Chapter 4
Upon receiving information about three Level Four Qi cultivators from Zhang Hong, Lu Xuan promptly visited each one, eventually choosing Qin Ming, skilled in ice-based spells.
No other reason than it being cost-effective.
Among the three, Fairy Lingyun demanded the highest price, starting at ten spirit stones, frightening Lu Xuan away. Next was Li Xu, proficient in thread-like sword energy, asking for nine spirit stones. Qin Ming, however, asked for a mere seven spirit stones, the most affordable.
Without hesitation, Lu Xuan chose Qin Ming, bargaining on the way to reduce his reward by fifty broken spirit stones, saving half a spirit stone.
But this bargain was only relative to the other two cultivators. Renting the courtyard with a spirit field cost Lu Xuan five spirit stones monthly.
In just a short while, he'd spent more than a month's worth of expenses, leaving Lu Xuan disheartened!
Fortunately, he smoothly resolved the issue with the black budworms, hoping that the restored white light from the Firefly Grass would bring hefty rewards.
Focused on the Firefly Grass being eroded by black threads, a thought struck him.
"Suddenly shivering, feeling empty as if something vanished from within, urgently needing replenishment."
What kind of state was this?
Lu Xuan grumbled while his spiritual energy surged, threads of spirit rain falling onto the lush leaves of the Firefly Grass, seeping within.
After three consecutive spirit rains, the depleted Firefly Grass mostly recovered.
Lu Xuan then checked the small courtyard, ensuring the immediate state of the remaining Firefly Grass and two Lunar Erosion Trees was fine before entering the house.
Next day.
Early in the morning, Lu Xuan hurriedly approached the Firefly Grass without freshening up, gripping a leaf and turning it over.
Finally, the persistent black threads had vanished these past few days.
He heaved a sigh of relief, a faint smile involuntary on his face.
After a round of spirit rain, Lu Xuan carefully examined the spirit plants in the field, finding three Firefly Grasses with their progress bars completely filled.
His focus converged.
The courtyard wasn't large, occupied mainly by two Lunar Erosion Trees, while the rest of the area held a total of twenty-four Firefly Grasses. He'd harvested four times, acquiring a total of four plants, leaving around twenty almost mature ones.
Although Firefly Grass occupied a small space, their roots spread widely in the soil. Even with just over twenty plants, it maximized the use of the spirit field soil.
Judging from the rewards brought by well-quality Firefly Grass, nurturing spirit plants meant striving for the best quality upon maturity.
This way, he could sell more spirit stones and receive better orb rewards, a double gain.
With real-time insight into the state of spirit plants and aided by Earth Attraction and Spirit Rain Techniques, Lu Xuan felt confident.
He decided to change his usual planting method.
Previously, he'd sporadically used Spirit Rain Technique to nourish the plants and intermittently checked the field for any pest invasionsa relatively reasonable method for a low-tier spirit planter like him.
But now, with immediate knowledge of the plants' state, he planned to shift from broad-scale Spirit Rain to precise, targeted care. He'd attend to their needs individually, devoting himself to cultivating the best-quality spirit plants.
Acting on his thoughts, he repeatedly employed Spirit Rain and Earth Attraction Techniques based on the subtle differences in each Firefly Grass's requirements, until his spiritual power was drained.
Observing every shiny, green Firefly Grass in the field, a fatigued Lu Xuan wore a contented smile.
As for not having time to cultivate today? That seemed unimportant now; all he wanted was peaceful farming.
After two days of strenuous effort, five mature Firefly Grasses stood before Lu Xuan.
Yet, perhaps due to the prolonged cultivation period, the meticulous care over the past few days hadn't brought qualitative changes.
Among the five, three were of ordinary quality, granting Lu Xuan spiritual energy equivalent to nine months of his usual cultivation.
As for the other two well-quality Firefly Grasses, one also bestowed the Earth Attraction Technique.
After absorption, Lu Xuan felt a deeper understanding of the technique, shortening the time to invoke it and allowing for more precise control of soil changes.
"It seems that if the orb reward yields the same technique, absorption enhances comprehension, like an experience bar."
Lu Xuan pondered, followed by the appearance of another orb reward from the other well-quality Firefly Grass in his mental space.
"Golden Sword Technique!"
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