Tears?
Zhao Chun's eyes widened slightly. Having cultivated for over two years, she had seen her fair share of strange and bizarre things. Hearing such a peculiar tale now, she found herself believing it to some extent.
If someone truly could pierce through a world with a tear, they would probably have to be a deity or a true immortal...
"It's just one of the more widely circulated stories. There are others, like one about a great demonic calamity that caused the earth veins to split apart. The speaker might not mean much by it, but the listener takes it to heart."
Meng Han didn't seem to care much, laughing as he said, "Cultivators have long lifespans, so they rely on these little rumors for amusement. No need to pay it any mind." Zhao Chun nodded in agreement.
Many tales are passed down by word of mouth; it was best to carefully discern them, to separate the false from the true. As they walked further in, iron trees cast overlapping shadows, and the path beneath their feet shifted unpredictably. Fortunately, the two had already purchased a map in Fragrant Blossom City, so they wouldn't lose their way.
"Past this maze of iron trees is the outer layer of the Flaring Wind Sect. The entrance is to the east, where the sect's outer sect spiritual herb garden is located. Junior Sister can go and explore."
The Flaring Wind Sect was an old sect from a previous era. Many of its spiritual plants and fruits were unique to that time. Although they were also cultivated outside, it was always difficult to capture their true essence, and their medicinal properties were inevitably diminished.
When the Nine Sects plundered the Flaring Wind Sect, they did not destroy its foundations. The spiritual herb gardens of the inner and outer sects, along with the dense network of mineral veins beneath, were all left with seeds, which is why the ruins have not fallen into complete desolation.
Zhao Chun could not take pills that boosted Qi, mostly because their refining process involved both Metal and Fire Qi, which would cause a disturbance in her Dantian and disrupt her cultivation. Spiritual plants and medicines were mostly of a wood nature, balanced and gentle.
She also wanted to gather more to try and use Wood Qi to soothe the Metal and Fire. This was not a baseless idea. When she had three spiritual roots, her Wood Spiritual Root had served to mediate between the others.
After it was extracted, the Metal and Fire became too dominant. This was especially true after she broke through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining; the two became even more active.
Zhao Chun could still suppress them for now, but she didn't know if she could keep them in check once she broke through to the late stage of Qi Refining. The map she bought came with a small note. Among the spiritual herbs in the outer layer was a small, greenish-white fruit called the Moistwood Fruit.
It grew on vines, was abundant in Wood Qi, and was often used as a catalyst in healing pills. Many Wood-attribute cultivators consumed this fruit to nourish their Qi and benefit their essence.
Zhao Chun's primary goal on this trip was to search for artifact refining techniques, and secondary to that was finding more spiritual plants and medicines full of Wood Qi to use for balancing her spiritual energy. So, she and Meng Han headed straight to the east.
She then heard Meng Han speak with a half-smile, "This is Junior Sister's first time here, so you probably don't know. This sect's spiritual herb garden is vast and produces many things, so it also attracts many cultivators. Personal opportunities must be fought for.
However, in the outer layer, most are Qi Refining cultivators, so this Senior Brother won't make a move." This was exactly what Zhao Chun wanted. She replied, "If Senior Brother has nothing to seek, you can just watch from the side.
As for what I seek, I must obtain it with my own hands for it to be fulfilling." Meng Han had helped her many times, which was already a great favor. Furthermore, for a Foundation Establishment cultivator to act against Qi Refining cultivators would be seen as bullying the weak.
Zhao Chun naturally would not put him in an awkward position. Even she herself wanted to know just how strong a sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivator with a Major Achievement in the Swift-Walk Sword Technique was!
"Haha!"
Those words were exactly to Meng Han's liking. He clapped his hands and laughed heartily, agreeing, "Well said! 'As for what I seek, I must obtain it with my own hands for it to be fulfilling.'
In my life, I despise those who rely on their family elders for everything! Junior Sister, you can go all out. Let this Senior Brother see what you're capable of!"
Amidst their spirited conversation, they had already reached the exit of the iron forest, which was the entrance to the outer layer. A clear stream blocked their path. A stone bridge was broken, its two ruined ends on opposite sides of the stream, being washed by the flowing water.
After crossing the clear stream, they could see a tall stone gate. Zhao Chun saw that the text on its surface had already been eroded away and it was covered in tangled grass and vines. She knew this gate was made of real stone, not a forged artifact.
Thinking about it, she laughed inwardly at herself. She had been influenced by the iron forest and actually thought the Flaring Wind Sect was so extravagant that everything was a forged artifact! Inside the stone gate was the spiritual herb garden.
To call it a garden was not quite right; it was more like a stretch of mountain wilderness. Different types of spiritual herbs had different habits.
The Flaring Wind Sect had thus opened up various places to plant them separately, setting up small formations to draw in either wind and sand or moist air, allowing different spiritual herbs to all grow in this one large area.
Meng Han casually sat on the ground, propping himself up with one hand on his knee, and said, "I won't go in. Junior Sister can go ahead on your own. Just come back out when you feel you've harvested enough."
Zhao Chun smiled and bid him farewell. She turned, and with a few steps using her movement technique, she was dozens of meters away. Meng Han raised an eyebrow slightly.
This movement technique was quite good, showing that she usually put in a lot of hard work. He took a cattail hassock from his pouch and immediately entered meditation. Few Foundation Establishment cultivators came to the outer layer of the Flaring Wind Sect, so he could relax a little.
Zhao Chun, inside the spiritual herb garden, was not so relaxed. As soon as she entered a water-gathering spiritual field, she saw numerous cultivators fighting to harvest spirit rice. Swords and sabers waved in their hands, and large swaths of golden rice stalks fell in their wake.
This Flaring Wind Sect actually planted spirit rice together with spiritual herbs! Zhao Chun moved a little closer to look and discovered that this type of spirit rice was larger and fuller than the kind in the sect. A shimmer flowed over the husks; they had already half-stepped into the realm of spiritual medicine.
By the side of the spiritual field stood a sign. It said that this was Lesser Spirit Rice. Because it was planted in large quantities in the spiritual herb garden, it had absorbed some medicinal properties, doubling its efficacy compared to ordinary spirit rice.
If low-level cultivators consumed it year-round, it could regulate their breath, preserve their appearance, and extend their lifespan. The Flaring Wind Sect was truly extravagant, to use some medicinal properties to nurture this Lesser Spirit Rice. In the True Spirit Sect, spirit rice and spiritual herbs were planted separately to prevent ordinary spiritual plants from interfering with the medicinal properties.
After all, the Drifting Clouds World of today was no longer as spiritually abundant as in the previous era. However, spirit rice was not particularly precious. Zhao Chun observed that among the cultivators harvesting the rice, most were rogue cultivators at the first or second layer of Qi Refining.
Such cultivators had difficult cultivation paths and weak strength. Since they couldn't compete for other spiritual herbs, they collected more spirit rice to supplement their needs. Although the Lesser Spirit Rice was somewhat different, it didn't arouse Zhao Chun's interest.
The small map of the spiritual herb garden indicated that beneath the waterfall, where two forests met, the Wood Qi was most abundant. The Moistwood Fruit she wanted was there. After circling two small hills, a small waterfall finally appeared before her eyes.
Azure water cascaded straight down, striking the rocks and exploding into snow-white waves. Growing vertically on the cliff walls on both sides of the waterfall, winding and twisting, were the Moistwood Fruit vines she was looking for! At this moment, many people were already climbing and leaping to pick the fruits.
At the lower levels were a few at the third layer of Qi Refining. Further up were those at the fourth and fifth layers. There were only two at the sixth layer of Qi Refining.
Spiritual fruits wait for no one. Zhao Chun leaped straight up from a rock, plucked a fruit with each hand, and put them in her pouch. The Moistwood Fruit was a Mortal Grade, middle-tier spiritual medicine.
Its age was determined by the amount of green on its surface. If it was pure white, it was ten years old. A quarter green meant twenty years, half green meant fifty years.
As for those that were entirely azure, they were over a hundred years old, their medicinal effects greatly increased. The ones at the bottom of the vines were all ten or twenty years old, left for the early-stage Qi Refining cultivators to pick.
The ones Zhao Chun and the other cultivators were competing for were all fifty years old or more. If they were younger than that, they would be of little use to mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Her Snake-Form Step was at minor achievement, and her Swift-Walk Sword Technique was at major achievement.
The latter was also based on sword-based footwork, so Zhao Chun was faster than an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. As soon as she joined the fruit-picking group, the gap between her and the others became apparent. Wherever Zhao Chun passed, almost no one else could get any spiritual fruits; she picked them all herself.
At first, the other cultivators still made way for her, but after seeing her continuously leap and clear out several spots, anger instantly rose in their hearts. They resented this girl for being so domineering, taking so many spiritual fruits for herself. If Zhao Chun knew of this thought, she would have laughed secretly.
When it came to opportunities, how could one not be domineering? If you have the ability, just come and snatch it. How could you expect others to yield everywhere?
She had two layers of pouches at her side: one was an ordinary cloth pouch, and the other was a storage spiritual artifact. Most of the fruits went into the spiritual artifact, with only a few left in the ordinary pouch. And because she was too fast, others couldn't even see how she did it.
They could only watch as the pouch at her side bulged larger and larger, and jealousy gradually arose. Zhao Chun went straight for a higher spot. She brushed aside a layer of overlapping vines, and a brilliant green light flashed.
Taking a closer look, it was a cluster of hundred-year-old Moistwood Fruits, entirely azure! This cluster had a full five or six fruits! Many cultivators were already staring at Zhao Chun, and this action was also seen by them.
Someone shouted, "It's a spiritual fruit over a hundred years old! It's in her hands!" Zhao Chun quickly plucked the spiritual fruits, kicked off the cliff wall to launch herself away from the waterfall.
In the blink of an eye, she saw two people rushing towards that spot, the sharp glint of weapons in their hands, coming straight for her life! It was precisely the only two cultivators at the sixth layer of Qi Refining!
(End of this chapter)