Chapter 23
Ever since Jiang Hao had met Senior Sister Yun Ruo, he always wanted to appraise the people he met. He felt very paranoid, like there were spies in every corner.
The result of appraisal appeared in his mind:
[Han Ming: True Disciple of Heavenly Note Sect’s the Cliff of Broken Hearts. His talent is top-notch. He’s 18 years old and is in the Early Foundation Establishment Stage. He’s favored by the spirits of mountains and rivers.]
‘True Disciple? His status is higher than mine,’ Jiang Hao sighed.
Fortunately, there weren’t any rules about calling a True Disciple ‘Senior Brother’. Otherwise, it would have made things very awkward. The sect seemed to have accepted a candidate for the Top Ten disciples. Most people would watch their words with them.
Although Han Ming’s talent was top-notch and he was favored by the spirit of mountains and rivers, Jiang Hao didn’t really care. As long as he wasn’t a spy, that was good enough. Spies had a clear purpose and were hard to get rid of. Someone like Liu Xingchen. There would be some form of backlash in the end, he was sure of it. Jiang Hao needed to become stronger before that happened.
But no matter how powerful any of them were, no one was as powerful as that woman.
“Senior Brother Jiang, my name is Han Ming. I hope Senior Brother can guide me,” Han Ming said politely.
He was also very curious. “I heard that Senior Brother is nineteen years old?”
“Yes.” Jiang Hao nodded.
“I hope one day I can surpass Senior Brother,” Han Ming said with a smile.
“I am sure you will,” said Jiang Hao with a smile. Han Ming was a True Disciple. Jiang Hao, on the other hand, felt lucky he was where he was. “I will show you around. But you don’t really need to tend to them all the time. I will take care of it. You better focus on your cultivation,” he said kindly.
As a True Disciple, he didn’t need to come here. It would be a waste of time. The Cliff Master most likely brought him here to get familiar with the surroundings.
“Thank you, Senior Brother.” Han Ming smiled brightly.
Jiang Hao showed him around the Spirit Herb Garden and explained to him about the different spirit herbs.
“Senior Brother, have you been helping to manage this place all this time? Alone? Doesn’t it consume a lot of your time?” asked Han Ming.
“It’s alright,” said Jiang Hao slowly. “I like managing the place.”
Han Ming didn’t seem to agree. “I feel that spending a lot of time here isn’t very fruitful, especially for the cultivation level. I want to become one of the strongest people in the sect. I want to become one of the Top Ten disciples.”
Jiang Hao smiled politely. “Then I wish for you to achieve it as soon as possible.”
“Senior Brother, how long do you think it will take me to surpass you?” Han Ming asked.
“Maybe a few years?” said Jiang Hao.
Under normal circumstances, it would take him a few years. Unless he had a fortuitous encounter then he can advance rapidly.
After that, Han Ming left as if to say that he had more potential than that. Jiang Hao only smiled and bid him goodbye. Other people didn’t really care much for the Spirit Herb Garden because they didn’t receive many bubbles from here. But it was different for Jiang Hao, he could get a lot of bubbles from the Spirit Herb Garden. Most people left the white bubbles because they thought it was worthless, but he knew better. If they accumulated enough, they could make a huge impact.
After learning the method of concealment and control, he felt that he could feel the improvement every day.
‘He probably thinks I’m in the Early Foundation Establishment Stage at just nineteen, so he wants to come and see for himself. There is no danger from him. In a few months, he will probably forget and won’t care anyway,’ said Jiang Hao to himself.
He went along with his routine and took care of the spirit herbs in the garden. At noon, he went to the market and set up his stall to sell some talismans. He then returned to his house and continued to make more talismans. He read the secret manual at night to learn and understand better.
The next day, he found two bubbles at his residence:
[ cultivation + 1]
[ cultivation + 1]
He then started his daily routine and visited the Spirit Herbs Garden to continue collecting more bubbles:
[ spirit + 1]
[ spirit + 1]
[ strength + 1]
[ lifeblood + 1]
…
At noon, Jiang Hao sold some talismans again. He now had a total of 135 spirit stones. He wanted to use them to buy a spirit seed. But he hadn’t decided which seed he would buy, yet.
He could have gone yesterday since he had enough spirit stones, but he didn’t because he had already used up his Daily Appraisal. He wanted to appraise the seed before he decided to buy it.
He knew where he could buy the seeds. Snow Lotus Pavilion. It was the sect’s largest spirit medicine store. It sold all kinds of spirit medicine, elixirs, spirit seeds, etc.
A portion of the spirit herbs came from the Cliff of Broken Hearts. As Jiang Hao maintained the Spirit Herb Garden there, he had once received a list of orders.
“Buying seeds?” A Fairy guide in pigtails asked politely. “What kind of spirit herbs do you want to grow, Senior Brother?”
“I am not very sure. Sometimes it’s very difficult to grow them,” said Jiang Hao. “It’s not the environment that is the problem, but the spirit herbs themselves.”
The Fairy guide nodded. “What is your budget?”
“About a hundred spirit stones,” Jiang Hao said.
“A hundred? Then you can buy a good seed. There’s one that just happens to be suitable for Senior Brother. Please come in.”
The Fairy guide led him to a room with many seeds with unique purposes. Buying a seed for 100 spirit stones wasn’t very unusual. It was common for those in the Foundation Establishment Stage.
The Fairy guide showed him a snow-white seed lying quietly in a glass box at the counter.
“This is a Snow Lotus Seed. A high-grade spirit herb that can heal injuries and increase cultivation. The best place to grow it is in the snow or somewhere cold, but it can still grow in other places. It’s just that the speed of growth would be slower. The price is 99 spirit stones. Does this meet Senior Brother’s requirements?” asked The Fairy guide.
Jiang Hao silently activated his Daily Appraisal ability. He was more confident if he could see the seed’s potential for himself.