Chương 22

Several days remained before Valehaven's monthly assessment. Until then, the apprentices only needed to tend the spirit plants that were approaching maturity. Other than the first plot of Mindveil Grass Elara had harvested, even the fastest-growing batch still required another three days. She claimed another section that was nearing maturity and settled into a steady routine. Every morning, she went to the fields and performed the necessary gardening work.

Around noon, she returned to her courtyard and devoted the rest of the day to cultivation. Whenever the cooldown ended, she entered the Ember Sanctum for another three-day training session. With the help of the Qi Gathering Pills, her cultivation progressed noticeably faster than before. Every three days she spent inside the Ember Sanctum raised her progress by five points. Three days passed in the outside world.

By then, Elara had consumed more than half of her twenty Qi Gathering Pills, and her progress bar had climbed steadily. [Qi Refining Tier 3: 96/100]... [Raincall successfully cast.] [Mindveil Grass maturity +2.]... [Soften Earth successfully cast.] [Mindveil Grass maturity +2.] [101/100] With the monthly assessment approaching, most of the Mindveil Grass fields were close to maturity.

Elara took full advantage of the opportunity, moving between different growing sections and managing to claim the final cultivation work on two more plots. Unfortunately, her luck was terrible. The two plots produced somewhere between forty and fifty reward orbs, yet only one was green. Worse, the reward inside that green orb merely restored all her qi instantly. Elara hadn't expected her luck to be quite that bad.

After Garrick announced that the monthly assessment would take place the next day, he dismissed the apprentices early. Inspectors from the Moonwatch Sect would be checking the condition of the spirit fields, so everyone had to arrive on time. Once she returned home, Elara reviewed everything she had gained over the past few days and began preparing for the Moonwatch Sect's upcoming selection. The sect would choose its next group of outer disciples only one day after Valehaven's monthly assessment.

"I harvested two more sections over the last few days and collected plenty of reward orbs, but almost all of them either restored my qi or gave me a single day of cultivation." Elara was amazed by just how poor her recent luck had become. She opened her status screen and reviewed her current attributes.

[Elara Lin] [Cultivation: Qi Refining Tier 4 — 10/100] [Race: Human] [Fortune: 3] [Talents] [Practice Makes Perfect — White] [Spirit-Touched Foundation — Green] [Skills] Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

[Basic Arts] [Raincall — Level 3: 5/100] [Soften Earth — Level 3: 10/100] [Pest Ward — Level 2: 60/100] [Grassweaving Art — Level 2: 15/100] [Metal Gathering Art (Modified) — Level 2: 10/100] [Basic Talismans] [Soul-Calming Talisman — Level 2: 5/100] [Basic Cultivation Methods] [Minor Origin Breathing Art — Level 1: 55/100] With the accumulated cultivation rewards from the white orbs, Elara had successfully broken through to Qi Refining Tier 4. Her progress had been much faster than she expected.

Over the past several days, she had also used the Ember Sanctum to practice her basic arts, focusing primarily on Raincall, Soften Earth, and Metal Gathering Art. Raincall and Soften Earth had both reached Level Three. Each cast could now cover more than a hundred spirit plants at once. After Metal Gathering Art reached Level Two, Elara's larger Qi Refining Tier 4 reserves allowed her to begin forming several iron swords simultaneously.

After repeated experimentation, she determined that three swords were the most she could control reliably. If all three iron swords strike and explode together, even a cultivator at Qi Refining Tier 5 or Tier 6 would have little chance of surviving. No matter what kind of assessment the Moonwatch Sect gives me, I'm earning one of those outer disciple positions.... Early the next morning, all of Valehaven came alive in a way Elara had never seen before.

It wasn't a celebration so much as a sign that something important was about to happen. None of the city's major families could afford to remain idle, and large groups streamed toward the spirit fields outside the walls. Among them, Elara even spotted several elderly cultivators flying through the air without the aid of visible artifacts. She knew little about Valehaven's internal balance of power. All she knew was that the city had three great cultivation families.

The three Foundation Establishment patriarchs who had just flown past presumably belonged to those families. Whenever an outer elder of the Moonwatch Sect came to inspect the harvest and assess Valehaven, even a local patriarch at the same cultivation realm held an inferior position. Each one had to appear in person and offer a respectful welcome. The groups gathered according to their affiliations. Across hundreds of acres of spirit fields, several thousand cultivators stood in orderly formations.

Five factions occupied the leading positions: Valehaven's three great families, the City Lord's estate, and Dawnmere Trading House. Elara found Dawnmere's group and joined Garrick, then began studying the people around her. Dawnmere really is the weakest of the five. But since it's a trading house directly affiliated with the Moonwatch Sect, no one dares target it openly. The balance of power was easy to understand at a glance.

Each of Valehaven's three great families was led by a Foundation Establishment patriarch. All three were so old they looked as though they had only a few years left to live, but the pressure radiating from them still made Elara's heart pound. The City Lord's estate was slightly weaker. Valehaven's current City Lord was still in the prime of his life, but he had only reached Qi Refining Tier 9. When dealing with the three family patriarchs, his manner remained respectful and guarded.

Dawnmere Trading House appeared weakest of all. Its three managers stood together at the front of their group. The head manager possessed the highest cultivation among them, but judging by his aura, he was still weaker than the City Lord—probably around Qi Refining Tier 8. We may be the weakest on paper, but Dawnmere has the strongest backing. The head manager carried himself with unmistakable pride. He didn't seem to regard the patriarchs of the three great families as people worthy of much attention.

When the leaders of the five factions exchanged greetings, he offered only brief acknowledgments without even looking directly at them.... The wait dragged on. At first, some of the thousands gathered among the fields whispered to one another. Eventually, the entire area fell silent. Everyone stood with their heads lowered. The sun climbed steadily overhead. Many apprentices could feel the backs of their necks burning, but no one dared leave or make a sound.

Half an hour earlier, the City Lord had received a message from the Moonwatch Sect. The sect's field-inspection vessel approaches. Prostrate yourselves. Do not look up. The order consisted of only two short sentences. Not one person dared disobey. Suddenly, the blazing sun dimmed. Far in the distance, a thin golden fracture tore open across the sky. There was no thunderous crack or explosion—only a deep hum that left everyone's ears numb. A vast shadow emerged from the golden rift like ink spreading across a page.

It stretched for miles and swallowed most of the sunlight above the fields. The many-thousand-ton vessel came to a silent stop in the air outside Valehaven. Several figures descended from it, wrapped in a vast current of qi, and landed before the assembled crowd.

"You may raise your heads. I am Alden Voss, an outer elder of the Moonwatch Sect." His warm laughter carried across the entire expanse of spirit fields. Alden wore a flowing snow-white robe embroidered with cloud patterns. At first glance, he looked like an ordinary old man with a gentle smile. Several young cultivators dressed as Moonwatch Sect outer disciples followed behind him. Every one of them had reached at least Qi Refining Tier 4. The strongest appeared to be around Qi Refining Tier 7.

"I will preside over Valehaven's monthly assessment today," Elder Voss announced.

"Each faction has been assigned a production quota. Failure to meet that quota will count as a minor demerit. If those demerits accumulate into a major offense, the responsible faction will be expelled from the cities governed by the Moonwatch Sect." His voice remained pleasant, but no one mistook the seriousness of his warning.

"For severe violations, the sect has other means of punishment. Make certain you all understand."