Herb Garden

Lu Yang followed closely behind the Ginseng Baby, looking at the lush, thriving medicinal herbs around him with fresh eyes. Sunlight filtered through gaps between the blades of grass, casting dappled spots of light across Lu Yang's body. After shrinking, in Lu Yang's eyes, the herbs had become sun-blocking trees, standing much taller than he was. Before long, the human and ginseng came upon a rushing stream. It held a naturally nourished spiritual essence, which was used to irrigate the herbs; as the herbs purified water, a portion flowed back into the stream, mutually benefiting both. "This is the river guarded by the river spirit," the Ginseng Baby introduced. Encircling the outer reaches of the Dao Seeking Sect was a stream that flowed sometimes swiftly, sometimes sluggishly. Its source was a spring of endless clear water. That spring had a long history, dating back to before the Dao Seeking Sect had even been founded. Blessed by heaven and earth, it had birthed a spark of spiritual light. For inanimate objects, the greatest fortune was to develop spiritual wisdom, and this spark of spiritual light was paramount. If the spark consolidated within itself, it could give birth to spiritual wisdom, leaping to become a darling of heaven and earth. If the spark dissipated back into the world, who knew how many ages of tribulation it would take before another could form? Inanimate objects drifted with the currents; any day, they might be ruined and shattered in a clash between cultivators, with not a shred of hope left for developing spiritual wisdom. The odds of that spark dissipating were far higher than the odds of it taking hold. Fortunately, a predecessor of the Dao Seeking Sect had passed by and noticed the situation, casting a spell to lock that spark within the clear spring. Only then did the spring nurture true spiritual wisdom. Grateful for the predecessor's kindness, the spring's spirit volunteered to guard the Dao Seeking Sect. This current wove through every corner of the sect. On the periphery, it protected the Dao Seeking Sect; on the interior, it served as a source of vitality. The spirit of the clear spring was also known as the river spirit. From an ordinary person's perspective, the river before the human and ginseng was barely two handspans wide, and its current wasn't fast at all—calling it a stream was flattering it. Yet after shrinking, this kind of stream felt exceptionally thrilling. A wooden plank had been laid across the stream to serve as a bridge. It looked as though the Medicine Kings had built it in advance when passing by. As Lu Yang crossed the stream, he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the current seemed to pick up speed—almost like... it was thrilled to see him? Lu Yang couldn't be quite sure. He also spotted a majestic city wall not far off, constructed from stacked bluestone, each slab larger than his entire body. Only when he drew close did he realize it was the Herb Garden's wall. The Ginseng Baby dug a few times at the foot of the wall, revealing transparent stones that looked as though whatever was once inside had been drawn out, leaving behind hollow, clear glass. The Ginseng Baby extended its root tendrils, flexing them as agilely as tentacles, and strung the transparent glass blocks together. "This is..." Lu Yang raised an eyebrow, finding the items oddly familiar. "I recall you humans call these things spirit stones." Lu Yang had a sudden realization. No wonder they looked familiar—weren't these spirit stones drained of their spiritual energy? He had simply never seen ones of such high quality before. "You like these things? Little Ba often buries these stones by the foot of the wall. Once they're empty, he has me collect them, and he takes them all at once." Lu Yang understood. Growing herbs required an immense amount of spiritual energy, and the spiritual energy in the Herb Garden wasn't inexhaustible. So the Dao Seeking Sect buried spirit stones in the garden to provide refined spiritual energy. No wonder he had felt the spiritual energy was exaggeratedly dense the moment he entered—it had been fed by spirit stones. The spirit stones used in the Herb Garden certainly couldn't be low grade; in fact, they were likely extremely rare high-grade spirit stones. With the spirit stones strung upon its root tendrils, the Ginseng Baby took the lead while Lu Yang followed step for step behind. As the Ginseng Baby walked, it chatted with Lu Yang. "Beneath our feet is a massive array covering the Herb Garden called the Ever-Verdant Formation or something. It helps us herbs grow healthy and strong, and these transparent stones are part of the formation." Lu Yang had heard of the Ever-Verdant Formation. It was a top-tier formation used in cultivating spiritual herbs, extraordinarily expensive to set up and consuming vast numbers of spirit stones each year. "Oh, right. I heard Little Ba say our Dao Seeking Sect is quite poor. To feed us, they can barely keep food on the table. Like when they hold some cuju match, a bunch of people fight until they're beaten bloody just to scramble for a single ball. Is that true?" Lu Yang didn't dare answer. That Old Ba looked kind and benevolent, yet his conscience didn't prick him in the least when swindling the Medicine Kings. "This is called Delusion-Breaking Immortal Wood. It has the power to pierce delusions and glimpse reality, making it the nemesis of all illusions. If you fall under an illusion technique, clutching this wood firmly in your hand will break the illusion." Lu Yang followed the Ginseng Baby's gaze and saw a cactus. "That's the Sunburst Flower. It's one of the essential materials for cultivating the Blazing Sun Dharma Body. Beyond its use for the dharma body, adding it to any fire-attribute pill imparts a wisp of true blazing sun intent, which is immensely beneficial to cultivators with fire spiritual roots. "The highest quality Sunburst Flower is the ninth-revolution kind. A ninth-revolution Sunburst Flower is effective even for the Tribulation Transcendence stage. This patch here consists of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-revolution Sunburst Flowers. "Over there is the Enlightenment Grove. Steeping the leaves in water grants the power of enlightenment, and the wood serves as raw material for crafting top-grade dharma treasures. I hear it fetches sky-high prices outside. Every autumn, Little Ba harvests large quantities of Enlightenment Leaves for you folks to consume." Lu Yang had read descriptions of Enlightenment Trees in books many times, where lavish prose praised them as immortal stock and divine wood. Humanity's rapid rise during antiquity had a great deal to do with Enlightenment Trees. Yet this was his first time seeing a real Enlightenment Tree. To the three-inch-tall Lu Yang, the Enlightenment Trees—dozens of meters high—resembled the legendary Jianmu that reached up into the sky. Craning his neck to look up made him dizzy, as if the Great Dao were roaring in his ears. "I heard Little Ba say that low-level cultivators shouldn't consume Enlightenment Leaves. Low-level cultivators lack both Dao hearts and foundations; taking them prematurely is like pulling up sprouts to help them grow, harming future cultivation and enlightenment. "It's just like how we herbs shouldn't be given too much fertilizer when we're young. "The older the tree, the better the enlightenment power of its leaves. The oldest of the Enlightenment Trees is even older than me, and it's also a Medicine King. You'll see it in a bit. "This is called Yearning Grass. It's one of the primary ingredients for concocting Bright Moon Yearning Pills. When the bright moon hangs in the sky, if two people separated by vast distances consume a Bright Moon Yearning Pill at the same time, their minds will link, letting them speak across time and space. "Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a pair of lovers. The man hailed from a great clan, the son of the clan head, while the woman was of humble birth, the descendant of slaves. The man met her while out hunting; they fell in love at first sight and pledged themselves to each other for life. "However, as the clan head's son, he had no right to choose his own spouse, let alone marry a slave. His clan forced him to marry the daughter of another great clan head, a match of equal standing that would draw the two great clans closer together. "The man refused to obey. On the wedding day, he slipped away from his clan and eloped with the woman. "When the clan elders learned of this, they flew into a rage and dispatched experts to hunt them down. They killed the woman, and she died in his arms. In overwhelming grief and indignation, the man slit his throat and died. Their blood gathered upon a stalk of wild grass, dyeing even its roots red, and thus it became the Yearning Grass." Drawn in by the tale, Lu Yang asked instinctively, "How touching... Did that really happen?" "It's fake. Someone made it up to sell Yearning Grass at a high price. I was standing right beside him when he invented the story." "..."