Chapter 29: Medicine Garden

Lu Yang followed closely behind the Ginseng Child, his eyes wide with curiosity as he observed the lush herbs around them.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, casting dappled spots of light onto Lu Yang.

With his shrunken form, the herbs appeared like towering trees to Lu Yang, much taller than he was, blocking out the sun.

Before long, Lu Yang and the Ginseng Child encountered a rushing stream. It held a naturally formed spiritual energy, used to nourish the herbs. In turn, some of the herbs' purified essence would flow back into the stream, creating a symbiotic relationship.

"This is the river guarded by the River Spirit," the Ginseng Child explained.

Encircling the Ask-Heaven Sect's periphery was a stream that varied in flow, sometimes rushing, sometimes gentle. Its source was an inexhaustible clear spring.

This ancient spring predated the establishment of the Ask-Heaven Sect. By a stroke of cosmic fortune, it had given birth to a spark of spiritual light.

For inanimate objects, the greatest fortune was to develop sentience, and this spark of spiritual light was paramount to that transformation.

If the spiritual light could be integrated into the object, leading to the birth of sentience, it would instantly become a favored child of heaven and earth.

However, if the spiritual light were to dissipate into the world, it would be unknown how many eons of trials and tribulations would be required for such a spark to reappear.

Inanimate objects, merely drifting along, might one day disintegrate during battles between immortal cultivators, losing any remaining hope of developing sentience.

The probability of the spiritual light dissipating was far greater than it integrating into the object.

Fortunately, an ancestor of the Ask-Heaven Sect, passing by, discovered this phenomenon and cast a spell to seal the spiritual light within the clear spring. Only then did the spring fully develop true sentience.

Feeling gratitude for the Ask-Heaven Sect ancestor's benevolence, the Spirit of the Clear Spring voluntarily chose to guard the sect.

This stream wound its way through various parts of the Ask-Heaven Sect's grounds. On the periphery, it served as a protective barrier for the sect, while internally, it became a vital source of life.

The Spirit of the Clear Spring was also known as the River Spirit.

From a normal human perspective, the "river" in front of Lu Yang and the Ginseng Child was barely two hand-spans wide and flowed slowly. Calling it a stream would have been an overstatement.

But having shrunk, this narrow waterway seemed incredibly thrilling.

A wooden plank served as a bridge over the stream. It appeared to have been constructed in advance by the Medicine Kings when they passed through this area.

As Lu Yang crossed the stream, he couldn't shake the feeling that its flow seemed to accelerate, as if... it was excited to see him?

Lu Yang wasn't entirely sure.

He also noticed a majestic wall not far off, constructed from bluestone, with each stone larger than his entire body.

Only when he drew closer did he realize it was merely the wall of the herb garden.

The Ginseng Child dug a few times at the base of the wall, revealing several transparent stones. They looked like empty, translucent glass, as if something had been extracted from them.

The Ginseng Child's roots stretched out, as agile as tentacles, stringing the transparent stones together.

"These are..." Lu Yang raised an eyebrow, feeling a sense of familiarity.

"I recall your human race refers to these as spirit stones," the Ginseng Child said.

Lu Yang suddenly understood. No wonder they looked familiar; these were spirit stones after their spiritual energy had been fully extracted, though he had never seen ones of such high quality.

"Do you like these? Little Ba often buries these stones at the base of the wall. Once they're depleted, he has me collect them, and then he takes them all at once."

Lu Yang understood. Cultivating herbs required immense spiritual energy, and since the herb garden's spiritual energy wasn't infinite, the Ask-Heaven Sect buried spirit stones there to provide a pure, refined source.

No wonder he had found the spiritual energy in the herb garden incredibly dense; it turned out it was nourished by spirit stones.

The spirit stones used in the herb garden must have been of a high grade, possibly even the extremely rare superior-grade spirit stones.

The Ginseng Child strung the spirit stones together with its roots and led the way, with Lu Yang following close behind.

As they walked, the Ginseng Child began chatting with Lu Yang.

"Beneath our feet is a grand formation covering the herb garden, called the 'Everlasting Evergreen Array.' It helps us herbs grow healthily, and these transparent stones are part of the formation."

Lu Yang had heard of the Everlasting Evergreen Array. It was a top-tier formation used in cultivating spirit herbs, known for its exorbitant cost and the immense quantity of spirit stones it consumed annually.

"Oh, by the way, I heard Little Ba say that our Ask-Heaven Sect is quite poor. To raise us, they're practically starving. Is it true that during some Cuju competition, a group of people fought until their heads bled, just to snatch a single ball?"

Lu Yang dared not respond. Little Ba might appear kind-hearted, but his conscience seemed entirely untroubled when deceiving the Medicine Kings.

"This is called the Illusion-Breaking Immortal Wood. It has the ability to pierce through illusions and reveal the truth, making it a bane to all falsehoods. If you ever fall victim to an illusion, holding this wood tightly in your hand will break the enchantment."

Following the Ginseng Child's gaze, Lu Yang saw a cactus.

"That's the Blazing Sun Flower, one of the essential materials for cultivating the Blazing Sun Dharma Body. Aside from its use in Dharma Body cultivation, adding it to any fire-attribute elixir can imbue it with a trace of Blazing Sun True Intent, immensely benefiting cultivators with fire-attribute spiritual roots."

"The highest quality of Blazing Sun Flower is 'Nine Revolutions.' Even a Nine-Revolutions Blazing Sun Flower is effective for cultivators in the Tribulation Transcending stage. All the flowers in this area are Six, Seven, and Eight Revolutions."

"Over there is the Enlightenment Grove. Its leaves, when steeped in water, possess the ability to aid in enlightenment, and its wood is a raw material for crafting high-grade magical artifacts. I've heard it sells for exorbitant prices in the outside world. Every autumn, Little Ba picks a large quantity of Enlightenment Leaves for you to consume."

Lu Yang had frequently read descriptions of the Enlightenment Tree in books, always praised with elaborate adjectives, hailed as an "immortal seed" and "divine wood." The rapid rise of the human race in ancient times was said to be significantly linked to the Enlightenment Tree.

However, this was his first time seeing a real Enlightenment Tree.

To a three-inch-tall Lu Yang, the dozens-of-meters-high Enlightenment Tree resembled the legendary Jianmu, said to connect heaven and earth. Gazing up made him dizzy, as if the Great Dao itself was thundering in his ears.

"I heard Little Ba say that low-level cultivators shouldn't consume Enlightenment Leaves. Their Dao hearts and foundations are often underdeveloped, and taking the leaves too early would be like pulling up seedlings to make them grow faster, which is detrimental to future cultivation and enlightenment."

"It's the same principle as not over-fertilizing us herbs when we are young."

"The older the tree, the more potent its leaves' enlightenment properties. The oldest Enlightenment Tree here is even older than me, and it's also a Medicine King. You'll see it soon."

"This is Acacia Grass, one of the primary ingredients for refining the Acacia Bright Moon Elixir. It's said that when the bright moon hangs in the sky, if two individuals separated by great distance simultaneously consume the Acacia Bright Moon Elixir, they can connect telepathically and converse across time and space."

"Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a pair of lovers. The man was born into a prominent clan, the son of its patriarch, while the woman came from humble origins, a descendant of slaves. The man met the woman while hunting, and they fell in love at first sight, pledging their lives to each other."

"However, as the son of a prominent clan's patriarch, he had no right to choose his own spouse, much less marry a slave. His clan forced him to marry the daughter of another prominent clan's patriarch. They were well-matched in status, and their marriage was intended to strengthen the ties between the two powerful clans."

"The man refused. On the day of his wedding, he secretly slipped away from his clan and eloped with the woman."

"Upon learning of this, the clan elders were furious. They dispatched powerful experts to pursue the couple, and the woman was killed. She died in the man's arms. Overcome with grief and rage, the man took his own life. Their mingled blood flowed into a wild patch of grass, dyeing its roots crimson, and thus the Acacia Grass was born."

Lu Yang was captivated by the story and instinctively asked, "That's so moving. Did it really happen?"

"No, it's fake. Someone made up that story to sell Acacia Grass for a higher price. I was right there when they were inventing it."

"..."