"Even if I recommend him, can Bai Yulou of the Qingxuan Sect really cover the sky with one hand?"
Ziyang Zhenjun sneered at this and immediately swept out, but when he was about to return to his cave, he suddenly turned to look at the bronze mirror behind him and said, "The next lecture is canceled. I will be in seclusion for three years."
After saying this, his figure vanished at the cave entrance.
"What's the point of this?"
A sigh of helplessness came from the bronze mirror.
Now, back to Qingzhu Residence.
"Phew... still no good..."
Xu Taiping, who had been practicing on the bed for a long time, suddenly sighed deeply.
After listening to Ziyang Zhenjun's lecture, it was just noon, the perfect time to practice the *Canzha Jing*. Xu Taiping began to practice according to the insights he had gained today.
However, despite his efforts for a whole hour, he still couldn't guide the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy into his body and refine it into true qi as described in the *Canzha Jing*.
"It seems I can only rely on Lingyue Fairy's prescription."
Xu Taiping wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with some reluctance.
This attempt made him truly realize the difficulty of cultivating with his White Bone constitution.
Thinking about this, he, who had already made up his mind, took out the bronze mirror again and placed a merit coin on it.
"Xu Taiping of Qingzhu Residence, what do you seek from me?"
The voice of the mirror spirit sounded from the bronze mirror.
"Lord Xuanying, I want to buy a batch of medicinal herbs and seeds."
"Given your current rank, you can only buy medicinal herbs and seeds from the Hundred Herbs Hall at the foot of the mountain. Here are the lists of herbs and seeds from the Hundred Herbs Hall. After you select them in the mirror, a spirit bird will deliver them to your courtyard."
As the mirror spirit spoke, a list of herbs began to appear on the bronze mirror.
"Thank you, Lord Xuanying."
Xu Taiping thanked him and began to search carefully.
After a while, Xu Taiping finally gathered all the herbs on Lingyue Fairy's prescription. To avoid drawing attention, he added a few less valuable herbs and adjusted the quantities of the herbs.
As for the seeds for the medicinal garden, he only chose "Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla," buying enough for three plantings on three acres of land.
He had his reasons for this choice.
According to the records in the transmission jade slip about planting in the medicinal garden, the leaves, stems, and fruits of Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla can all be used as medicine. The leaves can be eaten as a high-quality vegetable, and the seeds are the cheapest among all medicinal herbs, easy to grow, and have a cycle from sprouting to fruiting of only three months. Yunlusi Mountain has a spring-like climate all year round, allowing for three plantings per year.
The only drawback is that the selling price is too low.
Under normal circumstances, each acre of Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla can only exchange for thirty merit coins per year, far less than the yield of other medicinal herbs.
In the Qingxuan Sect, each outer sect disciple must pay 120 merit coins per year.
Under normal circumstances, even if Taiping planted all three acres of medicinal fields with Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla, he still wouldn't be able to meet the required 120 merit coins to be paid to the sect.
But with the array Lingyue Fairy set up in the medicinal fields, everything changed.
According to Lingyue Fairy, the medicinal fields with the small gathering spirit array would triple their yield for three years, making planting Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla the most cost-effective.
"If everything goes well, three acres of medicinal fields, three plantings of Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla, should be able to exchange for at least 270 merit coins. After deducting the 20 merit coins cost and the 120 merit coins required to be paid annually, I will still have 130 merit coins left. Next year, I can buy better seeds, and perhaps even have some left to buy cultivation techniques and talismans."
After paying the bronze mirror, Xu Taiping took out paper and pen and carefully recorded the accounts.
"Having bought the herbs and seeds, I now have only three merit coins left. Fortunately, the rice jar is already full, and there is plenty of oil and salt. I can set some traps in the mountains to hunt some game, which should last until the first planting of Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla matures."
He recorded the accounts while planning in his mind.
One of the main reasons he chose Nine-Leaf Purple Perilla as the seed was because it matures quickly, allowing him to quickly exchange for merit coins to buy the medicinal herbs needed for cultivation.
As for the True Fire Talisman needed for the incineration, he had already asked the mirror spirit yesterday and was told that he could only buy talismans and similar items after being a disciple for one year. Even the most ordinary True Fire Talisman costs over a thousand merit coins, which he couldn't afford in the short term.
"Once I have the harvest, I need to consider saving money to buy the True Fire Talisman."
Xu Taiping recorded another entry in his account book.
A spirit bird, a gray crane, landed in front of Xu Taiping's small courtyard, carrying a large package.
All the seeds and herbs Xu Taiping bought had finally arrived.
After paying a merit coin to the gray crane with some reluctance, Xu Taiping carried the herbs into his bedroom.
In his bedroom, a bathtub filled with hot water was already prepared.
This was what he had prepared in advance to soak the herbs.
"The prescription given by Lingyue Fairy says that the materials are ordinary, and to make the medicine effective, the herbs must be added in the order and time specified in the prescription."
After sorting the herbs and re-weighing them with the old scale in the room, Xu Taiping stood in front of the bathtub and silently recalled the order and timing of adding the herbs.
After a moment, Xu Taiping nodded to himself, as if to encourage himself.
He then picked up a portion of herbs wrapped in oil paper and poured them all into the steaming bathtub, counting down: "8, 7, 6..."
When he reached 1, Xu Taiping quickly poured the second portion of herbs into the bathtub.
As the second portion of herbs was added, the hot water in the bathtub began to bubble, and a fragrance like orchids and musk began to spread.
"It seems I didn't add them wrong."
Xu Taiping looked pleased and immediately added another portion of herbs.
When all the herbs were added to the bathtub according to the prescription, Xu Taiping saw that the originally clear hot water had turned into a thick white liquid.
"The medicinal soup is as white and smooth as jade, just as the prescription described."
Xu Taiping sighed in relief.
At least from the appearance, the bone-washing and marrow-renewing soup he prepared was successful.
Then, Xu Taiping quickly took off his clothes, revealing his lean body, and immersed himself in the bone-washing and marrow-renewing soup.
Due to the potency of the medicine, even after a while, the soup in the bathtub was still very hot, and Xu Taiping couldn't help but grimace.
If it weren't for the prescription's instructions that leaving halfway through would greatly reduce the effectiveness, he would have already jumped out of the bathtub.