"Since I have protected you all this time until your birth, it is only fair you give me a part of yourself first."
For ten long years, this had been Su Min's sole purpose, her quiet and patient vigil to watch over the nascent treasure and ensure its survival against all odds. Even the rarest heavenly materials were fragile before reaching full maturity. At this stage, they were as vulnerable as any ordinary plant, helpless and easily crushed or stolen. It was their intrinsic nature to emit special spiritual fluctuations, a silent call to attract nearby cultivators who could offer protection during this critical, defenseless time.
And now, the time for her reward had finally come.
Just as she expected, the emerald vine from which the gourd hung detached itself with a soft, sighing sound. It floated gently toward her, coiling softly in the air like a sleepy serpent before settling into her open palm, cool and pliant against her skin.
[Verdant Wood Vines (Mid-Grade Yellow Tier): A vine nurturing a wondrous treasure. After maturity, it loses its original function. Infusing it with wood-attribute spiritual power grants control over plant life within a certain radius. It may also serve as a core material for crafting spiritual artifacts.]
"Excellent," Su Min murmured, her fingers closing firmly around the vine. A sense of cold, vital energy seeped into her skin, a feeling of pure, untamed life. "With this, I can arrange the defenses I will need for the next three months." The real challenge was about to begin.
She narrowed her eyes, her mind already calculating and planning. The treasure gourd itself was entering its final phase, hungrily absorbing the Great Dao's light in a spectacular display that lit up the mountain. This was the ultimate awakening of a treasure born of heaven and earth, and she was highly satisfied with it, a reward worthy of a decade of her life.
Unlike ordinary cultivators bound to a single element, her constitution was unique, a strange legacy of her otherworldly origin. She was born without fixed spiritual roots, a blank slate of primordial chaos that could cultivate almost any technique she encountered. Her elemental affinities awakened not by birthright, but according to the methods she practiced and mastered.
Now, she began to channel a steady, powerful stream of wood attribute spiritual power into the vine in her hand. The effect was immediate and dramatic. The plants and trees of the surrounding mountain forest began to shift and groan, their leaves rustling without any wind. Bathed in the radiant, transformative light of the Great Dao, countless plants awakened faint traces of spiritual consciousness, tiny sparks of awareness igniting in the green.
As the old saying went, when one being attains the Dao, even their pets are elevated. Here, bathed in this brilliance, every blade of grass, every twisting vine, birthed a wisp of spirit. They began to comprehend rudimentary cultivation techniques, their forms subtly strengthening. Their sentience was still shallow, a newborn awareness, but all of them owed their very awakening to the gourd. And now, they would naturally heed the commands of the one who held the vine that had borne it, their progenitor.
The vine in Su Min's hand was not just a tool, it was the key to commanding an entire, awakened forest.
"They have practically become spirits already. Good," she muttered to herself, surveying the undulating bamboo groves around her as they straightened and thickened. She counted twenty bamboo spirits, their stalks now standing straighter and tougher than steel, and over thirty other wood spirits emerging from the gnarled bark of ancient trees and thick, thorny creepers. "This is not a bad lineup at all."
In truth, these bamboo spirits had a long, quiet history with her. Over the past decade, she had concocted countless pills in her secluded home, and she had always discarded the leftover, spiritually rich medicinal dregs into the bamboo forest behind her cottage. Over time, these spiritual remnants had nourished the plants, imbuing them with latent energy and a connection to her. Now, under the final catalyst of the gourd's radiant birth, they had awakened completely. It was karma, pure and simple. Even without the Greenwood Vine, these spirits would have felt obliged to obey her at least once, to repay the nourishment she had unknowingly provided.
In an instant, the entire mountain was transformed.
It was as if a century of growth had occurred in a single moment. Dense bamboo groves shot up towards the sky, their stalks intertwining with thick, ropelike vines to shroud the entire peak in a canopy of green, creating a natural, living fortress. Hidden within the lush, deceptive greenery were not only the awakened plants but also a multitude of smaller, fledgling monsters drawn by the dense, intoxicating spiritual energy that now saturated the air.
"Perfect," Su Min said, a wave of genuine relief finally washing over her. The tension in her shoulders eased slightly. "Now I only need to sit back and wait. This will also help temper my path of slaughter." She could feel the dormant path within her stirring in anticipation.
This forest, where the air was thick with moisture and every shadow could hide a watchful plant spirit, was a terrible place for any invader to fight. Fire attacks, a common solution to such obstacles, would be largely smothered by the pervasive dampness and the living wood's resilience. Furthermore, any cultivator below the Foundation Establishment stage was earthbound, Su Min included. They could not simply fly over the danger. Any intruder would be forced to venture on foot through the dense, treacherous undergrowth, facing ambushes and natural obstacles at every turn, their progress slowed to a crawl.
She had also noticed a troubling stagnation in her Path of Slaughter. Since exterminating the squad from the capital, neither random killing nor bullying the weak had advanced her Dao. The path was hungry for meaningful conflict. She needed worthy opponents, true challenges to sharpen her edge.
Anyone capable of fighting their way through this living maze to reach her would have to be a formidable Qi Refining cultivator. At present, such individuals could only be connected to the wretched Demon Empress in the imperial palace. Su Min knew their methods were disgusting and vile, and the emperor himself was no better, a monster wearing a crown.
"Let us see how many of you dare to come," she whispered, a faint, cold smile touching her lips as she gazed at the endless, shifting green sea before her. She had anticipated this moment, prepared for it, for a full decade. "If you cannot even pass through my Sea of Trees, do not bother wasting your time. But if you insist on barging in, do not blame me for being merciless." Her voice was soft but carried a finality that echoed in the still air.
Against a true Qi Refining cultivator, numbers of Body Refining fighters were useless, mere chaff before the wind. The key was to have her own Qi Refining strength solidified before they arrived. Then she could seize the treasure without worry and face them on equal footing. As for the lackeys the dog emperor sent, killing them would be a fine way to settle a very old, very personal grudge. She had not forgotten the torment and helplessness she suffered when she first arrived in this world, a memory that still burned.
Of course, she was not concerned about these spirits harming innocents after she left. Plant spirits typically lived by peacefully absorbing the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, growing slowly over centuries. They found blood and flesh repulsive, not nourishing. Their violence was reserved for those who threatened their home.
"Right. Before I leave, I should warn the villagers," she decided, her thoughts turning practical. She would tell them to regularly offer simple sacrifices to the forest spirits, perhaps sprinkling the ash from burned spiritual herbs as fertilizer. In return, the spirits would protect them from bandits and wild beasts. Most of the villagers had already evacuated deeper into the mountains, awaiting the day they could return safely. If they treated the spirits well, these creatures could become their simple, steadfast guardians. It cost her nothing to leave them this means of survival in a harsh world.
Just as she had predicted, within less than a month, several cultivators arrived, drawn by the beacon in the sky. Some, after testing the forest's edge and finding it impenetrable and alive with hostile intent, wisely retreated, their greed outweighed by their sense of self preservation. Others, driven by blinding greed and stubborn pride, pushed on, convinced of their own superiority. They perished within the boundless green, never even catching a glimpse of the glowing treasure, let alone setting foot in Su Min's courtyard. The forest had become a silent, efficient guardian, a green scythe that harvested the unworthy, and its mistress waited patiently at its heart, preparing for the true challenges to come.