This Cow Is Raised Well

"Exploded? Eldest Senior Sister, how could that oak tree explode?"

Li Jun showed just the right amount of shock and hurriedly asked.

"I don't know the exact sequence of events yet, but what I can be sure of is that this explosion is connected to this latest batch of oaks."

Shen Xiyue relaxed completely, and even looked a little delighted at someone else's misfortune.

According to reliable information, the forging furnace that had exploded this time belonged precisely to her old rival, Yao Yuzhi.

She did not even have to think about it. For Yao Yuzhi to use so much oak, she must have been refining a magical artifact to deal with her.

But from the look of things now, the other party's magical artifact would definitely have to be delayed.

To Shen Xiyue, that was excellent news.

Thinking of this, Shen Xiyue's eyes instantly curved into crescents. All she could say was that this explosion had come at the perfect time.

Originally, she had wanted to rely on her contribution regarding the Purple Foundation Pill to obtain a piece of meteoric iron, then use it to forge a top-grade tier-two magical artifact.

But the Elder Council had used the excuse that the Purple Foundation Pill was of great importance and still required research and observation, directly taking away the pill she had worked so hard to refine, so that even now she still did not know whether the Purple Foundation Pill was effective or not.

Of course, she could more or less guess why the Elder Council had been dragging its feet and giving no reply.

It was nothing more than the elders supporting Yao Yuzhi making trouble from within. By delaying again and again, there was a high chance they wanted to create an opportunity for Yao Yuzhi, allowing her to exchange for rare forging materials from the Treasure Pavilion one step ahead of her.

And now that Yao Yuzhi had run into this incident, it would not be so simple for her to exchange for materials from the Treasure Pavilion again.

"Li Jun, drive the oxen to the cowshed first. The stewards from the law-enforcement team will come in a while. When the time comes, let them inspect the oak leaves."

"Yes, Eldest Senior Sister!"

The cowshed.

The cowshed was especially lively today. The Azure Cloud Sect's law-enforcement team, together with the elders of Medicine Peak, around twenty to thirty people in all, had come here.

"Elder Gu, Senior Sister Shen, these oak leaves have been contaminated by poisonous insects. It can basically be determined that a problem occurred during the maintenance process."

The captain of the law-enforcement team, Zhou Shouyi, cupped his hands and said.

"Hmph! This old man said back then that Oak Garden was of great importance, so how could it be raised by a group of laborers? Now look what's happened. The entire Oak Garden has been destroyed seven or eight parts out of ten. The things this affects are far too many!"

Gu Yang's beard bristled. Today, this matter had nearly angered him to death.

The spiritual birds and spiritual fish he raised, for instance, had eaten the latest batch of oak leaves, and more than a dozen had now died!

Those were all the fruit of his painstaking effort!

Many of them were precious supplementary ingredients for pill refining, and now they had all gone down the drain!

"Elder Gu, please calm your anger. This disciple's Spirit Oxen were fortunate enough to escape this disaster. If Elder does not mind, you may take a few back with you."

Shen Xiyue said softly.

"I'm just one rotten old man. How could I take things from a junior? I only hate that the Peak Master is too yielding. Our Medicine Peak is responsible for spiritual plant cultivation to begin with. Oak Garden ought to be managed by us."

"Xiyue, you are the Peak Master's proud disciple. Do try to persuade her properly!"

Gu Yang spoke from the heart.

"Elder Gu, don't worry. This time, I will definitely persuade Master properly and strive to have Oak Garden's management rights transferred into the hands of our Medicine Peak."

Gu Yang nodded, his mood finally improving somewhat.

"Little Zhou, you have also examined these oak leaves. Oak Garden cannot escape blame for this incident. You must report the truth to Elder Lian."

Zhou Shouyi cupped his hands and politely replied, "Elder Gu, rest assured. The law-enforcement team has already taken full charge of Oak Garden. When the time comes, we will certainly give Medicine Peak an explanation."

Zhou Shouyi took the physical evidence, then asked Li Jun some questions before leaving Medicine Peak.

"Elder Gu, I invited you over today because I wanted you to take a look at my Spirit Oxen. This disciple is worried that the previous oak leaves also had problems. If there really is a problem, I'm afraid these Spirit Oxen will have to be disposed of."

"Heh heh, Xiyue, then you've found the right person. On this Medicine Peak, no one understands raising spiritual birds better than I do. Even if there is a problem, with this old man here, I guarantee I can cure them for you."

Shen Xiyue bent in thanks. "Then I will thank Elder Gu in advance. This disciple refined some pills for nourishing the spirit a few days ago. When the time comes, I will have the servants send them to you."

"Haha, Xiyue, you're treating me like an outsider. You are the hope of our Medicine Peak's generation. Giving these things to this rotten old man would just be a waste."

"Elder Gu, your words are too heavy. You are the pillar of Medicine Peak. Besides, this disciple refined quite a few Spirit-Nourishing Pills. Elder may use them without worry."

After a round of polite back-and-forth, Gu Yang "reluctantly" agreed to accept them, leaving Li Jun watching in a daze.

"I didn't expect Shen Xiyue to be so young, yet so seasoned in the ways of human relations."

Li Jun sighed with emotion, then firmly committed it to memory. These things would surely prove useful in the future.

Afterward, Gu Yang came to the cowshed, his pair of rough hands roaming continuously over the oxen's bodies.

At first, his expression was still very calm, but after examining several oxen, his brows knitted deeply.

"Elder Gu, is there something wrong with these Spirit Oxen?"

Shen Xiyue's heart tightened. Could they really have fallen into the trap?

"Strange, strange indeed! Xiyue, have you fed these Spirit Oxen any pills to cleanse the bones and remold the marrow?"

"Pills? Elder Gu, you must be joking. Pills are so precious. Naturally, it would be impossible to feed them to these Spirit Oxen."

"Then that's strange. Not only is there nothing wrong with these Spirit Oxen of yours, they're surprisingly excellent!"

"Every one of them is fat and sturdy, with broad frames, coats glossy as satin, and spirit to spare. When they raise their heads and stamp their hooves, a faint sharp light glints in their eyes. They're comparable to... top-grade oxen!"

Gu Yang gave them an extremely high appraisal.

Shen Xiyue was utterly baffled. She remembered that when this batch of calves had first arrived, they had only been of upper-middle quality, nowhere near those top-grade oxen.

And now, Elder Gu Yang was actually saying her oxen were comparable to top-grade oxen.

How was that possible?!

"If anything has changed during this period, it's only that I had Li Jun take over the cowshed. Could it be him..."

Shen Xiyue's gaze flickered.

However, whether or not Li Jun was the reason, she could not let Elder Gu Yang know about this.

"Elder, I suddenly remembered that there were a lot of medicinal dregs left over from the last time I refined Purple Foundation Pills. Thinking it would be a waste to throw them away, I had someone feed them to the Spirit Oxen," Shen Xiyue said, finding an excuse.

"Oh? The medicinal dregs of Purple Foundation Pills? If that's the case, then it's not impossible."

Gu Yang's eyes shone. If that was really true, then the value of the Purple Foundation Pill would be even higher.

"Xiyue, the next time you refine Purple Foundation Pills, give me some of the medicinal dregs. I'll study them a bit."

Shen Xiyue nodded in agreement.

Gu Yang checked things over again, and after confirming there were no problems, he left.

With such a major incident having happened at Oak Garden this time, he had to make a trip to Azure Cloud Peak. No matter what, he had to fight for some benefits for Medicine Peak.

Soon, only Shen Xiyue and Li Jun were left by the cowshed.

"Li Jun, are these Spirit Oxen connected to you?"

Li Jun's heart tightened, and he said with a solemn expression, "Eldest Senior Sister, I'm not sure whether it has anything to do with me. This disciple merely used a family-inherited technique to help the Spirit Oxen digest."

"As for whether this technique could make the Spirit Oxen undergo such a change, this disciple would not dare claim credit."

Shen Xiyue looked at Li Jun, then pointed at a Spirit Ox nearby.

"Use that technique of yours and show me."

"Yes. Eldest Senior Sister, please watch."

Li Jun came to the side of the Spirit Ox and skillfully began massaging it.

Under Shen Xiyue's incredulous gaze, the Spirit Ox's eyes seemed to melt.

Clearly, the Spirit Ox was extremely comfortable.

Under Li Jun's unique technique, all the pores across the Spirit Ox's body opened, and faint spiritual energy flowed within, linking inside and outside to form a complete closed loop.

Looking at this scene, Shen Xiyue was already certain.

The Spirit Oxen's transformation was definitely related to this technique!