Breaking the Day - Chapter 136
Chapter 136: Winter Blooms
Li Chengfeng turned to Su Yuehan. “Pluck out the Rainbow Sickle Senna Seeds.”
Su Yuehan quickly opened the carefully hidden bundle and gently took out the pressed flowers inside. It had been a few days since they were picked. Although it was a cold winter, the fresh and brightly-coloured flowers were already quite wilted. If they were sold now, they would be priced cheaper than before. Its medicinal efficacy would not be as great as before either.
However, this was going to be used to save Xiaobao so Li Chengfeng did not care how it looked. Su Yuehan carefully took out the seeds from the one-hundred-plus flowers. Every flower produced ten seeds. In total, excluding any seeds they previously dropped or lost, they harvested about one thousand three hundred seeds.
But the one chinese acre (667 sq m) of land obviously wasn’t going to fit so many seeds. And if he planted them nearby, it would cause large-scale wilting of all the plants in the surroundings. He had already absorbed the Spiritual Qi of the flowers and grasses from more than ten chinese acres of land before this. If he continued to plant one thousand seeds here, perhaps one or two hectares of plants would wilt!
He could barely cover his tracks the last time but he would not be able to cover up so much wilted plants. Anyone looking from the top would notice a jarring bald patch.
“Young Master, I’ve plucked all the seeds out. Where will you plant them?” She wrapped them carefully and handed them to Li Chengfeng. The full pouch with one thousand seeds was as large as two of his fists.
He kept it well. “No, I’ll plant them. Don’t follow.”
Su Yuehan’s eyes widened. “But Young Master, what if something happens when you’re casting your spell?”
“Zhao Xiaobao is more important. I’ll be travelling far. I don’t want him to be alone. And i’ll be distracted worrying about him and in the end, it’ll be more dangerous for me.”
“But where are you going?”
He smiled. “Somewhere we’ve been before.”
She thought for a moment and her eyes lit up. “Crescent Valley?”
He nodded. “That’s right!”
She chewed on her lip and tugged at his sleeve. “You must be careful. Don’t trek too deep in, it might be dangerous.”
He patted her head. “When I’m not here, seal the door with my bed board so less wind gets inside. Also, light a fire in the front hall and remember to surround it with rocks and don’t let the sparks fly out of the fire pile. It’s a cold winter, our conditions are currently not the best. The nights will be tough.”
Su Yuehan’s eyes redded slightly as she nodded. Then, she watched as Li Chengfeng walked alone into the white snow.
Luckily, the Spiritual Mountain Sect was located on a magnificent mountain range. Even during snowy winter, lush greenery could be seen amidst the blanket of white snow.
Li Chengfeng followed the previous path from the transporter to get to Crescent Valley.
Crescent Valley was a peculiar place. Although it was snowing heavily, the snow that landed tens of metres away from the valley melted into mist. The entire valley was now a misty ethereal dreamscape as if it was protected from the cold by a spell.
He did not dare venture too deep inside. After locating a vast, flat spot somewhere obscured yet near the entrance, he took out a few seeds and scattered them into the grass. He did not bury them. Then, he moved the Immortal Qi within him and then the Spiritual Qi from surrounding grass to help these seeds germinate fast.
He watched the seeds intently, they were currently growing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Although they were not buried, they germinated as usual. Since each plant only consisted of one flower, it grew very quickly. In five minutes, the flowers bloomed. The Rainbow Sickle Senna flowers looked especially beautiful as they were moist with dewdrops from the mist.
He plucked these flowers, studied them and nodded when he was satisfied. He then scattered two hundred seeds around and consciously controlled the Spiritual Qi within his body, coaxing the flowers to grow.
While he was already familiar with coaxing these plants, he struggled with controlling his Spiritual Qi across a large area. He could not get a huge area of flowers to bloom at the same time, instead had to work on the seeds in sections.
At least he was familiar with this skill already. He was more confident in his own abilities after having to grow grass during battle and winning the stone statue.
After using his powers several times, he became more familiar with wielding his Immortal Qi. The most peculiar thing was that after more than ten consecutive times, he did not feel fatigued at al. He felt very energetic! This shocked him because the Spiritual Qi from these grass were flowing through him then out to the seeds. Since he was the medium, doing this multiple times should have tired him out.
But it didn’t!
Li Chengfeng fell deep in thought. Previously, he felt like a transit station, or a labourer of nature. Now, he felt more like a: bank!
A bank did not generate its own wealth, instead taking wealth from various sources and grouping them together. Then, the bank would invest this fortune. As the bank, controlling such a large cashflow meant it was also a powerful entity.
Li Chengfeng recalled a story about a son who looked down on his banker father, telling his father, “All your money in the bank belongs to other people. It’s not even yours. So what’s the use of the bank having so much money?”
In reply, the banker told his son, “Go take a piece of raw meat from the fridge.”
The banker’s son obeyed his father and gave him the piece of meat. The father asked, “Are your fingers oily?”
The son looked at the oil on his hand and understood. The banker said, “You were just holding a piece of meat and you’ve already got oil stuck to your hand. What if you were holding a hundred dollars? Ten thousand dollars? A million dollars?”
It was a different matter but the same concept. Upon realising this, Chengfeng excitedly activated the Immortal Qi within him, coaxing the flowers to grow.
After he finished growing more than a thousand Rainbow Sickle Senna flowers, there was already a gigantic patch of ‘barren land’. The lush grass in the area had turned yellow and wilted. It looked as if someone had dug up a patch of the valley, and it was a sorry sight too.
In the beginning, Chengfeng had not noticed this occurrence. He focused on sowing the seeds, coaxing them, harvesting, then switching another spot to repeat the process. He had only finished his work at three the next morning.
When he stopped to look around, he was shocked by the terrifying sight. Only the trees were stubbornly surviving. All the grass had wilted and even the soil had started to crack. Li Chengfeng had used up almost all the Spiritual Qi in the area.
“This spell is terrifying!” Li Chengfeng shivered. “If I had planted the flowers near my house, they would have noticed for sure!”
He did not dare stay for too long. After packing the one thousand flowers, he carried the bundle on his back and hurried back.
After arriving at Eagle Mountain using the teleportation array, he sprinted towards Hidden Beauty Court immediately and arrived just in time. Grand Senior Sister was already standing amidst the snow, as still as a jade statue.
“You’re here.” She turned to look at him with a tranquil expression, her gaze falling on the bundle on his back. She was curious how he did it but did not ask. Her face did not even change.
He handed the bundle over. “One thousand Rainbow Sickle Senna flowers. There are two hundred extra flowers in there, that’s for you! As long as you save my brother*!”
[TL Note: ‘brother’ here as in rly close friends, not biological brothers. I’ll be translating ‘brother’ directly instead of switching to ‘friend’]
Grand Senior Sister took the bundle but did not open it. This person would never dare to cheat her. She said mildly, “Wait here.”
Then, she glided away.