The rent for the spiritual field in the yard is five spirit stones each month, paid every six months, and there is less than a month until the next payment is due.
Lu Xuan was about to spend a large part of his spirit stones. The spiritual plants in the field still needed time to mature, so he decided to save what he had for emergencies. The spiritual field was already fully utilized, and even if he had enough spirit stones, he had no place to plant new spirit seeds. So, he took more than fifty spirit stones back home.
Once home, he closed the yard gate tightly, almost cutting himself off from the outside world, and focused entirely on cultivating his spiritual plants.
Days passed, and the silver-white fruits on the Corrosive Moon Trees grew rounder and fuller, hanging from the branches like full moons. They were about to reach maturity.
Lu Xuan counted and found there were about forty-two Moon-Eroding Fruits on the trees. From what he knew, each fruit could be sold for around one spirit stone, give or take a little. However, because he had carefully nurtured them, the quality of the fruits was quite good. He estimated that most would be of decent quality, with a few being of higher quality.
"Uncle Lu, Uncle Lu, are you home?"
One day, a familiar childish voice came from outside the gate.
Lu Xuan opened the gate to find a lively little boy, around seven years old, who squeezed through the opening. The boy looked quite similar to Zhang Hong, who had gone out exploring in the wilderness.
It was Zhang Hong's son, named Zhang Xiuyuan. Since he was close in age to Lu Xuan, he often came over to visit.
"I thought you weren't home! You keep the door closed every day, and I haven't seen you in ages!"
Zhang Xiuyuan pouted and bounced over to the straw puppet, hugging it tightly.
"Little Grass, I missed you so much!"
The straw puppet felt the boy's hug and, sensing an outsider had entered the yard, extended a gray grass rope towards Lu Xuan, fulfilling its duty to guard the spiritual field.
"Alright, alright, if you keep hugging your little friend like that, its head will fall off!"
Lu Xuan chuckled, noticing that the gray lump on the puppet's head was about to fall off, and he spoke to the overly enthusiastic Zhang Xiuyuan.
The two went inside the house.
Zhang Xiuyuan slumped onto a wooden chair, staring blankly at the spiritual plants in the yard.
"Uncle Lu, your place is so comfortable. I don't have to practice techniques or learn about various spiritual medicines and ores."
Lu Xuan couldn't help but laugh, reminded of the children he had known in his past life who worried about their studies.
"By the way, have you heard anything from your father? He's been gone for a while."
"Not yet! The journey takes at least half a month!"
"But my dad is so strong. He'll definitely kill lots of monsters and bring back many treasures!"
Zhang Xiuyuan's eyes sparkled with hope. In a child's eyes, a father is always a towering figure, able to withstand any storm.
Lu Xuan nodded and chatted with the boy for a bit before heading to the spiritual field to check on the plants' growth.
In the spiritual field, only Lu Xuan could see the progress bars, current status, and the white light orbs that appeared when the plants matured. So, he wasn't worried that Zhang Xiuyuan would notice anything unusual about the field.
"Uncle Lu, you look so busy in the spiritual field. Do you want me to help?"
After resting for a bit, Zhang Xiuyuan saw Lu Xuan working hard and rolled up his sleeves, walking over.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't move! I can do it alone."
Lu Xuan quickly stopped him, joking that one of the factors affecting the rewards from the light orbs was his involvement in the planting process. If Zhang Xiuyuan's help affected the rewards, it wouldn't be worth it.
"Hmph! I don't want to help my mom either!"
Zhang Xiuyuan felt a bit embarrassed by Lu Xuan's refusal, crossing his arms and huffing.
"How many rounds of practice have you done today? Do you have all the common spiritual medicines and ores memorized?"
Seeing that the boy had no intention of leaving the spiritual field, Lu Xuan asked. Each question made Zhang Xiuyuan's expression grow heavier. When Lu Xuan finished speaking, the boy waved his hand fiercely and ran out.
"I won't come here to play anymore!"
"Hahaha!"
Lu Xuan laughed heartlessly. He knew that the boy's mood would change quickly, and in a few days, he would come back to play.
For the next three days, Zhang Xiuyuan indeed didn't come to the yard. Lu Xuan enjoyed the peace, nurturing Spirit Firefly Grass and Red Cloud Pine, watching as the Moon-Eroding Fruits ripened step by step.
Finally, with focused attention, Lu Xuan realized that four of the Moon-Eroding Fruits had fully matured. All four were of decent quality, rewarding his careful care.
He carefully picked them and placed them in a special container.
Then, his gaze was drawn to the four white light orbs floating above the Corrosive Moon Trees.
The orbs sparkled with tiny white lights.
Lu Xuan absorbed the first one, and a thought flashed through his mind.
"Harvested one Moon-Eroding Fruit, obtained one first-grade artifact: Silver Splitting Blade (fragment)."
A slender object appeared in Lu Xuan's hand.
"A first-grade artifact!"
Lu Xuan was taken aback, examining the item closely. It was a long, thin piece, about the thickness of a finger, irregularly shaped, and felt cold to the touch, with extremely sharp edges.
Lu Xuan controlled the thin piece with his spiritual sense, and with a thought, it transformed into a nearly invisible silver light, deeply embedding itself into the stone wall.
"Impressive power! No wonder it's a first-grade artifact. But what does 'fragment' mean?"
"Is this artifact incomplete? But it feels pretty powerful to use..."
Lu Xuan wondered, looking at the remaining three white light orbs.
"Harvested one Moon-Eroding Fruit, obtained one first-grade artifact: Silver Splitting Blade (fragment)."
"Harvested one Moon-Eroding Fruit, obtained one first-grade talisman: Purification Talisman."
"Harvested one Moon-Eroding Fruit, obtained one first-grade artifact: Silver Splitting Blade (fragment)."
The Purification Talisman can help cultivators maintain a clear mind for a long time, preventing them from being misled by evil spirits. It's a great supportive talisman.
As for the other two white light orbs...
Lu Xuan stared at the three silver thin pieces in his hand, momentarily stunned.
The three pieces were all different shapes, but they shared the trait of being extremely sharp, not tarnishing the reputation of a first-grade artifact.
Moreover, Lu Xuan was surprised to find that he could control all three pieces of the Silver Splitting Blade fragments at the same time.
Normally, with his current cultivation level at the third layer of Qi training, it would be very difficult to control three first-grade artifacts simultaneously.
"Could it be that these three irregular pieces came from the same artifact, and only when all the pieces are combined will it be a complete Silver Splitting Blade?"
Comparing the edges of the pieces, Lu Xuan felt his guess was getting closer to the truth.
"I just don't know how many pieces are needed to assemble a complete Silver Splitting Blade."
"Now I just hope that the remaining thirty-eight Moon-Eroding Fruits will yield as many Silver Splitting Blade fragments as possible."
"Even though the fragments are useful, who would want incomplete ones when they could have a complete one?"
Lu Xuan gazed at the Moon-Eroding Fruits hanging from the Corrosive Moon Trees, lost in thought.
(End of Chapter)