Baili defined the basic function of the Purple Mansion (Floating Island) as "farming." He had also made fairly thorough plans for the entire Purple Mansion system.
Still, one person's ideas could never match those of a whole group. If you have any thoughts or suggestions about the Purple Mansion's functions, feel free to make a post and share them. You could help improve the system. If your ideas are good, they might even be added to the story. I think the more suggestions, the better.
After thinking it over for a long time, Ye Qin decided to devote more of his time to gathering herbs and cultivating, letting time slowly fade the ties between him and his fellow disciples. Given enough time, whether it was resentment or a grudge, it would all eventually vanish without a trace.
Ye Qin asked Herbalist Wang if he could spend three to five months or even longer in the mountains before returning to the Herb Gathering Hall. That way, he could gather more herbs without wasting so much time traveling back and forth.
He also hinted that he didn't want to compete with Yang Yicheng and Feng Xiao.
Herbalist Wang was somewhat surprised.
There were plenty of old Herb Gathering Artisans at the Herb Gathering Hall who only returned to Zhuqi County once every six months or even once a year. Most young herb-gathering apprentices couldn't bear the loneliness and went into the county town every month to ease it at the taverns. Even young Herb Gathering Artisans didn't like staying deep in the mountains for long; they would return every month or two.
Since Ye Qin wanted to settle down and gather herbs, Herbalist Wang naturally gave his permission.
Ye Qin slung a large herb basket over his back, packed enough oil and salt for a full six months, and left Zhuqi County, heading for a place more than a thousand li away. The county's territory stretched for more than a thousand li in every direction, filled with deep ravines, steep peaks, and countless rivers and streams.
The herb gatherers from the Herb Gathering Hall usually went to gathering sites within two hundred to five hundred li, reachable in a month or two. Many remote, deep ravines had never seen anyone from the hall.
Going farther out actually made it easier to gather herbs. He might even find some top-grade herbs that were decades old.
Several days later, Ye Qin climbed a steep mountain peak, breathing slightly hard, a pickaxe in hand. He had been there a year ago, when he gathered a rare Dew Grass from a protruding rock on the back slope and ate a Gray Egg he'd found in an eagle's nest. He had nearly been torn to pieces by a flock of Grey Eagles, too.
Everything about him had changed because of that adventure.
He had searched through nearly every book on identifying herbs in the Herb Gathering Hall's Library Pavilion, but hadn't found any mention of that little green plant. He had even asked an experienced Herb Gathering Master, who had never heard of such a plant and refused to believe that any grass in the world could produce dewdrops in the middle of the day.
Since he hadn't wanted to risk gathering herbs there again, he had gradually forgotten the place.
A year later, the memory suddenly came back to him, and Ye Qin decided to return and take a look. If there had once been one plant here, there might be a second, or even more. For a herb gatherer, discovering an unusual plant but being unable to identify it was deeply frustrating.
Ye Qin reached the mountaintop and, after half a day's effort, arrived beneath a boulder.
Nothing had changed. The place looked almost exactly as it had when he left. Even the bones of the grass snake he had eaten were still there. Only the ashes from the cooking fire had been scattered by the wind and rain, leaving little trace.
Ye Qin set his large herb basket down on the grass, found some wild game on the peak, and cooked it. The sun was sinking in the west; it was already afternoon. It wasn't a good time to climb the cliffs and gather herbs, since it would be hard to see once night fell. Better to rest now and go in the early morning.
He sat cross-legged beside the boulder and began cultivating with his eyes closed.
As usual, he first circulated the Greater Celestial Circuit again and again, transforming the vital essence in his body into White Glow—the primordial qi spoken of in the Sitting-in-Forgetfulness Sutra.
Then his consciousness sank into the boundless void of the Floating Island, where he took the form of a ball of white light.
He chased the White Glow across the island and absorbed it, strengthening the energy within his light ball.
Ye Qin was already quite familiar with the process. Each time he absorbed some, the increase in energy was tiny, but it still brought him a wave of carefree pleasure. He drifted freely across the Floating Island, chasing the wisps of White Glow.
As he grew more familiar with the Floating Island, Ye Qin gradually learned that the Purple Lightning in the boundless void would not approach it easily. Even if he happened to encounter some, as long as he hid inside the protective halo of the Life Primordial Spirit Stele, the Purple Lightning couldn't enter the halo to hunt him down.
He was perfectly safe on the Floating Island.
After "eating" six wisps of White Glow, Ye Qin carefully searched for the last one of the day. He circulated seven Greater Celestial Circuits every day, so he got exactly seven wisps of White Glow, no more and no less.
Strangely, he couldn't tell where that wisp had drifted off to. He couldn't find it anywhere in the air.
Even a sliver of meat was still meat. Back when he was a wanderer, Ye Qin had learned not to waste even the tiniest morsel of food. He had no intention of letting this one go.
Floating several yards above the ground, Ye Qin carefully surveyed the bare, undulating rocks spread across nearly a li of the island, searching for the wisp of White Glow. The Floating Island was mostly flat, but there were a few rocky ridges.
Could that wisp have slipped into a crack in the rocks?
If it had, it would be hard to find. The island was full of uneven rocks and crevices. He could spend half the day searching and still come up empty-handed.
Ye Qin didn't hurry to look. Instead, he hovered in the air above the island and waited.
Normally, even if the White Glow slipped into a crack in the rocks, it would drift back out before long. Then he would be able to see it.
But Ye Qin waited and waited, and the wisp never reappeared. He began to grow anxious. After a moment's thought, he immediately descended and drifted toward the gaps in the rocks to see what had happened.
There were too many crevices. It was hard to search them all.
Ye Qin drifted in and out of the countless narrow cracks, peeking around curiously. Some gaps were only half an inch wide; others were no more than tiny holes. If he weren't a little ball of light now, he probably couldn't have squeezed through. He had rarely explored these bare, gray rock crevices before, since there was nothing here. He wouldn't have come if he weren't looking for that wisp of White Glow.
As he drifted along, he suddenly stopped, alert.
He sniffed hard.
A faint scent wafted by, a little like herbs and a little like the damp smell of dew in the grass at dawn. What was it? It reminded him of the scent he caught while gathering herbs in the woods each morning.
Ye Qin froze for a moment, then quickly looked around. He didn't see anything unusual.
He followed the scent.
When he moved a little farther away, just a few yards, the scent faded until he could no longer smell it. He had to be very close to catch it.
After circling around through the rocky crevices a few times, the scent grew stronger and stronger.
He passed through a narrow crack, and suddenly the space before him opened up.
Five tender Dew Grass plants grew on a small patch of gray rock. Each had a single leaf, and a teardrop of dew clung to the tip, as if ready to fall. Even a little dirt still clung to their roots.
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