Earth Communication Ear Grass

Earth Communication Ear Grass is a rank two grass Gu used for recon by hearing. Its range is among the best for rank two investigative Gu when its roots reach the ground.

Fang Yuan finds it on Qing Mao Mountain in a stone crack cave, inside an Earth Treasury Flower before a stone door that warns of a Golden Centipede danger and points to Earth Communication as the way to avoid it. The flower sits where the soil runs wet enough to dig, and he refines the Gu at once without opening the stone door itself.^{ch. 128} While judging that cave, he names the inheritance as the Flower Wine Monk’s and reads its intent as forcing use of this Gu to avoid the centipede.^{ch. 129}

Appearance

It resembles a human ear, but much smaller. It is yellowish-brown, shrivelled and dull when first taken from the Earth Treasury Flower. In the palm it feels shrivelled like marinated radish and carries some warmth. Dozens of roots like ginseng roots grow out from its sides. After feeding restores its vitality, it is plump and warm, fat and big up to an adult palm size, highly elastic, and resembles the Buddha’s drooping ear of Earth.^{ch. 128}

Planted as ear

Once planted as Fang Yuan’s right ear, after his body adapts the ear looks ordinary again. When he feeds red steel primeval essence into it, roots like those of a thousand year ginseng grow from the ear toward the ground, and the ear tends to fatten; stopping the Gu retracts the roots and returns the ear to normal.^{ch. 129} It has turned into one of Fang Yuan’s ears and would not normally show up.^{ch. 202}

Form and rank

It remains rank two while its range is much greater than most rank three Gu worms.^{ch. 210}

Fang Yuan also knows it as Earth Communication Flesh Ear Gu when he weighs the price of use.^{ch. 128}

Effect

Fang Yuan uses it to scout up to three hundred paces, a reach that can compare with many rank three investigative Gu.^{ch. 128} He later places it as recon among six attributes for travel support: attack, defense, healing, storage, recon, and movement.^{ch. 157}

Without roots in the ground, hearing improves but the Gu stays at a very average rank two recon level. Once the roots enter the ground or rock, range jumps; with him as center he can hear a three hundred step radius.^{ch. 129} ^{ch. 130} It is most sensitive to footsteps and other noise, but it cannot tell male from female, and Silent Step Gu can hide footsteps from it.^{ch. 138} It does not increase vision.^{ch. 167} A still sleeper makes no movement for it to hear; once that person moves, the Gu can catch them.^{ch. 133}

Activating it costs continuous primeval essence. Gu worms can be lent, so more than one person can take turns using it.^{ch. 210}

Cost to use

Refining alone is not enough. To use it, Fang Yuan cuts off his right ear and presses the Gu onto the wound so its roots take hold and the Gu becomes his new ear.^{ch. 128} The body then needs time to adapt; overnight the swollen ear settles to a normal look.^{ch. 129}

Feeding

Its food is ginseng roots. Fang Yuan recovers its vitality with ginseng bought for small battle merits. The Gu is easy to nurture, while using it is rather troublesome.^{ch. 128}

Fog and later scouting

In rank five immortal-snake fog that suppresses Lightning Eye Gu, Fang Yuan still hears within about three hundred steps, navigates by sound, and tries to leave the battlefield with this Gu alone.^{ch. 190} While still rank two and long-ranged, he and Bai Ning Bing plan to take turns using the Gu to watch a cave.^{ch. 210}

Stored ginseng

Ginseng roots stored in a tusita flower are enough to support Earth Communication Ear grass for a year. Fang Yuan counts it among his aperture Gu.^{ch. 202}

Early use on Qing Mao Mountain

Fang Yuan uses it to listen through the rock door and walls of the centipede cave, identify the Chainsaw Golden Centipede, and judge that the inheritance means him to avoid that threat with this Gu.^{ch. 129} Before looting wolf corpses he uses the three hundred step hearing to confirm no nearby packs; later the same range lets him infer at least a three hundred step gap to the true wolf tide.^{ch. 130} In smoke that blocks sight, the Gu still hears, and paired with Bai Ning Bing’s Lightning Eye Gu the two avoid strong packs while escaping. The Ear Grass reaches about two hundred steps there, and Fang Yuan squats to push its roots into the soil for a clearer read.^{ch. 169}

Trailing Chen Cui Hua

When Bai Ning Bing moves to cut her own right ear for the Gu, Fang Yuan stops her because Chen Cui Hua has already left the cave; he uses Earth Communication Ear grass himself and trails Chen Cui Hua from a distance until the two of them hear the twin-headed boar fight.^{ch. 211}

Destroyed by fire

During the escape from the footless bird, Bai Zhan Wen’s self-detonation sets Fang Yuan on fire, and the wind feeds the flames until the Gu, still seated as his right ear, is burnt.^{ch. 227}

The Gu is destroyed and Fang Yuan’s right ear is shattered; Meat Bone Gu cannot heal that cartilage injury, and he decides to keep one ear less rather than replace it. He lists Earth Communication Ear Grass with Chainsaw Golden Centipede, Carapace Gu, Iron Thistles, Stealth Scales Gu and Footless Bird among pursuit losses, calls the loss troublesome, and judges it leaves a hole in their investigative reach.^{ch. 228}

Scouting without it

Fang Yuan no longer has the Gu to scout with, but he and his companions rely on two Breath Concealment Gu instead to avoid dangers around Zi You mountain.^{ch. 229}

He notes that losing it leaves them without investigative Gu, which makes traveling alone troublesome and is one reason he wants to join a caravan.^{ch. 232}

Without it and with no other scouting method, he overlooks Chen Xin and does not know how much Chen Xin has learned.^{ch. 253}

With no other investigative method again, he has to rely on speculation.^{ch. 255}

Path

It is a grass Gu and a recon or investigative Gu. No cultivation path is named for it in the cited chapters.^{ch. 128} ^{ch. 157} ^{ch. 167}

Appearance

Planted as ear

Form and rank

Effect

Cost to use

Feeding

Fog and later scouting

Stored ginseng

Early use on Qing Mao Mountain

Trailing Chen Cui Hua

Destroyed by fire

Scouting without it

Path

Chronicle

Connections

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Earth Communication Ear Grass

Appearance

Planted as ear

Form and rank

Effect

Cost to use

Feeding

Fog and later scouting

Stored ginseng

Early use on Qing Mao Mountain

Trailing Chen Cui Hua

Destroyed by fire

Scouting without it

Path

Chronicle

Connections(24)

Connections