107: Chapter 107: Questioning Rejected, Hidden Roots Grow

The fifth day after the reply letter was sent. Blue Moon Island, Lords Mansion.

Lu Changyuan hadn't been idle these past five days. He had Su Qingli and Chen Mo re-transcribe all production records of the purification liquid, starting from the very first batch—every batch's input amount, ratios, output volume, quality rating, and waste disposal method, all organized into a systematic production file. They bound the loose-leaf records together, numbered them by date, and stamped the Blue Moon Island Workshop verification seal at the end of each page.

During transcription, Chen Mo discovered a minor issue: in the ratio records for the third and fifth batches, the amount of thunder bamboo wood shavings differed by half a qian—the reason being that the batches of thunder bamboo wood shavings were different, so Chen Mo had manually adjusted the amount based on the grain size of the shavings. On the transcribed copy, he added a line in very fine handwriting: "Due to differences in batch grain size, the actual amount of thunder bamboo wood shavings is allowed to fluctuate within half a qian of the standard ratio. The direction of fluctuation depends on the coarseness of the shavings that day."

"Should we delete this detail?" Su Qingli asked, holding the transcribed draft, "The people in the Compliance Division might not understand it—but what if someone uses this note to claim the ratios are unstable?"

"Leave it," Lu Changyuan said, "The ratio fluctuation is noted, explained, and within a range—this is a normal process adjustment. Deleting it would make it look like we're hiding something."

That same day, Ye Zhe updated the daily operation log for the Seal-Breath Restriction of the Thunder Bamboo Garden, starting from the day Luo Qingcheng set the Restriction. The log wasn't thick—only a few lines each day, recording the thickness, color, and fluctuation frequency of the Restriction's outer spiritual light refraction layer. Most days' records were the same: "Sunny, Restriction spiritual light light cyan, no fluctuation." Occasionally, there was a different line— "Overcast, west wind, Restriction outer layer spiritual light slightly pale, thickness unchanged."

Ye Zhe's handwriting was very poor, but every entry was marked with a date and observation time.

"This log—should we submit it?"

"Don't submit it. Keep it," Lu Changyuan flipped open the log and took a look, "In case someone demands an on-site inspection of the Spirit Plant Garden, this log will serve as the operation record for the Seal-Breath Restriction—from the first day it was set to now, every single day is here. It's not to prove the existence of the thunder bamboo—it's to prove that the Seal-Breath Restriction is a protective Restriction for a Guest Elder's Daoist practice area."

On the evening of the fifth day, Chen Mo returned from the devil-cleansing thunder bamboo garden, holding a thin bamboo strip in his hand.

"The thunder bamboo has grown."

He placed the bamboo strip on the table. Three horizontal lines were carved on it—the bottom one was the thunder bamboo's height last month, the middle one was its height this past Monday, and the top one was just measured today. The distances between the three lines were not exactly equal—the gap between the middle line and the top line was about half a bamboo strip's thickness wider than the gap between the bottom two.

"It's grown about half an inch in the last month," Chen Mo opened Ye Zhe's observation log, "Previously, it grew less than two fen a month. Ever since the tide sound spirit bamboo was planted next to it, the concentration of wood Spiritual Qi around the thunder bamboo has been rising. Elder Tianji said—the tide sound spirit bamboo accelerates the purification speed of the devil-cleansing thunder bamboo by three times. This effect is being realized."

"Three times acceleration—how long until it's fully realized?"

"It's not a three-fold increase overnight. It's rising little by little. It was barely noticeable the first month, it started accelerating the second month, and it should stabilize at around three times by the third month," Chen Mo flipped to the back half of the record, "Ye Zhe measured the wood Spiritual Qi concentration within three feet of the thunder bamboo yesterday—it's up nearly forty percent compared to a month ago. Correspondingly, the replacement cycle for the old sand is shortening, and the monthly production of wood shavings and outer skin is going up."

"How often is the old sand replaced now?"

"Before, it was replaced once every month and a half—there's only one thunder bamboo, and the replacement amount of old sand at the roots is fixed. Based on the current growth acceleration trend, it should shorten to once a month by next month. By then—the monthly production of old sand will be enough to support two hundred bottles."

Lu Changyuan picked up the bamboo strip and held it against the light for a moment. Three horizontal lines, a curve trending upward. Among the six substrate materials, the slowest growing ones require decades or even a hundred years—but the thunder bamboo doesn't need that. The thunder bamboo is realizing Elder Tianji's judgment at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The sixth day. The reply from the Logistics Department of the Zhenhai Fortress arrived.

The letter was very brief. The phrasing used the standard official tone of the Logistics Department's Compliance Division—"After review, among the raw material lists submitted by Blue Moon Island, the old sand, thunder bamboo wood shavings, and fine outer skin all belong to natural shed materials or inventory recycled goods. According to Article 17 of the 'Zhenhai Fortress Logistics Supplies Filing Regulations', they do not belong to the category of spirit plants that require separate filing. The procurement records for the purification powder and Evil-Suppressing Sand are complete, and the consumption discrepancy is supported by the detailed maintenance records of the Blue Moon Island defense line; the discrepancy is within a reasonable range. In summary, the inquiry raised by the Outer Sea East Road branch of Jubao Pavilion is not accepted, rejected."

Rejected.

Lu Changyuan read the letter from beginning to end twice. Every point of inquiry had been rejected right on the boundary of compliance—Jubao Pavilion's angle of attack was correct, but they had no evidence to cross the line of compliance. Inventory recycled goods, natural shed materials, defense line maintenance consumption—every label was protected under the filing regulations.

At the end of the letter, below the official document, a line of handwritten text was attached. The handwriting was very light; it was written by Manager Wei.

"Keep records of similar things yourself in the future, don't wait until someone is at your doorstep checking before you start digging."

There was no signature. But Lu Changyuan recognized the handwriting—it was exactly the same as the handwritten note on the last acceptance form.

He folded the letter and handed it to Su Qingli.

"Rejected. File it—lock the original in the secret compartment, and keep a copy in the accounting office for reference."

Su Qingli took the letter. She didn't put it away immediately after reading it, but instead spread it on the table, her finger pointing at the line of handwritten text.

"Manager Wei's meaning—he helped this time. But next time, it might not be the case."

"He didn't help me—he helped this supply line for the purification liquid. There is one month left in the three-month trial supply, and the military doesn't want this line to break due to an inquiry," Lu Changyuan stood by the window, "But the Compliance Division's rules are rigid—if Jubao Pavilion changes their angle of attack next time, he might not be able to help."

"What will they check next time?"

"I don't know. But they will change direction."

That afternoon. devil-cleansing thunder bamboo garden.

Ye Zhe was squatting next to the thunder bamboo, holding a piece of old sand he had just picked up from the soil. The color of the old sand was deeper than before—it had changed from light gray to dark gray, with a very thin layer of dark green substance attached to the surface. He pinched it with his hand, and the old sand particles crumbled into powder at his fingertips, with a few extremely fine remnants of thunder patterns mixed in the powder.

"Young Lord—the quality of the old sand is changing." Ye Zhe held the crumbled old sand in his palm and handed it to Lu Changyuan to see, "The old sand replaced before was just ordinary waste sand, and the secretions from the thunder bamboo roots remaining inside were very sparse. The residue in this batch of old sand is significantly thicker—the color is darker, and there are tiny broken thunder pattern threads after crushing it."

"Does it have to do with the thunder bamboo's growth acceleration?"

"It should be. The faster the thunder bamboo grows, the more secretions the roots discharge—these secretions seep into the culture sand, and the quality of the old sand goes up accordingly," Ye Zhe picked up another piece of old sand from the ground and looked at it against the daylight for a moment, "In the raw material requirements for the purification liquid—the old sand is the item that provides the purification base. The purer the base, the more stable the overall quality of the purification liquid. If the quality of the old sand continues to rise, the quality floor of the purification liquid will also rise accordingly."

Lu Changyuan squatted down. A layer of dark gray old sand was spread around the roots of the thunder bamboo, and a few extremely faint dark golden fine lines could be vaguely seen on the sand surface—those were the thunder pattern marks left by the thunder bamboo root System as it extended into the sand layer. The tide sound spirit bamboo next to it was a head shorter than the thunder bamboo, and the circle of silver sea tide runes on its bamboo body was slowly brightening and fading in the afternoon light. There was only a two-foot distance between the two bamboos—the distance designed by Elder Tianji. One was responsible for purifying Devilish Qi, and the other was responsible for breaking down tide water Spiritual Qi into wood Spiritual Qi to feed the former.

The symbiosis was peaceful. One bamboo grew by half an inch, and the runes on the other bamboo lit up. Half an inch, then another half an inch, one month, then another month—the production capacity limit of the purification liquid was tied to the growth curves of these two bamboos.

"Ye Zhe—change the old sand replacement cycle starting next month. Don't wait for a month and a half anymore; replace it as soon as a full month is up. As long as the concentration of the thunder bamboo root secretions meets the standard, the old sand can be replaced early."

"Understood. But this means the stockpile of old sand at the thunder bamboo roots will decrease—the more frequent the replacement, the thinner the stockpile."

"If it's thin, replenish it with new. Is there enough spare culture sand in the Spirit Plant Garden?"

"Yes. There are still over thirty bags of spare culture sand transferred from the spirit field area—it can be used by mixing in a little new sand."

"Good. As for the change in old sand quality—keep a separate logbook. Keep a small sample of each batch of replaced old sand, marked with the replacement date and quality rating. In the future, when the shipment volume of purification liquid increases, the stability of raw material quality will be our greatest confidence."

Ye Zhe nodded. He squatted back down next to the thunder bamboo, carefully put the sample of the crushed old sand into a small cloth bag, tied the bag mouth tight, and wrote the date on the bag surface with a charcoal stick.

When Lu Changyuan walked out of the Spirit Plant Garden, a burst of urgent messaging bell sounds suddenly came from the direction of the Outer Port—it was Lu Hu's private message.

He picked up the sound transmission talisman. Lu Hu's voice was rising uncontrollably.

"Young Lord, you need to come back and take a look—a layer of something has seeped out on the mother shell of the cold marrow jade shell. It's not as thin as before; this layer is as thick as a fingernail."