"Hehe, Senior Brother Ruan is right. Can you tell me what needs to be done?" Chen Xun smiled and arched his hand.
Ruan Zheng didn't glance sideways, but his spiritual consciousness had sensed that Zuo Yiying had already left. Suddenly, his enthusiasm waned, thinking he had missed an opportunity to make this new loose cultivator junior help him.
The foundational stage not only possessed spiritual consciousness but also had a significant increase in the power of alchemical fire. This allowed them to refine some auxiliary medicines, greatly saving them time and effort compared to the Qi Refining stage disciples.
Additionally, Chen Xun was an outsider, and it seemed he had no strong connections within the sect. Persuading him to join as an apprentice would likely be quite easy, and he might even feel grateful for the opportunity. Ruan Zheng had seen this as a chance to get a useful helper.
That's why they had surrounded Chen Xun earlier and tried to win him over with kind words. They didn't expect to be intercepted.
"In the spiritual medicine garden, you don't need to turn in spiritual medicines every year. When there's a need, someone will come to harvest them. It could be every ten years or even several decades."
"The spiritual medicine garden is inspected by elders every twenty years. If you damage the precious spiritual medicines of the sect, Junior Brother Chen Xun will not have an easy time. Be sure to take care."
Ruan Zheng's eyes showed impatience. He suddenly feigned surprise, "Junior Brother, I have a furnace of pills left in my cave. I completely forgot about it. I'll have to excuse myself."
"No problem, don't let me keep you from important matters, Senior Brother Ruan," Chen Xun said with a polite smile, leading the big black ox to the side.
Ruan Zheng nodded slightly, flew away on his sword, and seemed to be in a hurry, as if he were attending a family funeral.
They watched Ruan Zheng's distant figure, feeling somewhat perplexed. Afterward, they headed to the Medicine Valley to pack their belongings. On the way, they encountered many respectful disciples, and Chen Xun replied with a smile.
Inside the Medicine Valley, where birds were singing and flowers were fragrant, Chen Xun and the big black ox sat in front of a waterfall, calm in their demeanor.
"Moo?"
"No worries. If a person has no value, what's the meaning of their existence in this world?"
Chen Xun gazed deeply at the water pool, wearing a faint smile. "Old ox, don't think too much. The sect has shown great kindness to us, and that alone is enough."
"Moo, moo~" The big black ox agreed. Indeed, there was no need to dwell on it; they were both passersby.
"Though we shouldn't have a malicious heart, we should still be cautious. We'll need to carefully observe the real spiritual medicine garden, just as it has always been."
"Moo! Moo!" The big black ox bellowed, looking at Chen Xun with its intelligent eyes.
"With one-tenth of our true strength exposed, we'll never steal the limelight; just live a quiet life."
Chen Xun's lips curved slightly as he looked at the big black ox, which also nodded heavily. They still had many places to explore and many things to learn.
"I plan to create a training plan for us, spanning over three hundred years. There's so much for us to learn, haha."
"Moo, moo~"
"Old ox, get everything ready; we're moving!"
"Moo!!"
The big black ox stood up in excitement, exhaling a deep breath, and began collecting flags and stones from various locations. Chen Xun also entered their cave and packed up everything, including their pot, bowls, and utensils, as well as their wood carvings and other belongings.
In the cave, Chen Xun picked up the somewhat rotted wood carving with a tail that had turned somewhat black. He sighed softly, carefully putting it away.
"This was a gift from our old boss. After being in the cultivation world for so long, we haven't met anyone like that boss again."
A low murmur echoed inside the cave. It had been thoroughly cleaned, and the next disciple who came here would find it much more convenient.
In the Medicine Valley, Chen Xun's loud shouts echoed continuously.
"Old ox, chicken, come on! You damned gentle thing, we need to take them with us."
"Moo, moo~"
"Old ox, use a hemp rope to tie their feet; I'll go bring our wild boar from home. We caught it with much effort in the mountains the year before last, and they've even given birth to piglets. We can't be careless."
"Moo, moo!"
Under the vast sky, one man and one ox were busy, rushing around in the Medicine Valley. The cave behind the waterfall was destroyed, covered with countless rubble.
Inside, the spiritual herbs were harvested and placed in medicine boxes. The big black ox swallowed them directly with its storage pouch. Chen Xun couldn't help but sigh, and he even began to sing a song: "Let me say thank you, because of you..."
The big black ox broke into a cold sweat when it heard this, and its ears twitched constantly. Chen Xun's singing was actually quite awful, and he should find an opportunity to remind him about it.
The next day, under the brilliant sunlight, they arrived at the edge of the pool of water, looking slightly nervous.
"Old ox, start. My spiritual consciousness has spread out and is under control," Chen Xun said, then walked towards a distance.
"Moo!" The big black ox called out, and its spiritual energy surged while its hooves swayed.
Bubbles continuously emerged from the water, and two arrays suddenly rose from the bottom of the pool. Countless boulders and pebbles quietly appeared underwater.
A basic small-scale illusion array! It could hide a small area of rubble, and with spiritual energy amplification, it could cover a large area of rubble.
"Moo!" The big black ox roared again, looking very serious.
Three seemingly ordinary pieces of rubble suddenly moved, and no one could tell that they were actually part of an array. Meanwhile, bubbles suddenly emerged from another part of the pool, and a faint light appeared in the mud.
A small whirlpool formed, and the big black ox quickly plunged into the water.
In the mud, there was a hidden medicine box containing an ordinary, hundred-year-old spiritual herb. The big black ox gently took it out and used a technique in the water to make three hidden arrays appear.
The bubbles in the water moved faster and faster, and the mud was stirred up in large clumps, becoming increasingly muddy.
The big black ox grinned, extended its hoof, and took out a bag of spiritual herb seeds enclosed by the array. It quickly left the pool, swallowing the seeds in a blink of an eye.
"Moo~" The big black ox called out to Chen Xun, sitting by the edge of the pool with an expression of joy. These were seeds of all the foundational stage spiritual herbs, after all.
"Old ox, let's go!" Chen Xun shouted from a distance with his hands on his hips.
"Moo!" The big black ox charged over.
Today in the Five Elements Sect, a peculiar scene unfolded as a foundational stage cultivator led two large wild boars. Behind him trailed a group of piglets, and he was carrying a basket of chirping chicks as he walked along the road.
The black ox spirit beast on both sides of him was laden with bound mountain chickens on their feet. They looked lifeless, with no resistance left, gazing blankly at the sky.
The ox's horns held two baskets of chicken eggs, swaying on the bumpy mountain road.
"Is this Senior Uncle going down... to a fair or something?"
"No, I think he's going to cultivate some significant spell. He needs them for something."
"Don't make casual guesses about Senior Uncle; the power of the foundational stage is something we Qi Refining disciples can't imagine."
"Absolutely, you're right."
As they passed by, many disciples whispered among themselves, but their eyes were filled with respect. This was the capability of a senior; everything they did was right, and even if they were pooping by the road, they would find a way to justify it.