As clusters of purple clouds completely merged into Qing Muling’s body, it didn’t take long for the essence of the spiritual herbs in the entire medicinal field to be absorbed by him through unknown means.
In Xuebing Xuan’s divine sense, she sensed that Junior Brother’s cultivation had reached the pinnacle of the Qi Refining stage, with only a thin layer of window paper separating him from the Enlightenment stage. He could break through at any time.
After some thought, Xuebing Xuan bent down and pulled out a stalk of Sunrising Nourishing Spirit Grass from the medicinal field. She carefully examined it in her hand and found that almost all of its essence had been extracted, making it no different from ordinary mortal herbs.
Under normal circumstances, this kind of spiritual herb would be considered medicinal waste and could no longer be used for pill refining. However, when Xuebing Xuan fully opened her divine sense, she unexpectedly sensed a faint and subtle vitality still hidden in the roots of the herb, slowly recovering and growing with the passage of time.
After a brief calculation, Xuebing Xuan came to a conclusion. Within three days, this herb would fully recover its vitality, and even grow better than before. This meant that its medicinal efficacy would be even more outstanding, equivalent to increasing its potency by about three years.
Suddenly, Xuebing Xuan’s eyes showed a hint of surprise. If Qing Muling’s cultivation could progress in this extraordinary way, wouldn’t all the herbs in this medicinal field benefit greatly?
Calculating based on three days at a time, as long as Qing Muling dedicated himself to cultivation here for a year, it would mean that all the spiritual herbs here would gain more than three hundred years of potency.
Of course, this was just an estimate for now. It was unclear whether these herbs would undergo a qualitative transformation with repeated cultivation. Furthermore, would this miraculous ability also improve as Qing Muling broke through to new realms in the future?
If one were to think a little deeper, Xuebing Xuan couldn’t help but feel a sense of astonishment. These carefully cultivated spiritual herbs were the raw materials for refining pills, and the significance of pills to cultivators was no less than that of food to ordinary beings. They were almost irreplaceable.
The longer a spiritual herb had grown, the higher quality pills it could be used to refine. Especially for spiritual herbs with thousands of years of potency or holy herbs with tens of thousands of years of potency, they had always been strategic resources that major Dao Lineages competed to hoard and reserve.
After a while, Qing Muling slowly withdrew his cultivation. Faint bursts of explosions could be felt within his body, and the aura emanating from him seemed to have become purer. His dark eyes were clear like water.
“Junior Brother, you…”
Xuebing Xuan leaned forward, her delicate body bending down. She used her jade-like hand to tidy her ink-black hair by her ear, and began to speak hesitantly. However, she didn’t know where to start.
Qing Muling smiled freely, “This is my special talent. I can extract and refine the essence of all the plants and trees between heaven and earth to nourish myself and enhance my cultivation. When I was still at the foot of the mountain, I relied on absorbing the spiritual energy of ordinary plants and trees to cultivate.”
Xuebing Xuan’s expression became serious, “Does it mean that the older and more potent the spiritual herb, the greater the boost to your cultivation? If I were to provide you with a garden of holy herbs right now…”
Qing Muling nodded, then shook his head, “Senior Sister, your judgment is correct. However, my current cultivation is limited. If I have too many good things all at once, I’m afraid I won’t be able to digest them. I have to take it slowly.”
To be precise, this was one of the special abilities of the mysterious seed in his sea of consciousness. It could easily extract the most essential vitality from the spiritual herbs and absorb it for his own use.
As for the substance that the mysterious seed fed back to the spiritual herbs, according to Qing Muling’s own speculation and analysis, it should be something similar to a kind of primordial creation. Although extremely diluted, it could still bring obvious benefits to those spiritual herbs.
Xuebing Xuan breathed a sigh of relief and held Qing Muling’s shoulders with both hands. She said earnestly, “Junior Brother, perhaps you don’t fully understand the true value of this talent. If used well, it can greatly enhance the strategic strength of our sect. Of course, this will take some time.”
“Remember, in the future, you must not let anyone know your secret, including Senior Sister Qiyalan. It’s best if they don’t know too much. It won’t be beneficial to them.”
It wasn’t that Xuebing Xuan didn’t trust her junior sister, but the more people who knew the secret, the greater the probability of unintentional leaks. So it was better to keep it secret, at least until Qing Muling’s cultivation reached a higher realm and he had stronger self-defense abilities.
Qing Muling nodded. It was only right for Xuebing Xuan to be informed, and it was also the intention of their Master Mu Yinghua. From now on, Xuebing Xuan would be fully responsible for providing the resources he needed for cultivation.
“Alright, let’s go back!”
Xuebing Xuan said, still wrapping Qing Muling tightly in her cloak. The two of them flew back to their cave on their flying swords.As the sky outside gradually brightened, for Qing Muling, it was time for him to rest.
Xuebing Xuan pondered for a moment before saying, “You should stay indoors for the next few days, in the secret hall where I’m in seclusion. I will activate all the array restrictions to ensure nothing unexpected happens, because the sect has guests visiting recently.”
“What kind of guests?”
“There’s no harm in telling you. They are sects with whom we’ve had good relations in the past. Their Sect Masters have brought generous gifts to visit us and discuss some cooperation matters. Of course, their main purpose is to propose marriage for their direct descendants, hoping to select a beautiful and talented female disciple to be the destined Dao companion of their young talents.”
Although the Cloud Dream Heavenly Palace did not accept male cultivators, it did not prohibit its disciples from forming Dao companions with cultivators from other sects. However, according to tradition, once a female disciple was married off, she was basically no longer considered a member of the sect and could not live in the sect anymore, only occasionally returning to visit.
“Really? Even core disciples can be married off at will?”
Qing Muling found it hard to believe. For any Dao Lineage, once they reached the level of core disciples, they were truly elite figures, potential candidates for the upper echelons. How could they possibly be sent out for marriage alliances?
Xuebing Xuan smiled, “While core disciples indeed have a prestigious status, they are also divided into different ranks. Those core disciples who are only at the Condensing Elixir or Nascent Soul stages will not receive much attention from the higher-ups. It’s not unusual for them to be used for marriage alliances. Only those who have surpassed the True Person stage, or even higher realms, are regarded by the elders as the future inheritors of the sect and will not be sacrificed at will.”
“Of course, in some extremely special circumstances, for the long-term plan of the sect, even the personal disciples of the Supreme Sect Master may be married off to outsiders, like your Senior Sister Qi Yalan.”
Among the new generation of disciples, the only one who had the qualification to avoid the obligation of marriage was the eldest senior sister, Xuebing Xuan. After all, she was the number one saintess of the sect and was being trained as the future Sect Master. It was impossible for her to be married off, and even the other competitors had some uncertainties.
Qing Muling’s eyes narrowed slightly, “I don’t want to see my third senior sister being used as a sacrificial pawn.”
“So… are you planning to plead with the Sect Master?”
Xuebing Xuan looked at him with a smile that was not quite a smile, “Or perhaps, it would be better if you simply married her yourself. That way, no one would dare to covet her.”
Qing Muling frowned, “I have nothing now, what can I use to marry her?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. If you decide to choose a Dao companion, I guess no one in the sect would refuse. Moreover, the forces behind them would generously bestow a large amount of resources. You can have whatever you want. How about it? Although you’re a bit young now, you can make a promise for the future, right?”
Xuebing Xuan’s smile was a bit teasing, yet also somewhat expectant. Her bright eyes stared at him unblinkingly, as if saying: Junior Brother, this easy life is both fragrant and sweet, consider it!
Qing Muling: “…”