PCJ – Chapter 547 Spiritual Herbs

Zhang Jiaohua squatted beside the spiritual spring. Although there was still a puddle of water in the spring, no more spirit water was flowing out.

“It’s been ten years since water last flowed. The water level is dropping lower and lower. At this rate, it’ll dry up completely in just a few more years,” Luo Tianfeng muttered while standing next to Zhang Jiaohua.

Zhang Jiaohua frowned. “I’m not interested in your spiritual spring. I just find it strange—why is it drying up for no apparent reason?”

“We’ve been investigating the cause, but so far, we’ve found nothing,” Luo Tianfeng said with a bitter expression.

Zhang Jiaohua bent down and plunged his hands into the spring.

“What—what are you doing?” Luo Tianfeng panicked, but had no way to stop him. He feared Zhang Jiaohua might take away what little water was left in the spring.

Zhang Jiaohua ignored him. He wasn’t after the water—just confirming some things.

He scooped up a handful of water and let it slowly trickle back through his fingers into the spring. Compared to the spiritual springs in his cultivation diagram, this spring was far inferior in purity. It was essentially just groundwater with a higher concentration of spiritual energy. The core component was no longer spirit energy. In contrast, the spiritual springs in his cultivation diagram were pure spirit energy in liquid form, only appearing like water, but not actually water.

If this spring was truly a product of an ancient cultivator’s visualization, then the condition of this secret realm was truly dire.

What had caused the space within the cultivation diagram to become a secret realm? Could it really be, as Luo Tianfeng claimed, that ascended cultivators left behind these visualized spaces before ascending? Or was it that once they reached the Nascent Soul or Integration stage, the cultivation diagram became obsolete?

One question after another surged through Zhang Jiaohua’s mind, but he had no answers for now. So he began walking along the spring.

The original stream had long since dried up. In its place, various spiritual herbs had been planted, taking advantage of the lingering spiritual energy in the soil. Zhang Jiaohua picked up a cobblestone from the dried streambed and rubbed it in his hand. The thick outer layer flaked off easily, revealing a crystal-clear core. It wasn’t an ordinary stone—it was a beautifully rare piece of jade.

These stones were likely also visualized objects. Even if they had started as regular stones, soaking in spirit-infused water for years would have altered them.

Zhang Jiaohua was thrilled—not because he found a valuable piece of jade, but because it confirmed his suspicion: this secret realm really had been visualized by an ancient cultivator. The cobblestones were identical to those found in the spiritual spring of his own cultivation diagram.

Everything within a cultivation diagram—every blade of grass, every mote of dust—was visualized. While such objects could resemble natural ones, they were fundamentally different. No matter how powerful the cultivator, it was impossible to simulate every detail perfectly in visualization.

Luo Tianfeng’s eyes also lit up at the sight of the translucent jade. He wasn’t interested in its worldly value either, but in its spiritual properties. This wasn’t ordinary jade—it was spirit jade, ideal for inscribing talismans. Unlike one-time-use talismans painted on yellow paper, jade talismans could be reused indefinitely, as long as they were recharged with spiritual energy. They were more convenient to store and essential for any cultivator.

But Zhang Jiaohua didn’t care. He casually tossed the spirit jade onto the ground. If he wanted, he could extract a much purer jade anytime from his cultivation diagram. Why bother with this almost-depleted piece?

Luo Tianfeng, however, eagerly picked it up. Fearing others might notice, he glanced around while pretending to tie his shoelaces and discreetly pocketed it.

He had already marked these jade stones as private assets of the Luo Immortal Sect. Once this troublesome guest was gone, he’d organize a group to gather all the cobblestones from the streambed—before the other factions caught on. In fact, he planned to examine every object in the secret realm. Who could say if some overlooked item wasn’t also hiding valuable materials like those cobblestones?

Zhang Jiaohua walked the entire grounds of the Luo Immortal Sect, collecting one or two seedlings of every spiritual herb and storing them in his cultivation diagram.

Of course, he didn’t place them directly into the diagram in front of Luo Tianfeng. Instead, he had Luo prepare suitable containers to hold the seedlings.

After thoroughly exploring the place, Zhang Jiaohua left the secret realm. The members of the Luo Immortal Sect finally breathed a sigh of relief. Luo Tianfeng escorted him back to the campsite respectfully before returning.

“Fellow Daoist Zhang, I reported the situation to our sect leader. He’s agreed to lend you the Cloudstream Treasure Boat. It’s already docked at the lakeshore, and we’ve assigned an experienced helmsman to pilot it,” said Hua Shaobo, even more respectful than before.

Zhang Jiaohua nodded. “Many thanks to your sect for the kind gesture. By the way, does the Cloudstream Sect’s secret realm also have a spiritual herb garden?”

“We do. But with the spring nearly dry, there aren’t many well-aged herbs left—just seedlings,” Hua Shaobo quickly added, worried that Zhang might demand precious herbs.

“I only want the seedlings. I already took a few from the Luo Immortal Sect. I just want to see if yours are any different,” Zhang said, understanding Hua’s anxiety.

“No problem. If you’d like, I can take you to our secret realm now. We have many seedlings, but in the current condition of the realm, they probably won’t mature anyway. If you need some, feel free to take them,” Hua Shaobo said readily. The casual offer suggested that the seedlings weren’t highly valued by the sect.

Zhang Jiaohua followed him to the Cloudstream Sect’s territory. Their secret realm was hidden within a reservoir—actually an island in the lake concealed by a formation. This realm was much larger than the Luo Sect’s and seemed to have richer spiritual energy.

“Back then, our sect had three secret realms connected via transfer arrays. But due to external circumstances, we had to give up two of them, and the arrays were shut down,” Hua Shaobo explained openly—it wasn’t a secret among the three sects.

What puzzled Zhang Jiaohua was the significant difference in herbs between the Cloudstream and Luo Sects. The spiritual herb garden surrounded the spring’s source. The dried riverbed had also been repurposed for cultivation. The source was a pool, slightly larger than the Luo Sect’s, but similarly dried up. The riverbed was scattered with cobblestones—likely as valuable as those in the Luo Sect’s realm.

Zhang Jiaohua kindly revealed this secret to Hua Shaobo.

“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhang!” Hua said excitedly. This information could dramatically boost his standing within the sect.

The Cloudstream Sect gave Zhang Jiaohua a warm welcome. The sect leader Hua Zhaoyang and several elders treated him graciously. When he left, they personally escorted him out.

Once outside and alone, Zhang Jiaohua secretly transferred the collected seedlings into his cultivation diagram. Only empty boxes remained outside. These rare spiritual herbs were extremely delicate and required precise environmental conditions. Zhang Jiaohua was cautious not to damage them.

By the time he returned to his tent, it was around 4 or 5 AM. The eastern sky was just beginning to brighten.

Even without sleep, Zhang Jiaohua would be fine. But he didn’t want to stand out too much among his classmates, so he lay down on an empty patch of ground and rested with his eyes closed.

“Look! There’s an ancient boat by the lake!” Zheng Wendong shouted, waking everyone.

“Zheng Wendong, what are you yelling about this early?” Xu Chuan’an grumbled.

“No, seriously—look! It’s beautiful!” Han Qiulong’s voice came from outside the tent.

Hearing the commotion, Zhang Jiaohua’s classmates came out. Chen Haibo stepped out of the boys’ tent, while Chen Cheng and Tang Yan followed from theirs.

“Wow! That boat is amazing! Let’s go ask if we can rent it!” Tang Yan said excitedly.

“Yes! That’d be awesome,” Chen Cheng smiled.

To most students, renting such a large boat was unthinkable—but not for Tang Yan or Chen Cheng, who didn’t see money as a problem. What they didn’t know was that the boat’s owner had no interest in worldly currency.

When Xu Xiaoting exited the tent and saw the boat, her eyes widened. Wasn’t that the same one she’d seen the night before? How had it ended up here?

She glanced toward the boys’ tent and, spotting Zhang Jiaohua already outside, ran to him.

“Jiaohua! That boat—it’s the same one from last night!”

Zhang Jiaohua smiled. “Yes. I arranged with the owner last night to borrow it for the day.”

Tang Yan and Chen Cheng both paused.

“You borrowed it?” Tang Yan asked.

“Yes—not rented. The owner’s someone I know,” Zhang replied.

Tang Yan knew that Zhang Jiaohua was somewhat mysterious, so being able to borrow the ancient boat might not be a big deal for him.

Chen Cheng was much simpler—she didn’t think too deeply about it. As soon as she heard that Zhang Jiaohua had borrowed the boat, she exclaimed excitedly, “I want to go boating on the lake!”