Chapter 60: Grafting Vines

Since he was choosing to graft, especially with plants of the same type, there was no need to focus on the branches as he would with other plants.

Fang Yun thought about it and realized he could directly graft multiple vines onto a vine with a well-developed root system.

This way, he could achieve his requirements all at once.

Although the success rate would be lower than before, the presence of life essence still made it worth a try.

With that in mind, Fang Yun infused each of the remaining 20 or so vines with one point of life essence.

This caused them all to grow over two meters, but that wasn't the key factor.

Instead, this method allowed him to investigate the specific conditions of these twenty-odd vines.

Fang Yun considered his specific needs: he hoped to cultivate vines with more formidable combat capabilities.

Thus, he needed to choose vines with harder and sharper spikes.

In addition, he also wanted the branches of the vines to be sturdier.

This would ensure that the sharpness and hardness of the spikes would not be compromised.

Aside from these two traits, he was also looking for two additional characteristics in the vines: greater length and thickness.

Compared to thickness, Fang Yun prioritized the length of the vines, as it would expand their attack range.

The thickness was not as crucial and could be sacrificed if necessary.

However, thicker branches also indicated a more developed root system, which would be ideal for grafting and providing sufficient nutrients to several vines.

Arranging his desired characteristics for the vines in his mind, Fang Yun chose a vine with a robust root system, severed its branches, and then selected a vine with sharp spikes to graft its branches onto this developed root system.

Using the same method, he took another vine with harder branches, cut its branches off, and grafted them onto the robust root system.

Next, he chose a vine with greater length compared to the others and grafted its branches onto the same root system.

Now, this single root system hosted three different vines.

In fact, he could have added another vine with even thicker branches.

But considering his requirements and the root system's capacity, Fang Yun ultimately decided to forgo that option for now.

After completing all the grafting, Fang Yun slowly infused life essence into the grafted areas.

Stimulated by the life essence, the cells at the grafting sites began to divide rapidly, healing the wounds quickly.

After doing all this, Fang Yun didn't rush to stimulate their growth.

He was concerned that direct stimulation at this stage might exacerbate any negative effects post-grafting, allowing those effects to develop rapidly and jeopardize the entire plant's vitality.

So, he decided to let the root system nourish the three grafted vines for a while.

He would observe any changes and wait until the situation stabilized before inducing growth.

In the following days, after sending Fang Kangseng back, Fang Yun remained above the canyon, closely monitoring the growth of the three vines.

Perhaps due to their shared origin, under the nourishment of the developed root system, the growth of these three vines encountered no problems.

The only downside was that the inherent violent emotions in their genes manifested as a certain restlessness, leading to a persistent aggressive desire.

Fang Yun could only ignore this.

He was more concerned about their intrinsic characteristics than their aggressive tendencies.

Using his perception of the vines, he kept track of the energy flow within the three vines.

Once he sensed that their life essence was stable, he began to stimulate their growth.

As he infused life essence into the vines, the three began to grow wildly.

One vine's spikes became increasingly dark as it grew, appearing sharp and hard.

Another vine elongated dramatically, ultimately reaching over thirty meters, compared to others that were only around ten meters long.

The last vine became thinner over time; while the others were as thick as a calf, this one initially only matched the size of a human fist.

However, the surface had turned dark and cracked, resembling a piece of wrought iron, appearing exceptionally hard.

As these three vines entered their mature phase, Fang Yun nodded in satisfaction.

Yet, this grafting attempt did not fulfill his original goal; he had underestimated the complexity of his requirements.

What he needed was a single vine that possessed all these characteristics, not three vines each showcasing their own traits.

This experiment could be seen as a preliminary rehearsal for the grafting process.

Although Fang Yun could have directly grafted all three vines together, doing so would not significantly increase the chances of having a single vine with the same type.

Now, by observing the growth of the three vines, he had tested the possibility of successful grafting on one front.

Additionally, the seeds from these three types of vines would soon be abundant.

This meant he could undertake multiple grafting operations at once, increasing the chances of success among so many vines.

Looking at the three mature vines writhing and flailing, Fang Yun understood that the violent emotions within them had been accumulating for a long time.

He could not stay here indefinitely to suppress their murderous instincts.

Therefore, he had to let them develop freely.

After all, what he needed from them were merely their seeds.

He was no longer overly concerned about their potential destruction.

Leaving the canyon, he returned to the mountain.

After resting for a while, Fang Yun resumed planting the spiritual rice.

After all, he had consumed over 100 points of life essence earlier, so he needed to replenish his reserves.

Two months later, the newly planted spiritual rice also reached maturity.

He glanced at the panel he hadn't opened for a long time.

Name: Fang Yun

Cultivation Level: Qi Refining Level 3

Magic Power: 45

Life Essence: 770

Spells: Earth Power Technique (Proficient 89%), Spiritual Rain Technique (Minor Accomplishment 6%), Growth Technique (Familiar 32%), Gold Qi Technique (Entry Level 22%)

Control over Plants: Vines (6), Spiritual Rice...

Spiritual Pet: Spiritual Insect (1)

The spells he had mastered had seen significant improvement through practice over this period without use.

Among them, the Spiritual Rain Technique had reached a minor accomplishment stage, and Fang Yun had become incredibly adept at casting it.

The speed of casting and the spiritual energy within the rain had both improved to some extent.

Of course, Fang Yun felt that his greatest gain was a newfound understanding of the Spiritual Rain Technique.

He couldn't quite describe this insight, but he instinctively felt that this understanding was his fundamental reward.