The first bottle of pale yellow potion was poured by Chen Jinshu at the base of the Purple Stamen Flower. The plant emitted a faint emerald glow for a moment, but there was little visible growth.
The second bottle, a deeper yellow, produced a more vibrant greenish-yellow shimmer. Growth improved slightly compared to the first, but still fell short of expectations.
Now, she was testing the third bottle.
As the faint green liquid seeped into the soil around the Purple Stamen flower's roots, the entire plant burst with radiant green light—and then, its growth suddenly accelerated.
After fully absorbing the potion, the plant grew the equivalent of five to six days in just a few minutes.
"Green's that effective?" Surprise flickered across Chen Jinshu's eyes. She hadn't expected the green potion to outperform the others by such a wide margin.
She proceeded to pour the fourth and fifth bottles as well—and the results left her puzzled.
The Muddy Gold potion and the Faint Green one seemed to produce identical effects, except the green light from the fifth bottle was noticeably duller than that of the third.
"Why would the Muddy Gold and Faint Green have such similar effects?" she murmured, brows slightly furrowed.
Back in the alchemy chamber, she retraced her steps from brewing the third and fifth batches. As far as she could recall, there were no significant differences—except…
She had used a slightly higher flame when making the third batch, allowing the herbs to refine more thoroughly. For the fifth, her spiritual energy had been running low, so the heat was weaker throughout.
"Could the fire control be the key?"
Whether it was or not, she'd know for sure after a few more batches tomorrow.
Today, five batches had already pushed her spiritual awareness and cultivation to the limit. Any more would be unwise.
"…Time to prepare the Root Restoration Elixir."
This particular elixir primarily used healing herbs. It wasn't expensive, but she had purchased a large quantity at once, which made it feel costly. Unlike the spiritual dew, the Root Restoration Elixir didn't require a pill furnace. Instead, it was simmered like a medicinal brew, with many supplementary ingredients added along the way.
She poured some of the Frost Pond Water into the cauldron, tossed in the prepared herbs, and stirred slowly while mixing in various additives—spirit charcoal ash, soil-spirit fungus spores…
The next morning, at dawn.
Chen Jinshu woke early and made her way to the spiritual planting space, ready to inspect the growth progress of the five Purple Stamen flowers.
The ones watered with the first and second bottles had grown noticeably faster than the untreated ones, cutting four to five days off their usual growth cycle.
The third bottle was the clear winner—it had accelerated the plant's growth by nearly half a month. The fourth was about the same as the first two, and the fifth was slightly less effective than the third.
"So it's true—the green potion is the most effective for spiritual plant growth. The muddy gold one's decent, but still lags behind."
Satisfied by the comparison, she returned to the alchemy room for a new round of brewing. Replicating the special technique used for the third potion, she produced three new batches of pale green liquid—one of which turned out to be a deep green.
"This deep green one will be for cultivating the Ice Lotus Seed. The rest goes to the Snow Lotus."
She gently dropped the Ice Lotus Seed—its outer shell already softened—into the deep green potion. She'd purchased pre-softened medicinal seeds to save time. Then, one by one, she watered the Snow Lotus plants with the remaining two bottles.
In a day or two, the Snow Lotus would be fully mature. When that happened, she'd finally break through to the fifth layer of Qi Refining—and she'd be ready to take the alchemist certification exam.
About a half hour later, she took the Root Restoration Elixir and headed to the Frost Pool Herb Garden. As soon as she stepped onto her three-acre spiritual field, she noticed that the fields were now full of herbal sprouts—tiny, only the size of a pinky finger.
"With no spirit vine hogging the energy, the growth rate's finally normal."
A faint smile tugged at her lips as she raised her hand, sprinkling Frost Pond Water across the soil.
Next, she turned to face the Spirit Vine.
"Let's see if this salve actually works."
She hesitated for a moment, debating whether to try it on the Spirit Vine right away. She examined the roots, and—almost as if it could read her thoughts—the Spirit Vine extended a tendril and gently tapped her arm.
"…You want me to try it?"
The vine gave a tiny nod, trusting her completely.
"But I'm not sure if this is really what Gu Zhēnrén said it is. What if it hurts you?"
She shook her head. "I'll test it on a medicinal sprout first."
Chen Jinshu couldn't bring herself to trust the salve completely—not until she saw proof with her own eyes. She'd feel guilty if she harmed the vine. Eventually, she selected a particularly healthy-looking Frostleaf Herb from the field. Its thick root was the main medicinal component—perfect for a trial.
She scraped the root lightly with a small knife, and the plant immediately wilted and slumped to the ground. Then she applied the deep green salve in a spiral around the wounded root. Within moments, the ointment began to glow with a soft green light. The fallen Frostleaf slowly straightened, and a faint shimmer surrounded it—almost as if the wound had never happened.
"Gu Zhēnrén method actually works?" she murmured, astonished.
Of course, she'd known that a Tier-3 high-grade spiritual botanist wouldn't lie. But until she saw the results herself, it was hard to believe. Now that she had, her understanding of spiritual plant cultivation had deepened.
She recalled something Gu Zhēnrén had said at the beginning of his teachings: "As long as there's the faintest trace of life left, a skilled botanist can bring a plant back from the brink."
"…Alright. I've tested it. No harm done." She turned to the vine. "Shall we give it a go?"
The Spirit Vine nodded again.
Chen Jinshu carefully applied the deep green salve around the damaged root, fully covering the decayed area. Moments later, green light pulsed steadily from beneath the vine. She asked softly, "How does that feel?"
The vine swayed joyfully, its movements relaxed and lively.
"Looks like it's working!"
She waited a bit longer to confirm that both the Frostleaf and Spirit Vine showed no adverse effects. Once sure, she gave the fields one last round of Cold Pool Water and left the herb garden.
Two days passed.
At last, the Snow Lotus in the spiritual planting space had fully matured. Chen Jinshu stood before the glowing bloom, admiring its beauty. Its once-pale white petals were now crystal clear and luminous, faintly shimmering with fluorescent light. The center pistil had turned a rich violet, releasing a soft, soothing lotus fragrance into the air—immediately lifting her mood.
"After a year and a half… it's finally ready."
Looking at the radiant Snow Lotus in full bloom, Chen Jinshu felt a sense of hard-earned triumph.
"With this, I can break through to the fifth Qi Refining layer. And the alchemist certification is as good as mine."
She moved beside the plant, preparing to harvest.
The Snow Lotus only bloomed for six hours—if missed, the flower would wither, transferring most of its medicinal potency to the central seed to prepare for the next generation. It had to be preserved through specific methods to retain its medicinal value.
She had been ready for this moment for quite some time.
With practiced hands, she inserted her spiritual trowel near the roots and lifted the entire plant—roots and blossom together—then stored it in a specially prepared wooden box that prevented loss of medicinal potency. She harvested three in total, keeping one behind to nurture a new seedling.
While seeds from a blooming Snow Lotus could be planted, they would never grow beyond the first tier. To break into the second tier, the mother plant had to transfer all its energy into the seed. Only then would there be a true chance at advancement.