The steward of the Affairs Hall noticed that Chen Jinshu appeared somewhat distracted, occasionally casting her eyes toward him with subtle unease, which left him a little puzzled.
"It's about my junior sister," Chen Jinshu said casually, as if it were nothing. "She wants to buy some red berries."
She already had five spirit stones ready in her hand. Red berries were a common spirit fruit, inexpensive. However, she typically bought them in bulk—enough to last her Xiao Yin seven or eight days.
"It's for your spirit bird? That creature sure lives in luxury."
The steward cast a slow glance at the sparrow perched on her shoulder. While it wasn't unusual for cultivators in the sect to raise spirit beasts for transportation, few went as far as buying spirit fruits specifically to feed their pets like Chen Jinshu.
"Please prepare five portions of the medicinal herbs listed here."
"Alright!"
Once the purchase was done, Chen Jinshu quickly left with Xiao Yin. Using eye techniques to casually probe another cultivator's cultivation or fate wasn't exactly honorable.
"In the future, don't use your eye technique on people from the sect so lightly," she cautioned the sparrow in a hushed tone. "I'm worried you'll suffer backlash if you encounter someone with powerful fate."
"Understood, Master. But this technique seems to do more than that—it also lets me see spiritual energy vortexes."
"I figured as much," Chen Jinshu replied calmly.
If the technique could see fate, then seeing the spiritual energy vortexes suspended in the void wasn't much of a stretch.
These vortices formed around the nodes of spirit veins and were rich in spiritual energy, often several times more potent than average areas. Typically, only Foundation Establishment cultivators or above could sense them.
Though Chen Jinshu couldn't see them directly, she could sense them through the resonance of her Zither music.
Her music was like a second pair of eyes.
…
Back at the Ink Plum Courtyard, Chen Jinshu laid out all the herbs needed to concoct the Rotroot Elixir, planning to try refining it a few more times using the method her senior brother had suggested.
Given her innate talent for alchemy, crafting this kind of elixir shouldn't pose too much difficulty. Within the span of an hour, Chen Jinshu smiled faintly as she gazed at the deep yellow liquid in her cauldron.
"I didn't expect it to succeed on the first try, just with a bit of guidance."
The elixir gave off a unique lemony fragrance—sour, but not unpleasant. Just... a little odd.
It held a decent amount of vitality.
"According to the scroll from Gu Zhēnrén, a fivefold efficacy requires the elixir to contain vitality amounting to at least sixty percent. This batch feels more like forty to fifty percent."
After bottling the elixir, she examined its vitality again. It didn't reach the ideal level, but compared to the failures from the past few days, this was a success. She spent another hour improving it, eventually raising the elixir's vitality to around seventy percent—surpassing the standard requirement.
"I wonder how effective it really is? I'll test it on the spirit vine tomorrow."
Then she began portioning the elixir and prepared another batch, aiming to enhance its potency even further.
…
The next morning, around dawn, Chen Jinshu arrived at the Frost Pool Herb Garden with her freshly refined elixir. After multiple demonic qi contaminations, the number of spirit farmers had plummeted. You could walk through several plots before seeing a single cultivator tending to the fields.
Once the elders had thoroughly purged the demonic qi from the other gardens and placed barrier arrays, those areas were immediately snapped up by disciples from Medicine King Peak, leaving the Frost Pool Herb Garden with many abandoned fields.
Few were willing to grow herbs here.
Not only did the spirit fields yield less due to lingering corruption, but their quality had deteriorated, and the occasional resurgence of demonic qi made things worse. Though minimal, the past incidents had left cultivators too fearful to return.
"I really need to switch to a new field soon."
Chen Jinshu hurried to her own plot and quickly irrigated it. Then she walked up to the spirit vine.
"You're looking much better."
She noticed that the vine had become greener and even sprouted a few new leaves. The once-decayed roots didn't look as bad either. She figured the vine might be recovering faster now that fewer people were using the nearby spiritual fields, leaving more spiritual energy for it to absorb.
"I've developed a new elixir that should help you grow fresh roots."
She promptly applied the thick, yellowish medicine to the base of the vine, covering up the brown hue of the decayed roots.
"I'll come check on you in a few days."
The vine gently patted her hand with two of its leaves.
Three days passed quickly.
When Chen Jinshu returned to check on the vine again, she was astonished to find tiny fuzzy roots beginning to sprout. Her joy was impossible to hide.
"Heavens! This elixir works wonders!"
She also noticed faint golden patterns appearing on the vine's surface, giving it a mystical aura. Somehow, she felt this vine might bring her an unexpected fortune in the future.
"I'll apply a few more doses. Once your new roots grow firm enough, I'll try to move you."
The two new leaves on the vine gave a tiny nod. Shortly after, Chen Jinshu received a message from her senior brother and hurried to the Tianyue Hall of Tianyue Peak.
Today, the sect leader was going to reveal important information about the Secret Realm, something Chen Jinshu couldn't miss. She hadn't expected, though, that the announcement would only go out an hour before the meeting. Who knew what the peak lords were thinking?
When she arrived, she saw many unfamiliar faces, each of impressive cultivation—no one was below the sixth layer of Qi Refining. There wasn't a single disciple under that level present.
Though Xuanming Sect recruited new disciples every five years, it had accumulated many over the centuries. The outer sect competitions didn't restrict age—only cultivation level—so some were in their fifties or sixties, getting their first real opportunity.
Cultivators aged far slower than mortals, and someone fifty might look only thirty or forty.
So, judging a cultivator's age by appearance was highly unreliable.
Chen Jinshu found a quiet corner and sat down.
The structure and decorations of Tianyue Hall resembled Medicine King Hall, but the murals differed. Medicine King Hall depicted spirit herbs and plants, while Tianyue Hall displayed wondrous marvels.
After an hour passed, the sect leader appeared once again.
"Those who aren't here yet—find a seat at the back. I won't wait. We begin now."
"Though the Xuanming Secret Realm belongs to Xuanming Peak, a century ago, we reached an agreement with other sects during our power struggles. Many powerful sects will be sending their disciples into the grotto to compete with you for resources."
"The only advantage you'll have is the information I provide today. If you don't listen, don't blame anyone if things go wrong."
Chen Jinshu had heard rumors that powerful sects in the Eastern and Western regions also possessed their own blessed lands or cave heavens—larger and richer than the Xuanming Sect's.
To stay competitive, Xuanming Sect traded entry rights to its grotto in exchange for access to others, maintaining a delicate balance of mutual benefit.