Night Watch in the Medicine Garden

Nights in the Medicine Garden are harder to endure than days. At night, the alternation between hot and cold at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well becomes even more rapid, and even the stones by the spring are sometimes covered in frost and sometimes burning hot.

Tang San squatted by the Herb Garden, his silver knife steadily wielded as he carefully extracted the herbs. Beside him were more than a dozen small jade bottles, each with a piece of paper attached to its opening, on which the name of the herb and the time of day were written. Some herbs could only be harvested at midnight, while others could only be harvested after the heat had subsided. He hadn't stopped working all night.

Yuan Yu stared at it for a long time, and his head was spinning.

"Mistress, this is more tiring than fighting."

Tang San said, "Losing a fight might just result in a beating, but getting the wrong medicine can kill you."

Yuan Yu put down the Wine Gourd: "Now that you say that, I don't dare to rush you anymore."

Tang San looked up at him. "Then let's keep watch quietly."

Yuan Yu nodded seriously, remained silent for three breaths, and then asked, "How much longer?"

Tang San paused for a moment, his silver knife still in his hand, while Dugu Bo sneered from a distance.

"The fact that you've survived until now shows that the people from the Spirit Hall have good tempers."

Yuan Yu said, "Senior, Senior Ling Yuan will be unhappy to hear that."

A faint Fire Feather appeared in the distance, Yuan Yu immediately sat up straight. "I'll keep watch."

He sat on a rock, his Sun Wheel Blade lying across his knees. Dugu Bo, in the distance, closed his eyes to rest, saying he didn't care, but he had the entire Valley under his toxic gas perception.

Yuan Yu glanced at Tang San: "Aren't you sleepy?"

Tang San didn't even look up. "You can sleep if you're sleepy."

"Who will keep watch while I sleep?"

"Senior Dugu."

Dugu Bo didn't even open his eyes. "I won't protect you."

Yuan Yu said, "Did you hear that? He's not keeping his mouth shut, and the poison gas has already reached the mountain pass."

Dugu Bo snorted coldly, and Tang San's lips twitched. Yuan Yu was about to take a sip of wine when Rosy Cloud Pattern suddenly felt a chill, and his hand stopped by the gourd.

From the north side of the Valley, a faint rustling sound came from the cold mist. Tang San looked up and said, "Something's gotten in."

Dugu Bo frowned. "There's more than one."

Suddenly, the ground cracked open, and a Frost-Scaled Centipede emerged from the icy mist. On the other side, three Red-Backed Poison Scorpion crawled out simultaneously from the fiery mist. They didn't rush towards the people; their target was the medicinal herbs that Tang San had just picked.

Tang San's expression changed. "Don't let them touch the medicine."

Yuan Yu had already moved; Wind Pattern lit up.

He leaped down from the rock, his scabbard sweeping across, sending the first Red-Backed Poison Scorpion tumbling away.

The second scorpion's stinger shot out, but Yuan Yu dodged it by sidestepping, a Thunder Pattern appearing.

"Thunder Breathing - First Form"

"Thunderclap and Flash."

Lightning Flash flashed between the two scorpions, and both scorpion tails severed simultaneously.

The Frost-Scaled Centipede was even faster, rushing close to the ground to the medicine basket. Tang San flicked out his Blue Silver Grass, which wrapped around the medicine basket and pulled it backward. The centipede opened its mouth and spewed out a cold mist, instantly frosting the edge of the medicine basket.

Yuan Yu frowned, his Rosy Cloud Pattern.

"Mist Breathing - First Form"

"Sky-Hanging Distant Rosy Clouds."

A pale, shimmering light spread out, and three centipede-like shadows appeared simultaneously in the cold mist.

Tang San said, "The one on the left is fake."

Yuan Yu didn't reply. He stared at the thinnest Rosy Glow, and in the next instant, he rushed to the empty space on his right, drawing his Sun Wheel Blade.

"Wind Breathing - Second Form".

"Claw Claw · Science House Wind".

The wind from the blade tore through the icy mist, forcing the hidden Frost-Scaled Centipede to reveal itself, now only half a foot away from the medicine basket. Tang San pulled sharply with his Blue Silver Grass, sending the medicine basket flying back into his arms. The back of his Yuan Yu Blade fell, its Rock Pattern gleaming.

"Stone Breathing - First Form"

"Serpent-Pattern Rock Dual Extremes"

The heavy blow slammed into the centipede's carapace, cracking it open. The Frost-Scaled Centipede screamed and tumbled into the icy mist. The Red-Backed Poison Scorpion tried to attack again, but Dugu Bo raised his hand, and a wisp of poisonous gas fell, freezing the three scorpions in place.

"You dare steal my herbs?"

Yuan Yu sheathed his sword. "Senior, weren't you going to abandon your post?"

Dugu Bo said calmly, "I am guarding the medicinal herbs."

Tang San, holding the medicine basket, said earnestly, "Thank you."

Dugu Bo did not answer.

Just as Tang San bent down to examine the herbs, a thin Black Vines suddenly emerged from the bottom of the medicine basket. The Black Vines slithered along the bottom of the basket and Tang San's hand. Yuan Yu, who was closest, didn't draw his sword but stepped on the Black Vines.

The Black Vines twisted wildly, black sap seeping from its tip, and Tang San's expression changed slightly.

"The Medicine-Eating Vine. It's not Soul Beast; it grows by consuming medicinal power."

Yuan Yu looked down at the vines at his feet. "They really know how to pick their timing."

The Black Vines coiled upwards along the soles of his shoes, Water Pattern lit up, and a layer of cool Soul Power pressed down, slowing the Black Vines' movements by half a beat; Flame Pattern followed closely behind, and with a gentle touch from the scabbard, the Black Vines were burned and shrank back into the soil.

Tang San immediately sprinkled some medicinal powder, and a soft rustling sound came from the ground as several Black Vines retreated. Dugu Bo walked closer and took a look.

"I've never seen this before."

Tang San said, "It must have been caused by the Ice-Fire Spring. Senior, you must be careful when gathering herbs in the future; it only targets the most potent ones."

Dugu Bo looked at Yuan Yu's feet; a shallow stain had already appeared on the sole of his shoe.

Yuan Yu lifted his foot to look at it. "These are also very expensive."

Tang San asked, "Did the Spirit Hall buy it?"

"Um."

"Then keep feeling sorry for me."

Yuan Yu sighed, "Xiao San, you've changed."

Just as Yuan Yu was about to laugh, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well suddenly trembled. Two streams of energy, one cold and one hot, surged from the spring and crashed into the Sun Wheel Blade. Water Pattern and Flame Pattern lit up simultaneously, and Rosy Cloud Pattern gently swirled between them.

Yuan Yu felt a push within his Soul Power and immediately sat down cross-legged. Tang San walked to his side. "Don't move around, I'll keep an eye on things for you."

Yuan Yu closed his eyes. The chill traveled from his left arm, and the heat from his right arm. When the two forces met at his chest, they were about to collide, but the Rosy Cloud Pattern spread out a layer of light, separating them and slowly guiding them to the Sun Wheel Blade.

Dugu Bo stood up. "This kid also uses the spring to cultivate?"

Tang San said, "His sword has patterns of water and fire, as well as patterns of Rosy Cloud Pattern. The spring is useful to him."

"Won't I eat myself to death?"

Tang San glanced at Yuan Yu: "He's better at pretending than me, but he's not stupid."

Yuan Yu, with his eyes closed, also chimed in, "Mistress, I heard you."

Tang San said, "Then let's be serious."

Yuan Yu stopped joking around.

Half an hour later, his Soul Power trembled.

Level 57.

There were no changes to the Spirit Ring, but the Rosy Cloud Pattern on the Sun Wheel Blade were brighter than the night. When Yuan Yu opened his eyes, he first glanced at the Spirit Ring.

Five.

The sixth one has still not appeared.

He actually breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't reached that stage in the Sixth Trial, and his Spirit Ring qualification was still sealed; Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well gave him was the advancement of the Rosy Cloud Pattern and Soul Power, not the random acquisition of the sixth ring by skipping the test.

Dugu Bo remained silent for a long time. "Are all of you Shrek monsters?"

Tang San put the medicine basket away.

"The Dean said our academy only accepts monsters."

Yuan Yu opened his eyes and smiled.

"Senior, do you regret bringing us in now?"

Dugu Bo looked at the corpses of Soul Beast scattered on the ground, and then at the undamaged medicinal herbs.

"A little."

He expressed his disdain verbally, but his eyes didn't try to shoo him away.

The poisonous fog outside the Valley closed in again, keeping the night out.

That night, not a single herb was lost from the Medicine Garden.

Tang San resealed the medicine basket, and Yuan Yu picked up the Wine Gourd, about to drink, but Tang San stopped him again.

"Wait until dawn."

Yuan Yu looked at him.

"You're even harder to please than Senior Dugu."