Chapter 1330: Potential of two saps

Yang Qing must have sighed over a dozen times in deep, languid satisfaction as he allowed his body and mind to adapt to the state they usually settled into the moment he stepped foot in his abode. He was relaxed, content, and at peace. He felt safe, and proud too, as he looked around, taking stock of what he had built.

The nostalgic person that he was, and vindictive too, when he looked around, he saw the ghost of what this place once looked like when it was first assigned to him. Wild grass had grown everywhere. The abode looked like the main headquarters of the beggar’s sect, given how rustic and aged it appeared. There were no trees. Aside from the lesser dragon vein that ran beneath it, the place looked like some wilderness, or a spot where undesirables were banished.

Of course, there were plenty who would disagree with him on that opinion. Some might even be disagreeable enough to take a swing at him, or abuse him with nasty names like the profligate live-in son-in-law or Yang Qing the silky pants wastrel. But Yang Qing didn’t care. To him, this place had both the feel and look of a prison, with maybe more open air and grass, and that little bit of quality spiritual qi. When it came to everything else, however, it was bare and lackluster.

But look at it now. It may have cost him an arm and a leg, and maybe a kidney, a piece of his liver, three-quarters pints of his blood, two-thirds of his sanity, and 120% of his meagre salary, damning him to live as a pauper, but it was all worth it in the end.

The blooming flowers all around, the variety in spiritual plants and herbs that continuously refreshed the air along with the flowers, the new additions Ma Yuan brought in — from the plants, to the fruit trees, to the insects, and other animals that now called his abode home — all breathed untamed beauty and the flavor of life into this little nook of his.

And then there were the special additions that not only added beauty and charm but also brought grandeur and mystery to it. The three trees. There was the enigmatic duality tree, which always stood like a solitary individual to whom everyone within the abode gave a wide berth. Not out of fear, but out of a subtle reverence born from the thought, there is something profound with this tree. Best to keep my distance.

Then there was the green flame tree, whose look and aura were not only unique but also one of the largest contributors to the refreshing feeling that Yang Qing’s abode had. The peaceful coexistence around his abode, from the plants to the animals, was all thanks to the green flame tree, who was like the den mother of the abode and made sure everyone was getting along and cared for well.

And then there was the purple lightning bamboo, which, contrary to its name, actually looked no different than regular bamboo. Only when one approached the grove would they intrinsically realize that there was something different about it, even though they wouldn’t know what exactly, if they were not perceptive enough, or it allowed them to. But Yang Qing did.

He felt closest to the green flame tree, a kinship even, because of the alignment of their natures. For the duality tree, he respected it like he would a senior worthy of that respect. As for the purple lightning bamboo grove, he appreciated it greatly and treated it as the ideal partner for him due to its nature.

The purple lightning bamboo grove was like the jack of all trades. It had a unique ability that allowed it to adapt to whatever you needed it for. You needed an alchemical ingredient with certain properties; well, it would produce sap that met those properties. You needed a weapon that matched or aligned perfectly with your attributes, then look no further, because the bamboo grove had the right stalk perfectly crafted for you.

It was actually like the merchant of spiritual plants, with the cost for gaining its services being that you had to earn its acknowledgement to use it. Without that, its grove was no different from a mortal bamboo grove, where all it offered was aesthetics, bamboo poles you could use to build your huts or bamboo casks, and a few bamboo shoots here and there that, other than maybe tasting nice, offered nothing else.

Among the many folklores surrounding creation, one of them said that the beginning of existence was triggered by a flash of purple lightning. That strike separated the pure from the impure and gave birth to life from that very demarcation. Because of this, some believed that while lightning carried one of the most potent destructive abilities among the elements, it also contained the essence of creation within it. Hence, many held that if one was talented enough and delved deeply into its laws and profound truths, they would eventually find it leading them to the Supreme Dao of Life or Creation.

To further support this claim, some pointed to lightning tribulations. The way they functioned was, in itself, proof that lightning was tied to creation and life. For cultivators, each time they endured a tribulation, provided they survived it, their entire being would be remade and transformed as though they were being created anew. Their bodies stopped needing food and water for sustenance and instead began to survive on spiritual qi. Their senses sharpened, letting them see, hear, and smell more clearly. Their life expectancy and vitality changed along with the changes in their body. So many transformations occurred that, after every major realm breakthrough, they could no longer be considered the same as before.

The transformative power of the tribulation was evidence that lightning embodied both the purest force of destruction and the purest force of creation. If that were not so, then why would tribulations take the form of lightning, rather than flames or any other element?

There had to be a reason it was lightning.

Yang Qing didn’t know about all that, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t believe there might be some truth to the theory. After all, the abilities the purple lightning bamboo showed alluded to it.

The reason his main weapon was a bamboo pole from the purple lightning bamboo grove wasn’t because he was cheap and couldn’t afford one. Well, he was cheap, and given the cost of maintaining his abode along with his meagre salary, he was always short on funds and likely wouldn’t have enough to spare for a decent weapon, but that was beside the point.

The real reason he used the bamboo pole from the purple lightning bamboo, and even chose to nurture it in his abode, was that its nature aligned with his perfectly, just like the green flame tree did. Where the green flame tree aligned with his chosen Dao and the nature of his physique, the purple lightning bamboo aligned with the nature of his purple-grade art, the Universal Resonant Light.

In fact, he had an uncanny feeling that maybe the purple lightning bamboo was the inspiration behind the purple-grade art. After all, most, if not all, cultivation arts were inspired by observing naturally occurring abilities in all manner of things, living and nonliving alike.

It wouldn’t be strange for it to be the inspiration behind his art, given how every time he wielded its bamboo pole, it always felt like an extension of his hand. The way it adapted to his universal qi so seamlessly, along with the various moves he executed through it, made it no different than using his own body.

One of the greatest advantages and threats of his purple grade art was the myriad of changes and forms it had, making it unpredictable and versatile. At the same time, that very advantage brought a restriction on the items he could use. They needed the same malleability and adaptability, and the list of items that met those requirements wasn’t very long. Of the ones he had come across that could do the job, none were better than the purple lightning bamboo.

“I really owe Ren Shu a lot,” Yang Qing said with a sigh of gratitude.

Given its abilities, it went without saying that purple lightning bamboo was not something just anyone could have access to or come across, especially not someone like Yang Qing with no background. If it were recipes and solutions for reaching silver body refinement in three days, that he had in plenty. Or a thousand ways to endure body refinement training without passing out; he could write a thousand books on it, each offering different solutions.

But purple lightning bamboo? Now that was something far beyond his means and reach. Even now, as a palace realm cultivator and an outer palace court judge, it was still something outside his price range and access.

For a soul formation expert who also happened to be a purple grade herbologist, though, having such an item was easy. Ren Shu was the one who gave him the purple lightning bamboo, no doubt already anticipating its benefits to him, since he was also the one who handed him the cultivation art.

He was a shameless person, but even he knew he would have to return the favor to Ren Shu someway, somehow. Yang Qing had even set aside the thought that he would be their babysitter should he and the Valley Master ever have a child. Hopefully, he would do a better job than he did with Ellie.

Though looking at the vermilion ice fruit, he hadn’t screwed up too badly with her, had he?

Yes, I definitely did, thought Yang Qing without hesitation.

Pushing aside thoughts of his parental failures, Yang Qing’s eyes flashed brightly as an idea formed in his mind. His gaze alternated between the green flame tree, the purple lightning bamboo grove, and the hive that housed Zhilan, along with the dream ambrosia bees her mother had entrusted to her care.

“With the sap from those two…” Yang Qing murmured excitedly, his heated gaze shifting between the two trees. “What would the honey produced from them taste like? Would she evolve into some variant that could produce even more delicious honey, or—” Yang Qing paused, his gaze burning even brighter, “—the elusive prince might even appear, too,” he thought in excitement.

Not one to dilly-dally once he had a thought, two vials instantly appeared on the table. In one was the same liquid he had handed Xia Fang, while the other contained a crystal-clear liquid that, if not for its slightly viscous appearance, would have been difficult to distinguish from the glass of the vial itself.

Yang Qing excitedly shook the two vials as he brought them closer to his eyes. One contained the sap from the green flame tree, and the other held the sap of the purple lightning bamboo mother grove—the bamboo that had birthed all the other stalks in his abode. Its sap adopted the nature of the bamboo, aligning its properties to whatever purpose it was needed for.

If the dream ambrosia bees used it to produce honey or the royal jelly for their queen, the sap would adjust its properties to match perfectly with what the bees or their new queen required. It carried the potential to create honey or royal jelly that aligned most perfectly with them, like a tailor-made ambrosia honey that suited them perfectly, including even Zhilan.

The dream ambrosia bees were of the same species and roughly similar, inside and out, but just as even human siblings have intrinsic differences that set them apart, or sect members possess different talents or attributes, it was likely no different with these bees. They might be the same, but each probably had subtle traits that made them unique, and the sap would know.

It was this nature that made its sap one of the most sought-after ingredients by alchemists, especially those who dealt with highly complicated recipes where even the slightest margin of error could result in the complete failure of a potion, which was more often the case with blue-grade potions and above.

Introducing the sap from the purple lightning bamboo grove could make the difference between success and failure.

There was a reason why Yang Qing had thousands upon thousands of potions and pills scattered throughout his abode and storage ring, even though he didn’t practice a lick of alchemy.

“They should arrive around this week. I should get some more items from them that would suit Ma Ling’s cultivation. Maybe even have them tailor-make some potions and pills for her before they leave,” thought Yang Qing as he filed away the plan.

I hope you all had an amazing September. Receive a green flame sap from me to renew yourselves and find strength to finish the year. Can’t believe nine months have now gone by.. was I hit with a bout of sudden enlightenment that lasted months or something? No, it can’t be. I feel dumber as always.. Or maybe I got stuck in some time array that sped at time? It must be Yang Qing’s doing! That green-haired tree and messing with arrays! … ahem… I would like to wish you a bountiful October ahead and thank you all for your support. It really means alot.