Weaving Grass

After taking down the three Three-tailed Red-Whiskered Carp Fry, Lu Xuan returned to the courtyard.

He came to the edge of the Spirit Spring. After being jostled the whole way, the Red-Whiskered Carp in the bag looked somewhat listless, the fine red whiskers on either side of their heads drooping weakly.

"I'm giving you a Luxurious New Home!"

Lu Xuan poured the three Red-Whiskered Carp into the Spirit Spring, speaking in a slightly sour tone.

If the Spirit Spring had been a little wider, and the spring water a little deeper, he would have wanted to soak in it himself.

The Red-Whiskered Carp fell into the Spirit Spring. At first, they were somewhat unaccustomed to it, but stimulated by the spring water containing faint spiritual energy, they quickly recovered their vitality.

They swam back and forth through the spring water, their two fine red whiskers drifting in the water in extreme comfort.

With a little anticipation, Lu Xuan focused his mind on the body of one Red-Whiskered Carp.

"Red-Whiskered Carp Fry, No Grade spirit beast. It is quite satisfied with its new environment. If some spirit rice were to fall into the Spirit Spring as well, that would be even better."

A thought flashed through Lu Xuan's mind.

"Not bad!"

Unable to suppress the excitement in his heart, Lu Xuan raised his fist hard.

Since he could see the Red-Whiskered Carp's real-time condition, then after it matured, in all likelihood a White Light Orb would appear as well.

Lu Xuan looked at the three Three-tailed Red-Whiskered Carp swimming freely in the Spirit Spring, as if he could see them nurturing generous Treasures for him.

"Looks like I can raise more spirit birds and spirit beasts in the Spirit Field or Spirit Spring."

He silently made a decision.

Recalling the Red-Whiskered Carp's real-time condition that had appeared in his mind, he could not help laughing aloud.

"Those three little fellows are still dreaming of spirit rice falling from the sky. If it really fell, it'd fall into my mouth first. Drink some Spirit Spring that doesn't cost Spirit Stones for now!"

He left the Spirit Spring and inspected everything in the Spirit Field.

In the patch of Spirit Field where the Blood Jade Ginseng was, Lu Xuan sensed with his Spiritual Sense that the positions of the twenty Blood Jade Ginseng seeds had already shifted, and several pairs among them had moved close to one another.

Lu Xuan hurriedly circulated the Earth Guidance Art, and through the Spirit Soil, made them return to their original positions, maintaining a relatively safe distance.

The one hundred Spirit Firefly Grass had already begun to grow New Sprouts. The tender green, slender sprouts were sparsely distributed through the Spirit Soil, conveying to Lu Xuan a vigorous, upward growth state.

The Spirit Field was divided into several areas. In one patch of Spirit Field where the Spiritual Power was slightly denser, the transplanted Spirit Plants were planted.

Among them, the Second Grade Sword Grass occupied a large patch of Spirit Soil all by itself. Around its body, which was straight as a sword, wisps of sword intent would occasionally shoot out, so there was no room for other Spirit Plants to grow nearby.

Among the fine red needles of the First Grade Red Cloud Pine, several clusters of flowers had grown increasingly delicate and bright. The buds had bloomed, looking exceptionally beautiful.

As for the other Second Grade Dark Marrow Mushroom, it still kept company with the rotten wood, its dense dark-red hyphae drawing out the decayed Spiritual Power within.

In the corner of the Spirit Field, the Grass Puppet leaned against the wall, silently familiarizing itself with the new environment.

The big hole in its chest still remained, extremely conspicuous.

Lu Xuan came beside it and, with some reluctance, took out a Spirit Stone.

When raising the Grass Puppet normally, he only needed to provide one Fragmented Spirit Stone for it to maintain its functions and guard the Spirit Field.

But if he wanted it to stimulate its recovery ability on its own, a mere Fragmented Spirit Stone was far from enough.

He stuffed a Spirit Stone into the Gray Grass Tumor on the Grass Puppet's head.

Then, from the huge tumor formed by linked gray withered grass, came a faint fluctuation of Spiritual Power.

Immediately afterward, two stalks of gray-black withered grass floated out from the head, one on the left and one on the right, like willow catkins in the wind, drifting slowly toward the big hole in its chest.

Starting from the edge of the hole, the two stalks of Gray Grass slowly wove in a cross shape, filling the big hole in the chest bit by bit.

Lu Xuan truly could not stand its slow weaving movements, so he ran to other parts of the Spirit Field, cast a round of the Spirit Rain Technique, and then released the Earth Guidance Art and the Gold Metal Swordplay according to the needs of the Spirit Plants.

After nearly an hour had passed, when he came to look at the Grass Puppet again, its project of filling the big hole in its chest had finally reached the closing stage.

The two stalks of gray-black withered grass filled in the last trace of empty space, then slowly tied a knot. The remaining small section of withered grass fell to the ground.

Lu Xuan could clearly feel that the Grass Puppet's Huge Head had shrunk by a full circle.

"As long as you've recovered, that's good. I still need you to help me guard the Spirit Field."

Although the Spirit Field was now guarded by a First Grade Protective Array, Lu Xuan had already grown used to the Grass Puppet standing dully in the corner, and he was willing to spend one Spirit Stone to heal it.

One had to know that when he bought this second-hand Grass Puppet, he had spent less than three Spirit Stones.

After inspecting the Spirit Field, Lu Xuan opened the array and went to the Rogue Cultivator Market.

Taking advantage of this move into a new home, he planned to invite Xu Wan and Zhang Xiuyuan, as well as Manager He from Hundred Herbs Hall, to his home as guests, to express his gratitude for the care they had shown him before.

Thus, he came to the market, wanting to buy some spirit rice and Spirit Beast Meat to make a sumptuous meal.

There was a specialized Spirit Rice Shop in the market, selling several kinds of spirit rice. The lowest price was thirty Fragmented Spirit Stones per jin, and the most expensive was a kind of spirit rice called Blood Fang Rice. Its grains were plump, and its fragrance pressed in upon the senses. Each jin required four Spirit Stones.

It was said there were even more expensive ones, specially supplied to the core members of the great clans in the Marketplace. Ordinary rogue cultivators, even if they had more Spirit Stones, had no way to buy them.

After considering it over and over, Lu Xuan finally bought ten jin of spirit rice at thirty Fragmented Spirit Stones per jin, and additionally bought two jin of spirit rice at fifty Fragmented Spirit Stones per jin, spending a total of four Spirit Stones.

After buying the spirit rice, he went to a stall selling Spirit Beast Meat and bought two jin of Puffer Pig Meat and three jin of Barbarian Bull Meat.

Then, at another place, he bought a little over one jin of Emerald Spirit Leaf. Emerald Spirit Leaf was the color of jade; it could be eaten after a light stir-fry, crisp and delicious, and could add a trace of spiritual energy to the bodies of low-level Qi Practitioners.

Finally, Lu Xuan bought some food that contained no spiritual energy but was extremely delicious, then carried his bags and bundles back home.

Buying so many ingredients cost roughly ten Spirit Stones. For Lu Xuan, who had always been frugal, this counted as truly bleeding himself dry.

After returning home, he began preparing the ingredients and getting dinner ready.

As dusk drew near, Lu Xuan had everything prepared and estimated that Manager He and the others should be arriving soon.

Before long, Manager He's spirited voice came from outside the courtyard.

"Lu Boy, hurry up and open the door! I've come to freeload a meal!"

Lu Xuan opened the courtyard gate and saw the Gaunt Old Man holding a pot of wine in his hand.

"This Yellow Koji Wine is a Ten-Year Spirit Brew. Its flavor is rich, mellow, and lingering, and it can nourish the Physical Body. Later, we'll have a few good cups together."

Manager He lifted the wine pot in his hand.

"You brat, without a word or sound, you went and rented such a big courtyard. No wonder you opened your lion's mouth so wide and swallowed down so many Spirit Firefly Grass seeds and Blood Jade Ginseng seeds."

He looked at the broad Spirit Field, sighing inwardly with emotion.

"Old He, find yourself a place to sit first. I'll go prepare dinner."

After giving that instruction, Lu Xuan went into the kitchen.

Before he had even started cooking, Zhang Xiuyuan's booming voice rang out again.

"Little Uncle Lu, Mother and I are here!"

Lu Xuan went out to greet them. The simple, honest-looking Zhang Xiuyuan jumped inside and threw his arms around Lu Xuan's thigh.

"Congratulations on your move, Little Uncle Lu! From now on, I'll be hugging this big thigh of yours!"

Behind him, Xu Wan carried a bamboo basket filled with Spirit Fruit, smiling gracefully.