Chapter 15: Three Classics and Five Canons (Please add to favorites! Please keep reading!)

Xia Huan rubbed his wrist, looking at Shao Heng with a complex expression.

His tone softened, and he actually said, "Since this junior sister really wants it, it would be unseemly for me to continue competing with you. I shall yield it to you."

From arrogant to obsequious—Shao Heng looked at the male disciple before her, wariness rising in her eyes.

She scoffed, "Yield? You're yielding something that was already mine to begin with? It seems I should count as having saved your life now, after all, if I hadn't held back, a single punch would have finished you."

Xia Huan’s expression turned ugly, but the stinging pain in his wrist brought him back to his senses. In the end, he turned and left.

Shao Heng held the wooden plaque and went to find the Law Enforcement Pavilion disciples to register and collect her spirit rice and spirit field.

The other disciples in the hall were whispering, though they were careful to cast sound-insulation spells while talking so that others wouldn't hear them.

"Sister, you said that this Xia Huan relies on his background in a cultivation clan and his cousins working in the Law Enforcement Pavilion, and has always been arrogant. How could he be like this toward this new female disciple..."

A female voice replied, "It’s not arrogance; he’s just a bully who fears the strong and picks on the weak. Look at Xia Huan’s hand—it’s bruised black and blue. He has cultivated for over ten years and has condensed nearly two hundred furnaces of mana. His physical body has been nourished by mana for so long, yet he was beaten like this by a disciple who hasn't even guided Qi into her body. Do you think he dares to provoke her easily?"

Although outer sect disciples all possess low-grade aptitude, there is a world of difference even among those with low-grade aptitude.

The female disciple speaking was named Gu Xuan. She looked at her younger sister beside her and continued to instruct Gu Yuisui, "You only entered the sect this year. Previously, I told you that besides studying cultivation essentials in the clan, you should also read more classics. It seems you didn't listen."

"The female disciple from just now hasn't guided Qi yet, so she likely doesn't come from a cultivation clan, but to have such strength—I suspect she possesses innate divine power. It is highly probable she has a physique like Vajra Bones or Savage Soul. This ranks at the top among low-grade aptitudes. The chances of this person promoting to the inner sect during the disciple grand competition in a year are very high. Presumably, Xia Huan considered this, which is why he had to bow his head."

Gu Yuisui nodded in sudden realization. She was only just over twelve years old, with a round, adorable face that prompted Gu Xuan to reach out and pinch her cheek.

"That disciple entered the sect in the same batch as you. If there is an opportunity, you can try to befriend her; it wouldn't hurt to spend some spirit stones to curry favor. 'Dharma, Companion, Wealth, Land'—the 'Companion' refers to both cultivation partners and good friends. Our aptitude isn't outstanding, so we must find ways to make up for it elsewhere."

Gu Yuisui tugged on her sister's sleeve, wrinkling her face with some impatience, "Alright, alright, I know."

Because of the sound-insulation spells, and because Shao Heng’s mana was not yet strong enough to penetrate the effects of the spell, she did not hear the other disciples' discussions and speculations.

Before long, she received a bag of white jade spirit rice and a brownish-yellow talisman from the Law Enforcement Pavilion disciple.

"After injecting mana into this guidance talisman, it will lead you to the location of your spirit field. All spirit fields in the sect have isolation arrays set up around them; this talisman is also the key to opening the array."

"You only have six months of usage time for this spirit field. If the spirit field is damaged during the inspection after six months, you will need to compensate with spirit stones based on the assessment results."

The male disciple, who looked to be in his early thirties, explained the use of the talisman to Shao Heng.

After listening, she asked, "Then, Senior Brother, if I still want to use the spirit field after completing the task, is there any way?"

"Pay rent. Renting each spirit field for a year costs eighty spirit stones. They are assigned randomly, and there isn't much difference in fertility."

Shao Heng nodded. She carried the rice bag, tucked the talisman into her robes, and turned to walk out of the Law Enforcement Pavilion.

She quickly returned to the disciple quarters, closed the door, and sat on a chair, unable to wait to untie the rice bag and pour some onto the table.

The rice seeds still had their husks and carried a faint fragrance not found in ordinary grain.

Shao Heng rubbed her chin and smacked her lips. "Let me think about the 'Golden Agriculture Compendium' I read before. These seeds need to be sprouted in a paddy field first, so I need to use the Spirit Rain Spell that the male disciple mentioned. After sprouting, the rice seedlings will begin to tiller and branch, then head and flower, and finally ripen. To ensure successful pollination, I also need to use the Wind-Blowing Spell..."

After roughly going through the process in her mind, Shao Heng got down to business.

She chose a brush holder from the room's decorations and sprinkled a small handful of rice seeds into it.

"Heaven creates water, flowing in all directions."

Shao Heng clumsily pinched the hand seals and recited the incantation; it was the Water-Calling Spell recorded in the booklet.

She saw a surge of spiritual energy and, sensing its changes, realized that the water-attribute spiritual energy was being drawn and condensed, finally turning into water droplets that fell into the brush holder.

Although it was her first time, Shao Heng still succeeded, making her unable to help but smile.

"Simple enough. Both this Water-Calling Spell and the Spirit Rain Spell are water-attribute spells; the condensed water droplets carry spiritual energy, the main difference being the range of effect."

When the rice seeds were submerged to the height of half an index finger, Shao Heng extended her fingertip, and a drop of emerald liquid fell into it, dyeing the water a clear green.

She stared intently at the rice seeds in the brush holder, full of anticipation.

Not even half a quarter of an hour later, the green color in the water grew paler, while the husks of the rice seeds had already been forced open, gradually sprouting into seedlings.

"It can accelerate the growth rate of spirit plants! What about precious medicine? There's a high probability it can too."

Shao Heng’s eyes were startlingly bright. In her eyes, these weren't just sprouted rice seedlings in a brush holder; they were shimmering spirit stones!

The [Green Emperor] divine ability only required her mana to condense the green liquid droplets, and once mana was consumed, it could be quickly recovered through meditation. It was equivalent to a business with no overhead.

Moreover, when the sect summarized cultivation laws, they had long discovered that a cultivator exhausting their mana and recovering it repeatedly had the miraculous effect of tempering the "Yellow Sprout" and solidifying their foundation. It was killing two birds with one stone.

While Shao Heng was overjoyed and about to urge another drop to drip in to see the effect of a larger dose, a deafening thunderclap suddenly erupted outside!

The sound of the thunder felt as if it reached her very soul, shaking her entire body. Her vision went dark, and her consciousness felt as if it were falling into a thick fog, sinking continuously.

But suddenly, a vision of the sun, moon, and stars flashed before her eyes. Shao Heng’s mind cleared, and she opened her eyes wide.

Something was wrong!

When Shao Heng returned to the disciple quarters, it was broad daylight with clear skies for ten thousand miles. Less than a quarter of an hour had passed; it was unlikely that it would suddenly become overcast with thunder and lightning.

Moreover, this thunder had the effect of capturing one's soul—it was truly bizarre.

She swallowed hard. After thinking for only a second or two, she chose not to cower in the room like a quail, but instead pushed open the window she had previously closed and poked her head out to observe carefully.

The sun hung high, with no haze or clouds, yet the thunder continued to roar in the daylight.

Shao Heng poked her head out further, tilted it upward, and channeled all her mana into her eyes.

Faintly, she saw it.

The direction pointed exactly toward the inner sect of the Zhenyi Yuan Sect. High above, white lightning had transformed into a massive True Dragon, swimming through the sky. Several streaks of light were also flying past—they must be cultivators—and it looked like they were trying to subdue this lightning dragon?

"What is that thing?"

At the same time, within the inner sect, just as Shao Heng had guessed, several Sixth-Realm cultivators were using every means at their disposal, their eyes burning as they stared at the dragon formed by lightning, trying to suppress it.

A female cultivator in purple robes laughed toward the sky. Her brow shimmered with brilliance, and rolling mana transformed into a totem scroll behind her, instantly blasting the three people beside her away.

"My Zhenyi Yuan Sect has passed down eighty-seven volumes of cultivation techniques to this day, with the Three Scriptures and Five Canons as the supreme. Since this 'Dongxuan Yushu Thunder Canon' has appeared in the world today, it is the perfect opportunity for this True Monarch to reach the Seventh Realm!"