Spirit Stones

"By sheer luck, I broke through."

Zhou Changwang smiled and said.

"Mastered it?"

Old Xu asked further.

Zhou Changwang nodded.

Seeing this, Old Xu immediately said with a sour edge, "I never expected you to have such talent in the Geng Metal Finger. If only you had broken through to Qi Refining, Fourth Layer and gained spiritual sense, then none of the spirit insects in these spirit fields would be able to escape a single finger of yours."

"Not necessarily. The Geng Metal Finger alone cannot eliminate every kind of spirit insect."

Zhou Changwang shook his head.

He had been an apprentice at the Spirit Plant Hall for several years. It was not as though he had learned nothing. Naturally, he knew there were countless spirit insects in the world, and some of the troublesome ones were said to leave even true Foundation Establishment cultivators helpless.

His Geng Metal Finger was only suited for clearing spirit insects clinging to spirit grain. If one were growing spirit herbs, or even more precious spiritual materials, it would be far from sufficient.

"Changwang, you see, Old Xu has treated you rather well in ordinary times, hasn't he?"

Old Xu's eyes shifted, and he suddenly said with a beaming smile.

"Average."

Zhou Changwang promptly cut him off.

He had heard these words plenty of times in his previous life. If he agreed, countless pits would be waiting for him afterward.

Some were even linked traps, impossible to guard against.

"Well..."

Old Xu's expression froze. He gave a dry laugh, then continued as if nothing had happened. "It's not some huge matter.

It's just that the spirit insects in the spirit fields have been growing more and more numerous.

Your three mu of spirit fields are easy to manage.

But this old man has ten mu of spirit fields. If three spirit insects hid in every mu, that would still make thirty of them.

With these old arms and legs of mine, how could I possibly handle that?

So, if you have time, could you lend me a hand?"

"I can't help."

Zhou Changwang did not hesitate in the slightest.

He wanted him to work for free?

This old fossil was dreaming with his eyes open.

"One Low-Grade Spirit Stone."

Old Xu gritted his teeth and said with a pained expression.

"For one day?"

Zhou Changwang shot him a sidelong glance.

"For ten days."

Old Xu blurted it out.

He had calculated it well. In ten days, the spirit rice would be nearly ripe and ready for harvest, so there would naturally be no further need to remove insects.

"Then I won't do it."

Zhou Changwang simply shook his head.

"Three days."

After thinking for a moment, Old Xu gritted his teeth and said.

He truly was beginning to feel the strain. With ten mu of spirit fields, even one or two spirit insects hiding in each mu were enough to give him a headache, let alone after the fruiting period, when the number of spirit insects would increase further.

And there were also the spirit insects that occasionally migrated from Xu Zhong's spirit fields... Just thinking of it made his scalp tingle.

Rather than invite people from the Spirit Plant Hall later, spending three Low-Grade Spirit Stones at once for service that would only last one day, he might as well leave it to Zhou Changwang and save himself some money.

"The spirit insects I kill belong to me."

Zhou Changwang immediately said.

"Fine."

Old Xu nodded and said sentimentally, "Changwang, actually, I could tell from the very beginning that you were no ordinary person. Now it seems I was indeed right..."

"Sweet words are useless.

You have to give me the Spirit Stones first.

Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll default on the debt."

Zhou Changwang looked at him expressionlessly as he spoke.

He did not believe any nonsense about Old Xu seeing he was no ordinary person.

Before his transmigration, the original owner had been utterly ordinary. His aptitude of five-element spiritual roots was considered poor even among spirit farmers, and he was completely unremarkable.

On the contrary, with Old Xu's personality like an iron rooster, he truly feared that after he finished the work, the other man would refuse to hand over the agreed Spirit Stones.

After all, since being reborn until now, he had not even seen what a Spirit Stone looked like.

"Honestly, could I, Xu Fugui, possibly cheat you out of your Spirit Stones?"

Old Xu's face immediately reddened. He said this indignantly, hesitated for a while, then still tossed out a slightly crystalline chunk. "As it happens, I still have three mu of spirit fields where the spirit insects haven't been cleared out. Help me deal with them all at once."

As he spoke, he smiled smugly, as though he had gained some advantage, and hurriedly pointed at the three mu of spirit fields not far away.

"No problem."

Zhou Changwang did not decline. Once he had taken the money, he ought to do the work.

What was more, he had only just cleared out the spirit insects in his own spirit fields, and there was still spiritual power left in his body. He had already been thinking of killing more spirit insects, so naturally he did not want to waste it.

After all, spirit insect meat was not only delicious, but also contained spiritual qi. It could tangibly improve the progress of his cultivation.

And most importantly, extra spirit insects could also be exchanged for Spirit Stones...

At the thought of Spirit Stones, he could not help examining the slightly crystalline chunk in his hand once more.

"So this is a Spirit Stone?"

Comparing it to the shape of Spirit Stones in his memories, a trace of satisfaction immediately arose in Zhou Changwang's heart.

Clearly, this was a Spirit Stone.

A Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

It looked somewhat like a kind of jade, though duller and grayer. It was rectangular and not heavy, only a little over one hundred grams, yet merely holding it in his hand, he could still feel the abundant spiritual qi contained within it.

He knew that this was a standard Low-Grade Spirit Stone.

The measuring standard was weight.

One hundred grams was one piece.

Two hundred grams was two pieces.

After all, Spirit Stones were consumables in a certain sense.

Cultivators could directly absorb the spiritual qi inside Spirit Stones to cultivate or restore the spiritual power within their bodies.

As the spiritual qi inside a Spirit Stone was consumed, the Spirit Stone itself would naturally contract and shrink, and its weight would decrease accordingly.

Therefore, Spirit Stones weighing less than one hundred grams were also called Shard Spirit Stones. They could likewise be used for buying and selling in the markets, equivalent to loose change in the real world.

Afterward, he carefully put away the Low-Grade Spirit Stone, then directly entered Old Xu's spirit fields and began to inspect them closely.

Like an old hand at the task, he quickly discovered the first spirit insect.

A Spirit Locust.

He had not expected that he had found no Spirit Locusts, these vicious spirit insects, in his own spirit fields, only to discover one in Old Xu's fields instead.

Yet when he looked at its cicada-wing-thin wings, he found it perfectly normal.

Spirit Locusts could fly, after all.

Wherever they flew down to, it really depended only on their own whims.

Without further hesitation, he held his breath and stopped two zhang away from the Spirit Locust. Then he circulated his spiritual power, controlling it with his mind and condensing it into one complex rune structure after another.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

After five breaths.

He adjusted the angle of his finger and pointed forward.

Silently, a streak of golden light flashed and vanished.

Geng Metal Finger +1

The Spirit Locust's head, only the size of an ordinary person's thumb, was immediately blasted to pieces. Yet its insect body instinctively tensed at that moment, and its two scythe-like forelegs slashed out with force, directly cutting a large gash into the stalk of spirit grain it had been clinging to.

Very quickly, the upper half of that stalk of spirit grain tilted slightly and drooped down, as though it were about to snap.

This was what made Spirit Locusts so troublesome.

Even after death, their instincts still drove them to swing their forelegs and tear apart every obstacle before them.

Their vigilance was also high, and at the first sign that something was wrong, they would leap away and take flight... Thus, no matter which spirit farmer it was, the spirit insect they least wanted to see in their own spirit fields was this one.