84: Chapter 84 Wow, it's street dance again!

Yun Ming looked at its fluffy appearance and suddenly felt like teasing it.

"Jiu Jiu," he rested his chin on his hand and asked with a smile, "What can you do?"

Jiu Jiu tilted its head, its black bean-like eyes rolling around, seemingly trying to understand his question.

Then it moved.

It first hopped to the left, then to the right. Its two little claws lifted in turns, its body swaying left and right, feathers shaking along, looking just like a fuzzball dancing some strange dance steps.

Yun Ming was amused: "Wow!"

He intentionally dragged out his voice and shouted exaggeratedly: "It's street dance again!"

Jiu Jiu danced even more vigorously, left and right, front and back, hopping around happily.

Just as it was hopping about, Yun Ming suddenly noticed something, and the smile on his face froze slightly.

He looked down at his feet.

The courtyard was shaking; at first, he thought it was an earthquake.

But immediately he discovered that something was drilling out from the gaps in the bluestone floor tiles.

It was grass.

Tender green grass shoots pushed open the hard stone tiles, drilling out one after another. It wasn't just the gaps between the tiles; even under the stone benches, beside the Spiritual Qi spring, and in the damp corners of the walls—everywhere, green grass was breaking through the soil.

Yun Ming widened his eyes.

Those grasses grew surprisingly fast. He watched as a blade of grass went from sprouting to three inches tall in just a few breaths. The tender green leaves unfurled, shining with a bright luster in the sunlight.

Jiu Jiu was still hopping.

"Jiu! Jiu! Jiu!"

Every time it hopped, the grass on the ground grew even faster.

Yun Ming stood up abruptly, scooped Jiu Jiu up from the table, and cradled it in his palm.

"Stop, stop, stop!" he shouted, "Stop hopping!"

Jiu Jiu stopped its movements, blinking its eyes at him with an innocent expression.

Yun Ming looked down at the courtyard.

In just this short while, the originally neat bluestone ground had been covered by a patch of tender green. Dense green grass had drilled out from the brick gaps; the tall ones had already grown to the length of a palm, and the short ones were also struggling to shoot upwards. The entire courtyard was full of life and lush greenery—if one ignored those displaced floor tiles.

Yun Ming's mouth twitched.

He had just been proud of how neat and pretty his Immortal Cave was, and now, well, it had become a grassland.

"Jiu?" Jiu Jiu called out, tilting its head, seemingly not understanding why its master had shouted for it to stop.

Yun Ming took a deep breath and looked down at the fluffy little thing in his palm.

"Jiu Jiu," he tried to keep his tone as calm as possible, "what did you just do?"

Jiu Jiu blinked, tilted its little head to the left, and then to the right. Then it jumped down from Yun Ming's palm, landed on the green grass, and pointed at the grass on the ground with its little claw.

"Jiu!" It called out and hopped again.

The grass grew a little taller.

Yun Ming understood.

"You can make plants grow?"

Jiu Jiu nodded vigorously, its little head nodding like a rattle-drum: "Jiu! Jiu! Jiu!"

Yun Ming crouched down and pointed at a weed beside the Spiritual Qi spring: "Try again."

Jiu Jiu hopped towards that blade of grass.

That blade of grass shot upwards visibly to the naked eye and even sprouted two new leaves.

Yun Ming pointed at another one in the corner of the wall in the distance.

Jiu Jiu hopped over and hopped towards that blade of grass.

That grass similarly grew wildly.

Yun Ming looked at Jiu Jiu, his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

He stood up, paced back and forth a few steps, and calculated rapidly in his mind.

Being able to promote plant growth—not just ordinary grass, surely it would also be useful for Spirit Medicine. From planting to maturity, a stalk of Spirit Medicine takes as short as three to five years, or as long as decades or even centuries. If Jiu Jiu could accelerate this process, what would that mean?

It would mean an endless supply of Spirit Medicine.

It would mean an inexhaustible supply of Alchemy Materials.

It would mean countless Spirit Stones.

Yun Ming crouched down, cradled Jiu Jiu back into his palm, and rubbed its fluffy little head.

"Jiu Jiu," he asked with a smile, "is this ability of yours very draining?"

Jiu Jiu tilted its head to think, then opened its little mouth and made a eating motion.

Yun Ming understood: "You need to eat?"

Jiu Jiu nodded.

"How much do you eat?"

Jiu Jiu tilted its head, seemingly thinking about how to express it. Then it used its little claw to trace a circle and pointed at its own belly.

Yun Ming thought for a moment and probed: "You need to be full?"

Jiu Jiu nodded vigorously and called out happily: "Jiu!"

Yun Ming was amused, a consumption of one bowl of rice per hundred kilometers.

This consumption was basically equal to nothing.

He rubbed Jiu Jiu's head, placed it on his shoulder, and then began to survey the courtyard.

The courtyard wasn't big, but it wasn't small either, at least twenty or thirty zhang square. There was sufficient sunlight, the Spiritual Qi spring was nearby, and the Spiritual Qi was abundant—it was simply the perfect location for a herb garden.

"Jiu Jiu," Yun Ming pointed at the courtyard, "let's start a herb garden here, shall we?"

"Jiu!" Jiu Jiu responded happily.

Said and done.

Yun Ming first cleaned up the weeds that had grown wildly—this time he didn't let Jiu Jiu help, he did it himself. The pulled weeds were piled up into a heap; he thought for a moment and didn't throw them away, deciding to keep them, perhaps they could be used for compost later.

Then he began to till the soil.

For a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, doing this kind of work was simply too easy. He cast an Earth-type Spell, and the ground tilled itself, which was much more efficient than a hoe. After tilling the soil, he took out Breathing Soil from his naxu ring and sprinkled it evenly over the tilled land. The Breathing Soil dissolved as soon as it hit the earth, merging with the original soil, and the entire herb garden's soil began to emit a faint spiritual glow.

After working for more than an hour, a neat herb garden finally took shape.

Yun Ming stood by the edge of the herb garden and nodded with satisfaction.

This herb garden was about five zhang square, with fertile soil and abundant Spiritual Qi, and the Spiritual Qi spring was right beside it, making irrigation convenient. Spirit Medicine could be planted at any time.

He turned to look at Jiu Jiu, who was crouching on the stone table supervising his work, and suddenly remembered something.

The Yao Race can only speak and take human form upon reaching the Nascent Soul Stage. Although Jiu Jiu had signed a contract with him, it still had to wait until the Foundation Establishment Stage to communicate with him via Divine Sense—and this communication was one-way; Jiu Jiu could convey its thoughts to him, but to others, Jiu Jiu's chirps would still be "Jiu Jiu" and would not turn into human speech.

However, he didn't need to worry about Jiu Jiu's Cultivation Technique. Yao Beasts all have their own Origin secret techniques hidden in their Bloodline, which awaken automatically as their cultivation increases. He still hadn't figured out what breed Jiu Jiu was, but just based on its ability to promote plant growth, it was worth raising well.

Yun Ming walked to the stone table, solemnly extended both hands, lifted Jiu Jiu up, and raised it to the height of his eye level.

"Jiu Jiu, hear your appointment!"

Jiu Jiu blinked its eyes at him.

Yun Ming cleared his throat and pretended to be serious: "From today on, you are this Seat's—Imperial Herb Garden Chief Winged General!"

Jiu Jiu was stunned for a moment, then immediately puffed out its little chest, held its head high, and called out "Jiu," looking very spirited.

It jumped down from Yun Ming's palm, landed on the edge of the herb garden, and began to patrol its territory with a swaggering gait. It walked from left to right, from right to left, stopping from time to time to nudge a clod of soil with its claw or lower its head to sniff, looking every bit like a general inspecting defenses.

Yun Ming watched its serious look and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Alright, this general is quite competent.

He turned and walked into the Quiet Room.

It was time for secluded cultivation.