Planting Jianmu
An ancient battlefield from a thousand years ago.
Wen Zheng frowned as she searched through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Perhaps due to the collapse of the Jianmu tree, the sky was overcast despite the bright sunshine.
There were too many corpses on the ground, and the stench was nauseating. Carrion vultures circled overhead from time to time.
Wen Zheng walked up the slope, took out Feng Gui's map, and tried to determine the direction.
"This is the East...this is?"
When Wen Zheng turned around to look in the direction she was looking, she noticed a small black bird that had landed beside her. The mist emanating from the bird looked very familiar.
After thinking for two seconds, Wen Zheng rushed over, grabbed the little bird, and tied it up with a rope.
"Are you a demon, Blackbird?"
The small bird shrouded in black mist could only remind her of the peculiar demon that had just died at her hands.
The little bird's wings were tightly bound by Wen Zheng, and its claws flapped and jumped on the ground. Its beady green eyes blinked as if it didn't understand.
Wen Zheng sneered, stepped on the bird, picked up the broken sword from the ground and placed it next to the bird's neck: "You like to play dumb, don't you?"
She pressed down hard, the broken sword against the bird's neck. Although it was broken, its sharpness was not diminished, and the feathers around the bird's neck broke off and scattered.
The black feathers turned into mist and dissipated. Wen Zheng's eyes showed a hint of mockery, which then turned into a fierce ruthlessness.
"I'll give you two choices: take me to the Jianmu tree or die?"
The black bird lay on the ground without speaking, its beady green eyes darting around before it turned its head to peck at Wen Zheng's hand.
Seeing its lack of cooperation, Wen Zheng showed no mercy, lightly slicing the bird's neck with her broken sword, the flowing blood instantly turning into black mist.
Blackbird felt the pain in its neck and cried out, "Stop! Stop! I'll take you there."
It had just crawled out of the ground, and in order to escape, it had used up most of its strength, leaving only enough to maintain its current weak size.
Having rashly attempted to change the past, Wen Zheng experienced the price the Goddess Xuanhe had spoken of; her limbs ached, and a metallic taste of blood filled her throat.
After a while, she swallowed the blood that had rushed into her mouth and patted the blackbird with the broken sword in her hand.
"I'll carry you with a rope. You just need to tell me where to go. If you lie, you're dead."
When Wen Zheng picked up the black bird, she staggered a couple of steps. This sight caught the black bird's eye, and its beady green eyes darted around as it chuckled sheepishly, "How could I dare to lie to you?"
Wen Zheng glanced at it, her face expressionless.
Blackbird smiled obsequiously, "My lord, please."
Carrying the black bird, Wen Zheng embarked on her search for the Jianmu tree once again, occasionally taking out a map to compare her current location.
Over the course of a thousand years, maps from the past are vastly different from those of today.
She followed the blackbird for a long time, from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood to a place where the crowds gradually increased.
Several tents have appeared on the black gravel ground of the ancient battlefield, and it looks like people are living inside.
Wen Zheng's gaze lingered on the tent for a moment before she continued walking in the direction the black bird had pointed.
As soon as she left, several figures emerged from the tent. One of them, a tall one, said, "How come there are mortals here?"
Another person said, "What is she carrying in her hand? It's all dark and murky."
"I couldn't see clearly," the taller one said. "Senior sister, should we go take a look?"
The woman who was called "Senior Sister" glanced at me and Wen Zheng, then said to her junior brothers and sisters, "You all stay here first, I'll go and take a look."
"Yes," they all answered at the same time.
Wen Zheng carried the black bird for a long time in the forest. When she realized she was going in circles, she picked up the broken sword she had brought with her and slit the black bird's throat again.
This time the attack was very forceful, and the backlash caused her to vomit a mouthful of blood.
The blackbird, its neck drooping, steam rising from its wound, cried out in a shrill voice, "Aaaaah!! How dare you..."
It dared to lie to her because it sensed that the other party would be hurt if it hurt her, but it never expected that the other party would rather hurt itself than kill it.
The blackbird couldn't understand it. It had just emerged from underground, so where did someone come from who hated it so much?
After Wen Zheng leaned against a tree and spat out the blood in her mouth, she looked at the black bird with icy eyes and slashed at it with her broken sword again.
The black bird, which had already broken free of its rope, flapped its two claws and ran away. It was too badly injured to fly.
Wen Zheng saw the injured blackbird twice, and it was still able to hop around and jump around. With a slight shrug at the corner of its mouth, it took steps to chase after it.
The man and the bird ran swiftly through the forest, and with the dark sky, the woman who came to investigate almost killed both of them.
The woman grabbed the black bird and looked at Wen Zheng: "Your spirit pet has run away."
Wen Zheng had sealed her spiritual power, so she was now just an ordinary person. She was injured and had chased for such a long distance, so her breathing was already disordered. She was panting heavily and couldn't speak at all.
The woman held the black bird, which was flapping violently, and waited until Wen Zheng recovered before asking, "Where do you come from, fellow Daoist?"
Wen Zheng patted her chest and said calmly, "This has nothing to do with you. Please return the blackbird to me."
The woman shook the black bird and laughed, "This isn't an ordinary bird. Judging from your expression, it seemed you wanted to kill it?"
Wen Zheng stared at the woman for a moment, then slowly raised the broken sword beside her.
The woman stopped her and explained, "I am from the Beast Taming Sect and I know quite a bit about spirit pets, but I can't tell the origin of your spirit pet."
When she mentioned the Beast Taming Sect, Wen Zheng's eyes flickered, and she frowned. Having regained her memories, she recalled seeing this sect when she was searching for ways to eliminate evil spirits in the library. It was said that the entire sect was wiped out in a great war a thousand years ago.
Thinking of the tragic state of the other sect, Wen Zheng's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and she asked, "Do you know how to draw talismans?"
The woman paused for a moment, then replied, "Yes."
Wen Zheng reached out for the talisman paper and pen, drew a demon-slaying talisman on the paper, and handed it to her, saying, "Draw it."
The woman stared at the talisman in thought for a long time, without putting down the black bird in her hand, and began to draw talismans with her free hand.
After trying more than ten times, the woman finally drew a talisman and handed it to Wen Zheng: "Here's the talisman you wanted."
Wen Zheng took the bird and attached it to the black bird, saying to the woman, "Use your spiritual power to activate it." The woman did as she was told.
The talisman ignited into flames, and the black bird screamed in agony as it burned in the woman's hand, while the woman's hand remained unharmed.
The woman stared in astonishment at the black bird reduced to ashes, frowned, and turned to ask, "What is this?"
The aftereffects of chasing the blackbird appeared. Exhausted, Wen Zheng sat down on a rock. When the woman asked her, she raised her chin and said, "Demon-slaying talisman, and evil spirits."
Upon hearing this, the woman frowned even more deeply, squinted at Wen Zheng, and tentatively asked, "May I ask who you are, senior?"
Wen Zheng waved her hand: "I'm not some senior, just a passerby."
After she finished speaking, the woman looked at her and said, "You were just carrying a demon...?"
Wen Zheng remained silent for a while, considering the credibility of the person in front of her. He had helped capture the black bird and hadn't pressed her about what she was hiding, so he should be considered a good person.
She said, "I need to find Jianmu. Can you take me there?"
When Wen Zheng mentioned Jianmu, the woman's expression changed, her eyes filled with disdain, and she said coldly, "You've come here for Jianmu too?"
As soon as the Jianmu tree collapsed, people from the cultivation world flocked to it, completely forgetting their own identities, just like refugees scrambling for food.
Some cultivators even kill the weak, just to seize a small piece of Jianmu wood.
Wen Zheng sensed her hostility and said, "I did come for the Jianmu tree, but not to fight for it."
The ancient battlefield from a thousand years ago was so different from what she remembered that she couldn't tell which way to go, and the backlash made her body very weak.
The woman's suspicious gaze fell on Wen Zheng. Seeing that she didn't seem to be lying, she said in a deep voice, "I can take you to find Jianmu, but if you are lying, I will definitely kill you."
Wen Zheng nodded, slowly got up and followed the woman, walking towards the direction of Jianmu.
In the Jianmu Pit a thousand years later.
Looking at the mirror that had appeared at the bottom of the pit, Shan Fengyu angrily stomped on it, shattering the mirror into pieces.
The sudden sound startled the demon underground, who cried out, "What are you doing?"
Dan Fengyu stared at the source of the sound, his tone as cold as ice: "Why didn't you stop it?"
The seal has loosened; they will definitely be able to stop Wen Zheng if they intervene.
The subterranean demon asked blankly, "Stop what?"
Dan Fengyu gritted his teeth and said, "Wen Zheng, she took the Jianmu seedlings to a thousand years ago."
He had underestimated Wen Zheng; she had orchestrated a series of interconnected plans, completing everything without him noticing.
That was a real miscalculation.
The demon below was silent for a moment, then said, "Impossible. She said she would help us get out, and she even swore an oath."
Dan Fengyu sneered, "Dream on."
Wen Zheng, a person of such strong will, would never agree to help the evil spirits escape; these idiots.
Dan Fengyu's sarcasm momentarily cleared the already troubled minds of the demons below, who then retorted, "She swore an oath to help since she was a child."
The phrase "swore an oath from childhood" made Shan Fengyu's gloomy eyes look down into the ground. "What did you say? From childhood?"
The underground demon sensed the pressure and stammered, "Wen Zheng saw us when she was six years old. We only let her go after she made a vow back then."
When Shan Fengyu learned of a hidden message, he was so angry that he vomited blood. The blood flowing from his mouth turned into mist and dissipated. Shan Fengyu's mind was buzzing.
He heard himself ask, "Why didn't you say so earlier when Wen Zheng had already met you?"
The demon remained silent for even longer than before, then whispered, "Wen Zheng said she had a surprise for you."
After he finished speaking, there was complete silence around him.
Dan Fengyu felt pain in his internal organs, as if the injuries he had suffered before had erupted at this moment, rendering him unable to move.
The demon underground couldn't see what was happening outside, but could only hear rustling noises. It hurriedly asked, "What's wrong?"
Dan Fengyu ignored the underground demons and turned to walk towards the treasure vault of the Thousand Saints Palace.
He remembered that the goddess Xuanhe left behind more than one token, but the others were locked up. Only the apricot hairpin was not put into storage because it was not used, which allowed Wen Zheng to take advantage of the situation.
He must obtain the token as soon as possible and learn from Wen Zheng to solve the problem a thousand years ago.
No sooner had Shan Fengyu left than Wen Zheng, who lived a thousand years ago, arrived at Jianmu Pit.
The pit was surrounded by fragments of the Jianmu tree. There were more fallen cultivators than Wen Zheng had ever seen before, and their blood soaked the pit beneath the Jianmu tree.
"We've arrived." The woman and Wen Zheng stood at the bottom of the pit, watching Wen Zheng warily.
Wen Zheng ignored her actions and took off the wooden bracelets from both hands. Perhaps sensing the presence of Jianmu wood nearby, the two bracelets suddenly broke in the middle, slowly becoming straight, with a few green buds sprouting from one end.
Wen Zheng, clutching two saplings of the Jianmu tree, looked up at the woman who had brought her and said, "The matter I need to handle is very troublesome. You should go back first."
The woman looked at the two saplings in Wen Zheng's hand with a complicated expression. She had already recognized them as Jianmu trees and vaguely guessed Wen Zheng's purpose.
She said, "You can't succeed."
If ordinary people could cultivate rare and precious materials, the cultivation world would already be overflowing with treasures.
"How will you know if you don't try?" Wen Zheng lowered her head to plant the sapling, then suddenly looked up and asked, "I haven't asked your name yet."
The woman turned and left, waving her hand without looking back, saying, "It's just a rough name, no need to know. If we meet again, just call me Miss Wen."
Wen Zheng paused in her burying of the saplings, smiled, and continued planting trees.
It's amazing how such a coincidence can happen; to go back a thousand years and still meet someone with the same surname.
As Wen Zheng thought to herself, she worked even faster, and the Jianmu seedling was planted in no time. She stood up, looked at the Jianmu tree, and let out a long sigh of relief.
Only the last step remains, and it is also the most crucial one.
Blood sacrifice.
He sacrificed himself to the tree.
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