Nothing Happened Today, Planting in the Spirit Field

Lu Xuan watched from afar as Qin Ming's corpse lay separated from his head, his body covered all over with fragments of the Split Silver Blade.

Several gray grass ropes extended down from the wooden bed and bound Qin Ming's corpse.

Lu Xuan was caught between laughter and tears. He lifted the quilt and saw the Grass Puppet, with a huge hole torn through its chest, struggling with all its might to trap the enemy who had invaded the courtyard.

"Good thing this Grass Puppet has some ability to recover. As long as there are enough Spirit Stones, it can return to normal. For the sake of you blocking that strike for me, I'll definitely restore you completely."

Lu Xuan looked at the Grass Puppet, which was a few beats slow yet still utterly devoted to its duty, and consoled it.

Spiritual Power circulated inside him, and a fist-sized fireball landed on Qin Ming's corpse.

The flames swiftly spread over the entire corpse. Before long, it had turned into a pile of black ash.

Immediately after, he took a talisman from his robes. Strange runes lined its edges, and in the center, a malicious ghost was being suppressed.

He flung out the talisman, and a beam of white light swept across the whole room.

This was the Exorcism Talisman he had obtained earlier, capable of discovering and purifying low-level Evil Spirits.

Lu Xuan was worried that Qin Ming had died at the hands of a mere Qi Training Stage 2 Spirit Plant Master like himself, and that his resentment might be too heavy, possibly giving rise to an Evil Spirit.

After using the Fireball Technique to destroy the corpse and erase the evidence, he still felt uneasy, so he spent heavily and used another Exorcism Talisman, lest an Evil Spirit appear.

In any case, he had already used so many Sword Qi Talismans. One more did not make much difference.

The white light faded, and the room returned to darkness. Only through the hole pierced open by the Ice Spear did a faint silver-white moonlight shine in.

Only then did Lu Xuan feel completely at ease. He lit a candle on the wooden table and swept the black ash together.

Under the control and pull of his Spiritual Power, dozens of Split Silver Blade fragments fused back together, turning into a Silver-White Sword.

With a sharp weapon in hand, Lu Xuan's courage grew a little. Carrying the black ash, he went into the Spirit Field and scattered it over the Spirit Soil.

"This is fertilizer formed from a Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivator. You all had better grow hard and not let down the nourishment he has given you."

He gazed at the many spirit plants in the Spirit Field and sighed softly.

In the courtyard, the moonlight was cool as water, and all was silent.

The fierce battle that had just taken place seemed not to have drawn the slightest attention from the surrounding cultivators.

The Rogue Cultivators living here had long since formed good habits: if it had nothing to do with them, they hung it up high and stayed out of it. They would not meddle, nor did they have the capital to meddle.

"Little Brother Lu, Little Brother Lu..."

Outside the courtyard wall, a slightly nervous female voice came from afar, calling out to Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan recognized it as Xu Wan, Zhang Xiuyuan's mother, who lived nearby.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern, Sister-in-law."

Hearing that familiar voice, a trace of warmth welled up in Lu Xuan's heart.

Xu Wan was only a Qi Training Stage 2 woman. For her to risk coming out, even if she only asked about his situation from far away, was already rare and commendable.

"That's good. I was afraid you might be injured, but since my own strength isn't enough, I could only ask from a distance."

Hearing Lu Xuan's words, Xu Wan's voice came a little closer.

"Some blind little thief tried to sneak in and steal my spirit plants. I discovered him, then killed him."

Lu Xuan casually made up a reason to deal with Xu Wan.

"Sister-in-law, you should go back and rest early. Xiao Yuan is alone at home, so you can't feel at ease either."

"Lu will keep your concern for me firmly in mind."

"All right. Then be extra careful."

Seeing that Lu Xuan was unharmed, Xu Wan returned to her own home.

"What a pity about this Protective Array. I hadn't used it for long before Qin Ming broke it through brute force."

Lu Xuan returned indoors with regret.

Only after everything had been dealt with did he finally relax completely, collapsing weakly into the wooden chair.

Although he had resolved Qin Ming this time without suffering the slightest injury, in reality, it had been far from as easy as it appeared on the surface.

As for Qin Ming, he had indeed lived up to his status as a Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivator. His foundation was solid. Whether it was that Jade Token that had blocked Lu Xuan's fatal strike, or the Flying Sword Magic Tool, or his consummate Ice Element Technique, all of them showed how difficult he was to deal with.

Fortunately, Lu Xuan's accumulation during this period had been abundant enough.

His cultivation was also Qi Training Stage 4, no weaker than Qin Ming's. Added to that were his Minor Achievement Realm Gold Metal Swordplay, his many First Grade Talismans used as if they did not cost Spirit Stones, and the intact First-grade Magic Tool Split Silver Blade, which had played an even more crucial role.

Along with sufficient preparation and catching him off guard, only then had he killed him with danger but no disaster.

Whether it was Magic Tools, techniques, or talismans, all of them were stronger than Qin Ming's. What was he supposed to use to fight Lu Xuan?

"I wonder how much this Storage Bag can make up for my losses?"

Lu Xuan looked at the gray Storage Bag he had taken from Qin Ming's waist and sighed.

He had used up more than half his talismans, and even now, his heart still ached. He could only hope that the Storage Bag Qin Ming left behind could make up for it.

"Thank you, old pal, for the Storage Bag."

He had long wanted to buy a Storage Bag, but he had not expected Qin Ming to be so considerate as to bring him a ready-made one.

The gray Storage Bag was of a lower grade and had no Restrictions drawn on it. Lu Xuan tested it with his Spiritual Power and easily probed inside.

The space within was not small. Its length, width, and height were all more than half a zhang, and the things Qin Ming had left behind were piled in one corner.

Lu Xuan happily controlled the items inside the Storage Bag with his Spiritual Power, making them fly out.

He gave the Spirit Stones a rough sweep. There were around two hundred.

There were also seven or eight bottles and jars, both jade bottles and stone bottles. Lu Xuan was afraid there might be some poisonous substance inside, so he did not open them directly and set them aside for now.

Apart from that, there was also a manual, which recorded the cultivation methods for several low-grade ice-type spells. They were not of much use to Lu Xuan.

Three Talismans: two Exorcism Talismans and one Swiftness Talisman.

Lastly, there was the Flying Sword Magic Tool left outside. It was Gray White and gave off a chill. Lu Xuan made a simple comparison and found it much worse than his own Split Silver Blade.

"What a truly good man. I didn't have a Storage Bag, so he delivered one right to me."

"I was short of Spirit Stones to rent a big courtyard, and he brought me these two hundred-plus Spirit Stones too."

"Even after death, he still had to put his remaining warmth to use, using his own body to nourish the Spirit Plants in the Spirit Field."

"He really is..."

Thinking of Qin Ming's great contributions, grief welled up in Lu Xuan's heart, and he lowered his head to mourn for an instant.

"As expected, murder and arson earn you a golden belt."

Lu Xuan looked at the large pile of items on the wooden table and could not help sighing.

He had worked so hard planting for so long, yet it could not compare to the gains from taking down Qin Ming.

However, that thought vanished in an instant.

He knew very well that such huge gains often came with even greater risks. It was impossible to reap rewards every time without bearing the risk.

This time with Qin Ming, the risk had looked extremely low, yet had he not still fallen at Lu Xuan's hands?

So it was better to farm steadily and peacefully. It was a sure-profit venture, with risk close to zero.

After he finished taking inventory, dawn broke.

Lu Xuan walked out of the house and came to the Spirit Field.

Fine threads of spirit rain seeped into the dozen-plus remaining stalks of Spirit Firefly Grass. The lush, oil-green Spirit Firefly Grass lazily stretched out their leaves, and Lu Xuan vaguely felt that the leaves were a bit plumper than yesterday.

Then, a Fireball Technique flew out. Before it landed on the slender red needles of the Red Cloud Pine, it turned into wisps of flame and merged into the pine needles, causing the Red Cloud Pine's needles to bristle up in an instant.

Golden Sword Qi fell on the straight Sword Grass, leaving behind several fine golden lines.

Beneath the Dark Marrow Mushroom, the aura coming from the rotten Spirit Tree had grown a bit richer, causing even more dark-red hyphae to sprout from the lingzhi in the shadows.

Nothing to do today. Planting in the Spirit Field.