The Way of Withering and Blooming

In the chaotic realm of Desolate Wastes, where the Nine Provinces have shattered and spiritual energy is depleted, cultivation is no longer about immortality but brutal resource plunder. Mortals are like weeds, and cultivators view all life as 'blood food'. Gu Chen, once a destitute scholar, was reduced to a slave in the Black Wind Mine after his family was convicted. In this hell on earth, he accidentally swallowed a mysterious stone bead called the 'Twin Lotus of Withering and Blooming', which granted him the forbidden ability to plunder the vitality of plants and devour the blood essence of cultivators, setting him on the taboo path of 'Withering and Blooming'.