99: Senior, you didn't want this either...

"I was too abrupt just now. How about this: 60 points per plant? This is the highest compensation I can offer right now."

Xiao Weiqing still shook his head. "I can offer you a plan, Senior Sister. Since Teacher Yan told Senior Sister Ding to find me, he must have his reasons."

"I believe my Extraordinary Talent will definitely be helpful for you in cultivating the vermilion flame spirit grass."

Ding Yuexi nodded slightly. It wasn't so much that she believed Xiao Weiqing, but rather that she believed in her teacher.

"How about we cooperate?"

Ding Yuexi asked, "Cooperate? How would we cooperate?"

"It's simple. After the seven vermilion flame spirit grass plants are successfully transplanted, I can continue to help so Senior Sister Ding can bring them to maturity as quickly as possible."

"Once the vermilion flame spirit grass matures, I want one-third of the points as compensation."

"Impossible!"

Ding Yuexi refused without a second thought. Did this junior think points were as common as cabbage, asking for a third right off the bat?

Xiao Weiqing shrugged. "Actually, it doesn't matter to me, Senior Sister Ding. At most, I'll just earn one or two hundred fewer points."

"But your loss would be much greater. You could have originally earned several thousand points."

"Even if you don't care about the points, Senior Sister, you wouldn't want to waste these seven vermilion flame spirit grass plants, would you?"

Ding Yuexi hesitated. "This..."

Xiao Weiqing was right. Without the Supreme Yang Fire, she might be lucky enough to save two or three of these seven vermilion flame spirit grass plants; if she were unlucky, she wouldn't even save one. Teacher Yan had told her all of this.

"Since you're unwilling, Senior Sister, I won't force you. Let's cooperate when there's another opportunity."

Xiao Weiqing turned to walk out.

"Wait."

Ding Yuexi called out.

Xiao Weiqing stopped, the corners of his mouth curling up.

"If they don't survive, I'll only give you 50 points for your trouble."

Xiao Weiqing turned back and smiled. "Don't worry, Senior Sister Ding. If they don't survive, I won't take a single point. Even if you don't believe in me, you should believe in Teacher Yan."

Ding Yuexi nodded helplessly.

"Let's go."

Ding Yuexi carefully picked up the vermilion flame spirit grass and walked to the easternmost room. Upon entering, the temperature rose abruptly.

There was only one shelf in the room with seven flower pots on it. It seemed Ding Yuexi had prepared in advance.

"vermilion flame spirit grass prefers high temperatures," Ding Yuexi explained.

"Junior, can you show me your flames?"

Xiao Weiqing nodded and opened his palm. A flame appeared in his center, the crimson fire tinged with threads of gold.

As soon as the flame appeared...

The vermilion flame spirit grass in Ding Yuexi's hand actually reacted. The originally wilted leaves showed signs of lifting up.

"It really is effective. What Teacher Yan said was true," Ding Yuexi said joyfully.

Next, Ding Yuexi placed the vermilion flame spirit grass into the pots.

She then took out a bag of dark red pebbles and spread them into the pots, completely covering the roots of the vermilion flame spirit grass.

"Junior, inject your flame into the Heart Flame Stones, but don't use too much. Try it slowly."

Xiao Weiqing nodded.

His fingers danced as Spiritual Qi seeped out, carrying a few wisps of Qi Fire into the dark red Heart Flame Stones.

"That's enough."

Xiao Weiqing stopped his movements, and the two of them began to wait.

In less than ten seconds...

The stem of this vermilion flame spirit grass absorbed Xiao Weiqing's wisp of Qi Fire, and the entire plant suddenly became bright, its leaves no longer drooping.

"Senior Sister, was it a success?"

"Yes, it's a success. Junior, I'll have to trouble you with the rest as well."

"As I should."

Xiao Weiqing reached out his hand, and Spiritual Qi seeped out, transforming into six wisps of flame that drifted into the six flower pots.

Ding Yuexi's eyes lit up, and she marveled, "What impressive Spiritual Qi control."

"This Xiao Weiqing is a first year who just entered the academy, which means it's only been a month since his Awakening. Is the strength of new Trainees these days really this terrifying?"

In less than five minutes...

All the vermilion flame spirit grass plants regained their vitality and came back to life.

"Senior Sister Ding, is this enough?"

"Yes, I didn't expect it to go so smoothly. Leave the rest to me."

"Senior Sister, how long is the growth cycle for this vermilion flame spirit grass?"

Ding Yuexi said, "If conditions are right and with careful care, it usually matures in two to three months. Your Supreme Yang Fire is very helpful for its growth. With your help, I estimate it will only take one month."

Xiao Weiqing calculated in his mind. If that was the case, it wasn't bad; he'd only spend five minutes a day feeding them and could get 2,000 points after a month.

"Senior Sister, I'll head out then. I'll come back tomorrow."

"Alright."

Ding Yuexi paid no more attention to Xiao Weiqing, focusing entirely on caring for the vermilion flame spirit grass. From time to time, emerald Spiritual Qi scattered from her hands, dripping onto the plants and being absorbed by them.

On the other side.

Xiao Weiqing didn't linger and headed toward the Body Tempering Tower.

On the way, he bought a few boxes of body recovery ointment from the mall.

He also bought several bottles of Spiritual Liquid for restoring Mental Energy, to be used for recovery after meditation.

This used up more than half of his points, and he planned to use the remaining points for Cultivating Spiritual Qi.

"Sigh... points are still not enough."

Now that he was going full throttle with sufficient Medicinal Pills and Spiritual Liquids for his Cultivation, even 5,000 points a month wouldn't be enough.

"Looks like I'll have to find time to take on a couple of missions later."

In the Body Tempering room.

Xiao Weiqing stopped his Cultivation. He could now endure for an hour, and the level of pain in his Physical Body after Body Tempering was much better than it had been half a month ago.

With the help of the Tendon-Relaxing Ointment, he recovered quickly. Although his Physical Body Cultivation couldn't compare to 5th-Rank Martial Cultivators like Qin Tian, it was much faster than the average 4th-Rank Martial Cultivator.

"The path of Cultivation emphasizes Wealth, Companionship, Method, and Place. This saying is indeed true."

The next day, in the afternoon.

Ring...

There was a call on his Wristband.

"Senior Jiang?"

"Xiao Weiqing, I have something to discuss with you."

Half an hour later.

The two met.

Jiang Peng said, "Just finished Body Tempering? I didn't interrupt your Cultivation, did I?"

The Evil Qi on Xiao Weiqing's body hadn't completely dissipated yet, and Jiang Peng could tell at a glance.

"No, I've already finished. I received your message just as I came out."

"Good."

Jiang Peng nodded.

For a long while.

Jiang Peng didn't speak, only looking at Xiao Weiqing from time to time, leaving Xiao Weiqing completely confused.

"Senior, if there's something, just say it. You're making me a bit nervous," Xiao Weiqing laughed.

"Xiao Weiqing, you are the most talented person I know. In just one month, you opened your spiritual qi sea and entered the Second Realm."

"You know that your Extraordinary Talent information has been modified, right?"

Xiao Weiqing nodded. "I know. Teacher Sun discussed it with me."

The academy had modified his Extraordinary Talent Rank to Rank 5, and even the information in the ladder system had been updated.

This was mainly because a Rank 3 talent truly didn't match Xiao Weiqing's strength, which would instead be problematic and cause unnecessary trouble.

Changing it to Rank 5 might raise some questions, but it was easy to explain. After all, this kind of situation had happened more than once in Great Xia.

Others would only think Xiao Weiqing was lucky and that his Extraordinary Talent was the staged type, revealing its true level once he reached a certain point in his Cultivation.

Jiang Peng continued, "There are some things I originally didn't want to tell you because Wei Lan wouldn't let me, and besides, telling you would have been useless. Even though you have talent, your strength isn't enough."

"However, your talent is now stronger than I expected, and since you've become Principal Ning's disciple, no one dares to look down on you."

Xiao Weiqing frowned slightly, lost in thought. "Senior, is it about Wei Lan?"