Chapter 3760 — Beginning the Cultivation

As for the rewards tied to the assessment points, at the end of the day they amounted to no more than a single Foundation-Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill, and one of merely ordinary quality at that. If Wei Zhao had a mind to, he could casually refine a dozen of better quality without even batting an eye.

Compared with the Foundation-Establishment Golden Pill, the materials needed to refine the Barrier-Breaking Pill were far less troublesome, requiring at least no rare spirit medicine like the Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb; so long as one had spirit jade on hand, a little effort would procure them all.

Of course, though the Foundation-Establishment Barrier-Breaking Pill and the Foundation-Establishment Golden Pill were both fourth-grade pills, their true worth could hardly be mentioned in the same breath as the latter, and the gap was all the more stark for Wei Zhao, himself an alchemist.

The difficulty of the Foundation-Establishment Golden Pill lay precisely in the Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb, which was why Wei Zhao had resolved to take all forty spirit-herb seeds.

And the reason he had asked for the spirit-herb seeds of Xiao Che and Qiao Hongcai, and afterwards those of Zhong Yongliang and Li Zhengming, was partly to do them a favor while he was at it, but chiefly to see whether among the seeds they had drawn at random there might be a Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seed; if there was, then naturally he would accept it with pleasure.

Still, though today's spirit-herb trial assessment had brought Wei Zhao a great and unexpected delight, one point about it left him rather regretful: as that effeminate steward of the spirit-herb garden had just mentioned, this batch of seeds, being mass-cultivated, suffered from one very great flaw.

Even if these spirit-herb seeds were successfully raised into seedlings, they could only survive as individual plants; they could not be further propagated or kept for seed.

Otherwise, Wei Zhao could simply have planted them in the jade-pendant space and cultivated them generation after generation, and never again would he have to worry about the Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb.

But then again, the worst vice in life is insatiable greed; push everything to its limit, and fate's allotment is bound to run out early. To have obtained a single Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seed in this assessment was already an unexpected joy that left Wei Zhao well content; and if among the seeds drawn by Xiao Che and the others he could find another, that would be joy upon joy.

As for keeping the Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb for seed and cultivating it generation after generation, that was no more than a passing fancy; Wei Zhao did not insist on aspiring to it.

Once each had received their spirit-herb seeds and cultivation vessels, the next step was to observe and learn the method of infusing true qi into the seeds. This method, plainly put, was simple enough: one merely controlled the outward release of true qi, letting it soak through the seed's outer skin into the interior, wrapping and warming it, for a continuous half-hour each day throughout the cultivation period.

Spirit-herb seeds were treasures of heaven and earth; to them, the true qi within each person's body could not only supply what they needed for growth just as the natural spirit qi of heaven and earth did, but, being more stimulating, acted like an artificial hormone, hastening and altering their growth cycle so that within fifteen to twenty days they would take root and sprout, putting forth seedlings.

However, since the vitality of spirit-herb seeds was exceedingly fragile, when infusing them with true qi one had to keep the concentration within a certain range and maintain a continuous half-hour each day; one must not crave speed and go beyond this, nor crave economy and fall short of it.

Otherwise, either the stimulation would fail to take effect, or it would be too strong and stimulate them to death outright.

After observing for a while and grasping the essentials of infusing true qi, the new disciples of the Three-Tiered Pavilion dispersed, each returning to his cave dwelling to experiment and ponder.

After all, three days hence the fourth stage of the assessment would begin simultaneously, and they had to grope their way to some understanding within these three days; otherwise, when the fourth stage began, they would have no such time and energy to squander on this.

On the way back to the Welcoming Pavilion, Wei Zhao, seizing a moment when no one was watching, quietly found an opportunity to ask Zhong Yongliang and Li Zhengming each for their spirit-herb seeds separately. These two worshipped him even more than Qiao Hongcai did; the moment Wei Zhao spoke, they handed the seeds over without a word, never even asking why.

Back in his cave dwelling, Wei Zhao could not wait to lay out all the spirit-herb seeds drawn by the four, Xiao Che and the rest. Since each was sealed individually and labeled, what seeds they were could be seen at a glance.

After a careful search, Wei Zhao finally found, among Zhong Yongliang's fifteen spirit-herb seeds, another Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seed; as for the other three, to his regret, they had all missed it.

Still, this result already left Wei Zhao well satisfied.

One for himself, one for Zhong Yongliang—two Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seeds in all. If both could be successfully cultivated, then by the experience of the last Foundation-Establishment Golden Pill refinement, two Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herbs would suffice for two pills' worth.

If even this failed to satisfy him, then he truly would deserve to be called insatiable.

Wei Zhao went out and wandered the wilds for a while, fetching several piles of soil into the jade-pendant space. Though any soil, once brought into the jade-pendant space, was bound to become spirit soil brimming with spirit qi, different spirit-herb seeds, after all, required not only spirit qi but also differing qualities of soil.

Some needed it drier, some moister; some preferred alkaline, some acidic; and their demands for the various trace elements in the soil were each somewhat different as well.

It was true that abundant spirit qi alone could guarantee their survival, but whether their quality could be cultivated well depended on whether one had done one's homework in this regard.

As for the other spirit-herb seeds, Wei Zhao did not much care; after all, so long as seedlings were successfully raised he would earn assessment points, and in the end they all had to be handed back to the Pill Hall. What mattered first and foremost was the survival rate; whether the quality was good was secondary.

But the two Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seeds were different; these were the objects of Wei Zhao's special care, and merely ensuring their survival was plainly not enough.

According to that effeminate chief steward of the spirit-herb garden, this batch of seeds, being mass-cultivated in the garden, were inferior seeds with inherent deficiencies compared with natural seeds: not only could they not be kept for propagation, but even if they survived, their quality would fall far short of naturally grown spirit-herb seeds.

In that case, if Wei Zhao did not think of every means to cultivate them as well as possible, then even if both Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seeds survived, the herbs that grew from them would be of insufficient quality, very likely affecting the quality and efficacy of the Foundation-Establishment Golden Pill refined afterward, and perhaps even its success rate.