The Medicinal Garden

The Thunderfire Hall's medicinal garden was located about a hundred li southwest of Qingyuan Ward.

By the time Lu Ming arrived at the hill where the medicinal garden was situated, alongside Lu Jin, Lu Qingyan, and Lu Jinglei, it was already late afternoon.

Standing at the foot of the hill, Lu Ming looked up to see a manor-like complex faintly visible through the swirling mist halfway up the slope. That was where their Thunderfire Hall's medicinal garden lay.

As they made their way up the mountain path and arrived in front of the manor, a group of people came out to greet them.

“Hall Master, why did you come in person this time? It is only the Rain Mist Season; everything should be fine here at the garden. You only needed to have Zhang Yue deliver the materials for the Divine Ability Restrictions.”

The leader of the group was a middle-aged man with a scruffy, stubbly beard. Spotting Lu Jin walking at the front, he hurriedly stepped forward with a respectful expression.

“Uncle Qian,” Lu Ming greeted the middle-aged man with a smile.

The middle-aged man was named Qian Shan. He was a veteran disciple of Thunderfire Hall who had completed his apprenticeship long ago, and was now a Grand Divine Ability Practitioner of the Dharma Inscription Realm. Although he was no longer officially part of the Thunderfire Hall, he had stayed in Qingyuan Ward to build his life. Consequently, Lu Jin had hired him to help guard the medicinal garden, which was a fairly lucrative job.

People like Qian Shan were part of the network of connections Thunderfire Hall had cultivated over many years. Usually, they went about their own business, but if Thunderfire Hall ever faced trouble, they could be called upon for aid based on their past ties.

This was one of the advantages of a Divine Ability Hall.

Although they lacked the bloodline bonds of a Divine Ability Clan, they possessed a diverse web of personal connections.

“Lu Ming? You came too? Wait, have you already opened your bone?” Qian Shan only now noticed Lu Ming. He was immediately taken aback, sensing the fluctuations of primordial energy circulating around the youth.

Qian Shan lived year-round in the medicinal garden far from Qingyuan Ward, so he was clearly unaware of what had transpired in the hall over the past few days.

Lu Jin lit his tobacco pipe and said flatly, “Zhang Yue has left the hall. He is no longer a member of Thunderfire Hall.”

“Ah?” Qian Shan froze, momentarily unable to process this.

Lu Qingyan stepped forward and quietly gave him a brief summary of what had happened during this period.

“What?! That ungrateful, backstabbing son of a bitch! He was the Hall Master's personal disciple—how dare he leave the hall?!” After listening, Qian Shan was both incredulous and absolutely furious. As an old-timer of the hall, he knew very well how much Lu Jin had valued and nurtured Zhang Yue over the years. A stream of colorful, down-to-earth curses immediately spilled from his mouth.

This amused Lu Ming. In the future, when his second uncle went on his daily rants cursing Zhang Yue, he would at least have someone to join him.

“It is fine. Little Ming has awakened a High-grade Divine Ability Bone and will be more than capable of shouldering the heavy responsibilities of Thunderfire Hall in the future.” Lu Qingyan smiled as he shared the news of Lu Ming's High-grade Divine Ability Bone. This was also to reassure the veteran members of Thunderfire Hall. After all, Zhang Yue's departure would inevitably make some feel that the hall's future was bleak, which might lead to dissenting thoughts.

Although they had known each other for many years, the human heart was not something that should be subjected to needless testing.

“Oh? Lu Ming awakened a High-grade Divine Ability Bone? Good lad, impressive!” Hearing this, Qian Shan was stunned once more. He sized Lu Ming up with a strange, marveling light in his eyes, clicking his tongue in admiration.

Lu Jin waved his hand, his gaze drifting toward the distance. “How much longer until the black rain mist reaches us?”

Lu Ming also looked toward the distance. Standing on the mountainside gave him a much wider view, allowing him to see that at the very edge of the horizon, the sky and earth had taken on a bizarre, pitch-black hue.

Indescribably dark clouds shrouded the sky and earth, filled with an ominous and chilling aura.

Even across such a vast distance, Lu Ming felt as if he could still hear the bizarre sound of rain echoing in his ears.

Ordinary rain sounded crisp and pleasant, but the rain here was thick and clammy. Even if it did not land on one's body, it still made one feel a bone-chilling cold wrapping around them, stripping away their life force.

The black rain screen blotted out the sky and sun, never stopping, harboring an untold number of terrors.

“So this is the Black Rain Zone...”

Lu Ming's body shivered slightly. He stared solemnly at the distant black rain screen, a long-buried memory surfacing from the depths of his mind. Back then, when the Black Rain Season had erupted abnormally, he and Jing Yi had been trapped inside that black rain.

“The rain mist should spread here tonight,” Qian Shan answered expertly. “The garden's Divine Ability Restrictions are currently a bit worn down, so we need to repair them quickly. However, it shouldn't be a major issue. The medicinal garden is located quite far away, so the rain mist will be much thinner by the time it diffuses here. The probability of Rain Abominations appearing is low.”

Qian Shan had guarded the medicinal garden for two years now. During this time, he had experienced several Rain Mist Seasons and had only seen Rain Abominations wandering over twice. Moreover, thanks to the presence of the Divine Ability Restrictions, those Rain Abominations had not caused any damage.

Lu Jin nodded, then turned and entered the medicinal garden.

The others followed. The medicinal garden occupied a vast area. Aside from a few residential houses, there were fields upon fields of medicinal crops.

Lu Ming crouched beside a field, his gaze falling upon the spiritual herbs within. It was a type of four-leafed white spiritual herb with faint, flowing light patterns on its surface, making it look as though it were carved from white jade.

Faint fluctuations of primordial energy emanated from the spiritual herbs.

This was Moon Spirit Grass, and the entire garden was dedicated to cultivating it.

“Hall Master, about fifty stalks of Moon Spirit Grass should mature this year. Based on the usual price of one hundred heavenly gold sand per stalk, we should bring in a revenue of nearly five thousand heavenly gold sand,” Qian Shan reported from the side.

“A bit less than in previous years,” Lu Qingyan calculated. However, he also understood that this was normal. Although the medicinal garden was large and had over a thousand stalks of Moon Spirit Grass planted, this type of spiritual herb was highly delicate. It grew only by absorbing moonlight at night, and even a minor bump could shatter its leaves, turning it into useless weeds. All in all, the maturation rate was only about one-twentieth.

Lu Jin nodded. This year's harvest was fairly standard. Over at the Li family, Li Yan had previously mentioned that they would double the purchasing price of Moon Spirit Grass. Therefore, the revenue from this batch of Moon Spirit Grass should be enough to support Lu Ming's cultivation for a period of time.

After completing their inspection round, Lu Jin instructed everyone to seize the time and repair the Divine Ability Restrictions.

Meanwhile, Lu Ming was still studying the Moon Spirit Grass. He had suddenly remembered the spark of fire inside the black ring's space called Life's Flame...

Life's Flame could extend lifespan, heal injuries, and was adept at nurturing all kinds of herbs.

Lu Ming fell into deep thought. He wondered if this effect of nurturing all kinds of herbs would work on Moon Spirit Grass.

If it worked, both the yield and quality of the medicinal garden's Moon Spirit Grass would likely see a massive increase. This would undoubtedly ease the pressure on his family significantly.

At this thought, a hint of anticipation and eagerness rose in Lu Ming's eyes.

Over the next few hours, everyone in the medicinal garden grew busy. With Lu Jin overseeing the process, Lu Qingyan and the others systematically repaired the garden's Divine Ability Restrictions, replacing all the worn-out materials.

As the sky gradually darkened, the Divine Ability Restrictions were completely activated.

Lu Ming looked up to see lines of light spreading from around the medicinal garden, rapidly intertwining. Eventually, they formed a barrier shrouded in a faint white mist, completely covering the entire garden.

Not long after the Divine Ability Restrictions were activated, Lu Ming felt a faint dampness emerge between heaven and earth.

That dampness was extremely cold, as if it could corrode a person's bones, filling one with an inexplicable dread.

Lu Ming raised his head and looked into the distance. The sky and earth were growing increasingly dark. Along the horizon, a damp, chilling black rain mist was sweeping toward them.

The black mist was like a bottomless, giant maw, swallowing everything in its path.

A moment later, the rain mist surged over, covering the hill where the medicinal garden was located.

At this moment, the entire world fell silent and cold.