The days in the City of the Wrongfully Dead passed day by day in a busy and eerily peaceful fashion.
Yet, a strangely rich fragrance lingered within the Thick Earth Spirit Field.
Zhang Cuigu rolled up her sleeves and directed the little black snakes to pour buckets of dark red flesh-and-blood slurry into the soil.
These were local specialties Chen Zhou had brought back from the Southern Region.
It was "top-tier fertilizer" prepared from the flesh of sixth-stage great demons, which Widow Li and her people had boiled overnight to remove impurities before mixing in precious Fortune Spring Water.
"Eat up, eat more, grow faster."
Zhang Cuigu muttered as she poured the blood-water ladle by ladle onto the roots of the purifying world blood bodhi at the center of the spirit field.
Ever since it mutated due to Jiuer's fortune, this spiritual plant had become increasingly ravenous.
What was originally a sapling only half a person tall had now grown to three zhang in height after absorbing a massive amount of sixth-stage flesh-and-blood essence and spiritual rhythm.
The little black snakes stood guard day and night, serving as the dedicated security guards for this blood bodhi.
Everyone knew this was the Lord's treasure and the key to whether high-level combat forces could be mass-produced in the future; the snakes did not dare be the least bit negligent.
As the blood-water irrigated it, the blood bodhi's leaves, which looked as though they were carved from red jade, unfurled with a rustling sound.
Branches that were once bare were now hung with fruits that pulsed like hearts; the bodhi heart fruits were currently gestating.
"Truly a bunch of gluttons."
Zhang Cuigu wiped the sweat from her brow. Although she was tired, seeing the growth throughout the garden made her heart feel sweeter than honey.
On the other side of the spirit field, next to the Gathering Fortune Pavilion, was a vibrant stretch of lush green.
This was the newly designated 【Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm】, the new home for Su Xue and the group of vegetation spirits brought from the Southern Region.
Thanks to Lu Cheng and his disciples working day and night, combined with the presence of an unreasonable divine object like the Sky-Mending Stone, the main structure had already been completed.
Although not yet fully finished, a trace of the Dao rhythm of life and death transformation had already begun to manifest.
Su Xue, dressed in emerald-green silk, was leading the little vegetation spirits to tidy up the flower beds.
Since joining the City of the Wrongfully Dead, this former demon king had completely cast aside her status and become a happy gardener in the city.
As Su Xue settled into the Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm, her Heavenly Doctor ability perfectly fused with it, allowing the 【Myriad Herbs Pure Land】 domain to fully expand.
Faint green ripples rippled outward from the medicinal garden as the center, spreading through the entire city.
Hong Ling, who was handling official business in the City Lord's Mansion, suddenly stopped her vermilion brush.
She felt the bottleneck that had been stuck in her body for a long time actually loosen the moment that green ripple swept past.
Not just her, but Shitou, who was training soldiers on the drill grounds, also abruptly looked up as the metal-attribute qi throughout his body surged uncontrollably.
"This is..." A flash of wild joy appeared in Shitou's eyes.
Previously, following the Lord's instructions, they had been suppressing their cultivation, not daring to rashly break through to the sixth-stage for fear of losing themselves and turning into monsters in this eerie world.
But now, as this aura filled with vitality and purification enveloped the city, that sense of dread regarding the breakthrough had mostly dissipated.
"It is the Lord's power."
Hong Ling put down her brush and looked toward the medicinal garden, her eyes full of admiration.
"With a bit more time to accumulate, we might truly be able to take that step."
'If I become stronger, I can help the Lord much more.'
She quickly set off toward the new building next to the Gathering Fortune Pavilion to begin her cultivation.
"Senior Su Xue, look! Sister Hong Ling and Brother Shitou are back to mooch off the spiritual qi again."
A little grass spirit pointed outside the boundary.
Hong Ling and Shitou had arrived with the utmost speed.
The two sat cross-legged at the edge of the 【Myriad Herbs Pure Land】, their auras fluctuating as they clearly used the vegetation vitality here to intensify their cultivation.
Su Xue smiled faintly, a green glow flashing in her hand as she activated the array to send out a wave of gentle vitality.
"They have been stuck at the fifth-stage Essence Devouring stage for a long time. They didn't dare break through before because they feared eerification and mutation."
"Now that I am here and the Myriad Herbs Life-Death Realm is smoothing out their auras, they can boldly attempt to reach the sixth-stage."
This was the importance of a healer.
Before Su Xue arrived, the combat power of the City of the Wrongfully Dead relied entirely on Chen Zhou's rewards and piled-up divinity, which carried extreme risks.
Now with Su Xue, it was as if a safety valve had been installed on the city's cultivation system.
If the two of them could break through to the sixth-stage, they would truly be able to stand on their own, and the city's management system would become even more stable.
"Sister Su Xue! Sister Su Xue!"
Just then, a chorus of chirping voices sounded.
Rongrong, Luoluo, and Yiyi, the three flower demons, came running over carrying several strange flower pots.
"What's the matter? Why the rush?" Su Xue gently wiped the dirt from Rongrong's face.
"Sister, we’ve grown something new! Look, isn’t it beautiful?"
Yiyi had a face full of a desire for praise as she held the flower pot up to Su Xue like an offering.
In her hands was a flower sprout as red as blood; it had flowers but no leaves, and its eerie beauty was breathtaking.
Su Xue gave a gentle smile and was about to nod when she saw Rongrong furrow her tiny brows.
"No, no, did you forget the Lord's aesthetic? Look how beautiful the bone lotuses filling the sky are."
As she spoke, Rongrong expertly picked up a femur from a nearby bone pile and stuck it next to the flower sprout before nodding in satisfaction.
"Yes, that's right. Lord Lu Cheng taught us that this is called... what was it called again?"
Beside her, Luoluo immediately chimed in, "The unified aesthetic of the opposition between death and rebirth: skeletal beauty!"
"Right, right!" Rongrong clapped her small hands. "Red flowers with white bones—that is the Lord's aesthetic!"
Su Xue felt a massive shock to her sense of beauty.
She had lived for a thousand years and grown plants and flowers her whole life; she considered herself a master of gardening.
Su Xue's mouth twitched. As a vegetation demon king with a normal aesthetic and a love for life, she really wanted to say that this thing looked like a nightmare.
But looking at the three little ones' sparkling eyes, she truly couldn't bring herself to say it.
Su Xue tried to salvage the situation. "Actually, orchids with spring water are also very beautiful. There’s no need to... stick a bone in it, right?"
Yiyi shook her head solemnly, adopting the posture of an experienced veteran to educate her.
"Sister Su Xue, you’re behind the times."
"Before, we also thought that was beautiful, but Lord Lu Cheng said it was stale and petty."
"Look at these white bones; they remain eternal through the ages, symbolizing eternity. Look at these red flowers; they bloom in the morning and fall by dusk, symbolizing impermanence."
"How high-level is our God's aesthetic!"
The three little flower demons talked one after another, leaving Su Xue completely dazed.
But seeing the conviction in their eyes and thinking about that Lord's preferences...
That Lord sat upon a Bone Altar, and the buildings in the city were all in a skeletal style.
Perhaps, maybe, possibly... her own aesthetic really didn't fit the City of the Wrongfully Dead?
'If I don't have some artistic talent, will I not be able to survive under the Lord in the future?'
Su Xue fell into deep self-doubt.
She looked at her garden full of spiritual herbs. Suddenly, she felt that while they were full of life, they indeed lacked the unique character of the City of the Wrongfully Dead. Were they a bit... too plain?
A moment later, Su Xue gritted her teeth and picked up a fragment of bone from nearby, holding it up against her orchid to measure the fit.
To integrate into the collective, to keep up with the Lord's pace...
Should she try sticking a finger bone in?
The eyes of the three flower demons lit up as they shouted in unison, "Sister Su Xue, you have such great insight!"
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