Double the Joy

"Huh? Isn't that Qian Xiaoyue, the alchemy apprentice who lives next door? Why was she setting up a stall here? And selling talisman paper, at that?"

Zhou Changwang had been about to hurry home—after all, he still had spirit fields to tend—when his gaze swept past a certain stall and his steps abruptly halted. There, he saw a somewhat delicate-looking female cultivator quietly setting up her wares.

That female cultivator was none other than Qian Xiaoyue, the alchemy apprentice living next door to him.

What surprised him, however, was that what she had laid out on her stall was not anything related to alchemy, but Talisman Parchment—something entirely unrelated, and one of the essential foundational materials for crafting talismans.

The stacks of Talisman Parchment had been deliberately cut into neat talisman-sized sheets. They were somewhat yellowish overall, but their surfaces were smooth and fine. Though they could not be considered top-grade Talisman Parchment, they were already quite decent.

"I never expected my neighbor to have this kind of skill in making Talisman Parchment."

Zhou Changwang remarked with feeling, but did not go over to disturb her. He soon left the Rogue Cultivator market.

Skill: Spirit Rain Art (Mastery 189/200)

"Without realizing it, my Spirit Rain Art is about to advance as well."

After casting the Spirit Rain Art nine times in succession, Zhou Changwang could not help but smile.

Not only because the spell was about to advance, but also because he could clearly feel that after casting those nine Spirit Rain Arts, he no longer suffered from the same sense of spiritual energy depletion as before.

Clearly, he still had strength left.

That proved his cultivation had indeed improved.

"However, at the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm (31/100), I still have quite a ways to go before breaking through to the third layer."

With a sigh, Zhou Changwang found a place and began meditating to recover.

After three circulation cycles, most of the spiritual energy within his body had recovered, and Zhou Changwang soon awoke.

"Changwang, Changwang."

Not long after waking, he saw Old Xu hurrying over excitedly from afar.

There was someone else following behind him.

"What is it?"

Zhou Changwang patted the dust off his backside, rose to his feet, and asked.

At the same time, he looked at the man behind Old Xu with some surprise.

Xu Zhong.

Though he and Xu Zhong both came from the Spirit Plant Hall, they served different spirit plant masters, and they had little friendship between them.

"Changwang, didn't I ask you to help me get rid of bugs yesterday?

Well, someone asked me about it, and I figured it wasn't any big deal, so I told them. I don't know how word got around, but it reached Xu Zhong's ears. Isn't he worrying over his own spirit fields right now?

So he asked me to see whether you could help him get rid of the bugs too."

As Old Xu spoke, a trace of embarrassment appeared on his face.

Behind him, Xu Zhong was dressed in fine clothes, though they were all wrinkled. His face was equally full of worry. Seeing Zhou Changwang now, he forced himself to perk up, cupped his hands, and said, "I heard that Fellow Daoist Zhou possessed outstanding talent and had already cultivated the Geng Metal Finger to the mastery level, making you exceptionally skilled at eliminating bugs. That is why I begged Elder Xu to bring me here, in hopes that Fellow Daoist Zhou might help me remove the bugs."

"I'm afraid I can't help with that."

Zhou Changwang hurriedly waved his hands.

Xu Zhong's spirit fields had already become a forbidden ground among the nearby spirit farmers. No one even dared approach them.

There were simply too many spirit bugs.

Some guessed that a Bug King had likely already been born within. Otherwise, there was no way so many spirit bugs could have gathered there.

A Bug King was no ordinary spirit bug. Not only was it larger, its speed, attack power, and destructive power were more than twice as great. He was merely a minor spirit farmer at the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm, with limited means. He could not handle such a thing.

"I know this is asking too much.

But these few acres of spirit fields are my entire fortune.

I have already accepted the reduced harvest, but if I end up with nothing at all, I'll be finished.

These five acres of spirit fields were leased from the Spirit Plant Hall on half rent and half credit. We agreed that once the harvest came in, I would have to make up the shortfall on the books. If I cannot settle the account then, the Spirit Plant Hall will certainly demand compensation. If I cannot afford it, I'll have no choice but to become a contracted farmer."

Xu Zhong hurriedly poured out his grievances. In the end, he pleaded, "Fellow Daoist Zhou, please, for the sake of us both coming from the Spirit Plant Hall, help me?"

"Fellow Daoist Xu, you are really putting me in a difficult position.

I am only at the second layer of the Qi Refining Realm. What ability do I have to help you? Even if I exhaust all my spiritual energy, how many spirit bugs could I possibly kill?

You would be better off asking someone from the Spirit Plant Hall to act.

Though they are expensive, their cultivation is at least profound, their spiritual energy abundant, and their methods for removing bugs strong. If you hire them for a few days, they should be able to resolve your crisis."

Zhou Changwang tried to decline.

"That won't work.

It's not as if I haven't hired them before.

That bug-removal master killed barely a dozen spirit bugs before claiming he lacked spiritual energy and stopped working. He even demanded that I provide Qi-Replenishing Pills for him to restore his spiritual energy. Otherwise, I would have to spend another three Low-Grade Spirit Stones before he would act again.

A bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pills costs thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones and contains ten pills. That means each pill costs three Low-Grade Spirit Stones. How could I afford that?

And judging by what he said, I doubt that even if I spent thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, he would necessarily clear all the spirit bugs from my fields."

Xu Zhong spoke helplessly.

He was a young man too, and naturally could not stand such overbearing behavior and last-minute price hikes. He had long since given up on the idea of continuing to hire people from the Spirit Plant Hall to remove the bugs.

Though this was only an isolated case, given a choice, he naturally did not wish to suffer such a loss.

So the next day, he went to ask the brothers Zhao Jie and Zhao Qiang, who also cultivated spirit fields in this area. Both were at least mid-stage Qi Refining Realm cultivators, and each planted three acres of spirit herbs. Their skill in tending spirit plants was extremely high.

If they were willing to act, they should have been able to easily resolve his trouble.

Unfortunately, the two had always kept to themselves, busy in their own spirit fields every day. They paid no attention to his request, and after pleading to no avail, he could only give up.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, I won't talk about how many Spirit Stones I'll pay you, nor will I demand that you clear all the spirit bugs from my fields within a set time.

We'll calculate it directly by the number of spirit bugs. For every ten spirit bugs you kill, I'll give you one Low-Grade Spirit Stone. Once you reach ten, you get one stone.

Also, the corpses of those spirit bugs will belong to you afterward. How about it?"

Xu Zhong hurriedly added.

"Changwang, for the sake of neighboring spirit fields, help him out."

Old Xu also hurriedly tried to persuade him.

"Then... all right."

After hesitating briefly, Zhou Changwang finally agreed.

Indeed, the other party had offered generous enough terms. One Low-Grade Spirit Stone for every ten spirit bugs—considering the number of spirit bugs in Xu Zhong's fields, if he cleared them all, he could earn at least ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

That was no small sum for him.

And on top of that, there were the spirit bug corpses... That was double the joy.

Of course, the most important reason was that Xu Zhong's spirit fields were simply too close to his own.

If the spirit grain in Xu Zhong's fields was gnawed clean, the next most likely victim would be his own fields.

Rather than spend effort and worry over it later, he might as well strike first now. The key was that there were Spirit Stones to earn as well—why not?