Chapter 294 - Ninety Four - We welcome in Spring

Spring happened to be the busiest time for the outer alchemist school as everyone bustled to nurture seeds and plant seedlings into the herb fields, a mixture of fast and slow growing crops to fill their empty stores of the most needed herbs for later use. This task was a mandatory chore for all outer school alchemists, Leon was no exception, so after the first years trudged through the mud to till and fertilise the fields with a specialised compost made mostly of sweet sunclover, purple spirit grass and crystal dust, he and fellow seniors carefully planted the nurtured seedlings into carefully spaced holes in specific fields.

It was tiring work that took several days to complete. All of the students who would be chatty over the morning breakfast, would be quieter over lunch and silent over dinner before soaking in baths poured by those off duty then crawling back to their domiciles to collapse a dreamless, exhausted sleep. Leon's home was further than others, so perhaps for that reason a certain stubborn, midnight coeurl took pity on him and carried him the extra distance. Just for that tenday week anyway.

Following this tenday without break, the students were given a tenday to themselves, only those who wanted to gain points and things in exchange for weeding would continue to push themselves into working. At this time, the usual antagonism between inner and outer schools rose to become more than hostile opinions behind the backs of others.

"Outer school students are so lazy."

"It's just growing herbs and they act as if they are dying!"

"If you put that much effort into growing them, how comes they aren't mature enough for us to use yet?"

Of course, these poisonous words simply came from a minority, a mixture of naturally talented elites and born nobles with silver spoons, not the hardworking seniors who strove to transfer from outer to inner sect nor those from a farming background who could sympathise a little better. But it just so happened that this minority were also the most popular or feared or idolised group, thus their opinions became the opinions of the student body of the inner school.

The inner school defended their decision of course. These were the cream of the crop when it came to alchemist talent! They needed to be guided and nurtured in developing pills and potions for the good of the cultivation world, not hoeing fields and digging out weeds!

"Spoiled inner school brats!"

"Where do they think the majority of the herbs they use come from? Fey and Faeries?"

"I don't think we should share our crops, let them suffer!"

"Shh! Don't let the Teachers hear you!"

Two sides of the fence, yet from the same family, Merylin summoned her sister in order to ensure that their relationship would not be affected by the schism of schools. Merylin was a Di daughter, Maimai a shu-born, Miss Merylin's supporters thought she was too virtuous and kind a person, overly worrying about how Miss Maimai was coping due to her inferior position.

Actually, it was not that at all. Merylin was not like those girls who only schemed to suppress their sisters in order to ensure those girls 'knew their place!' Only by maintaining a good relationship could Merylin continue to rely on Maimai's support in the future or else, wouldn't she simply be severing unknown connections and paths that she could use at that time? Maimai was not unaware of her sister's thoughts, however it was better for a shu daughter with less background to maintain a cordial relationship with her legitimate siblings so that she would not find herself without a place to go one day. At the same time, neither girl would continue to hold onto the other's hand if there came a time when they had no other choice but to separate. So their relationship was just like this.

"Sister," Merylin grasped Maimai's white hands with their now broken nails and tinted stains of mud and looked at her with grieving eyes. "You've suffered! If only I could arrange for someone to replace you there, I'd willingly allow you to shelter with me until all of that ghastly work was done!"

"No need!" Maimai said cheerfully, shaking off her sister's hands so she could pour a cup of tea for them both. Merylin had better quality of tea than herself and it had already been brewed by the girl as well. All Maimai had to do was pour and enjoy, which she did with a savoured sigh.

"Sometimes I find this school's rules so absurd," Merylin muttered, taking the offered cup in one hand and sipping lightly. "How is it that well bred girls should be expected to traipse through mud with boys and commoners? If father knew..."

"If father knew, I'd be withdrawn from home and bored to tears in Li Yiniang's courtyard," Maimai interrupted her. Li Yiniang was her biological mother. She was a delicate lady, prone to tears and a cousin of Merylin's mother. She had come to care for Merylin's mother during the woman's confinement after birth and had ended up staying permanently after falling in love with her daughter's father. Naturally, Merylin's mother was not happy about the matter, but the rice had already been cooked and Li Yiniang was a weak woman who never pitted herself against her cousin, so Merylin's mother tolerated her presence a little more than the other concubines.

"Besides," Maimai smiled warmly to assuage her sister, "it wasn't bad, maybe even a little fun!" Maimai was not great at making pills and was stronger than ordinary girls. Using her natural endurance, smiling without complaint as she worked alongside others, there was a satisfaction to it that she'd not really experienced before. She'd even volunteered to help weed the fields, learning how to identify the plants that sucked out the vital nutrients of the fields, potentially damaging the growth of the herbs alongside Leon who'd come to her aid when he'd noticed that she was about to pull out a seedling.

It turned out that she had better ability, in the end, at removing the weeds intact, not leaving any root behind to regrow and begin to harm the fields once more. This matter required not only physical strength, but also spiritual sight (pouring spiritual energy into the senses), something Maimai was particularly good at. So with Leon identifying the weeds and her removing them, they'd cleared one mu well and efficiently and earned Teacher Sagi's praise.

Using her body in this way had proven to be beneficial in more ways than one. Just yesterday afternoon, while she cultivated after lunch, she noticed that there had been a change in her innersea; she was about to break through into secondary stage.