Cultivation is Creation

Back in my sleeping space, I set up a small workspace using the low table next to the bed. I had everything I needed: a few common medicinal herbs to use as a base, my tools, and the illusion talisman I had picked up earlier.

“Let’s go over what we know about the Moonlit Dew Flower,” I said to Azure, laying everything out in front of me.

“It grows on a silver stalk about thirty centimeters tall,” Azure replied. “The leaves spiral upward around the stem in a Fibonacci sequence. The bloom has translucent petals that give off a soft internal glow. The color shifts between pale blue and silver. In the center, it has tiny crystal-like structures filled with spatial energy.”

“The crystals in the center matter the most.” I replied, picturing it in my mind. “We have to get that part right.”

“Time to find out if my plant control has really improved.” Cracking my knuckles, I picked a Spirit Jade Herb from the group. It had a light green stem and small white flowers. It didn’t look much like the Moonlit Dew Flower, but its cells were easy to shape, which made it useful for what I had in mind.

Placing the herb in front of me, I closed my eyes and began sending qi into it. Manipulating a plant at this level was an advanced technique of the Primordial Wood Arts. I wasn’t sure I’d succeed, but I felt like I was ready to try.

I focused on the stem first. In my mind, I held a clear image of the Moonlit Dew Flower. Slowly, the stalk began to stretch and narrow. It turned a silvery color as the leaves moved from the base and started forming a spiral going upward.

“Master, you’re using too much pressure,” Azure said. “The stem is becoming too stiff, it needs to bend a little.”

I adjusted how I was sending my qi. The stem loosened up and took on a more natural shape.

I began by merging the white flowers of the Spirit Jade Herb into a single bloom while spreading it out carefully. The petals thinned out and started to look almost clear. Their edges began to curl slightly, forming the pattern I wanted.

“Better,” Azure said. “But the way the petals overlap near the base is still a little off.”

I adjusted them, keeping my focus tight. I could feel sweat forming on my forehead. This kind of fine control was draining, both mentally and physically. After about thirty minutes, I let go and opened my eyes to see what I had made.

It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t convincing either.

The stem looked about right, and the leaves were placed correctly. But the flower didn’t look natural, it looked artificial. The petals were too even, too perfect. There was no sign of that soft inner glow the real flower had.

“Not bad for a first try,” Azure said.

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“It is pretty bad,” I replied, setting it aside. “Let’s go again.”

This time, I focused on the inside of the flower. I tried creating thin channels in the petals that could catch light and make it glow faintly. The result looked closer to the real thing, but the stem had become too weak and curved unnaturally.

“You’re putting too much energy into one part,” Azure said. “Try thinking of it as a whole, not just pieces.”

He was right. I had been treating it like a list of tasks, not a single living thing.

For the third try, I changed my method. I started by filling the Spirit Jade Herb evenly with qi. Once that was done, I reshaped it all at once, working from the inside out. The outcome was better. The proportions looked more natural. But the color still wasn’t quite right, and the glow didn’t catch the light the way it should.

I sighed and moved on to the fourth attempt.

This time, I used a Night Lotus. It naturally glowed, though its color was too dark. I slowly changed its pigment, shifting it from deep purple to a light silver-blue. Then I reshaped the stem and leaves while keeping the cells responsible for the glow intact.

This version was a clear step forward. From a distance, it looked like the Moonlit Dew Flower. Up close, the glow still didn’t feel right, and the center crystals weren’t believable.

“Much better,” Azure said. “One more good try and the talisman should make it work.”

I nodded and reached for another Night Lotus. This time, I focused on creating a solid base. I wouldn’t try to make it perfect with shaping alone. The illusion would handle the final details. I called on everything I had learned so far. The Night Lotus naturally stored spirit energy in its cells, so I moved that energy around to form a gentle glow, mimicking the characteristic glow of the Moonlit Dew Flower’s.

For the crystals, I changed the sap at the center into a semi-crystalline form. It wasn’t the same as the real spatial crystals, but it looked pretty close and would serve as a good base for the illusion.

Nearly two hours after starting, I finished my fifth attempt and leaned back to look at the result.

It was surprisingly good.

Even without the talisman, the flower looked almost real. The stem had the right color and shine. The leaves spiraled the way they should. The petals were thin and shaped correctly.

“Well done, Master,” Azure said. “I didn’t expect you to get this far with your current skill.”

“I didn’t either,” I admitted, turning the flower in my hand to check it from every side. “Looks like the practice is paying off.” I set the flower down. “Time to add the illusion.”

“Before we use the talisman,” Azure said, “I’ll show you a formation that can keep it stable. Most illusion talismans only last six hours, but with this setup, it’ll last longer and be harder to see through.”

“I’m ready,” I said, picking up my tools again.

“It’s a mix of a Mirage Sustaining Array and a Spatial Fluctuation Mimicry Circuit,” Azure explained. “The base is a five-point star with extra power points at each junction.”

He shared the design with me mentally. I recognized parts of it from my formation studies. It would draw in the ambient energy to keep the illusion active and create a small distortion field to make the fake flower feel more real if inspected by spiritual sense.

“Looks impressive,” I smiled, studying the formation closely.

Once I was ready, I set to work.

First, I marked tiny anchor points on the stem and around the base of the bloom. These anchors were microscopic, and unlikely to draw any attention. They would appear as faint silvery dots that could easily be mistaken as a natural feature of the plant.

Next, I drew faint lines to connect the anchors, using just enough qi to activate them without making them visible. The whole network had to work without anyone noticing.

“Position the main energy node at the bottom of the stem,” Azure instructed. “That way, it pulls in ambient energy, and not your own qi.”

I followed his guidance, placing the power node with care. It was a stressful process; one simple mistake could ruin the flower or make the formation fail.

After nearly an hour of meticulous work, the basic formation was ready. A hidden network of energy paths ran through the flower.

Now it was time to activate the illusion talisman.