At last the weekend arrived. Lin Fei no longer had to wake up early to be dragged out by Elder Meng for long runs and mountain climbing. He slept soundly in the dormitory until the sun was already high in the sky. When he woke up, he noticed that the bed next to him—Li Chen's—was empty. The blanket had been neatly folded, and Li Chen was already gone.
Lin Fei rolled over and slowly sat up. After a week of external training, his whole body ached. He recalled the conversation he had with Li Chen the previous night.
"Tomorrow I'm going to the beast stables. Where are you going?"
"I'll go to Clearbrook Valley first."
"Alright, we'll split up then."
"That guy wakes up early even on weekends," Lin Fei muttered to Li Chen's empty bed.
Unhurried, he washed up, got dressed, and stepped out of the dorm.
The autumn sunlight was warm and bright, shining lazily on his body. Lin Fei followed the stone steps toward the back mountain, enjoying the scenery along the way. The leaves on the trees had begun to turn yellow. Looking north, the endless sea of forest showed patches of green, yellow, and red intertwined—an incredibly beautiful sight. That was where the Vast Wilderness Forest lay.
After walking down the mountain path for nearly half an hour, a deep valley appeared before him.
At the entrance stood a stone monument engraved with three characters—Clearbrook Valley.
Lin Fei followed the pebble path along the stream. The water murmured gently as birds chirped in the distance, and the air carried the refreshing fragrance of grass and trees. After turning a corner, the view suddenly opened up.
In the center of the valley lay a wide clearing with several wooden houses scattered about. In front of them were patches of medicinal herbs—some blooming with flowers, others bearing fruit, creating a colorful scene.
Several students were busy in the open area. Some were picking herbs in the fields, others pulling weeds, and some watering the plants.
Lin Fei stood at the entrance for a moment, unsure where to go, when a senior student in green robes walked toward him.
She looked about fifteen or sixteen years old, with a simple ponytail and a clean, gentle face. A wooden tag hung from her waist.
"New here?" she asked.
Lin Fei nodded. "My name is Lin Fei. First-year student. I'm here to do miscellaneous work in Clearbrook Valley today."
"My name is Gong Dujuan. You can call me Senior Sister Gong." She took out a booklet, flipped through it, and made a note. "Alright, you're registered. Today your task is grinding medicinal herbs in the pharmacy for four hours. Come with me."
She led Lin Fei through the herb fields to a wooden house.
Inside were several stone tables with tools such as pestles, stone grinders, and sieves. Two other students were already seated there—a boy and a girl, both first-years—quietly grinding herbs. Lin Fei had seen them before but couldn't quite remember their names. He vaguely recalled that the boy's surname was Deng and the girl's was Chen.
"Little Deng, Little Chen, this is Lin Fei. He'll be working with you today," Senior Sister Gong said. "Grandma Liu will come later. Just follow her instructions."
With that, she turned and left.
Lin Fei found an empty seat and sat down. In front of him was a pile of dried herbs. He picked up the pestle and began grinding, imitating the movements of the other two.
Under his hands, the herbs slowly turned into powder, releasing a bitter fragrance.
While grinding, Lin Fei looked around the room. One wall displayed various herb specimens, while another wall was filled with medicine cabinets labeled with names such as "Spirit-Recovery Grass," "Clearheart Flower," and "Bone-Mending Root."
After some time, footsteps sounded outside the door.
An elderly woman with white hair entered. She wore rough cloth clothing and leaned on a wooden staff.
Deng and Chen immediately stood up and bowed. "Greetings, Grandma Liu."
Lin Fei quickly stood and bowed as well.
Her expression was kind. She glanced at the three of them and nodded slightly.
"You're new?" she asked, walking up to Lin Fei.
"Yes, Grandma Liu. My name is Lin Fei."
Grandma Liu looked at the herbs in his hands and the powder he had ground, then nodded.
"Not bad. Ground finely enough. Do you know what this is?"
Lin Fei shook his head. He only knew that the root in his hand looked like ginger—but it definitely wasn't ginger because it wasn't spicy at all.
"This is Polygonatum," she said. "Sweet in taste and neutral in nature. It replenishes vitality and nourishes the blood. It's often used as an ingredient in healing medicine."
She then took another herb from a basket.
"This is Snake-Tongue Grass. Look at its leaves—don't they resemble a snake's tongue?"
Lin Fei examined it carefully. The leaves were slender with split tips, indeed resembling a snake's forked tongue. Small white flowers bloomed on the plant, delicate and beautiful.
"Snake-Tongue Grass is cold in nature and bitter in taste," Grandma Liu explained. "If you're ever bitten by a venomous snake in the wild, remember this herb. Apply it externally or take it internally—it can neutralize the poison and save your life."
She continued pointing to several other herbs and explaining their uses.
"This is Seven-Leaf Lotus, used for treating bruises and injuries."
"This is Half-Side Lotus, which reduces swelling and relieves pain…"
Listening to her explanations, Lin Fei realized that these seemingly ordinary herbs each had their own unique uses. It truly was a profound field of knowledge.
At noon, the three of them were finally allowed to rest. Some students from the medicine house had already brought lunch from the dining hall, so the workers simply ate there.
While eating, Lin Fei also ran into Hu Mei. She had chosen to work in the herb garden as well, but that morning she had been helping in the alchemy room inside the valley, so Lin Fei hadn't seen her earlier.
In the afternoon, Senior Sister Gong assigned Lin Fei to wash herbs at the pond at the bottom of the valley.
Carrying two baskets of freshly picked herbs, Lin Fei followed her and three other students deeper into Huanxi Valley. A spring flowing down the mountain formed a clear pond there. The water was crystal clear, and several large stones lay scattered along the edge.
Senior Sister Gong told everyone to sit on the stones and begin washing the herbs.
Lin Fei placed his basket into the water and crouched on an empty rock. Just as he started rinsing the herbs, a familiar voice suddenly called from behind him.
"Lin Fei."
He turned around and saw Hu Mei walking toward him, carrying a basket of herbs.
She hadn't been in the group earlier—where had she come from? Lin Fei wondered.
Hu Mei sat beside him on the rock. She wore a light pink dress, and even when the hem dipped into the water, she didn't seem to mind.
"When did you arrive this morning?" she asked.
"Oh, I came a bit late. Maybe you didn't see me. It's the weekend after all—time to relax."
The two of them chatted while washing herbs.
"You're really fast at learning," Hu Mei said. "Last week during the Leaf Dance Technique practice, you performed really well. Elder Li said you have great talent."
Lin Fei smiled. "You're not bad either. The way your leaves spun looked really beautiful."
Hu Mei pouted. "What's the use of looking beautiful? I couldn't control as many leaves as you, nor make them fly as far."
They both laughed.
After washing herbs for a while, Hu Mei suddenly asked, "Lin Fei, what does your family do?"
Lin Fei's hands paused briefly.
"I don't know," he said quietly. "I'm an orphan. I grew up with my uncle. I don't know who my parents are."
Hu Mei was startled. A trace of sympathy flashed across her eyes. She looked at him seriously.
"Even though you're an orphan, I think you definitely didn't come from an ordinary family. You have innate full spiritual power, pure wood attribute, and you mastered the Leaf Dance Technique so quickly. Talent like that isn't common."
Lin Fei shook his head. "You also have innate full spiritual power. What about your background?"
Hu Mei smiled but didn't answer directly.
"My home is in Immortal Fox Forest. Do you remember?"
Lin Fei nodded. "You mentioned it before."
"There's a Nine-Tailed Immortal Fox there." Her eyes lit up. "It's white and incredibly beautiful. It has protected our people for many, many years."
"An immortal fox?" Lin Fei asked curiously. "Can it talk?"
"The elders say it understands humans, but I've never seen it myself."
"Then how do you know what it looks like?"
"Because there's a statue of it in our village. The elders often tell stories about it."
"Oh? What kind of stories?"
Hu Mei said, "It sometimes passes down immortal techniques to people who are destined to receive them."
"Immortal techniques?" Lin Fei recalled what Principal Shen Jingnian had said during their first lesson. "Inheritance from high-level spirit beasts?"
Hu Mei nodded.
"Our clan has one technique that was passed down by the fox."
"What kind of technique?"
Hu Mei's face turned slightly red.
"It's… a spell that can make someone fall in love with another person."
Lin Fei was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"What's so impressive about that?"
Hu Mei's face flushed red. She glared at him.
"What do you know!"
She stood up angrily, picked up her basket, and walked away, the hem of her dress scattering droplets of water behind her.
Lin Fei remained where he was, confused, unsure what he had said wrong.