Chapter 187

Chapter 187: Transplanting Spiritual Plants

The plants on the island, beyond being colorful and dreamlike, had no other remarkable features.

Zhou Luo approached a cluster of plants—a purple shrub called sage, named for resembling a mouse’s tail.

Such plants were quite common on wild islands.

Yet due to the unique geography here, while resembling external counterparts in appearance, they brimmed with copious Illusionary Power internally.

Much like magical beasts imbued with Illusionary Power, forcibly destroying them would unleash immense Illusionary Power, trapping surrounding beings in illusions.

Zhou Luo planned to refine these plants before cultivating them near Zhou Garden.

Intruders attempting to infiltrate would then face both formation assaults and disorienting Illusionary Power.

This strategy was inspired by the space formation he’d recently encountered.

Combining formations with illusions created a potent defensive measure.

He might even incorporate such plants into future formations, deliberately unleashing Illusionary Power against foes.

Thus, these seemingly insignificant plants became invaluable tactical assets in Zhou Luo’s eyes.

He released his mental strength, meticulously observing sage’s internal structure alongside the flow and fluctuations of its spiritual energy.

As an ordinary herb, exposure to Illusionary Forest’s spiritual energy had granted it unique properties.

This transformation carried risks and benefits; as a Spiritual Planter, his duty was preserving these traits during cultivation.

His foremost task was determining whether transplantation would sustain their survival.

After all, he couldn’t possibly generate sufficient Illusionary Power for nourishment.

Fortunately, he’d prepared specialized tools earlier for harvesting Dragon Blood Grass.

Producing a spiritual shovel etched with runes, he carefully isolated one sage plant.

This immediately drew the attention of Wu Gang and others nearby.

Their expressions turned uneasy, seemingly anticipating Zhou Luo’s intent.

"Brother Xu, proceed with caution," Wu Gang cautioned urgently.

Upon landing, they’d noted the Illusionary Power within these vivid plants.

To prevent accidents, they’d deliberately avoided contact.

Zhou Luo’s boldness now provoked genuine concern.

Accidental Illusionary Power leakage could destabilize the entire island—a catastrophic outcome.

"Rest assured. As a Spiritual Planter, I anticipate no issues," Zhou Luo explained calmly.

Within cultivation’s hundred skills, Spiritual Planting Technique was commonplace—a practical choice for many cultivators.

Its relative simplicity and capacity to grow rice, herbs, and other necessities made it essential for sustenance.

Thus, Zhou Luo felt no reservation about revealing this expertise.

Though apprehension lingered in Wu Gang’s brow, he offered no further objection.

Not being a Spiritual Planter himself, these plants held little interest; he merely hoped no disaster would unfold.

Instead, Shangguan Qianxue glanced meaningfully at Zhou Luo, feeling a trace of surprise that he wanted to preserve those forces and use them as combat means from enemies.

At first, Zhou Luo’s behavior made her think he was merely an ordinary cultivator as timid as a mouse, only playing petty tricks.

Even when he later stated he was a formation master, it didn’t attract much of her attention.

It was only after he smoothly dismantled that formation just now that she became deeply curious about him.

Though she couldn’t manage formations, she clearly understood this formation was extraordinary.

If he was just an entry-level formation master, it shouldn’t have been possible for him to crack this formation unless he was hiding his strength.

The more Shangguan Qianxue thought, the more likely it seemed.

Now she saw him again making preparations to enhance his strength.

In that instant, Zhou Luo’s image in Shangguan Qianxue’s mind instantly shifted to that of a clever, patient person who knew how to endure.

Connecting it to how this guy remained basically unharmed along the journey, she became even more certain of this view.

After all, not a single cultivator who could appear here was uncomplicated.

Shangguan Qianxue involuntarily reflected on her earlier mistaken belief.

She still hadn’t been careful enough; she needed to think more comprehensively from now on.

No wonder the sect required every disciple to go out for training to temper themselves.

On the other hand, under Zhou Luo’s meticulous handling, that sage plant was smoothly dug out by him.

He took out several spiritual stones and piled them on the ground, then released spiritual energy to bury the roots of the sage among them.

After touching the spiritual stones, the ochre-colored roots emitted a lightly faint glow; the uprooted sage didn’t wilt from losing nutrients but instead flourished brightly under the nourishment of spiritual energy.

Zhou Luo then released his mental strength to probe its internal state.

After losing the nourishment from the island soil, the Illusionary Power inside the sage neither decreased nor increased, still holding vitality.

It seemed his transplanting idea was feasible.

His spirits soared, so he pulled out a heap of spiritual stones to pile inside the storage bag, and deliberately moved soil from the island into it, spreading on top.

Then he started transplanting each sage and other plants there one by one.

It was no small task, especially since moving these plants required avoiding root damage to prevent harm to their vitality.

Luckily, with the aid of tier-one Spiritual Planting Technique, he handled these tasks with practiced ease.

That sight drew repeated side-glances from everyone present.

Especially Wu Gang, who murmured inwardly at the other person’s skilled movements.

Could this guy possibly make Spiritual Planter his main job?

Yet Wu Gang had never seen him in the Longfeng Mountain range before, and his name didn’t sound like that of a long-life families descendant; was he an Immortal Sect disciple instead?

Thinking this, he glanced toward Shangguan Qianxue.

He then felt it was impossible.

If not, he perhaps could recruit him into his own squad.

Wu Gang contemplated to himself.

With a formation master’s addition, it would greatly strengthen his squad.

Time passed slowly as nightfall arrived.

The bright moonlight spilled onto the lake surface, shimmering in waves.

Wu Gang and Liu Tieg leaned against each other, the Wei Family siblings huddled together, while Shangguan Qianxue sat meditating alone at the island center.

After resting for half a day, the cultivators had mostly recovered their spiritual energy.

But no one suggested who should watch guard or rest.

From the day’s events, distrust had grown among them; everyone feared others might strike suddenly in the night.

After transplanting all Illusionary Power-containing plants on the island into the storage bag, Zhou Luo directly took out a formation disk in everyone’s view and set up a small defense formation, then crawled inside to meditate and rest.

In guarding against enemies, formation masters held a natural edge.

Though the rest closed their eyes to rest lightly, none dared relax in the slightest.