Chapter 77 – A Remedy: The Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation and Spirit-Gathering Flowers!

Su Xing was visibly stunned when he saw this — the spiritual energy within the Blessed Spirit Field was becoming thin?

This was absolutely a devastating blow for Su Xing!

Because currently, all the spiritual energy consumed for alchemy and cultivation advancement came entirely from the Blessed Spirit Field. The mere thousand-odd spirit stones he had left over were nowhere near enough to substitute.

“In the simulator, the Blessed Spirit Field’s spiritual energy only started thinning and depleting after ten years… so it shouldn’t have much impact on me in the real world?”

Su Xing shook his head and continued pondering:

“No, that’s wrong! After breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, spiritual energy consumption increases dramatically. If the Blessed Spirit Field’s spiritual energy truly is finite, then perhaps it can only sustain my cultivation for another year or two at most…”

Su Xing’s expression grew more grave than ever before.

For Su Xing, the foundation of everything he had now was simulation energy.

And Su Xing’s greatest source of simulation energy was alchemy!

Alchemy required sufficient spiritual energy within the Blessed Spirit Field. If the Blessed Spirit Field’s spiritual energy truly ran dry one day, the loss to Su Xing would be catastrophic.

“Regardless, now that this warning sign has appeared, I can’t just sit and wait for doom. It seems I’ll need to figure out how to replenish spiritual energy in future simulations…”

Su Xing let out a sigh.

Finding spiritual energy was incredibly difficult. In his earliest simulations, he had spent so many years searching, and it was only through a massive stroke of luck that he discovered the Azure Cloud Spirit Fields dungeon.

Even Old Dog Zong had gone a hundred years without finding a single world that could allow him to resume the path of cultivation.

Su Xing did have information on several cultivation-oriented dungeons in his possession. Once he grew stronger, he could perhaps give them a try.

Su Xing continued the simulation.

【Year fourteen: The spiritual energy within the Blessed Spirit Field grew increasingly thin. You could only minimize your cultivation time as much as possible and began searching for the reason behind the gradual depletion of spiritual energy in the Blessed Spirit Field.】

【You searched every inch of the Blessed Spirit Field but could not discover why the spiritual energy was dissipating. So you began studying the two ancient texts left behind by Qingyunzi.】

【While reading the Shennong Spirit Cultivation Technique, you discovered a detail you had previously overlooked. The Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation came in two types — visible and hidden. The visible Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation gathered the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, nourishing it in one place. The hidden Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation, however, used a spirit vein as its core to diffuse spiritual energy throughout the surroundings, transforming an area into a blessed sanctuary.】

【You were astonished — the description of the hidden formation closely matched the conditions within the Blessed Spirit Field. You investigated further and discovered that according to the records, the Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation could be buried deep underground.】

【Your heart trembled with realization. You retrieved your everyday farming tools and began to dig.】

【Over the course of one day, you dug to a depth of one hundred meters below the surface. Directly beneath the thatched cottage, hidden within the mountain rock, you discovered a concealed space!】

【The space was two zhang in length and width, and over one zhang in height. Within this space, you found a Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation!】

【This revelation shook you to your core. This entire Blessed Spirit Field had been created entirely by the Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation before you — it was not a naturally occurring spirit land at all.】

【At the same time, you discovered that the core of this Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation was a small deposit of spirit mineral. Scattered around the mineral were remnants ground to fine powder — the byproduct of spirit mineral whose spiritual energy had been completely drained.】

【A realization dawned on you. The reason for the Blessed Spirit Field’s spiritual energy dissipation was most likely that the Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation’s energy source had been exhausted.】

【Restoring the formation would be simple enough — you merely needed to replenish its energy source. But at the moment, you had only a few hundred spirit stones on hand, and more critically, you had very little understanding of the Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation.】

【So you spent half a year gaining a rudimentary grasp of the Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation. Though you couldn’t construct one yourself, you now knew how to replenish its energy. Following the formation’s instructions, you placed several hundred spirit stones into the formation’s core node and activated the formation with your spiritual power.】

【Soon, the Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation began emitting spiritual energy, which drifted into the air through the formation’s pathways.】

【Your heart was greatly relieved. As long as you could maintain the Minor Spirit-Gathering Formation, you could at least continue cultivating.】

【Year fifteen: You returned to the surface and resumed cultivation. But to your disappointment, a few hundred spirit stones could not sustain the formation for long. In less than a year, the spiritual energy in the Blessed Spirit Field began dissipating again, and your cultivation remained stuck at the first level of Nascent Soul, unable to advance.】

【Insufficient spiritual energy had become the greatest obstacle to your breakthrough!】

【With no other choice, you continued studying the Shennong Spirit Cultivation Technique, hoping to find a solution within its pages.】

【Heaven rewards the diligent. Within the technique, you discovered a spirit plant called the Spirit-Gathering Flower. This plant was exceptionally delicate — during its juvenile stage, it required watering three times daily in precise amounts, or it would die of thirst or drowning. Furthermore, it needed four hours per day in shade and four hours in sunlight. Only after ten years of this regimen would a Spirit-Gathering Flower reach maturity.】

【Once mature, a Spirit-Gathering Flower could absorb and release the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, even generating additional spiritual energy from nothing and improving the quality of ambient spiritual energy. However, a single Spirit-Gathering Flower could only process a limited amount of spiritual energy. In ancient times, great sects would typically cultivate hundreds of thousands of Spirit-Gathering Flowers to create sacred cultivation grounds.】

【You carefully compared the appearance of Spirit-Gathering Flower seeds with those described in the text and eventually found three Spirit-Gathering Flower seeds in the seed pouch Qingyunzi had left behind. You planted them in the most fertile soil and tended to them with meticulous care each day.】

【Year sixteen: Under your care, the Spirit-Gathering Flowers grew rapidly. In less than a year, they had already reached three inches in height. But you dared not let your guard down, knowing how easily these flowers could wither and die.】

【In between tending to the Spirit-Gathering Flowers, you also found time to stabilize your cultivation. However, the spiritual energy in the Blessed Spirit Field was insufficient — what remained was not enough to break through to the second level of Nascent Soul.】

【Year seventeen: A moment of carelessness — you over-watered by half a ladle, killing one Spirit-Gathering Flower outright. Fortunately, the other two were growing well. You estimated that in another year, they might enter their mature stage and begin absorbing and releasing spiritual energy.】

【One day, while you were diligently watering the flowers, the surrounding space suddenly began to shake violently. Space fractured and rock and dirt flew everywhere. You understood at once — the aberrant beasts had come again.】

【You glanced at the date you had been recording: February 16th, 2040. Looking at the date before you, a gratified smile spread across your face.】

【Ding! You have died!】

【Your talent Die With Eyes Open activates…】

【This simulation has ended!】

After the simulation ended, Su Xing felt both alarmed and delighted.

What delighted him was that this simulation had accomplished its purpose. Through his alliance with Protector Shadow, Su Xing had successfully pushed back the real world’s destruction by nearly two years!

The apocalypse had been delayed from its original date of March 2038 all the way to 2040, buying Su Xing significantly more cultivation time.

It was foreseeable that Demon-Sealing Pass was truly a critical turning point. As long as Demon-Sealing Pass had not fallen, there was still hope for everything.

What alarmed Su Xing was that he had encountered yet another difficult problem — insufficient spiritual energy…