CHAPTER 283: CHAPTER 3: TRANSFORMING GRASS INTO SOLDIERS—SPIRIT WOOD TECHNIQUE

When Yue Jinghua smiled, her eyes slightly curved like the fluttering wings of a white butterfly, as snowflakes clung to her eyelashes.

Seeing her smile, Yue Chen also knew that she did not blame him, and the uneasy heart he harbored suddenly felt relieved.

Snowflakes started to drift down from the sky, gently and steadily.

Soon, a layer of downy snow settled on Yue Jinghua’s hair, and seeing this, Yue Chen used his little hand to carefully pat it clean for her, then took off his fox fur coat and cautiously draped it over her head.

Yue Jinghua, seeing this, smiled and patted the spot next to her, signaling Yue Chen to sit down.

The two sat shoulder to shoulder in the snow, the whispering wind blowing faintly in their ears, and Yue Chen’s youthful, tender voice broke the silence intermittently.

"My Spiritual Wood Core is incomplete. When I was brought back by Yue Nian, I only vaguely remembered some fragments of memories from the Senming Realm, a place with boundless forests and flower seas. I can recall the face of my birth mother, and her cries telling me to run before she died, but I can’t remember much else. Since I was little, I’ve known that I have a unique ability to control spirit wood. Ye Zi is the only companion I have found over the years. I discovered her in the You Tan Palace; I still remember she was my childhood playmate. She told me that I come from a place called Senming Realm, where my kinspeople, members of the Tree Demon Flower Charm Clan, resided."

Yue Chen seemed to remember not much of his past, his memories fragmented into pieces. He only knew that he had escaped from a temple. As for what had harmed him, he could no longer remember.

Ye Zi also told Yue Chen that his true form was a kind of Holy Wood called Nine-curved Phoenix Wood, and that the Senming Realm had been attacked by the Rock Demon Realm. The previous Clan Leader’s Lady, while leading him away from the Senming Realm, vanished without a trace.

It took Ye Zi more than a decade to finally reach the Canglong Continent and trace the whereabouts of their own clanspeople.

"Ye Zi also said that nowadays, the Senming Realm is in deep trouble, and all the people there are waiting for me to return," said Yue Chen, and a layer of misty fog seemed to veil his eyes like glass beads, "I don’t want to go back."

Yue Chen only knew that he did not want to go back to that unknown Senming Realm; his family, the people he cared about, were all in the Canglong Continent.

"But you must go back," Yue Jinghua sighed softly, adjusting the fox fur and laying half of it over Yue Chen’s head.

The fox fur warmed by the girl’s body temperature made Yue Chen stiffen.

"Before a sapling grows into a towering tree, it must endure trials and tribulations, perhaps through storms of blood, or perhaps beneath heavy snow. You carry the responsibility of the Tree Demon Flower Charm Clan, and avoiding it is just temporary. Even if you can’t bear this burden alone right now, you must endure, grow, and persevere until you can rely on your own strength to fight back to the Senming Realm and reclaim everything that is yours," Yue Jinghua said, breathing warm air, her voice gentle as if singing a song from a bygone age.

At that moment, she was like a wise mentor and friend, as well as a compassionate mother urging a prodigal son to return.

In Yue Chen’s eyes, her scarred right face radiated an irresistible glow, his heartbeat quickened drastically, and it felt like something was overflowing within him.

He felt a dryness in his throat, and an urge to grab the snow from the ground and stuff it into his mouth arose.

"However, you can’t go back looking like this," the voice by his ear suddenly changed, now with a hint of laughter, and he received a firm, playful pinch on his cheek, "You’re way too weak right now, going back would only shame the Yue Family. After a while, I’ll send you and your mother together to Fengdan County, and once there, I’ll ask a martial master to teach you properly."

"No," Yue Chen grasped Yue Jinghua’s hand, "I want to go with you into the Xuan Beast Ridge. You promised me, next time, you wouldn’t leave me behind again."

In recent days, Yue Chen had also heard snippets about the Xuan Beast Ridge. With meticulous thought, he pieced together the adults’ fragmented words and guessed that Yue Jinghua was planning to send him and Lie Rou away first.

This child, remembered such an offhand promise so clearly.

Yue Jinghua found it amusing yet also felt a bit of irritation, slapping away his hand, "Taking a little baby into the Xuan Beast Ridge will make others laugh their heads off. Besides, the Xuan Beast Ridge is nothing like the official roads; fierce Dark Beasts could appear at any time, and even I might not be able to protect myself."

"Don’t underestimate me, I am not a baby. In my past life, I had already lived over three hundred years," as if deeply humiliated, Yue Chen suddenly stood up, his small hand clenched into a fist, with his face reddened in anger.

For the Tree Demon Flower Charm Clan, living for thousands of years was common, and being over three hundred years old was really just childhood.

Strictly speaking, Yue Chen was still an unripe child. But compared to children who are still being coddled in their parents’ arms, he had experienced the most painful separations and losses in life.

"Oh, then what can you do, distinguished Young Clan Leader who is over three hundred years old?" Yue Jinghua blinked her eyes.

"I might not be able to protect myself elsewhere, but in the forest, I have enough strength to fend for myself," Yue Chen said, as if eager to prove himself, "Even though I only have half of the Spiritual Wood Core left, I can use plants to fend off enemy attacks..."

No sooner had he spoken than he took out the Jade Tube hanging from his neck since birth.

The Jade Tube emitted a sound, a pure and piercing tone resounding across the snowy plains.

On the snowy plains, the northern coniferous pines covered by thick snow, turned their frozen needles into "pu pu" sounds, shooting out as if commanded by a general at once.

The ground was instantly enveloped in a vast surge of snowy air, resembling hundreds of archers firing in unison.

"This is called Transforming Grass into Soldiers. It’s just a pity only half of my Spiritual Wood Core is left, or I could also turn wood into generals," the little boy held his head high with prideful arrogance.

Transforming Grass into Soldiers came in two types: one, like just demonstrated, turned leaves, fruits, and vines of trees into weapons that can harm people; the other turned flowers and grass into soldiers who obey one’s command freely. The Spiritual Power consumed by these two forms of Transforming Grass into Soldiers also differed.

The former, little boy Yue Chen could use five times a day, while the latter, at most once a day.

"Pop," a snowball hit him squarely on the forehead, and he was momentarily stupefied.

A sword that hasn’t tasted blood cannot become a Divine Weapon, and a boy who hasn’t experienced the cruelty of reality cannot transform into a great warrior of his time.

"Fine, you can come along, but you’re responsible for convincing Mother. I can’t be bothered with her nagging," Yue Jinghua laughed playfully, watching Yue Chen shake his head and flick off the snow like a little dog, clapping and cheering.