Meng Chao didn't intervene and just remained silent. He had read Yang Qing's file and some part of him agreed with Ren Shu. With the type of peerless jade physique Yang Qing unlocked, his talents would bloom in the medicine valley better than in any other place.
However, the Order was a free place where their members could choose the post they'd like to go to as long as they met the requirements and there was an opening. No one in the Order would stop them even if they would be suited to another place. They'd give their suggestions but it would only stop there.
Yang Qing couldn't help but guiltily sigh at Ren Shu's request. It was not the first time he had made the request. Just like Kang Huilang who was recruited by the roaming inquisitors when he was just a student, the same offer was made to Yang Qing too except in his case it was from the medicine valley.
The reason for the invite for both Kang Huilang and Yang Qing had more to do with their peerless jade physiques.
The Blue origin planet was home to countless phenomena, one of which came in the form of physiques. There were cultivators who were born with special physiques that put them at an advantage compared to the rest as they could directly skip the body refining stage.
Those physiques came with special innate attributes for example Mao Yunru was such a person as she had the purple cloud mist physique that granted her a natural immunity to illusion techniques of a certain level. Unlike most cultivators, she didn't have to train in illusion-breaking techniques.
Just like cultivation arts, natural-born physiques had a similar grading. It moved from; white grade- red grade- orange grade- blue grade- gold grade- purple grade.
The white grade was the lowest natural physique with the purple grade being the highest. Mao Yunru's physique fell in the purple grade.
Natural physiques were usually hereditary being passed down from parent to child however there are special exceptions where they can either be derived from a natural treasure and an accompanying cultivation art. that draws out its effects Most sects with a special physique lineage pass it down this way.
Natural physiques though powerful are a rare occurrence among cultivators. Most cultivators are born without one sometimes even children whose parents have a special physique may be born without their hereditary physique which puts them at a clear disadvantage to those who do.
To bridge the gap between those who have a natural physique and those who don't, body refining arts were created which eventually became a whole complete system that resulted in the body refining stage.
With a specialized training routine, cultivation resources, and tireless effort, those without natural physiques could excavate their own bodies' potential and even catch up to those with natural physiques.
However, despite the grounds body refining made, there were still some shortcomings that made it hard for them to compare to those with natural physiques. One of them was the copious amounts of resources you would burn through to refine the body, the other was time.
Those with natural physiques can naturally skip the body refining stage and the time and costs that come with it and break through to the qi refinement realm while those without a natural physique can't skip the body refinement stage otherwise their bodies would not be able to sense, handle or circulate qi from their surroundings.
For those without sufficient talent or resources, the body refining stage is a pitfall that they can never overcome. It's why there are few cultivators out there compared to the mortal population. There are mortals who don't have the talent to even refine their bodies or those who have the talent but lack the resources, so their talent ends up buried in the dust of time.
The last disadvantage was the innate attributes that came with natural physiques. Even the lowest white grade physique which in terms of sturdiness couldn't even compare with a silver body of the body refining stage, had an innate attribute whereas, in the body refining stage, you had to atleast have a diamond body to unlock an attribute. From the iron body up to the gold body what you got was a sturdy body, and improved vitality with strengthened meridians and organs all around but there was no innate attribute.
Very few people could reach the gold stage of the body refining realm let alone reach the diamond body or the elusive peerless jade body. With the endless time and resources, it would surely consume to reach that far most decide to quit while ahead and prepare for the qi refinement realm.
However, those who endure and eventually succeed in this arduous journey get rewarded, more so the peerless jade body.
The peerless jade body is like nature's gift and recognition of those who went above and beyond. It's not the highest level of the body refining stage for nothing. For one it grants the user 500 years of lifespan which is higher than what even someone at the qi refinement gets and its advantages will follow the user throughout their whole cultivation life never growing irrelevant.
The innate attributes are more pronounced in the peerless jade body to the point it's considered advantageous to have a peerless jade body compared to the purple-grade natural physique. However, that opinion varies from person to person.
However, what is undeniable is those with a peerless jade body are a cut above the rest with their numbers being so pitifully few, as breaking through to the peerless jade body is five parts effort and five parts luck.
No one breakthrough is similar which is why the peerless jade body manifests different attributes from person to person. You may find some that are close but not completely similar.
Each peerless jade body is unique to its user however there is one area where they are similar which is how their attributes manifested themselves and their bodies' base immunity to a vast array of poisons though not all.
The innate attributes manifest themselves in their bones which eventually affects their whole physique.
For example, Kang Huilang's peerless jade physique is called the harmonious cataclysmic jade bones, while Feng Xin has the ice soul jade bones and Yang Qing developed the nature's Yin Yang bones.
Each of these bones grants them a natural advantage when it comes to a particular area. Kang Huilang is skilled in different weapons and intents in part due to his harmonious cataclysmic jade bones, while Feng Xin is gifted in both spiritual techniques and ice-related cultivation arts because of his ice soul jade bones while Yang Qing has a deep affinity to nature and balance.
…..
It was because of his attributes that the medicine valley continuously sort him out. His peerless jade body was a natural build for practicing medical arts down to his universal qi that could be transferred to any plant or person without fear of rejection.
They even went so far as to gift him the green flame tree which at its peak would reach the upper ranks of the ascendant grade and if it gains sentience it would be guaranteed to be a peak domain expert.
However, despite their efforts, Yang Qing refused citing it wasn't the right fit for him and how he would let down the medicine valley and harm lives due to his own shortcomings and incompetence.
But the real truth which Yang Qing kept to himself for fear of getting a beating, poisoned, or cursed by the medicine valley hall master and deputy hall master was he didn't like their work schedule, payment plan, and security.
With how dangerous the cultivation world was and the nature of the Order's jobs, work-related injuries were guaranteed from the students to the inquisitors, to those who got injured while on commission, the list being endless, especially from the Order's policies. The Order opens its medical doors to outsiders for a subsidized fee if they get injured while in the commission of the Order's contract works.
With the never-ending workload and the high danger levels of said works it ensures the number of patients in the medicine valley is never small and the injuries hardly ever light. The workers in the medicine valley are always working no matter the rank down to even the hall master.
Yang Qing was being worked like a dog already he shuddered to think how tougher it would be in the medicine valley.
The other reason was the payment. Those from the medicine valley were usually majorly paid in herbs. Yang Qing couldn't accept this. Yes, the value of those herbs were most likely high but he liked the feeling of seeing the pile of spirit stones he got at the end of the month. They were not much but they put a smile on his face better than what herbs could do, which would more than likely induce the trauma he had from childhood because of his clan's experiments.
Out of principle Yang Qing would never accept herbs as payment. Food maybe, a spirit beast that produces food definitely, weird rock with absolutely no use maybe but definitely not herbs.
And lastly was security. The workers of medicine valley had one of the highest work-related injury records that were even slightly higher compared to the inquisitors. Yet unlike the inquisitors they never left the comfort of their valley.
Treating a cultivator was a battle of its own because for them to be admitted it was never just a simple ailment that they could recover with a cultivator's high vitality. It was usually a dire case and some of those cases may harm even the medical expert themselves such as a hidden curse masking itself as a wound that rebounds to whoever tries to heal the wound, unknown poisons, erratic patients that attack you out of the blue in confusion. The dangers were endless.
No way was Yang Qing going to step in there either as a worker or a patient.
"This..." just as he was about to come up with another flimsy excuse, he was saved when Vice dean Yu Long waved over as he came with Yu Hong his wife, Dean Zhu Lao, the hall master of the formation hall, and the bald Dean of survival and adaptability.
Yang Qing heaved a sigh in reprieve as he saw them make their way over.
