"Even if I mention it, can he really cover up the entire Qingxuan Sect with his White Jade Tower?"
Upon hearing this, Ziyang True Monarch snorted coldly, then turned and left. Just as he was about to return to his cave, he suddenly turned his head and looked at the bronze mirror behind him. "The next sermon will be canceled. I will go into seclusion for three years this time."
After saying this, his figure disappeared at the entrance of the cave.
【Why bother?】
A helpless sigh came from the bronze mirror.
***
Back at the Green Bamboo Residence.
"Sigh… still not working…"
Sitting on the bed, Xu Taiping sighed deeply.
After listening to Ziyang True Monarch's sermon, it was already noon. It was the perfect time to practice the "Fading Sunset Scripture". Xu Taiping began to practice according to the insights he gained today.
However, he didn't expect that after a whole hour of effort, he still couldn't guide the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into his body and transform it into true qi, as described in the "Fading Sunset Scripture".
"It seems I can only rely on the prescription given by Fairy Lingyue."
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xu Taiping said with some unwillingness.
This attempt made him truly experience the difficulty of cultivating with a bone of white quality.
Thinking of this, he took out the bronze mirror again, and placed a merit coin on it.
【Xu Taiping from the Green Bamboo Residence, what do you seek from me?】
The voice of the mirror spirit sounded from the bronze mirror.
"Lord Xuanjing, I want to buy a batch of medicinal herbs and herb seeds."
Xu Taiping replied.
【With your current quality grade, you can only buy medicinal herbs and seeds from the Hundred Herbs Hall at the foot of the mountain. These are the names of the herbs in the Hundred Herbs Hall. After you choose them in the mirror, a spirit bird will deliver them to your courtyard】
As the mirror spirit spoke, a list of medicinal herbs began to appear on the bronze mirror.
"Thank you, Lord Xuan Mirror."
After thanking the mirror spirit, Xu Taiping began to carefully search for the herbs.
After spending some time, Xu Taiping finally gathered all the herbs listed in Fairy Lingyue's prescription. In order to conceal the prescription, he also added some inexpensive herbs to it, and made some modifications to the weight of the herbs.
As for the herb seeds in the herb garden, he only chose the "Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla" variety, buying enough to plant three acres of land three times.
There was a reason why he chose this variety.
According to the records in the Jade Scroll of Transmitting Techniques, the leaves, stems, and fruits of the Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla can all be used as medicine. The leaves can be used as high-quality vegetables, and the price of the seeds is the cheapest among all the spiritual herbs. They are easy to grow, with a growth cycle from germination to fruiting of only three months. Yunlu Mountain is like spring all year round, so it is suitable for planting three times.
The only drawback is that the selling price is too low.
Under normal circumstances, for every acre of Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla, only thirty merit coins can be exchanged in a year, which is much lower than the income from other spiritual herbs.
It should be noted that in the Qingxuan Sect, each named outer disciple needs to contribute one hundred and twenty merit coins per year.
Under normal circumstances, even if Taiping planted Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla on all three acres of the herb field, he would not be able to accumulate enough merit coins to be handed over to the sect.
But with the spirit gathering array arranged by Fairy Lingyue in the herb field, everything would be different.
According to Fairy Lingyue, the harvest from the herb field with the small spirit gathering array arranged would triple within three years. Therefore, planting Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla would be the most cost-effective option.
"If everything goes well, planting Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla on three acres of land for three seasons can at least exchange for 270 merit coins. After deducting the cost of 20 merit coins and the required 120 merit coins to be handed over each year, I will still have 130 merit coins left. By the next year, I can buy better herb varieties, and maybe even have some left to buy cultivation techniques and talisman scrolls."
After paying the money to the bronze mirror, Xu Taiping picked up a pen and paper and carefully recorded the accounts.
"After buying the herbs and seeds, I only have three merit coins left. Fortunately, I have already bought a jar of rice and have enough oil and salt. I will set some traps in the mountains and hunt for some game to sustain myself until the first season of Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla matures."
While recording the accounts, he calculated in his mind.
Choosing Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla as the seed had a big reason: it matures quickly, allowing him to quickly exchange for merit coins within three months and obtain the medicinal herbs needed for cultivation.
As for the true fire talisman required for burning the seeds, he had asked the mirror spirit yesterday and received the answer that he could only purchase talisman scrolls and similar items after one year of entry. Even the most ordinary true fire talisman would cost more than one thousand merit coins, which he couldn't afford in a short period of time.
"Well, after the harvest, I will have to consider saving money to buy true fire talismans."
Xu Taiping wrote down another entry in his account book.
***
The next evening.
A spirit bird, a gray crane, landed in front of Xu Taiping's courtyard, carrying a large package.
Finally, all the seeds and medicinal herbs Xu Taiping purchased had arrived.
After reluctantly paying one merit coin to the gray crane, Xu Taiping carried the herbs into his bedroom.
At this time, there was a bathtub filled with hot water in his bedroom.
This was prepared in advance for soaking the herbs.
"The prescription given by Fairy Lingyue says that the materials for this prescription are ordinary. In order to exert the medicinal effects, the herbs must be added to the bathtub according to the time and order specified in the prescription."
After categorizing and weighing the herbs again using the old scale in the room, Xu Taiping stood in front of the bathtub and silently recalled the order and time for adding the herbs.
"It should be fine."
After a moment, Xu Taiping nodded to himself, as if encouraging himself.Following that, he picked up a batch of medicinal herbs placed on an oil paper and poured them all into the steaming hot bathtub. He then started to count down silently, "8, 7, 6…"
When the countdown reached 1, Xu Taiping quickly poured the second batch of herbs from the table into the bathtub.
With the addition of the second batch of herbs, the hot water in the bathtub suddenly started to bubble, followed by the release of a unique fragrance, as sweet as orchids and musk.
"It seems I didn't make a mistake."
Xu Taiping's face lit up with joy, and he poured in another packet of herbs.
***
An hour later.
After all the herbs were poured into the bathtub according to the instructions on the prescription, Xu Taiping saw that the originally clear hot water in the bathtub had turned into a thick white slurry.
"The medicinal soup is as white as jade and as thick as paste, just as the prescription described."
Xu Taiping let out a sigh of relief.
At least from the outside, the bone-cleansing and marrow-cutting soup he had prepared seemed to be successful.
Immediately, Xu Taiping quickly stripped off his clothes, revealing his lean body, and nakedly plunged into the bone-cleansing and marrow-cutting soup.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk…"
Perhaps due to the potency of the medicine, even after an hour, the medicinal soup in the bathtub was still very hot. Xu Taiping couldn't help but grimace from the heat.
If it weren't for the instructions on the prescription stating that leaving halfway would greatly reduce the efficacy of the medicine, he would probably have jumped out of the bathtub by now.