"Apologies, Junior Sister. There's no other choice at the moment — we'll only get some fields back in about a month." Qian Yidong smiled warmly, but his eyes held a trace of regret.
"Senior Brother, isn't Medicine King Peak vast? How can there not be enough spiritual farmland?" Chen Jinshu wasn't particularly picky about her fields, but being assigned the leftovers still left her a bit unsettled.
"You may not know this," Qian Yidong explained. "The fifth-grade spiritual vein beneath the Xuanming Sect had long been tainted by demonic energy. Our Ancestor suppressed it for centuries, but in recent years it's been stirring frequently, contaminating many plots. The Golden Core elders are cleansing it, but it'll take another month."
"I see. Then I'll take the three mu* in the Frost Pool Herb Garden," she replied.
(Mu, a Chinese unit of area, roughly 667 square meters per mu)
"If you're not in a rush to start planting, you could wait a month and choose again," Qian Yidong offered gently.
"A month is too long. It's better to begin early." Chen Jinshu shook her head. If she waited, she'd be a month behind the others — how could she afford that?
"Alright, then," Qian Yidong conceded. "But the Frost Pool Herb Garden is best suited for cold-attributed herbs. Make sure you confirm the attributes before buying seeds."
"Thank you for the reminder, Senior Brother."
After offering a polite thanks, Chen Jinshu received the formation token for the three mu field and took her leave.
Once she exited the Anju Hall, she activated the formation token of the Ink Plum Courtyard, just as her senior brother had taught her. The originally violet-gold token shimmered with radiant light and was drawn toward the courtyard's direction, flying swiftly ahead.
She hurried after it and soon arrived at a quiet courtyard halfway up the mountain.
Courtyards lined the slope in tidy rows, each distinct but neatly arranged. Every single one was protected by its own formation.
Her senior brother had told her that even inner sect disciples lived here. The only difference was their elevated status — which also meant it was crucial not to offend the neighbors. Who knew if the person next door was a direct disciple of some powerful elder?
"Ink Plum Courtyard… the name sounds lovely. This is where I'll be cultivating from now on." She glanced at the nameplate, then activated the token to break the formation and stepped inside.
At the heart of the courtyard stood a dark crimson wintersweet tree in full bloom. It towered three zhang high, with a thick trunk nearly as wide as her thigh. A breeze rustled the branches, and a shower of petals fell, filling the air with a rich fragrance.
The Shadowpeak Finch she raised emerged from its pendant and began joyfully flitting among the branches.
She reactivated the protective formation with a wave of her hand, then took a tour of her new home. The Ink Plum Courtyard, while only a basic residence, was twice as large as her previous Plum Blossom Residence on Vulture Mountain.
The main hall sat at the northern end. On the east was a kitchen; on the west, a space for refining pills and forging tools. There was even a miscellaneous room. All the essential facilities were present.
She cleaned the entire place inside and out — even using cleansing spells, she still ended up exhausted. The courtyard was simply too large.
"Let's see what's in the storage bag."
From the Hall of Affairs, every disciple had received a standard storage pouch, an outer sect identity token, and a set of sect attire: a raven-blue robe, boots, and hair accessories.
The robe resembled the ceremonial garb worn in Daoist halls, but the fabric was fine — light, smooth, and embroidered with golden patterns of flowers and birds.
She changed out of her old green robe, then summoned a water mirror to check her appearance — surprisingly, it didn't look half bad. She looked almost like a cultivator out of a painting.
The bag didn't hold anything rare: twenty spirit stones, a bottle of Qi Condensation Pills, a scroll of spirit herb cultivation notes, the sect rulebook, and a map of the grounds.
"I'll pick my main cultivation technique tomorrow while I'm at the Frost Pool Herb Garden."
Her senior brother had said new disciples were allowed to choose one primary cultivation method and three spells from the Scripture Pavilion. Any additional techniques would require contribution points.
Fortunately, Medicine King Peak was the easiest place to earn points — contribution was calculated based on the grade and quality of refined pills. But before she could begin, she'd need to make time to obtain her official Alchemist certification.
"Time to review the sect rules."
She flipped open the booklet and browsed through it quickly.
The next morning, at the hour of Chen (7–9 a.m.)
Chen Jinshu woke early, only to find her body aching all over. She hadn't taken a healing pill after climbing the Heart-Questioning Steps yesterday. She immediately took a Rejuvenation Pill, and within moments, her muscles relaxed and her energy returned.
"My cultivation has improved!" She could sense it — the spiritual energy in her dantian had increased by a dozen strands. She was not far from reaching Qi Refining Level Five.
"Just twenty more strands and I'll break through."
Half an hour later—
She arrived at the Hall of Affairs on Medicine King Peak and bought a few cold-attributed seeds: Snowpetal Flowers, Frostroot Grass, and Coldmoon Lotus.
To her surprise, the prices were extremely affordable — each pack of seeds only cost two spirit stones, despite being worth over two hundred copper coins.
Snowpetal Flowers were the primary ingredient for Snow Blossom Pills, known for enhancing beauty and skin. She predicted it would become quite popular, so she bought two portions.
The other two were for Frost Elixir, known to calm the mind and stabilize the spirit.
Once she had the seeds, she followed the map to a wide herb garden — the Frost Pool Herb Garden. The entire area was enclosed by a massive formation. Around its edge were rows of spiritual trees, and a small pavilion tower stood at the front gate. Inside, an elder was recording disciple information.
"New disciples, this way. Imprint your spirit aura."
Hearing the elder's voice, Chen Jinshu hurried to join the line.
After a quarter-hour wait, it was her turn.
"Imprint your spirit aura into your token and register it in the jade slip. From now on, you can enter and exit freely. Outsiders without proper tokens will not be able to enter."
Chen Jinshu nodded and did as instructed.
The spirit aura was the unique spiritual signature each disciple carried — used for messaging talismans, identity verification, and activating formation tokens.
"Go on in." The elder waved her through.
As she stepped into the herb garden, a sharp cold wind blew past, making her shiver. The ground felt like it had frozen solid.
"It's freezing in here! No wonder only cold-type herbs can grow."
She rubbed her hands and conjured a small flame in her palm, warming herself slightly. A moment later, she found her designated plot using her spirit field token. Upon entering, she was greeted by a layer of white frost covering the ground. The soil had hardened into crumbling, icy sand.
It was even colder here than at the entrance.
"Seriously? This can be cultivated?"
She knelt and examined the soil's spiritual energy concentration — and was startled. It was higher than her own spirit herb space by a full twenty percent.
The only problem? The soil was saturated with frost energy.
"I remember Senior Brother said the cultivation notes include descriptions of each herb garden's traits."
She flipped to the end of the scroll and found the entry on Frost pool Herb Garden.
"So it was formed from the fusion of a shattered Ice Spirit Pearl with a branch of the underground spiritual vein… The Ancestor of Medicine King Peak later deemed it ideal for cultivating cold-attributed herbs, and thus opened it up..."
"But cold-attributed herbs are pretty rare!" She'd spent a long time at the Hall of Affairs trying to find just ten suitable types — and only a few were viable in mildly cold soil. Her field? This was severely cold.
"Let's test if they'll even survive."
She pulled out her spiritual hoe, began tilling and loosening the soil, and scattered salt powder to inhibit ice formation — only a small amount was needed to soften the frost-bound dirt.
After two hours of work, she finally saw rich black-brown soil beneath the frost, free of ice thanks to the salt.
Then, measuring by hand, she planted each of the three seed types — one mu each.