A Promising Junior

"Success once, gain two proficiency points?"

Yue Shuo was referring to Talisman Crafting proficiency by rank. He remembered clearly that when crafting a First-Grade Spirit Talisman, his proficiency had been zero.

Of course, this was a good thing.

Yue Shuo recalled how much Divine Sense he had had left before crafting the talisman.

"It seemed I only had fifteen points of Divine Sense left then, so a First-Grade Spirit Talisman consumes five points of Divine Sense!?"

That was not good news.

It cut his plan to rapidly grind rune levels and Talisman Crafting proficiency in half.

Of course,

he believed he could still keep grinding Foundational Talismans.

He slept for three hours.

His Divine Sense had recovered by nearly half as well, but Yue Shuo did not continue crafting talismans.

Instead, he studied how to use the First-Grade Spirit Talisman he had successfully crafted.

He discovered that, so long as he did not cast spells or circulate spiritual power, the Qi-Concealing Talisman consumed very little.

This kind of spirit talisman

was similar to something used through stored charges.

Of course, it seemed impossible to recharge it repeatedly.

Yet with a single charge—once it had been crafted—keeping it close to his body could conceal the fluctuations of his spiritual energy.

That concealment could be adjusted.

After adjustment, its consumption would increase.

Moreover, excessively precise adjustments were not possible, though adjusting it by several tenths was much easier.

Yue Shuo did not need to adjust it too precisely.

He was merely thinking.

It seemed that before casting a spell, a cultivator's spiritual energy fluctuations were naturally rather steady.

The spiritual energy fluctuations of Spirit Induction into the Body disciples were even weaker.

"So, even if I concealed my aura a little too much just now, at most people will think my spiritual energy fluctuations are very stable..."

After pondering it over and over, Yue Shuo decided there should be no problem.

Even if there was a problem, there was nothing he could do about it.

Inside the Spirit Field, he put away the Qi-Concealing Talisman, folded it up, and tucked it into his pocket.

After that,

he first had to make up for the cultivation session he had missed today.

If one's talent was poor, one had to make up for it with diligence.

Yue Shuo quickly entered a meditative state.

While he cultivated, the two people who had left Little Brook Valley happened to be discussing him as well.

The middle-aged Qin He sighed as they walked.

"If that child surnamed Yue had a stronger Spiritual Root, even a Four-Element Spirit Root, this old man would recommend putting great effort into nurturing him!"

The young Fang Tong merely smiled without speaking.

Qin He was on good terms with him, and seeing his expression, he was somewhat helpless.

"Little Fang, don't disbelieve me. The Qin Clan does not lack spirit plant cultivators, but that refers to low-level spirit plant cultivators!"

The Qin Clan had first risen through cultivating spirit plants.

Their main island, Hemu Island, had spiritual energy attributes leaning toward water and wood.

Thus, Hemu Island possessed many Spirit Fields.

Even ordinary farmland, if nurtured for enough years, could potentially become a First-Grade Spirit Field. It could be called a blessed land for cultivation.

If not for the near absence of high-grade Spirit Fields,

this place would likely have long since ceased to be something the Qin Clan could guard.

Of course, even now, there were likely people coveting this homeland from which the Qin Clan had risen.

"If Yue Shuo had a Three-Element Spirit Root, then even without Uncle He bringing it up, I would make such a recommendation. But a Five-Element Spirit Root..."

The young Fang Tong's expression dimmed slightly as well.

When he had just seen that lush, verdant Gathering Spirit Grass, he had been tremendously excited.

But once he calmed down, he understood.

Given the Qin Clan's circumstances,

a Five-Element Spirit Root...

Truly, even if Qin He and he both made the recommendation, no one would approve it.

It would merely be a waste of time.

He shook his head.

"Right now, one or two gifted spirit plant cultivators cannot play a decisive role."

"With those resources, that child with the Three-Element Spirit Root and decent combat talent is actually more worthy of being cultivated with all our strength!"

Cultivation resources were precious and scarce.

They could not be distributed equally to everyone.

"The Foundation Establishment Realm is too far away for us."

"But if we have just one more Qi Refining, Late Stage cultivator skilled in combat, our pressure will lessen somewhat!"

"Our control over the area surrounding Hemu Island could improve by a few points as well!"

"Or... a potential alchemist!"

The middle-aged Qin He nodded thoughtfully.

"Indeed, nurturing alchemists is equally vital. That would keep our Qin Clan from having our throats gripped by others..."

"Still, of the three children we met this time, I personally think all of them are quite talented."

Fang Tong acknowledged this as well.

Only around ten years old, having come from a tiny place like a barren island, and after only one or two months they had already dared to stretch out their feelers and stir up trouble.

In terms of courage, they were indeed impressive!

And they did not possess courage alone!

They had stirred up trouble without getting themselves dragged into it. For impulsive youths of their age, that was already quite good.

He smiled.

"That Zou family boy has his edge fully exposed; Uncle Yan has already taken a liking to him!"

"That Tian family child is reserved and cautious, and I heard he has some talent for alchemy. Alchemist He intends to observe him for a while and may take him on as an apprentice."

"We thought there would be nothing to expect from the last child on their island, with his Five-Element Spirit Root."

"Yet he turned out to be a naturally gifted spirit plant cultivator!"

Even Fang Tong himself found this astonishing.

He looked at Qin He.

"That barren island... could there be something unusual about it?"

Qin He shook his head.

"Earlier, when we sent people to deliver rewards to those three families, we found nothing abnormal."

"This was merely a coincidence. Besides, there is only one Three-Element Spirit Root, one Four-Element Spirit Root, and the last is merely a Five-Element Spirit Root..."

Hearing the mention of Spiritual Roots, Fang Tong sighed somewhat as well.

"The Spiritual Roots truly are a little lacking."

In the eyes of the two men,

only Zou Chongying had a reasonably good Spiritual Root.

Tian Wan's Four-Element Spirit Root was nothing special, but what made him noteworthy was that Alchemist He, a guest elder of the Qin Clan, had taken an interest in the youth.

Yue Shuo's Five-Element Spirit Root made it harder and harder for people to muster any enthusiasm.

As they spoke, both men gradually lost interest in the conversation.

After all, it was only a Five-Element Spirit Root.

Reaching Qi Refining Level One within a year would be difficult.

Every breakthrough would be harder than for other cultivation disciples, and the possibility of reaching Qi Refining, Late Stage was basically nonexistent.

Nurturing him would consume too many resources.

Even Qin He, who had initially been tempted to cultivate him, lost much of his interest.

He merely had someone release the martial servant named Gu Jiu.

Thinking of why they had captured that martial servant,

he sighed again.

"This youth is forthright and generous, loyal and righteous. What a pity about his talent... Oh, right, are you free at the beginning of next month? How about taking a one-day part-time shift at the External Affairs Pavilion?"

Fang Tong understood what Qin He meant. After thinking for a moment, he readily agreed.

Wasn't it simply that Qin He still did not want that loyal and generous junior disciple to suffer a loss, and wanted to give him a little benefit while he was at it?

To them, a few Spirit Stones were nothing.

Occasionally bestowing a little gift or guidance upon a promising junior might one day become a fine tale, just as it had for Qin He and him.