White-Robed Chief

After Chu Li had returned to his room, he sat cross-legged on his bed.

In the void of his mind, a Buddha and a Heavenly Demon were sitting with their backs facing each other while a huge round mirror stood between them. A strange symbol had been carved into the round mirror — it was the Concentration Talisman.

He had been able to remain in a continuous state of meditation because of the effects of the Concentration Talisman, which helped him maintain his meditative state when he lacked the mental capacity to do so.

This Buddha had three faces that harmoniously shared the same body. As the different faces chanted their respective lections, the words from the scriptures transformed into lotuses. The lotuses produced from the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture were red in color.

Chu Li was overjoyed to discover that cultivating the three scriptures simultaneously was far more efficient and faster compared to cultivating two at the same time.

Since he had just started cultivating the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture, there were still some profound mysteries that he had to slowly uncover. If he could merge it with Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Scripture and the Great Light Scripture, it would come to have greater power than ordinary martial arts.

Since he possessed the Life and Death Scripture, he had a deep comprehension of the reversal of life and death. Therefore, when he acquired the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture, he could immediately glimpse into the mystery within the scripture and started to cultivate it.

This was also a lucky coincidence for him. If he had not cultivated the Life and Death Scripture, he would not have been capable of comprehending life and death so profoundly. In that case, it would have been impossible for him to figure out how to cultivate the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture.

Thus, it was almost impossible for any other disciple of the Holy Church of Light to successfully cultivate it.

So far, Chu Li had only been able to grasp how to intertwine void and matter as well as to reverse Yin and Yang. This was a very basic understanding of how inner energy could be manipulated through the Earth Matrix and Reincarnation Scripture, and it had yet involved the power of Heaven and Earth. Once he had perfected his mastery of this scripture, he would be capable of directly reversing life and death as well as the extremities of Yin and Yang.

While he was channeling the scripture in his room, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching outside.

Zhou Huang’s plump figure was already in the Spirit Medicine Nursery. He had been keeping a close eye on the Spirit Medicine Nursery and had been feeling very anxious now that he had completely lost his trust in Chu Li. While Chu Li had claimed to be good at growing crops, he had failed to restore those Golden Glow Grass to health. In fact, he had not been able to rescue even one of them.

Although the outcome would have been the same if Zhou Huang had tried to do it himself since a Golden Glow Grass that had lost half of its roots would certainly die, at least Zhou Huang was not boastful of his abilities. On the other hand, Zhao Dahe had seemed so confident when he said that he could rescue these spirit herbs. Zhou Huang detested boastful people the most!

Chu Li pulled apart his hands that had formed a mudra and walked out into the Spirit Medicine Nursery before he greeted the elderly man with a fist salute. “Elder Zhou.”

“Hmph!” Zhou Huang gave him an unpleasant look and glared at him resentfully. “What are you doing indoors all the time? Don’t you know that you have to watch over the Golden Glow Grass constantly just like how you would take care of a newborn baby? The moment you notice weeds growing, you need to pull them out immediately!”

Chu Li replied, “Elder Zhou, don’t worry. I know what I’m doing!”

“How am I supposed to not worry!” Zhou Huang yelled impatiently. “You have no idea what you’re doing!”

In return, Chu Li replied patiently, “I really do know what I’m doing. Elder Zhou, you have nothing to worry about. I’ll make sure they grow up healthy and strong. None of them will die under my care!”

“How dare you boast about this still!” Zhou Huang glared at him with his beady eyes. “Even I don’t have the nerve to talk big like that. You can make sure that none of the Golden Glow Grass will die? What a joke!”

Chu Li said, “Really, I’m confident that I can do it!”

“This is just groundless confidence on your part!” Zhou Huang shouted as his eyes grew wide with fury. “You better take good care of them. Don’t even think about goofing off. If you fail to harvest five hundred Golden Glow Grass, I’ll punish you very severely!”

Chu Li replied, “Elder Zhou, not only can I make sure that none of them dies but also I’ll make sure they ripen in advance!”

“Hmm…?” Zhou Huang widened his eyes.

Chu Li went on, “I can accelerate the ripening process by chanting scriptures. Previously, when I used to grow flowers, I could make my flowers bloom in a month by chanting scriptures while others take two months to make their flowers bloom!”

“Stop talking about chanting scriptures!” Zhou Huang screamed.

Chu Li stared at him in resignation. “Elder Zhou, don’t be so cranky. I’m telling the truth!”

“Chanting scriptures! Chanting scriptures!” Zhou Huang yelled furiously. “I’ve never heard of anyone accelerating the ripening process of spirit herbs by chanting scriptures. You think I’m a fool who can be easily deceived, don’t you?!”

“I’m not trying to deceive you!” Chu Li sighed helplessly. “I’m truly capable of letting them ripen in advance!”

When Zhou Huang saw how confident and indignant Chu Li was, he grew even more upset. He shouted, “Do you dare make a bet then?”

Chu Li asked, “What kind of a bet?”

“If you’re capable of letting them ripen in advance, all of these Golden Glow Grass will belong to you!” Zhou Huang said.

Chu Li’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

While the Golden Glow Grass seemed like an ordinary and worthless type of spirit herb, it was, in fact, the most important and indispensable supplementary herb that was needed in the production of almost all spirit pills and medicines. He could use five hundred Golden Glow Grass to exchange for a large number of spirit pills.

Therefore, it was not entirely a bad thing to work at the Spirit Medicine Nursery.

The five main positions of the new disciples had been assigned to them for their welfare. Each position had its respective benefits, but the way to acquire these benefits would be different. Some would have to put in a lot of hard work while others could obtain the benefits very easily.

For the disciples at the Spirit Medicine Nursery, they could bring the herbs they had planted to the herbalist hall in exchange for medicinal drugs.

These medicinal drugs could only be exchanged using spirit medicine and pills. Nothing else — not even silver — could be used to exchange for them. Thus, aside from the disciples at the Spirit Medicine Nursery, the rest of the disciples would not have the chance to obtain spirit pills.

Nonetheless, any disciple who wished to receive spirit herbs would have to be very diligent, hardworking, lucky, and talented.

“Of course. Why would I lie to you? I, Elder Zhou, has always been a man of my word!” Zhou Huang said with a huff.

After a pause, Chu Li asked, “Can I use five hundred Golden Glow Grass to exchange for a Miracle Cure Pill?”

“The Miracle Cure Pill?” Zhou Huang started laughing.

Chu Li hurriedly asked, “How many Miracle Cure Pills can I get?”

“Haha…” Zhou Huang continued to laugh heartily.

Chu Li became puzzled. “Elder Zhou, I can’t get any Miracle Cure Pill at all?”

“You can dream on!” Zhou Huang replied while he laughed. “Who told you that it’s possible to exchange spirit herbs for the Miracle Cure Pill?”

Chu Li muttered, “Isn’t the Miracle Cure Pill produced only by the Holy Church of Light? Can’t we obtain it?”

“Young fellow, you sure can dream!” Zhou Huang chuckled. “If anyone can get the Miracle Cure Pill, won’t all of the punishments about crippling one’s cultivation that are listed in the sect rules render useless? Do you think the Holy Church of Light would allow such a loophole?”

Chu Li frowned and asked, “Elder Zhou, you mean to say that it’s impossible for me to get any Miracle Cure Pill?”

“Hmph, only the bishop and the Saint can have the Miracle Cure Pill. The rest of us are not allowed to have the Miracle Cure Pill!” Zhou Huang replied impatiently.

“What about the Altar Leaders?”

“They don’t have it!” Zhou Huang huffed. “Even the Priests don’t have it, much less the Altar Leaders!”

“I see…” Chu Li said with sudden realization.

“Young man, you should be more realistic and think about exchanging the spirit herbs for some vulneraries or spirit pills that can replenish your inner energy!” Zhou Huang muttered mockingly. “It won’t be a surprise for a guy like you to get beaten up!”

Chu Li scoffed and said, “These Golden Glow Grass will be mine!”

“Hehe, if you lose the bet, you’ll have to grow one thousand Golden Glow Grass for me instead!” Zhou Huang replied as he chuckled.

Chu Li shook his head. “Five hundred Golden Glow Grass. Otherwise, I won’t do it!”

“…Fine, five hundred it is!” Zhou Huang replied with a huff. “It’ll take you half a lifetime to harvest five hundred of them anyway. Let’s see if you’ll still dare to talk big then!”

“But I have one condition, Elder Zhou. You will not come over and disturb me anymore!” Chu Li said and sighed sharply. “Then, even if I chant scriptures, it’ll be none of your business!”

“Alright. Since you’re so intent on making yourself lose, I won’t stop you!” Zhou Huang retorted through gritted teeth. “I’d like to see if you can actually expedite the ripening process of the Golden Glow Grass by chanting scriptures!”

Chu Li smiled confidently. “Elder Zhou, you can wait for my good news!”

“Hmph!” Zhou Huang turned around and immediately walked away so that he could remove Chu Li from his sight and stop his worries.