Chapter 33

The Daoist Madman was so angry with Yang Chen that he rolled his eyes and trembled all over, unable to speak.

The Golden Sun Spirit Grass, known as the most yang and righteous spirit grass in the world, absorbs the essence of the blazing sun and gathers the spiritual energy of the five elements. It grows to about eight inches and three points in height, with leaves in a saw-tooth shape, a golden-yellow main stem, and flame patterns on the leaf surface, hence its name, Golden Sun Spirit Grass.

Legend has it that the Golden Sun Spirit Grass is one of the nine spirit plants passed down by the ancient divine farmer, Shennong. Since Wang Chongyang founded the Complete Perfection Sect on Zhongnan Mountain over a thousand years ago, these nine legendary spirit plants have been found one by one and sent to Chongyang Palace.

Wang Chongyang, with his earth-shattering abilities, managed to create a small world suitable for the growth of spirit plants within Chongyang Palace, known as the 'Chongyang Medicine Garden,' which is the first forbidden area of Chongyang Palace and is hailed as the world's premier spirit medicine garden!

However, what has always puzzled people is that before Wang Chongyang ascended to immortality, he set up nine heavily restricted thatched cottages on Zhongnan Mountain, leaving the seeds and some of the traditions of the nine spirit plants in these cottages, rather than passing on the complete tradition to his seven disciples, known as the Seven Complete Perfection Masters.

For over a thousand years, the successive abbots of Chongyang Palace have been deeply troubled by the issue of these nine thatched cottages. Although a few outstanding revivalists have appeared, none of them have been able to open all the cottages and obtain the complete tradition.

Due to the fragmented tradition, the Chongyang Medicine Garden has lost the ability to reproduce six spirit plants, including the Extreme Wood Spirit Ginseng, Nine Flame Red Fruit, and Cold Cloud Mist Flower. Wang Chongyang's disciples have studied for over a thousand years but have still not solved this problem.

About three hundred years ago, Chongyang Palace announced to the world that it would fully open the nine thatched cottages on Zhongnan Mountain. Whoever successfully opened the sealed cottages would be given half of the spirit plant seeds and the opportunity to share in the part of the tradition left by Wang Chongyang!

Three hundred years later, in addition to the second, fifth, and sixth cottages that had already been opened by Chongyang Palace, the third, fourth, ninth, and first cottages were also successfully opened by others.

The seed of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass that the Daoist Madman possessed was stolen from the first cottage when someone opened it. For this, he was expelled by several high-ranking figures on Zhongnan Mountain, and thus he changed his name to Daoist Madman and lived a wandering life.

However, the Daoist Madman did not regret his decision at all, because for a Daoist cultivator who devoted most of his life to the cultivation of spirit plants, being able to personally cultivate the Golden Sun Spirit Grass, one of the 'Nine Divine Grasses of the World' passed down from the ancient divine farmer Shennong, was the greatest achievement of his life!

The cultivation process of spirit plants is extremely difficult; otherwise, why would Chongyang Palace, which has had the seeds of the Extreme Wood Spirit Ginseng and Nine Flame Red Fruit for so many years, still not see anyone successfully germinate and propagate them?

Chongyang Palace also has many seeds of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass, but no one there has been able to cultivate them either!

Yet, what Chongyang Palace failed to achieve was accomplished by the Daoist Madman through his almost obsessive persistence...

Of the ten seeds he stole from the first cottage, five have never germinated, but the Daoist Madman has already planted the other five. Calculating the time, they should now be in the maturation stage...

Yang Chen looked at the Daoist Madman with a somewhat amused expression and said, "Why would I joke with you? Although the Golden Sun Spirit Grass has extremely strict requirements for its growing environment, it is not impossible to find... Didn't you spend over ten years searching before you found Ming Mountain Town?"

"..." The Daoist Madman was already completely numb and no longer cared about Yang Chen casually mentioning his many years of experience. He was sure that even if Yang Chen hadn't been following him, someone related to him must have been secretly tracking him for twenty years! He asked curiously, "Are you so sure that I can cultivate the Golden Sun Spirit Grass?"

"You..." Clearly, the Daoist Madman believed that there must be a mysterious sect behind Yang Chen!

Even though Yang Chen noticed that the Daoist Madman was thinking along the wrong lines, he did not bother to explain. He just smiled mysteriously and said, "The Golden Sun Spirit Grass must grow in an area with abundant yang energy and active and dense metal energy particles. Before planting, the original ores of gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin must be ground into powder and mixed into the soil in a ratio of 3:1:1.5:1:1.5. Then, a spirit array must be used to maintain the soil until it turns dark gold, after which the seeds can be buried."

Ignoring the shock on the Daoist Madman's face, Yang Chen continued, "This process takes about forty-nine days to complete. After that, the seeds of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass must be cut with a golden knife, with a cross-shaped incision, both horizontal and vertical cuts being 1.3 millimeters. When burying the seeds, the incision should face down, and a layer of gold powder should be placed at the bottom to prevent the seeds from rotting and molding..."

"How do you know all this so clearly?!" The Daoist Madman was completely enraged, staring at Yang Chen with red eyes and gritting his teeth, "I am very sure that I have never mentioned these techniques to anyone, nor have I left any notes or records..."

Yang Chen gave him a look to calm down and continued, "Once the seeds germinate, the Golden Sun Spirit Grass will begin to autonomously absorb the essence of the blazing sun and gather the spiritual energy of the five elements. The cultivator must guard it day and night. If there is a lack of the essence of the blazing sun or the spiritual energy of the five elements, the cultivator must use their own essence, qi, and spirit to forcibly gather the essence of the blazing sun and the spiritual energy of the five elements. Only then can the Golden Sun Spirit Grass survive the most dangerous seedling stage and enter the rapid growth period..."

"Unfortunately... you, old Daoist, have admirable perseverance but lack wisdom. You insist on doing everything yourself, but have you ever considered that the Golden Sun Spirit Grass is a spirit plant nurtured by heaven and earth? Would it really go extinct without human intervention?!"

Yang Chen clicked his tongue and said, "Twenty years of research, and you've only barely scratched the surface. You don't even fully understand the basic requirements of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass's growing environment. I'm ashamed for you to call yourself the 'First Spirit Plant Master of Chinese Mysticism'! I'm embarrassed for you..."

"An inexperienced brat, sitting in a well and looking at the sky, a lazy toad yawning, what a big mouth!!" Being mocked by Yang Chen repeatedly and hitting his sore spots, even the Daoist Madman, with his strong will, couldn't help but become agitated, "You talk big, but what do you know about the growing environment of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass? If you can't explain it, don't blame me for being unfriendly!!"

A fifth-stage Meteoric aura spread from the Daoist Madman, clearly showing his genuine anger.

Yang Chen, seeing that he had successfully provoked the Daoist Madman's competitive spirit, decided to back off and said with a grin, "If I can explain it, will you agree to help me cultivate the Golden Sun Spirit Grass and achieve its large-scale production?"

"Hmph." The Daoist Madman's face changed several times. In the current situation, even if he knew Yang Chen was setting a trap for him, he had no choice but to agree, "Large-scale production? You talk so easily! If you can solve this problem, I'll even recognize you as my master, let alone help you with large-scale production!"

"Good... this is your own words, I didn't force you!" Yang Chen was delighted. Although the Daoist Madman was currently struggling with the cultivation of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass, in a few years, he would become a 'Master of Spirit Plants' both domestically and internationally, thanks to his large-scale cultivation of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass!

What Yang Chen had just said was actually content recorded in the 'Essentials of Spirit Plants' written by the Daoist Madman himself, a book that would become the ultimate guide for the global spirit plant industry sixteen years later!

One of the core ideas emphasized in the 'Essentials of Spirit Plants' is 'learning to use scientific methods to reasonably adjust the growing environment of spirit plants'!

Using the content from his future book to educate him... Yang Chen felt a bit guilty, but thinking about the significant impact the large-scale cultivation of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass would have on many industries on Earth, he decided to push forward.

"The first condition to solve the large-scale cultivation of the Golden Sun Spirit Grass is to have enough seeds..."

The Daoist Madman rolled his eyes and said viciously, "No need for unnecessary talk, just get to the point!"

"Cough, cough... the key is actually quite simple," Yang Chen scratched his head and said, "As the saying goes, 'isolated yin does not grow, isolated yang does not live.' The Golden Sun Spirit Grass is one of the nine most yang and righteous spirit plants in the world, so the place where it grows must also be planted with 'Yin Grass' and 'Soul Flower,' which are the most yin and evil first-class spirit plants, to balance the yin and yang energies and the spiritual energy of the five elements..."

"Of course, the most critical point is... each Golden Sun Spirit Grass should be given a magnifying glass! Using the principles of light refraction and focusing, gather the essence of the blazing sun, which is much better than doing it yourself. Also, the problem of insufficient metal energy particles... have you ever thought about using the natural attraction of magnets to metal energy particles and burying a hundred or so magnets in the planting area to solve it?"

The first part of what Yang Chen said made the Daoist Madman feel as if he had found a solution, but the latter part, which seemed almost like cheating, made his body shake and his worldview collapse!

He opened his mouth wide in shock and asked, "Use a magnifying glass to shine on the Golden Sun Spirit Grass? Use magnets to solve the problem of insufficient metal energy particles?!!"

Yang Chen enjoyed the Daoist Madman's shocked expression. He raised his chin slightly and said proudly, "This is called mastering science and technology, and you can go anywhere in the world without fear! Old Daoist, are you convinced?!"

"..." "Get lost!"

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