Chapter 27: Th-that's... Bamboo?
The bamboo was extremely heavy, and he was carrying ten stalks. Couple that with the fact that he was climbing a mountain, and soon Bai Xiaochun was huffing and puffing. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that he was in a really unfair situation.
"I began to practice immortal cultivation because I want to live forever. Why the heck would I go around fighting and killing, huh?
"This bamboo could obviously grow a bit taller, but right now I need those merit points...." The more he thought about the situation, the more annoyed he got at the unfairness of it all. Sighing, he hefted his spiritwinter bamboo as he hiked up the mountain path.
Currently, quite a large group of Outer Sect disciples was gathered outside of Fragrant Cloud Peak's Missions Office, hands filled with various medicinal plants which they would exchange for merit points.
A Fragrant Cloud Peak Elder was present to inspect the items being handed in. The amount of merit points given as a reward depended on the quality of the items handed in.
Just outside of the building itself was a wide, flat boulder, upon which a ruddy-faced, white-haired old man sat cross-legged. A seemingly endless line of disciples stretched out in front of him, and everyone in line had spirit plants clutched in hand. When the old man gave his appraisal, a young assistant off to the side would record the information and dole out the merit points.
"Not bad. This watermist orchid already has four petals. Mid-grade item.
"This woodvein ginseng is a bit too dark, and the earth-type power is too strong. It's completely out of balance. Sorry, it doesn't meet the requirements."
Circling about overhead was a flock of elegant five-colored phoenixes, each one more than three meters long. Occasionally, they would make melodious calls that rang out in the area.
They were spirit pets belonging to the elder who sat there, and whenever the appointed day came to hand in plants and vegetation, the birds would come along with him. They were, of course, the subject of much envy on the part of the Outer Sect disciples.
The elder's cultivation base was in the Foundation Establishment stage, and was clearly beyond ordinary. Although his overall skill with spirit medicines didn't match up to Li Qinghou's, he was still very famous in the sect. Furthermore, his obsession with the Dao of medicines had reached a frightening level that even Li Qinghou couldn't equal. Many people even said that if a third master apothecary ever appeared in the Eastwood Continent, then it would definitely be this very Elder Zhou.
There was one particular young man in the line who wasn't very handsome, but stood tall and straight. When he reached Elder Zhou, he clasped hands and bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Elder Zhou, it's me, Chen Zi'ang."
When the other Outer Sect disciples in the area heard the young man's name, they all looked over curiously.
"Oh, so he's Elder Brother Chen Zi'ang. I heard that he's quite gifted when it comes to growing spirit plants."
"I heard that too. Ever since Chen Zi'ang joined the sect, he's never grown a spirit plant that got less than a high-grade rating. He's really incredible!"
As the discussions continued in low tones, Chen Zi'ang stood there with a tranquil, indifferent expression on his face. However, deep in his eyes burned a proud and lofty air.
Elder Zhou could see how pleased Chen Zi'ang was. He had long since been keeping an eye on him, considering how gifted he was when it came to growing spirit plants.
"Zi'ang, what type of plant did you grow this time?" Elder Zhou asked warmly.
"Elder Zhou, I'm happy to report that I grew spiritwinter bamboo!" With that, Chen Zi'ang waved his hand, causing ten stalks of spiritwinter bamboo to appear. Each one was as thick as an arm, and over two meters long. They were emerald green, and even flickered with a faint green glow.
"I first soaked the seeds in a spirit spring, then ground some spirit stones into gravel to act as soil. Next, I fed the plants with my own spiritual energy at least every six hours. Every three days, I would carefully tend to their leaves, and I even used the Ninegreens Profound Magic I mastered, as well as other medicinal plants, to grow them to this level!"
"Very good," said Elder Zhou, stroking his beard. The praise in his eyes was clear. "These stalks of bamboo are over two meters long, and pulse with green energy. They exceed the high-grade mark, and can be classified as extreme high-grade. I encourage you to keep working hard. If you can grow the bamboo to over three meters, then they will be classified as superior-grade."
When the surrounding Outer Sect disciple heard the words extreme high-grade, even more discussions broke out, and numerous envious gazes were cast in the direction of the spiritwinter bamboo.
A smile broke out on Chen Zi'ang's face, and the lofty gleam in his eyes intensified. He clasped hands and bowed, and was just about to walk over to the assistant to collect his merit points, when a cold snort suddenly rang out.
"Elder Zhou, Disciple Zhao Yiduo also grew some spiritwinter bamboo!" A long-faced young man with narrow eyes suddenly appeared. As he approached, he cast a glance of disdain in Chen Zi'ang's direction. [1. Zhao Yiduo's name in Chinese is 赵一多 zhào yī duō. Zhao is a common surname. Yi means "one" and duo means "more"]
His sudden appearance on the scene instantly caused excitement among the surrounding Outer Sect disciples, who all looked over at him.
"It's Elder Brother Zhao Yiduo! Elder Brother Zhao's skill with spirit plants and vegetation is supposedly neck and neck with Chen Zi'ang's!"
"Well now we get to see them face off. They've been rivals for some time now, and both of them want to be known as the number one botanist among all the disciples."
Chen Zi'ang's expression immediately darkened. He looked coldly at Zhao Yiduo, who glared back at him. The hostility in their eyes instantly intensified.
"Zhao Yiduo, go ahead and take out your spiritwinter bamboo," Elder Zhou said encouragingly. Apparently, even he was interested in finding out what was going to happen. He was well aware of the competition between the two young disciples, and was in fact happy to see it. It was only by means of healthy competition that great advancement could be made.
Zhao Yiduo clasped hands and bowed to Elder Zhou, then slapped his bag of holding to produce ten stalks of spiritwinter bamboo, each and every one of which was over three meters long and thicker than a person's leg. They were bright emerald green and even seemed somewhat crystalline. From the spiritual energy they emanated, it was clear that they were beyond normal, and also far above Chen Zi'ang's in terms of quality.
The mere sight of the bamboo sent the crowd into an uproar. Most people had heard that spiritwinter bamboo could grow longer than three meters, but had never seen it before.
Spiritwinter bamboo three meters long! I wonder how long it took to grow?"
"That spiritwinter bamboo has reached the point where it's emanating spiritual energy. Elder Brother Zhao's ability with plants definitely puts him as the number one Outer Sect disciple on Fragrant Cloud Peak!"
Seeing how excited the crowd was, Zhao Yiduo smiled provokingly at Chen Zi'ang.
Chen Zi'ang's face immediately darkened.
As for Elder Zhou, his eyes gleamed with praise as he looked at the bamboo and then nodded.
"Excellent, excellent. Quite a few disciples have handed in spiritwinter bamboo today, but yours is definitely the best in terms of quality. It isn't high-grade, it's definitely superior-grade. Very, very good job, Zhao Yiduo. Keep up the good work!"
Zhao Yiduo once again bowed to Elder Zhou, then looked over challengingly at Chen Zi'ang. "Junior Brother Chen, it seems you need to put some more work into your studies."
Chen Zi'ang's expression grew even darker, and he snorted coldly. "Isn't it a bit early to gloat, Elder Brother Zhao? After all, it doesn't count when you have someone helping you. Next time, I'll definitely grow the spiritwinter bamboo to five meters tall!"
Hearing this, Zhao Yiduo laughed heartily. "Junior Brother Chen, if you talk yourself up too much, you're bound to crash and burn. spiritwinter bamboo is extremely hard to grow because of the incredible amount of spiritual energy it requires. For Qi Condensation disciples like us, growing it to three meters is the absolute limit of the limit. And you think you're going to grow it to five meters? Only Foundation Establishment Elders could do something like that. That's not even to mention six meters. In all the years I've been in the sect, I've never even seen six-meter-tall Spiritwin--"
Before Zhao Yiduo could even finish speaking, booming thuds could be heard from the path leading up to the Missions Office, as if some enormous creature were approaching. Instantly, the Outer Sect disciples turned in shock, whereupon gasps began to ring out.
The standoff between Zhao Yiduo and Chen Zi'ang was also interrupted, and both of them frowned and looked over toward the path.
Soon, what became visible were the tops of several stalks of enormous bamboo, thicker than a person. They were a bright emerald green, and if you looked closely, you would even see some violet specks flickering on their surface. They also emanated a splendid, multicolored glow.
Even more shocking was the powerful spiritual energy emanating off of the bamboo, which instantly led to cries of shock.
"Wh-what is that stuff!?"
"It looks like some kind of tree! But at the same time, it also looks like bamboo!"
Chen Zi'ang and Zhao Yiduo were frowning, and couldn't even identify what it was they were looking at. However, they could tell that it was something incredible. Off to the side, Elder Zhou's eyes were wide as he stared at the bamboo, and he even began to pant slightly.
Everyone stared as more and more of the bamboo became visible. When the bamboo was completely revealed, shockingly, each stalk was fifteen meters tall, and it was being carried by a petite young man, who was currently panting as he trudged up the path, the bamboo slung over his shoulder.
He almost looked like an ant carrying a steamed mantou....
Every step that he took resulted in a booming thud, and as he walked along, the Outer Sect disciples made way for him, shocked by how strong he appeared to be.
The young man was, of course, Bai Xiaochun, who had been grumbling to himself the entire way about the brutality of the competition and the horror of 10,000 Snakes Valley. Although he wanted to cry, no tears would come, and as he trudged along, he didn't even notice the crowd of people looking at him. When he reached Elder Zhou, he tossed the bamboo down onto the ground, which resulted in a huge boom. Then he sat down on top of the bamboo, huffing and puffing a bit as he wiped the sweat from his brow.
"I couldn't fit this bamboo in my bag of holding. Man, I'm totally worn out. Oh, hello Elder, I'm here to hand in this mission." All of a sudden, Bai Xiaochun got an odd feeling, and looked around to find everyone in the crowd staring at his bamboo. Gasps could even be heard.
"Bamboo.... That stuff is actually bamboo?"
"It's so big! I've never seen bamboo that big before. Come on, they must be trees, right?!"
Chen Zi'ang and Zhao Yiduo couldn't conceal their astonishment as they realized what they were looking at. However, they almost couldn't make themselves believe it was true, and knelt down to inspect the bamboo more closely. Zhao Yiduo began to tremble, and had to resist the urge to try and break open one of the bamboo stalks to examine it from the inside.
Before he could, Elder Zhou tromped over and then waved his sleeve, sending Chen Zi'ang and Zhao Yiduo tumbling off to the side. Then Elder Zhou stood there, staring at the bamboo with wide eyes. After a long moment, he took a deep breath and said, "Th-this... this really is spiritwinter bamboo!!"
The surrounding Outer Sect disciples gaped in shock for a moment, and then burst into an uproar.
"Spiritwinter bamboo!! I can't believe those big trees... are actually spiritwinter bamboo!!"
"How is that even possible? How could spiritwinter bamboo get so thick? Heavens, they're actually fifteen meters long!"
"Fifteen meters and as thick as a person. Th-that's... bamboo?"
The sounds of the uproar grew even louder as people began to compare Bai Xiaochun's bamboo with that of Chen Zi'ang and Zhao Yiduo.
Chapter 28: Pressure is Motivation
Bai Xiaochun gaped in shock at the commotion. Chen Zi'ang and Zhao Yiduo, apparently completely oblivious to the pain caused by Elder Zhou tossing them aside, rushed back toward the bamboo and knelt down to examine it.
Elder Zhou began to study the stalks of bamboo one by one, his expression that of shock and elation.
Everyone's crazed reaction left Bai Xiaochun somewhat alarmed. In his mind, these people were acting like lunatics. It was just bamboo, after all, right? Besides, he had originally planned to grow it to a total of thirty meters before turning it in.
Bai Xiaochun took a few steps back and then tried to get the Elder's attention.
"Elder...." he cried loudly.
"Wonderful! Amazing!" Elder Zhou said, laughing as he began to caress each and every inch of the bamboo. Apparently, he hadn't even heard Bai Xiaochun speaking. "Spiritwinter bamboo like this is extremely rare. Only by growing it to fifteen meters can it achieve such a deep green color. In fact, at this point, it's not a medicinal plant, but rather, the primary ingredient to forge spirit bamboo swords. It can even be used to cast certain unique magical techniques!
"Listen up everyone. Take a deep breath." Looking very excited, Elder Zhou closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose. "Can you smell that fragrance? It smells like flesh and bone, right? That's the unique aroma that appears after this type of bamboo reaches fifteen meters!"
Chen Zi'ang and Zhao Yiduo earnestly followed suit. The other disciples in the area also pressed forward to do the same.
Bai Xiaochun cleared his throat. He had noticed that same aroma as he was carrying the bamboo down the path. However, he was pretty sure that... it was actually the aroma of chicken bones. After all, he had buried several hundred spirit tail chicken skeletons in the spirit field where he had grown the spiritwinter bamboo. Furthermore... those bones had all been stripped clean of their meat by none other than him.
By now, Bai Xiaochun was thoroughly convinced that these people were crazy.
"Elder...." he cried out again.
However, it was at this point that a violent tremor ran through Elder Zhou; flames of rage sprang up in his eyes, and his expression twisted with rage.
"Dammit! What the hell happened here? Someone actually bit a chunk out? Spiritwinter bamboo is extremely bitter and can't be eaten raw! What bastard actually bit a chunk out and ruined the quality!?" Elder Zhou seemed to be filled with grief; to him, it was like discovering a perfect piece of beautiful jade, only to find one part that had been destroyed by pests. His head suddenly whipped up to look at Bai Xiaochun.
"It wasn't me!" Bai Xiaochun blurted, backing up nervously. He suddenly thought back to the first time he had been struck by incredible hunger. In his desperation at not having anything to eat, he had taken a bite out of one of the stalks of bamboo. How could he ever have imagined this would be the terrifying scene that would result when he went to hand in the mission, or how that single bite would affect these lunatics?
When the surrounding disciples heard what Elder Zhou said, they peered over toward the last of the spiritwinter bamboo stalks, and sure enough, there was a big bite mark clearly visible.
Elder Zhou stared at the damaged portion of the bamboo, then let out a long sigh. After all, he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and was obsessed with the Dao of medicines. However, this bamboo that Bai Xiaochun had brought was so shocking, and so different from anything Elder Zhou had ever seen before, that he had lost his composure just now.
Finally, he took a deep look at Bai Xiaochun, then flicked his sleeve.
"This bamboo is extreme super-grade... no, wait, supreme-grade. Yes, list it as supreme-grade. The reward is 10,000 merit points!" The audience gasped in response. The usual reward for plant-growing missions was usually about 10 merit points. At the most, one might be able to get 100. But in this case, the reward was 10,000!
Off to the side, the assistant gaped in shock. For years and years, it had always been a rarity to have a spirit plant listed as supreme-grade.
In fact, this was the first one in hundreds of years.
Bai Xiaochun was very excited, and immediately walked over to the assistant and handed over his identity medallion. The assistant hesitated for a moment, then looked over at Elder Zhou, who was still studying the bamboo, then gritted his teeth and gave the merit points to Bai Xiaochun.
Having acquired his merit points, Bai Xiaochun quickly turned to leave, determined to never come back and deal with these lunatics ever again.
However, before he could leave, Elder Zhou suddenly called out. "Hey, what's your name?"
"Bai Xiaochun," was the immediate response. "I'm Bai Xiaochun, and my uncle is Li Qinghou!" Before coming here, he had been completely unaware that the bamboo would cause such a scene, and he was actually a bit worried about that, which was why he pulled out Li Qinghou's name, as sort of a threat.
"Hmph." Elder Zhou seemed to be irritated that Bai Xiaochun would resort to dropping Li Qinghou's name. "You might think you're pretty clever, but the Spirit Stream Sect is one of the great sects, with a long history. There are always disciples who come along with their secrets and their unique good fortune. I won't lower myself to the level of asking for the specifics of how you grew this bamboo, but next time you grow something similar, you make sure to bring it all to me. I'll make sure you get a nice reward of merit points!" Finally, he waved his hand to dismiss Bai Xiaochun, then went back to studying the bamboo. It was at this point that, because of the matter with the bamboo, the entire mission-handover event concluded.
Bai Xiaochun clutched his identity medallion firmly in hand as he hurried away from the Missions Office and then headed directly toward Fragrant Cloud Peak's Spirit Medicine Pharmacy, which was where disciples could acquire spirit medicines.
It was also where disciples could hand over spirit medicines that they had crafted, and thus earn merit points.
Bai Xiaochun sped over at top speed, then hurried around the Spirit Medicine Pharmacy trying to choose what to buy. Eventually he decided to purchase a bottle of medicinal pills suitable for the fifth level of Qi Condensation. These medicinal pills were by no means cheap. Bai Xiaochun had originally assumed that 10,000 merit points was a lot, but unexpectedly, the spirit medicines were actually very expensive.
"Greengod Spiritgathering Pills," he murmured, looking at the medicinal pill bottle he held in his hand. Inside were three medicinal pills, which had cost him fully 4,000 merit points.
However, these were pills that ordinary Qi Condensation disciples would usually not have access to. They were quite extraordinary; not only was their medicinal strength greater than that of ordinary spirit medicine, they could provide purer spiritual energy.
Bai Xiaochun wasn't convinced that merely stepping into the fifth level of Qi Condensation would be enough, so he planned to break through all the way to the great circle of the fifth level.
He had thought about aiming for the sixth level of Qi Condensation to avoid having to fight in the competition, but if he did that, he could well imagine how Li Qinghou would come up with some other method of punishing him.
As for the rest of his merit points, he didn't let them go to waste. He traded them for some disposable defensive talismans. With those hidden in his robe, he felt much safer.
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough merit points to go through with his plan of heading to the Treasure Pavilion to acquire a weapon or two suitable for the Qi Condensation stage. Instead, he headed back toward his residence. Once back in the courtyard, he sat down cross-legged in his log cabin, then pulled the medicinal pills out and studied them closely.
"I still have three months to go. It's time for some secluded meditation!" Gritting his teeth, he looked around to make sure no one was watching, then performed an incantation gesture and pointed out. Instantly, the turtle-wok flew out, along with a bunch of spirit tails, which he used to start a three-colored flame.
One tail feather wasn't enough to satisfy the turtle-wok. He had to feed in ten before the three designs on the wok lit up brightly. Then, he took a deep breath and put the three medicinal pills inside to perform a threefold spirit enhancement.
After the process was completed, the Greengod Spiritgathering Pills in his hand had three silver designs covering their surfaces. Finally, he placed one of them in his mouth.
The medicinal pill dissolved, and spiritual energy began to course through him explosively. Bai Xiaochun instantly began to utilize the breathing techniques and postures of the Violet Qi Cauldron Control Art, using them to manage the flow of the spiritual energy.
A few days later, rumbling sounds filled Bai Xiaochun's log cabin, and numerous dust particles blasted out in a shock wave. Moments later, Bai Xiaochun's laughter could be heard ringing out.
"Fifth level of Qi Condensation!" he said, panting, eyes shining brightly. After eating so many spirit tail chickens recently, his cultivation base had already reached the great circle of the fourth level of Qi Condensation. By eating that one medicinal pill, he was able to easily break through into the fifth level.
More filth was expelled out from inside of him, but not as much as before. After washing up, he didn't immediately take out another medicinal pill, but rather, took time to stabilize his cultivation base. After five days passed, he took out the second of his threefold spirit enhanced Greengod Spiritgathering Pills, and consumed it. As the spiritual energy coursed through him, the river that was his spirit meridian grew larger, and flowed faster, causing his cultivation base to climb higher at a rapid rate.
After stabilizing himself for a few more days, he consumed the third Greengod Spiritgathering Pill, and his cultivation base shot up to the great circle of the fifth level of Qi Condensation.
By this point, everything about him seemed different than before. His skin was fairer, and there was something unique about his energy.
Bai Xiaochun was quite happy, but also realized that, normally speaking, it would be impossible to use only three medicinal pills to break through from the great circle of the fourth level of Qi Condensation all the way to the great circle of the fifth level, and then be only a hair away from reaching the sixth level.
As far as he could tell, the only reason he was able to do so was the turtle-wok and its spirit enhancement ability.
The more Bai Xiaochun practiced cultivation, the more obvious it was to him how helpful the turtle-wok was. That in turn caused him to become even more curious about its origins.
Although it looked like a turtle shell, the more he studied it, the more it seemed that it wasn't.
In recent days, he had looked more into the matter of spirit enhancement, and had learned that Violet Cauldron Peak was known for their spirit enhancement abilities. In fact, if you paid enough merit points, you could even acquire the services of the Elders there to perform spirit enhancements. Word had it that the peak lord of Violet Cauldron Peak was a grand master when it came to spirit enhancements.
Running his fingers along the designs that covered the turtle-wok, Bai Xiaochun's eyes glittered. Finally, he shook his head. There were too many things he didn't understand, and it wouldn't do any good to waste time thinking about them. Reaching his hand out, he caused the green jade pendant and his wooden sword to appear.
These were the only magical devices he owned at the moment. Gritting his teeth, he produced some more spirit tails as he prepared to perform threefold spirit enhancements on them.
"I wonder what the wooden sword and jade pendant will look like after I do the threefold spirit enhancement."
The wave of a hand caused the three designs on the turtle-wok to light up. When he sent the jade pendant flying inside, silver light shone, and rumbling sounds like that of thunder could be heard. Thankfully, they didn't echo out very far, so nobody heard them.
When the silver light faded away, the green jade pendant had three silver designs on it, which flickered brightly for a moment before fading away. However, Bai Xiaochun could sense that the jade pendant's aura was now as different from before as the Heavens were from the Earth.
In fact, it was even possible to see glowing violet specks within the green of the jade pendant. Even the shape of the pendant had changed; instead of being oval, it had now been flattened into a circular shape.
Bai Xiaochun poured some spiritual energy into it, causing rumbling sounds to echo out as a green shield sprang up around him, fully a meter thick and completely astonishing to behold.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
9 Power
stone 
Paragraph comment