The Desire to Be Eternal

Chapter 17: The Little Turtle

The next morning at dawn, Bai Xiaochun woke up early. As soon as he walked out of the log cabin, he looked towards the winter bamboo and saw that it was already taller than half the height of an average person. He nodded in satisfaction, then left the courtyard and headed towards the 10,000 Medicine Pavilion.

The sun rises on the horizon, sending rays of light in all directions. The multi-colored sunlight dancing among the mist like a gold gold carp was a truly spectacular sight. Bai Xiaochun was currently rushing along the way along with many other Outer Sect disciples. He did not recognize any of them, which caused him to suddenly miss his Big Brother from the Oven.

"I wonder how Eldest Brother is doing, and Third Fatty Hey …." Sighing inwardly, he walked for about an hour, until the sun was high in the sky. Finally, he saw the 10,000 Medicine Pavilion in the distance, and ten shocking stone inscriptions were erected outside of it.

The stone inscription was an identifying feature of the 10,000 Medicine Pavilion. Green light emanated from them, rising a hundred or so meters into the air. It was an amazing sight, like ten giants standing there, absolutely terrifying.

Seen on the surface of the stone inscriptions were lines of text, a ranking system that changed from one to one hundred.

Heading to the peak, there were no names, just various images, which were actually the emblems of the various Chosen Outer Sects who had become famous apothecaries in the 10,000 Medicines Pavilion.

Each apothecary had a unique emblem that they would use to mark the satisfying spirit medicines they had made. It was a tradition that went back through the ages, and therefore, it was an important honor for all pharmacists.

The last time he came here, Hou Yunfei had explained all of these things briefly. But now that Bai Xiaochun had come here alone, he could not help but stare at the ten stone inscriptions.

The first thing that caught his attention was the emblem that drew attention to the first position of the prominent stone inscription.

It was a magic bottle! (1)

According to Hou Yunfei, the magic bottle was an emblem .. Zhou Xinqi!

The name was no stranger to Bai Xiaochun. Back when he was a servant, he remembered once sitting under the moonlight when Big Fatty Zhang chewed on ginseng roots and sighed about Zhou Xinqi.

He was from a human clan, and a few years ago had been discovered by one of the senior members of the sect, who sensed that he had an unusual latent talent. When he arrived at the sect and was officially tested, his latent talent caused a huge commotion in the Spirit Stream Sect.

He had rare plant meridians and plant spirits, which not only made his cultivation speed several times greater than that of the average person, but also gave him amazing potential when it came to concocting medicine. After joining Fragrant Cloud Peak, he became Li Qinghou's only disciple, and was truly viewed as the most important apothecary next to Li Qinghou, and the future pillar of this sect!

According to the rules of the Spirit Stream Sect, no matter how high one's latent talent was, they couldn't automatically become disciples of the Inner Sect. Therefore, Zhou Xingqi was just like the others Chosen from the other mountain peaks on the southern edge. They all started as disciples in the Outer Sect, where they trained hard to improve. However, the cultivation resources they had access to were actually provided by the Inner Sect.

Everyone knew that soon Zhou Xinqi would prove herself and become a disciple of the Inner Sect.

On top of that, she was extraordinarily beautiful, which amazed countless male disciples.

For all these reasons, he was extremely famous in Fragrant Cloud Peak. In fact, the disciples of the Inner Sect did not view him as belonging to the Outer Sect. Even the conservative Inner Sect as a whole was afraid of him.

Just as Bai Xiaochun was considering all these things, he suddenly felt very curious about Zhou Xinqi. Then he walked from one stone to another, carefully looking at the ten stones. Soon, he was almost speechless.

“Zhou Xinqi outstanding. Out of these ten stone inscriptions, his name was in the first order above eight! I didn't see his name at all on the other two; maybe he hasn't competed for it yet! " Bai Xiaochun's eyes were as wide as plates as he looked at all the stone inscriptions.

At this moment, the crowd of disciples who had gathered around 10,000 Medicine Pavilions had swelled to quite a lot. Bai Xiaochun turned away from the stone inscription and found a location where he could exchange his jade slip for a second volume of plants and vegetation. As he looked around, he realized that there were actually many people present, almost as if they were gathered in advance for some reason. Suddenly, he heard people talking excitedly.

"Elder Sister Zhou is coming!"

"Ha ha ha! So the rumors are true! Elder Sister Zhou is coming today. We did not come in vain! "

“Older Sister Zhou has occupied the first place in five volumes of plants and vegetation and three volumes of spirit beings. This time he would definitely challenge the fourth volume of spirit beasts! "

The buzz of conversation rose and fell, and the crowd was getting fuller. Bai Xiaochun was stuck at the very center, but fortunately he was not as fat as before. After a little jostling, he managed to come out in front. As he did, he looked up and saw a beam of bright light flying through the air.

It was blue flying silk, standing on top of which was a young woman wearing the clothes of the Outer Sect. Long black hair flew behind him in the wind; he had narrow eyebrows, like a phoenix and eyes that shone as cold as the moon. Her skin was beautiful, her body was thin and supple.

As he flew towards one of the ten stone inscriptions, a cheering rose from the surrounding Outer Sect disciples. He landed and, without even looking around, headed straight for one of the wooden huts erected under the stone inscription.

Only at this point did Bai Xiaochun notice that all ten stone inscriptions had wooden cabins underneath. In fact, there were currently people entering and exiting all of them, and that included the one that the young lady had just entered.

The students around him were very excited. Bai Xiaochun looked around and found one particular disciple who looked thinner and weaker than the others, and walked up to him.

Then, he shouted in a loud voice, “Finally, I can look at Elder Sister Zhou again. This time he would definitely take first place on the ninth stone inscription! "

After which, he turned around and asked the skinny man for more details on what was going on. Considering the young man was in a good mood, he quickly gave a detailed explanation.

Bai Xiaochun decided that the most important thing was to get a second volume of plants and herbs, which meant that he had to take the test in the corresponding log cabin. If he succeeds, the volume will be his. Therefore, he began to push the crowd towards the first stone inscription. It wasn't easy, and after he got there, he found that all the cabins were already occupied. After waiting for a while, he saw a disappointed disciple fall from one of them, but it did not dampen his spirits at all. He immediately entered the wooden cabin.

Once inside, it was as if he was completely separated from the cacophony of voices outside; everything here was calm and peaceful. The wooden hut was not very big, and in the middle of it, a prayer mat was placed in front of a small stone inscription.

Bai Xiaochun sat down cross-legged in a determined manner, then took out a jade slip that contained the first volume of plants and herbs. He placed it on a stone inscription, and it sank inside. The stone stele shuddered, and began to shine brightly.

"According to what the Elder said outside, now is when I should have decided what emblem would identify me as a pharmacist." After thinking for a moment, he chuckled and drew a picture of a turtle. He loved turtles, and although the image was rather flawed and ugly, in his eyes it was quite good.

The turtle emblem flickered a few times, and Bai Xiaochun took a deep breath. He calmed the qi and cleared his mind, and his eyes began to shine brightly. Finally, he slowly reached out his hand and placed his hand onto the stone inscription. By the time he touched it, a rumbling sound filled his mind, and his vision swam. When it became clear again, he was no longer in the log cabin, but in the world of illusions.

Before he could measure his surroundings, light flashed in front of him, and many medicinal plants appeared, filling his field of view.

There are no medicinal plants. Instead, they were broken into pieces of ten or more, all of which were scattered.

Just by looking around, it was impossible to tell how many plants there were in total.

The testing method in this 10,000 Medicinal Pavilion was what countless Outer Sect disciples from the Peak of Fragrant Clouds had become. Over the years, many disciples had taken the examination, only to feel completely useless in the end. Therefore, if your name reaches the top 100 with stone inscriptions, you will become the object of jealousy and approval of the masses.

That was especially true in the first place, which led to total fame.

A cold, emotionless voice suddenly sounded, “At the time when it takes incense to burn, put back the spirit plant. Your test results will be based on the total amount you collect. "

"That's it?" Bai Xiaochun thought. He could hardly believe it. He had immersed himself in studying the medicinal plants in the jade slip to the point where even now, he could already see hundreds of medicinal plant parts he could gather.

He was really worried about this test, but now that he saw what it was like, he heaved a sigh of relief. However, he was still not completely calm.

“Not so easy. Given that this test is very simple, the final target to pass should be very high. " Once again feeling nervous, he quickly waved his finger into the air, pointing at the dozen medicinal plant fragments. Immediately, the fragments fused themselves together, forming two medicinal plants.

Next he waved both of his hands in the air, not even stopping as he sent countless plant fragments flying around and forming together. One medicinal plant after another was formed, until he had 100 medicinal plants.

He looked up thinking for a moment, and his spirit lifted up. Setting everything up, he focused completely on the fragments of the medicinal plants, his hands flying rapidly. Then, he suddenly thought about how terrifying it was to fail the test, and went out with an even more ruthless determination. His eyes were completely red, and his hands moved even faster.

100 plants. 200 plants. 300 plants. 500 plants …. 1,000 plants!

Sweat drenched his face, white steam rose from above his head, and his hands flew. He looked around, instantly identifying more medicinal plant parts that could be put together. Back when he had memorized the medicinal plants in the jade slip, he had been so devoted to the process that he had reached the point where he wished he could grind the plants into powder to learn them further.

However, it was impossible, so he could only study them in detail until he felt that he understood them completely.

If any disciples outside could see what was happening, they would gasp in disbelief. For them, this test was so terrifying that it made the hair on their necks stand upright. None of them could imagine how meticulously Bai Xiaochun had researched the medicinal plants in the jade slip.

Time pass. 2,000 plants. 3,000 plants ….

Bai Xiaochun's eyes completely reddened as he forced his hand to follow his path of thought. He even relied on the strength of the fourth level of Qi Condensation, afraid that he would not be able to keep up.

Regardless of how fast he drove, he was unsure if he would be able to pass through, so all he could do was grit his teeth and continue walking.

4,000 plants. 5,000 plants. 6,000 plants. 7,000 plants ….

He was not sure how long time had passed, and there were still some plant fragments left. Suddenly, light began to shine everywhere, and his vision swam. The wooden cabin was again visible, and jade appeared on the surface of the stone inscription. It was the same slip that he had placed before, which contained the first volume of plants and vegetation.

"I missed a few, but only a few ..." he thought with worry. After picking up the jade slip, he walked out of the wooden hut, feeling completely disappointed. It was at this point that he heard the cheers outside.

He looked up at the wooden hut that Zhou Xinqi had put in. As he walked out, his name suddenly appeared in the first place.

If you search this word for "magic bottle" in the C> E dictionary, it is often defined as Aquarius (western constellation). While the term has become an accepted translation for Acquarius, the original meaning of the word, especially with regard to xianxia, is the type of bottle used in Buddhist rituals