An Accidental Encounter with an Immortal Herb

As always, Dugu Yan walked in front, her light steps never stopping. She looked over the stalls lining the street one by one, picking up a soul tool pendant inlaid with crystal chips and holding it up to Ye Lingling. When she came across a stall selling iron Hidden Weapon models, her eyes lit up, and she turned and grabbed Gan Lin by the arm.

"Look at this little bow-and-arrow model. It's pretty convincing." She pressed the palm-sized iron piece into Gan Lin's hand and poked the mechanism at the arrow's tail. "The divine weapon you got at the awakening ceremony was a bow, so you must be interested in these, right? If you like it, take one. It's on me."

Gan Lin weighed the model in his hand. It was crudely made and light. He simply shook his head and handed it back. "No need, thank you."

"Really?" Dugu Yan raised an eyebrow but didn't press him, turning back to rummage through the trinkets on the stall. Ye Lingling followed beside them, the oil-paper bags in her hands replaced by two new ones. Seeing fine beads of sweat on Gan Lin's forehead and that he was walking more slowly than when they had first come out, she quietly pulled a waterskin from her sleeve pouch and offered it to him. "Have some water," she said softly. "If you're tired, let's walk more slowly."

After they had taken a few more steps, a shabby herb stall on the street corner came into view. Gan Lin's gaze swept over the wares, then suddenly stopped.

In the farthest corner of the stall cloth lay a blade of grass about three inches long, its leaves edged with extremely faint silver markings. Wilted and mixed in with the angelica and honeysuckle, it was utterly inconspicuous. Gan Lin's fingertips curled slightly. He had seen it in the Record of a Hundred Herbs in the library-Spirit-Bearing Grass.

Its sole use was to gently dissolve the medicinal power of Immortal Herbs accumulated in the body, making it easier to absorb new ones afterward. It had no other use, and was not even fit to be an ingredient in the most ordinary wound medicine. Gan Lin now had the medicinal power of several Immortal Herbs in his body, so the grass was just what he needed.

"Shopkeeper, how much for this grass?" Gan Lin raised a hand and pointed at the Spirit-Bearing Grass.

The goateed stallholder glanced up at him. Seeing that he was a youngster in an academy uniform, accompanied by two girls who were only in their teens, he immediately began making calculations. He slowly stroked his beard and put on the air of an expert. "Sharp eyes, kid. This is a spirit herb I picked deep in the Star Dou Great Forest just a couple of days ago. It's excellent for nourishing the soul and replenishing the meridians. When young Soul Masters like you get tired from cultivating, there's nothing better than boiling it in water and drinking it. Seeing how young you are, I won't cheat you. You can have it for ten Gold Soul Coins."

"Ten Gold Soul Coins? Why don't you just rob us!" Dugu Yan blew up on the spot. She stepped forward to shield Gan Lin, her brows drawn tight. "Even hundred-year-old herbs in the roadside pharmacies don't sell for that much, and you dare ask that price for this lousy blade of grass?"

"What does a little girl know?" The stallholder curled his lip in disdain. "This is rare stuff. Mine's the only one on all of West Street, and people who know its value are fighting to get it. I'm only giving you a discount because you're academy students."

"A discount?" Dugu Yan laughed in anger and was about to retort when Gan Lin gave her sleeve a gentle tug.

Gan Lin stepped half a pace forward and looked up at the stallholder, his voice perfectly calm. "This is called Spirit-Bearing Grass. It only grows in damp, shady crevices on mountainsides, and you can pick whole patches of it at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest. It neither replenishes Soul Power nor treats injuries. Its medicinal properties are too poor even for use as a supplementary ingredient, and it's no use at all to an ordinary Soul Master."

He tapped the silver markings on the edge of a leaf. "In this condition, an ordinary pharmacy would buy it as filler. One Silver Soul Coin would get you a whole bundle. Asking a six-year-old child for ten Gold Soul Coins isn't very honest business, is it?"

The stallholder was taken aback. Then his face flushed red, and he slapped the stall with a smack, his voice rising several notches. "What the hell does a little brat like you know about herbs? This is hundred-year-old Spirit-Bearing Grass. How can you compare it to ordinary weeds? If you can't afford it, keep your hands off! Could you pay for it if you damaged it?"

"Are you being reasonable at all?" Dugu Yan had a quick temper to begin with, and at that, she rolled up her sleeves, ready to teach the fellow a lesson.

"That's my honest price!" The stallholder stuck out his neck and blustered, waving them away. "If you're not buying, get out of here. Don't block my business. What are poor students doing browsing an herb stall anyway?"

"You're a new stallholder, aren't you? Do you know..."

Just as Dugu Yan was about to bring up Dugu Bo, a voice rang out.

"Oh? I wasn't aware that students were no longer allowed to browse the herb stalls in Heaven Dou City."

A warm male voice suddenly cut in from the side. It was not loud, but it carried a weight no one could ignore. They all turned at once and saw Ning Fengzhi walking slowly toward them in a moon-white brocade robe, a folding fan in his well-jointed hand and an upright guard following behind him.

When the stallholder got a clear look at the newcomer, his face went white in an instant. His bluster vanished without a trace, and he hurried over, bowing low with an ingratiating smile plastered on his face. "S-Sect Master Ning? What brings you here in your spare time? ... I failed to recognize Mount Tai. I was talking nonsense just now. Please don't take it to heart."

Ning Fengzhi turned and handed the Spirit-Bearing Grass to Gan Lin, his tone much gentler. "Take it, young friend. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has paid for it."

Gan Lin accepted the herb, his fingertips brushing the slightly dry leaves. Then he bowed, neither servile nor overbearing. "Thank you for stepping in, Sect Master Ning. It was only a few Gold Soul Coins. I should have paid for it myself; how could I let you go to such expense?"

"It's all right. It's nothing." Ning Fengzhi smiled and looked him up and down, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. "But you, at such a young age, even recognize this obscure herb that I don't."

He paused, as though something had occurred to him, and asked, "Are you Gan Lin, who defeated a higher-ranked Soul Ancestor at the academy's Soul Fighting Arena today at the age of six, and even refused the crown prince's recruitment?"

"I am," Gan Lin replied with a nod.

"Good, good." Ning Fengzhi said the word twice, lightly tapping his folding fan against his palm. "Extraordinary talent is rare enough, but rarer still is that you're neither arrogant nor impatient, and have your own way of doing things. Cultivate well, and your future achievements will be limitless."

He stayed no longer. After another gentle nod, he left at an unhurried pace with his guard. Throughout, he had been calm and graceful, without the slightest airs of a sect master.

Only when the two figures had vanished completely at the end of the street did the stallholder straighten up and wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. No longer daring to look at Gan Lin and the two girls, he lowered his head and pretended to sort his herbs.

Dugu Yan scoffed and curled her lip at the stallholder's back. "What a piece of work. He bullies the weak and fears the strong, and only dares cheat children. If Grandpa were here too, he'd scare him to death."

"Xiaolin, is that useful to you?"

"Mm." Gan Lin nodded and carefully tucked the herb inside his clothes, keeping it close to his body. "It has no real value in itself, but it happens to be a little useful to me."

"No wonder you insisted on arguing it out with him." Understanding dawned on Dugu Yan, and she smiled again. "But you're amazing. You even recognize an obscure herb like that. I've never heard of it."

She raised a hand and looked at the sky, then clapped her hands. "All right, we've seen just about enough. Let's head back to the academy. If we're late, we'll miss dinner." As she spoke, she looked at Gan Lin again and raised an eyebrow. "But it's a deal: we have to come out again on our next day off. There are so many fun things on the streets. Staying cooped up in the cultivation room all the time will drive you stir-crazy."

Gan Lin looked at her eager expression. The words of refusal on his lips stalled, and in the end he merely gave a quiet "Mm."