novelraw Chapter 1639 - 1638 - Not as Expected
Chapter 1639 - 1638 - Not as Expected
Lind had many assumptions and hopes for the Inheritance of the Twins but he could never have expected to be tending to a garden.
It was not even a contest to prove his expertise or to produce a certain herb, it was just tending to a massive swath of gardens in a sect that he had no name for.
He was also no longer himself. He was not possessing someone but had returned to being a human being instead of a dragon!
All his skills, Arts, and harmony were sealed away. The last part shocked him more than anything as no other Inheritance, Ruin, or Relic could usually affect it like that.
It was only then that he understood that while Divine Realm cultivators may have faulty foundations on imperfect elemental theories, to ascend the 3 minor realms meant correcting that issue.
It would be wiser in the future not to assume his harmony gave him an edge save in the same realm and tier.
Master Tiers especially might pose far more of an issue than he previously believed!
His dirty blonde hair was matted against his skull as sweat began to soak his simple cloth robes. His cultivation was at the Star Tier but he was one of many gardeners in the sprawling fields.
He had been there for an unknown amount of time as it did not seem to flow sequentially. When he first woke up in the simple hut on the hill overlooking the 4 massive fields, he had been in the Sky Realm middle tiers.
Yet it seemed a short time later, he awoke to find himself in the Heaven Realm Star Tier with no sign of tribulation or grasping of what triggered it.
He had tested his concocting ability and found making elixirs or pills beyond him, but gardening did not require such skills.
In fact, dedicated sect gardeners were precious in their own way. They freed up alchemists and elixir masters to work without having to invest time raising their own herbs. It also facilitated mass production at the scale needed for a sect to thrive.
Why was he a gardener? Why was he so restricted but then jumped realms from one day to the next?
He had off 1 day after working for 7 but again, he often missed them. When he did have a day off, he tried to explore but the knowledge of how to leave the gardens was not in his head nor in his hut.
He just wandered the garden and talked to those he came across. They were a range of personalities. Some were bitter old people who resented they were going to die tending gardens. Some were young people full of hope that they would snag the eye of a powerful expert to teach them or give them an opportunity.
A few were delusional, thinking their work was so important the entire sect would collapse if they missed a single harvest.
He avoided those after a single encounter.
Just like his strange increase in realm, his neighbors would also change drastically. An old woman who warmly chatted with him on his first day off was replaced by a toxic young man who believed his grand destiny was derailed by some upstart in the main sect.
Centuries seemed to flash by but Lind had no clue what he was supposed to be doing!
He focused on his fields for any secrets but he rated them as slightly above average. He was allowed to keep a certain amount of what he grew but most of it was barely worth a Heaven Realm's time.
Most of it was best suited for Sky Realm and below.
Still, he began to experiment with the knowledge still available to him from his long life as a Divine Realm cultivator.
He improved the quality of his crops and even triggered them to advance to the Heaven Grade which he could find of use.
His success rate was abysmal compared to what he was used to, yet it felt more meaningful in his limited state. He was not a 6 elemental any more but a Primary Quad cultivator.
Earth, fire, water, and air were his original elements with light and dark his Secondary ones. He frowned at the low quality and began to work on them too. In that fashion his life in the garden passed rather unremarkably.
A gatherer would come periodically to pick up the harvests but nothing else ever really happened. The tranquil life was a welcome respite after the heavy burden of racing ahead to improve his cultivation for so long.
After a couple thousand years, he reached the peak of the Sun Tier but all his elements were now Primary. It was something he kept secret but the progress was so slow that he truly appreciated being a 6 elemental before.
The time saved had not truly been appreciated by him before.
He also began to trade with his neighbors. Some were raising grade 6 herbs but his Heaven Grade enriched herbs were far more efficient for them. In that way, he finally had a steady supply of herbs but he still could not make elixirs or pills at all.
His monthly allocation was not good quality yet with the same process of improvement, he made the pills advance. It was initially resulting in cinders but after 3 centuries, he had about an 80% success rate.
The feeling of satisfaction washed over him with each achievement despite being so much lower than what he was used to. His deep research from his original life aided him but he now saw how much of a cheat he had been living with.
He had not taken it totally for granted as he had pushed himself harshly to advance, but he could only create the insane things he had because of his harmony and 6 Primary elements.
Adding in the other 2 elemental systems was also just as insane if not more so but there were some demonic fields. He began to experiment with them and achieved much quicker results thanks to his previous experiments.
That brought a change at last.
The day after he had 3 successful improvements of demonic herbs to Immortal Grade, a young woman in fine verdant colored robes came with an entourage to his hut.
He did not recall any phenomenon that gave him away but perhaps that was part of the trial.
Her followers looked down their noses at most of the gardeners save those raising Immortal herbs.
The difficulty to harvest them with high potency was highly respected in the sect.
Compared to Lind's 4 Sky Realm gardens, they were only in charge of a single field yet they spent the same amount of time to get it done.
The woman had fine milky jade skin with dark eyes that were very lively. She made a stark contrast to her high strung followers. They all wore violet or blue robes but he had no context aside from quality to guess their status.
They were likely inner or outer disciples/servants while she was clearly of the core disciples. The robes were almost able to camouflage her as she moved without any wasted energy.
It was only at that moment that Lind realized his Talents were perfectly intact. He refrained from sighing but he had not relied on them in so long that checking them was low on his priority list.
The woman paused at his fence and he bowed low despite being higher than her in cultivation.
White hair traced his skull at the Sun Tier but she was a Moon Tier with full vitality. She was clearly favored by Heaven and Earth.
His honest humility seemed to mollify some of her followers but not all. A young man in blue robes lined in crimson stepped forward.
"Kowtow on the ground in the presence of Lady Meilin!" Lind felt a vein pulse as a Sky Realm dared to speak to him that way but he instead turned to the woman and bowed low.
"I beg pardon, but I would not deign to risk damage to the silver lilies currently at my feet. I can move to a more appropriate area if that is acceptable." His humble words did not match his tone but the arrogant young man did go pale.
Of all grade 5 herbs, silver lilies were highly valued as a catalyst by even Grade 6 or Heaven Grade alchemists! They were notoriously difficult to grow and very fragile to the slightest incorrect application of force not made by nature.
A single glance confirmed Lind stood calmly in a swath of those flowers! The fact not a single petal had fallen in his wake spoke of his skill and planning.
A small smile spread on the woman's face as she held up her hand.
"Senior Gardener, I have heard of your experiments. Why do you stay here?" Surprise flitted across Lind's face. He knew he missed day to day events but it seemed he had been offered a chance to leave and declined? Why?!
He looked across the garden and really took it in. Why was he in the Inheritance? It was to gain strength but did that mean he was looking for a short cut or true expansion on his foundation?
His life in the garden was sedate and full of frustration but his successes came back to him before a smile spread.
"Not all paths lead to a higher peak, some lead to deeper understanding, Lady Meilin. In this place I learned that focusing on advancement is not all there is to cultivation. I will become an Immortal one day, but I may stay here, tending my fields. Answers that do not require words can be found here." He spoke from his heart and his mind cleared.
It was not a trial to gain power or new knowledge as an elixir master but for himself. He had been so focused on getting stronger and pushing his Mysteries that he had forgotten an old truth.
Knowledge is true power. Even a cultivator with no prospects can make miracles with enough knowledge and perseverance.
The followers sneered at him but the young woman seemed to look at him in shock. A profound light flitted over her eyes before she became solemn and bowed low to him.
"This junior pays respect to senior." Her actions shocked the followers but Lind only smiled and bowed back.
"Wisdom guide you to the next step, Lady Meilin." She smiled and then left. The group seemed stuck between yelling at him or following her but the latter won out.
Lind turned to resume his duties when the world faded away. It seemed he had passed the first trial. A trial that was not at all as he expected.