Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Gathering in the Valley

For several days after settling into Gentle Blossom Valley, everything remained calm and uneventful.

Within the valley, spiritual energy was abundant, scarcely inferior to that atop Greenleaf Peak.

The wood-element qi was especially vigorous.

Perhaps that was why the valley’s grasses and trees flourished so profusely, unlike those elsewhere.

According to Wu Duo, this life-giving spiritual energy originated from a spirit pearl in Star Pool at the valley’s southwestern edge.

Aside from their daily cultivation, the others occasionally went into the city to wander about and take in the local customs.

Song Yan had originally hoped, through Yan Xun’s introduction, to pay a visit to the Sword Foundry Manor.

But the grand gathering was fast approaching, and Yan Xun was overwhelmed with duties, so Song Yan never brought it up.

By custom, Lu Ziye, together with the three disciples of the Hollow Abyss Sect, also had to assist with matters in the valley.

Though they were only minor chores and took little effort.

“Ahhh—”

Lu Ziye lay down on a flowerbed, spiritual energy lifting the petals into the shape of a hammock, and he settled onto it with perfect ease.

“Senior Brother Lu! What are you doing? Get down here at once...”

Gu Qingqing said anxiously.

By these past few days, they had already become quite familiar with Lu Ziye, and their speech had grown increasingly casual.

“What’s the fuss? I’m not crushing these spirit flowers.”

Lu Ziye rolled over.

“So comfortable...”

“Birdsong, flowers, freedom—far more pleasant than being cooped up in the sect.”

“What a pity your Brother Lin isn’t blessed with such leisure...”

“Senior Brother Lu, do you know why Brother Lin couldn’t come?”

Song Yan asked.

Brother Lin Qing had shown him much kindness when he was still in the outer sect; since Lu Ziye had mentioned him, this seemed a good moment to ask.

“How should I know...”

“But that kid has been riding high in the sect lately, so perhaps he simply did not want to make this long trip.”

“I think he’s the one who ought to come and learn from the men here—pick some rare spirit herbs and flowers, then take them back to gift to Senior Sister Qin Ying...”

“Hm?”

The three of them stared at one another, none of them understanding what Lu Ziye meant.

Why was Qin Ying suddenly brought into this?

“Huh? Don’t tell me you all didn’t know?”

Lu Ziye’s expression turned oddly amused. “That brat Lin Qing has quite a heart for Senior Sister Qin Ying...”

“What?!”

The three of them widened their eyes as if they had seen a ghost.

Lu Ziye chuckled. Exposing other people’s secrets was his specialty.

“What’s so strange about that?”

“Your Brother Lin Qing was inducted into the sect by Senior Sister Qin herself.”

“And she is a daughter of heaven, a jewel of the Qin clan—there have never been any shortage of admirers within the sect.”

Lu Ziye grew more animated the more he spoke, drifting farther and farther into rumor, until he might as well have begun with Lin Qing’s birth.

Yet, thinking about it, what he said did make sense.

In ordinary times, the outer sect was sealed away in its own relentless cultivation, and there was little chance to cross paths with the inner sect’s senior brothers and sisters.

Senior Sister Qin Ying’s bearing was also as cold as frost; in Song Yan’s eyes, she seemed inaccessible, as distant as a mountain beyond reach.

That was what gave everyone the impression that she was not to be offended by anyone.

Listening to Senior Brother Lu reveal these “sect secrets,” they only felt there was never enough to hear.

Just then, Wu Duo and Liang Feng walked over at an unhurried pace from afar.

The two of them greeted the group.

“Fellow Daoists, tomorrow is the Valley Tour. May I ask whether any of you are interested in taking part?”

The Valley Tour was the main event Gentle Blossom Valley had been preparing recently.

It would be held on the day before the Flower Tide Grand Gathering.

It was also an activity prepared specifically for cultivators, and the venue would be right here within Gentle Blossom Valley.

“This is this year’s reward for the Valley Tour. If you are interested in participating, just send a voice transmission to Liang Feng.”

With a flash of spiritual light from Wu Duo’s hand, four jade slips fell into the hands of the Hollow Abyss Sect cultivators.

After exchanging polite farewells, the two departed.

The group curiously examined the jade slips in their hands.

They gave a rough introduction to the rules, sequence, and prizes of the Valley Tour.

“The first prize is...”

“Hah!”

Lu Ziye even sat up from the flower support. “A top-grade magical artifact?”

“A Spirit-Congealing Flower Goblet...”

It can gather the essence of heaven and earth on its own.

When spiritual energy condenses within the goblet, it forms three flower spirits at intervals.

One may assist in offense, one in defense.

The third may be transformed into a hundred-flower honeydew. Drinking it can increase cultivation speed, especially benefiting cultivators who practice wood-element techniques.

At once, everyone burst into lively discussion and said they wanted to give it a try.

Song Yan, however, was not looking at the first prize. Instead, he stared blankly at the reward for third place.

An ancient sword named Twin Fate.

The description of the sword was only a few lines long.

“It is said that this flying sword was forged by an ancient cultivator who died for love, before he ended his own life.

“Though it is only a low-grade magical artifact...

“its meaning is extraordinary, as it symbolizes love true until death.”

“...”

The next day.

At the southwestern edge of Gentle Blossom Valley, there was a great bustle of people.

Butterfly-Chasing Spring.

In the shade, many mortals had come from afar to watch the Valley Tour.

Within Gentle Blossom Valley stood a spirit peach tree that had lived for a thousand years. After decades of withering, it had, for reasons unknown, suddenly begun to recover about half a year ago.

Now it had returned to its former splendor.

The Sunchasing Sect, together with the Yan clan and Gentle Blossom Valley, used this as the occasion to restart the prayer rite.

They invited cultivators from far and wide to take part in the celebration.

Thus, this year’s Flower Tide Festival was more magnificent than ever before.

Song Yan had completely underestimated the number of cultivators taking part in the Valley Tour.

Excluding the Yan clan and Gentle Blossom Valley, who could not participate because they were hosting the event, there were still about a hundred cultivators taking part.

“How clever. If this year’s reward had not been announced until yesterday, this Gentle Blossom Valley would probably have been packed to the brim with rogue cultivators from the Kingdom of Chu hoping to try their luck!”

Lu Ziye stroked his chin. “Looks like we came at just the right time.”

The two from the Sunchasing Sect were nearby.

Senior From Rain Zhen, having already established his foundation, was not participating.

Sheng Yun stood amid the crowd with Cheng Yu. The latter was busily arranging the fallen blossoms in her hair for her, and though Sheng Yun looked somewhat embarrassed, she did not avoid him out of courtesy.

“Junior Sister Yun’er, if I can win the first-prize reward this time, I’ll give you the Spirit-Congealing Flower Goblet. How about it?”

Sheng Yun frowned slightly. “The fellow Daoists of the Hollow Abyss Sect are quite formidable, Senior Brother. You should not boast carelessly.”

“Would I lose to a mere outer-sect disciple...”

Cheng Yu smiled faintly. “Aside from that Senior Brother Lu, the others are hardly worth fearing.”

“...”

This Valley Tour was called the Blossoming Life Assembly.

“The rules are very simple. In the vast expanse of Gentle Blossom Valley, the mountain folk of North Cliff Mountain have already gone ahead and hidden precious spirit flowers and seeds of various plants and trees.”

“In the first stage, the participating cultivators must find spirit-plant seeds within half an hour and bring them back to Butterfly-Chasing Spring.”

“There are only one hundred spirit-plant seeds in total.”

“If several cultivators discover a seed at the same time, they may compete by strength, but no one may be killed.”

For the participating cultivators, naturally, the more they found, the better, because the more seeds one obtained, the fewer would remain for others.

That would mean some people could not take part in the Blossoming Life Assembly that followed.

In the second stage, the cultivators would choose one or more spirit-plant seeds and use spiritual power to spur their growth, causing them to bloom or bear fruit.

In the end, victory would be determined by the number of flowers, their rarity, and the richness of their spiritual energy.

The so-called “Valley Tour” was not in fact limited to just this one contest.

However, only this assembly would distinguish winners from losers and distribute rewards.

What could possibly bring so many cultivators together if not for the prize?

Perhaps there truly were some among them who loved flowers, but in the end, they were the minority.

Once the Gentle Blossom Valley stewards had finished explaining the rules, they brought their hands together, and a flash of spiritual radiance burst forth.

The hunt for flowers and spirit energy had officially begun!