Meridian-Passing Grass Seeds

By now, Jia Five had also broken through his lifespan limit and cut quite an imposing figure.

His glossy reddish-brown feathers and brilliant scarlet comb outshone every other chicken in Mountain Manor.

He was tall and powerfully built as well, standing among the chickens like a crane among a flock of fowl.

His handsome figure, neck stretched into the wind, drew the covetous attention of quite a few large hens.

Even Jia Three and Jia Four, the two Spirit Chickens who habitually treated the Roosters with cold glares, drifted toward Jia Five, whether deliberately or otherwise.

That was right. Jia Five was male too.

Yet who knew whether this fellow was simply too young to appreciate hens.

Or whether he had inherited roosters' usual tendencies: he ignored the big hens preening and posing before him, instead spending every day strutting around Mountain Manor like a general inspecting his territory.

He particularly loved standing before the water vat, gazing at his reflection as he groomed his wings and admired himself.

A true straight male!

"Show-off!"

Wang Ba could not help laughing as he scolded him.

But he also had to admit that Jia Five really did have the looks to merit "Lü Bu among men, Red Hare among horses, Jia Five among chickens."

No wonder even those two aloof hens, Jia Three and Jia Four, could not restrain themselves.

Yet Jia Five himself refused to rise to the occasion, and there was nothing Wang Ba could do about it.

"Should I go to the Market and buy some aphrodisiacs...?"

Wang Ba rubbed his chin in thought.

One could hardly blame Wang Ba for being underhanded. In his previous life, animal aphrodisiacs had been practically indispensable in large-scale livestock farming.

After thinking it over, Wang Ba was tempted after all.

He was not quite sure what grade Jia Five was now, but even judging by lifespan alone, he far surpassed every other Spirit Chicken here.

He was perfectly suited to being a breeding rooster.

Wang Ba's only concern was that he still did not quite know whether Jia Five was mature enough.

Even if an immature rooster mated, the hens would only lay unfertilized eggs.

It could instead easily harm his body.

"I won't rush his maturation for now."

"I'll go take a look around the Market first, and see whether there are any Meridian-Passing Grass seeds while I'm there."

Meridian-Passing Grass seeds determined whether he could successfully give his Spirit Chickens a legitimate provenance, so Wang Ba took them very seriously.

After putting everything in order, he took a Spirit Stone from beneath the Chicken Feed vat. He hesitated, then took out another.

For a Servant Disciple, carrying two Spirit Stones was a little ostentatious, but still barely within the bounds of normality.

After all, the Sect did not have only ordinary Servant Disciples like them. Some descendants of Sect disciples held positions as Servant Disciples and stewards, and there was no telling how many Spirit Stones those people had. There were always cultivators who doted on their descendants.

Thus, with two Spirit Stones and the silver he had earned selling chicken manure tucked away, Wang Ba cautiously made a trip to West Garden Market.

This time, he did not use Yin Spirit Power.

After making several rounds, he unexpectedly found traces of "Meridian-Passing Grass seeds" at the Lu Family Grain Shop once again.

"Shopkeeper, why is there only a label here, but no seeds?"

Wang Ba pointed at a label inside the cabinet and asked in confusion.

"Meridian-Passing Grass seeds?"

Shopkeeper Lu, a familiar face, glanced at Wang Ba and rapidly matched his face against those in his memory. Finding no match after searching, he shook his head and said:

"You want them to practice the Body-Strengthening Scripture, don't you? Every last Meridian-Passing Grass seed was bought long ago. How could any be left now? If you want to buy some, you'll have to come early on the first day of the month."

"Practice the Body-Strengthening Scripture?"

At those words, Wang Ba first froze, then felt a jolt within.

"That's right. Meridian-Passing Grass seeds open up the meridians and speed up cultivation of the Body-Strengthening Scripture. Otherwise, mastering the Body-Strengthening Scripture would be nothing but a dream!"

Shopkeeper Lu spoke as though it were only natural.

Those words instantly brought Wang Ba to a realization!

No wonder Old Sun managed to reach the Ninth Layer at his age. I thought he was exceptionally gifted, but to think there was actually a treasure that aided cultivation of the Body-Strengthening Scripture!

Could I use Meridian-Passing Grass seeds to cultivate too? Combined with my panel, wouldn't I advance a thousand miles a day?

But he quickly shook himself out of his delighted surprise.

No! Since Old Sun was stuck at the Ninth Layer, there must be some limitation or restriction even with the help of Meridian-Passing Grass Seeds.

The problem lies either with the cultivation method or with the Meridian-Passing Grass seeds themselves.

At that moment, he suddenly recalled what Steward Li had said before leaving.

Once you reach the Ninth Layer, you'll know...

At that thought, an unbelievable notion flashed through his mind. Immediately forgetting everything else, he quietly asked Shopkeeper Lu for guidance:

"May I ask, shopkeeper, do you know whether anyone has ever mastered this Body-Strengthening Scripture?"

Shopkeeper Lu raised his eyes to look at Wang Ba. After a brief silence, he said:

"Of course someone has!"

"To give a recent example, Elder He, who heads the Mountain-Cleansing Office that you Servant Disciples often deal with, rose above the other Servant Disciples through this very Body-Strengthening Scripture back in the day. His story was celebrated for a time!"

"Among the current Top Ten Outer Sect Disciples, there is also a disciple who formed an acquired Spiritual Root through the Body-Strengthening Scripture."

"Of course, such people are in the minority, after all. You shouldn't get your hopes too high."

Shopkeeper Lu's final remark was sincere.

But he knew perfectly well that the vast majority of people would not take those words to heart.

Everyone thought themselves extraordinary, a favored child of heaven. Even if they languished among the Servant Disciples, they were merely roaming dragons trapped in the shallows, destined one day to soar into the sky and ride the wind ninety thousand miles upward.

Among the Servant Disciples, if not half, then at least thirty or forty percent were such people.

Sure enough, looking down from above, Shopkeeper Lu clearly saw the Servant Disciple before him, who appeared to be in his early thirties, visibly sigh in relief.

He seemed to think that because someone had succeeded, he could too.

He completely ignored the pitiful odds: only one or two occasionally emerged from among tens of thousands of Servant Disciples.

But Shopkeeper Lu had only offered a casual word of advice because he felt like it. If others would not listen, he would not waste any more breath.

Just then, the Servant Disciple below spoke again. "Shopkeeper, how should these Meridian-Passing Grass seeds be used to aid cultivation? I haven't been at the Entry for long and don't really know the method. Please give me some guidance."

As he spoke, he tactfully handed over several silver ingots.

Though Shopkeeper Lu felt somewhat impatient, for the sake of those silver ingots, he reluctantly explained:

"You need to hold the Meridian-Passing Grass seeds beneath your tongue and dissolve them with your saliva while practicing the Body-Strengthening Scripture. You can use one tael a day, and one tael is worth five days of arduous practice!"

To Shopkeeper Lu's surprise, this Servant Disciple seemed to have some talent for arithmetic and blurted out, "So it would take two hundred and five years to master the Tenth Layer?"

Only by mastering the Tenth Layer could one nurture a Spiritual Root.

Although two hundred years was still an immensely long time, compared with the thousand years previously required, it offered far greater hope.

Shopkeeper Lu practiced this cultivation method too, so he naturally knew this. However, the first nine layers were manageable; breaking through from the Ninth Layer to the Tenth Layer was another matter...

This involved the Sect's secrets, and speaking too deeply to a casual acquaintance was taboo. Shopkeeper Lu dared not say much and merely nodded, confirming the other man's words.

Yet what the man said next left Shopkeeper Lu speechless.

"Shopkeeper, do you know how much first-tier superior-grade Meridian-Passing Grass seeds cost?"

He had not even figured out how to use Meridian-Passing Grass seeds, yet he was already thinking of buying high-grade ones?

Shopkeeper Lu could not help frowning and retorting:

"I only have low-grade Meridian-Passing Grass seeds here, and one tael costs two Spirit Stones. Why don't you guess how much high-grade ones are worth?"

The Servant Disciple immediately fell silent. Clearly, the price had indeed stunned him.

Seeing the other man fall silent, Shopkeeper Lu instead had a thought, and a smile returned to his face:

"Customer, if you find Meridian-Passing Grass expensive, I do have a substitute here. Let me make this clear first: this stuff is only a third as effective as Meridian-Passing Grass seeds of the same quality, but it costs less than a tenth of the price of the seeds. Would you be interested?"