Published: March 2, 2025
Chapter 150: The Power of Defense
The spiritual herbs maintained a certain distance from one another, with a two-zhang radius around each herb left empty, devoid of any other spiritual herbs or medicinal plants. This was in stark contrast to the Ding Character Spiritual Herb Garden that Liu Yu had seen before.
Liu Yu understood that this was to ensure that each spiritual herb could absorb enough spiritual energy and nutrients, allowing for normal growth. The higher the grade of the spiritual herb, the more nutrients and spiritual energy it required for growth. If they were planted too closely together, they would compete for the limited spiritual energy and nutrients.
This would often lead to one of the herbs gradually withering and dying, or both herbs suffering from insufficient nutrition, unable to continue growing.
On the edges of the herb garden, more than ten houses and lofts had been constructed, the tallest being only two stories, practical rather than luxurious.
There were distances of ten to twenty zhang between each house and loft, forming a defensive layout around the herb garden.
After entering the herb garden, Yan Hongyu turned and instructed two inner sect disciples, who then led ten qi refinement stage disciples that had come to assist.
“Junior Brother Liu, you choose a place to live first, and then I’ll introduce you to the other five fellow disciples,” Yan Hongyu said lightly.
“Everything is up to Senior Sister’s instructions,” Liu Yu said, always playing the role of a newly promoted foundation establishment cultivator, obedient to the arrangements since he had just arrived.
“Each qi refinement stage disciple has one room, while we foundation establishment cultivators each have a loft.”
“This row consists of vacant rooms; you can choose any one, Junior Brother Liu.”
As they spoke, the two walked to the northern part of the herb garden, where Yan Hongyu pointed to four lofts.
“Let’s go with that one.”
Liu Yu casually pointed to a loft that looked pleasing to the eye. The spiritual energy in the herb garden was rich and similar, so it didn’t matter much where he sat, and there was no need to hesitate.
It didn’t matter if the cave dwelling was close to the exit; as long as the formation was breached, he could use the earth escape technique to freely navigate through the soil without becoming a sitting duck. Besides, Liu Yu still had a first-tier high-quality Earth Escape Talisman that he hadn’t used yet.
Seeing that Liu Yu had made his choice, Yan Hongyu nodded slightly and took out a silver token from her storage bag, handing it over while explaining, “This is the control token for the cave dwelling’s protective formation. Although its defensive power is not strong, it can withstand one or two strikes from an ordinary foundation establishment cultivator.”
Liu Yu took the token and bowed in thanks.
“With you included, the Bing Liu Herb Garden now has seven foundation establishment cultivators.”
“Junior Brother will join my group for duty in the future, how about that?”
After Liu Yu took the token and confirmed there were no issues with controlling the defensive formation, Yan Hongyu asked.
She also had her own considerations. In her eyes, although Liu Yu was just a newly promoted foundation establishment cultivator, he was still a foundation establishment cultivator. He could attract attention when enemy cultivators arrived, easing some of her pressure.
Originally, the Bing Liu Herb Garden only had six foundation establishment cultivators divided into two groups of three; now with the addition of one more person, she naturally wanted to secure him, making it more advantageous for her side and safer during their duties.
As long as Liu Yu agreed, based on her position, it would be easy to arrange for him to join.
It was no surprise that Yan Hongyu was being so cautious; this place was only two to three hours away from the frontlines of battle, and the news of the herb garden's existence was not particularly hidden within the Yuan Yang Sect. Many foundation establishment cultivators knew of its existence, and it was highly probable that the other four sects were also aware of it.