Zhang Zaizhi looked to be eighty years old, but his actual age was certainly far greater.
He wore a gray robe, utterly out of place among the brightly dressed stewards.
Yet his gaze was clear and his smile sincere, unlike those people from earlier, whose smiles concealed something.
Zhang Zaizhi walked up to Xu Changqing and cupped his hands. "Direct Disciple Xu, this old man has been here for more than eight hundred years. I know every matter, great and small, in the Spirit Plant Bureau.
"Ask whatever you wish."
Eight hundred years?
Xu Changqing looked at him and could not help asking, "Elder Zhang, are you the person who has stayed in this Spirit Plant Bureau the longest?"
Zhang Zaizhi smiled and nodded. "The group that entered the Spirit Plant Bureau with me either rose through the ranks, were transferred away, or exhausted their lifespan without making a breakthrough.
"Now, I am indeed the only one still left here."
Xu Changqing fell silent for a moment, then asked the question he had long wanted to ask. "What exactly is the difference between the methods of cultivating spirit plants in the Northern Dipper Star Region and those in the Heavenly Origin Realm where I come from?"
A flash of understanding passed through Zhang Zaizhi's eyes when he heard the question.
Rather than answering immediately, he walked to the white jade table in the center of the hall and lightly traced a line over the miniature map of Jade Balance Star.
"Direct Disciple Xu, this old man speaks bluntly. I hope you will not take offense."
"The methods of cultivating spirit plants in the Heavenly Origin Starfield are, put nicely, adapted to local conditions. Put harshly, they are crude methods from a barbaric age."
"In barren lands, where spiritual energy is