Sensing her aura, she seemed to be in the Golden Core Stage, and most likely only in the early stage of the Golden Core.
How could someone in the early stage of the Golden Core have such precise control over herbs?
The leader narrowed her eyes and asked, “Do you have a God-grade spiritual root?”
There were fewer than ten people in the world with God-grade spiritual roots.
Every single one of them was unimaginably powerful.
And as far as she knew, a God-grade wood spiritual root had never appeared before.
If this girl really possessed a God-grade spiritual root, there were only two paths to take.
Either she submitted to the Beiyao Sect, or...
She had to be killed.
They absolutely could not allow her to grow, or else the Nine Saints Hall would eventually retaliate.
Song Yao raised a finger and wagged it. “Heaven-grade third-tier.”
“Heaven-grade third-tier?”
The same spiritual root tier as her, the same wood spiritual root...
Then why couldn't she control plants in such a manner?
Seeing that they were all utterly bewildered, Song Yao sat up and said with an air of mock seriousness, “This won't do. Let's start from the beginning.”
The leader was taken aback. “Start from the beginning?”
Song Yao casually waved her hand toward a nearby herb basket. Pale green spiritual energy wrapped around several fresh stalks of Azure Spirit Grass, which floated over and stopped in front of them. “First, learn how to stimulate the medicinal properties before refining pills. You can't expect to skip straight to the end.”
The several pill cultivators exchanged glances, their expressions somewhat complicated and difficult to describe.
They had been refining pills for decades. Now, they were actually going to be led by an early stage Golden Core girl to learn the most basic task of stimulating medicinal properties. If word got out, they would surely become laughingstocks.
Yet, the facts lay right before their eyes. With the exact same herbs and the exact same steps, she had refined high-rank pills with clear pill veins and extraordinary effects, while they had only managed to produce ordinary Qi-Replenishing Pills.
With such a stark contrast, they had to learn even if they didn't want to.
The leader stared at the Azure Spirit Grass on the stone platform in silence for a moment. Ultimately, she suppressed the complex emotions churning in her heart, looked up at Song Yao, and said in a heavy, somewhat serious tone, “Please guide us, Miss Lin.”
Song Yao raised an eyebrow, clearly dissatisfied. “What do you mean, 'Miss Lin'? Call me Master.”
The leader: “?”
Among their group, even the youngest was old enough to be her parent.
Did she have any awareness at all that she was a captive?
Wasn't she taking things a bit too far?
Song Yao swung her legs lazily. Propping her chin in her hand, she reclined once more. “What's wrong? As the saying goes, 'When three people walk together, one of them must be my teacher.' Is it really that hard to call me Master?”
“...”
Remembering the Sect Master's orders to obtain her pill recipe as quickly as possible, the group let out a collective sigh. Humoring her like a child, they reluctantly muttered, “Master.”
Highly satisfied, Song Yao sat cross-legged and waved them over. “I'll teach you one by one. Come.”
The leader's brow furrowed repeatedly. After a long moment, she finally took a step forward and stood in front of her.
Just as she was about to ask where to begin, Song Yao reached out to cover her eyes.
Her heart leaped, and she instinctively took half a step back, asking warily, “What are you doing?”
Song Yao blinked, her tone innocent. “What is there to fear? I'm only in the early stage of the Golden Core. What could I possibly do to you? Be good, little disciple.”
The leader: “...”
In all her years, she had never met a junior who was so brazen and took advantage of every opportunity to push her luck.
The frustration in her chest churned, but she forced it down. Closing her eyes, she stood firm and said coldly, “Begin.”
Song Yao stopped teasing her. Her slightly cool palm rested steadily over the leader's eyes. Raising her other hand slightly, she wrapped the Azure Spirit Grass in front of them in pale green spiritual energy.
Originally, the leader saw nothing but darkness, but suddenly, countless glowing green patterns slowly unfolded within the void.
She watched as the spiritual energy seeped deep into the roots along the fine medicinal veins. The path of every single fiber was as clear as if it had been traced. In the next instant, the spiritual energy intensified, and a spiritual glow erupted from within the herb.
This spiritual glow...
It was clearly something that only appeared when high-rank herbs were refined.
It felt as if a door to a new world had suddenly swung open for her. Before she could take a closer look, the warmth covering her eyes vanished.
As light flooded back into her eyes, the leader remained standing there, dazed.
She stared at the Azure Spirit Grass, which now shimmered with spiritual energy and possessed medicinal properties several times more potent than before. For a long time, she could not recover from her shock.
Song Yao's cheerful voice snapped her out of it. “Alright, next.”
Dazed, she stepped back to her original spot. The other pill cultivators cast puzzled glances at her, but seeing that she neither stopped them nor spoke, they hesitantly stepped forward.
By the time the last pill cultivator slowly opened their eyes, the entire Pill Pavilion had fallen into absolute silence.
The group stood in place, their eyes cast down, each harboring their own thoughts.
The scene they had witnessed when they closed their eyes seemed somewhat different from the alchemical path they had previously learned.
These were clearly the most common, basic herbs, yet when stimulated by her spiritual energy, their medicinal potency multiplied several times over. Even the very quality of the herbs seemed to have undergone a complete transformation.
Before they could fully wrap their heads around it, Song Yao turned and strolled over to the herb racks in the corner. Hooking her fingers through the handles of two woven wicker baskets, she dragged them over and set them firmly at everyone's feet.
Then, brushing the herbal dust off her palms, she assigned their introductory homework. “In short, that's how it is. Very simple.”
“You must first stimulate the medicinal properties of these herbs one by one. Once you can stimulate every single stalk to great perfection without any loss, I will teach you the subsequent steps of combining the herbs to refine pills.”
Having taught those disciples swordplay and now these people alchemy, Song Yao understood clearly that not everyone was like the main peak disciples, who could learn and comprehend anything instantly.
She had to be a bit patient.
One of the pill cultivators couldn't help but lean in half a step, whispering hesitantly to the leader, “Sect Master Feng ordered us to figure out the pill recipe as quickly as possible and help her perfect the pill. If we start practicing from the absolute basics like this, won't it delay things too much...?”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Song Yao's leisurely voice drifted over, “If you don't learn this, you won't be able to refine the pills.”
The leader fell silent for a moment, unable to resist the temptation.
She had a feeling that if they learned from this little pill cultivator, their collective attainments in the alchemical path would rise by a massive margin. When that time came, why would they ever be restricted to just this single pill recipe?
However...
Could they really learn it just because they wanted to?
Didn't this also have to do with her personal spiritual energy?
But they both had Heaven-grade spiritual roots, and they both had wood spiritual roots. If she could do it, there was no reason she couldn't. If she didn't try, she would surely regret it deeply in the future.
The leader looked up and scanned the other pill cultivators. Seeing the eager light hidden in everyone's eyes, she made her decision in a solemn voice. “Let's do as she says for now.”
“Great. Then practice here. If you have any questions, come find me.”
Just as everyone sat down cross-legged to begin, they looked up and saw Song Yao lazily strolling toward the exit. The leader was taken aback. “Where are you going?”
Song Yao: “Don't meddle in your master's business.”
The leader: “...”
Song Yao walked to the door, then turned back and squatted in front of the leader. She slipped the silver token hanging from the leader's waist off. “Borrowing this for a bit. I'll return it to you later.”
The leader: “...?”
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