You Cultivate, I Farm

Chapter 54

"I naturally wouldn't doubt Fellow Daoist Lu."

The middle-aged cultivator was stared down by Lu Xuan, taking two steps back.

"I just want to understand more about your cultivation methods, Fellow Daoist Lu. After all, I've paid over thirty spirit stones for it."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan sneered.

"Alright then, let me ask you, did the quality of the twenty Illusory Firefly Grass you harvested improve?"

"Compared to before, there are two or three better quality Firefly Grass, but the top-quality ones remain unchanged," the middle-aged cultivator answered truthfully.

"Isn't that good enough?"

"With two or three better quality ones among the ordinary ones, and considering your recent fine cultivation, if this continues for a while, the overall quality might improve further."

"With three better quality ones, you'll earn nearly one spirit stone more. Planting dozens or hundreds of Firefly Grass can yield several stones or more."

"Firefly Grass has no rank. It matures quickly, allowing for three or four batches per year. With this pace, you'll recover those spirit stones in just a few years."

"Not to mention, this method works for other spiritual plants too."

"So, Fellow Daoist Zhou, what more do you doubt?"

After Lu Xuan finished, he paid no more attention to the middle-aged cultivator and departed.

But before he got far, he was pulled back.

"I've given up most of my cultivation time and paid so many spirit stones just to earn a few more? Today, you must tell me the secret, or I won't let this go."

He said fiercely, with a hint of threat in his tone.

During this time, he hadn't focused much on practicing techniques, dedicating almost all his time to refining spiritual plants.

He had hoped to obtain high-quality Firefly Grass, but the results were disappointing, despite the effective improvement.

Feeling such a vast disparity between expectation and reality, he instinctively suspected Lu Xuan of hiding something and couldn't help but wait at the Hundred Herbs Hall, wanting to extract the secrets of cultivating spiritual plants from Lu Xuan.

"I've made it quite clear."

Lu Xuan shook off his grip, a myriad of sword talismans silently sliding onto his wrist.

"Giving up on cultivation time was your choice."

"I can guarantee the effectiveness of my method. As long as you follow my guidance and refine spiritual plants meticulously for a long time, the overall quality will surely improve."

"Whether you can attain perfect-quality Firefly Grass or other spiritual plants depends on the cultivator's innate talent and effort."

"I've given up cultivation to focus entirely on cultivating spiritual plants. With a natural affinity for them, I can keenly perceive their needs, allowing me to grow perfect-quality spiritual plants."

"Now that I've said this, please refrain from bothering me further, or I won't be lenient."

Lu Xuan warned the middle-aged cultivator and walked away without paying any more heed to his pestering.

"You..."

"You'll face repercussions for this!"

Behind him, came the resentful voice of the middle-aged cultivator.

Lu Xuan found it amusing inwardly. He believed he had spoken honestly, confirming the method he shared with the freelance spiritual plant cultivator was indeed effective, slightly enhancing the quality of the plants.

The main difference between them was that Lu Xuan could clearly grasp the immediate state of the spiritual plants, meeting their subtle needs at any time. Additionally, the appearance of the white light cluster allowed him to avoid concerns about stagnation in cultivation or loss of treasures.

As long as the cultivator remained focused and followed Lu Xuan's instructions for refined cultivation, it wouldn't take much time to earn back the spent spirit stones.

But the cultivator seemed overly eager for quick results. Observing the quality of Lu Xuan's cultivated plants, his mindset was somewhat unbalanced, leading to erratic behavior.

As for his warning of repercussions? Lu Xuan, confident in his profound cultivation and numerous treasures and talismans, didn't take his words to heart.

He arrived at the freelance market.

Since more cultivators had transformed into monstrous beings recently, the number of enforcement disciples in the market had noticeably increased.

Cultivators moved about, maintaining constant vigilance.

In this tense atmosphere, Lu Xuan briskly walked, scanning the stalls on both sides.

Many stalls sold materials from demonic beasts, mostly sourced from the wilderness and hidden realms. Among them, demonic beast meat was prevalent, a type of daily consumption item that slightly enhanced a cultivator's spiritual power.

Next were the special parts used in refining artifacts, such as fur, scales, and bones of certain demonic beasts.

Occasionally, there were stalls selling demonic beast blood. Lu Xuan, with hopeful anticipation, approached one to inquire about serpent blood but unfortunately found none.

Finally, at a stall run by a Qi Cultivator, he found a bottle of python blood.

The python was known as the Blackline Serpent, a non-grade demonic beast. According to the youth, he and a few companions had slain the serpent together. As he contributed less, he didn't acquire any of the serpent's hide or venomous fangs, receiving only a small bottle of Blackline Serpent blood, which he placed for sale with a trial mindset.

Lu Xuan spent seventy broken spirits to purchase the small bottle of Blackline Serpent blood from the youth.

The youth hadn't expected the blood to sell at all, but to his surprise, he gained seventy broken spirits. He quickly bowed to thank Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan returned to his courtyard with the serpent blood.

Entering the spiritual field, everything appeared as usual. The half-human-tall grass puppet tirelessly patrolled the field.

As it passed by Lu Xuan, it stopped, its large gray grassy head turning towards him, staring blankly before rotating almost 180 degrees back to its original position.

"After absorbing two drops of Grass Spirit Essence, the grass puppet's intelligence has notably improved, reaching the level of a one- or two-year-old child."

"What remains unchanged is its steadfast dedication to guarding the spiritual field."

Lu Xuan sighed, grateful for such a loyal tool under his command.

He glanced around the spiritual field; all the spiritual plants were growing normally. For those needing nourishment, he used Spirit Rain Technique or Wood Growth Technique to ensure they received maximum nourishment.

Finally, he reached the area where the Dragonvine grew.

He eagerly retrieved the small bottle of Blackline Serpent blood, uncorked it, and carefully poured it onto the coiled vines.

Upon dripping onto the vines, the crimson blood didn't fall but adhered tightly to the surface, slowly seeping into the vines.

The originally dark black vines turned black-red after absorbing the Blackline Serpent blood. Upon closer inspection, the twisting and knotted vines resembled a snake awakening after a winter's hibernation, sluggishly moving.

After several breaths, the movements ceased.

Lu Xuan concentrated his spiritual senses on the Dragonvine.

"It feels like something good entered its body, but it didn't taste it fully..."

It was like eagerly anticipating refreshing rain after a long drought, only to receive just a few drops, leaving the thirst unquenched.

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