As Chu Chen calmed down, he finally remembered the main reason he came to the field; to have cared for the various spiritual herbs. However, he had no idea what to do next.
Chu Chen felt overwhelmed. After all, he had been totally new in managing the herb garden. Senior Sister Qing Yue went off in a hurry and did not have the time to teach him the basics about the job.
Chu Chen could only walk around Elder Ling Xin's herb field. He planned to use his spiritual consciousness to learn more about each spiritual herbs' medicinal properties and the purity of its spiritual energy.
Walking along the field, he suddenly picked up some low-muffled sounds near a row of trees.
"I really don't understand how that trash from the outer circle qualified to enter the herb garden! Back then, I had to slave away for Elder Ling Yan for a full six years in order to fill the spot here as a guard for the garden!"
"I had it worse! I gave several hundreds of spirit stones from my fortuitous encounter to Elder Ling Feng! Several hundred! That's enough to last me decades! Just what kind of dumb luck did that kid have?"
"That dumb girl Qing Yue is so protective of him. Could it be that they have done some unspeakable things? Tch tch…"
"That kid does look rather decent. Maybe that old hag Elder Ling Xin loves tender young boys."
"Hehe, he's just trash that rides on coattails. See how he dared to act so recklessly with the ancient blood orchid right after he came in. Elder Ling Xin must've gone senile to let her own gigolo trample on this treasure. After the blood orchid dies, we'll report this gigolo to the person in charge and have him chased out of the garden. Remember not to have any contact with him."
"Yeah, we have to work together and get rid of this trash!"
…
Chu Chen had been speechless. He could not have understood how those disciples who had been guarding the garden could have been so petty!
Since he had nobody to teach him, he might as well have figured it out on his own. Fortunately, he had not been totally new to spiritual herbs.
Although he had still been a layman at managing a herb garden, he should have started by understanding the special traits of these spiritual herbs. Those he came in contact with were usually level-1 spiritual herbs, but the garden had quite a number of level-2 spiritual herbs. It had been a rare chance indeed.
Right then, Chu Chen started studying the entire herb field in detail. He limited his spiritual consciousness to a very small area so that he could have sensed the spiritual energy flow in the spiritual herb without tiring himself out. Just like that, a day almost passed without him realizing it.
Just when he arrived at a stretch of shrub-type herbs in the evening, a body suddenly appeared before him and gave him a scare. Taking a good look, a disciple with an honest-looking face had stood before him and signaled for him to stay quiet. His expression seemed to be a little creepy.
"Shhh...Junior Brother Chu, don't be afraid. I'm here to teach you how to care for the spiritual herbs. Don't tell anyone. The other disciples want to send you away."
The disciple before him looked honest and plain. It seemed that he had just been a little cowardly. After looking around worriedly, he pulled Chu Chen aside and warned him, "Those senior brothers all have some sort of backing. It's not good to mess with them. Just try not to anger them. Leave quickly after finishing your daily tasks. They might not dare to do anything to you while you're in Elder Ling Xin's field, but once you leave this place, things will be different. Hopefully nothing major happens for these few days in the herb field, otherwise you might be implicated as well."
"Ugh...thanks, Senior Brother." Chu Chen's heart was slightly moved, feeling that this cowardly senior brother had been quite a nice guy.
Therefore, newbie Chu Chen then followed this senior brother of the Tang family and listened to his lecture on how to have cultivated spiritual herbs.
He immediately realized that spiritual herbs in the sect had been very different from planting grains in the mortal world. Watering, fertilizing, trimming, and ploughing had their own different sets of procedures.
First of all, the regular water should not be used when watering. Instead, it needed the spring water from deep in the garden. Moreover, each type of spiritual herbs' watering requirements, watering timings, and the intervals had strictly been controlled. Only when all the details were impeccably followed, would the spiritual herbs have flourished.
Next was the fertilizing, which had also been different. Unlike the mortal world, where farmers used animal excrements over their crops, fertilizing spiritual herbs required all sorts of fertilizers. Some were of cold property and required crushed ice. Some were of the fire property and would have required top-grade charcoal that had been burning red hot. There were even some spiritual herbs that loved metal and required a few iron balls as nourishment every so often.
The spiritual herbs' trimming had also been another topic all on its own. First, were the cutting tools. They were not allowed to use metal, wood, or bamboo scissors because those items carried their own Qi of the five elements and would have affected the medicinal properties of the spiritual herbs. It required jade scissors. Meanwhile, where to have trimmed, how much to have trimmed off, and the interval between trimming were all strictly followed, not allowing space for the slightest mistake.
…
Just like that, it had carried on until late night before Senior Brother Tang managed to finish telling him about the caretaking of the herb garden. Right then, Chu Chen could not have helped but had shown respect for this average-looking senior brother. He had just been like a walking encyclopedia of the herb garden, who managed to have remembered all those little details in his mind in such an orderly fashion. It had just been amazing.
Looking at the eastern sky being lined with a sliver of white, Senior Brother Tang patted Chu Chen on the shoulder. "Take your time to digest what I just told you. Next time, I'll find a chance to answer your question. Tomorrow, you can start by learning how to water the plants. Remember, don't stir up trouble, avoid mistakes, and don't complain. Moreover, don't tell those disciples that guard the garden that I taught you these things, okay?"
Chu Chen nodded. "I'll remember that. Thank you, Senior Brother Tang."
"It's nothing. All the best." Senior Brother Tang patted him on the shoulder, then with an amazing speed, his figure disappeared. It had been even faster than the leader of those disciples in the garden he met that morning, disappearing with just the blink of an eye.
Chu Chen shook his head in his daze.
Without having him realized, an entire night had passed. Chu Chen went back to freshen up and meditated for four hours before rushing back quickly. Senior Brother Tang had taught him too many things and he needed to go through them as early as possible. Meanwhile, a cultivator had a strong body. Missing one night's sleep occasionally would not have had them feeling tired.
He once again went to check out the blood orchid that he transplanted. As expected, after an entire day, the wilting blood orchid seemed to be more vibrant than before. His spiritual consciousness sensed that 30 percent of the cold Qi blockage had been melted away. At this rate, the blood orchid would have been back to its optimal health in less than three days.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Chu Chen then found a jade bucket and a jade ladle near the field. He then walked straight to the center of the herb garden.
The closer he had gotten to the center, the denser the spiritual energy in the air had been. It piqued Chu Chen's curiosity and made his interest in the legendary spiritual spring grow. Just as he was about to reach the spring, Chu Chen's ears twitched and he quickly stopped and lowered his body.
Nearby, sounds of high pitched shouting and scolding had drifted into his ears.