Chen Xing'er

Chen Xing'er

Shi Yue had visited Flying Dragon Peak before. Back then, it had been covered in strange flowers and herbs, but now, as far as the eye could see, more than half the mountain was overgrown with waist-high weeds. All the strange flowers and herbs from before had vanished without a trace.

Shi Yue frowned, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face as he looked at the waist-high weeds before him.

He seemed to have seen this kind of weed somewhere before.

Shi Yue thought carefully and suddenly remembered. A few days ago, Murong Xiaoxiao had asked him to help tend an elder sister's spirit field. Wasn't this exact kind of weed growing there? There simply had not been nearly as many of them as there were on Flying Dragon Peak.

Ordinarily, with so many weeds, all he had to do was set them ablaze. But Shi Yue could not do that. Several nearby peaks around Flying Dragon Peak were planted with trees and flowers; if the fire got out of control, the consequences would be unthinkable.

It seemed he could only use the Wood Grass Art to draw away the vegetation essence from these weeds. Without it, they would naturally be unable to survive.

With that thought, Shi Yue began chanting under his breath, his ten fingers rapidly forming hand seals.

Shi Yue set aside some time every day to practice the Basic Five Elements Technique, and he was already very familiar with its hand seals.

Before long, his chanting ceased. He pointed two fingers at the weeds ahead, and wisps of pale green light flew out from the thicket, gathering between his fingers.

More and more pale green light gathered, turning into a clump of viscous Green Liquid that gave off pure wood-attributed spiritual qi.

After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Shi Yue withdrew his hand seal. An emerald green bead, a little larger than an adult's fist, appeared in his hand.

Shi Yue wiped the sweat from his face and sat down to meditate, restoring his spiritual power. Once it had recovered, he continued using the Wood Grass Art to extract the vegetation essence from the weeds.

One weed after another gradually turned withered yellow and slowly toppled over.

As time passed, more and more weeds fell, while Shi Yue's face grew increasingly pale.

For the next six days, aside from returning to cast rain, Shi Yue spent all his time weeding on Flying Dragon Peak.

Through his efforts, weed after weed turned dry yellow and fell. At the same time, the emerald green beads formed from condensed vegetation essence accumulated in ever greater numbers, until Shi Yue could only put them away in his Storage Bag.

Six days later, when the last weed had fallen, Shi Yue let out a long breath of relief, a faint smile appearing on his exhausted face.

Without even stopping to rest, he made several rounds around Flying Dragon Peak. Only after confirming that no weeds had slipped through the net did he finally leave on his magic tool with peace of mind.

When he arrived at the Deacon Hall, Shi Yue returned the jade token to Steward Wang.

"All the weeds have been cleared?" Steward Wang asked, an odd expression on his face.

"I checked. All the weeds have been cleared," Shi Yue nodded.

"I'll send someone to inspect it. If there's no problem, I'll give you your reward." Steward Wang spoke blandly. After saying that, he immediately summoned a cultivator and sent him to Flying Dragon Peak to inspect the situation.

Before long, the cultivator returned and nodded at Steward Wang.

"Not bad. This is your reward." Steward Wang nodded in satisfaction, took out five Spirit Stones, and handed them to Shi Yue.

"Steward Wang, are there any more jobs related to planting?" Shi Yue accepted the Spirit Stones, delight flashing across his face as he asked with a smile.

"Not for the time being. There are quite a few jobs picking Spirit Herbs, though. Do you want one?" Steward Wang narrowed his eyes and asked with a beaming smile.

"What about other jobs? Such as patrolling the Sect Gate or guarding the Scripture Repository?" Shi Yue frowned at this, pondered briefly, then asked.

"With your Qi Refining Level Four cultivation, do you think I'd dare let you patrol the Sect Gate or guard the Scripture Repository?" Steward Wang rolled his eyes at Shi Yue and said mockingly.

Shi Yue's expression turned somewhat ugly. He was furious inside, but he did not dare talk back. Otherwise, Steward Wang might not give him a single task.

"Then I'll come again tomorrow," Shi Yue said after pondering for a moment. With that, he turned and left.

After returning to Uncle-Master Zhou's cave abode, Shi Yue checked the growth of the Water Moon Flowers. Once he confirmed there was no problem, he returned to the basement.

Shi Yue took out the bead that had turned pale green, his face filled with hesitation. If he could still freely enter and leave the Mysterious Space, he would not have needed to put up with Steward Wang's attitude today.

But when he thought of the mysterious Primordial Spirit within the Mysterious Space, one that might seize his Physical Body at any time, he dismissed the idea. He sighed softly and put the bead away.

Shi Yue planned to enter the Mysterious Space again only after inscribing Spiritual Patterns on his body that could restrain Body Seizure. As for Talismans and magic tools capable of restraining Body Seizure, they were far too expensive and were not within his consideration for the time being. At this moment, he somewhat regretted throwing all seven hundred-odd Spirit Stones into the Stone House. But then he thought that if he had not thrown in those Spirit Stones, he would never have discovered that mysterious presence.

Thinking this way, Shi Yue finally felt at ease.

Early the next morning, Shi Yue went out. Just as he took out his Leaf Magic Tool and before he could jump onto it, a streak of yellow light shot over from afar and stopped before him.

The yellow light faded, revealing a round-faced Yellow-shirt Girl standing on a yellow disc beneath her feet.

"Junior Brother Shi, I finally found you today. I thought you weren't here!" Before Shi Yue could speak, the Yellow-shirt Girl beat him to it, her face brimming with delight.

"Senior Sister, have the weeds appeared again?" Shi Yue frowned and asked.

Shi Yue had helped this girl remove the weeds from her spirit field last time. The first thought that came to mind upon seeing her was that the weeds in the spirit field had grown back.

"No. Thanks to your help, Junior Brother, weeds have never appeared in the spirit field again. I came to find you today because I hope you can help solve a planting problem." The Yellow-shirt Girl shook her head, smiling.

"But I have important matters to attend to, so I'm afraid..." Shi Yue said, a troubled expression appearing on his face.

"Ten Spirit Stones. So long as Junior Brother Shi helps solve this problem, I'll offer ten Spirit Stones immediately. How about it?" the Yellow-shirt Girl said with a smile.

"You're too polite, Senior Sister. Fellow disciples ought to help one another in the first place. Please lead the way at once," Shi Yue said warmly, his eyes lighting up.

Seeing the change in Shi Yue's expression, the Yellow-shirt Girl's mouth twitched. The moment he heard there would be Spirit Stones as a reward, this Junior Brother Shi seemed like a completely different person. He truly had his eyes only on money.

"Follow me, Junior Brother." The Yellow-shirt Girl nodded, formed a hand seal with one hand, and the yellow disc beneath her feet flared brightly. It transformed into a streak of yellow light and flew toward the horizon.

Shi Yue jumped onto his Leaf Magic Tool and flew after her.

"By the way, I still don't know how to address you, Senior Sister. I'm Shi Yue," Shi Yue asked, his expression shifting.

"Chen Xing'er. Junior Brother Shi can call me Senior Sister Chen from now on," the Yellow-shirt Girl said with a smile.

"Senior Sister Chen, could you tell me exactly what planting problem needs to be resolved?"