And once it undergoes Spirit Awakening again, with your Cultivation to support it, Senior Brother, bringing this Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass back to life will only take a few days."
Fanx Yunfei’s expression turned to one of pleasant surprise. Zhang Deming looked at him and continued, "But if we want to avoid another backlash and have Senior Sister Qiaoru inhabit this Profound Spirit Grass, eventually transforming into a human,
then I must have the newborn Spirit fuse with her soul right from the moment of its birth. We would be replacing a Medicine Spirit with a Human Spirit.
If we do that, you and Senior Sister will truly become a pair for life, protecting and accompanying each other until the very end."
Fanx Yunfei paused for a moment before saying, "You don’t need to worry about that, Junior Brother. Qiaoru and I already promised to spend our lives together. This is actually better, not a drawback."
Zhang Deming shook his head with a bitter smile. "Senior Brother Fanx, you seem to have forgotten that keeping a Human Spirit as a companion is a major taboo. Even if you are truly in love, this is considered a matter of Soul Refining and Soul Controlling, and the Holy Land is especially strict in cracking down on it.
If this really happens, you two won’t be seen as some Immortal couple. You, Senior Brother, will be considered halfway to being a Demon Path Cultivator.
While you wouldn’t be a full-fledged heretic, you’d at least be one of those who straddle the line between righteous and evil.
And our Celestial Spirit Sect is not only an Upper Sect but also part of the Hundred Spirits Grotto Heaven’s Direct Lineage and a supporter of the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land. We are considered a renowned and righteous sect.
Under these circumstances, if the Sect finds out, do you think they’ll allow you to so brazenly raise a Human Spirit and spend your life with her?
Even if Master Dang supports you, the Sect has more than one Supreme Elder, and the Sect isn’t run by the whims of a single Supreme Elder."
Fanx Yunfei fell silent and didn’t speak for a long time.
Zhang Deming continued, "Besides this method, there are probably two other viable options.
The second is for you, Senior Brother, to completely abandon your path of cultivation. I can perform a Spirit Awakening for Senior Sister, allowing her to embark on the path of a Spirit Cultivator and become a Medicine Spirit Cultivator.
This method poses no danger to Senior Sister, and she might even benefit from you abandoning your path.
But, Senior Brother, you are already over a thousand years old. If you cripple your Three Talents Cultivation, entering the Celestial Human Five Declines would be a light outcome. It’s very likely you’d just fade away with the wind."
As for the third... that would be to extract Senior Sister’s Spirit again and choose a new, rare Spirit Grass—one that isn’t a Dao Grass—and still have her walk the path of a Medicine Spirit Cultivator.
This path holds no danger for you, Senior Brother, but given Senior Sister’s current condition, I can’t guarantee she would survive it.
And even if she did, I can’t guarantee she wouldn’t suffer some soul fragmentation or how much of her past she would remember.
For now, these are the only three solutions I have.
And even a Law-Level Spirit Nurturer from the Spirit Nurturing Holy Land would probably only have these three relatively reliable methods."
After rattling off the remaining methods in one breath, Zhang Deming quietly watched Fanx Yunfei, waiting for him to think it over.
After a long while, Fanx Yunfei finally said, "A thousand years in the Secret Realm have already passed. With Qiaoru by my side, I imagine the next thousand years will be much more joyful."
Zhang Deming was slightly taken aback. ’He’s choosing the first option?’
If they hid in the Secret Realm, it wouldn’t be a problem, but Zhang Deming was still surprised by this choice.
After all, according to the script of a cheesy, tragic romance, the male lead should have chosen the second option.
He should have given up everything to save the female lead, after which he would die from illness, and she would live out her days in loneliness!
’Hmm, this guy’s previous life pretty much followed that script.’
Zhang Deming paused, his thoughts scattering for a good while before he said, "That could work. And when the time comes, you won’t necessarily have to stay cooped up in the Secret Realm like you are now, Senior Brother.
You can go out and about. Just don’t summon Senior Sister in front of people with comparable Cultivation, and don’t flaunt her in front of top-tier Great Cultivators, and you’ll be fine."
Fanx Yunfei asked, "Then what do I need to prepare?"
Zhang Deming replied, "The resources for a Four-Star advancement."
Fanx Yunfei was slightly stunned. "Junior Brother, you intend for me to use this as an opportunity to advance?"
Zhang Deming nodded. "If Senior Sister truly becomes a Human Spirit, then this will be your best opportunity to advance, Senior Brother Fanx.
Do you really think that Senior Sister, as the Medicine Spirit of a Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass, would be inferior to a Spirit you nurtured yourself?"
Fanx Yunfei shook his head. "I’m just afraid that doing so would affect Qiaoru’s recovery."
Zhang Deming said, "Don’t worry. If you follow my plan, there will only be benefits, no drawbacks.
By using the opportunity of your advancement to nurture the medicine into a spirit, both you and Senior Sister will enter the Four Symbols stage.
However, since Senior Sister is ultimately not a Medicine Spirit but a Human Soul possessing a Rune Core, she can’t advance directly alongside you like a Medicine Spirit could.
For you to succeed, you must also prepare a set of resources for Senior Sister.
A unique set of formula resources, at that, to support her transition to the Four Symbols path. Then, by using your advancement as a catalyst, the two of you can advance at the same time.
Because she’ll be using your Nine-Turn Profound Spirit Grass as her physical foundation, Senior Sister’s advancement will be much easier. The key, therefore, lies with you, Senior Brother.
Looking at your Cultivation now, your Three Talents level is not yet at its peak. So, if you want me to proceed, besides the resources, you must also find a way to raise your Cultivation to the required level."
Fanx Yunfei paused slightly. "That shouldn’t be too difficult. My Cultivation has stagnated mainly because of nourishing Qiaoru. Since I couldn’t advance before, there was no point in cultivating further.
Spending day after day in this Secret Realm, I’ve let it fall into neglect."
The corner of Zhang Deming’s mouth twitched. ’You might as well just admit your Cultivation regressed because you were slacking off while nurturing the grass!’
Fanx Yunfei glanced at Zhang Deming and continued, "It’s just the advancement resources that are a bit difficult to handle."
’A bit difficult to handle?!’
Zhang Deming figured that it wasn’t just Fanx Yunfei; even with Dang Xiangjun, the Fanx Family, and the Dang Family all chipping in, they’d probably have to sell everything they owned in the days to come.