Half an hour later, Li Yan's face was incomparably ugly as he stared at the patch of slender bamboo ahead, barely half a man tall and drooping listlessly. From time to time, a few sparkling raindrops dripped weakly from the branches and leaves, taking ages before falling to the ground with a patter. Each sound made his heart twitch.
"Will you continue? Including the Snow Eve Crystals lost, you already owe the sect six low-grade spirit stones." A voice came from behind him. Li Yan's already twitching heart gave another violent leap. This cool, detached voice had sounded four times over the past half hour, and every time, it plunged another knife into his already bleeding heart.
In half an hour, not only had he failed to earn a single spirit stone, he had actually lost six low-grade spirit stones.
When newcomers accepted missions, the person in charge here had to stand nearby and instruct them through the steps. This Sixth Senior Sister watched with an almost unbearable expression. After Li Yan failed twice, she reminded him. It was not because she thought especially highly of him. Whenever a novice came to carry out a mission, she would offer guidance and observe the results of their spellcasting. If they failed, she still had to remind them. But a novice like Li Yan was the first she had ever seen. Those who had come here for missions before had, more or less, possessed experience cultivating spirit plants. How could someone fail to succeed even once or twice in half an hour?
She stood several dozen paces behind him beside a large field of mature Ink King Bamboo, leaning diagonally against an ink bamboo with her arms folded across her chest, making the sight before her all the more spectacular.
When Li