Inside the Purple Mansion's floating island, Ye Qin's eyes suddenly widened; he witnessed another unbelievable occurrence.

A slender thread of white light, meandering aimlessly, accidentally brushed against the petal of a young Dewdrop Grass. Instantly, that thread of white light was absorbed by the petal. In that very moment, the Dewdrop Grass grew perceptibly larger.

This Dewdrop Grass could also "eat" the white light?

And it could rapidly mature by absorbing it?!

Ye Qin was startled, continuing his observation. After the second thread of white light was absorbed by the Dewdrop Grass, he paused for a long while before finally making the above judgment with absolute certainty.

The Dewdrop Grass could flourish on this desolate floating island, provided it had sustenance.

He was utterly astonished by this monumental discovery.

Simultaneously, he dimly felt that this major finding could resolve the issue of insufficient Dewdrop Grass. Even if he couldn't gather more from the sheer cliff faces of the mountain peaks, he could cultivate them directly within this Purple Mansion.

Furthermore, he surmised where one of the seven threads of white light generated from his cultivation today might have gone. It was highly likely it had been unintentionally "eaten" by these very Dewdrop Grasses.

With this realization, Ye Qin began to exert himself, meticulously observing every detail of how the Dewdrop Grass absorbed the white light.

Ye Qin was now sixteen. Having endured years of training as an herb collector and apprentice, coupled with his cultivation of the Sitting in Forgetfulness Scripture, his mind was exceptionally sharp. A simple observation posed no challenge to him.

He decided to use these few stalks of Dewdrop Grass to conduct a small propagation experiment.

Step One: Remove one stalk of Dewdrop Grass from the floating island and consume it directly, transforming it into over seventy threads of white light.

This step he had already completed.

Step Two: Allow the remaining four stalks of Dewdrop Grass within the floating island to absorb the white light, observing the changes in the plants.

The white light drifted aimlessly throughout the island, making no move to approach the Dewdrop Grass. If a thread occasionally bumped into one, it was purely accidental.

For reasons unknown, Ye Qin could manipulate the location of the Dewdrop Grass within the island, but he could not move the white light.

To ensure the Dewdrop Grass successfully absorbed the white light, Ye Qin drifted everywhere within the entire floating island, puffing out his energy with great effort, blowing the white light toward the Dewdrop Grass. Ye Qin, within the floating island, was merely a small sphere of light; capturing the white light was easy for him, but guiding it near the Dewdrop Grass was a task of high difficulty.

Step Three: Observe the results.

After tremendous effort, he managed to get the Dewdrop Grass to absorb all seventy-plus threads of white light.

Ye Qin discovered that once the Dewdrop Grass grew to a certain size, it would cease growing, rapidly flower, bear fruit, and shed seeds. Then, the seeds would sprout, giving rise to a new, very small Dewdrop Grass, which would then continue to grow after absorbing white light.

Step Four: Repeat the experiment.

Ye Qin proceeded to consume the second, then the third stalk of Dewdrop Grass... to see if any other changes occurred after repeated cycles. However, he always ensured at least one stalk of Dewdrop Grass remained as a mother plant for seed production, preventing the complete eradication of the grass.

After repeating these trials, Ye Qin arrived at an experimental result that left him speechless: he could convert the Dewdrop Grass into Yuan Qi (white light) through direct consumption, which then flowed through his meridians into the floating island. The Dewdrop Grass in the island could then absorb this white light, blossom, produce seeds, and mature into a new stalk of Dewdrop Grass. Moreover, the growth rate was astonishingly fast; given sufficient white light, it matured in the blink of an eye.

Continuing this endless cycle.

The final outcome was—the five stalks of Dewdrop Grass remained exactly five stalks, neither more nor less.

Ye Qin froze, utterly speechless.

He had spent nearly five or six days conducting this propagation experiment, only to arrive at this conclusion. He felt so dejected he wanted to jump off a cliff, losing all hope of cultivating more Dewdrop Grass.

Of course, there wasn't a complete absence of a way to obtain more Dewdrop Grass.

That method would require Ye Qin to forgo absorbing the seven threads of Yuan Qi he generated daily, allowing the Dewdrop Grasses to absorb it all instead. At this rate, roughly ten days would yield one extra stalk of Dewdrop Grass.

But could he commit such an idiotic act?

His own cultivation speed was already sluggish. The reason for consuming the Dewdrop Grass was precisely to increase his cultivation speed. If he cultivated Yuan Qi only to let the Dewdrop Grass absorb it, that was putting the cart before the horse.

What was the purpose of growing so much Dewdrop Grass? To sell it for money?

What Ye Qin desired was not wealth, but the advancement of his Sitting in Forgetfulness Scripture: Sitting in Selfless Forgetfulness, allowing his small sphere of light to swell. The more energy the small light sphere contained, the greater its influence upon him.

Yet, facing the "failed" propagation experiment, Ye Qin could only grieve inwardly.

Ye Qin still harbored one final question.

He had originally collected only a single stalk of Dewdrop Grass; why were there five stalks in the floating island after a year?

Ye Qin was certain it wasn't because the Yuan Qi he cultivated had been consumed by the initial stalk, leading to the growth of the extra four.

To grow four mature Dewdrop Grasses required the absorption of a massive amount of white light—a total of 280 threads. He would not have failed to notice such a vast quantity over that span of time.

Just days ago, the disappearance of a single thread of white light had instantly alerted him, leading to his investigation and the accidental discovery of the five Dewdrop Grasses growing in the crevices of the floating island's grey rock.

This implied that the original single stalk of Dewdrop Grass must have "eaten" something else due to some other reason to grow into the current five.

But what exactly was that reason?

The sphere of light that was Ye Qin floated within the floating island, once again pondering in distress. He knew this was likely the most crucial question. Solving this problem might uncover a method to cultivate Dewdrop Grass in great numbers.

His gaze repeatedly swept over the grey rock where the Dewdrop Grasses grew, the fissures in the stone, scrutinizing everything potentially suspect. The surroundings were composed of utterly ordinary grey rock, nothing particularly eye-catching. This grey rock had remained unchanged since the very moment the island first came into being.

Because the grey rock was excessively hard, the roots of the Dewdrop Grass merely clung to its surface for stability. Scattered on the ground were some fine, ordinary grains of sand, glittering like common river sand.

Sand?!

As Ye Qin’s gaze swept over the roots of several Dewdrop Grasses again, his eyes suddenly narrowed sharply.

This material did not belong to the floating island itself!

He remembered that when he originally dug up the Dewdrop Grass, he had extracted a large clump of soil, roots and all. Unexpectedly, this soil and sand had been transferred into the floating island along with the plant.

With a flicker of spiritual sense, Ye Qin exited the Purple Mansion and returned to reality.

A single grain of sand was moved out of the floating island and into his real hand. He examined it, then placed one in his mouth and bit down—crunch, it cracked. It was indeed ordinary sand.

Why could these grains of sand move so freely into the floating island?