Read The Almighty Dominance Novel (Alexander Leonhart and Sophia Lancaster) by Sunshine Updated 2025 -26 - The Almighty Dominance Chapter 587

Alex had already made up his mind.

He would stay as far away from the medical pavilion as possible.

The moment he showed up there, people would start noticing him. And once people noticed him, questions would follow. Questions meant attention—and attention always led to 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 truly missed. 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 in most places within the sect. Alex could simply sit in meditation and steadily absorb the energy surrounding him.

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

At times, he genuinely felt as if he was living life to the 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.

One afternoon, Alex stood in the courtyard and stared up at the clear blue sky.

A soft sigh slipped from his lips.

“Do all cultivators live like this?” he murmured to himself.

Lonely.

After thinking about it for a moment, another idea came to him. Maybe he could do something productive while cultivating—plant something before meditation, then return to find it growing afterward.

He folded his arms and slowly scanned 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 quarters, he had earned quite a bit of money—spiritual stones. With those resources, buying herb seeds and young saplings would be easy.

Gaia had already compiled extensive records about herb cultivation.

The system had even updated the information recently.

Planting techniques. 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 crowded the narrow streets. Stalls displayed bundles of herbs, jars of medicine, spirit seeds, and young saplings.

Alex carefully selected several varieties of herb seeds along with a few promising saplings.

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. Afterward, he watered them and monitored their growth every day.

Days passed.

Then weeks.

Finally, an entire month went by.

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

He sighed.

The plants were growing.

But painfully slowly.

Far too slowly.

Spirit herbs were not ordinary plants. For an herb to truly qualify as a spirit herb useful for cultivation, it usually required at least ten years of growth before it could be harvested—whether seasonally or once per 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 the thought lingered, Alex began wandering through the outer disciple areas of Thousand Herbs Peak.

While walking along the mountain paths, something gradually caught his attention.

Several large cultivation fields were 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 Sect 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. Wind rustled through the bamboo, and distant birds called from somewhere deep in the forest. No one seemed to be paying attention.

Only then did Alex move.

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

A few moments later, he emerged beside 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 enclosed field. Their leaves shimmered faintly with spiritual energy.

And most importantly—

Many of them were old.

Very old.

At least twenty years of growth.

Alex’s eyes began to shine.

“All of these herbs…” he whispered to himself, his voice low with excitement. “If they were refined into pills, my cultivation would skyrocket.”

He had already studied the rules of the Wudang Sect carefully—especially the regulations concerning Outer Sect disciples.

Each Outer Sect disciple on Thousand Herbs Peak was assigned a herb field to manage.

All the herb fields belonged to the Thousand Herbs Peak Lord.

Outer disciples were simply caretakers. Their responsibility was to plant, protect, and cultivate the herbs until they matured.

Across Thousand Herbs Peak, dozens of such fields existed, each specializing in different types of medicinal herbs.

Alex leaned slightly against the fence and studied the garden carefully.

His eyes moved from plant to plant.

The soil.

The spacing.

The irrigation channels.

The condition of the leaves.

His mind began racing, and Gaia immediately started assisting him.

Within seconds, ideas poured into his thoughts one after another.

He could already think of at least twenty-five different ways to improve the field’s long-term productivity.

“For example,” he murmured softly while examining the rows, “plant certain herbs between the main crops to increase resistance to insects… install small water channels so moisture spreads evenly… introduce spirit worms into the soil to break up overly compacted earth…”

The more he analyzed the garden, the more possibilities he saw.

The current layout was decent.

But it could be much better.

After observing the field for quite some time, Alex finally straightened.

He did not act recklessly.

Instead, he quietly retreated the way he came and descended the mountain toward the market area.

Once there, he spent several spiritual stones buying various tools and basic supplies.

Small farming tools.

Measuring rods.

Soil probes.

A few utility items he might need later.

After finishing his purchases, Alex returned to his courtyard residence.

Inside his hut, he carefully packed all the items into one of his backpacks.

Then he set out again.

This time, he headed toward the most remote herb field he had seen earlier—the one tucked deep within 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 the diagrams Gaia displayed, he selected the one that appeared the most efficient. Then he crouched beside the herb field and began carefully writing everything down.

He copied the entire diagram onto paper.

Every detail.

Every step.

Every measurement.

He didn’t stop there. Alex also placed clear markings around the field itself—small, deliberate signs positioned 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.