Chapter 16 - Attention To Detail (2/2)

Still unsatisfied, Bai Xiaochun did not spare even the roots, nor fruits. He studied the herbs as if they were enlarged an infinite amount of times, excavating them bit by bit.

Even after all of that, his heart still could not be put at ease. In the end, Bai Xiaochun had even studied the villus and pores of each herb with that same dogged scrutiny.

Time passed quickly and soon, it had been a month since he started his daily training in the fourth level of the Purple Qi Cauldron Manipulation Technique. His cultivation base had also become a bit more relaxed. At the same time, he didn’t stop practicing the Unending Longevity Technique. Every day, Bai Xiaochun endured unspeakable pain, while sprinting back and forth in his courtyard, and memorising the herbs. Currently, he was able to mix the herbs he had studied in his mind. He had already reached the point where he could only explore beyond what was recorded in the jade tablet.

(TLC note: raws say running. Most likely his jumping is completed and the manual told him to run)

In addition to this, whenever he was running, he would always stop at the upper right corner of the courtyard. Over there, was a spirit field. In that field, Bai Xiaochun had planted the seeds of ten herbs.

(ED note: spirit field is the same as ling field from world of cultivation)

The type of herb was known as Spirit Winter Bamboo, and planting it was the task he chose half a month ago at the outer sect disciple mission-monument. He had a hard time finding a mission that was not dangerous.

Bai Xiaochun did not dare to take Li Qinghou’s words lightly. Every half a year outer sect disciples were required to complete at least one mission. Bai Xiaochun would never forget this law.

The mission he chose awarded a substantial amount of contribution points, which would increase along with the products’ quality. It was simple, but it was also a mission that consumed a great amount of time, requiring no less than three months for a passing grade.

The Spirit Winter Bamboo’s growth could also be hastened using one’s Qi too. However, Bai Xiaochun, didn’t have time to tend to its growth, so he chose to leave it alone in the spirit field.

“It grows so slowly.” Bai Xiaochun looked at the spirit field with a frown. From the description given in the jade tablet, Bai Xiaochun knew that this herb was extremely dependant on Qi. Without a spirit field rich in Qi, the best way to nurture the herb was to supply it with his own Qi.

“It should be because the Qi in my courtyard’s spirit field is too thin, that these Spirit Winter Bamboos grow extremely slowly.” Bai Xiaochun squatted down and scooped up a handful of soil from the spirit field as he muttered to himself.

“What can I do to make the spirit field’s Qi richer……?” Bai Xiaochun thought about it for a while, before his expression suddenly changed. He made a gesture with his right hand, causing the turtle-shell pot to appear.

Looking at the pot, then the spirit field, Bai Xiaochun’s eyes shined.

“This pot can refine anything, so……. It should be able to refine the soil too, right?” thinking about this, Bai Xiaochun immediately became curious. After taking the Spirit Winter Bamboo seeds out from the soil, he immediately dug out a large amount of soil and threw it into the turtle-shell pot. He then took out a piece of one-coloured firewood and lit it.

Soon, silver light flashed as the soil inside the pot showed the same silver patterns as the previous refinements. Although the light from the refinement was dimmer, the Qi was visibly richer.

Bai Xiaochun was instantly filled with delight. Not finding it bothersome at all, he refined more soil and repeated the process for about half an hour. When he had almost used up the one-coloured firewood, the entire spirit field had already been refined once.

(ED note: Hour in this story is written as 时辰 which is actually 2 hours since the author is using the ancient chinese time measurement, where one day is 12 hours)

It was just that, the refined soil was only at the exterior. As for the deeper layers of soil, Bai Xiaochun did not refine them since he did not have enough firewood. This caused the spirit soil to be foundationless and thus unable to maintain that level of richness. As time passed, the field would slowly return to normal.

Even though this was the case, the difference between the Qi the spirit field had now and before, was as far apart as heaven and earth. The energy was so rich that the field gave off a stimulating fragrance.

Bai Xiaochun hurriedly planted the Spirit Winter Bamboo seeds and stood to the side, his eyes never leaving the field. Soon, he saw sprouts popping up at a speed visible to the naked eye. The shoots grew like crazy.

With that speed, the sprouts grew into 3 chi tall plants within the blink of an eye. If any disciples specializing in herbs saw this, they would have their breath taken away. After all even if a cultivator used his Qi, it will still be difficult for the Spirit Winter Bamboo to grow so quickly. (ED note: 3 chi is approximately 1m)

Besides…... in the entire cultivation world, there was no one wasteful enough to refine all that soil just to speed up the growth of ten Spirit Winter Bamboo seeds…

Even if it was an accomplished refining master, they definitely wouldn’t do something so wasteful.

Seeing that the seeds grew well, Bai Xiaochun was finally satisfied, so he turned around and left them alone. Then, he continued sprinting while studying the herbs recorded on the jade tablet in the courtyard.

As the sun set and the sky darkened, the Spirit Winter Bamboo in Bai Xiaochun’s spirit field, had already shot up to 3 chi high… And it seemed like they were far from reaching their limit. Who knew how big they would have grown by the end of the third month…

On this same night, Bai Xiaochun put down the jade tablet he had been holding. The ten thousand herbs in there were already completely memorized, down to the smallest detail, with that zealousness of his. He had even noticed some contradictions recorded in the tablet.

“The first thing I’m going to do tomorrow morning is to exchange this for the second jade tablet. I wonder how the Ten Thousand Herbs Pavilion tests the people who want to exchange their tablets. Am I be supposed to recite it by memoryl?

Bai Xiaochun lifted his chin, threw out his sleeves, and just when he was about to boast, he had second thoughts. Giving a dry cough, he picked up the jade tablet and continued studying, in fear of the test questions he might have to face tomorrow.