Cultivation World Rare Flower Ranking, 76th place: Blood Bone Spirit Flower.
This flower originates in Blood Fiend Lands, growing one petal every ten years. It takes ninety years to reach full maturity, and only a nine-petaled Blood Bone Spirit Flower is considered a perfect specimen.
Compared to other rare flowers, the Blood Bone Spirit Flower's ninety-year maturation period is remarkably short. Most rare flowers require centuries, or even tens of thousands of years, to earn their distinction.
The Blood Bone Spirit Flower's inclusion in the ranking, and its relatively high position, stems from its exceptionally demanding growth conditions: every ten years, it must be transplanted to a different Extreme Fiend Land with a contrasting elemental attribute.
Each successful transplant triggers the growth of a new petal upon maturation.
Blood Fiend, Metal Fiend, Earth Fiend, Thunder Fiend...
Every transplant marks the beginning of a transformative phase. In the Cultivation World, Extreme Fiend Lands are exceedingly rare. Throughout the history of the Jade Balance Realm's cultivation community, only three nine-petaled Blood Bone Spirit Flowers have ever been recorded.
This rare flower doesn't require an excessively long maturation period, but it demands an extraordinarily harsh and specific environment.
The Blood Bone Spirit Flower in Han Yi's Cosmic Pouch had only three petals, indicating that it had matured in two Extreme Fiend Lands in addition to the Blood Fiend Land.
Han Yi examined the page more closely.
The compendium detailed the Blood Bone Spirit Flower's origins, illustrations, case studies, special properties, and usage instructions.
He quickly scanned the information, instantly committing it all to memory.
Suddenly, his gaze froze, snapping back to the section on special properties—the flower's unique effects.
In that instant, a rapid succession of emotions flashed across his face: initial surprise, followed by confusion, then bewilderment. Amidst the confusion, a flicker of delight emerged, tinged with disbelief, which quickly transformed into shock. Finally, a sliver of frenzied joy danced in his rapidly constricting pupils.
This complex sequence of emotions played out in mere seconds.
As the torrent of feelings culminated in that single surge of wild joy in his eyes, his body began to tremble slightly before the bookshelf. This overwhelming delight, so intense as to make him tremble, was nearly unprecedented since his transmigration.
"Root Bone... it's actually Root Bone..."
Han Yi abruptly stopped mid-sentence, leaving the thought unfinished. He slammed the compendium shut with a sharp snap.
Seven meters away, an Outer Sect Disciple in a gray robe passed by, glancing in Han Yi's direction. Noticing Han Yi's dark blue Inner Sect robes, the disciple's eyes widened with awe. After a quick glance, he turned and continued on his way.
Behind him, near the fifth row of bookshelves, a female cultivator also clad in dark blue Inner Sect robes regarded Han Yi with a hint of curiosity. Their eyes met as Han Yi turned to look at her. Finding nothing unusual, she quickly averted her gaze.
These were the closest observers; anyone further away couldn't possibly have guessed Han Yi's true purpose in such a short time, even if they had been watching him.
Unconsciously, Han Yi let out a sigh of relief. He returned the Rare Flower Compendium to its place on the shelf, casually took two steps forward, and picked up a copy of the True Explanation of Spells. He opened it naturally, his eyes scanning the pages, but his mind couldn't focus on a single word.
At that moment, his thoughts were entirely consumed by the effects of the Blood Bone Spirit Flower he had just read about. The most crucial sentence stood out: "It can enhance a cultivator's Root Bone."
What is Root Bone? Simply put, it's the innate aptitude for cultivation that a person is born with. Its core components are physical constitution and Spirit Root.
Physical constitution refers to the type of body one possesses—whether it's that of an ordinary mortal or a special constitution. Special constitutions include legendary types like the Immortal Spirit Body, whose possessors are born with the physical form of true Immortals, granting them eternal youth, immunity to illness, and freedom from calamity. There's also the fabled Sword Spirit Body, considered the optimal constitution for cultivating as a Sword Immortal.
Of course, cultivators with special constitutions are exceedingly rare, perhaps one in ten thousand. Han Yi had never encountered one, and to his knowledge, the Profound Pill Sect had never publicly acknowledged any members with such constitutions.
Spirit Root, on the other hand, is easier to understand. It's one of the fundamental requirements for cultivation. Only those with a Spirit Root can sense and absorb Spirit Qi. Every person is born with one, classified into categories like Pseudo Spiritual Root, True Spiritual Root, Heavenly Spirit Root, and Mutated Spiritual Root.
Han Yi possessed a Pseudo Spiritual Root, slightly better than the worst kind, with four elemental affinities. However, his Fire Spirit Root dominated, while the others were so weak as to be virtually nonexistent. Consequently, he could only cultivate Fire Attribute spells.
Furthermore, influenced by his other three Spirit Roots, Han Yi's Fire Spirit Root was among the weakest possessed by cultivators.
Otherwise, the original owner of his body wouldn't have been stuck at the Second Layer of Qi Refining after joining the Profound Pill Sect several years before Han Yi's transmigration.
Otherwise, Han Yi himself wouldn't have had to spend an excruciatingly long time and vast quantities of Spirit Stones to advance his cultivation to the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining.
If he hadn't transmigrated, the original owner's wealth would likely have only allowed him to reach the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining at best, perhaps the Fifth Layer at most, with absolutely no chance of advancing to the Late-Stage Qi Refining.
All of this stemmed from his utterly ordinary Root Bone, barely meeting the minimum entry requirements for cultivation in the Cultivation World.
But now, by sheer coincidence, a rare flower had fallen into his hands—a flower whose miraculous effect was none other than to enhance one's Root Bone.
This explained the sudden surge of complex emotions within Han Yi, culminating in astonishment and then wild joy.
In the Cultivation World, substances capable of enhancing Root Bone were incredibly scarce and precious, and impossible to acquire with ordinary Spirit Stones.
If anyone were to discover this extraordinary treasure in Han Yi's possession, it would undoubtedly cause a sensation.
!
His habitual caution allowed him to react swiftly. He closed the book and casually resumed browsing, acting as if nothing had happened.
Han Yi remained in the Scripture Pavilion for nearly half an hour before leaving, his expression as calm as ever.
Only when he returned to his courtyard, closed the gate, and activated the protective formations did his composure finally crack. His face lit up with excitement, and his eyes sparkled with fervor.
He retrieved the purple jade box from his Cosmic Pouch, opened it briefly to reveal a surge of malevolent energy, and then quickly sealed it shut again.
"It's still there. This isn't a hallucination after all."
He placed the box back in his Cosmic Pouch and paced restlessly around his Meditation Chamber, his agitation palpable.
Only after the time it took to brew a pot of tea did he finally force himself to calm down.
"Even though it has only three petals instead of the legendary nine, greatly diminishing its potency, there's no doubt this Blood Bone Spirit Flower will enhance my Root Bone."
"With an improved Root Bone, my future advancements in cultivation will no longer be so severely limited by my innate deficiencies."
"But using this rare flower isn't simple either," Han Yi muttered, his brow furrowing slightly.
The Rare Flower Compendium in the Scripture Pavilion detailed the method for using the Blood Bone Spirit Flower. As an extremely fiendish flower, born from extreme yin energy, it couldn't be consumed directly. Instead, it needed to be refined with an extremely yang spiritual substance. The book listed several options, including Pure Yang Spirit Liquid, Supreme Flame Profound Fruit, and Earth Core Spirit Marrow.
While these yang substances weren't particularly rare, they were all prohibitively expensive.
After a moment of contemplation, Han Yi's furrowed brow suddenly smoothed.
He realized this was a rare flower ranked seventy-sixth on the Cultivation World's Rare Flower Ranking. If it were so simple to use, how could it possibly have earned such a prestigious position? This understanding brought him a sense of acceptance.
Regardless of the challenges, Han Yi resolved to consume this rare flower by any means necessary. No matter how arduous the process, he would overcome every obstacle, meeting the challenge head-on.