Chapter 27: Apply What You Have Learned

Yunzhi held Lu Yang by the collar with two fingers, shook him in front of her, still couldn't understand the principle, and then put him back down.

Lu Yang was equally puzzled. He had followed the incantation and method taught by his Senior Sister, but the resulting spells were completely different.

"This doesn't make sense."

"I'll demonstrate it for you again." Yunzhi was a very responsible teacher. While her teaching skills were quite average, she excelled in patience.

Yunzhi took out an hourglass, placed it upside down on the ground, then steadied Lu Yang's shoulder, and the two of them performed a spatial jump together.

Lu Yang felt a blur before his eyes and found himself in a strange space, with colorful streams of light on both sides.

Lu Yang instinctively reached out to touch the streams of light but was stopped by Yunzhi.

"Those are anomalies formed by spatial distortion. Not to mention you, even a Spirit Transformation stage cultivator would be torn to pieces and their soul scattered if they touched them."

Frightened, Lu Yang quickly pulled his hand back.

The two stepped out of the space and saw a colossal white serpent, coiled around mountains, breathing in and out the sun and moon, refining the essence of heaven and earth. Its serpentine eyes were full of life. They happened to land right into the giant python's mouth and, with the flow, entered its belly.

Just as the stomach acid was about to drip, Yunzhi stepped forward again, arriving back in the strange space.

Following Yunzhi's steps, Lu Yang witnessed bizarre and fantastical sights: a sea made of magma, a powerful cultivator undergoing a lightning tribulation, a silent swordsman carrying a heavy, wide blade...

Lu Yang had never seen or heard of such places before; it was truly hard to imagine such strange people and wonders existing in the world.

Finally, the two returned to their starting point. Lu Yang was panting, still shaken.

"The places I took you to just now are all within the Ask-The-Dao Sect's territory. You can go there yourself when you have the chance in the future."

The Ask-The-Dao Sect was vast and extensive; the areas beyond its nine core peaks were still unknown to Lu Yang.

"Try casting the spell again?"

Yunzhi thought it might be different this time.

Meeting Yunzhi's eagerly expectant gaze, Lu Yang steeled himself and cast the spell again.

After a full day of practice, Lu Yang finally learned how to sense the underground environment and how to avoid being stepped on after shrinking.

He never succeeded in using "Shrink the Ground into an Inch," but "Shrinking the Ground" and "Becoming an Inch" succeeded every time, becoming more proficient with each attempt.

In the end, he didn't even need the incantation; a single thought was enough to cast the spell, as if he had been immersed in this art for months or even years.

Lu Yang's original intention for learning "Shrink the Ground into an Inch" was to use a spell for travel. Now, having learned the spell "Shrink the Ground" for travel, it could be considered to fulfill his original goal.

However, the method was difficult to describe, and the speed was also a bit slow.

Watching Lu Yang change size at will, burrowing around in the earth and having a great time, Yunzhi casually asked, "Junior Brother, I heard it's hard for you to get tasks at the Mission Hall?"

"That's right. Most tasks require a Golden Core stage or higher to complete, so there are very few suitable ones for me." Lu Yang was considering camping out at the Mission Hall for a few days to see if he could find a suitable task.

"Coincidentally, a few days ago, I had a meeting with the elders. Someone mentioned that there was a problem in the medicinal garden, and a task was posted in the Mission Hall, but no one has taken it. I think you're a suitable candidate; you might want to go check out the medicinal garden."

Lu Yang knew that ever since their master went into seclusion, his Senior Sister had been chairing the meetings in his stead.

"What kind of task?" Lu Yang wondered. His strengths weren't particularly outstanding in the Ask-The-Dao Sect, so what kind of task would be suitable for him, especially regarding a medicinal garden about which he knew nothing?

He hadn't even fully learned how to identify herbs yet.

"You'll know when you get there," Yunzhi replied without further explanation.

***

In Lu Yang's view, the Ask-The-Dao Sect itself was a miniature cultivation world. One could find help with alchemy, artifact refining, and array formations without ever leaving the sect gates. Most of the time, they could be self-sufficient.

Alchemy required spiritual herbs, and the Ask-The-Dao Sect had a huge demand for alchemy, so they couldn't always rely on external purchases.

To solve the spiritual herb problem, the Ask-The-Dao Sect established a large medicinal garden internally for cultivating herbs. The Mission Hall also posted tasks for helping to cultivate herbs in this garden.

Cultivating herbs required specialized knowledge, which Lu Yang completely lacked. He still couldn't distinguish between the various medicinal herbs and spirit beasts he ate every day, let alone cultivate them.

From a distance, Lu Yang could already smell the fragrance of the medicinal garden. Unlike the Dan Ding Peak, which sometimes smelled like potential poisons, this was the purest medicinal scent. For mortals, prolonged exposure would prolong life and ward off illnesses.

At the entrance to the medicinal garden, an old man lay leisurely in a rocking chair, a palm-leaf fan covering his face, dozing off.

"Elder, excuse me, is this the medicinal garden?"

The old man, with drooping eyelids, glanced at Lu Yang. "Who are you?"

"Lu Yang."

"I didn't ask your name, I asked for your identity."

"The Sect Master's fourth disciple, Senior Sister Yunzhi's junior brother."

The old man didn't react much to the first part; the old Sect Master had been gone for ten years, and who cared about him anyway? He should retire and stop hogging the position while Yunzhi did all the work. What nonsense! But then, hearing the latter part, he suddenly snapped to attention.

The Sect Master's disciple meant he was Yunzhi's junior brother!

The old man sprang up abruptly, his body more agile than Lu Yang's.

This was normal; in the cultivation world, one couldn't judge a person's skill or age by their appearance. If an old person and a child stood together, it would be hard to tell who was the grandfather and who was the grandchild.

Nor did anyone in the cultivation world advocate respecting elders or cherishing the young, as it was entirely possible that both elders and children could beat you in a fight.

"Oh, so Yunzhi sent you! You should have said so earlier!" The old man slung an arm around Lu Yang's shoulder, as chummy as brothers.

"We're all from the Ask-The-Dao Sect. Just call me Old Ba. I'm in charge of this little patch of medicinal garden."

Lu Yang suspected Old Man Ba was taking advantage of him, but he had no proof.

"What did Yunzhi send you here for? To pick herbs? How old do you need them to be? A thousand years or two thousand?"

Seeing Old Man Ba's demeanor, Lu Yang couldn't help but recall the meals his Senior Sister prepared for him. Could they have all been made with thousand or two-thousand-year-old herbs picked from this very garden?

Thousand-year-old herbs were not common cabbage; they were quite precious to the Ask-The-Dao Sect.

No, that couldn't be. Senior Sister was quite frugal; she wouldn't waste precious herbs on herself.

Lu Yang politely asked, "Senior Sister mentioned that a few days ago, a task was posted for the medicinal garden, but no one accepted it. What kind of task is it, if I may ask?"

Old Man Ba suddenly understood. "Ah, that task! Do you know how to cultivate herbs?"

"Not at all," Lu Yang replied truthfully.

"Then let me explain it simply. The steps for cultivating herbs are quite intricate. One crucial step is loosening the soil, which allows the herb roots to better absorb spiritual energy from the ground and interact with the spiritual energy in the air."

"This soil-loosening task has always been carried out by a pair of Silver-Ringed Earthworm Kings."

"Recently, they've had some family issues, so there's no one to do the work. I posted a task for loosening the soil in the medicinal garden. This requires the Earth Escape Dao technique, one of the Five Elements Dao techniques. Quite a few youngsters know the Earth Escape technique, but they all find it too troublesome and aren't willing to take it on. It just so happens that Yunzhi sent you."

"So what I need to do is..."

"Emulate an earthworm, burrow into the soil, and loosen the earth in the medicinal garden."

Lu Yang was speechless.

Lu Yang suspected his Senior Sister was playing a trick on him, but he still had no proof.