Chapter 329: 187 Exquisite Jade Essence

“Fantastic!” Mu Xiaoqing was filled with excitement upon hearing his teacher speak so.

If the teacher could break through, their entire Bamboo Forest Sect would rise along with the tide, becoming one of the strongest forces within ten thousand miles.

“Herbs like Sky Blue Grass already possess their own Spirit Creation, they cannot be directly harvested; otherwise, once it causes averse reactions, the Spirit Creation within will transform into poison, rendering it useless…”

Though excited, Mu Hongtao was not hasty and his eyes were filled with solemnity.

Herbs with Spirit Creation must not be harvested forcibly, for a single erroneous thought could turn them into poison. Even if harvested, they would not be a nourishing substance but instead bring disaster.

“Then…” It was the first time Mu Xiaoqing had heard of this and confusion clouded his eyes.

“No need to rush. Our Bamboo Forest Sect, being of the earth attribute, is inherently skilled at communicating with spirit herbs and possesses methods for harvesting. As long as I quietly perform the technique, success is certain. Stand guard for me, it’s also a good learning opportunity…”

Mu Hongtao smiled lightly, leaped forward, flicked his wrist, and took out a jade bottle. Gently opening it, a dense spiritual energy spread out from within.

Seeing his confidence, Mu Xiaoqing breathed a sigh of relief, drew her Double Hook, and stood to the side on guard.

Mu Hongtao dripped the contents of the jade bottle onto the leaves of the Sky Blue Grass. In the blink of an eye, the rich spiritual energy flowed along the veins of the leaves, penetrating into the herb itself.

“Is this… the Exquisite Jade Essence? Isn’t this meant to be taken to enhance one’s cultivation?” Mu Xiaoqing was puzzled.

The Exquisite Jade Essence from the jade bottle was extremely precious, not just within the Bamboo Forest Sect but throughout the entire Zhou Yi Dynasty. With her level of cultivation, one drop would take a month to fully Forge.

Wasn’t it too wasteful to just drip it onto the herb?

“Wasteful?” Mu Hongtao shook his head. “Take a closer look!”

Mu Xiaoqing peered over, puzzled, and saw that even the Exquisite Jade Essence, which she herself found difficult to Forge, had already been completely absorbed, leaving not a trace behind. The once somewhat dull Sky Blue Grass had now turned lush and vivid, its entire body a verdant green, resembling a gemstone.

“This is the first step to harvest it ‘Coaxing the Spirit’!”

Mu Hongtao explained with a smile, “Faced with high-quality spirit herbs, one must first discern the Spirit Creation’s desires and satisfy them to a certain degree. This way, you can gain its recognition! Now, let me demonstrate the second step…”

Having said that, the sect leader Mu took out a jade box, dug a small pit, and placed it less than a foot away from the Sky Blue Grass, then filled it with some soil.

Mu Hongtao said, “This is the second step ‘Enthralling Spirits’.”

“Enthralling Spirits?” Mu Xiaoqing was bewildered.

“If it has Spirit Creation, it will naturally move and attempt to escape on its own. Forcibly extracting the herb would cause its Spirit Creation to transform. However, if you allow it to come over on its own, you can avoid this situation.”

As Mu Hongtao spoke, he picked up the jade bottle again and dripped another drop of the Exquisite Jade Essence into the soil within the jade box. In an instant, the dense spiritual energy surged out, and then with his fingertip, he dabbed another drop of Essence, drawing a faint channel between the Sky Blue Grass and the jade box.

As if Sensing the Essence’s spiritual energy, the blades of Sky Blue Grass turned sunflower-like towards it. In the next moment, a thick root pulled out from the soil, stealthily reaching toward that side.

Soon, it touched the channel, and the entire plant quivered excitedly, then all the roots pulled out together, moving stealthily step by step toward the jade box, like a thief.

“Indeed…” Mu Xiaoqing was full of excitement.

It was her first time seeing medicinal herbs move, and crucially, one had actually been lured over by the sect leader. Just as it was about to enter the jade box, the Sky Blue Grass seemed to sense something and suddenly shook, then “whoosh,” darted away into the distance.

His face darkened, Mu Hongtao hurriedly reached out to grab it but hesitated, fearing he might anger its Spirit Creation. As he hesitated, a hand came down from not far away, and soon he saw the Sky Blue Grass, struggling desperately in the palm, unable to escape.

“Master Mo, let go…”

Upon recognizing the person who acted, Mu Hongtao spoke with a sense of urgency.

It was none other than Mo Baiye.

“If I let go, it’ll escape…” Mo Baiye couldn’t be bothered with idle talk, taking out a jade box from his pocket and began to place the herb inside.

Seeing his reckless action, Mu Hongtao’s face showed anger: “If you snatch it like that, even if you get the herb, it will lose its healing properties. Don’t believe me? Look, the Sky Blue Grass has turned gray…”

Mu Xiaoqing hurriedly looked, and indeed he saw that the herb in Mo Baiye’s hand had somehow turned to a dull grey, no longer the vivid color it had been just moments ago.

A look of confusion flashed through Mo Baiye’s eyes, as if hearing about this for the first time. He looked down at the Sky Blue Grass in his hand and gave it a slap: “Giving you face, aren’t I? Won’t you change back!”

Everything went dark before his eyes, and just as Mu Hongtao was about to scold him for his foolery, he saw the grey Sky Blue Grass, as if a child who had done something wrong, shake slightly and turn back to its lush green color.

“It’s fine now!”@@novelbin@@

Mo Baiye smiled faintly, placed the herb into the jade box, and turned to leave, disappearing from the spot in the blink of an eye.

Mu Hongtao’s eyes bulged: “A slap made it better? How is that possible? Could it be that Sky Blue Grass is also a bully and a coward?”

“Cough, cough!”

Seeing him still fixated on the issue, Mu Xiaoqing couldn’t hold back any longer: “Teacher, Master Mo has taken the herb…”

“Yeah, that’s my herb, Mo Baiye, give it back to me…”

Only then did it dawn on Mu Hongtao, who trembled with rage.

He had spent two drops of Exquisite Jade Essence to lure out this grass, and the other party simply slapped it and took it away…

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, unable to restrain himself any longer, he chased after Mo Baiye.

After a few steps, as he searched, he saw Mo Baiye bent over with his rear in the air, crouched in the bushes digging up another herb.

At this moment, Master Mo was holding his breath, being extremely careful, and in front of him was a pale red Phoenix Crown Grass.

Phoenix Crown Grass, although it could not help one’s cultivation, had excellent healing effects and was invaluable, just like the Sky Blue Grass. However, its value was not as high.

Mu Hongtao found himself growing angrier the more he thought about the rough handling of the Sky Blue Grass and the gentle care for the Phoenix Crown Grass. Unable to contain himself any longer, he kicked towards Mo Baiye, who had his rear sticking up.

Thud!

Master Mo never expected an ambush, and with no defenses, he stumbled forward into a lunge and fell face-first into the muddy ground.

The Phoenix Crown Grass that was almost in his grasp got startled and immediately spread its roots, darting out and disappearing into the lush greenery of the bushes.

“Mu Hongtao, what are you doing?”

Struggling to get up from the ground, Mo Baiye finally realized what happened, his face turned red with anger, and he couldn’t help but roar.

He was so close to harvesting that herb, only for it to be scared off by the other person, what was this all about?