Uncle Nine: Scattering beans to create soldiers? I'm using plants and trees to create soldiers.

"Master, what should we do with these four things?"

Beside the dry well, Lin Xuan looked down at the four scaly infants in the muddy water.

Each of them had a talisman for warding off evil pasted on its head, and they were strung together by Uncle Nine with a golden magic rope.

Its grayish-white body twitches occasionally, its fine scales gleaming with a cold, eerie light as the rain washes over it.

Although they had been severely injured, the four strange infants still retained a considerable amount of water-evil energy.

Especially their eyes, which lacked any sparkle, would occasionally turn to the Dragon King Temple water vein map in Lin Xuan's hand, revealing an almost instinctive longing.

Lin Xuan observed for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Since they were attracted by the water vein map, if we release them, won't they instinctively return to their lair?"

"Or perhaps, return to the Li family that the sect leader mentioned?"

Uncle Nine followed his gaze to the strange baby and pondered for a moment.

The four strange infants are of low intelligence, yet their actions subtly show coordination, suggesting they are being controlled by someone.

Uncle Nine squatted down, reached out and pried open the eyelids of one of the strange infants, and then pressed down on its celestial senses for a moment.

"The soul is in chaos, and the mind is incomplete."

"They must have been created using evil magic before they were fully formed, erasing most of their intelligence and leaving only their instinct to obey orders and devour water vapor."

Uncle Nine withdrew his hand, his gaze turning slightly cold.

"That heretical cultivator Zhang Fan called them the Li Family Water Seeds. The word 'seeds' is probably not just something he said casually."

Lin Xuan's heart stirred.

Water Seed—it sounds like the name of some kind of evil thing, or something that can be mass-produced.

If the Li family can truly mass-produce these strange infants at the Daoist realm, their resources should not be underestimated.

"These strange infants can be released, though," Uncle Nine said slowly as he rose. "However, we must have a backup plan."

As he spoke, he took out four red talismans, each about an inch long, from his magic bag.

The talisman is extremely small, and its surface does not have the complicated talisman core and talisman feet of ordinary corpse-suppressing talismans. Instead, there is only a thin golden talisman pattern, as fine as a hair, that runs through the entire talisman paper from beginning to end.

Uncle Nine held the talisman between his right index and middle fingers, made a hand seal with his left hand, and chanted a spell in a low voice.

"Golden Qi conceals its form, and its essence resides in the veins."

"go!"

The four talismans spontaneously combusted without any fire.

Strangely, although the talisman was engulfed by flames, it did not turn into ashes. Instead, it rapidly shrank and eventually became four dark red talisman pellets the size of rice grains.

Uncle Nine reached out and pinched the jaw of a strange infant, forcing it to open its mouth full of sharp teeth, and flicked a talisman pellet into its throat.

As soon as the talisman entered the baby's stomach, the scales on the baby's body suddenly exploded.

"hiss!"

It emitted a sharp hiss from its throat and its body writhed wildly, as if trying to spit out what it had swallowed.

However, after the talisman entered the stomach, it immediately transformed into a wisp of golden energy, which flowed along the meridians straight into the heart, and then disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The other three strange infants were also implanted with talisman pills by Uncle Nine in accordance with the law.

The four strange infants struggled for a while, but were unable to expel the golden energy from their bodies, and could only collapse back into the muddy water.

"Master, what kind of talisman is this?" Lin Xuan asked curiously.

"Hidden Pulse Soul-Chasing Talisman".

"Once this talisman enters the body, it will remain hidden within their heart meridian. As long as they do not travel more than ten miles from me, they can sense their location using the mother talisman."

After Uncle Nine finished speaking, he moved his hand again, and another palm-sized golden talisman appeared between his fingers.

In the center of the talisman, four thin red lines suddenly appeared, each pointing to one of the four strange infants on the ground.

"If any unforeseen circumstances arise, I only need to activate the mother talisman to detonate the four talismanic powers hidden within their heart meridians."

"With the abilities of these few water monsters, we still can't defeat them."

With a flick of his wrist, Uncle Nine's golden talisman vanished.

Lin Xuan nodded, then asked, "When does Master plan to release them?"

"Not yet."

Uncle Nine glanced at the water vein map in Lin Xuan's hand. "I'll send you back to the mortuary first. Then I'll take the water vein map and put it into the downstream waterway to see if we can use it to find out about the Li family behind it."

Lin Xuan nodded gently, "This disciple understands."

Uncle Nine made these arrangements for their safety.

The strength of the Li family is still unknown, as are the number of water monsters they possess and their strength.

Having the three of them around would distract Uncle Nine.

It would be better to return to the mortuary. Without the constraints, Uncle Nine could act more freely.

However... in the final analysis, it's still because I'm not strong enough.

Looking at the strange infant on the ground, Lin Xuan was not discouraged. On the contrary, he became even more eager to improve his cultivation.

Just then, the dark clouds that had been hanging over Lingxi Village finally began to dissipate.

The continuous heavy rain gradually stopped, and a sliver of cool moonlight pierced through the clouds, scattering across the abandoned village.

Uncle Nine looked up at the sky, then his gaze returned to Lin Xuan.

Recalling Lin Xuan's performance just now, her calm mood was once again stirred.

"Ah Xuan, your progress this time has exceeded my expectations!"

"His tongue-spirit technique has reached perfection, his cultivation has broken through to the late stage of Daoist, and he has even mastered the Golden Light Mantra! This performance is truly... astonishing!"

Uncle Nine's eyes were filled with almost overflowing satisfaction as he looked at Lin Xuan.

With such a disciple, he has truly brought honor to his ancestors!

"It's all thanks to Master's excellent teaching," Lin Xuan said humbly. "This disciple only gained some insights during the battle and dares not be complacent."

Uncle Nine shook his head.

"Humility is a good thing."

"Excessive modesty is a sign of insecurity!"

He stared at Lin Xuan, his tone gradually becoming serious.

"With the talent and potential you have shown so far, let alone the fact that no one in Maoshan has been able to match you in the last hundred years."

"Even going back a thousand years, there are very few people who can compare to you!"

"You don't need to belittle yourself!"

Lin Xuan composed himself, bowed, and replied, "This disciple will remember."

But he was secretly making plans in his heart.

This time, the mature Golden-Veined Soul-Suppressing Vine brought him more than just the perfection of his Tongue God and the enhancement of his Golden Light Mantra.

The Corpse Control Technique also gained a lot of insights, and its quality and power both increased.

Unfortunately, due to the urgency of the situation, I wasn't able to draw the corpse-controlling talisman to try it out...

Just as Uncle Jiu was becoming more and more satisfied with Lin Xuan, Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai walked back from the side.

Wen Cai touched the corner of his mouth, and remembering the muddy water he had just swallowed, his face turned bitter again.

He hesitated for a long time, but finally couldn't help but speak, "Master..."

"Hey, you could have killed that evil cultivator with a single sword strike, why didn't you act sooner?"

"You've ruined my life..."

In the end, Wencai didn't dare to say that he had "eaten a mouthful of mud".

But Qiu Sheng, standing to the side, ignored him and covered his mouth, chuckling to himself.

"Why?! You dare ask me that?!"

Uncle Nine glanced at him and said coldly.

"Then tell me, why did you all have to keep quiet while watching the game, and why did you insist on talking so loudly?"

"What, do you think that heretical cultivator is your servant?"

"You're standing by and pointing fingers, and he can't arrest you?"

Uncle Nine's voice grew colder as he spoke, his gaze sweeping over Wen Cai like a knife.

"I......"

Wen Cai immediately shrank his neck.

However, Uncle Nine did not let him off the hook.

"With me here today, if you cause any trouble, someone will clean up after you."

"If I'm not around in the future, and you all go out with our senior brother to exorcise evil spirits, will you still be so reckless?!"

"Not only will I lose my life, but I'll also drag your senior brother down with me!"

Upon hearing this, Wencai lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, Master. I won't do it again."

Uncle Nine then turned his gaze to Qiu Sheng.

Qiu Sheng, who had been secretly laughing to himself, immediately straightened his back and his expression became sincere upon seeing this.

"Master, I know I was wrong!"

"I promise I'll keep my mouth shut and never cause trouble for my senior brother if I encounter something like this again."

Uncle Nine snorted coldly, "That had to be for the best."

After things calmed down, Lin Xuan took out fruit, glutinous rice, and incense sticks, recited the incantation to send away the Water Palace troops.

As the glutinous rice turned into powder, the straw figure returned to its original form and landed on the table.

After doing all this, the four of them chanted sutras to pray for the souls of the corpses in the village.

The evil cultivators of the Yellow Heaven Sect have committed numerous atrocities, and most of their souls have already been devoured by the Soul Lamp, so they are naturally not included in the scope of salvation.

As for the souls of those who died unjustly in the village and the lingering resentment of the Seven Mysterious Corpses, they gradually dissipated amidst the chanting of scriptures by Uncle Nine and Lin Xuan.

The corpses of the heretical cultivators and the Seven Mysteries Corpse were piled together, and tree branches were ignited with talismanic fire to burn them all.

After everything was over, Lin Xuan put away the altar.

The four of them arrived together at the dry well in the center of the village.

The edge of the dry well has collapsed in large areas, and through the gap, one can see that it appears to be a naturally formed underground cave.

In the depths of darkness, the faint sound of flowing water could be heard.

Uncle Nine peeked out and said, "The foundation of the evil formation is down there. Let's go down and take a look."

After saying that, he jumped into the well.

Lin Xuan followed closely behind and leaped down.

Not to be outdone, Qiu Sheng also held onto the edge of the well and jumped in.

In the blink of an eye, only Wencai remained by the well.

Wen Cai peered down into the well, the pitch-black bottom seemingly leading straight to the underworld, making it impossible to see how deep it was.

"Master!"

"Senior brothers, wait for me!"

There was no response from down there, only hollow echoes coming from below.

"Wait for me..."

"wait for me......"

Wen Cai glanced back. The abandoned village had just experienced a great battle. There were ruins all around, and several shriveled corpses lay on the ground.

A cold wind blew by, and the broken window creaked.

Wen Cai shuddered. "Forget it, I feel it's safer to stay with Master."

He gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and jumped into the well.

"ah--"

A moment later, a muffled thud came from below.

Ouch, my butt!

Standing beside the pile of rocks, Qiu Sheng suppressed a laugh and said, "I told you to jump down, not to land on your butt."

Wen Cai grimaced as he got up. "You still dare to talk back! You all jumped so fast, didn't you even know to catch me down there!"

"If I had picked you up, you wouldn't be the only one in pain now," Qiu Sheng said, pursing his lips.

"you......"

Before Wencai could say anything more, Uncle Jiu's impatient voice rang out, "Alright, you two, you're always making noise wherever you go! Aren't you tired of it?!"

"..."

"..."

Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai exchanged a glance and wisely kept quiet.

Ignoring the commotion behind him, Lin Xuan quickly entered the underground cave after stepping over the collapsed rubble.

The cave was larger than I had imagined, with a large number of stalactites hanging upside down from the ceiling. Water droplets dripped continuously from the tips of the stalactites, making a clear sound in the quiet cave.

An underground river flows slowly through the center of the cave.

The river was not swift, but it was deeper and more secluded than ordinary streams.

Uncle Nine raised his hand and threw out three illumination talismans.

The talismans were pasted on the rock walls in different directions, and the soft firelight quickly spread, illuminating most of the cave.

By the light of the talisman, one could see large patches of slender aquatic plants growing along the riverbank.

The aquatic plants were lush and green, swaying gently with the current of the underground river, their roots entwined with wisps of faint aquatic energy.

As soon as Lin Xuan approached the riverbank, a faint sense of affinity with plants and trees emanated from his body.

His gaze swept over the water plants, and a system panel appeared.

【Water Vein Spirit Herb】

[Quality: Gray]

Growth rate: 94%

【Trait: Spirit Gathering】

Daoguo: The Water Vein Diagram

......

Lin Xuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Although the gray quality is not high, the [Gathering Spirit] trait is very useful.

After the two Yin Water Grasses were harvested, there was a lack of plants that could gather water spiritual energy near the water tank in the backyard. These Water Vein Spirit Grasses in front of us can fill the gap.

More importantly, the fruits they nurtured were actually related to the water vein map of the Dragon King Temple.

Even if a single plant provides very little insight, as long as enough plants are planted, the mature harvest will still allow him to master the skills of the "Water Vein Diagram" more quickly.

Just as Lin Xuan was about to approach the water's edge, his eyes lit up and he caught sight of a piece of warm, lustrous jade half-buried in the riverbed.

The jade stone is only the size of a fist, and its surface has a faint watery sheen.

【Water Spirit Stone】

[Quality: White]

[Description: Spirit stones formed from underground water veins over many years can be used for array formation, weapon crafting, and enhancing aquatic plants.]

[Entry: Aura of Water]

......

A hint of joy immediately appeared in Lin Xuan's eyes.

This thing came at just the right time!

The backyard of the mortuary is preparing to dig a water pool. Although the well god statue alone can regulate the water vapor and form a shape, a spiritual object is still needed as the base for constructing a stable small water vein.

Water spirit stones are undoubtedly extremely suitable.

Lin Xuan walked into the shallow water, reached out and grabbed the jade stone, pulling it out.

The cool, refreshing energy flowed through my palms, causing my kidneys to tremble slightly.

"nice one!"

Lin Xuan nodded to himself and continued to observe the riverbed.

Since the first water spirit stone could form here, there are likely to be more nearby.

Lin Xuan released the affinity with plants and trees, and also used the Kidney Spirit Technique to sense the underground water vapor.

A moment later, he found five water spirit stones in succession in the crevices of the riverbed rocks, under stalactites, and at the roots of aquatic plants.

Including the first one, there are six pieces in total.

Setting up a pond in the backyard will definitely further enhance the growth rate of aquatic plants.

After confirming that there were no spirit stones around, Lin Xuan began collecting aquatic plants.

"Senior Brother, let me help you!" Qiu Sheng rolled up his sleeves and was about to help Lin Xuan pull weeds.

But Lin Xuan immediately refused, saying, "I can do it myself. Don't damage the grass roots, or it won't be able to grow back."

Soon, Lin Xuan collected fifteen water vein spirit herbs with intact roots from beside the dark river.

While Lin Xuan was busy pulling weeds, Uncle Nine had finished exploring the cave and found that there were no more remnants of the evil formation.

After searching the area and confirming that there were no problems, the group returned to the ground.

Although the evil formation here has been broken and the yin energy in the village has dissipated, most of the surrounding vegetation has withered and died due to the erosion of the evil power of the water veins.

【Contaminated weeds】

[Quality: Gray]

Growth rate: 90%

【Characteristic: Yin Water Toxin】

[Dao Guo: Remnants of the Water Vein Diagram]

......

Although these wild grasses are polluted and have little vitality left, if they can be saved, one can still reap a share of spiritual rewards.

Lin Xuan squatted down and placed his palm on the damp soil, channeling his internal Dao Qi into the grass roots through his palm.

The originally drooping, withered leaves trembled slightly, and a glimmer of life reappeared deep within the roots.

[Successfully transformed the weed. Quality: Gray. Growth rate: 71%.]

One plant, two plants, three plants...

Lin Xuan walked around the deserted village, cultivating the wild grasses that still had value.

In the end, a total of thirty-six weeds were saved.

Lin Xuan put the last wild grass into his system space, glanced back at Lingxi Village, and left with Uncle Jiu.

Before leaving, Uncle Nine sealed the water vein map and the strange infant's aura, placing the former into his Qiankun bag.

After escorting Lin Xuan and the others back to the mortuary, Uncle Nine took the strange infant out and released it in the mountains dozens of miles away from Renjia Town...