Then she discovered something quite magical: her Wood Spiritual Energy remained inside the seeds and was actually nourishing the embryos within.
"Hmm? Could my Wood Spiritual Energy be able to upgrade seeds?"
She took out some other seeds and found that no matter the variety, as long as she infused them with her Wood Spiritual Energy, it would stay inside the seeds.
A wave of panic washed over her. Could she possibly have that extremely rare type of wood spirit root that could *only* grow spiritual vegetables?
She didn't want that!
Yet, if that wasn't the case, shouldn't her Wood Spiritual Energy be incapable of nourishing seeds?
Remembering the welcome gifts from her Master included wood-attribute spiritual techniques, she took them out to study.
At the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation, she could use the simplest spiritual techniques.
The booklet was very basic, with no title and no introduction; opening it led straight to the cultivation methods.
She studied it all night, and by the time the sun rose the next day, the Wood Spiritual Energy in her palm had transformed into a slender wooden vine.
Although this wooden vine was even thinner than a bean sprout, it filled You Xueer with joy.
She could feel that the wooden vine possessed offensive capabilities; as her cultivation level increased, the vine would also grow thicker and stronger.
Her wood spirit root was not a farming spirit root!
She let out a sigh of relief. It was good that it wasn't that kind of spirit root.
At the same time, another question arose in her mind: since she didn't have a farming spirit root, why could she nourish seeds?
Could her spirit root be mutated as well?
She withdrew the spiritual technique and checked the seeds. After a night of nourishment, those seeds had absorbed her Wood Spiritual Energy and were now emitting a faint spiritual glow.
"Could these have actually upgraded into spiritual vegetable seeds?"
Unable to figure it out, she decided to ask her Senior Brothers later.
Seeing that it was still early, she went to cook mushroom and lean meat porridge, then kneaded some spiritual wheat flour. While the dough was resting, she chopped up some Monster Beast meat, added some diced vegetables, wrapped a dozen large bamboo steamer baskets of small steamed buns, and put them all on the stove to steam.
Next, she stir-fried a few side dishes—light, refreshing, and delicious.
With the dishes stir-fried, the small steamed buns steamed, and the porridge ready, she set aside the buns for today and stored the rest away, saving her from having to cook every meal from scratch and wasting too much time.
"Junior Sister, we're here," He Fan called out from outside the door.
"Fifth Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Brother, you're here? Care to join me for breakfast?" You Xueer invited.
"No need. We've already achieved inmedia—"
Seeing the strange small steamed buns and catching the aroma, He Fan swallowed hard.
"I've learned a bit about spiritual food. Today's batch should taste a bit better than last night's—care to try some together?"
"Well... don't mind if I do," Rong Xuan said, walking over to take a seat.
Eat first; they could always buy some more spiritual food for the Junior Sister later.
Just as they were about to eat, Ji Qing and Liao Xing arrived, followed by Jin Haochen, whose injuries had healed considerably.
Needless to say, they would all eat together.
Fortunately, she had cooked plenty, and there was enough for this many people.
What You Xueer considered an ordinary meal elicited different reactions from the others.
He Fan and Rong Xuan felt it tasted even better than the food from the previous night, while Ji Qing and Liao Xing were tasting such delicious food for the first time; dazzled by the flavor, they also felt a pang of sympathy for You Xueer.
The two junior brothers had already told them last night about how she had been bullied by the You family and You Xueer, and seeing her now capable of making such exquisite dishes made them wonder how many times she must have practiced to reach this level.
Unlike the pure astonishment of the other four, Jin Haochen thought far more after his shock.
He had heard that these ingredients were all bought from Moon-Viewing Tower; this culinary skill was simply leagues ahead of his family's own chefs. If these dishes were sold at Moon-Viewing Tower, the restaurant's business would undoubtedly soar to new heights.
He didn't rush to mention it to You Xueer. It would be too abrupt right now, and since he still needed to recuperate here, he would bring it up later after they became more familiar.
While eating breakfast, You Xueer was also sizing up Jin Haochen.
The book had described Jin Haochen as very paranoid, with a cold and gloomy gaze as if everyone owed him tens of millions of spiritual stones.
In short, he was a thoroughly unlikable character.
Though Jin Haochen's eyes still held the pain of betrayal, that gloom and paranoia were absent; he still looked warm and sunny.
She wondered if this counted as changing Jin Haochen's fate.
After the meal, You Xueer wanted to ask the Senior Sister and Senior Brothers about the seeds, but with the words on the tip of her tongue, she noticed Jin Haochen was still present and paused.
Sensing this, Jin Haochen spoke up, "Fellow Daoist Ji, I'll head back to my quarters to recuperate."
"Your injuries aren't suited for channeling spiritual energy right now, I'll walk you back," Ji Qing said, standing up to escort him before returning shortly afterward.
"Junior Sister, was there something you wanted to ask just now?"
Seeing Ji Qing return, You Xueer took out the seeds she had nourished the previous night and said, "Eldest Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Brother, look at these seeds."
He Fan took the seeds first and smiled, "Are these the seeds you're planting today? These seeds... wait? These seeds... have spiritual energy?"
The others also took the seeds and instantly felt the spiritual energy within them.
Ji Qing looked at Liao Xing, "Did you buy spiritual seeds yesterday?"
"No." Liao Xing shook his head. Everyone could tell the difference between spiritual seeds and ordinary seeds; if they were spiritual seeds, he couldn't possibly have missed it.
"Junior Sister, where did you get these spiritual seeds?"
"They're just the seeds I bought yesterday," You Xueer said. "They really were ordinary seeds when I bought them yesterday, but I nourished them with my Wood Spiritual Energy last night, and they turned out like this when I woke up this morning."
"Ah? Junior Sister, you have spiritual energy now?" He Fan and the others were astonished. She hadn't had any spiritual energy when entering the sect gate the day before yesterday—could she have reached the 1st Layer of Qi Condensation in just two nights?
You Xueer explained with a trace of embarrassment, "I concealed my cultivation level; my fire spirit root and wood spirit root have both already reached the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation."
Chapter 15: Mutated Wood Spirit Root
"No wonder Master said your cultivation mental cultivation method is good; that way, we don't need to find you a new one," Ji Qing said.
"If Junior Sister's wood spirit root can nourish seeds, wouldn't she have a mutated planting wood spirit root?" Rong Xuan frowned.
"That's a pity then," Ji Qing said with some regret. "Speaking of which, we haven't tested Junior Sister's spirit roots yet."
"I asked Master yesterday, and he said the sect's spirit-testing stone couldn't be found," Ji Qing added.
"Regardless of Junior Sister's spiritual value, since she is already at the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation, it means she can cultivate," He Fan said. "It's just a pity about the wood spirit root."
"Eldest Senior Sister, Third Senior Brother, Fifth Senior Brother, Sixth Senior Brother, my wood spirit root is not a planting wood spirit root."
"What?"
Without saying more, You Xueer directly summoned her bean-sprout-like wooden vine. "There were spiritual techniques in the storage bag Master gave me, and I managed to cultivate it."
Seeing that thin little wooden vine, the group was momentarily at a loss for words.
So tiny, could it even be used for combat?
Regardless of its size, being able to cultivate a wooden vine proved that her wood spirit root truly wasn't a farming spirit root.
"That's strange. If Junior Sister's wood spirit root isn't a planting spirit root, why can she turn ordinary seeds into spiritual seeds?" He Fan scratched the back of his head in puzzlement, hitting the crux of the issue.
"Eldest Senior Sister, can your Wood Spiritual Energy not stay inside seeds?"
"It can't. If you don't believe me, I'll show you—give me a handful of seeds."
You Xueer took out a handful of identical seeds. After taking them, Ji Qing channeled the Wood Spiritual Energy within her, gathered it in her palm, and wrapped it around the seeds.
After a moment, she withdrew her spiritual energy and showed the seeds to You Xueer.
You Xueer took them and sensed them: there really wasn't a trace of spiritual energy lingering in these seeds, let alone any nourishment of the embryos.
And yet, the duration of her channeling had been even longer than You Xueer's overnight process.
"Could Junior Sister's wood spirit root be mutated?" Rong Xuan guessed.
"Why don't we go ask Master?" Not daring to jump to conclusions, Ji Qing led her junior brothers and sister to the medicine garden.
Jiang Wenji wasn't weeding today; instead, he was watering the medicinal herbs.
"Master."
Seeing them arrive, Jiang Wenji didn't stop what he was doing and asked, "Why are you all here?"
"Master, Junior Sister's wood spirit root has some abnormalities, and since we couldn't figure out the reason, we came specifically to ask you," Ji Qing replied.
Jiang Wenji put down the gourd ladle and looked at You Xueer, "What's wrong with your wood spirit root?"
"Master, last night my wood spirit root evolved ordinary seeds into spiritual seeds, but I was also able to cultivate the spiritual technique Master gave me." With that, she took out the spiritual seeds and displayed her little wooden sprout.
Jiang Wenji first glanced at her tiny wooden sprout, then examined the seeds in her hand.
They were indeed spiritual seeds.
"What did you do last night? Do it again."
You Xueer took out some seeds, nourished them with spiritual energy for a while, and then withdrew it.
The ordinary seeds remained ordinary seeds, but one could sense the spiritual energy lingering inside them, and the embryos were rapidly absorbing that energy.
If this continued, these ordinary seeds would indeed evolve into spiritual seeds.
"I have never encountered your situation before. However, it is said that in ancient times, Wood Spiritual Energy was extremely powerful," Jiang Wenji said. "How about this—when I have some free time, I will go to the Scripture Pavilion and look for answers for you."
"Alright, thank you, Master."
Seeing how well-behaved she was, Jiang Wenji admonished her further, "Your wood spirit root is different from others. Don't let outsiders know about this to avoid bringing trouble upon yourself, understand?"
"Yes, Master."
"You all as well."
"Rest assured, Master, we won't speak of it."
None of them were loose-lipped, and knowing this could spell trouble for their Junior Sister, they were all the less likely to blab.
"You all head back first, Xiao Jiu stays behind."
Guessing that he wanted to give You Xueer further instructions, Ji Qing and the others left the medicine garden.
After they departed, Jiang Wenji stopped watering the herbs, turned to You Xueer, and said, "Xiao Jiu, try channeling your Wood Spiritual Energy into these medicinal herbs."
Since she had never done it before, Jiang Wenji instructed her on how to proceed.
A quarter of an hour later, the Wood Spiritual Energy in her body was completely exhausted.
Meanwhile, the small patch of medicinal herbs in front of her had its leaves unfurling in the happiest manner possible.
"Spiritual energy depleted? Go back and practice meditation to recover," Jiang Wenji said. "Come here to channel your Wood Spiritual Energy into them whenever you have time in the future."
"Understood, Master. Then this disciple will take her leave." You Xueer bowed to Jiang Wenji and flew back on her paper crane.
She didn't blame Jiang Wenji for giving her hard labor, because she had read in books that exhausting one's spiritual energy and then absorbing more could promote spiritual growth.
Returning to her own peak, she first sat in meditation to recover her Wood Spiritual Energy.
Seeing the white specks of light still drilling into her body, inspiration suddenly struck her: her mutated Wood Spiritual Energy was nine-tenths likely related to these white specks of light!
Yet what these white specks of light actually were, she had no idea.
By the time You Xueer finished her meditation, it was nearly noon. The grass she had cut yesterday wasn't dry yet; trying to burn it would fail due to insufficient dryness. Thinking that she was able to infuse vitality into grass, could she also extract the vitality *out* of grass?
Grass devoid of vitality would burn easily enough.
She had never seen anyone do this in books, nor did she know if it would succeed.
Still, trying didn't cost anything, did it?
All research required forming a hypothesis first, followed by verification.
She attempted to wrap the weeds with Wood Spiritual Energy, connect with the vitality inside the grass, and gradually extract it outward.
It worked!
Everyone in the world knew that Wood Spiritual Energy brought vitality, yet no one had ever thought of doing the exact opposite.
At this moment, she hadn't yet realized what kind of cognitive shift this reverse thinking would bring to her understanding of Wood Spiritual Energy.
An hour later, all the grass cut yesterday had turned into withered grass, entirely devoid of vitality.
"I feel much more adept at controlling Wood Spiritual Energy now," You Xueer patted her slightly numb legs. "Time to start the fire."
She burned the grass, scattered the wood ash into the soil, mixed it in thoroughly, and then sowed the seeds she had prepared the previous night.
These weren't familiar seeds from Earth, and she had no idea how they were supposed to be planted, so she simply scattered them at random and would see what grew later.
After planting, feeling she still had some spiritual energy left, she controlled it to cover the soil with an exceptionally thin layer.
When she said a thin layer, it truly was a hair's breadth of a layer; without close inspection, one couldn't even see the faint green tint on the dirt.
After all, she was just a pathetic little rookie at the 2nd Layer of Qi Condensation with a pitifully small amount of spiritual energy!
She took out some of the buns she had made in the morning, ate a few, and resumed her cultivation.
Everyone below the 6th Layer of Qi Condensation was a rookie, unable to learn most spiritual techniques; those available were only the simplest ones without much offensive power, like her little bean sprout wooden vine.
The little wooden vine: *Who do you think you're looking down on?*
Chapter 16: Let's Cooperate
In the afternoon, several senior brothers and sisters came by, but sensing she was in deep meditation, they turned back, planning to come help her plant vegetables the next day.
Early the next morning, You Xueer emerged from her cultivation, stir-fried some minced meat topping, and decided to have minced meat noodles for breakfast.
While the dough was resting, she took a walk outside and discovered that the seeds planted just yesterday had actually all germinated!
Tiny specks of green dotted the brown soil, a sight joyous to behold.
Yet, wasn't this speed a bit too fast?
Having gardened back in the orphanage in her past life, she knew that even the fastest-sprouting seeds didn't grow this quickly. Were the seeds here just that different?
"Chirp chirp—"
"Pip pip—"
She spotted a few small birds in the distance pecking at the newly sprouted shoots.
She hurried over to chase the birds away, but as soon as she shooed them from one spot, they landed on another.
For these animals, spiritual vegetables held immense appeal.
Watching the birds return the moment she drove them away, she grew rather weary; she couldn't possibly spend the entire day in the fields playing scarecrow, could she?
Should she string up a net to cover the land?
Right, she had a defensive array!
She took out the defensive array Rong Xuan had given her, pricked her finger to bind it with blood, channeled spiritual energy into it, and controlled the protective barrier to cover the entire plot of land.
The defensive array emitted a faint, hazy mist, making it impossible for anyone standing outside to see what was inside.
It happened to completely hide the newly sprouted greens from view.
As soon as the defensive array activated, the birds were blocked outside. A moment later, the fragrance of the spiritual vegetables was also sealed off, and the birds flew away.
"So convenient!"
Satisfied, You Xueer returned to finish preparing the noodles.
She sent transmission talismans to her senior brothers and senior sister, inviting them over for breakfast if they had time, while also planning to ask if seeds in this world always germinated this fast.
Unaware that she had already planted the seeds and still intending to come help her, the senior brothers and sister all arrived.
Jin Haochen tagged along with them as well.
Today he looked much better than yesterday; his injuries must have healed by more than half.
Understandable, considering Eldest Senior Sister had given him a tier-4 healing pill!
"Wow, Junior Sister, what are you making today? It smells so good!" He Fan started praising the food right at the kitchen door.
"I stir-fried some meat topping today, we're having minced meat noodles," You Xueer replied with a smile. "Wait a moment, the noodles will be in the pot right away."
Catching the rich aroma, Jin Haochen felt a renewed sense of admiration; if she were to open a tavern, Moon-Viewing Tower wouldn't stand a ghost of a chance.
His desire to cooperate with her grew even stronger.
Watching the petite figure bustling busily in front of the stove, transforming balls of flour into strands of fine noodles, her skillful movements formed a stark contrast with her small stature.
What a pitiful girl!
Yesterday, when he heard Ji Qing and Liao Xing discussing her past treatment within the You family, learning what kind of life she had endured there, he had sighed in sympathy.
It was already a miracle she had survived until today!
Especially after growing closer to You Xueer and hearing how You Xueer had tricked her into the mountains—almost costing her life—to prevent her from attending the sect trials, his impression of the You family had plummeted to rock bottom.
Not a single good apple in that whole family!
Cooking noodles was quick, and within moments, several large bowls of minced meat noodles were ready.
After a bowl of noodles went down his stomach, Jin Haochen decided not to wait any longer.
"You Xueer, the food you make truly tastes wonderful," he said with a beaming smile.
"You flatter me, Young Master Jin. Your family runs taverns, after all; what is my meager cooking compared to that?"
"My family's tavern can't compare to yours. If you opened a tavern, Moon-Viewing Tower wouldn't even have a leg to stand on," Jin Haochen said, half sincere and half probing.
You Xueer shook her head, "I simply don't have the energy to run a tavern." She needed to cultivate; where would she find the time and energy for a business?
Hearing this, Jin Haochen felt a surge of certainty, "You Xueer, I have an idea. How about the two of us cooperate? You provide the recipes, I'll handle the rest, and we open a tavern together. What do you think?"
"Cooperate to open a tavern? A new one?"
"Right, a new one," Jin Haochen nodded.
"And Moon-Viewing Tower?"
"Moon-Viewing Tower belongs to the Jin family," Jin Haochen said. "Before this incident, I might have used Moon-Viewing Tower to partner with you. But having been through this, I realize one must have their own independent influence."
Previously, he had thought the Jin family had minor flaws but were mostly decent. Who could have known so many undercurrents were hidden beneath the peace?
Thus, for the first time, he desired an influence that belonged entirely to him.
You Xueer hesitated slightly; after all, this fellow was destined to be one of You Xueer's fish in the pond later on.
Yet she didn't hesitate for long. Considering that his first encounter with You Xueer was still a dozen years away, she might as well make some money during these intervening years.
If he insisted on becoming a fish in You Xueer's pond when the time came, she would figure out how to deal with it then.
At worst, she could withdraw her capital and go her separate ways.
Therefore, she proposed a condition: should she wish to withdraw her capital in the future, he must not obstruct her and must return half of the assets to her.
Jin Haochen agreed. After all, once they cooperated, he would naturally learn her recipes. If she withdrew her capital later, he could still continue operating the tavern.
Consequently, he also put forward a condition: if she chose to withdraw her capital, she must permit the tavern to continue its operations.
With that, the two parties reached an agreement and immediately drew up a contract: You Xueer would supply the recipes, he would handle everything else, and profits would be split fifty-fifty. No matter how many branch stores he opened in the future, even if they spanned the entire continent, the profit-sharing ratio would remain unchanged.
"I need to contact my people first; it might take a little while before I can come learn your culinary skills," Jin Haochen said.
"That's fine, I also need to research some recipes," You Xueer replied. "I haven't seen many dishes, and although I packed a lot of food from Moon-Viewing Tower last time, I need to study how to cook them properly for the best flavor."