The Uses of the Laurel Tree

"Has it taken root?" the Ghost Scholar couldn’t help but ask.

Though the black seed appeared utterly ordinary, the Ghost Scholar found his gaze irresistibly drawn to it. There was something about it—something elusive that made him frown. He simply felt it was different.

"Yes," Ye Lu nodded, his eyes clouded with a complicated expression as he looked at the black seed in his hand. It was a bay laurel seed, one of the offerings he had once swallowed from the altar.

Ye Lu even suspected that the sacrificial rite he had witnessed earlier held some extraordinary significance. He hesitated, instinctively recalling that scene: so many eerie artifacts, the old fox worshipping the moon, feeding on white bones, and yet the moonlight above was so bright. That ceremony was, by all accounts, incredibly unusual.

Perhaps that was one of the reasons he had become the God’s Child of Mount Tai.

And then there was that strange stone... Although it seemed plain at first glance, as the centerpiece of the sacrifice, being chosen by so many bizarre entities was itself remarkable.

He was convinced this bay laurel seed held some deeply special merit.

His intuition told him that an offering favored by such uncanny beings must be something precious. Ye Lu’s mind churned with countless thoughts, yet when the Ghost Scholar approached, Ye Lu still spoke.

"Just as Seventh Uncle said, cultivate by intuition—by instinct—and feel with your heart," Ye Lu explained simply, sharing his entire experience of cultivation honestly.

"..." Very well, his Daoist master was starting to speak nonsense, the Ghost Scholar’s expression remained calm.

But Ye Lu seemed to know what the Ghost Scholar was thinking and said without expression, “Put those thoughts back in your head. When I say feel with your heart, I mean exactly that. Any more nonsense and I’ll send you to the fields.”

"I just finished eating the green millet and cultivated by instinct. A rare supreme technique appeared automatically in my talent—it’s called the Green Emperor’s Reincarnation Diagram. It’s an extremely rare and exquisite method," Ye Lu paused to let the Ghost Scholar absorb this, then continued, "More importantly, this technique fits my talent perfectly."

"So, do you understand what I mean?" Ye Lu looked the Ghost Scholar straight in the eye.

In an instant, the Ghost Scholar grasped the seriousness behind his master’s words: this was a call to cultivate earnestly. This world was peculiar, and it was quite possible they could find their own exclusive cultivation technique.

The Ghost Scholar shrugged and sighed, "Alright, alright, I won’t mess around."

After saying this, he resumed cultivation himself, eager to awaken his talent quickly. He also took out a box of green millet and ate some. Unfortunately, when he opened his eyes again, he met Ye Lu’s concerned gaze.

The Ghost Scholar shook his head, signaling that his technique had yet to awaken. Indeed, his aura was only a bit stronger than before, lacking the distinct feeling that Ye Lu experienced after awakening his technique.

Ye Lu frowned.

The Ghost Scholar accepted this calmly. His cultivation talent had always been average. In the Star Network, he mostly relied on Ye Lu and the life-spirits’ martial prowess—mainly the latter. While Ye Lu’s master gathered information, he focused on the strange sacrificial rites.

“Maybe with more time, it’ll come,” the Ghost Scholar comforted Ye Lu, who still looked worried.

Perhaps because Ye Lu had been watching his cultivation so closely, the Ghost Scholar didn’t want him to worry too long. This world was unsafe, and his Daoist master was already burdened enough. No need for more worries. With the life-spirits and his master around, he wasn’t likely to die. He was calm and then suddenly remembered something.

"Master, you never said what use that tree seed you took from your talent has," the Ghost Scholar suddenly asked, turning to Ye Lu.

"..." To be honest, Ye Lu didn’t really know either. He only had a vague feeling that the thing was somehow related to cultivation. He said nothing, replying silently in his heart.

Ye Lu’s silence was as good as an answer.

The Ghost Scholar immediately understood that even his master was unclear.

"I suspect it’s a strange plant!" The Ghost Scholar pondered for a moment before voicing his theory—not a wild guess, but a conclusion drawn from their master’s usual luck and the favor of heaven and earth. Could the God’s Child of Mount Tai have come to this world without any good fortune?

No matter how bizarre this land was, it still had ley lines.

"Maybe," Ye Lu thought similarly but refused to confirm outright.

The Ghost Scholar, however, seemed thoroughly intrigued by the seed. After some thought, he looked up at Ye Lu and said, "I’ll go find Uncle He Qi. He knows a bit about strange plants and might have some clues."

First, the Ghost Scholar ruled out the sharp-tongued Climbing Mountain Vine. Though it claimed to be a symbiotic spiritual plant, it had always stayed inside the space. Now that the space was desolate, and since Ye Lu hadn’t mentioned it, the vine was probably still dormant—most likely not the one.

Besides, the Climbing Mountain Vine had never flowered or borne fruit. Knowing how powerful it was made the seed even more intriguing to the Ghost Scholar.

"…Alright then." Ye Lu was still unclear about the seed himself and naturally didn’t stop the Ghost Scholar’s plan.

The Ghost Scholar dismounted the carriage. Outside, the life-spirits were driving the ox cart. Seeing him get off, they smiled and greeted him briefly before turning back to their task. Not long after, the Ghost Scholar returned with an excited Uncle He Qi.

The carriage curtain was pulled back, and Uncle He Qi eagerly climbed in, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Ye Lu. "Lu kid, I just heard from the little ghost that you’ve awakened your technique and fully activated your talent?"

Before Ye Lu could answer, Uncle He Qi couldn’t help but exclaim, "No wonder it’s a top-tier talent, truly different from any we’ve seen before. Heh, impressive! Less than a day and you’ve awakened it already?"

"If we weren’t fleeing the famine, I’d go on bragging about you to everyone!" Uncle He Qi was bursting with pride, wanting to tell everyone how remarkable his nephew’s talent was.

Ye Lu was used to Uncle He Qi’s occasional outbursts and accepted his exuberance calmly, nodding steadily. "Indeed."

"I want you to take a look at my talent," Ye Lu said, holding out his hand. "My talent gave me this seed."

Before Uncle He Qi could speak, Ye Lu revealed a glossy, jet-black seed in his palm. It was plump and, because Ye Lu had been subconsciously cultivating the Green Emperor’s Reincarnation technique, the seed naturally began absorbing the strange energy flowing within him.

Now the entire seed radiated this eerie power.

Especially in the dim carriage, the seed seemed to glow with a faint silver light, like moonlight cast by a full moon in the night sky—soft and gentle, almost as if being caressed by the moonlight itself.

This moonlight was unlike any Uncle He Qi had ever seen before.

"..." Uncle He Qi gazed quietly at the seed wrapped in moonlight for a long time. Only when Ye Lu arched an eyebrow and looked back did he seem to awaken from a trance.

He studied Ye Lu’s searching eyes, pondered for a while, and then cautiously said, "I can see your talent clearly."

Uncle He Qi sighed deeply, casting a reluctant glance at the bay laurel seed in Ye Lu’s hand. "I had a hunch about your top-tier talent being auxiliary, bound to awaken something extraordinary eventually. I even had some guesses, but I never imagined it would be this."

He shook his head in slight helplessness, though a hint of relief shone in his eyes. "There have been rare cases of awakening plant-based auxiliary talents before. Among these, those with symbiotic strange plants are even rarer, usually born from large villages with bizarre bloodlines."

"Looks like your deadbeat father’s bloodline isn’t so bad after all," Uncle He Qi said with a complicated tone when mentioning Ye Lu’s father.

"Symbiotic strange plants are typically high-grade. All external rankings of strange plants don’t count because their level increases as the master cultivates," he explained, nodding toward the seed. "The proof is that the seed’s strange energy matches yours perfectly."

"Same source."

"When you plant it, you’ll probably feel even more."

"As for this seed, it should be a bay laurel. Bay laurels are fairly common here, but strange plants of this kind are rare and considered large trees. They demand a great deal of strange flesh for growth, which means their leaves and fruits are abundant."

"If my guess is right, this bay laurel should aid cultivation—more precisely, anything related to moon worship."

"For beast tamers, moon worshippers, ghosts, and other strange types—many villages around the Ten Thousand Mountains follow moon worship or have beasts that inherently need it. With this, you could trade for a lot of valuable items."

"The only uncertainty is how effective your bay laurel’s products are, and whether they’re edible. There’s a huge difference between strange edible materials and strange materials for other uses," Uncle He Qi said candidly, sitting cross-legged on the hay inside the carriage as he slowly shared his thoughts.

"Strange edibles can increase strange energy and talents, but strange materials have fewer uses and are cheaper."

"However—" He paused and looked earnestly at Ye Lu. "Once you reach the Yellow Fierce level, this bay laurel will definitely earn you more than green millet. If you meet a trade caravan, you could exchange for many precious strange edibles for cultivation."

Uncle He Qi worried his nephew might underestimate his talent and kept explaining, sighing internally. If it weren’t for the drought forcing them to flee, his nephew would have planted this bay laurel with the help of village elders long ago.

The village’s guard team could have hunted strange flesh to nurture the bay laurel, possibly allowing them to trade with the caravan on time. Once that happened, any caravan leader with eyes would recognize its value and Ye Lu would make a fortune in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

With just one trade, his nephew could become one of the richest in the He Village despite his youth.

Sadly, now it was all ruined.

"Wait, you haven’t told me about your talent yet, have you?" Halfway through, Uncle He Qi suddenly sat up straight as if remembering something and turned to ask Ye Lu.

Ye Lu shook his head.

"Good, I’ll talk to the village elders right away. It’s rare that you’ve awakened a symbiotic strange plant. Once you plant and grow that bay laurel, the village can benefit by exchanging it for strange edibles used in cultivation. You deserve to get those benefits. The village surely still has green millet reserves. Wait for me—I’ll be right back," Uncle He Qi said, unable to stand seeing his nephew lose out.

Without waiting for Ye Lu’s reply, he hurriedly left.