep forests in the mortal world, thousand-year-old trees werenât uncommon.
Although the strength of the Life-bound Spirit Plant was tied to the cultivator themselves, Lin Chang'an, a mere rogue cultivatorâeven if he was a Foundation Establishment cultivatorâwould still find it hard to obtain a thousand-year-old spirit herb.
So he could only seek the near and give up the far, using some spirit plant of little use as his Life-bound Spirit Plant.
In the Cloudmist Mountain Range, who knew how many plants had lived for over a thousand, even ten thousand years, yet held little valueâptui!
They should be called spirit plants, spirit flowers, and spirit herbs.
These all held little practical value.
âOnce a Life-bound Spirit Plant is refined, it becomes linked to the cultivatorâs very life. One must choose with caution.â
After reading this, Lin Chang'an shook his head and sighed again. This ancient technique did look tempting, but it required him to reach Foundation Establishment before it could be cultivated.
âSo what? Itâs still better than nothing. At least I wonât have to worry about searching for a technique after Foundation Establishment.â
Consoling himself, Lin Chang'an intended to destroy the technique with Fireball Spell, but this withered leaf scroll turned out to be some kind of treasureâhe was completely unable to damage it.
âWait!â
Suddenly thinking of something, Lin Chang'an narrowed his eyes.
Why didnât that Wang Clan Foundation Establishment cultivator carry it? Why give it to a Qi Refinement cultivator?
Moreover, this ancient technique imprinted itself into the mind after just one glance. Didnât that mean many in the Wang Clan had already seen it?
Now with the Wang Clan either on the run or captured, and with their souls searched by Core Formation cultivators of the two great sects, it was likely those sects had also obtained this technique.
âIf thatâs the case, then this technique wouldnât be watched so closely. When cultivating it later, I just need to hide its unique traits.â
Thinking this, Lin Chang'an quietly breathed a sigh of relief. If this technique had only existed in one copy, he might have worried that the two great sects would relentlessly track it downâthere would be serious danger behind it.
But nowâif you have it, I have it, everyone has itâthe most the two sects would do is resent the Wang Clanâs audacity. They wouldnât obsessively chase after it.
âBut simply gaining a fortunate encounter doesnât make it oneârising through it afterward is the real fortune.â
Recalling the Wang Clanâs fate, and that Heavenâs Chosen one, Wang Lin, Lin Chang'an silently warned himself not to be careless.
Wang Lin had the opportunity in hand, yet it only served to benefit someone else. Lin Chang'an couldnât repeat the same mistake and end up preparing anotherâs robes.
âNot a single hair of the Wang Clanâs possessions can be exposed.â
At this moment, Lin Chang'an made up his mindâthe premium magic tool must never be revealed, lest it bring disaster whether itâs related or not.