The Almighty Dominance novel Chapter 587

Alex had already made up his mind.

He would stay far away from the medical pavilion.

The moment he showed his face there, people would start noticing him. And once people noticed him, questions would follow. Questions meant attention. And attention always brought trouble.

Alex had no intention of inviting trouble.

So he kept to himself.

He stayed inside his small courtyard hut and stopped going anywhere near the medical pavilion.

Life as an Outer Sect disciple on Thousand Herbs Peak turned out to be surprisingly comfortable.

Back when he worked in the Kitchen, he had access to all kinds of delicious food. That was the one thing he genuinely missed. But aside from that small regret, everything else suited him perfectly.

The environment on Thousand Herbs Peak was excellent for cultivation. The spiritual energy in the air was rich and pure, far better than most places in the sect. Alex could simply sit in meditation and steadily absorb the energy around him.

For someone focused on cultivation, it was almost an ideal life.

At times, he truly felt as though he was living life to its fullest.

There was only one small problem.

His courtyard residence stood farther away than any other disciple’s, isolated at the very edge of the settlement.

Most days passed without him seeing another person. Silence surrounded him constantly.

Alex stood in the courtyard one afternoon, staring up at the blue sky.

A soft sigh escaped his lips.

“Could it be that all cultivators live like this?” he muttered to himself.

Lonely.

Alex considered it again. Perhaps he could do something productive while cultivating—plant something before meditation, then return to find it growing by the time he finished.

He folded his arms and slowly studied the courtyard, his gaze sweeping across the empty patches of soil.

Maybe… he really could plant herbs here.

If he cultivated his own spirit herbs, he could use them to support his cultivation.

The idea clicked immediately. It simply made sense.

Back when he won those bets in the servant area, he had earned quite a bit of money, the spiritual stones. With those resources, buying herb seeds and young saplings would not be difficult at all.

Gaia had already compiled numerous records about herb cultivation.

The system had even updated the information recently.

Techniques for planting. Soil requirements. Growth cycles. Nutrient balance.

Everything he needed was already recorded.

The more Alex thought about it, the more excited he became.

Without wasting another moment, he left his courtyard and headed straight toward the market area on Thousand Herbs Peak.

The place was lively as always. Outer Sect disciples, herb farmers, and traders filled the narrow streets. Stalls displayed bundles of herbs, jars of medicine, spirit seeds, and young saplings.

Alex carefully selected several varieties of herb seeds and a few saplings that looked promising.

Then he returned home.

The moment he arrived at his courtyard, he got to work.

He loosened the soil, prepared planting beds, and carefully placed each seed and sapling into the earth. After that, he watered them and monitored their growth daily.

Days passed.

Then weeks.

Finally, an entire month went by.

Alex stood in the courtyard again, staring down at the small patch of herbs growing from the soil.

He sighed.

The plants were growing.

But painfully slowly.

Too slowly.

Spirit herbs were not ordinary plants. For an herb to truly be considered a spirit herb useful for cultivation, it usually needed at least ten years of growth before it could be harvested—whether seasonally or once every year.

Looking at the tiny sprouts barely pushing out of the ground, Alex rubbed his forehead.

“At this rate,” he muttered under his breath, “I’ll grow old before these things become useful.”

As Alex thought about it, he began wandering around the outer disciple areas of Thousand Herbs Peak.

While walking through the mountain paths, something slowly caught his attention.

There were several large cultivation fields scattered across the mountain. Each one was clearly marked and carefully fenced off. After observing them for a while, Alex realized something important.

These areas were assigned to outer disciples.

They were responsible for managing the herb fields.

Alex’s eyes slowly narrowed as the thought sank in.

“Spirit herbs…”

He glanced around cautiously.

The path behind him was empty. The wind rustled through the bamboo, and distant birds called from somewhere in the forest. No one seemed to be paying attention.

Only then did Alex move.

He slipped quietly into a nearby thicket, his body disappearing with a soft whoosh among the leaves. Lowering his posture, he crept forward through the brush, silent and careful.

A few moments later, he emerged near a wooden fence.

Beyond that fence stretched one of the spirit herb fields belonging to Thousand Herbs Peak.

Alex froze.

Rows upon rows of rare herbs filled the field inside the enclosure. Their leaves shimmered faintly with spiritual energy.

And most importantly—

Many of them were old.

Then he set out again.

This time, he headed toward the farthest herb field he had seen earlier. The one located deep in a quiet corner of Thousand Herbs Peak where very few people passed by.

When he arrived, Alex looked around cautiously.

The area was silent.

Satisfied, he stepped closer to the garden and spoke softly.

“Gaia.”

“Yes?” Gaia replied immediately.

Alex studied the herb field and asked, “If I want to improve this garden… what should I do first?”

Gaia answered almost instantly.

“There are currently one hundred and fifty possible optimization methods for this herb garden.”

Alex blinked.

“One hundred and fifty?”

“Yes,” Gaia replied calmly. “However, I can provide the top three structural diagrams. If implemented correctly, these improvements will increase the garden’s productivity by two hundred percent or more.”

Alex chose the best method.

Out of all the diagrams Gaia showed him, he selected the one that looked the most efficient. Then he crouched beside the herb field and began writing everything down carefully.

He copied the entire diagram onto paper.

Every detail.

Every step.

Every measurement.

He didn’t stop there. Alex also added clear markings around the field itself—small, deliberate signs placed exactly where changes should be made. Anyone responsible for the field later would immediately understand where to dig, where to plant, and where to redirect the water flow.

He wanted the instructions to be impossible to misunderstand.

But Alex went even further.

Beneath the diagrams, he wrote the reasoning behind each technique.

Why certain herbs should be planted beside others.

Why the soil needed to be loosened in specific areas.

Why water should flow through certain channels to balance the spiritual energy of the field.

It took him about an hour to finish writing everything.

Then he spent another hour walking through the garden, adjusting and placing his markings.

When he was done, Alex walked to the front gate of the herb field and carefully placed the paper on the door where the caretaker would easily see it.

Only then did he turn his attention to something else.

Payment.