Cultivation begins with harvest.

The fat-faced cultivator came prepared, taking out a crisp white contract.

But Chen Guang could sense the spiritual energy within it that caused his body to react in a special way—this was the contract of a blood pact.

Blood pacts are common outside of sects, but within sects, officially endorsed spirit pacts are often used instead. With strong power and a complete system, even without complicated secret techniques, it is possible to restrain words and actions.

Violation of the Spirit Contract will result in arrest by disciples of the Punishment Hall. If the suspect is not brought back within three days or the leads are interrupted, Foundation Establishment cultivators will be dispatched. Due to the high level of importance attached to this, the Spirit Contract is widely accepted within the sect. However, this does not prevent the Blood Contract, which will be activated if the oath is broken, from still having a broad market.

The consequences of violating a spirit contract require a disciple of the Punishment Hall to take action, while violating a blood contract or soul contract will immediately trigger an action.

The fat-faced cultivator discussed and finalized the various agreements with Chen Guang before copying them onto the blood pact. Each of them dripped a drop of their blood, and the pristine white paper was instantly stained crimson. With a "rip," it split in two, transforming into two wisps of blood, like petals of the spider lily, which entered the bodies of Chen Guang and the fat-faced cultivator respectively, disappearing in an instant.

Chen Guang raised his palm, and in the center of his palm was a faintly visible symbol of the red spider lily.

Blood pacts are also artificially created, requiring the mastery of a special profession called "Sorcerer" to create them. These pacts remain effective without affecting the host. Sorcerer-made pacts are the most effective. While Nine Calculators can also create pacts, many cultivators still prefer Sorcerer-made pacts in this field.

The upper limit of the explosive power of a first-order blood pact is only slightly higher than that of a Qi Refining cultivator. In other words, it is possible to withstand it, but it is also possible to be broken or erased.

The longer the production process takes, the easier it is to study and decipher the curse power remaining in the contract.

If a contract had been made ten years ago, most monks would have accepted it with just a slight frown.

If it had been made thirty years ago, the risk of it being cracked would have increased dramatically, so very few monks would have chosen to use it.

The contracts in Qingheng Zongfang Market are all made within the last five years, ensuring as much as possible that they cannot be broken or hindered. The contract industry is extremely profitable, with such a blood contract selling for more than five thousand taels of silver. However, excluding the cost of the sorcerer's skills in making the contract, the material cost would not exceed five hundred taels of silver.

Using such a blood pact is merely to gain the other party's trust; it doesn't mean that a spiritual pact won't be signed. If nothing unexpected happens, Chen Guang and the fat-faced cultivator will both remove the blood pact mark from their bodies at the appropriate time. No matter how little it affects them, having such a thing in their flesh and blood is still unpleasant.

The situation is worse for independent cultivators, who most of the time choose to use oaths made by their inner demons to gain the trust of others.

However, the oath of the inner demon also has its drawbacks. The most significant drawback is its timeliness. When it comes to gaining trust and forming alliances, blood pacts and soul pacts have a natural advantage, as they take effect immediately once signed. In contrast, the outburst of the oath of the inner demon is much longer, slower, and not even that intense.

Its retribution will take time to manifest.

Secondly, there is the cost of breaking the oath of the inner demon. For a powerful being, the cost of breaking the oath of the inner demon is so low that it is negligible. Only when enough oaths of the inner demon are broken will there be a life-threatening situation where an extraterrestrial demon descends and triggers a mental illusion. Most cultivators do not even live to see the day they meet the extraterrestrial demon.

One can only pray that during a major breakthrough, the mind becomes uneasy, triggering inner demons and causing a loss of self-control, leading to a failed breakthrough and a series of chain reactions of damage. This is the case for many cultivators who die or suffer irreparable injuries during the breakthrough process.

However, if one violates this rule once or twice, the price is usually just a sudden impulse, such as having a dull nightmare and being unable to shake off that sticky, emotional trauma for a long time. This can be endured for a short period of time, and external objects and secret techniques can be used to alleviate this side effect.

In the long run, the price of the vow to break through inner demons is considerable. Breaking through a major realm is equivalent to having an additional negative impact of "success rate -80%". Moreover, it is easy to trigger inner demons when one's mind is unsettled. Every time the vow to break through inner demons is broken, an indelible inner demon will be added to one's heart. Even if one's mind completely overcomes that hurdle, the inner demon still exists. If it accumulates to a certain extent, it will attract demons from beyond the heavens and easily lead to eternal damnation.

Therefore, Chen Guang and the fat-faced cultivator subconsciously avoided this choice. Most cultivators would not choose this option. Even if they did not intend to violate it, there was no need to make a vow of inner demons. At worst, they could make several blood contracts or soul contracts to show their determination. Afterwards, they could erase the contract paper and brand it in their hearts without saying a word.

Those who practice independently have no choice but to make vows like "If I break this vow, I will be hit by a car and die." This is the cultivation world, and such vows are not necessarily ineffective.

Having completed the contract, Chen Guang wrote down his revised and refined "ancient method" for the fat-faced cultivator. Fortunately, he was also a scholar, so he deliberately used some archaic expressions to make it more realistic.

The fat-faced cultivator's expression shifted dramatically as he watched Chen Guang's ancient method. His emotions—astonishment, doubt, and helplessness—were on full display. Even if he couldn't save Zhu Chizi, this ancient method would still benefit him greatly. However, the various spiritual items it required also posed a challenge. If he could definitely succeed, he would do so without hesitation, but the mere possibility made him hesitate.

The cost would be somewhat unbearable for a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining.

Having obtained the two seeds from the fat-faced cultivator, Chen Guang did not linger. Although the contract stipulated that the fat-faced cultivator would have to provide additional compensation if the ancient method was effective, that would be a separate and uncertain benefit.

While still on the way back, Chen Guang's magic power seeped into the seed, and a message appeared in Chen Guang's mind.

Spiritual Plant: [Spider Silk Bottle Wood]

Grade: Tier 1 Top Quality

Attributes: Water, Perennial, Woody

Description: A unique spiritual plant that can form its own special "Spider Bottle Juice" spiritual liquid within its body. It possesses abundant traces of the universe and is extremely prone to attracting attacks from spider-like ferocious insects and universe-based demonic beasts. Its fruit can help these two types of life forms break through their evolutionary bottlenecks, and its flesh can enhance the physical strength of most life forms.

Spider silk bottle wood is inherently aggressive; it will spray spider sap when threatened.

Its growth is best suited to second-tier spiritual soil [Golden River True Sand], followed by first-tier spiritual soil [Cracked Desert Sand] and [Wind Salt Soil], with [Black Thistle Soil] being the least suitable.

It needs the assistance of [Hanging Stone] and [Falling Wind] to grow.

Nesting with ferocious spiders that exhibit urinary patterns can increase the quality of spider venom.

Using spiritual plant products bearing traces of the universe as fertilizer can increase the amount of Spider Bottle Juice produced.

Based on the Golden River True Sand, it can be evolved into a second-tier high-grade spiritual plant called "Chaotic Thorn Golden Bottle Wood" by regularly watering it with the blood of apes that have traces of the universe and different bloodlines, and by supplementing it with True Qi [Chaotic Wind].

……

Based on the Golden River True Sand, it can be regularly watered with blood possessing the bloodline of a phoenix and supplemented with paulownia wood of the corresponding phoenix bloodline attribute to construct the [Three Numbers Following the Ren Mysterious Formation]. Combined with spirit coffin-type spells or secret techniques of the corresponding attribute, it can evolve into a second-tier top-grade spirit plant, the [Phoenix River Treasure Bottle Wood].

Related description: [Spider Bottle Juice] Once it erupts, it will form a trail of spiritual liquid that solidifies space like spider silk, and these trails will also cut through anything that tries to pass through them.

If the physical body can withstand the damage from the spider bottle juice and can ingest and digest it, it will condense special spider silk with greater power within its body.

Unlock the next tier of cultivation content: 0/50 (Number of mature Spider Silk Bottle Wood)

"It's still water-attribute, what a pity. It's more like an offensive spirit plant, and its main attribute is the Universe Dao. If you really want to refine this kind of spirit plant with the Jianmu Tree, its characteristics can only bring out the water attribute part, unless water is the dominant element and the Universe Dao is the auxiliary element."

It's no wonder that Chen Guang couldn't sense the water element from the seed. Its water attribute is like how humans in their previous life, although they had a large water content in their bodies, were called vertebrates, not "aquatic animals." It was an important component, but in terms of status, it was an auxiliary and subordinate party, nothing more.

Chen Guang was only slightly disappointed, because even if it couldn't be refined and used to cultivate Lin Miao, its value in Chen Guang's eyes was still "fluttering" like it was flapping its little wings and flying to a high place. In his mind, among first-order spiritual plants, it was second only to the Unyielding Thorn and the Jade Heart Grass.