Double the Joy

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

Zhou Changwang had been hurrying home, after all, he still had a Spirit Field to tend. But when his gaze swept over a certain stall, his footsteps involuntarily halted. There, he saw a somewhat delicate-looking female cultivator quietly setting up her wares.

This female cultivator was none other than Qian Xiaoyue, the alchemy apprentice who lived beside him.

What surprised him was that the items displayed on her stall were not related to alchemy at all, but Talisman Parchment, one of the indispensable base materials for crafting talismans.

Stacks upon stacks of Talisman Parchment had been specially cut into uniform talisman-sized sheets. They were yellowish overall, yet smooth and fine to the touch. Though they could not be considered top-grade Talisman Parchment, they were already quite decent.

"I never expected my neighbor to have such skill in making Talisman Parchment."

Zhou Changwang sighed in admiration. He did not step forward to disturb her and soon left the Rogue Cultivator market.

Skill: Spirit Rain Art (Mastery 189/200)

"Before I knew it, my Spirit Rain Art is about to advance as well."

After casting the Spirit Rain Art nine times in a row, Zhou Changwang could not help but reveal a faint smile.

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

Clearly, he still had energy to spare.

That proved his cultivation had indeed improved.

"Still, at the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm (31/100), I am still some distance away from breaking through to the third layer."

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

After three circulation cycles, most of the spiritual energy in his body had recovered, and Zhou Changwang soon opened his eyes.

"Changwang, Changwang."

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

Someone else followed behind him.

"What is it?"

Zhou Changwang patted the dust off his backside and rose to ask.

His gaze fell on the person behind Old Xu in surprise.

Xu Zhong.

Though he and Xu Zhong had both come from the Spirit Plant Hall, they had followed different spirit plant masters, and they had never been particularly close.

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

Then someone came asking me about it. I figured it was no big deal, so I told them. Somehow, word reached Xu Zhong's ears, and he has been worrying over his own Spirit Field.

So he asked me to see whether you could help him get rid of the pests as well."

Old Xu spoke with a trace of embarrassment on his face.

Behind him, Xu Zhong wore brocade robes that were nevertheless wrinkled, and his face was full of anguish. Looking at Zhou Changwang, he forced himself to perk up, cupped his hands, and said, "I heard that Fellow Daoist Zhou possesses outstanding talent and has already cultivated the Geng Metal Finger to the Mastery level, making you highly skilled at pest removal. That is why I begged Elder Xu to bring me here, to ask Fellow Daoist Zhou to help rid my fields of pests."

"I can't help with that."

Zhou Changwang hurriedly waved his hands.

Xu Zhong's Spirit Field had long become a forbidden place among the nearby spirit farmers. No one even dared approach it.

There were simply too many spirit insects.

Some guessed that a Bug King might already have been born within it. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for so many spirit insects to gather there.

A Bug King was far from an ordinary spirit insect. Not only was it larger, its speed, attack power, and destructive force were more than twice as great. As a mere little spirit farmer at the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm with limited methods, Zhou Changwang could not handle it.

"I know this is asking the impossible.

But these few acres of Spirit Fields are all I have.

I have already accepted the reduced harvest, but if not even a single grain is harvested, I will be finished.

These five acres of Spirit Fields were rented from the Spirit Plant Hall on half rent and half credit. We agreed that after the harvest, I would have to make up the shortfall on the books. If I cannot settle the account by then, the Spirit Plant Hall will definitely demand compensation. If I cannot afford it, I can only become a bonded farmer."

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

"Fellow Daoist Xu, you are making things difficult for me.

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

It would be better to ask someone from the Spirit Plant Hall to act.

They may be expensive, but at least their cultivation is profound, their spiritual energy abundant, and their pest-removal methods powerful. If you hire them for a few days, they should be able to resolve your crisis."

Zhou Changwang declined.

"That would not work.

It is not as though I have not hired them before.

That pest-removal master killed only a dozen or so spirit insects before claiming that he lacked spiritual energy and stopping. 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 for him to act again.

A bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pills costs thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones. There are ten pills in a bottle, meaning each pill costs three Low-Grade Spirit Stones. How could I afford that?

And according to what he said, even if I spent thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, I might not be able to clear all the spirit insects from my fields."

Xu Zhong spoke helplessly.

He was young himself, of course he could not tolerate such overbearing behavior and sudden price hikes. Thus, he had long given up on continuing to hire people from the Spirit Plant Hall to remove pests.

Though it 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 Zhao 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 they also grew three acres of spirit herbs. Their spirit plant techniques were extremely advanced.

If they had been willing to help, they should have been able to resolve his problem with ease.

Unfortunately, the two brothers had always kept to themselves, busying themselves in their own Spirit Fields every day. They paid no attention to his request, and after pleading in vain, he could only give up.

"Fellow Daoist Zhou, I will not speak of paying you a fixed amount of Spirit Stones, nor will I demand that you clear all the spirit insects from the fields within a certain time.

We will calculate directly by the number of spirit insects. For every ten you kill, I will give you one Low-Grade Spirit Stone. Once you reach ten, I will pay one stone.

Additionally, the spirit insect corpses will belong to you. What do you say?"

Xu Zhong quickly 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 slightly, Zhou Changwang finally agreed.

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

That was no small sum to him.

And with the spirit insect corpses added in... that would be double the joy.

Of course, the most important point was that Xu Zhong's Spirit Fields were too close to his own.

If the Spirit Grain in Xu Zhong's fields was eaten clean, the next most likely target would be Zhou Changwang's fields.

Rather than spend time and effort worrying about it later, he might as well strike first now. The key was that he could earn Spirit Stones too—why not?