Three-Hundred-Year-Old Spirit Herb

A few days after Lin Hai said those words, a decision was reached.

"More than half the elders have agreed to let you use the three-hundred-year-old Silvermoon Grass and both Crimson Flame Ginseng plants over two hundred and fifty years old from the family's Herb Garden."

"Two of the Lin Family's three late-stage Spirit Martial Realm elders agreed as well."

"They were Elder Lin Song and Grand Elder Lin Xuan."

Lin Hai sounded relieved. Lin Chen had expected this, but hearing it still surprised him.

After all, he knew exactly how valuable those Spirit Herbs were.

The Lin Family had a Herb Garden where Spirit Herbs grew far faster than they did elsewhere.

One year there was said to equal two and a half years outside!

But a Spirit Herb's age could not be calculated so simply.

From the many years Lin Chen had spent in the Herb Garden, he knew that Spirit Herbs needed spiritual energy to nourish their growth. Time alone was not enough.

Otherwise, wouldn't every remote cliff be covered in thousand-year-old, even ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Herbs?

That was not how it worked at all.

Once a Spirit Herb developed a hundred years' worth of medicinal potency, its growth slowed to almost a standstill.

Take the Azure Spirit Ginseng he had refined during his earlier cultivation. Before it reached a hundred years old, one year of growth in the Herb Garden had indeed equaled two and a half years outside.

But by the time it reached three or four hundred years, it would cease changing altogether.

That was why Lin Chen had been so shocked that the family had offered him a three-hundred-year-old Spirit Herb and two more over two hundred and fifty years old all at once.

They were practically the Lin Family's entire stock of precious Spirit Herbs.

Lin Chen did not decline. He accepted them all.

He knew that once he grew stronger, he could repay the family tenfold, even a hundredfold!

Then Lin Hai said, "Elder Lin Song wanted to escort the Spirit Herbs here himself, but I refused."

"Why?"

Lin Chen did not understand.

Lin Hai's gaze deepened. "First, these Spirit Herbs are precious. If anything happened on the way, the loss would be too great. Second... I want you to go to the Herb Garden yourself."

"Go myself?" Lin Chen stirred.

A shadow crossed Lin Hai's eyes, and his voice dropped.

"I told you before that although Blackwind Stronghold has been destroyed, Li Baichuan's sworn brother Hu Yuan is still at large."

"Over the past year or so, he has repeatedly attacked members of the Lin Family and Li Family traveling outside the city, causing considerable casualties."

Lin Chen's gaze sharpened as he remembered. "Hu Yuan the Butcher... eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm."

"That's right." Lin Hai nodded.

"He's vicious, brutal, and holds a grudge. The Lin and Li Families have hunted him together for over a year, but we've never managed to capture or kill him. He's like a venomous snake hiding in the shadows, waiting to strike."

Lin Hai looked at Lin Chen, something unreadable flashing in his eyes.

"So I want you to take this opportunity to travel to the Herb Garden alone. I don't think he'll pass it up."

"After all, who would imagine a martial artist not yet thirty could kill someone at the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm? It defies all reason!"

Lin Chen instantly understood what his father meant.

Bait.

He would draw Hu Yuan out himself.

After a moment's thought, a chill flashed through Lin Chen's eyes. He nodded.

"I understand. That snake hiding in the shadows may not be deadly, but he's a nuisance. We should kill him and eliminate the threat for good!"

After all, Li Baichuan and the Butcher were sworn brothers. Lin Chen had killed Li Qianren, which made it much like killing the Butcher's nephew.

Three days later, at dawn.

A Green Canopy Carriage rolled out of Kaiyang City's western gate. Its driver was a dark-skinned man in his forties, dressed in coarse, short-sleeved clothes. He looked like an ordinary coachman.

Inside, Lin Chen sat cross-legged with his eyes half-closed.

The carriage followed the main road west before turning onto a mountain path toward a branch of the Vast Mountains. The journey was peaceful, accompanied only by birdsong and the rumble of wheels.

More than half a day later, the carriage entered a lush green valley.

Two Lin Family guards stood at attention beside the fence at the valley entrance. When they saw the carriage, one stepped forward to inspect it, then bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, Young Family Head."

Lin Chen nodded and climbed down from the carriage, puzzled.

It's just me in the carriage and a coachman at the Body Tempering Realm. Hu Yuan can resist a chance like this?

Has he seen through the trap, or is he watching from the shadows, afraid to make a move?

Lin Chen shook his head and put the matter aside.

If Hu Yuan refused to show himself, Lin Chen could hardly search every inch of the ground for him.

With that thought, Lin Chen entered the Herb Garden.

Before long, a sharp-faced middle-aged man in a steward's uniform hurried over. It was Lin Tie.

"Steward Lin," Lin Chen said with a smile.

Lin Tie stopped before him and clasped his fists solemnly, gratitude in his eyes.

"If Young Family Head hadn't recommended me back then, I'd still be an ordinary administrator. I'd never have been entrusted with this important Herb Garden."

"I visited the Lin Family estate earlier to thank you in person for recommending me, but you happened to be in seclusion, so I had to leave without seeing you."

"You earned the position yourself." Lin Chen waved a hand. "Show me those Spirit Herbs."

"Yes. Please follow me, Young Family Head."

Lin Tie led Lin Chen into the valley. Soon, they reached its deepest part.

Three separate Spirit Fields lay there, each surrounded by a formation powered by Spirit Stones.

In the field on the left stood an elegant, verdant Spirit Herb about three feet tall. Its leaf veins shimmered silver, and droplets of spiritual energy clung to its leaves. It was the three-hundred-year-old Silvermoon Grass.

The two plants in the middle were crimson from top to bottom and shaped like ginseng. Flame patterns rippled across their surfaces, and the air around them was noticeably warmer. They were the Crimson Flame Ginseng plants, each over two hundred and fifty years old.

"The Lin Family's most precious Spirit Herbs are all here," Lin Tie said with reverence.

Sensing the immense medicinal power within the three plants, Lin Chen calculated silently: Refining them should raise my cultivation another level.

"Harvest them," Lin Chen said.

"Yes."

Lin Tie took out a specially made jade box and jade spade, then began harvesting with practiced care. He lifted each Spirit Herb whole, leaving its roots undamaged and its medicinal power sealed within.

Before long, all three precious Spirit Herbs had been harvested and placed in jade boxes to preserve their potency.

"Sorry for the trouble. Now I need somewhere to enter seclusion," Lin Chen said.

Lin Tie bowed. "Your courtyard is still here, Young Family Head. If you don't mind, you can use it for your seclusion."

Lin Chen nodded and left to refine the Spirit Herbs' medicinal power and advance his cultivation.