Chapter 300: “Silver Lining (1)”
Chapter 300: “Silver Lining (1)”
It was early the next morning when Jun Wu Xie stepped out from her room and went towards the herb beds within the Hidden Cloud Peak.
Ke Cang Ju had been obsessed with the development of poisons and had planted herb beds everywhere within the Hidden Cloud Peak filling the place with an abundance of herbs.
As she had been unable to use Jade Nectar to cultivate the Snow Lotus to absorb its spiritual powers, Jun Wu Xie wanted to look for an alternative and had come to the herb beds to see if she could absorb the miniscule trickle of spiritual powers from their growth.
After her first time using her spiritual powers in an attack, Jun Wu Xie became acutely aware of the might of the unique strength this world provided. Although she had her overwhelming medical skills, she did not think that compensated for anything for her.
With Hua Yao’s newly laid down instructions in the Hidden Cloud Peak, the youths regained some semblance of a normal life. At least they did not have to go hungry, or be overworked. Their daily tasks consisted mainly of tending to the various plant life within the Hidden Cloud Peak.
Although it was still early in the day, tens of them were carrying water and running about the herb beds watering them.
It was queer to note though, that just the day before, they could not even stand the sight of Qiao Chu and Jun Wu Xie and had wanted to tear them apart. But on this bright and early morning the very next day, they went out of their way to avoid them, scuttling away like frightened mice, running far away from both of them. Hence, in the area that Jun Wu Xie was standing, there was no one tending to the poor herbs and only Qiao Chu could be seen, carrying buckets, and sprinkling the water with scoops over the thirsty plants.
“Little Xie, why don’t we go see Brother Hua instead of staring at the plants and flowers?” His buckets empty, Qiao Chu was getting bored as he leaned against a tree as he sat. He stuck a blade of long grass into his mouth and put his hands behind his head as he observed Jun Wu Xie tending to the herbs.
For someone who was prodigious in his skills in the cultivation of elixirs, the concoction of poisons, and was devilishly cunning in his schemes, to be seen squatting down and enjoying his labour with the common herb beds, was a scene that Qiao Chu could not make himself come to understand at all.
Jun Wu Xie ignored Qiao Chu’s lamenting and directed her focus onto the herb bed before her. The herbs planted here were very rare and precious and Jun Wu Xie had only previously seen them in books. When she was in Lin Palace, she had not been able to produce many types of medicine and elixirs, and it had been for no other reason than the fact that she just did not have enough herbs.
The Qi Kingdom had a limited supply of herbs and there were some precious herbs that even Mo Qian Yuan could not get. Jun Wu Xie had already dug out all the herbs from the Imperial Store but she had still faced a major shortage.
She did not expect to find within the Hidden Cloud Peak many kinds of rare herbs she had eyed for a long time. With them, Jun Wu Xie would be able to cultivate and produce many more types of elixirs and medicine that she had wanted to make.
She found out as well that the more precious the herb was, the more spiritual energy she could absorb from the plant during the cultivation process. It might not be anywhere close to what the Snow Lotus was able to provide, it was still better than nothing.
This new finding greatly motivated Jun Wu Xie, as her training and development of her spiritual powers was no different from being a gardener, it did not matter to her what she planted.
Jun Wu Xie stayed among the herb beds throughout the day, and Qiao Chu left, unable to take the boredom, running to find Brother Hua for some attention.
Night fell, and Jun Wu Xie still had not left the herb beds. The Hidden Cloud Peak lit torches every night around the perimeters, to allow the disciples to be able to care for the rare and precious herbs even at night.
Under the moonlight, Jun Wu Xie was still squatted by the herb beds, observing a clump of Ice Grass. Suddenly, a warmth spread within her sleeve and she reached with her other hand to touch it and a jade green bead appeared within her palm.
The Embellished Wooden Bead, the compensation to Little Lotus from Jun Wu Yao. When Little Lotus had manifested into a Snow Lotus during his cultivation, this bead had been with him, but when he returned into Jun Wu Xie’s body, he had not been able to bring the bead along with him, so he had given it to Jun Wu Xie for safekeeping.