Chapter 6
Qi Miao slowly opened her eyes from a couch. Sunlight filtered through the window panes, casting mottled patterns into the room suffused with a faint medicinal aroma, illuminating her bewildered face.
At that moment, the door curtain was lifted, and an unfamiliar woman entered, carrying a steaming bowl of medicine. Seeing Qi Miao awake, she smiled gently, “Just in time—come, drink your medicine.”
Qi Miao propped herself up, “Where am I?”
“This is the medical hall,” the woman replied casually as she approached. “I’m Zhu Danning, a disciple of the Medical Cultivation Sect. You overexerted your spiritual energy right after drawing qi into your body and fainted overnight in the Refining Workshop. This morning, the workshop elder sent you here for treatment.”
The memories of last night surfaced one by one in Qi Miao’s mind. She froze briefly—it wasn’t a hallucination after all.
“Snap out of it and drink the medicine,” Zhu Danning urged.
Qi Miao instinctively reached out to take the bowl, but when her fingers were two centimeters away, she suddenly withdrew them.
“I don’t feel unwell right now. Can I skip the medicine?”
Zhu Danning lifted her eyelids and glanced at Qi Miao, who was retreating, “Your foundation is damaged. This medicine is for healing.”
Qi Miao resisted, staring at the bowl, “Can’t I just recover slowly on my own?”
Zhu Danning frowned, her tone turning stern, “This concerns your future cultivation. Don’t be stubborn.”
Tears welled in Qi Miao’s eyes, “I have no money. I can’t afford the medicine. I really can’t go any deeper into debt.”
Assuming Qi Miao feared the bitterness of the medicine, Zhu Danning was momentarily speechless.
As they reached an impasse, Zhao Qiong came by to visit Qi Miao. Hearing her words from outside, she entered and smiled, “You’re not short of a few coins for medicine.”
Qi Miao looked up at her, eyes brimming with tears.
Zhao Qiong smiled warmly, “Do you remember what happened before you fainted? You completely melted the desks and chairs in the Practice Hall. The Refining Workshop had to buy replacements and spent a good amount of spirit stones.”
Since the Practice Hall was destroyed by Qi Miao, naturally she had to bear the cost.
Qi Miao was stunned into silence.
After a brief pause, she lay back down on the couch, pulled the blanket over herself, and closed her eyes again.
This must be a dream.
She was still not awake.
Zhao Qiong chuckled softly and said kindly, “So drink your medicine and then rest. How can you cultivate without a healthy body?”
Qi Miao could only remain silent.
Such reasoning was hard to argue with.
She sat up abruptly, took the expensive-looking medicine, comforted herself that the body was the foundation of all endeavors, and swallowed the bitter potion.
The medicine was bitter.
But nothing compared to the bitterness in her heart.
It was the third day of repaying debts, and the progress was negative.
Zhao Qiong glanced sideways at Zhu Danning, “How’s her condition?”
“Nothing serious. No spiritual energy usage today. Just rest and recover after taking the medicine.”
Zhao Qiong relaxed and decided, “Then let her stay in the medical hall today.”
Zhu Danning had no objections. She lifted the empty bowl and left, leaving the place to the Refining Workshop disciples.
Zhao Qiong looked at Qi Miao and asked directly, “What did you do last night?”
Still digesting the sorrow of her growing debts, Qi Miao answered honestly, “I was reading in the Practice Hall, trying to find the right moment to draw qi into my body. I thought about the hall’s items and reviewed Elder Lan’s lesson. When I realized, the hall had changed.”
Then she lost consciousness.
Zhao Qiong’s expression was unreadable, but inside, a storm raged.
In her eyes reflected Qi Miao’s figure—a young girl with a slightly drooping face, completely unaware of how astonishing her words were.
Qi Miao’s speed of drawing qi was slow; what Zhao Qiong found hard to accept was that, as a novice in refining, having never learned identification, Qi Miao managed to apply what she learned in just one lesson on stone refining as she barely touched the threshold of cultivation.
Even though refining wood was not complicated and its principles were known, Zhao Qiong had never seen anyone with such meager spiritual energy produce over a thousand pure white, identical-sized sheets of paper on their first attempt.
Such talent could only be described as terrifying.
Zhao Qiong couldn’t help but feel pity.
She and Elder Lan Xuejing wanted to generously cover the cost of the desks and chairs for Qi Miao but were stopped by Elder Mu Jigui.
Qi Miao was no one’s disciple. Moreover, she had destroyed the Vermilion Pavilion, earning many enemies in the sect. Under these circumstances, Zhao Qiong and the others couldn’t openly show favor toward her for fear of implicating the entire Refining Workshop. Their biased support risked making Qi Miao’s situation even more precarious.
Zhao Qiong was persuaded.
“The Refining Workshop’s accounts aren’t urgent, so don’t worry too much,” Zhao Qiong pressed down her feelings and gently ruffled Qi Miao’s hair.
What genius was as unlucky as Qi Miao?
After staying a little longer to explain the contents of stone and material refining in detail, Zhao Qiong noticed Qi Miao’s still pale face and said, “Rest well here. I’ll leave now.”
Elders Mu and Lan were still waiting for news at the Refining Workshop.
After Zhao Qiong left, the medicine’s effect took hold, and Qi Miao lay down for another nap.
When she awoke again, she was lively and energetic.
After lunch at the medical hall and basking in the sun, Qi Miao remembered something. She got up and went to find Zhu Danning in the outer room, asking if she could go outside.
Zhu Danning examined her and nodded, “Don’t use spiritual energy. Just come back before sunset.”
Qi Miao obediently agreed.
Leaving the medical hall, she headed straight to the herb garden. Unable to do much else, at least she could harvest some spirit herbs and gather food for the rented spirit beast.
Each herb field in the Hundred Herb Garden was overseen by a steward. After explaining her purpose, the steward readily allowed her entry.
“You can take spirit herbs freely, but be careful not to damage the herbs cultivated by the disciples. If you accidentally cut the wrong ones, you’ll have to compensate.”
Qi Miao nodded repeatedly. Jiang Ran had told her this and taught her how to distinguish herbs not used by the Medical Cultivation Sect.
Carrying her tools, she started cutting. Half a basketful later, her spirit tablet beeped.
Glancing at it, the sender was Qiu Tu: “Send location.”
Without hesitation, Qi Miao obediently replied, telling Qiu Tu she was at Herb Field No. 11.
Qiu Tu: “?”
“Giving it away so willingly—aren’t you afraid I’ll ask you to pay up?”
Qi Miao honestly replied, “Senior Brother Qiu, my pockets are emptier than my face.”
Qiu Tu wanted her to pay, but did she have anything to give?
Qiu Tu: “...What if I come to bother you or hit you?”
Qi Miao hesitated, “That won’t happen, Senior Brother Qiu. If you beat me into the medical hall, you’d only delay the time I have to compensate you.”
Qiu Tu was speechless, dropping a “I’ll wait,” then stopped replying.
Qi Miao put away the spirit tablet and continued her herb gathering.
Less than fifteen minutes later, she heard someone calling her name outside the field.
Turning, she saw a young man in green robes, arms crossed, looking down at her, “Are you here just to cut spirit herbs?”
Qi Miao nodded.
The man looked puzzled, “Only disciples from the Beast Master Valley need spirit herbs. You’re not planning to sell them to them, right? Let me tell you beforehand, this stuff isn’t worth much.”
Qi Miao blinked, “Senior Brother Qiu?”
“That's me.”
Suddenly understanding, Qi Miao looked at Qiu Tu and raised a finger to explain, “Senior Brother Qiu, the Refining Workshop and my dorm are separated by three mountains. I can’t fly, so I rented a spirit beast for two months to travel. The spirit herbs are for feeding my rented beast.”
Qiu Tu was speechless.
Qi Miao lifted her face, “So, Senior Brother Qiu, why did you come looking for me?”
Qiu Tu rubbed his temple, “You were injured and sent to the medical hall. I came to check on you.”
Qi Miao nodded and extended her hand for him to examine the pulse, “Senior Sister Zhu said I only need a day’s rest.”
Qiu Tu felt the pulse and raised an eyebrow, “Senior Sister Zhu? The one who treated you was Zhu Danning?”
“Yes...” Qi Miao’s eyes flickered oddly, “Senior Brother Qiu, you didn’t find out about my hospitalization from Senior Sister Zhu, did you?”
Qiu Tu lazily withdrew his hand, “Not from your Senior Sister Zhu.”
“Your fainting couldn’t be hidden from the elders. When they saw you this morning, pale as paper and in poor condition, they panicked. The elders of the Hundred Herb Garden urgently summoned us disciples who had bonded with you yesterday, asking if we had put too much pressure on you, causing your reckless cultivation mishap.”
Qi Miao was speechless.
These people worried more about her than she did herself.
“The elders avoided pressuring you and found other disciples to treat you. We don’t even know who it was.”
Among Qi Miao’s creditors, many were medical cultivation disciples. Qiu Tu wasn’t the one she owed the most to, but he was among the most talented disciples of the Cangwu Sect’s Medical Cultivation, so he stood out and came to check on her.
After explaining everything, Qiu Tu shifted the topic, “How long do you plan to keep cutting herbs?”
“Until sunset.”
Qiu Tu frowned. The sun was high in the sky, with more than an hour to sunset. Was she planning to faint again?
But seeing Qi Miao distractedly eyeing patches of lush herbs, he sighed deeply, “You need enough herbs to feed your spirit beast for two months, right? Go back to the medical hall to keep resting; I’ll ask someone to deliver them to you later.”
Qi Miao was alert, “Senior Brother Qiu, I don’t have money to buy.”
Qiu Tu was silent for a moment, then irritably said, “Who cares about your little herb money? I’ll call a few people over to harvest spirit herbs for you. All the herbs they collect will be yours.”
Qi Miao’s eyes widened slightly, overwhelmed with gratitude, “Really?”
Qiu Tu sneered, “Of course. I’ll call people you know—those medical disciples holding creditor number plates waiting for you to repay them. If I ask them to cut some weeds for you to recover faster and earn money, they’ll be glad to.”
Qi Miao accepted this happily, pretending not to notice the resentment in Qiu Tu’s tone, and politely thanked him, promising to work hard to repay her debts.
Then Qiu Tu chased her back to the medical hall like a frightened chick.
The next day, Zhu Danning performed the routine check. After examining Qi Miao, she declared her recovered and ready to leave the medical hall.
So Qi Miao left, carrying the bag of spirit herbs Qiu Tu had delivered the night before, whistled to summon her spirit beast.
She had rested well yesterday and was full of energy, so she didn’t return to her dorm but went straight to the Refining Workshop.
There were no elder lectures today; disciples were cultivating on their own. Qi Miao found a quiet spot to read.
After half a book, her head was overloaded with knowledge. After some thought, she put the book down and decided to find some stone to practice refining.
Every month, refining disciples could claim some materials from the Fortune Altar in the workshop.
Ore was among the materials.
As an inner sect disciple, Qi Miao could select three materials monthly.
After verifying her identity, the steward led her into the storage room.
Upon entering, her eyes immediately caught a brownish-gray crystal in front of her. It looked like a quadrangular pyramid, translucent with a fractured, oily sheen.
Tungsten ore!
Qi Miao’s eyes lit up with the joy of seeing an old friend.
The steward’s voice came from behind: “If you choose this stone, you can’t select any other materials this month.”
Qi Miao was speechless.
She stepped back.
Sorry, tungsten ore—you’re excellent, but I’m not worthy.
Reluctantly withdrawing her gaze, she asked the steward, “Can I choose the others freely?”
“Yes. Stock replenishes at the beginning of each month. You came late this month, so only this rare stone is left.”
The steward then picked up the tungsten ore and showed Qi Miao the seal on it, “Materials with this mark are rare.”
Qi Miao’s gaze followed the stone in the steward’s hand, and she couldn’t help asking, “Can rare materials only be exchanged with quotas?”
“Of course not,” the steward smiled. “You can also buy them at the Fortune Altar with money.”
Qi Miao’s vision darkened. This cultivation world was clearly no place for someone poor like her. She hesitantly asked, “...Is there a way that doesn’t cost money?”