Chapter 38: The Spirit Herb Garden

Yu Qing indeed kept his word. Without even three days passing, just two days later in the morning, Su Che received a spirit talisman message telling him to report to the Spirit Herb Garden.
“It worked!”
Su Che clapped his hands excitedly. The communication talisman in his palms turned into glowing dots and dissipated into the air, having fully completed its mission.
Reaching the third level of Qi Cultivation within half a year solely by relying on the Bone Cleansing Pills and Qi Condensing Pills purchased in Xuanji City was certainly unrealistic. These low-grade pills could only provide limited assistance, and excessive use could lead to problems such as an unstable foundation for Qi cultivation and mixed true Qi.
The higher the grade of the pill, the better its effects and the fewer side effects—this was basic common sense known to everyone. Top-quality pills required top-quality ingredients, so the precious spirit herbs in the secret herb garden became Su Che’s greatest hope.
“I never expected things to go so smoothly. Senior Yu Qing is truly my lucky star.” Amidst his joy, Su Che reminded himself to always remember Senior Yu Qing’s kindness and to repay him properly if he ever got the chance.
As the saying goes, one should repay a small kindness with a great one—a principle Su Che also adhered to in his interactions with others.
The ten main peaks of Tianxuan Sect each had their own Spirit Herb Garden. The restricted area of Xuanji Peak’s garden was even located higher than the residential area for inner sect disciples, with the cultivation areas for direct disciples further above.
All ten main peaks were equipped with massive arrays to gather spiritual energy. The higher one went, the denser the natural spiritual energy, meaning a better cultivation environment. Thus, the position of garden supervisor was highly sought after, often beyond the reach of many inner sect disciples.
Su Che had thought he would have to pay a significant price to obtain such a position, but fortunately, the head of Xuanji Peak’s garden happened to be Senior Yu Qing’s close uncle.
With a mix of excitement and nervousness, Su Che climbed up the wide stone path. Along the way, he encountered two inner sect disciples at the later stages of Qi Cultivation. Their looks at him were quite strange, perhaps wondering why an outer sect disciple at the first level of Qi Cultivation would be here—could it be that he was naive and wandering around aimlessly?
Su Che kept his eyes straight ahead and continued climbing steadily. After more than half an hour, he finally saw a stone tablet at the middle of the path that read, “Restricted Area of the Herb Garden—No Admittance.”

The mountain path behind the stone tablet was obscured by thick mist, making it impossible to see through with the naked eye. However, Lao He had an extremely special detection ability, allowing him to see through the misty barrier dozens of feet deep and observe what lay on the other side.

“Master, the thick mist ahead is a large maze. Without knowing the correct path, we will surely get lost,” Lao He said proudly, puffing out his chest in the Immortal Prison. “But such a maze isn’t a problem for me, Lao He. I can already see that there’s a thatched cottage on the other side of the mist, with an inner sect disciple in the later stages of Qi cultivation guarding it.”

“Yes, you do have some skills,” Su Che replied in his heart. “But even if we do, we shouldn’t reveal them recklessly. It’s better to follow the rules properly.”

Lao He chuckled and agreed in a deep voice.

Su Che took out his identity jade token and bowed respectfully toward the stone tablet. “I am Su Che, an outer sect disciple of Mysterious Insights Peak. I received a message from Senior Brother Yu Qing, who ordered me to come here and report.”

He repeated these words three times. Then, a young man dressed as an inner sect disciple emerged from the mist. He seemed to be around twenty-two or twenty-three years old, at the seventh level of Qi cultivation.

“Are you Su Che?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, Senior Brother Yu Qing did mention it in advance. Show me your identity jade token.” The young Taoist stepped forward.

Su Che handed over his identity jade token with both hands. The young Taoist quickly inspected it but didn’t return it right away. Instead, he turned and walked away, saying only, “Follow me.”

Su Che closely followed him into the misty area. They moved left and right, occasionally stepping back—the path was quite complex. Soon, they emerged from the maze and arrived on the other side of the mist.

What Lao He had said was exactly right. There was a thatched cottage nearby, likely the guard post of this inner sect disciple. In the distance, there were medicinal fields cultivated around the mountain, each separated by fences, with thatched cottages scattered among them.

Su Che guessed in his heart, “Those cottages must be the temporary residences of the disciples in charge of guarding the medicinal fields… In other words, they’re just ordinary apprentices. Their living conditions are surely not as good as those of proper cultivation sites.”

Only then did the young Taoist return Su Che’s identity jade token. He pointed to a straight path in the fields and said, “Go straight along this path. After a few hundred feet, you’ll see a courtyard. Go there and find Supervisor Chen.”

“Understood. Thank you, Senior Brother.”

“Go ahead,” the young Taoist said indifferently, waving his hand.

It was not until Su Che had bowed and left, walking dozens of feet away, that the young Taoist whispered to himself, “Just at the first level of Qi Cultivation and already assigned to guard this herb garden. I wonder what kind of relationship this kid has with Senior Yu Qing? Su Che is only fourteen, having joined less than a month ago…”

Following his guidance, Su Che continued along the path in the fields. After walking for a while, he indeed saw a courtyard covering about an acre—by far the most formal structure in this herb garden.

“Master, there’s only a middle-aged cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Building inside. It should be Manager Chen,” Lao He reminded. “But he’s muttering curses, seems to be in a bad mood.”

“Who is he cursing?” Su Che stopped immediately. If the other person was in a bad mood, he certainly shouldn’t enter now to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Lao He replied, “I can’t hear clearly. He’s speaking indistinctly and doesn’t mention anyone by name… It sounds like something like, ‘You stupid kid, so ignorant—just wait and see.’”

Su Che’s heart skipped a beat. Though it was unlikely to refer to him, he still analyzed silently: “This Manager Chen curses behind others and even mutters aloud—seems quite petty. Probably not someone easy to deal with.”

It wasn’t convenient to go in for now. Su Che was still dozens of feet away from the courtyard. Given Manager Chen’s consciousness range at the early stage of Foundation Building, he should not be able to detect this place. This showed Lao He’s detection ability was extraordinary, almost on par with that of someone in the later stage of Foundation Building.

A few days ago, Su Che had visited the ‘Skill Transmission Pavilion’ again, bringing some small gifts for Manager Zheng and taking the time to read some books. He learned that the consciousness range at the early stage of Foundation Building was roughly between twenty and thirty feet; at the middle stage, it was between forty and sixty feet; and at the later stage, it was between seventy and a hundred feet…

Lao He, despite only being at the third level of Qi Cultivation, already had a detection range of a hundred feet—undoubtedly a significant advantage for Su Che.

By detecting in advance that Manager Chen was in a bad mood, Su Che could wait patiently outside. It wouldn’t be too late to enter once the manager calmed down.

Taking advantage of this time, Su Che looked around, also using Lao He’s detection ability to carefully identify the various spiritual herbs planted in the nearby herb fields.

Xuanli Flower, Seven-Star Grass, Thousand-Dollar Grass, Polygonum Multiflorum, Fire-Refined Fruit, Worry-Relieving Fruit, Phoenix-Tail Grass…
“This area is filled with low- and medium-grade spiritual herbs, not very old either, so they’re not particularly valuable,” Su Che deduced. “This shows that it’s just the outer part of the spiritual herb garden, not the actual forbidden zone.”
“Yes, master,” Old He added. “According to Han Youming’s memories, the secret cave his father discovered is close to the fields of top-grade spiritual herbs—there’s the real core of the garden. Reaching there is no easy task.”
“No rush, no rush,” Su Che, who always pursued a calm mindset, said the same now. “Haste makes waste! As a newcomer, there’s no need to rush into anything. Let’s figure things out first.”
Su Che stood still and looked around, drawing the attention of several garden management disciples. Glances came from the windows of nearby thatched cottages, with everyone guessing in silence: “Can even an outer disciple at the first level of Qi cultivation come here? It seems like they’re here to report to Manager Chen… No way, since when has the threshold for garden management disciples become so low?”