Of course, what she liked most was still the blue fluorescent jade pendant. The pendant was carved with a delicate orchid pattern, and a few butterflies fluttered around the flower—exquisitely lifelike.
It even emitted a unique herbal fragrance. She quickly activated the pendant, and immediately a blue-gold shield enveloped her body.
"Even without refining it, it already has such defensive power. As expected of a second-tier defensive spiritual artifact."
"Still in the Qi Refining stage and already possessing a second-tier spiritual weapon… No wonder so many disciples want to take a real master as their teacher."
After putting away the pendant and storage pouch, Chen Jinshu took out the Clearwater White Lotus that her Sixth Senior Brother had given her.
"This Clearwater White Lotus is almost too precious to plant in the Green Pine Herb Garden."
From her Sixth Senior Brother's description, she had learned how difficult it was to cultivate this plant. Without some connections on Medicine King Peak, it would be near impossible to obtain such a rare spiritual herb.
"Sixth Senior Brother's herb-cultivating technique is indeed impressive. I must seek his guidance another day."
After placing the potted Clearwater White Lotus to the side, she brought out the Floral-Bird Incense Burner and lit the incense gifted by her Third Senior Sister. Soon after, the entire courtyard was immersed in the faint fragrance of plum blossoms.
"How did Third Senior Sister know I like the scent of plum blossoms? Such a perfectly chosen gift."
She then took out her Lüqi Zither and, recalling the "Ten Thousand Echoes Heart Manual" engraved in her sea of consciousness, began to play.
This manual didn't require offensive or illusionary musical scores—in fact, as long as she could fully play a piece from start to finish, she could gradually grasp the manual through practice. It was a progressive process.
At its highest level, the manual could activate itself during musical combat, conjuring illusory scenes to aid in battle.
…
Two days passed in the blink of an eye. The fervor of the Medicine King Peak's Alchemy Tournament gradually subsided. Chen Jinshu had stayed in her courtyard during those days, mainly to avoid being caught up in gossip.
This was the prime time for rumors—if she went out recklessly, she might become everyone's target. Better to stay peacefully and cultivate.
Besides, she had gained quite a lot during the tournament and needed time to digest it all.
"All disciples proceed to the Administration Hall to receive your new assignments!"
The voice of the Peak Lord suddenly rang in her ears, pulling her out of her focused state on the zither.
"New assignments? What is the Peak Lord up to now?"
She quickly guessed the reason—it must have been the influence of that prodigy Peng Qi from a few days ago. The Peak Master probably felt worried about the future of Medicine Peak and so decided to introduce new regulations.
"I'll go later. There must be too many people crowding there right now."
With that, she calmly returned to her music practice. Three hours later, around late afternoon. Chen Jinshu sent her Shadowpeak Finch to scout the situation at the Hall of Affairs. Only after confirming that the crowd had thinned out did she decide to head over.
Moments later, she arrived at the hall.
She noticed that every disciple leaving the hall had a bitter expression, muttering curses under their breath—probably directed at some unfortunate soul. Chen Jinshu entered and queued briefly before it was her turn.
"Junior Sister, please draw a spiritual seed at random."
"Senior Brother," Chen Jinshu gave a slight bow, "could you explain the new task in more detail?"
"Sigh. It's all because of that alchemy genius. The Peak Lord thinks the rest of us disciples are too idle. Now, all disciples—except elders—must take on an additional task," the administrator said with a sigh.
From this, Chen Jinshu pieced together the situation. Every disciple on Medicine Peak was now required, in addition to managing their three mu of spiritual fields and turning in a quota of herbs as tax, to take on a new task: cultivating a rare spiritual seed.
Each year, the disciple must successfully cultivate one seed to completion to count as having fulfilled the task. Whether the process failed or the seed was damaged, it would still be considered a failure.
Those who failed would have spirit stones deducted from their monthly stipend until they succeeded the following year. Fortunately, if one failed, they could attempt a different seed as long as one plant succeeded within the year.
"Looks like Medicine King Peak is making a real push to diversify the herb species under their care."
Chen Jinshu mused aloud, casually grabbing a seed from the administrator's seed bag.
"Please register this for me."
She opened her palm, revealing the spiritual seed to the administrator for record-keeping. The registration included the seed's appearance and condition. Once cultivation succeeded, the disciple would document the process and resulting plant to enrich the Peak's herb registry.
Most of these seeds originally came from known plants, but for some reason, they had fallen out of cultivation. One had to admit—this was a clever move by the Peak. It not only gave disciples a sense of urgency and purpose but also gradually replenished the Peak's herb inventory.
"All done."
With the task assigned, Chen Jinshu tucked away the spiritual seed.
"Cultivating a spiritual seed… it's not that hard."
She didn't view this as a troublesome task. All she had to do was soak the seed in growth-stimulating elixir for a while, then plant it in a pot. During her daily watering of the spiritual herbs in her space, she could simply water this one too.
It likely wouldn't take her a full year to grow it.
…
Shortly after, her figure appeared at Green Pine Herb Garden. Just as she approached the garden's entrance, the gatekeeper gave her a curious look.
"Junior Sister… are you the one recently accepted as an elder's disciple?"
"I hope you can keep it a secret. Please don't spread it around."
"Don't worry, I'm not a gossip," the gatekeeper replied, unsurprised. What he found more curious was that Chen Jinshu hadn't been taken in by Gu Zhēnrén.
He remembered Gu Zhēnrén once asking him to keep an eye on Chen Jinshu—yet now, she had become someone else's disciple.
Truly, fate worked in mysterious ways.
After exchanging a few polite words, Chen Jinshu quickly made her way to her allocated three mu of spiritual fields.
"So the rumors haven't completely died down."
Still, she understood that the gatekeeper likely knew of her disciple status due to his ties with Gu Zhēnrén. Once inside the herb garden, she took out the potted Clearwater White Lotus.
"Even the seed of this lotus is rare."
Earlier, she had tried to buy some Clearwater White Lotus seeds from the Hall of Affairs, hoping to grow more in her space. To her surprise, the hall had no stock, stating that all such seeds were in the hands of senior elders and not available for public sale.
That made sense. A spiritual herb with demon-repelling properties would surely be extremely valuable. At the center of her plot, she dug a small hole, carefully removed the lotus from its pot, and placed it into the soil.
Then she filled it in with spirit fertilizer mixed with special nutrients and watered it with Cold Pool Water. The lotus had appeared wilted when she removed it from the pot, but under the effects of the special fertilizer, it quickly revived and regained its vitality.