Cultivation: I Can Steal Lifespan from Spirit Beasts

Chapter 204: Seed Transformation

The Thousand Spirit Tree was an absolute necessity for First and Second Rank spirit-refining cultivators. It provided a direct, highly potent channel to supplement and elevate soul power. In the current era, following the catastrophic fall of the Yin Spirit, it was one of the very few effective methods left for the Yin Spirit lineage to advance their cultivation.

When Zheng Yuanhua first arrived in the State of Chen from the Myriad God Kingdom, establishing a secure grove for these trees had been his absolute priority. He had exhausted immense resources, leveraging the deep foundation of his lineage, to painstakingly construct a Third Rank concealment Formation over the valley.

Unless one was a genuine Grandmaster in the Dao of Formations, even a Third Rank powerhouse would likely fly right over the valley without noticing a single anomaly.

Yet, just moments ago, Zheng Yuanhua’s soul tether had violently snapped. The Formation had been breached!

Who is it?! Where did a Third Rank array master come from?! Is it the Heavenly Gate Sect? Or did the Five Sects finally decide to intervene?! How did they even find the coordinates?!

Zheng Yuanhua’s mind spun with terrifying implications.

He knew perfectly well that the Five Sects’ previous “secret protection” was nothing more than using the Incense Burner Path as a blunt instrument to bleed the Heavenly Gate Sect. The moment Ning Daohuan’s faction was crippled, the Five Sects would turn around and slaughter them.

However, since the Golden Core elders of the Heavenly Gate Sect had completely vanished from the battlefield, it was entirely possible a strike team had bypassed the front lines. A Rogue Cultivator stumbling upon the array was technically possible, but astronomically unlikely.

Heart hammering, Zheng Yuanhua sprinted to the command tent housing the six Third Rank Divine Envoys.

Before he could even finish his initial report, he was subjected to a blistering barrage of verbal abuse from the supreme elders.

“Where is the Divine Artifact?!”

“Did you even dispatch the couriers, you incompetent wretch?!”

“That ‘Blood Bone Holy Venerable’ puppet Lu Yuansheng wields is outputting the raw kinetic force of a Nascent Soul True Lord! Do you have any idea the amount of pressure we have endured over the last three days holding him back?!”

Zheng Yuanhua kept his head bowed, his teeth grinding together in silent, suffocating fury.

How the hell am I supposed to know why it isn’t here yet?! I sent two separate elite squads to retrieve it! And why are you blaming me because you six cowards can’t kill a single newly ascended Golden Core brat?!

Of course, he didn’t dare utter a single syllable of his true thoughts. If he did, these old monsters would execute him on the spot and appoint a new commander.

“Enough!”

The elder surnamed Gong barked, cutting off the barrage of reprimands. He turned his heavy gaze to Zheng Yuanhua.

“Do not blame them for their frayed tempers. We severely miscalculated,” Gong admitted, his voice grave. “We assumed that if we held our ground, we could stall until the Divine Artifact arrived and obliterate Lu Yuansheng in a single strike. We did not anticipate his relentless aggression. For the past three days, he has practically lived on our doorstep, bombarding our lines with tactics and raw power that rival a genuine Nascent Soul.”

“If the Divine Artifact is delayed much longer, our perimeter will collapse.”

“This Junior understands. I will personally ride out and escort the Divine Artifact back!” Zheng Yuanhua volunteered instantly.

Divine Envoy Gong nodded slightly. “Excellent. I apologize for the burden. If Canghai had not fallen, the two of you could have coordinated this much more smoothly.”

“As for the Thousand Spirit Trees…” Gong hesitated, weighing the strategic loss. Finally, he sighed. “If they are gone, they are gone. It is a bitter pill, but as long as we capture Ning Daohuan and reclaim the True Scripture, the resurrection of the Yin Spirit is assured. Compared to that, a grove of trees is utterly insignificant.”

Zheng Yuanhua hesitated, but the question had been burning a hole in his mind for days. “Divine Envoy Gong… why has the Divine Hall not deployed the Supreme Elders? If even a single Supreme Elder took the field, they would sweep the State of Chen in a day, and the True Scripture would be ours.”

“Hmph! What does a pathetic junior know?! You dare question the strategic vision of the Divine Hall and the Supreme Elders?!” one of the other Envoys snarled.

Divine Envoy Gong silenced the man with a single, freezing glare. The envoy swallowed hard, muttering under his breath but saying no more.

Gong’s expression softened as he turned back to Zheng Yuanhua. “I understand your confusion. Given your rank, you do not possess the clearance for this intelligence. However, considering your sacrifices, I will shed some light.”

Gong sighed heavily. “You know the precarious state of our Yin Spirit lineage. Currently, the Myriad God Kingdom is launching massive military campaigns across multiple borders. The Grand Elder must remain sequestered within the Divine Hall to prevent rival lineages from usurping our seat of power. Every other Supreme Elder has been drafted and deployed to active warzones.”

“It is not that the Elders refuse to aid us; they physically cannot. Even securing the resources to send the six of us across the border required a monumental political effort.”

“Do not let resentment poison your heart. Endure this crucible. Once we secure the True Scripture, your path will be paved in gold. Given your contributions, ascending to a Third Rank Envoy—or even breaking into the Fourth Rank and claiming an Elder’s seat—is entirely within your grasp.”

“Yuanhua understands,” Zheng Yuanhua bowed deeply, masking the cold cynicism in his eyes.

After leaving the tent and barking a few rapid-fire orders to his lieutenants, he boarded his Second Order Top Grade flying Magical Artifact and launched himself southward.

He knew Divine Envoy Gong was merely dangling a carrot to keep him obedient. But for cultivators of the Yin Spirit lineage, there was no turning back. First Order pawns could defect or switch paths, but at the Second Order, their souls were too deeply corrupted by the profane arts. They had to walk into the dark until the bitter end.

…

Thud. With a sickening crunch, the russet-robed cultivator and the naked female cultivator were violently crushed into a paste of flesh and bone by Shen Fu’s gravity spell.

Wang Ba completely ignored the gore, his eyes shining with awe as he stared at the thirty-two towering Thousand Spirit Trees.

Before Shen Fu had turned the russet-robed guard into a puddle, Wang Ba had subjected the man to a brutal Soul Searching Technique, extracting a wealth of tactical data.

Because the grove was shielded by a Third Rank Formation, the Incense Burner Path had deemed it a low-risk zone, requiring only a skeleton crew of guards. With the war raging around Zhongyuan City, the garrison had been further stripped down until only the russet-robed man and the female cultivator remained.

Boredom and isolation had bred lust, leading to the compromising situation Wang Ba had interrupted.

But the true prize from the interrogation wasn’t the tactical layout—it was a highly specialized agricultural technique called the Spring Breeze Seed Transformation Art.

This esoteric art allowed a cultivator to forcibly reverse the biological clock of a fully matured spiritual plant, compressing it back into a dormant seed state. The seed could be stored indefinitely and replanted in a new location, where it would rapidly rapidly regrow to its original state.

The Myriad God Kingdom had engineered this specific spell to facilitate the logistical nightmare of transporting Thousand Spirit Trees during their relentless expansion campaigns. Waiting centuries for a newly planted tree to mature and produce Divine Essence Dew was tactically unviable. Furthermore, if the mature dew wasn’t harvested immediately upon falling, contact with the soil would corrupt its spiritual properties, rendering it useless.

Utilizing his Lifespan panel, Wang Ba mastered the Spring Breeze Seed Transformation Art in a matter of seconds.

He immediately moved through the grove, carefully harvesting every single drop of mature Divine Essence Dew. (The dew was utterly worthless before full maturity, acquiring its soul-nourishing properties only at the absolute peak of its cycle).

Once the harvest was secured, Wang Ba initiated the art. His Magic Power washed over the thirty-two massive trees. Trunks shrank, branches retracted, and roots coiled inward until the towering flora condensed into thirty-two thumb-sized, emerald seeds.

Wang Ba swept the seeds into his Storage Bag. “We’re done. Move.”

They didn’t flee blindly. Instead, they retreated to a high, heavily concealed ridge overlooking the valley to monitor the fallout.

Not long after, an Incense Burner Path rapid-response team arrived.

However, to Wang Ba’s immense frustration, the reinforcement squad only consisted of four or five low-level cultivators. They moved with terrifying efficiency, sweeping the empty valley, confirming the breach, and immediately retreating back toward Water Controlling City and Meng Xing Village.

Wang Ba didn’t even have a window to ambush them.

“This complicates things,” Wang Ba frowned heavily.

The commanders in the nearby strongholds were paranoid. They hadn’t taken the bait. By deploying a minimal scouting force instead of a heavy retaliatory strike team, they had completely neutralized Wang Ba’s plan to lure the tiger from the mountain.

“Senior Brother… I think we need to hold our position,” Shen Fu suggested, his voice tight. “The entire region is a powder keg. If we try to blindly smash our way through the blockades without knowing the exact troop deployments, we’re walking into a slaughterhouse.”

Wang Ba considered Shen Fu’s words and realized the youth was right.

He had no idea what the perimeter around the Eastern Sage garrison looked like. If he charged in, only to find it surrounded by an Incense Burner Path siege camp, he would be throwing his life away. He had been so fixated on returning, completing his mission, and using Lu Yuansheng to secure a transfer to the Sword Billow Garrison, that he had developed tunnel vision.

Suppressing his anxiety over Bu Chan’s safety, Wang Ba nodded. They retreated deeper into the wilderness. Shen Fu expertly established a Second Order concealment Formation, providing them a secure bunker to wait out the immediate chaos.

But barely an hour after the Formation stabilized…

A terrifying, concussive shockwave violently rippled across the horizon, born from the catastrophic collision of raw Magic Power and soul energy!

The sheer magnitude of the ambient spiritual displacement made Wang Ba’s heart seize.

“Who the hell is fighting?!” Wang Ba gasped, staring toward the horizon. “That Magic Power… it’s monstrous!”

He couldn’t see the combatants; the epicenter was too far away.

“But that direction… is that Zhongyuan City?”

…

Simultaneously.

Atop Jade Emperor Peak.

The assembled Golden Core True Persons possessed the extreme altitude and visual acuity necessary to peer directly into the battlefield raging outside Zhongyuan City.

They watched the apocalyptic duel unfold in absolute, stunned silence.

A long, heavy silence stretched across the summit before Ciren Pengcuo of the Great Sun Gate let out a deeply conflicted sigh.

“This Lu Yuansheng… what a monster.”

Zhong Bu, the undisputed number one swordsman of the State of Chen, slowly withdrew his gaze. His expression was grim as he analyzed the kinetic output he had just witnessed. Finally, he shook his head in defeat.

“I cannot match him. In the entire State of Chen, among the Golden Core ranks, I fear only Grand Elder Pang possesses the physical durability to survive an exchange with him. And even then, predicting the victor is impossible.”

It was a blunt, borderline insulting admission, but Sect Leader Xiong of the Mountain Sea Sect didn’t take offense. He nodded grimly.

“Grand Elder Pang would likely fall as well. That ‘Blood Bone Holy Venerable’ puppet Lu Yuansheng commands is outputting the raw, unmitigated destruction of a Nascent Soul True Lord. True, Lu Yuansheng’s Golden Core Magic Power reserves are too shallow to sustain the puppet in a prolonged war of attrition. But if we engage him without overwhelming numerical superiority, we will be slaughtered long before he runs dry.”

Sect Leader Xiong let out a ragged breath. “For all intents and purposes… the man is a Nascent Soul True Lord!”

“Fellow Daoist Ji,” someone asked, “is it true that Lu Yuansheng has been cultivating for barely a century?”

Ji Lan’s face remained an unreadable mask, acting as if Lu Yuansheng had never been a core disciple of his own Eastern Sage Sect. He offered a microscopic glance at Ye Lingyu before nodding slightly.

“To be precise, it is less than ninety years.”

“A heaven-defying genius… what a profound tragedy,” Sect Leader Shi of the Nine Spirits Sect murmured, his eyes narrowing into slits. “Because of that, we must eradicate him immediately!”

“I fear he is bait,” Ji Lan countered smoothly, his tone cautious. “Until we confirm the exact coordinates of Ning Daohuan and the missing twenty Golden Core elders, launching an assassination strike is suicidal. We would not only alert the enemy but likely dive headfirst into a meticulously prepared kill-box.”

Ciren Pengcuo shook his head violently. “I disagree, Fellow Daoist Ji! The Incense Burner Path is buckling under the Heavenly Gate Sect’s assault. If we do not decapitate Lu Yuansheng now, and Ning Daohuan suddenly takes the field with his twenty elders, our Five Sects will be forced into a meat grinder. Even if we win, we will be crippled.”

“Conversely, if we sever Lu Yuansheng from the board now, we permanently cripple their vanguard. We can then bleed them with a war of a thousand cuts, securing small, compounding victories until their momentum shatters.”

“Once they are utterly exhausted, we drop the hammer and sweep them into the abyss. That is the orthodox path to victory: crush them with overwhelming, undeniable momentum.”

“Well said!”

“Agreed!”

Ciren Pengcuo’s aggressive strategy resonated deeply with the paranoid leaders.

Sect Leader Shi raised a hand, offering a lethal compromise. “There is no need to risk our own necks. I propose a shadow operation: we covertly funnel support to the Incense Burner Path to help them assassinate Lu Yuansheng. Without his overwhelming firepower stabilizing the front line, the Heavenly Gate Sect will panic. This will force Ning Daohuan and the hidden elders out of the shadows. We expose their hand while letting the zealots continue to bleed them dry.”

“Brilliant! The strategy is flawless!” Ciren Pengcuo barked, immediately reversing his stance.

“It adds a layer of complexity, but the risk mitigation is excellent,” Zhong Bu nodded approvingly.

Ji Lan pretended to mull it over before conceding. “It seems this is the most optimal path forward.”

However, Sect Leader Xiong interjected with a massive logistical flaw. “A fine plan, but how exactly do we ‘covertly’ assist the zealots in killing a man who fights like a Nascent Soul True Lord without exposing ourselves?”

The summit fell silent as the leaders frowned. Sponsoring the assassination of a pseudo-Nascent Soul without leaving a trace was a logistical nightmare.

“We don’t need to kill him for them,” someone finally suggested. “We simply provide the zealots with the defensive artifacts and energy reserves required to survive his initial onslaught. We force a war of attrition. Once Lu Yuansheng burns through his Magic Power, he cannot pilot the Blood Bone Holy Venerable. Without the puppet, he is nothing but a newly minted Golden Core whelp. The zealots will tear him apart.”

The logic was undeniable. The leaders nodded in grim satisfaction.

“Then we must establish a supply line to the Incense Burner Path immediately. The six Golden Cores barely escaped with their lives today; they won’t survive the next clash without our intervention,” Ciren Pengcuo concluded.

Right as the meeting adjourned, Ji Lan felt a sharp, pulsing vibration from a specific array disk within his Storage Ring.

He smoothly raised his hands in a polite salute. “Fellow Daoists, I must apologize. An urgent sect matter requires my immediate attention. I shall return shortly.”

“Take your time, Sect Leader Ji.”

Without another word, Ji Lan launched himself off Jade Emperor Peak. Pushing his Golden Core speed to the absolute limit, he crossed the distance to a heavily forested, ancient mountain range just outside Zhongyuan City in minutes.

Scanning the desolate woods with his Divine Sense to ensure absolute privacy, Ji Lan retrieved a circular array disk from his ring and placed it on the forest floor.

The disk flared to life. An invisible, hyper-compressed pulse of encrypted energy shot outward, racing across the landscape and silently penetrating the walls of Zhongyuan City.

…

Simultaneously.

Inside a heavily warded secret chamber within Zhongyuan City.

A figure shrouded entirely in a pitch-black cloak jerked upright, sensing the incoming pulse. He instantly produced an identical array disk.

The moment the disk touched the stone floor, the cloaked figure vanished.

…

Deep in the ancient forest, the cloaked figure materialized directly in front of Ji Lan.

The spy immediately dropped to one knee, bowing deeply. “This disciple pays his respects to the Sect Leader!”

“Dispense with the formalities. You have suffered greatly,” Ji Lan said, stepping forward to personally help the man to his feet. His face was a mask of profound, fatherly concern. “How have you been holding up?”

“Reporting to the Sect Leader… they suspect nothing—”

“I am not asking about the mission,” Ji Lan interrupted gently. “I am asking about you. Are you well?”

The cloaked figure stiffened. When he spoke, his voice trembled with suppressed, overwhelming emotion. “Th-thank you for your grace, Sect Leader. I am well.”

Recovering his composure, the spy rushed to deliver his payload. “Time is critical. Allow me to report.”

Ji Lan nodded, his demeanor shifting back to cold professionalism.

“I recently verified the intel: Ning Daohuan and the entire roster of Heavenly Gate Sect Golden Core elders have deployed to the Golden Rainbow Garrison. The garrison is currently under a massive, coordinated siege by the Incense Burner Path. The situation there is catastrophic compared to the skirmishes here in the State of Chen. Reports indicate that over half the State of Jiang—where the Golden Rainbow Garrison resides—has already fallen to the zealots.”

“The State of Jiang?” Ji Lan asked, his brow furrowing.

“It is a minor, relatively obscure nation bordering the southeastern edge of the Great Chu Dynasty,” the spy clarified.

Ji Lan’s eyes widened in dawning realization. “If Ning Daohuan and all twenty elders are locked in a death struggle in the State of Jiang… then the Heavenly Gate Sect’s garrison here in the State of Chen is completely empty!”

“Correct,” the cloaked cultivator confirmed. “The strike force Lu Yuansheng is currently leading constitutes the absolute entirety of the Heavenly Gate Sect’s elite Foundation Establishment roster remaining in the state.”

Ji Lan’s mind raced, assembling the geopolitical puzzle. “So… Lu Yuansheng’s highly publicized, aggressive offensive against the Incense Burner Path… his constant, reckless troop movements designed to project overwhelming confidence… it’s all smoke and mirrors! It is a grand, psychological bluff! He is projecting strength to keep us terrified of a hidden trap, buying Ning Daohuan time to resolve the crisis in the State of Jiang!”

“It is an Empty Fort Strategy!”

“This reeks of Ning Daohuan’s brilliance,” Ji Lan murmured, a predatory, bloodthirsty grin spreading across his face. “But his genius has just handed us the opportunity of a millennium!”

“We can retake our ancestral garrison! We can reclaim Fan Ming’s Primordial Spirit!”

“And once we seize the garrison, we sever the teleportation array! Ning Daohuan and his elders will be permanently locked out of the State of Chen!”

Hearing the grand strategy, the cloaked cultivator’s breathing grew heavy with excitement. However, his deeply ingrained paranoia quickly suppressed his joy.

“Sect Leader, please exercise extreme caution,” he warned solemnly. “I have only gathered this intel through secondary channels. While I have not seen Ning Daohuan or the elders with my own eyes, this could still be a multi-layered trap designed to draw you out.”

“I will bear that in mind,” Ji Lan nodded, his eyes shining with manic triumph. “If we reclaim our home today, your contribution will be etched into the annals of our history. I swear upon my Dao, I will exhaust every resource in the sect’s treasury to elevate you to the Golden Core realm!”

The cloaked figure shook his head humbly. “Thank you, Sect Leader, but my aptitude is dull. I harbor no such delusions of grandeur. I only pray for the resurgence of our sect. If I fall, I only ask that the sect watches over my bloodline.”

Ji Lan’s expression hardened into absolute, solemn sincerity. “You have my word. As long as the Eastern Sage Sect exists, your descendants will be treated as royalty.”

“Return immediately,” Ji Lan ordered, glancing at the sky. “Do not give them any reason to notice your absence.”

“Yes, Sect Leader!”

The cloaked figure triggered the array disk and vanished into the ether.

Standing alone in the silent forest, Ji Lan smoothly produced a specialized Talisman from his sleeve. Examining it closely, he noted the paper remained pristine and unburnt.

“Excellent,” Ji Lan murmured, a cold, calculating light in his eyes. “His soul has not been hijacked via Body Seizing, and his mind remains uncompromised by interrogation spells. The intel is verified.”

He waited a few moments longer for the array disk to recall its scattered energy pulse. Snatching the disk from the dirt, Ji Lan launched himself back into the sky, rocketing toward Jade Emperor Peak.

…

Simultaneously.

Inside the heavily warded secret chamber in Zhongyuan City.

The spatial coordinates aligned, and the black-cloaked figure materialized atop the receiving array disk.

The moment his boots hit the stone, the spy’s Divine Sense violently swept the room, checking every ward and seal. Confirming the chamber remained entirely undisturbed, he let out a long, ragged exhale.

With practiced, paranoid efficiency, he stripped off the black cloak and incinerated it with a burst of fire magic, reducing the fabric to fine ash.

As the disguise burned away, his true face was revealed.

It was a remarkably plain, forgettable middle-aged man.

Had Wang Ba been present, he would have instantly recognized the face.

It was the former overseer of the Myriad Beast Department, the man whose unparalleled mastery over breeding Spirit Poultry had earned him Lu Yuansheng’s absolute, unwavering trust.

Cheng Shu.