Chapter 27 - This…...This is Bamboo?
Each of those bamboo shoots were incredibly heavy. Having to carry ten of them on his shoulders while walking uphill, even Bai Xiaochun would run out of breath. He began to pity himself even more.
“I’m here to cultivate immortality so I can live forever. Why do I need to fight and kill?”
“Also, my bamboos could obviously have grown taller. But right now, I have to bring them out to exchange for contribution points…” the more Bai Xiaochun thought about it, the more wronged he felt. While sighing continuously, he carried the Spirit Winter Bamboos up the mountain.
At this moment, in the loft where Scented Cloud Mountain’s outer sect disciples turned in their missions, many people had gathered. They brought the herbs they had planted, and handed them over to complete the mission in exchange for contribution points.
There were elders of Scented Cloud Mountain here, responsible for awarding contribution points according to their quality.
“Not bad. This Mist Flower already has four petals. Medium Grade.”
“The colour of this wood-patterned Ginseng is too dark. The energy infused in the soil was too excessive causing it to be imbalanced. Fail.” On top of a big rock outside of the loft, a ruddy faced, white-haired old man sat with his legs crossed. There were countless disciples queueing up in front of him. One by one, they took out the spirit grasses they had grown. After the old man’s inspection, a youth beside him would record the contribution points awarded.
A flock of five-coloured Phoenixes were elegantly flying in circles mid-air. Each of them was around a zhang long, and from time to time, they would emit melodiuos cries.
These phoenixes were the elder’s personal spirit pets. Whenever the day for turning in plants arrived, they would follow the elder here. When the outer sect disciples spotted them from afar, their gazes would fill with envy.
This elder had reached Foundation Establishment. Although his achievements in the field of sprit medicine were inferior to Li Qinghou’s, he was still quite extraordinary and very famous within the sect. Especially for his obsession with the path of medicine. Even Li Qinghou sighed at his own incompetence when comparing their determination. Li Qinghou had once said that if a third Medicine Master appears in the Donglin Continent, it would be Elder Zhou.
“Chen Zi’ang greets Elder Zhou.” Soon, a young man reached the front of the queue. Although this young man was average looking, he stood upright. Arriving in front of Elder Zhou, he cupped his hands and bowed respectfully.
The youth’s words reverbrated outwards. As soon as the surrounding outer sect disciples heard his name, they immediately looked at him with curious gazes.
“So he’s Brother Chen Zi’ang! I heard that he has extraordinary talent in growing spirit grass.”
“I have also heard that ever since Chen Zi’ang joined the sect, he has never completed a spirit herb growing mission with anything less than high grade.
While everyone was discussing in hushed tones, Chen Zi’ang appeared calm, but there was a trace of pride in his eyes.
Elder Zhou looked at Chen Zi’ang with approval. He had been paying close attention to this disciple who showed talent in the field of growing spirit grasses.
“Zi’ang, what have you planted this time?” Elder Zhou gently spoke.
“Reporting to Elder Zhou, this time I grew Spirit Winter Bamboo!” With a wave of his right hand, ten Spirit Winter Bamboos, each as big as an arm, suddenly appeared next to his body. Each and every one of them was over half a zhang long. They were emerald-coloured, and gave off a faint green glow under the light of the sun.
“Disciple first immersed these bamboos in a spirit spring, before planting them in soil made from ground spirit stones and nurturing them with my Qi for at least three hours each day. In addition to this, disicple would arrange the veins of their leaves. With the Nine Green Mysterious Law disciple learnt, in addition to help from other spirit grasses, these bamboos were finally grown!”
(ED note: Firstly, ground in this case is the past participle of grind. Secondly, Er Gen uses the old chinese hours which is 2 hours nowadays, so 3 hours is actually 6 hours Thirdly, Chen Zi’ang refers to himself as 弟子(disciple) throughout the paragraph)
“Very good. These bamboos are half a zhang long and emit a green light. They exceed the normal high grade. They can be considered superior high grade. I hope you keep working hard in the future. If you can grow bamboos longer than a zhang, then they would be superb grade spirit plants.” Stroking his beard, Elder Zhou had even more approval towards Chen Zi’ang.
As soon as the surrounding disciples heard the three words: superior high grade, they immediiately broke into loud clamor, as they looked at the Spirit Winter Bamboos on the ground. Their eyes showed envy.
Chen Zi’ang’s face revealed a smile, the pride in his eyes was even greater. He bowed and cupped his hands. When he was about to receive the contribution points from the youth beside Elder Zhou, he suddenly heard a cold humph.
“Elder Zhou, Disciple Zhao Yiduo also grew some Spirit Winter Bamboos!” With a humph, a young man who had an elongated face and narrow eyes came forward in big strides. When he gazed at Chen Zi’ang, his eyes showed disdain.
As soon as he appeared, the surrounding outer sect disciples immediately grew energetic, one-by-one they looked at him.
“It’s Brother Zhao Yiduo. It’s said that Brother Zhang’s achievements in growing spirit plants are similar to those of Chen Zi’ang”
“This will be a sight to see. Those two have always treated each other as rivals. Both of them have been fighting for the title of the best disciple in herb-growing.”
Chen Zi’ang’s face suddenly turned gloomy as he coldly stared at Zhao Yiduo. When their gazes met, strong hostility could be seen in the other’s eyes.
“Zhao Yiduo, just take out your Spirit Winter Bamboos.” Even Elder Zhou’s interest was piqued. Towards Zhao Yiduo in front of him, he showed the same approval.He knew that these two youths have often been competing against each other in plant-growing. He was glad to see them do so, because through this benign competion, both of them could improve greatly.
Zhao Yiduo faced Elder Zhou, cupped his hands, then patted his storage pouch. Ten stalks of Spirit Winter Bamboo immediately appeared. Each of these bamboos, were a zhang long. The bodies of the bamboos were as thick as a thigh. The emerald-green colour of the bamboos was unexpectedly slightly transparent. There was even some spirit aura diffusing out from them. With single glance, one could tell these bamboos were absolutely extraordinary. Compared to Chen Zi’ang’s bamboos, they were obviously better.
The surrounding people couldn’t help but go into an uproar once they saw the bamboos. They had only heard of these one zhang long Spirit Winter Bamboos. They had never actually seen one.
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