Chapter 141 - 137: The Herb Garden is Attacked
The five of them rushed through the mountain pass, and the entire herb garden came into view.
The Array’s light curtain was still holding, but only the southern and eastern sections remained illuminated; the rest had been completely shattered. The cyan barrier was fragmented, the Spiritual Light at the edges of the breaches flickering erratically, like a dying lamp.
Several sections of the stone railing had collapsed.
The precious herb beds inside the enclosure had been torn apart, utterly unrecognizable.
Large swaths of earth were upturned. Plants were strewn across the ground—some uprooted and tossed aside, others stomped into the mud, leaving only half a stalk exposed. The soil of several herb beds was marred by deep footprints and the scorch marks of magic attacks.
Steward Wang rushed to the fence and stopped short, his gaze sweeping over the ruined herb beds.
The color drained from his face.
The main ingredient for the Foundation Establishment Pill was gone, roots, soil, and all.
Only a deep pit remained in the center of the herb bed, a few drops of dark sap oozing from torn rootlets at the bottom.
The plant beside it was also gone, leaving another empty pit.
Of the dozen or so Tier One Top Grade rare herbs within the enclosure, almost half were missing. The ones left behind hadn’t been uprooted, but most had been caught in the crossfire of the magic. Their leaves were scorched and curled or their stalks were broken, their quality utterly ruined.
Steward Wang’s fingers clenched the hilt of his Magical Artifact, trembling nonstop.
Old Zhao and the young scout Cultivator stood beside him, their faces ashen, their lips pressed into a thin line.
The two didn’t speak, but the muscles in their jaws were clenched tightly.
The cultivator with the surname Zhou circled the outer perimeter of the herb garden and hurried back.
"The outer herb beds were ransacked, too. A lot of the low-grade Spirit Grass has been ruined, and several entire beds were torched."
Steward Wang didn’t reply, his eyes searching the herb garden.
"Where’s Feng Laoer?"
No one answered.
The door to the stone house was open, and it was empty inside. The Feng-surnamed cultivator’s bedding was still on the bed, but his Magical Artifact and storage bag were gone.
The man was gone.
"The Pill Refiner is gone, too." The cultivator with the surname Zhou poked his head out from the stone house up the slope. "His cauldron is still here, but some of his things were taken."
Steward Wang scanned the surroundings and spoke in a deep voice.
"Salvage what herbs you can. Save as many as possible."
Li Yuan and the others spread out, beginning to inspect the remaining Spirit Grass along the small paths between the herb beds.
Before long, the sound of hurried footsteps came from the direction of the pass.
A person came running from the direction of the slope.
Short and stout, he bobbed as he ran, clutching a bulging storage bag in his hands, panting heavily.
The Pill Refiner.
As he rushed into the herb garden from the pass, he nearly tripped over a collapsed section of the stone railing, stumbling a few steps before steadying himself, hands on his knees, gasping for air.
His face was covered in dust, his apron stained with grass juice and mud, and a tear was ripped in his left sleeve.
Steward Wang strode over in a few large steps.
"What happened?"
The Pill Refiner straightened up, taking several gasps to catch his breath. His voice was rough and hoarse.
"There were intruders."
He swallowed.
"Six of them."
He held up a hand, then raised another finger.
"Two of them... Late-stage Qi Refining."
Steward Wang’s brows knitted together fiercely.
"When did they arrive?"
"About an hour after you left." The Pill Refiner moved his hands from his knees; they were still trembling. "The Array pinged first. Feng Laoer ran out to check and came back saying there were Cultivators outside testing it. The two of us didn’t dare use a signal flare, afraid of drawing attention, so we waited in the stone house."
He took a breath.
"Then the Array shattered."
"It didn’t shatter piece by piece. The entire northern face just collapsed. One spell hit, and half the light curtain vanished in an instant. That spell... its power was beyond what a Mid-stage Qi Refining Cultivator could muster."
He raised a hand and pointed toward the broken remnants of the Array’s light curtain to the north.
"After they charged in, I wanted to set off a signal flare, but Feng Laoer pulled me and we ran up the slope. The six of them split into two groups. Four went to the herb beds to plunder the ingredients, and two came straight after us."
Steward Wang asked in a low voice.
"And Feng Laoer?"
The Pill Refiner’s expression changed.
"He saw the two of them catching up and decided we should split up. I ran out toward the eastern slope. On the way, I saw some of their people also gathering herbs and carrying them out. After that... I didn’t see Feng Laoer again."
He lowered his voice.
"I don’t know if he got away or if they caught him."
Silence fell over the clearing.
Steward Wang didn’t press for more details about the Feng-surnamed cultivator. He turned his head to look toward the herb beds.
"What did you see them take before you ran?"
"Everything inside the enclosure was ransacked." The Pill Refiner set the storage bag he was clutching on the ground. "They were mainly after the high-grade plants. I saw someone pulling up that big, nearly mature herb. They probably took plenty of the others, too."
He patted the storage bag he was holding.
"I managed to grab a few Spirit Grasses and stuff them inside before I ran. This is all there is."
Steward Wang nodded without comment.
"Let’s assess the damages first."
The group spread out, taking stock of the herb beds one by one.
The rare medicinal herbs inside the enclosure suffered the heaviest losses.
The two nearly mature main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill were both uprooted. Of the remaining dozen or so Tier One Top Grade herbs, five were taken root and all, three were severely damaged by magic, ruining their quality, and only two were untouched due to their secluded location.
Li Yuan walked to that herb bed and took a look. The mud pit still showed traces of the torn roots.
The losses in the outer herb beds were also significant.
About thirty percent of the low-grade Spirit Grass had been uprooted or destroyed. Several beds had been completely torched, leaving nothing but blackened soil. Although a few other beds weren’t directly destroyed, the shockwave of Spiritual Power from the Array’s collapse had loosened the root systems of the Spirit Grass. These plants were still alive for now, but if not treated quickly, they would wither and die within a few days.
Li Yuan and the Zhou-surnamed cultivator repacked the soil around the Spirit Grass with damaged roots and infused some Spiritual Power to stabilize them. Having only just begun to learn the Nourishing Essence Skill, its effect was limited, but it could at least slow the withering process.
The Pill Refiner took the Spirit Grass he had managed to save from his storage bag and laid them out on the empty ground.
A dozen or so low-grade Spirit Grasses of mixed varieties and varying quality. Some had stalks snapped in half, others had lost most of their leaves.
It was better than nothing.
After the inventory was complete, everyone gathered again in the clearing at the bottom of the slope.
Steward Wang stood in the middle of the clearing, his gaze sweeping over each person’s face before finally settling on the ruined landscape of the herb garden.
"I will go inform the Wang family."
He clipped the Magical Artifact to his waist.
"You all stay here and stand guard. Two sections of the Array are still functional; it’ll have to do for now. It’s unlikely they’ll return right after looting the place, but we can’t rule it out."
He glanced at Old Zhao.
"You take some men and watch the perimeter. Don’t let anyone else sneak in."
Old Zhao nodded.
Steward Wang said no more and turned toward the pass. After a few steps, he infused Spiritual Power into his feet, his figure accelerating and quickly disappearing into the night.
Five people remained in the clearing.
Old Zhao tightened his grip on his Magical Artifact and walked toward the shattered remnants of the Array’s northern light curtain to arrange the watch. The young scout and the Zhou-surnamed cultivator followed, spreading out to watch different approaches to the herb garden.
The Pill Refiner crouched by the stove, his hands still trembling slightly, and didn’t move for a long time.
Li Yuan stood where he was and scanned his surroundings.
’Everything that can be done, has been done. The salvageable herbs have been saved, the watch has been set, and Steward Wang is off to inform the Wang family. Now, we wait.’
He didn’t return to the stone house to create talismans.
’The current situation isn’t suitable for talisman crafting. The Array is broken, and a second wave of attacks could come at any moment. It’s not a good idea to have my focus split on drawing talismans.’
Li Yuan went back into the stone house, sat down, and took out the Cyan Spirit Talisman Brush from his storage bag.
The emerald-green brush rested in his palm. The "Adept Calligraphy" trait was still attached to his equipment slot.
With a thought, he unequipped the Cyan Spirit Talisman Brush.
[Equipment Unequipped: Cyan Spirit Talisman Brush]
[Trait: Adept Calligraphy (White) temporarily deactivated]
[Permanence Progress: Retained]
[Note: After unequipping an item of this type, you must wait twelve hours before re-equipping.]
The Cyan Spirit Talisman Brush reappeared in his palm, the white light faded, and it returned to its physical form. Li Yuan put it away in his storage bag.
Then, from the depths of his storage bag, he pulled out a Qi Gathering Talisman he had made earlier.
Equip.
[Equipped Successfully]
[Trait Acquired: Spiritual Essence Expansion (White)]
[Trait Effect: Increases Spiritual Power limit by 10%]
[Permanence Condition: Complete one hundred circulatory cycles during cultivation within thirty-six hours (0/100)]
The Qi Gathering Talisman dissolved into a faint white light and entered his body.
The capacity of his Dantian expanded slightly. It wasn’t that his Spiritual Power had increased, but that its upper limit was now ten percent higher. His nearly-full Dantian now had an extra layer of space, and his Spiritual Power no longer felt so compressed as it settled within.
’Thirty-six hours, one hundred cycles.’
’Starting now.’
’I don’t need to make talismans during this time. With guards on watch outside, all I need to do is sit in here and cultivate.’
Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, closed his eyes, and began to circulate the Spirit-Introducing Skill.
The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the herb garden was extremely high. Even with most of the Array shattered, the Spirit Vein itself was still intact, and the Spiritual Qi seeping up from underground was still abundant. Spiritual Qi surged into his body. The Pure Spiritual Power expelled impurities, and the condensed Spiritual Power sank into his Dantian.
After completing one cycle, he switched to the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill and completed another.
He alternated between the two Cultivation Techniques, Spiritual Power flowing through his meridians again and again, his Cultivation inching forward.
The night outside the window was deep.
In the distance, the tattered light curtain of the Array flickered weakly, as if it could go out at any moment.
The herb garden was so quiet that the only sounds were the rustling of Spirit Grass in the night wind and the occasional chirp of an insect from the distant forest.
Li Yuan’s eyes were closed, his breathing even, as Spiritual Power cycled endlessly within his body.
One cycle, two cycles, three cycles.