Chapter 3760 — Beginning the Cultivation
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
After observing for a while and grasping the essentials of infusing true qi, the new disciples of the Three-Tiered Pavilion dispersed, each returning to his cave dwelling to experiment and ponder.
After all, three days hence the fourth stage of the assessment would begin simultaneously, and they had to grope their way to some understanding within these three days; otherwise, when the fourth stage began, they would have no such time and energy to squander on this.
On the way back to the Welcoming Pavilion, Wei Zhao, seizing a moment when no one was watching, quietly found an opportunity to ask Zhong Yongliang and Li Zhengming each for their spirit-herb seeds separately. These two worshipped him even more than Qiao Hongcai did; the moment Wei Zhao spoke, they handed the seeds over without a word, never even asking why.
Back in his cave dwelling, Wei Zhao could not wait to lay out all the spirit-herb seeds drawn by the four, Xiao Che and the rest. Since each was sealed individually and labeled, what seeds they were could be seen at a glance.
After a careful search, Wei Zhao finally found, among Zhong Yongliang's fifteen spirit-herb seeds, another Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seed; as for the other three, to his regret, they had all missed it.
Still, this result already left Wei Zhao well satisfied.
One for himself, one for Zhong Yongliang—two Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seeds in all. If both could be successfully cultivated, then by the experience of the last Foundation-Establishment Golden Pill refinement, two Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herbs would suffice for two pills' worth.
If even this failed to satisfy him, then he truly would deserve to be called insatiable.
Wei Zhao went out and wandered the wilds for a while, fetching several piles of soil into the jade-pendant space. Though any soil, once brought into the jade-pendant space, was bound to become spirit soil brimming with spirit qi, different spirit-herb seeds, after all, required not only spirit qi but also differing qualities of soil.
Some needed it drier, some moister; some preferred alkaline, some acidic; and their demands for the various trace elements in the soil were each somewhat different as well.
It was true that abundant spirit qi alone could guarantee their survival, but whether their quality could be cultivated well depended on whether one had done one's homework in this regard.
As for the other spirit-herb seeds, Wei Zhao did not much care; after all, so long as seedlings were successfully raised he would earn assessment points, and in the end they all had to be handed back to the Pill Hall. What mattered first and foremost was the survival rate; whether the quality was good was secondary.
But the two Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seeds were different; these were the objects of Wei Zhao's special care, and merely ensuring their survival was plainly not enough.
According to that effeminate chief steward of the spirit-herb garden, this batch of seeds, being mass-cultivated in the garden, were inferior seeds with inherent deficiencies compared with natural seeds: not only could they not be kept for propagation, but even if they survived, their quality would fall far short of naturally grown spirit-herb seeds.
In that case, if Wei Zhao did not think of every means to cultivate them as well as possible, then even if both Heart-Devouring Exquisite Herb seeds survived, the herbs that grew from them would be of insufficient quality, very likely affecting the quality and efficacy of the Foundation-Establishment Golden Pill refined afterward, and perhaps even its success rate.