17: Chapter 17 Year-End Assessment, Five Elements Irrigation Method

The sun was three poles high when a deep, resonant bell chime rang out across the outer gate main peak of the Xuantian Sect.

The year-end assessment officially began!

A massive, imposing procession rode their swords down from the main peak, landing in the area of the various outer Sect Spirit Medicine gardens.

Leading them was an old man dressed in purple robes, with white hair and beard, and a dignified expression.

He merely stood quietly there, yet an aura so massive it was suffocating spread outwards like a tidal wave.

Outer Sect Grand Elder, Great Elder Li Changyuan! A mighty Cultivator in the Early Foundation Establishment!

In the Xuantian Sect, Cultivators in the Qi Refining Stage were as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river, but those who could break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage were few and far between.

Throughout the entire Xuantian Sect, those who reached the Foundation Establishment Stage numbered no more than twenty-some people.

Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivators not only experienced a qualitative change in their spiritual power, but they also engendered a powerful spiritual sense, allowing them to easily see through the true depth of Qi Refining Stage Cultivators.

Behind Great Elder Li Changyuan followed over a dozen outer Sect enforcers and managers at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer and tenth layer, none of whom dared to even breathe heavily.

"Grand Elder, ahead is that abandoned Spirit Medicine garden where two successive enforcers died."

A manager reported carefully, a trace of disgust tinting his tone.

"That place is extremely eerie, and the one responsible for tending it is just a hundred-year-old Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root. I reckon he won't even be able to scrape together the most basic quota. Should we just throw that old man into the Heifeng Mine?"

Great Elder Li Changyuan furrowed his brows slightly and let out a cold snort: "Sect rules dictate the assessment! Regardless of who it is, as long as they fail to hand over enough quota, they will be severely punished without leniency! Let's go take a look!"

The group imposingly walked towards Qi Yang's Spirit Medicine garden.

Outside the withered wood door, Qi Yang had heard the commotion long ago.

He immediately drove the medicinal power of that top-grade-tier wuxiang pill to its absolute limit, tightly locking down his true cultivation of the Qi Condensation 5th Layer, while simultaneously sticking a breath-concealing talisman to his chest.

At this moment, in anyone's perception, he was just an old piece of trash at the Qi Condensation Third Layer with declining vital blood and weak spiritual power.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Hunched over with a stooped back, Qi Yang walked staggeringly outside the door, bowing deeply as the wrinkles on his face bunched up together, putting on the appearance of a terrified and panicky old farmer.

"This old man Qi Yang pays respects to the Grand Elder! Pays respects to all you esteemed managers!"

Great Elder Li Changyuan cast a cold glance at Qi Yang, his Early Foundation Establishment spiritual sense sweeping across Qi Yang's body.

Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root, Qi Condensation Third Layer, withered vital blood, and very little Lifespan remaining.

A flash of disappointment and disdain crossed the depths of Great Elder Li Changyuan's eyes.

Trash like this didn't even have the qualifications to be cannon fodder in the Cultivation World.

Without wasting words, he directly said in a deep voice: "Bring out this month's Spirit Medicine quota. If you dare to pass off inferior goods as superior, this old man will personally send you to the Heifeng Mine!"

Qi Yang nodded repeatedly.

"I wouldn't dare! The Grand Elder is wise; even if this old bone of mine has to risk its life, I would never dare to hoodwink the Sect!"

As he spoke, he took out several faded, washed-out old cloth bundles from his bosom, placing them tremblingly on the stone table in the courtyard.

Seeing this shabby packaging, the surrounding managers and enforcers all revealed disdainful sneers.

"This old thing is truly destitute; he doesn't even have a jade box to hold Spirit Medicines. What good things could he possibly grow?"

"I reckon the inside is just full of rotten vegetable leaves. Grand Elder, just take him down!"

Behind the crack of the West Wing Room door, Su Qinghan's heart leaped into her throat.

She gripped her long sword tightly, ready to rush out at any moment to take the blame for Qi Yang.

However, Qi Yang ignored the surrounding mockery. His withered hands slowly untied the knot of the cloth bundle, revealing the Spirit Medicines inside to everyone.

The moment the cloth bundle opened, an aura of vegetation so rich and pure to the extreme violently spread outward from the stone table, filling the entire dilapidated courtyard!

The voices of the managers and enforcers who were still sneering and mocking just moments ago came to an abrupt halt.

Everyone's eyes stared fixedly at the few Spirit Medicines on the stone table, their eyeballs almost popping out.

On the stone table quietly lay three stalks of purple leaf grass, two crimson blood vines, and one white jade ginseng.

These were all the cheapest, most basic low-tier Spirit Medicines in the Cultivation World, and their ages appeared to be only a dozen or so years.

However, their quality was so good it made one's scalp tingle!

Not only were the leaves of that purple leaf grass devoid of any withered yellow, but they instead presented a deep purple-gold color, with spiritual light faintly circulating within the leaf veins.

The vines of the crimson blood vine were as thick as an infant's arm, and their surfaces even oozed substantive red juice.

As for that white jade ginseng, its entire body was crystal clear and translucent, emitting a refreshing and intoxicating fragrance.

"This... How is this possible?!"

The manager who had just clamored to throw Qi Yang into the mine was now frightened into taking two steps back, his face full of disbelief.

"This Spiritual Qi saturation... This thickness of the roots and stems... This quality, even the spirit fields in the inner Sect specially cultivated for Spirit Medicines couldn't grow such top-tier low-tier Spirit Medicines!"

For Spirit Medicines in the Cultivation World, age was certainly important, but under the same age, the fullness of Spiritual Qi and the soundness of the Foundation directly determined the success rate of Alchemy and the quality of the Medicinal Pill.

The Spirit Medicines Qi Yang took out were simply top-tier among the same rank!

Great Elder Li Changyuan's pupils shrank abruptly.

As a mighty Cultivator in the Early Foundation Establishment, his horizons were naturally much higher than these outer Sect managers.

He strode in front of the stone table, not even caring about the dignity of a Foundation Establishment Elder, and directly reached out to pick up that stalk of purple leaf grass, bringing it to the tip of his nose to sniff carefully.

Pure! Too pure! There were not the slightest Impurities!

Great Elder Li Changyuan took a deep breath and turned his head to stare fixedly at Qi Yang, a terrifying, piercing light bursting from those falcon-like eyes.

"Old fellow, did you really grow these Spirit Medicines in this abandoned Spirit Medicine garden?"

The pressure of the Early Foundation Establishment swept outward at this moment.

The surrounding Qi Refining Stage managers were pressed into retreating repeatedly, their faces pale.

Bearing the brunt of it, Qi Yang's entire body's bones emitted a grinding sound.

On the surface, Qi Yang's legs went soft, and he collapsed straight to the ground, coughing violently and even coughing up a trace of blood—which of course he forced out by biting the tip of his tongue himself.

"Gran... Grand Elder! These Spirit Medicines were indeed grown by this old man with my own hands; this old man wouldn't dare utter half a lie!"

Qi Yang trembled all over.

Seeing this, Great Elder Li Changyuan immediately withdrew his pressure.

He knew he had lost his composure; the old man before him was only at the Qi Condensation Third Layer and simply couldn't withstand his pressure for too long.

"Get up and answer."

Great Elder Li Changyuan's tone softened a lot, even carrying a hint of rare affability.

"This old man asks you, as a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root with low cultivation, and with the Formation of this Spirit Medicine garden in disrepair for years, what methods did you use to grow Spirit Medicines of this quality?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone around pricked up their ears, and even Su Qinghan in the West Wing Room held her breath.

Qi Yang slowly crawled up from the ground, patted the dirt off his body, stooped his back, and revealed an honest and submissive bitter smile.

"The Grand Elder is wise; this Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root of mine is a joke in the Cultivation World. Absorbing Spiritual Qi is slow, and practicing Cultivation Techniques won't amount to anything either; there is no hope for me to reach Foundation Establishment in this lifetime."

Qi Yang sighed, his tone filled with the vicissitudes of life and resignation.

"But this old man doesn't want to die; this old man wants to scrounge a few more years of meals in this Sect."

"This old man has been farming in this Spirit Medicine garden for nearly a hundred years. My cultivation hasn't progressed, but dealing with these muds and plants every day has allowed me to figure out a little clumsy method."

Qi Yang paused, a trace of "crafty" light flashing in his turbid old eyes.

"This old man calls this clumsy method the Five Elements Watering Method."

"Five Elements Watering Method?"

Great Elder Li Changyuan raised his brows, a trace of doubt flashing in his eyes.

"Let's hear it."

Qi Yang cleared his throat and began spouting nonsense with a straight face.

"Grand Elder, you know that although the Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Root is trash, it possesses all Five Elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. This old man discovered that the growth of these Spirit Medicines also secretly conforms to the principles of mutual generation and restraint among the Five Elements."

"For instance, this purple leaf grass loves shade and wood. Every morning during the Mao hour, which is when the wood Qi is most flourishing, this old man uses the weak Wood-attribute Spiritual Power inside my body wrapped around cool well water to water it."

"As for this crimson blood vine, it loves the sun and fire. At noon, this old man uses fire-attribute spiritual power to warm the spring water, and then supplements it with earth-attribute spiritual power to stabilize its roots..."

"My cultivation is low and my spiritual power is weak, so I can only water a few stalks each time, leaving me half-dead with exhaustion by the end of the day. But catering to them day after day, year after year, in accordance with the five-element hours, they grow thicker and have more Spiritual Qi than other Spirit Medicines."