40: Chapter 40 Eating Too Many Jade Bamboo and Spirit Leaves

Soon, the day to distribute the Jade Bamboo Spirit Leaves arrived.

All Outer Sect Disciples were treated equally; regardless of whether they were formal Disciples or Utility Disciples, they each received one leaf per month.

Overall, one thousand taels of silver was really not expensive.

At Xueyan Cliff, in the Utility Disciple courtyard of Nanxiang Courtyard, forty Utility Disciples were already waiting in the yard, arranged in four large dormitories.

When the figure of Deacon Qin Wen appeared on the mountain path, an atmosphere of silent joy instantly erupted in the courtyard.

Nangong Yi and the others, who had been receiving spirit leaves for several years, could not hide their excitement.

Xia Shaoxin's hands couldn't help but tremble slightly.

"Just one leaf is enough," he kept repeating in his heart.

Deacon Qin Wen walked in, accompanied by two Inner Sect Disciples and carrying a basket of spirit leaves that shimmered with white light.

Everyone was already standing in neat rows.

The leaders of the four groups stepped forward to collect them.

Xia Shaoxin was squeezed to the back. After Nangong Yi finished collecting them, he quickly distributed them to everyone, totaling nine leaves.

"What about mine?" Xia Shaoxin asked in shock.

Nangong Yi shrugged and snorted coldly, "Only nine leaves were issued. Don't yell and disturb the Deacon."

This remark reminded Xia Shaoxin, and he immediately shouted, "Deacon Qin, I am already able to Cultivate the Introductory Cultivation Method. Why was mine not issued?"

Deacon Qin Wen was about to walk out of the courtyard gate, but upon hearing this, he turned around in surprise.

"You learned the Introductory Cultivation Method? When did this happen?"

Xia Shaoxin hurriedly stepped forward, "It happened just a few days ago."

Deacon Qin Wen asked Nangong Yi, "Is this true? Why didn't you report it?"

Nangong Yi puffed out his chest, "I didn't know he had already learned it."

The eight roommates behind him almost collectively chimed in: "That's right, he didn't say anything, how would we know!"

Xia Shaoxin was so angry he laughed. My popularity is truly terrible.

I'll remember these guys.

"Deacon Qin, I can demonstrate it for you."

He immediately sat down at the courtyard entrance, blocking the way, and began to Cultivate right away.

To be able to calm down so quickly under such circumstances, he was truly a Divine Being.

Deacon Qin Wen could see that he was indeed able to practice the Yangyang Circulation Cultivation Technique, though he was still in the initial "sensing" stage.

"Fine, it's just one spirit leaf. Take it."

Deacon Qin Wen realized that Nangong Yi had intentionally not collected Xia Shaoxin's jade bamboo spirit leaf. He had no interest in managing the trivial matters of the Utility Disciple courtyard, so he just gave him one to end the matter.

Xia Shaoxin respectfully took the spirit leaf with both hands, glanced at Nangong Yi, and hurriedly rushed out of the courtyard.

Cai Ke gritted his teeth and said, "It's so hard for this kid to learn an Introductory Cultivation Method; what good will a spirit leaf do him? Let him pass the circulation stage first!"

Seeing that there was no more excitement, the Utility Disciples, who all had important matters to attend to, dispersed one after another.

Xia Shaoxin ran into a forest near the mountainside, made sure no one was around, and took out the jade bamboo spirit leaf.

It was just a slender bamboo leaf that emitted a faint glow.

Holding it in his palm, it felt slightly warm, as if it had been doused with hot water.

He silently recited the Sacrificial Incantation. A faint light shot out from the center of his brow, and the jade bamboo spirit leaf vanished into thin air from his palm.

All the information about the jade bamboo spirit leaf appeared in his mind.

It turned out that jade bamboo was a type of Immortal Plant. Its shoots could be used to refine various Advanced Medicinal Pills.

Its stalk could not be eaten and was not a medicinal material, but it could be used to make various Magical Artifacts.

The leaves only contained a small amount of Spiritual Qi, making them suitable for Mortals to consume directly, but they should not be consumed in large quantities.

Jade bamboo bloomed once every hundred years and died immediately after flowering. Three years after blooming, it could bear a fruit, which matured in three years and was considered a top-tier Medicinal Pill.

All things considered, the spirit leaf was the most useless part of the jade bamboo.

"So this leaf has no other use; then there's no need to worry about it."

Not far away was a cluster of particularly well-grown bamboo. He immediately picked ten bamboo leaves, choosing the slimmest and best-looking ones.

He first put a qi and blood pill in his mouth.

He silently recited the conversion incantation.

A white light shot out from his brow and shone onto his hands.

The ten ordinary bamboo leaves faintly revealed a white glow.

But at the same time, he felt a strong sense of dizziness in his head, as if someone had suddenly sucked the air out of his chest, causing a wave of suffocation.

He couldn't stand steadily; the world spun around him, his body swayed, and he fell to the ground with a thud.

He realized that the jade bamboo spirit leaf was an Immortal Plant; converting ten at once caused a massive loss of qi and blood.

A mere qi and blood pill could not support such consumption.

Fortunately, he had eaten one beforehand, so he hadn't passed out and could remain conscious. Otherwise, if a fellow Disciple walked by right now, it would be impossible to explain.

He took a few deep breaths and sat up from the ground.

He stuffed all ten spirit leaves into his mouth at once and immediately began to circulate his energy.

The spirit leaves fell into his throat but didn't seem to go down further; instead, they dissolved rapidly.

A taste of green grass welled up, both astringent and bitter.

It felt as if he had eaten several piping hot dumplings, ignoring his stomach, rolling from his throat to his chest, then falling into his abdomen, and finally being intercepted by his liver and lungs.

His internal organs felt as if they were all on fire at the same time.

From his liver, lungs, spleen, and other areas, waves of heat were generated, scorching his insides.

Heartburn, nausea, queasiness, tightness in his chest...

He couldn't maintain a calm sitting posture; his body tilted and swayed, and his skin felt like it was being pricked by needles, as if someone were peeling his skin.

"Ah! Agh!"

Enduring the pain, he still couldn't help but groan.

In the midst of the terrifying and indescribable pain, he clearly felt a trace of coolness running along his meridians.

This was exactly the "circulation" described in the Cultivation Technique.

It was just that it wasn't because he was guiding the Spiritual Qi himself, but because there was too much Spiritual Qi, and he couldn't control it; it was rampaging everywhere, some moving along the meridians, and some not knowing where to go.

"I was wrong. I shouldn't have eaten so many at once; I should have eaten them one by one."

Just converting the spirit leaves was extremely uncomfortable; adding this pain on top made him feel like a dying patient.

He didn't last a minute; his mouth opened, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and fainted on the ground.

...

He didn't know how much time had passed, but Xia Shaoxin heard the happy voices of Nangong Yi and the others by his ears.

"This guy, it's an overdose of Spiritual Qi; he can't handle it."

"A mere spirit leaf almost killed him, and he still wants to successfully practice Qi? He's dreaming."

"It's fortunate that Deacon Wang is kind-hearted. Considering he is a Utility Disciple of the Chiyan Sect, he wasted a drop of Heart-Protecting Awakening Liquid; otherwise, his meridians would have been completely destroyed."

He slowly opened his eyes to find himself lying on his dormitory bed, and it was already dark.

"You're finally awake!" Wang Xinhao was holding a small bottle in his hand.

Everyone around clapped.

"Deacon Wang's skillful hands saved him."

Xia Shaoxin braced his hands against the bed board, lifted his upper body with effort, and sat up.

Looking at the medicine bottle in Deacon Wang's hand, he was very surprised. Was eating ten spirit leaves at the same time really that serious?

"When you were found, the blood at the corner of your mouth had already dried. I thought you had been ambushed by someone."

Nangong Yi and the others clamored, "Deacon Wang, you underestimate us. Are we the type of petty people?"

But Xia Shaoxin saw regret in his eyes.

He thought, If you knew I had fainted and vomited blood, you would probably have taken the opportunity when no one was looking to stomp on me a few more times.

Afterward, he found out that he had been unconscious in the forest on the mountainside for a whole day, and Nangong Yi had never gone looking for him.

In the afternoon, he had reported to the Deacon again, saying that he was undisciplined and absent again.

When he still hadn't returned by nightfall, he excitedly told the Deacon again.

But it was another Disciple who had gone to the forest to Cultivate and accidentally discovered Xia Shaoxin, then returned to report it.

Deacon Wang rushed over, thinking he had been secretly attacked and his internal organs injured. Fortunately, the Deacon remembered that today was the day for distributing Jade Bamboo Spirit Leaves, so it was very likely a Spiritual Qi shock.

He ordered people to carry him back, then returned to his room to retrieve a rarely used Heart-Protecting Awakening Liquid, and a single drop woke Xia Shaoxin up.

"You spat out blood because the Spiritual Qi in your body was rampaging after you ate the jade bamboo spirit leaf, right?" Deacon Wang asked seriously.

Xia Shaoxin nodded.

"The Chiyan Sect has raised its standards for accepting Disciples over the years; this kind of situation hasn't happened for many years," Wang Xinhao said with emotion.

"You ate one spirit leaf and it caused you to vomit blood; your Cultivation Aptitude is truly terrible!"

"Hahaha—"

The Utility Disciple dormitory in Nanxiang Courtyard erupted in unbridled laughter.

Cai Ke even had tears coming out.