Chapter 36: Planting Spirit Herbs

Chapter 36: Chapter 36: Planting Spirit Herbs

For the next few weeks, the two of them remained inside the ice cave.

Yizhou spent most of his time cultivating inside his own chamber, using the abundant spiritual energy within the cave to improve his cultivation. Meanwhile, Sui Sui focused on stabilizing his condition.

Although he had already reached Qi Refining Level Five, Sui Sui had no intention of rushing to break through again.

Advancing several levels within such a short period was already unusual. If he continued forcing his cultivation to rise without first stabilizing his foundation, his spiritual energy could become unstable and create problems that might hinder his future progress.

For now, his priority was to familiarize himself with his newfound abilities and gain better control over the spiritual energy within his body.

At the beginning, his dantian remained somewhat unstable, and he often struggled to prevent Yin Qi from leaking out.

This was dangerous—not because Yin Qi itself was harmful, but because allowing it to escape too freely could reveal that he possessed a Yin Physique.

That was a secret Sui Sui had no intention of exposing.

Fortunately, he had previously read about methods used to conceal one’s spiritual aura. Following the instructions in the cultivation books, he slowly learned to restrain the Yin qi within his body and mask its unusual presence.

After several weeks of trial and error, Sui Sui was finally able to conceal the Yin Qi completely. To anyone observing him, his spiritual energy now appeared no different from that of an ordinary cultivator.

Additionally, whenever he had some free time, Sui Sui would enter his pocket dimension to familiarize himself with its abilities.

After several days of experimenting, he gradually discovered that there were two ways for him to enter the dimension.

The first was to enter physically.

This was the method he had used when he first discovered the pocket dimension. His entire body would disappear from the outside world and enter the dimension along with everything he carried.

The second method was to enter using only his spiritual sense.

Unlike physical entry, his body would remain outside while his consciousness entered the pocket dimension. At first, Sui Sui had assumed that this would be similar to sending out a spiritual projection and that he would only be able to observe the dimension from a distance.

However, after experimenting with it several times, he realized that this was not the case.

Although only his spiritual sense entered, his experience inside the dimension felt no different from being there physically.

He could still walk around, touch objects, pick things up, and interact with Mumu. His spiritual sense did not take the form of a transparent or ghost-like projection either.

Within the pocket dimension, he appeared exactly as he normally did, making it almost impossible to notice that his real body was still outside.

Additionally, after much experimentation he learned the method that allowed him to remain aware of his surroundings in the outside world. Even while his consciousness or body was inside the pocket dimension, he could still sense everything within a certain radius around his physical body.

With this, If Yizhou approached the cave or entered the area nearby, he would be able to notice and could come back quickly.

Recently, Sui Sui had only been entering the pocket dimension through the spiritual consciousness method.

He had already been fortunate enough to avoid being discovered the first time he entered physically.

If he continued disappearing into the dimension whenever he wanted and Yizhou happened to check on him, only to find that he had vanished without a trace, it would be difficult to explain, at least if he left his body outside, he could just say he was meditating.

Sui Sui had no intention of revealing the existence of the pocket dimension yet.

At least, not until he had figured out exactly what it was capable of—and decided how much of the secret he was willing to share.

—

As the days passed, Sui Sui also became much more familiar with the little fluffball living inside the pocket dimension.

Its name was Mù’ēn, though it insisted that everyone call it Mumu. As for its exact age, even Mumu did not know. Judging from its childish personality, however, Sui Sui estimated that its mental age was probably only around five or six years old.

Its species was another mystery.

Whenever Sui Sui asked, Mumu would simply shake his head before proudly declaring that he was "Mumu," as though that alone was enough to answer the question.

One thing Sui Sui had learned, however, was that Mumu loved talking.

Perhaps because it had spent countless years alone in this place, it would chatter endlessly whenever Sui Sui entered the dimension. Whether Sui Sui answered or not did not matter; Mumu could happily carry an entire conversation by itself.

In just a few short weeks, the little fluffball had become very attached to him.

Or rather...

It had become very attached to treating him like its personal servant.

At this moment, Sui Sui was inside the pocket dimension, clearing away the overgrown weeds covering one corner of the land. At the same time, he used the task to practice controlling his spiritual energy.

Thin blades of Yin qi shot from his fingertips one after another, slicing neatly through the weeds before dissipating into the air. Compared to when he had first begun cultivating, his control had become much more refined.

At first, he could only condense crude strands of spiritual energy that scattered after travelling a short distance. Now, he was gradually learning to compress his qi into sharper, more stable blades capable of cutting through thick roots without wasting much spiritual energy.

It was slow progress, but every successful attempt improved his control a little more.

"Sui Sui, I want to eat! Give me cakes!" Mumu shouted.

The little fluffball was sprawled comfortably atop Sui Sui’s head as though it were its own private nest. It had only just finished the cake Sui Sui had given it moments ago, scattering crumbs all over his hair. Now, without the slightest hint of shame, it was already demanding another.

As if that was not enough, it tugged impatiently on several strands of Sui Sui’s hair.

"How about you leave me alone for one minute?" Sui Sui said through gritted teeth. "You’ve been sitting on my head for half the day already. You’re heavy, and now you’ve even turned my hair into a crumb basket."

"No way." Mumu hugged Sui Sui’s head tighter. "I like it here."

To make his point, he grabbed another handful of Sui Sui’s hair with his tiny paws, looking completely unwilling to move.

"Don’t you know you’re heavy?" Sui Sui complained. "At this rate I’m going to end up with a stiff neck."

"Hmph!" Mumu puffed out his little chest. "I’m not fat!"

He pointed accusingly at Sui Sui. "And besides, I’ve already kindly let you stay in my place. You haven’t even paid me yet. You’re so shameless."

Sui Sui almost laughed from disbelief, this was obviously his pocket dimension. It was literally connected to his soul, yet somehow, he had become the guest.

The more he argued, the harder Mumu pulled on his hair. Sui Sui eventually reached up and tried to pry the fluffball off his head by force.

A few moments later...

He admitted defeat.

Not only had he failed to remove Mumu, but he was beginning to suspect he was about to lose several more strands of hair.

"Okay, okay," Sui Sui surrendered. "I’ll give you another cake. In exchange, you get off my head."

Mumu immediately stopped pulling, after pretending to think for a few seconds, he nodded generously.

"Deal."

The little fluffball finally floated down from Sui Sui’s head. As promised, Sui Sui handed him another cake.

With food occupying Mumu’s mouth once again, peace finally returned.

Sui Sui rubbed his sore scalp before continuing to clear the weeds, while Mumu floated lazily nearby, happily munching on his cake as though nothing had happened.

"By the way," Mumu asked between bites and pointed towards the weed that Sui Sui was cutting down "why are you cutting down my good stuff?"

"Good stuff?" Sui Sui looked at the tangled weeds covering the ground. "They’re obviously just weeds."

"They’re not weeds!" Mumu protested. "They’re my good stuff!"

"..."

Sui Sui silently questioned the little fluffball’s sense of keeping trash as treasure, but he didn’t bother arguing further.

"If you really like them that much," Sui Sui said helplessly, "I’ll clear out another area for you to keep them. But I need this space."

As he spoke, his attention had already shifted away from the weeds and toward the larger purpose behind clearing them. His plan was actually quite simple.

After observing the pocket dimension for several weeks and drawing on what he had learned while working in the Herb Garden, Sui Sui realized that this place was exceptionally suitable for growing spiritual herbs.

Although he still did not know whether he possessed any talent for alchemy, preparing in advance certainly would not hurt.

During their stay in the ice cave, he had secretly collected seeds dropped by several spiritual herbs. Taking the herbs themselves would be far too obvious and Yizhou would certainly notice, but a few seeds were small matters and there were plenty who fell down so it was fine.

He planned to cultivate them inside the pocket dimension and see whether they would grow successfully.

Even if he never became an alchemist, the herbs could still be sold for spirit stones or sent back to the Bai family. More importantly, several of the seeds belonged to rare herbs that were difficult to obtain outside.

No matter how he looked at it, it was a worthwhile investment.

He couldn’t clear the entire area in one go, so he only cleaned a small patch large enough for what he had in mind.

Taking out the small pouch of seeds he had secretly collected from the Ice Cave, Sui Sui carefully spread them across the ground. He wasn’t foolish enough to plant everything at once.

Every spiritual herb had different requirements—some preferred cold environments, others rich spiritual qi, while some even needed specific elemental attributes to grow. Planting them all together would only waste the seeds.

For his first attempt, he decided to start with the simplest one.

After looking through the assortment, he picked out a Spirit Dew Grass seed. It was a common low-grade spiritual herb and the primary ingredient for refining the Spirit Recovery Pill, a first-grade medicinal pill commonly used by Qi Refining cultivators to restore spiritual qi.

Since it was relatively easy to cultivate, it was the perfect herb for testing whether the environment inside his pocket dimension was truly suitable for growing spiritual plants.

Following the instructions he had memorized from the herb manuals, Sui Sui dug a shallow hole and carefully buried the seed before covering it with soil. He then walked to the nearby lake, scooped up a handful of water, and gently watered the patch.

According to the books, Spirit Dew Grass usually took about a week to sprout and one to two months to fully mature under normal conditions.

Now all he had to do was wait.

By the time he finished, the tips of his fingers were stained with dirt, and a few loose strands of hair clung to his face.

Fortunately, he had entered the pocket dimension only with his spiritual sense. His actual body outside remained seated in meditation, spotless and undisturbed.

Satisfied with his work, Sui Sui looked toward the fluffy little creature floating nearby.

"Mumu."

"Hm?"

"I’m leaving for a while."

"So?"

"...Help me watch over this."

Mumu looked down at the tiny patch of soil before tilting his head.

"You want Mu Mu to babysit dirt?"

"It’s not dirt. It’s a future spiritual herb."

Mumu puffed out his cheeks. "Not without payment"

Sui Sui silently took out a few pastries and Mumu’s nose immediately twitched.

"...How many?" Mumu asked.

"Two."

"Four."

"...Three"

"Deal!" The little fluffball happily hugged the pastries to his chest before floating over the newly planted seed, patting his tiny chest proudly.

"Don’t worry! I’ll guard it! Even ants aren’t allowed near it!"

Seeing that his hired guard had accepted the job, Sui Sui finally withdrew his spiritual sense and left the pocket dimension.

What he didn’t know was that only a few hours after his departure, the seed quietly broke through the soil.

A tender green sprout emerged from the earth.

___

When Sui Sui returned to reality, he left the chamber where he had been cultivating and headed back toward the spirit stone veins surrounding the underground lake.

During his first visit, Yizhou had already taken more than a third of the mine. Even after such a massive haul, however, the remaining spirit stones were still plentiful. It was enough to show just how enormous this hidden mine truly was.

Over the past few weeks, aside from tending to the herbs inside his pocket dimension and spending his time meditating, he had also been assigned another task by Yizhou—mining the remaining spirit stones scattered throughout the cave.

According to Yizhou, it was a form of cultivation. Mining spirit stones required a cultivator to maintain precise control over their spiritual energy, making it an effective way to temper one’s mastery over qi.

Although Sui Sui was certain that Yizhou had only come up with such a convincing explanation because he was too lazy to do the work himself.

Even so, he had to admit that the training was genuinely useful.

Spirit stones were far harder than ordinary rocks, and an ordinary pickaxe would barely leave a mark on them. Before every swing, he had to infuse the mining tool with spiritual energy.

Too much Qi would only drain his dantian unnecessarily, while too little would fail to crack the stone. Even the angle and point of impact mattered.

During the first few days, he had wasted far more spiritual energy than he had actually used for mining, but after weeks of practice, his control had gradually become much steadier. Every strike now was cleaner, more efficient, and consumed far less qi than before.

Usually, while Sui Sui worked, Yizhou would remain somewhere nearby. Sometimes he would cultivate quietly inside the cave, while other times he would simply lean against the cave wall with folded arms, leisurely watching Sui Sui struggle.

Whenever Sui Sui made a mistake, Yizhou would casually point it out with a few indifferent remarks, yet never once offered to help, insisting that a cultivator only truly learned after making enough mistakes themselves.

Today, however, there was no one silently watching from the side.

Earlier that morning, Yizhou had left for a neighboring city, saying he had some matters to attend to.

With only Sui Sui remaining inside the enormous ice cave, the place felt unusually quiet. The only sound echoing through the cavern was the rhythmic strike of his pickaxe against the spirit stone veins.

After working for quite some time, Sui Sui finally stopped to rest. He set the pickaxe aside, stretched his slightly sore arms, and walked toward the underground lake.

Continuously circulating spiritual energy while mining was exhausting, and after several hours of work, he was beginning to feel thirsty.

Throughout their stay, the two of them had been drinking directly from this lake.

According to Yizhou, although it was only diluted spirit water and nowhere near as pure as a true spiritual spring, it had been nourished by the surrounding spirit stone veins for countless years.

Even in its diluted state, it still contained traces of spiritual energy, making it something many cultivators would eagerly fight over.

Sui Sui crouched beside the lake and scooped a handful of water into his palms before taking a slow drink.

The cool water flowed down his throat, carrying with it a faint stream of spiritual energy that entered his dantian.

The fatigue from mining eased slightly, and his body immediately felt more refreshed. Although the spiritual energy contained within the water was minimal, drinking it every day was still beneficial to cultivation.

As he looked at the crystal-clear lake before him, a thought suddenly surfaced.

It would be great if he had this water in his dimension

The lake inside his pocket dimension contained nothing but ordinary water. If he could somehow move this spiritual lake into his dimension instead, wouldn’t he have an endless supply of spirit water in the future?

The more he thought about it, the more tempted he became. Unfortunately, moving an entire lake was obviously impossible

Just as Sui Sui was about to give up on the unrealistic idea, a faint blue light suddenly flickered beneath the surface of the lake.

He paused.

At first, he thought it was merely a trick of the light, but a moment later, another flash appeared beneath the water, brighter and clearer than the first.

There was definitely something beneath the lake.