Beta-testing an Artificial Spiritual Herb Garden's Effect

"Shi-chan, what about this location? Is the position correct?" In between the large poles encircling the little herb garden, Hana had been toiling enthusiastically using her Clawknife. At the same time, little Pi-chan was rolling around, playing with the loamy soil at the side. Kuro was fluttering aimlessly with a bored look.

"Yes. That's about right. Mom, you can bury the crystal there."

"Noted."

The beautiful white fox with Y-shaped antlers was meditating midair upon an ice platform as speckles of ice crystals floated around him. The ice crystals were moving rhythmically following an intricate pattern. The patterns were then enlarged to point at five nodes around the little herb garden. Previously, Mom was trying to pinpoint the exact location of the node by soul-linking with him to see with his eyes. Still, she had failed miserably, to Shiro's dismay. She had to depend on him to tell her exactly where to bury the spirit crystals at the moment to complete the Spiritual Energy Gathering formation.

After Markisah had flown away a few hours ago, the four of them had entered the herb garden to inspect its condition. To Hana's surprise, the little herb trees replanted there showed great signs of vitality. The aunty hadn't noticed that all this while the diligent fox had overseen the garden every day for her sake. Due to his advanced manipulation of the spiritual energy from his continual practice of handling Mom's smartphone and power bank (1), he had successfully tended the little garden with care all this while. He even secretly practiced standing on two hind legs so that he could free both of his paws just for this occasion too. Of course, sometimes, a random spirit fish sent by Ara would come by to empty out the fish trap made by Mom a few times. At that time, the pitiful fish had been forced into manual labor by watering all the plants carefully one by one.

"Are we really going to use the rest of the spirit crystal now?" Kuro queried with worry. This was the last five spirit crystal they had. The first five had been used to maintain the formation within their own cave-dwelling. Granted, the formation was very effective, but they knew it won't last that long. The last five was their contingency plan once the first five ran out of power. It wasn't easy to get their hands on these low-tiered spiritual crystals. Even one could invoke great strife among the spirit beasts. Lo and behold, they were using five of these precious items for the sake of growing trees!

"Ku-chan, my dear, it's okay. There are no benefits without risk. We need to do this now to check how high the probability of our plan to work. Without action, the plan will only stay as a plan, unable to move forward. Isn't it the same as your assertiveness to scout for the Spirit Forest?" Hana coaxed the grumbling little Kuro hovering over her head.

Kuro blushed slightly, but of course, it wasn't seen by anyone since his natural colors covered anything. "True... But, this only benefited the fish's clan. It didn't help us in any way."

"Who said it won't? Mommy is not planning to cook for them only. Of course, your share is included in future meals. Don't worry, Mommy will negotiate again with Grand Elder Watershade and revise our terms with them. We won't lose out on this deal. It should be a win-win situation for both parties, alright? Additionally, once Mommy managed to pinpoint the exact rules, advancing you, and your brother's realm becomes my first priority."

The little black snake nodded vigorously as he landed on Hana's arms and wrapped himself over it out of habit.

Together, Hana and Shiro toiled the land to strategically placed the remaining four spirit crystals.

After that, a flood of Elemental Fiends in various colors poured into the little garden. They towed with them large amounts of pearls from the cave-dwelling inside a black-like scaly 'cloth.' It seemed that our little aunty had repurposed some of Kuro's shredded skin into large pieces of black cloth. These pieces of cloths just needed some patterns to turn them into garments, but of course, this had to wait for her darling Arash's input. She wasn't an almighty being. Sewing was one of her least favorite craft. She could only mend simple things and sew up some loose seams with basic stitches learned during her schooling days (2).

The elemental fiends placed several black cloths on empty spaces around the herb garden systematically as per Hana's instructions. Afterward, each Elemental Fiend took one pearl with each pincer, made a bee-line, and planted the pearls around each herb trees meticulously. They will then crawled back to the end of the line, queued up to patiently pick the next set of pearls. To the brothers' amazement, Hana was able to telepathically instruct the helpers without even the presence of Q-chan, their queen mother!

[How did she do it?!] Shiro was still full of questions. He felt a bit bitter that Mom had failed to soul-link to him to share his vision like how she did it with Big Bro Ku. He could appease himself by telling him that it might be due to a lack of practice. But suddenly, these lowly grunts could link up so well with her to receive her instructions! He felt so unwilling!

[Stop fretting over such small matters. The link that Mommy is using is just a shallow one. It is only a basic communication link. You must remember these fiends are used to telepathic-network all their lives. This can also indicate that Mommy might have the power to override Q's instruction in the future. These workers are listening to her willingly, and not due to any kind of mental coercion. Interesting.] Kuro whispered quietly beside the fox while pondering about something.

It took them less than an hour to complete the formation layout on the herb garden.

...

The little herb garden had gradually transformed into a heavenly garden once the last piece of spiritual crystal had been placed into the formation. A thin layer of green mist hovering low upon the soil, the air seemed fresher, and the surroundings became a little different. However, Hana wasn't sure what was so different. She felt a deep level of inner peace and could relax just by breathing in the air within the garden. It was precisely the same comfortable feeling she felt in her own cave-dwelling. It was the most appealing place for painters, composers, and authors to get their daily inspiration to create.

She walked over to her favorite turmeric and galangal trees to check. At the base of the herb trees, numerous greenish spirit pearls were embedded in neatly. It was a work of art!

Hana circled the middle of the garden. A tiny emerald green sparkling sapling grew in the center. Around it, rows after rows of spirit pearls were organized neatly. The Bidara tree from the Bidara pith she got for the first time from Markisah had finally shown some progress. She nodded with satisfaction!

Hana was still amazed by the power of numbers she suddenly had. If she was the one doing all these with Shiro (since Ku-chan didn't have limbs to help out), she might have to take a few days to complete!

At the side, Kuro was wrestling with Pi-chan to prevent that little rascal from digging the pearls out to eat. Both Hana and Shiro ignored the two and sighed helplessly.

...

"What now, Shi-chan?"

"Now, we can just wait for the results of the Beta testing. Although, if we could get the help of the Forest Spirit, we might gain a faster result." Shiro peeked at Kuro, who was wrapping himself lazily over the aunty's arm after he defeated little Pi-chan and sent it into a coma with a lightning shot.

"No rush. We still had three days. Sweetie, don't go so soon. Wait for us to depart separately three days later, alright?" Hana rubbed Kuro's little head over her arms to stop him as she noticed that Kuro was preparing to launch into the air.

The little black snake with tiny maroon wings paused for a second and nodded vigorously. "Okay. Can we have a barbeque, pretty please?"

Hana smiled, "Sure. Pick a few fishes from the pit. Let's grill it here like a picnic. Shi-darling, help Mommy fetch some salt from our home, please? Mommy need to dig for a few turmeric tubers. You over there, yes, dear, you. Stop patrolling. There's nothing around here to be wary of. Come here and help me collect some dried woods to make fire." She signaled to one of the red colored Elemental Fiends who was moving around rigidly not too far from them.

...

Chomper swam across the dim underwater tunnels toward his own little dwelling. It was a small underwater cave with a hive-like cluster on the walls. In each empty hole or pocket, an inhabitant stayed still silently, either cultivating during their own free time or sleeping, after a long day of work.

Chomper moved to his own 'home'. Although it was officially his bunk, he had never stayed there more than a few moments, as he was too busy attending their Young Miss.

She was indeed a handful.

Once the eyes were not clouded by her heavenly beauty, the reality was rather bleak. Chomper never even had the time to decorate his own bunk with personal effects due to how busy he was. However, his relationship with the others was rather good; it might be due to his sudden increase in strength besides his own down-to-earth personality. Everyone liked him, as the effects of their Young Miss' notoriety slowly faded to the background.

Actually, Princess Aranyella had offered to provide a spacious abode near to her chamber for him. Still, he adamantly declined since he truly needed some space for privacy without the presence of the Young Miss nearby. He would go insane if he had to stay beside the princess 24/7! This bunk was the bunk he was assigned to after he officially entered the clan due to his meritorious deed for providing clues in finding her. It was the lowest-tiered bunk.

Chomper flipped under a bunch of billowing seaweed to reach a few superior grades Azure Clams he hoarded underneath. Not everyone could taste these delicacies as they were only served to the Young Ladies and Young Lords of the clan. Only superior grade Meaty Azure clams could produce a spirit pearl with a one in a hundred chances. As the right-hand-fish of the Young Miss, in terms of generosity, Princess Aranyella was the best. She always treated him well when it came to food and resources. Hence, the standard ration he received weekly steadily accumulated inside a large deep bluish-green tortoise shell chest at the back of his room. The three medium grade Meaty Azure Freshwater Clams he had gotten since he officially became the Young Miss' attendant was still untouched.

Chomper swam out after adjusting his mood and presented the most friendly 'smile' he ever had and bravely made an announcement at the center of the common area of the underwater cave.

"Dear friends, little me needed some help. Can anybody help me out?" Chomper looked around the dimly-lit cavern nervously.

A moment of silence ensued before a few inquiring voices responded.

"What kind of help?"

"What can I get out of it?"

"Is it a tough errand?"

"What job? Can we go out of the clan grounds?"

Chomper sighed with relief in his heart. He was afraid that no one could help him out after he had made such a lavish promise to the benevolent goddess of water in his heart.

"I need mounts. Large mounts. The friends involved must be sufficient to support a large land spirit beast the weight of around ten thirty-year Blueberry tortoise shells. At least five to ten mounts. I'm in charge of bringing over a delegation from land to the clan grounds." He bowed a little in a servile manner. Although technically he was a servant of the first Young Miss, he never flaunted his position as he knew it was a very sensitive issue. Besides that, he was only a rookie who entered the clan, not more than a month. These colleagues of his, he had heard that some of them were already here more than a few hundred years ago. They were still here because their cultivation talent was subpar, which prevented them from climbing the social ladder.

He understood their feelings. He really does. Because the previous him has a much lower cultivation talent than all of his current colleagues. How life had changed in a blink of an eye.

"The reward?" A deep voice responded.

"One superior-grade Meaty Azure clam for the ones carrying two main delegates. The rest will get one medium-grade Meaty Azure clam each."

Surprised gasps resounded within the darkened numerous tunnels. Chomper could hear curious whispers of 'who are these beings?' repeatedly.

A mature woman's voice interrupted the chatter, "I don't need the clams as long as I get to carry one of the main delegates."

Another wizened cracked old man's voice added, "Me too. You can keep your clam as I don't need it. I believe, getting acquainted with the delegates would be more precious than any clams." The old voice laughed heartily afterward.

After the duos' pledges, voices after voices echoed out the same sentiments with great enthusiasm.

[Ahh, the intelligent ones had finally noticed.] Chomper was glad that he could detect a few intelligent ones among the huge numbers of colleagues in this cave. It was true that knowing the benevolent Mistress Hana will be a boon to anyone present here. After spending some time with Mistress Hana, he too already know how her mind works. The capricious goddess will definitely shower benefits upon the creature she had taken a liking to without a doubt. What his colleagues required was serendipity. However, he didn't disclose this information to prevent havoc from happening.

[Let fate decides who is going to earn Mistress Hana's favor this time.]

Truthfully, although he said he had friends, these were just superficial friends, which could only be barely counted as work colleagues. He never knew so many of them would step out and willingly help him out. Some were even rejecting the highly sought after superior-grade clams he had been hoarding. Although their cultivation talents were subpar, they were not stupid.

Chomper's smile turned genuine this time.

...

Authors' Note:

1) ..handling Mom's smartphone and power bank = this is part of a side-story chapter entry "A Fox and a Snake's Struggle with a Smartphone" available in Pat reon.

2) ..basic stitches learned during her schooling days = during Mrs Mooncat's schooling days, typically at the age between 13-15 (this is early years of secondary school), we took a class known as KH ERT (Kemahiran Hidup sub Ekonomi Rumah Tangga). It was a kind of Life Skill classes where we learned the basics of changing the pipe, basic mending of clothes with needles, carpentering and soldering a simple circuit board for our first 2 years, the last year we can choose either ERT or KMT. ERT was more towards cooking simple dishes, baking using ovens & sewing using sewing machine, while KMT (usually dominated by guys) was more towards plumbing, basics of engines, electronics, and carpentering. Not sure if these classes were still in place for the current generation, or it's already obsolete haha. It was the syllabus of more than 20 years ago, and we truly enjoyed the classes. At 16 - 17, the syllabus turned hardcore, where we started learning biology, chemistry & add maths (a branch of calculus). At the end of 17 years, we'll have a big exam to determine either entering matriculation (a prep school for undergrad, same level as 0-level or A-level), form 6 (continuation of school for another 2 years before another big exam), or diploma.