It was midnight, and there was a clear moon.
At the back of the valley, there was a hidden pathway. After a moment"s walk, through a shrub, the view ahead was that of a vast gra.s.sland with an abundance of flora and fauna.
When the sun rose, the view of the valley was clear. This intrigued Minister Lin and Yu Qiuleng. Since they had already arrived, there was nothing stopping them from probing further.
The rice grains here were as large as pearls, and they shone under the moonlight.
There was also a fertile Jasper fruit tree. The deeper the colour, the stronger the medicinal effects of the Tuber fleeceflower, and the ones here were purplish-black. There was also the Dragon Fruit Tree, Blue Star Gra.s.s, and many other common medicinal plants and food. It was as though the place had undergone a surprising transformation.
Of course, if people found out about this place, they would definitely take advantage of it.
Only in the legends would there be such a miraculous place!
And this sort of place belonged to the Spirit Returning Sect.
If Fang Yuan had known about this place, he would scoff in disbelief because only he knew that although this place was fertile, it was still not comparable to what was described in the legends.
"Master…"
Fang Yuan stood in front of an empty tombstone with sorrow upon him.
He was an orphan, and was adopted by Master Wenxin. Master Wenxin was a highly talented and easy-going individual, and was an expert in botany and medicine.
Before his pa.s.sing, he instructed Fang Yuan to cremate his body and scatter it across the mountains. If Fang Yuan ever wanted to pay his respects, the erection of a tombstone on an empty grave would suffice.
After instructing Fang Yuan, Master Wenxin closed his eyes for the final time, and Fang Yuan had no choice but to journey alone. He guessed that his Master had too many enemies and was afraid that they would look for him even after his death, which was why he decided to cremate his body and erect the empty tombstone, so there was no way others could track Master Wenxin.
"I planted your favourite tea flowers… and the Nine Purple Grains have begun to germinate…"
Fang Yuan continued to mumble to the empty tombstone, "Oh… and Minister Lin came to annul the marriage, but he sent us many gifts, including the Vermillion Jade Rice you mentioned. I shall plant it tonight!"
After his final prayers, Fang Yuan went to a specific empty plot of land.
The moon rose to the top and the moonlight was bright, illuminating the ground.
With the aid of the moonlight, Fang Yuan used a hoe and carefully dug a hole. He then scattered the Vermillion Jade Rice in it.
"This Vermillion Jade Rice needs to be planted at night, the water needs to come directly from the sky. The spring water from the valley is barely adequate. When first sowed, the soil has to be loosened every six hours, and it must be complemented with Still Fire Liquid..."
Fang Yuan mastered [Botany] under the guidance of Master Wenxin, but lacked hands-on practice.
Though it seemed effortless, his sweat trickled into the soil.
The spiritual plants were far more delicate than other types of plants, and planting them definitely required more effort.
When Fan Yuan planted the last of them, the sun"s brightness have already begun to s.h.i.+ne through the horizon.
"Phew… It is finally done…"
Fang Yuan wiped his sweat and heaved a long sigh.
"Since this is a spiritual plant, it should have advanced my [Botany]?"
Deep down in his heart, he kept a secret.
Since young, he experienced vivid dreams. These dream were weird, but they felt extremely real to the touch. In these dreams, he felt like he lived other lives.
Fang Yuan had always lived in the secluded valley and rarely ventured out of it. This made it all the more astonis.h.i.+ng that he behaved with more maturity and was wiser than what would normally be expected of a boy his age.
Additionally, there was another bonus, or rather, a gift.
As Fang Yuan was preoccupied with his thoughts, a sight that only he could see appeared in front of him,
"Full name: Fang Yuan
Essence: 1
Spirit: 1
Magic: 1
Age: 18
Cultivation: None
Technique: None
Skills: [Medicine (Level 1)], [Botany (Level 2)]"
This dream-like game vision, was Fang Yuan"s biggest secret.
It also had special functions.
When he looked at "Skill", more information appeared.
"[Medicine (Level 1)] - Can heal simple wounds, including mild wounds, and with the aid of medicinal plants can achieve even better results."
"[Botany (Level 2)] - Skilled botanist, can grow any simple plants to its fullest potential!"
So [Botany] was the reason behind the fertile mountains and valleys.
"Essence, Spirit and Magic should be inborn within one, while techniques and cultivation should be one"s initiative, and lastly, skill is pa.s.sive and requires a.s.sistance from others…"
Fang Yuan could understand his characteristics well after toggling them for so many years.
"Currently, my physical qualities are no different from those of a normal adult, but with skills…"
He had already realised that within his skills, there was an attribute like experience which limited growth. Only through intense training and improving one"s ability would the skill level be increased.
Take [Medicine] for an example. Even though Master Wenxin had unparalleled skills in Medicine, and could give focused guidance to Fang Yuan, Fang Yuan experienced limitations such as the lack of subjects to practise his medical skills on, and he couldn"t possibly use his Master as a subject. Due to the lack of hands-on practice, he had been stuck at Level 1 for a long time. Even so, he had earned Master Wenxin"s praise and believed that he had achieved at least three-tenths of Master Wenxin"s abilities.
On the contrary, his [Botany] improved tremendously after Master Wenxin"s pa.s.sing as he had no more other considerations. Through his hardcore sessions , he managed to attain Level 2 in [Botany], and the results were one of a kind.
Fang Yuan susoected that even Master Wenxin was not as skillful as himself in terms of botany.
After reaching Level 2, it seemed that his progress in [Botany] had come to a halt. Even though he planted numerous plants, it seemed difficult to level up. After countless of uneventful tries, Fang Yuan decided to focus his efforts on spiritual plants and deity plants.
Since these plants were very rare, even Minister Lin himself had to wait for his daughter to be promoted within the Spirit Returning Sect before being able to acquire these plants as a form of gift.
"Vermillion Jade Rice… the lowest grade of spiritual plants, but within the Spirit Returning Sect, I believe that only the Wuzong and his heirs can enjoy it…"
Fang Yuan heaved a sigh.
Minister Lin gave him this present as a form of compensation, and did not expect Fang Yuan to make any significant achievements.
Without his [Botany], Fang Yuan wouldn"t have wanted the spiritual plants. However, if Minister Lin could help him attain a Level 2 in [Botany] with the aid of the spiritual plants, that was enough!
Now was the time to see the results!
Fang Yuan stared at the soil covering the Vermillion Jade Rice.
Accompanying the sunrise, a white light visible only to him appeared from the ground, and slowly gathered around the "Skill" segment of his information.
Behind the "Botany" sign, the "Level 2" wordings became blurred, jumped and became "Level 3"!
Level 3 [Botany]!
Fang Yuan rubbed his eyes to make sure that what he saw was true. He then smiled to himself and exclaimed.
"Haha...Haha... I"ve succeeded!!!"
He was also pleased that the description for his skill in [Botany] had also changed.
"Botany (Level 3) - You are undoubtedly the professional in this field, harnessing unlimited potential. Through your plants, there is a slight chance that they might evolve to have special traits!"
Whether there was only a slight chance or not, Fang Yuan was not overtly concerned. All he needed to know was that one"s skills and abilities could be improved through one"s intense training!
This advancement proved to Fang Yuan that he could achieve something in this world! Although it was just a simple[Botany] skill level advancement, the implications were far greater.
Imagine the unlimited possibilities in martial arts?
"Evolving into special traits?"
After calming down, Fang Yuan immediately explored his newfound ability.
"All those normal plants can grow to their fullest potential in my hands, maybe… these normal plants can evolve to spiritual plants?"
He mused for a little while, and another wave of excitement came over him. If his speculation proved to be true, then news of his newfound ability must not get out.
Otherwise, he might be captured and coerced into undergoing experiments like a guinea pig. Or he could be forced into becoming a gardener for life.
"After confirming my new ability, should I be looking for a set of martial arts techniques…?"
Fang Yuan looked at his breakfast, feeling vexed.
Resources were plentiful within the valley, and the food he prepared for himself was exceptional.
The main course was a freshly caught barbequed fish, smoked till the outside was crispy and the inside tender, with no fishy smell. It melted in his mouth and the texture was extremely smooth.
His drink was pure mountain spring water, refres.h.i.+ng and sweet. Other than that, there was a nutritious solomon"s seal, and a skewer of red berries.
He first dug into a cooked solomon"s seal [1], then a took a large bite into the barbequed fish.
"Mmmm… Delicious! Delicious! I"ve heard that the Spirit Returning Sect is the largest Sect within a 100 miles. I wonder what the atmosphere is like, or how powerful the Wuzong could be? Thinking about it, I don"t even know what the outside world looks like! What a pity… Master did not leave behind any secret martial arts manual. Isn"t he a revered individual, albeit low profile? How is it possible that he doesn"t have any secret martial arts manual to pa.s.s down? This doesn"t add up!"
After living in the secluded valley for eighteen years, Fang Yuan was restless and wanted to see the outside world.
"I should focus on unlocking my own potential first… the outside world may be fascinating, but it is dangerous as well. Considering my small physique, I should begin training in earnest!"
After his meal, he returned to his room feeling satisfied, and he slept soundly. Not long later, he entered a dream.
[1] Solomon"s Seal is a real plant, try googling it!