Above the Great Dao
Chapter 530 - 249: The Break

Chapter 530: Chapter 249: The Break

"Using Evil Spirits as cattle and sheep, treating Tianqing as grazing lands, and the commoners as grass people, stringent laws and harsh punishments were established."

Li Tianqing said softly, "When the grass people violate the law, the Evil Spirits devour humans, refining Evil Spirits as fertilizer for medicine, which then nurtures Spiritual Medicine, and reaching maturity, the medicine extends one’s lifespan. The leading philanthropist of Tianqing, indeed, is the foremost good person, isn’t he."

His heart was filled with indescribable grief and indignation.

The land of the West Bull New Continent was flawed, causing Cultivators who practiced cultivation to only increase their cultivation level, and not their lifespan.

The effect of spiritual elixirs on extending lifespan was also very limited.

That’s why such a trade had arisen, where ordinary people were used to feed Evil Spirits, the Evil Spirits consumed the essence and souls of ordinary people, gathering it up, and transforming it into a fertilizer that could be absorbed by Spiritual Medicine.

Refining this kind of fertilizer from the body of an Evil Spirit was used as top-dressing for Spiritual Medicine.

Chen Shi, thoughtful, said, "To become a person above others, one must consume humans. But consuming humans is too slow, and it also harms one’s moral virtue. Isn’t it much faster to let the Evil Spirits consume humans, the Spiritual Medicine consume the Evil Spirits, and the person above others consume the Spiritual Medicine?"

Li Tianqing looked towards the mature Spiritual Medicine in the spiritual garden and asked, "How is the medicinal fertilizer obtained?"

Luan Disheng said, "For corporeal Evil Spirits, use this kind of needle to extract the blood from their hearts; for incorporeal ones, use this kind of treasure gourd to draw out their inner essence."

He took out a silver needle and a treasure gourd.

Once the silver needle was activated, it quickly grew larger, about two feet long, and both the tip and the body of the needle were engraved with complex talismans, all for refining Innate True Qi into medicine. Once the Innate True Qi was refined, it would be collected into the hollow of the needle.

To make a silver needle, one needed to take a two-foot length of a silver rod, shape it into the form of a needle, engrave the talismans, and then continuously worship it with incense day and night, nourishing it with Qi-Blood, gradually awakening it to sentience, capable of changing in size.

The other treasure gourd was a copper gourd, half the height of a person when activated, the exterior and inner walls of the gourd were painted with talismans for capturing spirits and Innate True Qi.

This refined Innate True Qi was exactly the fertilizer needed for the growth of the Spiritual Medicine.

Directly using humans as fertilizer was also possible, but each plant of Spiritual Medicine needed to be buried with dozens of people, and every few days a few more people had to be buried again. First, it was troublesome; second, it would easily damage the roots and stems of the Spiritual Medicine; and third, it damaged one’s moral virtue. That’s why Master Wan did not choose to do this.

"Luan Disheng, to whom do you sell the harvested Spiritual Medicine?" Chen Shi asked.

Luan Disheng replied, "I do not know. I am only responsible for growing the medicine."

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "As the end of each year approaches, Master Wan will send people to extract the essence of the Spiritual Medicine; I suppose that’s when buyers would come for the medicine."

"How many acres of spiritual fields? How many Spiritual Medicines?"

"Twenty-one acres. Five hundred and forty-two plants."

Chen Shi nodded slightly. The number of Spiritual Medicines was less than he had expected, but this number exceeded what Tianqing should possess!

Spiritual Medicine was not rare. In many mountainous regions with abundant Spiritual Energy, Spiritual Medicine would grow. But with too many Cultivators harvesting them, the quantity of older Spiritual Medicines became scarcer, and those that became sentient were even rarer!

For instance, in Xin Xiang Province, most of the sentient Spiritual Medicines were concentrated in Qianyang Mountain, with at most a hundred plants, perhaps even only a few dozen!

Tianqing had no places as rich in Spiritual Energy as Qianyang Mountain, so the number of sentient Spiritual Medicines would only be fewer.

Yet, there were five hundred and forty-two plants here alone!

These sentient Spiritual Medicines were clearly collected from various places across the West Bull New Continent, not solely from Tianqing!

Such Spiritual Medicines that could extend the lifespan of a Cultivator were invaluable and could grant longevity to the strong among the noble families, who would treasure them as precious heirlooms, certainly not something that could be bought with mere money.

The Wan Family did not have the capability to find so many Spiritual Medicines from all over the West Bull New Continent.

Li Tianqing reached out to grasp a ginseng grass doll and asked, "How long can one such Spiritual Medicine extend one’s life?"

Luan Disheng replied, "Spiritual Medicines are rare, not to be consumed directly, but extracted for their essence. Each year, someone will come specifically to extract the essence from the Spiritual Medicines. I’ve heard from the people of the Wan Family mansion that top-quality Spiritual Medicines can extend one’s lifespan by two to three years. But the same Spiritual Medicine cannot be used repeatedly; after its frequency wears off, one must use different Spiritual Medicines’ extracted essences to prolong life."

Li Tianqing frowned slightly. "Only two to three years?"

All this effort, treating humans as grass, Evil Spirits as sheep, refining human essence and souls, only to extend life by two to three years?

He recalled the yellow essence plants he found in the God of Wealth Temple’s herb garden, where a casual bite could increase one’s lifespan by dozens of years!

But for other Cultivators, extending life by two to three years was a significant enhancement!

The ginseng grass babies from Qianyang Mountain were top-tier Spiritual Medicines, and their fruits could only extend one’s lifespan by a few months, whereas the essence extracted from the Spiritual Medicines using the Wan Family’s Secret Technique could extend life by two to three years, which for many prominent figures, was an unparalleled Divine Medicine!

The Spiritual Medicines of the West Bull New Continent could not harvest the True Righteous Qi, limiting their ability to extend lifespan.

However, humans were the Earth Spirits of heaven and earth, born with spirituality, and carrying a breath of Innate True Qi in the womb. Using the human body to refine grand medicine could increase the efficacy of Spiritual Medicines!

There’s a saying, ’You become what you eat,’ and that is the rationale.

Chen Shi looked around and asked, "How many kinds of life-extending Spiritual Medicines are there here?"

Luan Disheng replied, "Sixty-two kinds."

Chen Shi nodded slightly and said, "Sixty-two kinds, extending over a hundred years of lifespan, indeed makes for a profitable business."

Luan Disheng hesitated, mustered his courage, and said, "Sirs, I have told everything I know..."

Li Tianqing turned and walked away, not harming him.

Chen Shi said, "You plotted against Tianqing, Tianqing did not kill you, and neither will I. Were I in your position, I would take my family and leave Tianqing immediately, to avoid being silenced by the Wan Family."

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