Chapter 62

“Big brother, haven’t you noticed?” Su Jin asked.

“Noticed what?” Su Jian asked, puzzled.

“I mean, just now, all one hundred and ninety-nine red ginseng seedlings nodded and flicked their leaves in perfect unison with Xue Chiluo,” Su Jin repeated, emphasizing it deliberately.

“Hah! This is the first time I’ve ever seen something so interesting. Our Xue Chiluo really knows how to put on a show,” Su Jian said, gazing at Xue Chiluo’s tiny form with admiration.

Ancient symbiotic witch spirits are truly different—even this small thing can control so many red ginseng seedlings.

He was the first to notice Xue Chiluo’s antics, and the first to call the whole family to the backyard to watch.

If Su Jin hadn’t returned and interrupted Xue Chiluo’s show, he might have seen something even more interesting!

“Big brother, I’m not talking about Xue Chiluo—I’m talking about our other one hundred and ninety-nine red ginseng seedlings. Haven’t you noticed? They’re far too sentient. They don’t seem like low-grade first-rank spiritual plants at all,” Su Jin said, exasperated.

Besides, whose first-rank low-grade spiritual plant collectively nods and flicks its leaves?

Such sentience is hard even for second-rank spiritual plants to achieve!

“Isn’t this all Xue Chiluo’s doing?” Su Jian asked, surprised.

“Xue Chiluo certainly played a role, but if the other red ginseng seedlings hadn’t developed abnormal sentience, they couldn’t have responded to it at all,” Su Jin said. “This is a problem.”

“What problem?” Su Jian asked, confused.

“A big problem! These seedlings have abnormal sentience—they’ll grow up to be anything but ordinary. According to the stories my mother once told me, this kind of abnormal sentience is called ‘sentience overflow.’

That means, when they mature, they might very well mutate and break their limits to become second-rank red ginseng, or even mutate into Wood Witch Soldiers!

Of course, since we have Xue Chiluo here, these seedlings are most likely to mutate into Wood Witch Soldiers.

Wood Witch Soldiers are far rarer than Wood Dao Soldiers.

Especially if many of them mutate, we could end up with an entire formation of Wood Witch Soldiers.

So big brother, feel it—don’t you think I’m in big trouble now?” Su Jin’s expression was torn.

Whose young cultivator has a full formation of mutated Witch Soldiers at such a young age?

It’s enough to make your scalp tingle!

Xue Chiluo trembled slightly the moment it heard “Wood Witch Soldiers.”

“Also, normally, first-rank low-grade red ginseng mature by year’s end and must be harvested and submitted to the academy—otherwise, I won’t meet my academy assignment quota.

But if we harvest them when they mature, won’t all this newfound sentience be wasted?”

Would she really lose the formation of mutated Witch Soldiers she’d just barely managed to cultivate?

No matter how she thought about it, Su Jin felt deeply reluctant.

After hearing Su Jin’s words, Su Jian finally realized something serious was happening.

“What if you keep this batch of seedlings? I’ll buy you two hundred more red ginseng to submit for your academy assignment?” Su Jian suggested.

“I doubt the academy instructors are fools—they’ll surely have ways to quickly tell whether the spiritual plants we submit were grown from the seeds they issued. If you help me cheat by buying two hundred red ginseng to submit, my academy record will suffer,” Su Jin said. She feared such a move would backfire.

Su Jian fell silent, stunned. “Then what do we do? These seedlings with abnormal sentience might at least break their limits and grow to second rank.”

Ordinary red ginseng are only first rank, but because the sect requires widespread planting of this low-grade spiritual plant, and because so many are grown, every year there are rumors of red ginseng in some herb garden breaking their limits and reaching second rank.

“Little aunt, why don’t we just keep growing them for now and think of a solution later? If all else fails, we can ask Great-Grandfather for advice,” Su Hua said.

Hearing his eldest daughter’s suggestion, Su Jian immediately beamed. “My daughter is clever. That’s right, Su Jin—we two siblings can’t solve this, but our cousin grandfather surely can.”

Su Jin: Big brother’s point makes sense too.

“Then when Grandfather comes, I’ll ask him for advice.”

“No need—you don’t have to worry about it. I’ll contact cousin grandfather and have him give you a solution,” Su Jian said. “There are still several months until the red ginseng mature. Even if cousin grandfather can’t think of a solution right away, he’ll have time to work one out.”

Su Jin nodded. Besides, she could think of a solution herself. Oh, right—she could also check the clan academy’s library for relevant methods.

“By the way, I’ve arranged your outing from the city on your day off. We’ll go with the group,” Su Jian said.

“Great, big brother!” Su Jin was thrilled—this was her first time ever leaving the city.

“I want to go too,” Su Hua said enviously.

“Then why don’t you come with us?” Su Jian asked.

The academy’s rest days are fixed anyway.

Every ten days, all six grades get the same day off.

Su Hua thought for a moment, then sadly shook her head. “I’ll wait until I break through to Qi Refining fourth level first.”

The family had given her so much support—she couldn’t risk it all for a little outing. She had to break through to Qi Refining fourth level first.

“Then go for it, big niece,” Su Jin encouraged her.

“Okay, little aunt.”

Before bed that night, Su Jin felt like she’d forgotten something—but she was too tired and fell asleep immediately.

The next morning, after washing up, Su Jin went to the backyard to check on the red ginseng seedlings.

This time, all of them stood tall and straight, no longer swaying randomly.

It seemed yesterday’s embarrassment had left lingering effects.

Su Jin watched them struggling to stand in perfect order and couldn’t help smiling inwardly.

She thought: I already know you’ve gained sentience—and abnormal sentience at that. What are you pretending for?

Su Jin touched each seedling, sensing their growth—every one was thriving. Clearly, Xue Chiluo had done an excellent job guarding the young ginseng.

She watered them, pulled a small batch of new weeds, then reminded Xue Chiluo to take good care of the rest before returning to the front courtyard for breakfast and class.

When Su Jin arrived at the clan academy, she found Su Yunhu, Su Cheng, and Su Wuji huddled together, whispering.

Su Jin walked right over and asked bluntly: “What’s going on?”

“Come here, I’ll tell you,” Su Yunhu gestured for Su Jin to sit with them, then retold what he’d just explained.

When Su Yunhu finished, Su Jin finally understood why Qi Yi had come to block her again.