In Su Ling'er's palm lay a dull, lackluster seed.
"This item is special," a disheveled head leaned in, and Shen Nong's dry, raspy voice sounded in her ear. "It must be awakened with your blood essence."
Blood essence?
'He wants my blood essence?! Does this plant really need blood essence to be raised?!'
Alarm bells screamed in Su Ling'er's mind.
"Here, give me your hand."
A soil-caked hand seized Su Ling'er's wrist with a grip too strong to break. She watched, wide-eyed, as Shen Nong produced a silver needle.
"Don't be afraid. This will just take a second."
A cold sensation touched her fingertip, followed by a sharp prick of pain.
A bead of blood welled up.
Shen Nong pinched her finger, buried the seed in a pot of black soil, and then aimed her fingertip at the patch of earth.
"DRIP."
The bead of blood fell, instantly soaking into the black soil and vanishing without a trace.
She waited for a moment...
But nothing happened. Su Ling'er was a little confused.
'Is... that it? Did it fail?'
Suddenly!
The black soil in the pot began to RUSTLE and churn.
A tender sprout broke through the soil, then began to grow rapidly, at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It had only a single, twisted main vine that split into two side branches, eventually reaching about half a foot in height.
At the top of the vine, a single, deep-blue flower bloomed.
In the center of the flower's pistil was a blurry silhouette, within which one could faintly make out the traces of eyes, a nose, and a mouth.
It was a face.
A face filled with terror, melancholy, and confusion.
And this face bore a striking resemblance to Su Ling'er's.
Shen Nong studied the small Spirit Plant, a glint flashing in his eyes. He cast a [Spirit Plant Identification] on it, then nodded in satisfaction.
[Wondrous Item: Sorrow Flower (Immature)]
Quality: ???
Category: Companion Spirit Plant
Binding Status: Bound to "Su Ling'er" via blood essence.
Description: Uses its master's blood as a catalyst and feeds on its master's sorrow. It reflects its master's face as its own. When the flower fully blooms, it will have an unexpected effect...
Current Status: Seedling Stage
Growth Requirement: Absorb the host's negative emotions (terror, anxiety, sorrow, despair...)
"This flower uses your blood essence as a catalyst and your thoughts to take its shape. The deeper the sorrow in your heart, the more vigorously it will grow."
"I'll give you this 'Sorrow Flower'. It was grown from your blood, after all."
After speaking, he dusted the dirt from his hands and, without a backward glance, dove back into the medicinal field he had purchased.
Su Ling'er froze on the spot.
'He's gone? He just left?! He grows this bizarre "Sorrow Flower" and just gives it to me?!'
A breeze swept through the valley, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees, but she couldn't smell a thing. Her mind was just a swirl of giant question marks.
Su Ling'er looked down at the tiny vine bearing her own sorrowful face.
It swayed in the wind, its two thin branches hanging limply. The face at its tip, etched in inky lines, was filled with the exact same confusion and helplessness she felt at that moment.
Looking at it was like looking at herself.
Tiny, pitiful, weak, and helpless.
'Only, this flower also carried a strange sense of destiny. Is this some kind of shackle?'
Countless thoughts churned in her mind.
'Uses blood essence as a catalyst and thoughts to take its shape... Is this flower my double?'
'Or is it like that Insect Gu the Sect Leader gave me before he left, where if one is harmed, both are harmed? If it gets damaged, like the Contracted Spirit Insect, will my soul be injured too?'
'Or could it be even more serious?'
'What if some oblivious senior brother walks by, thinks it's an eyesore, and yanks off a vine? Would I lose an arm on the spot?'
'If someone takes a dislike to it and gives it a couple of good punches... would two big bumps swell up on my face?'
'And what if someone steps on it? Would my head also go "SPLAT" and explode like a watermelon?!'
'Does this mean as long as the flower lives, I live? If the flower dies, do I get covered with a white sheet?!'
'The Contracted Spirit Insect that the Sect Leader gave me only causes a tremor in my soul when it dies. But this thing—what's the feedback I get when it gets hurt or dies?'
'You could have at least explained it clearly! Why did you just run off?!'
She desperately wanted to throw the thing off a thousand-foot cliff, but she didn't dare. It was already bound to her blood essence; throwing it away might be the same as throwing away her own life.
And another thing—it feeds on sorrow...
'Am I raising some kind of pampered ancestor here?! One that specializes in eating negative energy!'
'Do I have to walk around miserable every day just to feed it until it's sleek and glossy? And what if it gets indigestion one day? Will it smash its own food bowl—me?!'
Su Ling'er looked at the little, long-faced thing, wanting to cry but having no tears.
'What am I supposed to do with you?'
'You little ancestor, can you do anything besides bring me bad luck?'
'Does it need water? What kind of fertilizer should I use?'
'Is it... the spirit soil from the medicine field next door, or... the leftover 'meat soup' from the pool in the Artifact Refining Pavilion?'
"Junior Sister, don't worry about it. Just put it away."
Lin Qingfeng's voice cut in. He had just used an Identification Skill on the flower as well. "If you raise it well, it should be of great use."
"Just water it normally, I guess? I haven't really studied this area. If you look more miserable, maybe it'll grow faster?"
'That eccentric Shen Nong, he never explains anything clearly. Oh well, it's not like it'll kill Junior Sister, anyway.'
Su Ling'er gingerly cradled the flowerpot in her arms.
She began to walk stiffly, following behind her Eldest Brother. Every step was cautious, terrified that if something happened to this little ancestor in her arms, her own head would explode with a "BANG."
Just then, a disciple walked toward them from up ahead, his face beaming with the joy of a good harvest. He was carefully holding a handful of what looked like moist, fine black soil.
And that soil looked exactly the same as the soil in Su Ling'er's flowerpot.
"Junior Sister, see that handful of black soil?" Lin Qingfeng pointed and said. "It's the same kind that's in your pot. It's called 'Human Origin Soil,' and it's considered the highest-grade spirit soil our sect currently possesses."
"Shen Nong gave you such precious spirit soil, along with that priceless Sorrow Flower. Other people have to spend Spirit Stones just to get some of that black soil."
"So, don't mind his eccentricities. He's actually a pretty good guy. You'll get used to him. Maybe he'll even give you other good things in the future."
But Su Ling'er only heard three words: "Human Origin Soil."
They instantly captivated her entire mind.
A scene uncontrollably unfolded in her mind again:
A quagmire of flesh and blood.
The blood, flesh, and even the souls of countless Cultivators were crushed by some evil power, then churned and mixed together, reduced to the most primitive nutrients. This slurry was then ground together with the finest soil, and finally...
...it was refined into this fine black soil!
'Using the flesh, blood, and souls of Cultivators as fertilizer to nourish Spirit Plants?!'
A wave of nausea shot up her throat. She wanted to throw the pot away, but she forced the impulse down.
'Based on her understanding of this demonic sect, this was something they were entirely capable of doing!'
'Here, they actually used Cultivators as fertilizer?!'
Lin Qingfeng felt they had seen enough of this place, so he changed the subject and looked at Su Ling'er.
"Little Junior Sister, have you ever thought... what if there was a way to have 'others' handle all the tedious labor for you?"
'Others?!'
'Newly captured prisoners? Or lower-level disciples with even worse potential?!'
Lin Qingfeng didn't give her much time to guess. He turned and pointed toward the deeper parts of Hundred Herbs Valley. "Come on, Junior Sister. I'll take you to see our Guixi Sect's... Palu... Bah, that's not right, I mean our Spirit Beast Garden."