Chapter 43
Chapter 43
Chapter 43
"Being so loyal in guarding the spiritual field, you're truly an excellent employee of mine..."
Lu Xuan felt the same words echoing continuously in his mind as he gazed at the grass puppet, maintaining its patrol rhythm.
"I must reward you generously!"
He made up his mind and called the grass puppet over, feeling around inside and retrieving a few broken spirits. Pausing briefly, he took out another one and, together, inserted them into the gray grassy lump on the puppet's massive head.
Instantly, his focus converged on the puppet.
"Guard the spiritual field!"
"Guard the spiritual field!"
...
The repeated commands persisted, though compared to before feeding it the broken spirits, Lu Xuan faintly sensed a hint of joy in the puppet's heart.
For the next two days, Lu Xuan remained vigilant, scarcely letting go of the Fractured Silver Blade and the Myriad Sword Qi Talisman. However, nothing out of the ordinary occurred; everything remained as usual.
It seemed as though the report from two days ago had never surfaced.
The spirit grass in the field started maturing in abundance, and Lu Xuan harvested twelve plants. Among them, two were of perfect quality, six were of superior quality, and the remaining four were of good quality.
"Harvested one spirit grass, gained cultivation equivalent to six months." *2
"Harvested one spirit grass, gained cultivation equivalent to nine months." *2
Among the twelve white orbs, four granted cultivation rewards, accumulating two and a half years of progress for Lu Xuan.
Four thoughts flashed through Lu Xuan's mind, waves of spiritual power surged within him, coursing through his meridians and dantian.
After a while, the frenzied surge of spiritual power gradually settled.
Upon a slight maneuver, Lu Xuan felt a comforting sensation from the abundant spiritual power coursing through his limbs and body.
Advancing in cultivation provided him with a better chance in case of a direct conflict with the evil forces behind Wang Shan.
"Harvested one spirit grass, gained a first-grade talisman with Sword Qi." *2
"Harvested one spirit grass, gained a first-grade talisman with Ice Thorn."
"Harvested one spirit grass, gained a first-grade talisman with Expelling Evil."
Thoughts flickered as four different talismans appeared successively in Lu Xuan's hand.
Though merely first-grade talismans, they were capable of causing moderate harm to mid-tier cultivators. With a sufficient quantity and a combination, they could yield a decent effect.
After Qin Ming's attack, Lu Xuan had collected dozens of first-grade talismans during this time.
"Harvested one spirit grass, gained the Golden Sword Technique at the first rank."
"Harvested one spirit grass, gained expertise in Wood Growth Technique." *2
Among the remaining four white orbs, three contained packets of experience in techniques, deepening Lu Xuan's understanding of the Golden Sword Technique and Wood Growth Technique.
The Golden Sword Technique was on the verge of reaching the Grandmaster realm, enhancing its speed, lethality, and control.
Meanwhile, the Wood Growth Technique reached the stage of mastery, visibly accelerating the gathering of faint green spiritual power at the plant's branches and leaves compared to its initial state.
Upon picking up the last white orb, Lu Xuan gently absorbed it.
The orb dissipated into numerous points of light, merging into Lu Xuan's body, a thought flashing through his mind.
"Harvested one spirit grass, gained a second-grade talisman with Myriad Sword Qi."
A talisman depicting countless subtle sword marks appeared in Lu Xuan's hand, its sword intent sharp enough to penetrate through anything.
"Two perfect-quality spirit grasses, one yielding a second-grade Myriad Sword Qi talisman, and the other, whether a first-grade talisman or the Golden Sword Technique, is also quite satisfactory."
Lu Xuan stored the talismans and enclosed the spirit grasses in a jade box.
Having harvested twenty-three mature spirit grasses, to prevent their vitality from dissipating, he needed to send them to the Hundred Herbs Hall for processing.
Lu Xuan activated the courtyard's array formation, advising the grass puppet to remain vigilant, then left with the Cloud-Stepping Lynx by his side.
With the occasional appearance of mutated cultivators outside and the lynx cub accompanying him, it added an extra layer of security.
Inside the Hundred Herbs Hall, the hall was rich with the scent of herbs. Steward He was nowhere to be seen; only a few young herbalists were handling the herbs.
"Lu Brother, you're here. Steward He is occupied inside. Please have a seat; I'll make you some hot tea."
A teenage herbalist with sharp eyes noticed Lu Xuan's arrival, quickly inviting him to sit, fetching a redwood chair and swiftly bringing a cup of steaming spirit tea.
"Alright."
Lu Xuan sat down, taking the spirit tea.
He could sense a significant change in how the herbalists treated him compared to when he first arrived at the Hundred Herbs Hall.
Initially, as a second-tier Qi cultivator with just a few ordinary spirit grasses, he had persistently requested Steward He to accept them, and the herbalists in the hall barely spared him a glance.
Gradually, as he frequented the hall more often, only one or two herbalists nodded to acknowledge him upon his arrival.
However, after establishing a cooperative relationship with the Hundred Herbs Hall and selling perfect-grade spirit grasses consecutively, the herbalists became exceptionally warm, offering tea and water attentively.
Lu Xuan understood clearly that the noticeable change was due to his ability to cultivate a continuous supply of high-quality spiritual plants.
He comprehended the value of Steward He and Zhang Hong's timely assistance even more deeply now.
Before he could finish his tea, Steward He entered briskly.
"Lu lad, you're here?"
"How many spirit grasses did you bring this time? What's their quality like?"
The lean old man inquired curiously.
"I brought twenty-two; their quality won't disappoint you, Elder."
Lu Xuan smiled in response.
He took out over twenty spirit grasses from his storage pouch and placed them on the counter.
"Nine are of good quality, nine are superior, and four are perfect-grade."
Steward He carefully examined each one, casting a complex gaze at Lu Xuan, sighing.
"You're growing too fast, lad. With this many spirit grasses, not a single one is of ordinary quality. The lowest is good, and the probability of perfect quality isn't low either."
"It seems that the perfect-grade spirit grass you previously turned in wasn't just luck."
"To maintain such planting efficiency surpasses most spiritual planters in the Hundred Herbs Hall. Mind you, they put in double or even several times the effort in spiritual cultivation."
"I know I'm quite impressive. So, how many spirit stones can I get for these?"
Lu Xuan rested his chin on his hand, smiling at the amazed Steward He.
"You rascal, only thinking about money."
"Same old price. Let me calculate... it's a total of seventy-seven spirit stones and thirty broken spirits. Does that seem fair?"
"Old He, your calculation must be right."
Lu Xuan received the seventy-odd spirit stones, scanned them, and stored them in his
pouch.
"Do you remember what I told you before? As long as you can consistently grow high-quality spiritual plants, you'll earn a stroke of luck."
"The hall has a few spiritual plants entrusted to me, and I'm supposed to find a cultivator among our partners. Seeing how well you've performed, I plan to reserve half for you."
"Oh? What kind of spiritual plants?" Lu Xuan asked curiously.
"The Pure and Exquisite Spirit Tea."
"At the second grade."
Steward He grinned as he spoke.
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