917 Medicine Fields

"What's your name?" The disciple asked Yuan after a moment of silence.

"I won't stay here for long, so you don't need to know it." Yuan calmly responded.

'This bastard's asking for it!' The disciple found Yuan's presence to be even more obnoxious after his response.

Sensing the sudden tension in the air, Wang Xiuying quickly interrupted, "Anyways, tell the elders that I won't be able to complete my weekly quota this week because I will be busy with something else. Sorry you came all this way for nothing." 

"I-It's fine. Most people don't even get to see you because you're always holed up in your room. I am already satisfied with seeing your beautiful face this early in the morning, Senior Sister Wang."

"By the way, my Master wanted to ask if you'll be joining the annual competition between Core Disciples tomorrow."

"I'll be there, but I won't be participating, so I'll only be a spectator."

"That's good enough. As long as Senior Sister Wang is there, I will be content. Then I will see you tomorrow." The disciple bowed to her before turning around and walking away.

Of course, he made sure to turn around to look at them, or more specifically, Yuan's face, one last time before disappearing from their sights completely.

"Who was that? Your servant?" Yuan asked afterward.

"No, he's Disciple Gu, a Core Disciple studying under Elder Cang, who is the Sect Master's right-hand man. He's the second most talented disciple in the entire sect. Apparently, he's from a very prestigious family."

"The title of number one disciple in the sect belongs to me, of course!" Wang Xiuying laughed out loud.

'Surnamed Gu, huh? Why do I keep encountering them?' A mysterious smile appeared on Yuan's face.

"Having the second most talented disciple in the sect carry out such a mundane task… He must either be really bored or have too much free time." He said.

  "I heard that he'd personally requested to deliver my weekly quota. I don't know the details, but I don't really care either. Anyways, let's visit the medicine field in my yard first. It's the closest and has the most valuable herbs growing."

"Sure."

Yuan followed Wang Xiuying to her backyard, where she started showing him all of the plants that she'd personally grown.

"How long do they usually take to grow? It hasn't been that long since you joined, right?" Yuan asked.

"Most herbs here take less than a month to grow, but if you leave it for longer, the herbs will have a stronger effect, but it will take years, so we usually harvest them after a month. There is actually a secret garden somewhere in this sect with plants that have been growing for hundreds and even thousands of years! I asked to see it before, but I was told that only the Sect Master is allowed to visit the place for security reasons."

Sometime later, they went to the medicine field at the bottom of the hill, which was at least a hundred times larger than the one in her backyard.

"You planted all of these, too?" Yuan was impressed.

There were over 100,000 plants at the bottom of the hill, and all of them were neatly grown and well organized.

"Yes. Besides being time consuming, it's really not that difficult," she said.

The entire tour around the hill took almost three hours.

"Now that we're done with the medicine field, what would you like to see next?" She asked him.

"I don't know anything about your sect, so I will leave it to you."

Wang Xiuying pondered for a moment before speaking, "How about the Alchemy Store? We have one in our sect, and you can even purchase Alchemy Flames there."

"That sounds interesting. Let's go." Yuan nodded.

Wang Xiuying then retrieved a leaf and poured her spiritual energy into it, causing it to grow many times larger. 

"This is… a flying treasure?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, since the sect is so vast, I was given this flying treasure to travel around the sect. Come, I'll give you a ride."

"The flying treasure looks like it's only meant for a single rider. I can fly, so you don't need to worry about me." Yuan said.

"Trust me, it'll be fine." Wang Xiuying suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the flying treasure.

Although it was a little cramped at first, Wang Xiuying made some room by hugging Yuan's body with her own body, "See? We have plenty of space."

She chuckled.

And before Yuan could even say anything, Wang Xiuying controlled the flying treasure, and they flew away from the hill.

While they were in the air, Wang Xiuying purposefully made the flying treasure fly as slow as possible so that they could take their time.

"Look over there. That tall pagoda is the Sect Master's headquarters and also her living quarters. Oh! That building is the cafeteria for disciples within the Inner Court like me. They have some amazing food, but I rarely get the time to go there." Wang Xiuying introduced the buildings to him as they passed them.

Meanwhile, somewhere within the sect, "Master! Do you know anything about the bastard with Healer Wang?!"

After leaving Wang Xiuying's place, Disciple Gu rushed to find Elder Cang for more information on Yuan. He figured that if anyone knew about Yuan's identity, it would be his Master, who is the Sect Master's right-hand man.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Elder Cang asked.

"I went to give Healer Wang her weekly quota this morning, and I saw this obnoxious man by her side! He was standing inside her living quarters, and he wasn't wearing the sect's uniform, either!"

"Hoh? Healer Wang has an unknown man in her living quarters? This is definitely a surprise, considering her usual behavior. Anyway, I don't know anything about her friend. If he's not a disciple then he must be a guest. Did you check with the administration? All guests are required to sign in."

"N-No… That completely slipped my mind. I will go check with them right now. Sorry for bothering you, Master." Disciple Gu bowed to him before leaving for the Administration Hall, where they keep a list of all visitors.