Withered Seed

Although the First-grade Magic Tool, Split Silver Blade, brought by the Eclipse Moon Fruit was only a fragment and he still needed to collect the rest of it, Lu Xuan was still quite satisfied.

After all, in the Cultivation World, among cultivation resources of the same grade, pill formulas and cultivation techniques were the most valuable category, followed by Array Formations, magic tools, medicinal pills, Talismans, and the like. Last came all kinds of cultivation materials, such as spirit herbs, spirit ores, and Demon Beast Blood Meat.

And the Eclipse Moon Tree was only an ungraded spirit plant. Even if it was only a magic tool fragment, it still counted as an unexpected joy.

He looked at the three thin silver-white shards flying around his body, looking forward to the moment when the complete Split Silver Blade was assembled.

That day, sounds rang out again in the courtyard that had not been disturbed by any cultivators for a long while.

Outside the courtyard came a gentle voice tinged with anxiety.

"Little Brother Lu, are you home?"

Lu Xuan instantly recognized the owner of the voice as Zhang Hong's wife.

He had not seen her many times, only when he went to Zhang Hong's house as a guest. In his impression, she was a clear and gentle woman named Xu Wan, with a cultivation of Qi Training Stage 2.

Lu Xuan opened the courtyard gate and immediately saw Xu Wan, whose expression looked somewhat haggard.

"Sister-in-law, is something the matter? Please come in and let's talk in detail."

"No, Little Brother Lu, I really do have something to trouble you with."

Seeing Lu Xuan appear, Xu Wan's hurried breathing slowed considerably.

"I heard Old Zhang at home say before that Black Sprout Insect Larvae had appeared in your Spirit Field, Little Brother Lu, and that you spent quite a few Spirit Stones to find someone to deal with them."

"Recently, many Rogue Cultivators in the North District have suffered from Insect Pests. I guarded against them by day and by night, but still failed to stop them. A spirit plant in our family's Spirit Field has been invaded by those Black Sprout Insect Larvae, and by the time we discovered it, it had already reached a rather serious stage."

"I wanted to ask you, Little Brother Lu, which nearby Rogue Cultivators are able to deal with Black Sprout Insect Larvae, and how much compensation would be needed?"

Lu Xuan pondered briefly, then told Xu Wan the information he had once obtained.

"There are three I know of: Soaring Cloud Fairy, who is skilled with Flying Needle Magical Artifacts; Li Xu, a Sword Cultivator whose Sword Qi Turns to Silk; and Qin Ming, who has quite deep attainments in Ice Element Techniques. Among the three, Qin Ming's price is the lowest, requiring seven Spirit Stones, with some room to bargain."

"Seven Spirit Stones..."

Hearing this, a trace of conflict flashed through Xu Wan's eyes. She pursed her lips, her hands resting before her abdomen rubbing together unnaturally.

In order to make more thorough preparations, her husband Zhang Hong had used up most of the family's savings. Their child also cost a great deal to raise. If they spent seven Spirit Stones to deal with the Insect Pest, then eating would become a problem for the days to come.

"Thank you, Little Brother Lu."

In the end, she still decided to hire someone to remove the Black Sprout Insect Larvae. Her expression returned to normal as she thanked Lu Xuan, then turned to leave.

"Wait a moment."

Lu Xuan called Xu Wan back. When she turned her head, he said with certainty, "Sister-in-law, not long ago I made rapid progress in a technique. Right now, I have a seventy to eighty percent chance of dealing with the Black Sprout Insect Larvae. Why not let me go take a look first?"

"Then thank you, Little Brother Lu."

Hearing Lu Xuan's words, a trace of pleasant surprise flashed across Xu Wan's face. She had not thought of making Lu Xuan help for free, but between hiring a cultivator at Qi Training Stage 4 and a cultivator at Qi Training Stage 2, which one would cost more was obvious at a glance.

If Lu Xuan could resolve it, saving even a little was still saving a little.

Lu Xuan closed the courtyard gate and followed Xu Wan with his head lowered.

When he had spoken up to ask Zhang Hong's wife whether she needed help, he had already weighed it in his heart.

After the White Light Orbs appeared in the Spirit Field, the first thing he had to avoid was putting himself in danger.

This time, the Zhang Family was right nearby, and what he had to deal with was the not very lethal Black Sprout Insect Larva.

Previously, the adult Black Sprout Insect had been destroyed in a single strike under the Gold Metal Swordplay. Now, his cultivation was deeper, his understanding of the swordplay was more profound, and at the same time he also had Split Silver Blade fragments and many Talismans in hand. Presumably, dealing with Black Sprout Insect Larvae would still not be a problem.

Lu Xuan thought this very steadily.

Apart from that, there was another main reason.

From the original body's memories, he learned that Zhang Hong had given him a great deal of help in successfully becoming a Spirit Plant Master. When he had first rented that small Spirit Field, Zhang Hong had even lent him some Spirit Stones.

After he occupied this body, he had also received some guidance from Zhang Hong on how to cultivate spirit plants. In addition, that child Zhang Xiuyuan was rather cute, so he might as well take this opportunity to go see him.

The two families were not far apart. Soon, Lu Xuan followed Xu Wan into her family's courtyard.

Zhang Xiuyuan was guarding the Spirit Field. When he saw Lu Xuan come in, a trace of joy appeared on his face, but then, as if he thought of something, he pouted and turned his head away.

"Zhang Xiuyuan!"

Xu Wan called sternly.

"Hello, Uncle Lu." The child was somewhat afraid of his mother and called out reluctantly.

"Hello."

Lu Xuan did not take it to heart and came to the edge of the Zhang Family's Spirit Field.

The Spirit Field in the courtyard was almost twice as large as his own Spirit Field, and the types of spirit plants planted there were also more varied. Besides Spirit Firefly Grass, there were three other common spirit plants.

He soon discovered the infected Spirit Firefly Grass.

Turning over the back, he could see fine wisps of black threads tightly attached to the leaves, as if they had become one with them.

Lu Xuan's gaze sharpened, staring fixedly at the black threads.

Immediately, he closed his eyes. The essentials of the Gold Metal Swordplay flashed through his mind, and the Spiritual Power in his body circulated, continuously compressing and condensing inside his acupoints.

In the blink of an eye, a strand of Golden Sword Qi as fine as a hair shot out, skimming close along the leaves and cutting a thin black line in two.

After severing one Black Sprout Insect Larva, the Golden Thread Sword Qi still had force to spare. It traced a beautiful arc and sliced another thin black line into two pieces.

Just like that, one thin black line after another was divided into segments, falling to the ground. They hopped twice, then went still.

"Wow! Little Uncle Lu is amazing!"

At some point, Zhang Xiuyuan had come over and was squatting beside Lu Xuan, praising him loudly.

Lu Xuan stood up. Under Zhang Xiuyuan's admiring gaze, he looked as calm and breezy as drifting clouds.

"Mere Black Sprout Insect Larvae. Not worth mentioning."

"Little Brother Lu, you've worked hard. Please come inside and have a cup of hot tea."

Seeing the Black Sprout Insects that had been troubling her all this time so easily dealt with by Lu Xuan, Xu Wan's face showed relief, and she invited Lu Xuan into the house.

After sending Zhang Xiuyuan off to review his basic cultivation knowledge, Xu Wan took five Spirit Stones from the inner room.

"Little Brother Lu, thank you so much this time. Please accept these few Spirit Stones."

"Sister-in-law, I can't do that. Zhang Dage helped me so much before. How could I still take your Spirit Stones?"

Lu Xuan hurriedly waved his hand and refused.

Zhang Hong had shown him kindness, and he also knew very well that Xu Wan, a woman managing the household with Zhang Xiuyuan in tow, had a difficult life. Naturally, he was unwilling to accept these five Spirit Stones.

"No! You helped me so much, you have to accept them! If I looked for someone else, it would only cost me more. Giving you only five Spirit Stones is already me taking a huge advantage."

Though Xu Wan looked weak and delicate on the outside, her character was extremely strong, and she insisted that Lu Xuan accept the Spirit Stones.

Lu Xuan truly could not refuse any further, and an idea flashed through his mind.

"How about this, sister-in-law? I still won't take the Spirit Stones. Keep them for yourself. But I won't work for nothing either. See if there are any Unknown Spirit Seeds at home that were found out in the wild. If there are, just give me one."

He proposed a compromise. Zhang Hong often went to the Wilderness; perhaps he had obtained some Unknown Spirit Seed before.

"An Unknown Spirit Seed? There is one, but I don't know what variety it is, and its vitality is almost dried up."

Xu Wan thought for a moment, then said.

She entered the inner room and soon brought out a withered seed.

The seed was like a Small Sword, its surface gray-black. It was clear it had been left there for quite some time.

"Your Zhang Dage obtained two seeds by chance a long time ago. He asked some Rogue Cultivators about them, but none of them knew what variety they were."

"He tried planting one, but it didn't even sprout, so he could only give up."

"As for the remaining Spirit Seed, he wanted to sell it, but couldn't exchange it for anything valuable, so it stayed in the house all this time. After being left for so long, much of the vitality inside the seed has already drained away."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. I'll accept this Spirit Seed."

Lu Xuan turned the long, slender Withered Seed, shaped like a sword, over and over in his hands, then said with a smile.

After obtaining this dried-up Spirit Seed, he did not linger long. Amid Xu Wan's gratitude and Zhang Xiuyuan's reluctance to see him go, he left the Zhang Family.