am-books Chapter 39 – Plant him a field of spiritual herbs for a few hundred years
Chapter 39 – Plant him a field of spiritual herbs for a few hundred years
As spring turned to autumn, the sun shone brightly today, marking their first year at the Five Aggregates Sect. They continued to invest their longevity points into their mana.
A gap opened in the Medicine Valley's protective barrier, and Chen Xun, leading a jubilant Black Bull, emerged with a storage bag full of spiritual herbs—every single one that they were required to hand over, not one less.
They made their way to the main hall of the sect as if on familiar ground, pausing to look around outside the hall. Fortunately, they didn't run into Senior Brother Le today, or they would have gotten another lecture.
Inside the hall was the same old man. Chen Xun, wearing a straw hat, respectfully said, "Uncle-Master, I've come to hand over the spiritual herbs."
"En," the elder grunted, seemingly never fully awake, and lazily acknowledged.
On the platform, Chen Xun emptied the storage bag, releasing all the spiritual herbs, not one more, not one less, their spiritual qi filling the air.
A flash of sharpness appeared in the elder's eyes as he quickly counted them, then took out a token and infused it with mana, his eyes showing recognition: "Not bad."
"It's you, kid."
The elder finally saw Chen Xun's face under the straw hat and then glanced at Black Bull, "You're the first disciple to enter the Medicine Garden as soon as you joined the sect and managed to hand in the full amount of spiritual herbs in your first year."
"Uncle-Master may not know this, but my family grows spiritual herbs, so I have some experience."
"Quite impressive."
The elder was more talkative today and produced a Bagua token, "This is your contribution value for the year, it's yours now."
"Thank you, Uncle-Master!" Chen Xun was overjoyed, respectfully accepting it and gripping the Bagua token tightly in his hand.
"Just drop some blood to claim it as yours, go on."
"Yes."
Chen Xun, leading Black Bull, ran off, already familiar with the location of the Contribution Hall, "Bull, we've struck it rich!"
"Moo moo~" Black Bull bellowed continuously, grinning widely.
As they ran past, the surrounding disciples frowned, wondering where this straw-hatted person came from, making such a fuss.
Once outside the hall, Chen Xun found a secluded spot and quickly dropped blood to claim the token. To his surprise, the contribution value was 200!
"Wuhu!"
Chen Xun jumped up and exclaimed, looking at Black Bull, "Bull, we've got two hundred contribution points!"
"Moo!" Black Bull was startled, standing on two legs and leaning on Chen Xun, eagerly looking at the Bagua token.
It was known that the sect's minimum annual contribution requirement for outer disciples was only 100, and they had exceeded it by double.
"Let's go to the Contribution Hall, today we're going to spend, spend like crazy!"
"Moo!"
The man and the bull sprinted off, ready to go on a spending spree at the Contribution Hall.
The disciples were startled, wondering how this ghost-like figure had appeared, looking like an old farmer.
"Heh, you must be new to the sect, right?"
"Yes, yes, please enlighten me, brothers." Chen Xun, by accident, placed three low-grade spirit stones in their hands.
Oh!
The three exchanged glances, never having seen such an agreeable junior brother before. They chuckled with hands behind their backs, "We're all brothers from the same sect."
"Indeed, brothers, indeed," Chen Xun also smiled.
"You may not know, junior brother."
The three looked at Chen Xun more favorably, "In the sect's grand competition, only disciples in the Qi cultivation phase can participate. If you rank within the top five hundred, you can earn five hundred contribution points!"
"If you rank within the top one hundred, you can earn one thousand contribution points, and there's a chance to be taken in by the elders."
"If you rank within the top ten, you can earn two thousand contribution points, be promoted directly to an inner disciple, and choose your own master."
"If you rank within the top three, that's something else. Not only will you receive various magical artifacts as rewards, but there are also things we don't know about."
The few revealed a hint of a smile, their eyes filled with longing. If they could make it into the top one hundred, they would be set for life.
"How many people participate?" Chen Xun casually asked, feeling a bit excited at the thought of earning those five hundred contribution points.
He had just seen that the recipe for the Foundation Establishment Pill required three thousand contribution points, which meant working for fifteen years without exchanging for anything else.
"Generally speaking, around thirty thousand."
"That many?!" Chen Xun was shocked, having never even ranked in the top five hundred in his previous life's exams.
"Of course, not only do many inner disciples participate, but the descendants of the elders are also included."
The few shook their heads slightly and sighed, "They have high-grade yellow-tier magical artifacts and various spells at their disposal, not something we can compete with."
"That's too unfair, what's the point of competing then."
Chen Xun frowned, such artifacts were like bringing a Gatling gun to a knife fight.
"The sect will consider our situation. The inner disciples have their own competitions; they only compete for the top one hundred rankings."
"That's still not fair, it's just the inner disciples entertaining themselves," Chen Xun shook his head, the resources for cultivating immortality were too unequal.
"But you're mistaken, junior brother. Our outer disciples are also full of talent. Take Senior Brother Bai Shi, for example, at the tenth level of Qi cultivation, unmatched!"
The few bragged as if Bai Shi's achievements were their own.
"Heh, well then, I won't bother you brothers any longer."
Chen Xun led Black Bull away at a leisurely pace, deep in thought, while disciples continued to rush by, some even whizzing past on flying swords.