Consecutive Kills

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Hearing this, Xu Zhong finally let out a breath of relief and cupped his hands.

Zhou Changwang returned the gesture. "You're too polite."

After agreeing with Xu Zhong that he would go over shortly to help remove the pests, Zhou Changwang looked at Old Xu, who was standing nearby with an expectant look, and teased, "I don't remember you being such a warmhearted person, Old Xu.

Tell me, did you get some kind of benefit?"

"Ah, Changwang, you've wronged me..."

Old Xu hurriedly denied it flatly.

"You didn't get anything, yet you brought him straight to me and went out of your way to speak for him?"

Zhou Changwang sneered.

"Well, I did get a little. Not much.

He promised that if the spirit insects were removed, he'd give me three Low-Grade Spirit Stones as a referral fee."

Old Xu gave an awkward laugh. Seeing that he could not hide it from Zhou Changwang, he simply came clean. Still, he earnestly explained in the end, "Originally, he didn't want to come looking for you. I had to wear out my silver tongue before I could drag him here. Otherwise, how could you have landed such a good job?

Besides, these three Low-Grade Spirit Stones aren't so easy for me to earn. You have to clear every single spirit insect from his spirit field first.

If you can't do it, I won't get even the slightest benefit."

Zhou Changwang nodded in acknowledgment.

After all, his cultivation was there for all to see. Even though his Geng Metal Finger had reached proficiency, he was not the only spirit farmer to have cultivated Geng Metal Finger to that level.

If Old Xu had not put in a few good words for him, Xu Zhong might not have sought him out at all.

Of course, his lower fee was also one of the reasons.

After all, hiring someone from the Spirit Plant Hall required at least thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and other skilled pest removers would certainly not charge much less. Hiring him only cost around ten, so Xu Zhong naturally knew which choice to make.

"So you have to make a name for yourself and get the spirit insects in his field cleared as soon as possible.

By then, your reputation will probably rise, and more people will spend Spirit Stones to hire you for pest removal.

You could say everything I've done was for your sake."

Seeing Zhou Changwang nod, Old Xu relaxed, then shamelessly added.

"Then I thank you."

Zhou Changwang gave a snorting laugh, but did not dwell on it too much.

"There are far more spirit insects in this spirit field than I imagined."

Standing on the ridge at the outer edge of Xu Zhong's spirit field, Zhou Changwang could not help speaking.

Even without carefully searching, he had already spotted more than one spirit insect ravaging the Spirit Grain merely by standing at the edge.

At the center of the spirit field, a large patch of Spirit Grain had already withered yellow. That was clearly the hardest-hit area.

And this was only the first acre.

The remaining four acres had spirit insects distributed differently, but they would not be much better than this one.

"Otherwise, I wouldn't be so worried."

Xu Zhong said with a bitter smile.

"Don't worry. With Changwang taking action, the spirit insects in your field will definitely be cleared out very soon."

Old Xu, standing slightly behind them, confidently guaranteed.

Zhou Changwang shot him a sidelong glance. He did not have that much confidence himself.

Still, he said nothing. Instead, he calmed his breath and focused his mind, directly beginning to gather the spell.

Since he had agreed to remove the pests, he naturally had to do the job well.

And his first target was a Spirit Locust.

It was not far from the field ridge. It seemed to have already eaten its fill and was quietly resting on the branches and leaves of the Spirit Grain.

Zhou Changwang controlled the spiritual energy within his body and formed the runic structure.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

After five breaths.

Geng Metal Finger +1

Pfft!

A streak of golden light flashed past, and the Spirit Locust's head turned to ash.

"It was dealt with that quickly?

And it was even the most troublesome kind, a Spirit Locust?"

Behind him, Xu Zhong's mouth fell open, his face full of shock.

Naturally, he knew how difficult Spirit Locusts were to remove. The spirit planter he had hired before had discovered five Spirit Locusts, yet only managed to take down two. The remaining three had leaped away and flown off before the spells could even fully take shape.

But what about Zhou Changwang?

From the moment he spotted the Spirit Locust to the successful casting of the spell, it had not noticed a thing. It was directly killed by a finger strike.

He was both skilled and precise.

He seemed far more capable than the spirit planter Xu Zhong had hired before.

The tight knot in his heart immediately loosened.

Perhaps he truly could help resolve this crisis?

"Changwang's Geng Metal Finger is getting more and more formidable.

That Spirit Locust died before it even had time to damage the Spirit Grain."

Old Xu sighed in admiration as well.

The two of them had both been stunned by Zhou Changwang's pest-removal methods.

"The first one."

Zhou Changwang remained unaffected. His gaze was sharp as lightning as he searched the surroundings, quickly discovering another one.

This time, it was an Azure-Armored Beetle.

Dealing with an Azure-Armored Beetle was even easier for him.

From two zhang away, he killed it with a finger strike.

Then came Black Octagonal Beetles, Burrowing Cicadas, Spirit Locusts...

As long as he spotted a spirit insect, almost none could escape his carefully prepared finger strike.

The two men behind him went from shock at the beginning to gradually becoming numb.

Yet the excitement in their hearts did not lessen in the slightest.

"That makes ten."

Zhou Changwang once again placed the corpse of an Azure-Armored Beetle into his cloth bag, then glanced at Xu Zhong.

As though he had long been prepared, Xu Zhong directly took a Low-Grade Spirit Stone from his robe and handed it to Zhou Changwang. "Fellow Daoist Zhou, your pest-removal skills are truly admirable. This is the Spirit Stone we agreed upon earlier. Please accept it."

"You're too polite!"

Zhou Changwang did not refuse. After taking it and confirming that it weighed over one hundred grams, he put it away.

Then, without pausing, he continued his pest-removal work.

Before long, he entered the center of this acre of spirit field—the heavily infested area where the grain leaves had already withered yellow.

"There really are more spirit insects here.

I can see four or five at a glance, and none are far apart."

Zhou Changwang's heart tightened, and he became even more cautious.

Spirit insects actually had territorial instincts as well.

Usually, with one or two zhang between them, it was rare to see a second spirit insect.

But here, four or five spirit insects were entrenched within a single zhang of one another. It was strange, but it also gave him a headache.

Because once he made a move, he would inevitably alert the other spirit insects and let them escape.

So he adjusted his position and retreated another two zhang before striking again.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

After five breaths.

The spell took shape.

Sshk!

A Burrowing Cicada stiffened and fell from the Spirit Grain.

Zhou Changwang immediately turned his gaze toward the other spirit insects.

Good!

He had not alarmed the other spirit insects.

Zhou Changwang secretly let out a breath of relief. Without even stopping to pick up the spirit insect's corpse, he adjusted his position again and cast from two zhang away once more.

Once, twice, three times...

He followed the same method.

The five spirit insects were each defeated in turn and killed one by one.