After she finished speaking, without waiting for Zhou Bapi and Lin Wanqing to speak again, she nodded directly to Wang Laoqi and Zhao Danian.

The two immediately carried several items up:

A ceramic jar containing dark, but not particularly pungent, well-rotted compost.

Several bundles of dried wormwood.

A small bag of grayish-white powder.

There were also several carefully preserved remains of superior mother plants, which, although destroyed, still retained their original appearance, as well as a thick growth record book filled with words and symbols.

“Manager Zhou said that I used garbage compost, that’s right, it’s these fallen leaves and weeds that have decomposed.” Jiang Chan pointed to the pottery jar. “Senior Brother Qin can check if it’s poisonous or harmful. What I used to repel insects was water boiled with wormwood, which is common in the back mountain, and powder ground from sulfur-containing ore I found near the abandoned mine.” She picked up the small bag of powder. “Are these considered demonic items?”

Qin Chuan stepped forward, carefully examined the compost, smelled the wormwood, and then rubbed some mineral powder. "The compost smells normal, the wormwood is non-toxic, and this mineral powder... has a pungent smell, but as far as I know, mortals do use similar minerals to repel insects. These... seem to have nothing to do with evil spirits," he concluded.

"Even if it's not demonic, it's still a lowly, rustic method! It's hardly worthy of being considered refined!" Lin Wanqing shrieked. "That doesn't explain her yield! Her field shouldn't have produced that much!"

"Can't explain it?" Jiang Chan picked up the thick notebook, flipped it open with a snap, and raised her voice abruptly, "Then please, Senior Brother Qin and Steward Zhou, take a look at this!"

She held the notebook high and flipped to the page with the estimated data before it was destroyed. The date, plant height, number of leaves, estimated ear weight, number of dewdrops, etc., were clearly written on it. Each number was shocking!

"These are the records of some of my best mother plants that were destroyed, taken the day before they were destroyed! Senior Brother Qin, Steward Zhou, everyone, please take a look and see what the estimated yield per plant is?"

Her gaze was sharp as a knife, piercing straight at Lin Wanqing. "Take another look at your best Dew-Gathering Grass, Senior Sister Lin. Dare to bring out your harvest record for comparison? Even the grass I have left that has been trampled, in terms of weight and the number of dewdrops alone, is more than 30% better than your best ones!"

She pushed the remaining dew-covered grass in the basket forward, its heavy ears the best evidence! She then flipped to the back of the notebook, displaying the daily management: "When to turn the compost, when to spray insect repellent, when to select and mark... everything, big or small, is recorded! May I ask, Senior Sister Lin, how many times have you cast the Spirit Rain spell? How many times have you used the Soil Nourishing Technique? Are there any records? Or did you rely entirely on brute force with spiritual energy?"

Every word is a stab to the heart! Every sentence is a slap in the face!

Lin Wanqing's face turned deathly pale, her lips trembled, and she couldn't utter a single word. She truly had no such record! She couldn't even remember how many times she had cast a spell!

"And there's more!" Jiang Chan's voice grew even colder as she pointed to the pile of destroyed mother plant remains and the fragment of a light blue garment on the ground. "This is what I found in the field this morning! Someone maliciously destroyed my medicinal field and severed my mother plant on the eve of the assessment! Senior Brother Qin! Is the fabric and embroidery on this garment exclusive to inner disciples? I request the Enforcement Hall to thoroughly investigate and severely punish the culprits!"

Witnesses: Li Xiaohou, Wang Laoqi, and Zhao Danian all came forward to identify the horrific scene and the process of finding the hem of clothing; physical evidence: destroyed plants and the hem of clothing; data: crushed yield and detailed records; and Jiang Chan publicly demonstrated the principles: composting to nourish the soil, selecting superior varieties, using minerals to repel pests and follow nature... The evidence is irrefutable!

Qin Chuan's face darkened completely. He picked up the piece of clothing, examined the cloud pattern on it carefully, and then coldly glanced at Lin Wanqing, whose face was ashen.

"Lin Wanqing!" Qin Chuan's voice carried the authority of the Enforcement Hall. "Destroying a fellow disciple's important spiritual plant for a mission—the evidence is conclusive! According to sect rules, all sect contribution points for this month will be deducted, and compensation for the loss will be equivalent to one hundred low-grade spirit stones! She will be confined to her quarters for ten days to reflect on her actions! If this happens again, she will be severely punished!"

The verdict caused an uproar in the audience!

Lin Wanqing's legs went weak and she almost collapsed to the ground. She was supported by the people next to her. Her eyes were so venomous that they could drip blood as she stared intently at Jiang Chan.

Zhou Bapi's face flushed red and then turned pale, like a dye vat. Faced with the ironclad production data and the judgment of the Enforcement Hall, no matter how unwilling he was, he could only grit his teeth and announce: "Medicinal field No. 73... Dew-Gathering Grass production... exceeded the target! Reward... fifty low-grade spirit stones and three bottles of Qi Condensation Pills!"

Jiang Chan accepted the heavy bag of spirit stones and the bottle of pills. Her face showed no excitement, only a calm that seemed to have settled down.

The assessment controversy gradually subsided. A few days later, in a secluded corner behind Lingyao Peak.

Jiang Chan solemnly handed three booklets, bound together with rough bark paper, to Wang Laoqi and the others. On the cover were written several large, crooked characters: "Bai's High-Efficiency Spirit Plant Cultivation Method".

“Brother Wang, Aunt Zhao, Little Monkey,” Jiang Chan looked at her three excited yet apprehensive core partners, “this booklet is the culmination of our hard work over the past few months. It explains everything clearly: how to compost, how to boil wormwood water, how to select good seeds, how to use sulfur powder… Please keep it safe.”

Wang Laoqi's rough hands trembled slightly as he held the booklet as if it were a priceless treasure. His eyes were red with tears: "Bai... Bai girl... don't worry! I, Old Wang, will risk my life to pass this method down! So that even we menial disciples can grow good herbs!"

Aunt Zhao carefully hid the booklet close to her body and nodded vigorously: "Yes! We can't forget our roots! It's all thanks to you, Bai Yatou, that we were able to grow up here!"

Li Xiaohou was so excited that he scratched his head and said, "Don't worry! I, Li Xiaohou, may not have any other skills, but I'm best at running errands and delivering messages! I guarantee that more brothers will know about this treasure!"

As Jiang Chan looked at the light of hope that had been rekindled in their eyes, the melancholy she felt from the separation faded.

Mission accomplished!

Jiang Chan took one last look at Wang Laoqi, who was holding the booklet as if it were a priceless treasure.

Li Xiaohou was enthusiastically pulling a newly recruited handyman along, pointing at the diagrams in the booklet and gesturing wildly: "See? This is how you turn the compost! This is called... what's it called again? Oh right! Science! Do you understand?"

Amidst the focused discussion of the group, Jiang Chan's consciousness quietly departed, vanishing completely from Bai Lin's body like a thin mist blown away by the wind.

...

The summit of Lingyao Peak.

An elder with white hair and beard silently withdrew his gaze from the mountainside. In his hand, he held a small clump of soil, dark and loose, within which a plump earthworm was wriggling happily. Beside him, in a jade dish, lay several plump dewdrops, unlike those from the fields of miscellaneous farmland.

Another elder beside him frowned. "Such 'folk methods' are crude and vulgar! If they spread, what will become of my cultivation techniques? Won't we become a laughingstock to the world?"

The white-haired elder stroked his beard, gazing at the vibrant earthworms in the soil, then at the low-lying, manure-fed fields below the mountain, which were said to have thrived significantly after the application of the "Bai family's traditional methods." After a long silence, he finally let out a slow, complex sigh:

"But...it works wonders..."