Chapter 15 (continued)

Shen Duheng asked, "What did the people from the Supreme Harmony Sect say?"

Shan Heyuan said, "Not much. I treated some Spirit Plants today, and they gave me thirty thousand spirit beads. I promised to do my best. Oh, right, Brother Shen, I met a third-grade planter today."

Shen Duheng nodded, signaling for him to continue.

Shan Heyuan said, "That senior said he'd tried cultivating the Spring Transformation Art before too, but he couldn't get started. What made you suggest I cultivate it back then?"

Shen Duheng said, "My intuition told me it suited you, so I had you cultivate it. Why?"

Shan Heyuan said, "I was just curious. The Spring Transformation Art was so expensive. If I'd bought it and couldn't cultivate it, wouldn't those spirit beads have gone to waste?"

Shen Duheng said, "You have a Chaos Spirit Root. There was no harm in trying."

Shan Heyuan pressed, "What if my cultivation had gone astray? I only just found out how difficult the Spring Transformation Art is. My Root Bone is so poor, and even a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator might not be able to learn it."

Shen Duheng looked at Shan Heyuan, his gaze seemingly full of meaning.

Shan Heyuan openly let him look. "Brother Shen, I think your confidence in me is extraordinary."

Shen Duheng said, "The broken sword wouldn't enter an ordinary person's Dantian, much less the Dantian of someone with poor aptitude."

Shan Heyuan looked down at his abdomen. "So, in the beginning, the broken sword chose me?"

"Mm," Shen Duheng said. "The broken sword thinks very highly of you. Even now, it's unwilling to come out."

Shan Heyuan nodded and accepted the explanation.

Although they were already quite close, Shan Heyuan always worried that one day the bond between him and Shen Duheng would run its course, and Shen Duheng would disappear.

For someone as formidable and mysterious as Brother Shen, wouldn't it be perfectly normal to suddenly disappear one day?

It turned out Shen Duheng hadn't chosen him. The broken sword had.

That was wonderful.

Things were always more predictable than people.

The broken sword probably wouldn't suddenly disappear one day, and Shen Duheng, as its sword spirit, wouldn't disappear either.

At that thought, Shan Heyuan said sincerely, "I'm grateful the broken sword was willing to choose me."

Shen Duheng said, "Returning to your earlier question, the broken sword proves your aptitude to a certain extent, so I thought you'd have no problem cultivating the Spring Transformation Art."

Shan Heyuan beamed. "I see. I have been doing quite well with the Spring Transformation Art, and it was a great help today."

Shen Duheng asked, "Can it cure Spirit Plants?"

Shan Heyuan shook his head. "It only stimulates their vitality, giving them time to heal themselves."

Feeling reassured, Shan Heyuan talked about what he had seen and heard at the Supreme Harmony Sect, mentioning the third-grade planter Wen Chengyi.

He had only learned today that cultivators could take exams at designated institutions to obtain professional skill grades. Planters, formation masters, talisman masters, Alchemists, and others could all do so. Fifth grade was the lowest and first grade the highest, and jobs paid differently according to grade.

Envy colored Shan Heyuan's words, and Shen Duheng asked, "Do you want to take the exam?"

"Should I take one when I have time in a few days?" Shan Heyuan's eyes sparkled. "I heard planters are in pretty high demand. There are hardly any taking jobs on the market."

Shen Duheng said, "With your ability, if you crammed for it, passing the fifth-grade exam shouldn't be much of a problem."

Shan Heyuan said, "Yeah! I'll think about it after I finish dealing with everything at the Supreme Harmony Sect."

As he spoke, he remembered something else. "Oh, right, I brought back quite a few Spirit Plant cuttings today. After dinner, I'll mix up some rooting solution and see if I can get them to grow. The Supreme Harmony Sect's Spirit Plants are all fairly rare. If I can grow them, I'll save a huge number of spirit beads on seeds."

Thinking of the cuttings in his storage ring, Shan Heyuan wasn't in the mood to take his time over dinner.

He quickly wolfed down two bowls of rice, cleaned up, and went out into the courtyard to work on the cuttings he had brought back.

Under the starry sky, Shan Heyuan paid no heed to the little insects flitting around him. He dragged out a large wooden basin and took all kinds of preparations and materials from his storage ring.

He had collected these materials in his daily life. Some came from the wild, while others had been bought in town, and none had been cheap.

They included all kinds of partially processed and raw materials. Mixing a good rooting solution depended on a planter's personal experience and instincts.

Ready-made rooting solution was practically impossible to find on the market—it lost its effectiveness too easily.

He hadn't mixed it many times before and wasn't very practiced, but he had no problems with the theory or techniques.

The materials were rather valuable, so he mixed them very carefully.

Shan Heyuan first filled the large wooden basin halfway with spirit spring water, then added the various materials in order, using spiritual power to guide them as they blended.

Shen Duheng helped him, taking his time trimming the cuttings he had brought back.

The cuttings weren't particularly thick, and withered yellow leaves still clung to them. To get them to take root, Shan Heyuan first had to remove the leaves, then trim their bases into shapes better suited for rooting.

Shen Duheng wasn't a planter and couldn't perform complicated tasks, but simply cleaning up the cuttings was no problem.

Shan Heyuan soon finished mixing the rooting solution. He took the cuttings Shen Duheng had cleaned, placed their bases in the solution, and then used Gentle Breeze to smooth out the spiritual power inside them.

He had used Gentle Breeze too many times that afternoon, and his meridians were somewhat swollen and sore. But after resting for a while, he could still bear it.

Shan Heyuan kept his expression under control as he carefully used Gentle Breeze to smooth out the spiritual power in one cutting after another.

During the process, Shen Duheng glanced at him several times but said nothing.

After smoothing out all the cuttings once, Shan Heyuan shook out his hands. The swelling pain in his meridians was still bearable, so he thought of going over the spiritual power in the cuttings once more.

Shen Duheng suddenly grabbed his wrist. "That's enough."

Shan Heyuan was just about to speak when he saw Shen Duheng's serious expression. Feeling guilty, he nodded.

Shen Duheng tilted his chin slightly toward the room. "Go to sleep first. You can work on them tomorrow."

Shan Heyuan said, "I'll go after I wash up. Thanks for everything today, Brother Shen. You should get to bed early too. Good night."

Shen Duheng said, "I'll wait until you're in bed before I sleep."

Shan Heyuan laughed. "Don't you trust me at all?"

Even so, Shan Heyuan obediently washed up, rolled into bed, and hugged his quilt tight, ready to sleep.

Shen Duheng really did wait until he had fallen asleep before returning to his room.

With the spirit herbs he had just planted on his mind, Shan Heyuan got up at the first hint of dawn the next day.

He threw off the quilt and rolled out of bed. As he put on his shoes, he grabbed a coat, wrapped it around himself, and ran out the door.

In the courtyard, yesterday's large wooden basin sat quietly where it had been left.

Shan Heyuan ran over to the basin, reached in and lifted out the cuttings, then bent down to examine them.

White, fuzzy things had appeared on the bottoms of the cuttings.

They looked like tiny, newly grown rootlets.

Shan Heyuan leaned in for a closer look, staring so hard he nearly went cross-eyed.

Dawn hadn't yet broken, and the light was too dim. He couldn't be sure.

After staring for quite a while, he put the cuttings back in the basin and went thundering into the hall.

A moment later, carrying the Spirit Artifact lamp from the hall, he raced back to the wooden basin. Holding the lamp in one hand, he picked up the cuttings with the other.

Now he was sure. The rooting solution he had mixed really worked—the Spirit Plant cuttings he had brought back yesterday had grown roots!

Shan Heyuan turned around. "Brother Shen! They've grown roots!"

Shen Duheng stood in the doorway, perfectly calm. "Keep your voice down. The villagers aren't awake yet."

Shan Heyuan laughed. "Don't worry! They're so far away they can't hear us. Come look!"

Shen Duheng walked over. "They've grown roots. Are you planting them now?"

Shan Heyuan said, "I'll tend them for another couple of days. If there are no problems, I can plant them then. I need to make a new bed for these cuttings."

Shen Duheng said, "All right. If there isn't enough room, we can rent another Spirit Plant garden."

Shan Heyuan couldn't bear the expense. "We'll talk about it later. Spirit Plant gardens are so expensive."

The new roots on the Spirit Plant cuttings were very delicate. Shan Heyuan tended them carefully, nourishing them again and again with Gentle Breeze and Rising Sun Ascends in the East, but their survival rate was still low. Only about thirty percent of the cuttings successfully grew leaves.