Chapter 212: Nature Talent Appears! (2/2)

Everything was deathly silent. It seemed like Bai Yunlai couldn’t understand what was going on. He had been in the Violet Fate Sect for years, and had never seen someone perform such an astonishing feat the first time they practiced catalyzing. He looked at Meng Hao as if he weren’t even human.

All of the surrounding apprentice alchemists were completely shocked. What they had just witnessed exceeded their imaginations. The middle-aged man panted as he looked at Meng Hao, his eyes shining with passion.

“Umm….” said Meng Hao, hesitating for a moment. He was a little bit scared, unsure of what he should say. At this moment, the old man behind Bai Yunlai stood up and walked forward to stand next to Meng Hao. He reached a hand out to grab Meng Hao’s wrist. His spiritual power burst out, flowing through Meng Hao’s body, examining him.

The power was incapable of completely examining Meng Hao. Despite having some suspicions, he could only see Meng Hao’s second Core Sea, which contained the power of the sixth level of Qi Condensation.

He wasn’t able to see the true color of the Core Sea either, as it had been completely transformed by the frightening power of the meat jelly. As far the man could see, everything was normal.

Eventually, he released his grip. He picked up the withered medicinal plant and looked at it carefully for a moment. Then he returned his gaze to Meng Hao. His eyes were now filled with the glow of praise.

“First rate latent talent! You will join District One Valley One!” A wide smile covered the old man’s face as he clasped Meng Hao’s shoulder. Then he flew up into the sky, taking the withered medicinal plant with him.

As he flew off, the entire valley broke out into a huge commotion.

“First rate latent talent!! No wonder his catalyzing is so astonishing!”

“With latent talent like that, he’s destined to become a master alchemist, which we haven’t seen for years….”

“Wow, I’ve heard of people having first rate latent talent, but I’ve never heard of someone as inhuman as this! He catalyzed full plant growth!”

As the air filled with conversations, Bai Yunlai approached Meng Hao, eye shining with excitement. “Junior Brother Fang,” he said, “make sure to watch out for yourself from now on. You have first rate latent talent!”

“Could there have been a mistake?” asked Meng Hao, still hesitating.

“There’s no way! Elder Wang tested you personally. How could he possibly make a mistake? It seems he took that medicinal plant to go show other Elders. Haha! Junior Brother Fang, you’re going to be famous! Come come, I’ll take you to District One Valley One. It’s like a celestial paradise. I look in every time I pass it, but I’ve never been able to go in.” He pulled Meng Hao along with him, leaving behind the hubbub and shining eyes. Even after they were gone, the commotion continued to echo out.

Time passed. Soon half a month had gone by. Meng Hao was now much more familiar with the East Pill Division of the Violet Fate Sect. Division One Valley One wasn’t very large, but was occupied by few people, clearly much less than other valleys.

The scenery was enchanting. The mountains were lush, and a small mountain stream flowed down from up above. Fish swam within its depths, which Meng Hao could see from his house, located just north of the stream. It was a small house with a courtyard outside.

Within the courtyard was a small garden where he could grow medicinal plants. Currently, Meng Hao sat cross-legged in the courtyard, holding a scroll of bamboo slips. The scroll was filled with handwriting and pictures, all describing various medicinal plants.

Meng Hao sat all morning and into noon reading the scroll. Finally, he looked up. He smelled the medicinal aroma that filled the air and listened to the gurgling of the stream. A light mist filled the area, causing the valley to truly seem celestial. Maybe that was somewhat of an exaggeration, but there was no denying that this was an ideal place for Cultivation.

This was basically the number one valley for apprentice alchemists in the entire Sect. Meng Hao had found out that including him, less than fifty people in the entire Sect had the requisite latent talent to live in here. Everyone had their own living quarters where they could study, grow plants and practice pill concocting.

It was a quiet location, and Meng Hao felt very at home. He was especially happy to read books that weren’t jade slips but actual scrolls. It reminded him of his life as a scholar back in Yunjie County.

“One hundred thousand medicinal plants, all different and organized into different categories. Not only do I need to memorize them, I also need to remember their habits and characteristics, how to plant and harvest them, and how to store them. I need to remember which medicinal plants cannot be mixed together, where and how to grow them, and also the proper ratios when using them.

“Furthermore, it’s not just the whole plant itself. The leaves, stems and sap of various plants are all different. Splicing plants together can lead to countless variations. They talk about one hundred thousand medicinal plants, but actually, when you combine everything together, it’s more like a million.” Meng Hao rubbed the bridge of his nose. For the past half month, he had been studying information about medicinal plants every day.

As an apprentice alchemist of the Violet Fate Sect, he must remember all such information. Of course, there was simply so much information, it was essentially impossible to magically brand it all onto the mind. The only method was rote memorization.

The more he memorized, the more prepared he would be. Forewarned is forearmed, so to speak; there was no trickery about it. Besides, Meng Hao didn’t find it annoying. He was a born scholar, after all, and this type of environment suited him quite well.

There was no killing, no danger and treachery, no dealing with the wind and rain of the outside world. Meng Hao attempted not to think about the past, and instead fully immersed himself in the role of Fang Mu. He was in the Violet Fate Sect now, and he intended to take advantage of the peace and quiet. As he examined all the information available to apprentice alchemists, his mind began to swirl with many images. Now he knew that this sort of knowledge, was nature talent.