“Did anybody see which Elder Brother it was that just took the test?”
Zhou Xinqi stood beneath the stone stele, frowning. Just now, she had used all the skill she possessed to piece together 6,000 plants. She could never have imagined that she would still be stuck in second place.
Her eyes narrowed, and she gave a cold harrumph as she spun and walked back into the log cabin, a very serious look in her eyes.
After enough time passed for an incense stick to burn, she emerged again, her expression grave. She turned yet again and went back in, and the same amount of time passed before she emerged, face pale. Expression staunch, she once again entered.
Once. Twice. Three times. Four times….
The surrounding cultivators were panting as they watched Zhou Xinqi try over and over again. However, the end result was that everyone lapsed into complete silence.
The scene playing out in front of them was terrifying. They could never have possibly imagined that whoever owned the turtle insignia could have pieced together so many medicinal plants, and so thoroughly surpassed Zhou Xinqi.
As of that moment, everyone was completely thunderstruck by the turtle.
That was especially true of Zhou Xinqi, who once again emerged, her beautiful eyes shot with blood. Everyone in the audience gasped.
Bai Xiaochun couldn’t help but clear his throat. Right now, he couldn’t just blurt out that he was the person in first place. However, the desire to do that very thing itched in his heart like a restless cat. Actually, it was a wonderful feeling.
“Now’s not the time,” he thought. “I’ll find an opportunity in the future to make a big scene in front of everybody. I’ll make sure everyone knows that the person who holds the first place spot on the first stone stele is none other than me, Bai Xiaochun!” Looking up, he realized that it was getting dark, and yawned, looking like the picture of a lonely hero.
“In the twinkling of an eye, I, Bai Xiaochun, reduced Zhou Xinqi to nothing more than ash….” With that, he flicked his sleeve and turned, walking away through the crowd.
As he departed, Zhou Xinqi gritted her teeth, and stubbornly entered the log cabin to once again take the test for the first volume of plants and vegetation….
Eventually, the moon hung high in the sky, and Zhou Xinqi stood there, completely exhausted as she stared up at the turtle. She could never have predicted that a day like this would come, that something like this would happen.
The crowds departed, and word of the turtle became the talk of Fragrant Cloud Peak.
One would think that the matter was over, but the next day, as the sun shone down onto the 10,000 Medicines Pavilion, the disciples were shocked to see Zhou Xinqi return and once again go into the first stone stele’s log cabin. Yet again, she failed, over and over.
One day, two days, three days…. For a full three days, she never gave up. Soon, the gossip about the turtle disciple had reached a fever pitch in Fragrant Cloud Peak.
There was not a single person who hadn’t heard about the matter, and even the Inner Sect disciples were talking about it.
Seven days later, Zhou Xinqi stood beneath the stone stele, staring up listlessly at the turtle. She had tried over and over again during the past seven days. She had held nothing back, and had even pushed herself to the point of piecing together 7,000 plants. However, she still couldn’t surpass that mysterious disciple.
“Just who are you?!” she murmured. Finally, she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and turned to leave. She would no longer attempt to compete over the first stele. However, the image of that turtle was now burned deeply into her psyche.
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Chapter
19: The Legend of the Weasel
The comfortable life of an Outer Sect disciple on Fragrant Cloud Peak was great for Bai Xiaochun. Although he missed the delicious food he had access to back in the Ovens, everything else was quite satisfactory.
In terms of his progress in cultivation, and his research into plants and vegetation, he truly felt as if he was living life to the fullest. The only downside was that his courtyard residence was relatively remote, and there was no one around to chat with, so he got bored sometimes.
“Could it be that all cultivators are so lonely?” he thought, sighing as he stood there in the courtyard looking up into the sky. Somehow, he felt much older and more grown up.
The winds of autumn had passed, and snow had begun to fall occasionally, causing the temperature to drop significantly. Snowflakes drifted about in the air, and the Spiritwinter Bamboo in Bai Xiaochun’s courtyard was growing strong and healthy. They were now taller than Bai Xiaochun himself, and emerald green in color. They were like a splash of spring in the middle of the winter cold.
A month had passed since he had taken first place on the first stone stele of plants and vegetation. However, the second volume of plants and vegetation was much more difficult than he’d anticipated, causing his research to slow. But that didn’t change the most important thing to him, which was that Zhou Xinqi never took back the first place spot on the first stone stele. Unfortunately, Bai Xiaochun still felt a lot of pressure to be able to piece together all of the incomplete medicinal plants that he hadn’t been able to before.
“I have an amazing reputation now. I can’t let that wench Zhou Xinqi surpass me.” From that moment, Bai Xiaochun decided that he would continue to work harder and harder until he reached his secret goal of being able to proudly announce in front of everyone that he was Apothecary Turtle.
Although his progress with the second volume of plants and vegetation was slow, his cultivation of the Undying Live Forever Technique was rapidly nearing the point where he would be able to achieve a full minor circulation.
Although the pain only continued to get worse, Bai Xiaochun remained completely focused on the words ‘undying’ and ‘live forever’.
“Three more days. According to the description of the Undying Live Forever Technique, in three days I’ll be able to complete a minor circulation.” Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and continued to speed around his courtyard, simultaneously studying the second volume of plants and vegetation.
The three days passed by quickly. On the evening of the third day, it began to snow, covering the Spirit Stream Sect in a blanket of shimmering silver.
Bai Xiaochun was in the middle of running when a tremor ran through him, and he suddenly stopped in place. The pain that he had been enduring for the past eighty-one days suddenly vanished.
A flow of heat exploded through him, converging on his skin, which felt as if it were broiling in an oven.
The snowflakes melted before they could even get near him, instantly transforming into a white mist.
“It worked!” he exclaimed ecstatically, despite his dry throat. Although he felt like he was on fire, when he looked down, he saw a black light flowing over his skin, which circulated around him and then vanished.
He then poked his arm with his right hand, and could tell how incredibly tough it was. His eyes shone, and shook his arms and legs a bit. Instantly, he could tell that he was much faster than before. He started to run forward, then let out a cry of shock as he appeared several meters away in the blink of an eye.
He could now move twice as fast as he could before. Completely delighted, Bai Xiaochun ran around a bit to test out his new speed, and was very satisfied.