In his quiet, secluded cave abode, Chen Shuangbai silently circulated the Moon-Worshipping Clear Illumination Method again, sending pure Law Power through a full circuit of his body. Only when the morning sun began to rise did he head down the mountain.
He went neither to the disciples' quarters at Stone-Rinsing Court nor to the dining hall, but straight to Jade Dew Hall.
This expanse of land was vast.
Almost every hall occupied one or several mountain ranges, all of them places of spiritual beauty.
The mountain where Jade Dew Hall stood was called Spring Water Peak, a graceful peak situated in the southern yang, departing fire position.
Unlike Crisp Spring Peak, where Stone-Rinsing Court stood, this peak faced south and was covered in lush greenery. As Chen Shuangbai drew near, a warm breath of air washed over him, making him feel a little more at ease.
When he reached the foot of the mountain, a formation swept over him. The formal disciple token hanging at his waist flashed, and he entered Spring Water Peak without trouble.
Jade Dew Hall itself was a small, six-story building facing south, its eaves sweeping high. It had a delicate beauty, shrouded in a misty atmosphere like the Jiangnan rain and haze of the White Water Chen Household's home.
Few disciples came and went from Jade Dew Hall, and all wore smiles. Even those who did not know one another would nod slightly when they met, as a greeting.
Chen Shuangbai had not come here to wander about with nothing better to do.
He had come because he was running low on Merit Points.
Mortal gold, silver, and jewels were of little use in the cultivation world. Within the Jade Spring Sect, disciples' contributions were assessed through the Merit Point system.
The sect's Merit Points were assessed mainly by the Expenditure Hall, which fell under the Myriad Phenomena Hall.
There were three ways to obtain Merit Points:
The first was to accept tasks that the other eight halls issued through the Expenditure Hall. Completing one earned Merit Points.
The second was to receive them from one's elders in the sect.
The third was to render a great service and receive them directly from the sect.
Disciples could trade Merit Points among themselves using the jade plaques that identified them as Jade Spring disciples.
Direct Merit Point transactions between disciples and their teachers or elders were, however, prohibited. They had to be registered with the Expenditure Hall, and the reason explained, before permission could be granted.
A few days earlier,
Chen Shuangbai had gone to the Expenditure Hall. Among the multitude of Merit Point tasks that had nearly dazzled his eyes, he had immediately taken a liking to the Garden Guardian task issued by Jade Dew Hall.
He had come to Spring Water Peak today to take up the post.
The senior sister who received Chen Shuangbai had a round face and wore a yellow dress. She had a naturally serene appearance, and when she smiled, a shallow dimple appeared on her right cheek, making her look very cute.
After checking Chen Shuangbai's disciple jade plaque, the senior sister, whose name was Huang Shanglan, smiled and pointed him in the right direction. "Follow this path straight ahead. When you reach the end, someone will guide you to the medicine garden you'll be responsible for."
Chen Shuangbai returned the greeting. "Thank you, Senior Sister Huang."
The smile on the round-faced Senior Sister Huang's face grew even more pronounced.
Only after Chen Shuangbai had left did she reluctantly withdraw her gaze and start muttering to herself.
"How strange. How did this junior brother get to be so handsome..."
Chen Shuangbai followed the path toward the jade garden.
Frosty mist and cold vapor enveloped the garden, and sunlight refracted through the veil to form a seven-colored ice rainbow. Irrigation channels drew water from the Shattered Star River, and the water rose like steam, nourishing all the spirit medicines in the area.
The medicine beds were covered in blue ice crystals. Chen Shuangbai activated his Spirit-Appraising Pupil, and through its special vision, he could clearly see specks of light shining from beneath the crystalline layer.
No wonder it's called the Cold Mist Jade Garden.
Chen Shuangbai thought to himself.
Before coming to the jade garden, he had already learned elsewhere about its four great spirit medicines, which were also the sect's mainstay spirit medicines.
They were jade marrow orchid, cold plum congealed-fat calyx, star-patterned sweet flag, and iceheart bamboo.
These four spirit medicines had a wide range of uses, including refining medicines, simmering soups, making thick broths, grinding into powder, and making incense.
The four spirit medicines were planted in separate areas in the four directions, covering a vast expanse, showing how much importance the sect placed on them.
Looking over, Chen Shuangbai saw many figures busy in the fields, watering, catching insects, or turning the soil.
Some of them were medicine attendants serving under Jade Dew Hall, while others were disciples who had accepted tasks and come here to earn Merit Points.
Among them,
Chen Shuangbai actually saw several disciples dressed in inner sect robes, a sign of how extraordinary Jade Dew Hall was.
Suddenly,
As if sensing something, he turned around and saw a strikingly beautiful young woman standing a dozen or so paces behind him.
She wore a green outfit and had her hair tied in two buns. Pretty and adorable, she looked full of vitality.
The one flaw was that her eyes were a uniform grayish white. Clearly, she could not see.
Yet the young woman seemed unaffected. Looking in Chen Shuangbai's direction, she asked in a crisp voice, "Are you Chen Shuangbai?"
The senior sister at the front of Jade Dew Hall must have sent Chen Shuangbai's information to the jade garden well in advance.
Chen Shuangbai nodded and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Senior Sister A Heng, I am Chen Shuangbai."
A Heng was the daughter of Jade Dew Hall's deputy hall master, who was also the Peak Master of Spring Water Peak. She was a well-known figure in the sect.
There was just one thing Chen Shuangbai found very puzzling.
Senior Sister A Heng had clearly been blind from birth, yet now she walked with flying steps and easily crossed all the obstacles in her path. Could the rumors have been wrong?
But Chen Shuangbai quickly dismissed the thought.
He glanced at A Heng with his Spirit-Appraising Pupil. Her cultivation far surpassed his; clearly, this senior sister was a highly accomplished cultivator.
Presumably, she had cultivated some special method.
Leaning on a bamboo staff, A Heng led Chen Shuangbai, tap-tap-tapping, to a medicine garden halfway up the mountain. She pointed at the jade marrow orchids just sprouting in the plot and said, "This is the area you'll be responsible for."
The garden halfway up the mountain mainly grew jade marrow orchids, with hazy moon vine, rosy robe grass, and jade-rinsing moss as supplementary medicines.
The Jade Spring Sect was a major sect with a Golden Core True Person among its ranks. In pill refining alone, it ranked among the top two of the Jing Kingdom's five great sects.
The sect's pill-refining skills were naturally impressive.
Chen Shuangbai knew that the main ingredients for many of the sect's pills mostly came from these four spirit medicines. Combined with other spirit medicines, they could be refined into Jade Spring Pills, Cold Mist Pills, Saliva-Producing Pills, and many other pills renowned throughout the Jing Kingdom's cultivation world.
Their leaves spread like sheer glazed silk, threaded with icy blue-green veins. They bloomed at midnight, their petals cradling jade dew that shimmered with seven-colored halos in the morning light.
That was the jade marrow orchid.
Senior Sister A Heng seemed intent on testing Chen Shuangbai. She paused for a short while on the ridge between the medicine beds and asked, "Junior Brother Chen, do you know the medicinal properties of the jade marrow orchid?"
Chen Shuangbai was taken aback. Although he did not quite understand why she was testing him, he answered in full detail:
"Jade marrow orchids grow by cold springs and are cold in nature. Taken internally, they moisten the lungs and internal organs and dispel cold impediments. Burned, they calm the spirit and aid in comprehending the Dao.
"When used as medicine, they're the main ingredient in the sect's famous Jade Spring Pills and Cold Mist Pills. If dried and ground up, they can be made into Cold Fragrance Pills and Orchid Charm Incense."
Chen Shuangbai did not speak quickly, but his words were clear and flowed smoothly. He even showed a little ability to draw inferences from what he knew.
Senior Sister A Heng listened intently. By the end, she could not help giving him a thumbs-up. "So many people have come to serve as Garden Guardian lately, but you're the only one who did his homework beforehand."
"Junior Brother Chen, you're very good."
Chen Shuangbai smiled too and replied,
"Thank you for the compliment, Senior Sister."