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

"Is this the place?"

In a small alley, Chen Bingwen stopped and looked up at the building in front of him.

The three followed the lingering scent of the dark blue scales, traversing most of Huaiyuan Town, and finally stopped at the back door of a bookstore.

It's not far from the main street of the town, separated only by two rows of houses, and you can still faintly hear the hawkers' cries coming from the main street.

But the cobblestone alley was unusually quiet, with the back doors of the shops on both sides tightly closed, and not a ray of light coming through the cracks.

There wasn't a single pedestrian in the alley; only the wind blew in from the alley entrance, whipping up a few withered leaves from the corner of the wall, which swirled on the bluestone slabs.

The bluish-black scale hovered in mid-air, its strange patterns flickering on and off, its tip always pointing inwards from the courtyard wall.

Uncle Nine looked up and said, "The direction the aura is pointing is inside. Let's go in and take a look."

He walked to the back door, reached out and pushed it, but the wooden door didn't budge; it was clearly locked from the inside.

"The door's locked, so I'll just climb over the wall."

Uncle Nine didn't bother to pry open the door; he simply tapped the door lightly with his foot, and his yellow Taoist robe billowed up.

He leaped into the air, directly over the nearly ten-foot-high courtyard wall, and landed in the courtyard.

Lin Xuan followed closely behind.

He bent his legs slightly, his blood and qi surged, and he slammed his feet into the ground.

boom!

The blue bricks on the ground trembled slightly.

Lin Xuan's body rose directly from the ground, cleared the high wall, and landed steadily on the other side.

Chen Bingwen stood there, his eyes twitching slightly as he watched.

He had long known that Lin Xuan was strong, but he hadn't expected that the other party's physical body was also this strong.

The Lushan lineage has been fighting evil spirits in close combat for many years, and their sect has many martial arts and body-refining methods.

Therefore, the physical fitness of Lushan monks is generally much stronger than that of other Xuanmen cultivators.

In contrast, Maoshan places more emphasis on talismans, magic, rituals, and internal alchemy. While there are traditions dedicated to physical training, they are not the mainstream.

But Lin Xuan's leap just now, in terms of both explosive power and agility, clearly surpassed his.

However, considering that Lin Xuan had already entered the mid-stage of the Taoist realm and that his two kidney spirits had reached perfection, Chen Bingwen felt much more at ease.

The kidneys govern the bones and produce marrow.

After the two kidney deities reached perfection, their physical bodies received nourishment, and it was only natural that their muscles and bones became strong.

Chen Bingwen looked up at the high wall, then silently looked away.

He obviously couldn't skip over it.

Fortunately, there was a sturdy old tree growing next to the courtyard wall.

Chen Bingwen took a few steps back, took a deep breath, and then rushed forward.

Step onto the tree trunk with your feet and use the momentum to jump up.

He gripped the top of the wall with both hands, carefully avoiding the broken pieces of porcelain, and flipped over to land in the courtyard.

Upon landing, he slipped and nearly stepped into the pool.

Fortunately, he managed to grab the wall next to him in time, preventing a major disturbance.

Once he regained his balance and looked up, he was slightly taken aback.

The courtyard in front of us is much more spacious than it appears from the outside.

In the center of the courtyard stands a small artificial hill, with clear water flowing gently down from the cracks in the rocks and into the pool below.

Several green bamboos are planted by the pond, and there is a hexagonal pavilion next to it.

The surrounding houses are arranged in a staggered manner, with intricately carved doors and windows. Neither the layout nor the decoration resembles the backyard of an ordinary bookstore, but rather a villa used by a wealthy family for relaxation.

Chen Bingwen soon spotted Lin Xuan and Uncle Jiu not far away.

Lin Xuan turned and looked at him, asking in confusion, "Fellow Daoist Chen, why did you come down from over there?"

Chen Bingwen paused slightly.

He coughed lightly, quickly straightened his slightly disheveled sleeves, and said seriously, "This..."

"I just observed from outside and found that there are old trees growing in the southeast area, with abundant wood energy, and the feng shui is better than that above the main entrance."

"Entering from there makes it less likely to disrupt the energy flow in the courtyard."

Lin Xuan glanced in the direction he came from.

My gaze passed over the wall and landed on the old tree outside, a piece of bark of which had been trampled off.

He paused for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Fellow Daoist Chen has considered everything thoroughly."

After saying that, Lin Xuan turned around as if nothing had happened and followed Uncle Jiu, who was walking ahead.

Chen Bingwen noticed his gaze, his face flushed slightly, but he quickly followed after him.

The three of them walked through the pavilion.

Lin Xuan glanced ahead and suddenly slowed his pace.

A dozen or so flowerpots were neatly arranged below the courtyard wall, filled with very ordinary flowers and plants.

There were orchids, jasmine, roses, and a few wildflowers whose names I didn't know.

Neither the variety nor the appearance is anything special.

However, in Lin Xuan's eyes, a faint white light appeared above each plant.

Fragrant Orchid

[Quality: White]

Maturity: 87%

[Characteristic: Weak spirituality]

[Dao Guo: The Art of Nourishing Spirits with Incense]

......

Fragrant Rose

[Quality: White]

Maturity: 91%

[Characteristic: Weak spirituality]

[Dao Guo: The Art of Nourishing Spirits with Incense]

......

......

Lin Xuan's gaze swept over them one after another.

All of the dozen or so potted plants had reached the white quality standard.

Moreover, the Dao fruits they nurture are all the "Incense Nourishing Spirit Technique".

Lin Xuan's heart trembled slightly.

In the backyard of this seemingly ordinary bookstore, there are actually more than a dozen white-quality plants!

It should be noted that even after two rounds of enlightenment, the ordinary plants in the backyard of the mortuary did not reach the white grade.

The orchids, roses, and jasmine before us not only possess a spiritual quality and are all of white color, but some of them are even about to mature.

The problem is clearly not with the plants!

Lin Xuan's gaze shifted downwards, landing on the soil in the flowerpot.

The soil had a pale grayish-white color, with some fine red and gold particles mixed in on the surface.

A panel then appeared.

【Incense and Sacred Land】

[Quality: White]

[Description: Made from clay that has been worshipped for many years, the clay retains traces of the incense's power and blessings, which can nourish living beings and nurture spirituality.]

[Entry: The Power of Incense Offerings]

......

Lin Xuan's pupils contracted slightly.

The soil in these flowerpots was indeed made from the statues of gods in the temple.

The Li family funded the reconstruction of the temple, replacing the old statues that had been worshipped for many years with incense offerings, and then crushing the clay to create so-called sacred soil for incense offerings.

Ordinary flowers and plants planted in it absorb the power of incense offerings every day. Over time, they will naturally develop a faint spirituality and grow to a white quality.

Lin Xuan finally understood why the clay statues in the temples of Huaiyuan Town were all brand new, yet lacked any spirituality.

The original clay statue that truly carried the incense offerings had long been moved here by the Li family!

only......

Lin Xuan couldn't understand why such precious incense-infused spiritual soil would be used to nourish these ordinary flowers and plants; this... was simply too extravagant...

Could it be that the Li family used these ordinary flowers and plants to purify the water?

That's unlikely...

Just as Lin Xuan was observing the flowers and plants, a clear and gentle voice suddenly came from ahead.

"Isn't it a pleasure to have friends coming from afar?"

"Greetings, three Daoist masters."

Accompanied by the sound, a man in white slowly walked out from a side building.

The man looked to be in his late twenties. He was dressed in clean white clothes, holding a book in his right hand, and his long hair was tied up with a jade crown.

He had a handsome face, a gentle smile on his lips, and walked at a leisurely pace, exuding a composed and scholarly air in every gesture.

If you met him on the street, most people would probably mistake him for a well-read and wealthy young man.

Unfortunately, several bluish-black scales grew on his neck.

The scales stretched from below the collar all the way to behind the ears, each one glistening with moisture.

Against his fair skin, it looked particularly jarring and completely ruined his gentle and refined demeanor.

Lin Xuan looked him up and down. "You're Li Fuhai's fifth son?"

Upon hearing this, the white-robed scholar's smile faded slightly.

"The fifth son..."

"No, that's not it."

He glanced down at the book in his hand, his tone still gentle.

"If we were to rank them by birth order, I should be at least a dozen or so people down the list."

"However, most of those older brothers are no longer with us."

"If we only count those who are still alive today, I can indeed be called the fifth one."

Lin Xuan frowned slightly. "So, those strange infant-like water creatures really did come from your Li family?"

The scholar in white did not deny it. "That's right."

Uncle Nine's gaze darkened. "Those strange infants, were they created by your evil magic? Where did those children come from?!"

The white-robed scholar's smile faltered slightly upon hearing this.

He was silent for a moment before saying softly, "Those babies... are actually all children of my Li family."

"Some of them are my sons."

"And some of them are my brothers."

His tone was calm, almost indifferent, as he spoke, but deep within his eyes surged a profound pain.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xuan and the other two's pupils contracted simultaneously.

Chen Bingwen was filled with even more turmoil.

He originally thought that the Li family was just secretly persecuting other people's babies and then using evil magic to turn them into monsters.

Unexpectedly, this group of people didn't even spare their own sons and brothers.

He suddenly understood why Li Fuhai had shown such a pained and frantic expression when he had angrily denounced him as heartless and insane.

The necessary sacrifices that Li Fuhai mentioned actually included his own flesh and blood.

When Li Fuhai's distorted face appeared before his eyes, Chen Bingwen suddenly seemed to remember something.

However, the next second, his head slumped slightly, his expression became dazed, and he forgot what he was about to remember.

Just then, the white-robed scholar opposite them spoke.

"Actually, I am really grateful to the three Taoist priests."

The white-robed scholar looked at Lin Xuan and the other two, and the smile on his face gradually turned into one of relief.

"Thank you for finding this place."

"Thank you all, this is about to come to an end."

He looked down at the bluish-black scales on his neck, his voice trembling slightly.

"I have waited for this day for far too long."

"I've been in pain for far too long."

"A sinner like me should not continue to live in this world."

The scholar in white slowly opened his arms.

pat-

The book slipped from his hands and fell to the ground.

He didn't look at them, but stared directly at Lin Xuan and the others. There was no fear in his eyes, only a sense of relief that he could finally get rid of everything.

"bring it on!"

"Kill me!!"

"Let me wash away the sins I've committed over the years with my own blood!!!"