"Sure, come along if you want." Qing Yue waved and led the way. As they walked, she explained to Chu Chen, "The herb garden has some rules that you should know. The entire herb garden is separated into many areas. Each elder has their own independent area. For the next few days, you'll be here to care for the area that belongs to Elder Ling Xin."
Qing Yue indicated as she explained, "See that? From there, to that tree, then to that limestone. That part of the garden belongs to Elder Ling Xin. She's the famous elixir refiner in our sect, therefore given a bigger area in the herb garden. The other spiritual herbs belong to other elders. You must never trespass into them. It'll be very troublesome if you broke the rules."
While she had been explaining, she outlined an area that had been about four to five hectares, to Chu Chen. That section of the herb garden had been the part with the most complicated terrain. Spiritual herbs, grass, fruits, vines, and all sorts were available. It had been an eye opener for Chu Chen.
"I was the one who previously managed this field. However, my cultivation recently reached a critical stage that can't be delayed. The elder can't find a suitable substitute in such short notice, so she had you come over. I'll have to trouble you for the next few days."
"Don't say that. Identifying spiritual herbs is the fundamental skill of an elixir refiner. Even if the elder didn't ask me to, I would have asked to come visit the herb garden," Chu Chen said with a smile.
"Alright. It's good that you think that way." Qing Yue nodded.
The ancient blood orchid had been located in an extremely quiet and cold place. It had been behind a tall tree, near the edge of Elder Ling Xin's herb field. That tree had many layers of lush leaves, blocked out all light from the sky, and caused the area to be dark and damp like a cave without a ray of sunlight.
"You can plant spiritual herbs in a place devoid of sunlight like this?" Chu Chen looked at the darkness around him, asking reflexively.
"That ancient blood orchid is a special spiritual herb that grows underground.The sect elders found it while exploring an underground ruin. It's born with a natural cold trait and can't withstand the sun's Qi. There, this is it." Senior Sister Qing Yue stopped before a stalk of spiritual herb and pointed.
Before them, a stalk of blood red herbs had been holding on weakly to some leaves that were about to fall off anytime. Those herbs were about three feet tall. Its body had been dull and grey in color. The flower on the tip of the herb had been tightly bundled up and the edge of its leaves showed a faint yellow color. One could tell with a look that it was about to wilt.
Chu Chen frowned. By then, he had already spread out his spiritual consciousness. In his senses, the spiritual energy in the blood orchid had been lacking. Between its leaves, were many meridians that had been blocked. It resulted in the entire herbs being in a half-dead state.
Those herbs gave off a faint aura of ancient times, similar to the aura of those godly demons on the ancient celestial mountain. Although it had been far weaker, it seemed that this blood orchid had really been something from the ancient times.
"When the blood orchid was first brought back from the dark tunnels, it grew quite well. However, as the flower bud formed, it began to wilt. Elder Ling Xin had checked through a lot of sources, but failed to find the reason. This kind of ancient spiritual being had been extinct for a long time and the records are lost." Qing Yue sighed again. On her elegant face was a hint of sorrow. "It was through chance that we found this absolutely rare spiritual herb, yet we can't determine the reason it's wilting…"
She looked at those spiritual herbs, and seemed lost in thoughts.
"Senior Sister, I have an idea, but I'm not sure if it'll work," Chu Chen said quietly after a moment's silence.
"What?!" Qing Yue was stunned. Her eyes popped wide open and stared at him in disbelief.
"Before using this method, I need to ask Senior Sister Qing Yue…" Chu scratched his head, "If I can place this blood orchid anywhere I choose?"
"Anywhere you choose?" Qing Yue pursed her lips lightly. "A-a-as long as you're sincerely trying to save this blood orchid, anything is fine."
"What if I accidentally kill the blood orchid?"
"You might as well give it a try! Even if you don't, this blood orchid won't last two more days." The gentle Qing Yue turned out to be a decisive person, planning to have seen just what Chu Chen had been up to.
"Very well." Chu Chen nodded. He then found a spade and quickly walked toward the almost-dying blood orchid.
"What are you doing?" Although Qing Yue had said he could do anything he wanted, something did not feel right.
"Dig it out."
The disciples of Crystal Spring Sect always gathered wild herbs. Having dug up a herb had been considered a well-practiced skill.
Chu Chen did not wait for Qing Yue to respond and started digging straight away. After a few scoops, the almost dead blood orchid had been dug up along with a ball of dirt.
"T-t-this…" Qing Yue stared widely at this junior brother. That was not trying to save the blood orchid. It had just outright been trying to kill it.
Chu Chen looked up at the sky, then silently muttered as though he had been calculating something. Finally, he brought the ancient blood orchid to the other edge of the herb field and at the sunniest spot next to the huge limestone. He then dug a hole and planted the blood orchid there before he impacted the earth.
Moving a person to a new place might have helped them flourish, but moving a tree to another place might have ended up killing it. Qing Yue noticed that after all that moving and Chu Chen's rough handling, the originally wilting blood orchid had wilted even more. There had only been a few leaves left that could have just fallen off at any moment, like a candle in the wind.
"Junior Brother Chu, why did you plant it in a spot with the strongest sunlight? I-i-it came from underground and it's a type of orchid that's most sensitive to light!"
Qing Yue was flabbergasted, having regretted her decision to let this junior brother to have acted rashly. If Elder Ling Xin found out that her blood orchid died this way, Chu Chen would be blamed.
"Senior Sister Qing Yue, believe me for this once. After all, you said we might as well try it earlier." Chu Chen, who was covered in dirt, chuckled.
"T-t-that...Fine, I'll believe in Junior Brother Chu." Qing Yue had a gentle personality and rarely blamed others. She had made up her mind to take up responsibility if Elder Ling Xin blamed them.
"Senior Sister Qing Yue, you can come check it again in a few days. Who knows, the results might be good."
"I hope...that's the case."
Qing Yue's heart grew increasingly uneasy, but did not say much. After a sigh, she quickly left the herb garden and returned to Hidden Frost Valley.
Chu Chen's actions had naturally not been without considerations.
He had noticed that the various blockages in the blood orchid's meridians had been because it had too much cold Qi. His grandmaster level spiritual consciousness made him instinctively think of having nullified the great cold energy with energy from the sun.
Moreover, when he examined the structure of the blood orchid, he noticed that it had not been afraid of sunlight. The elixir refiners including Elder Ling Xin might have mistaken that all plants from the deep underground had been afraid of sunlight.
Chu Chen sat on the huge limestone and continually observed the blood orchid that had been moved there by him. In the blink of an eye, several hours passed. When he scanned it with his spiritual consciousness, he sensed that the cold energy blockage had slowly been melted away. A faint smile finally appeared on his face.
It seemed that he would have been able to give Senior Sister Qing Yue a surprise the next time she came over.