Back home, Lu Xuan took out the nearly dried-up spirit seed from his pocket and examined it closely. The dried spirit seed was long and sword-like, with a grayish-black color. It looked a bit shriveled, likely due to a significant loss of vitality.
Xu Wan had already told Lu Xuan that she and Zhang Hong had tried to grow a similar spirit seed before but had failed. However, Lu Xuan felt confident. After all, if he could successfully plant this dried spirit seed, he would be able to understand its subtle needs through its current state, making it easier to address any issues and possibly succeed in growing it.
Without wasting time, Lu Xuan found a small patch of empty space in the spiritual field. He used the Earth Summoning Technique, creating a tiny crack in the spiritual soil that was just right for the dried spirit seed to fit into. After burying the seed, he continued to use the Earth Summoning Technique to gather the weak spiritual energy from the field and direct it toward the spirit seed.
After absorbing several experience packets, the Earth Summoning Technique had improved. It could now change the terrain in a small area and slightly influence the flow of spiritual energy in the field. Once the weak spiritual energy merged with the spirit seed, Lu Xuan focused his mind on it, feeling a bit anxious.
A thought flashed through his mind. "Sword Grass, a second-grade spirit seed. Once matured, it resembles a sword blade, sharp and tough, making it a natural material for crafting flying swords."
"Feeling parched, let's have a big downpour of spiritual rain to nourish it!"
With that thought, Lu Xuan felt a surge of joy. Just as he expected, after planting the dried spirit seed, he not only learned about the corresponding spirit plant but also understood its detailed needs. He immediately circulated the spiritual energy in his body, and a mist formed above the dried spirit seed. Soon, strands of spiritual rain began to fall, soaking into the soil.
The Sword Grass spirit seed, after a long drought, greedily absorbed the spiritual rain. After one round of rain, Lu Xuan checked the Sword Grass spirit seed again and found it was still in a dried state.
"I need more, I need more! The more water, the better."
"A mere second-grade spirit seed, can’t my cultivation at the third level of Qi Refinement satisfy you?" Lu Xuan scoffed. He was now very skilled with the Spirit Rain Technique and quickly summoned another round of spiritual rain.
"I need more, I need more!"
Lu Xuan snorted, thinking to himself, just watch me drown you with rain!
After seventeen rounds of the Spirit Rain Technique, Lu Xuan gritted his teeth and once again circulated the spiritual energy in his body. Above the Sword Grass spirit seed, the spiritual energy surged but soon dissipated without a single drop of rain falling.
"That's it, really not a single drop left."
He stood up unsteadily, feeling dizzy and lightheaded. This was the negative effect of overusing spiritual energy. Although his cultivation was now stable at the third level of Qi Refinement and much stronger than before, he still couldn’t handle such continuous use of spiritual energy.
Focusing on the Sword Grass spirit seed, he thought, "I need more, I need more..."
Lu Xuan shivered and quickly stepped back. However, after so many rounds of the Spirit Rain Technique, there was some effect. He sensed that the Sword Grass spirit seed in the soil had become much fuller and looked vibrant.
Two days later, besides taking care of the other spirit plants, Lu Xuan focused all his attention on this second-grade Sword Grass spirit seed. After countless rounds of the Spirit Rain Technique, the immediate state of the spirit seed finally changed.
"Sword Grass, second-grade spirit plant. During its growth, it requires a certain amount of spiritual energy, and from time to time, it also needs sword energy to stimulate its growth."
"It needs sword energy for nourishment. No wonder it's a second-grade spirit plant; its requirements are clearly on another level. I guess the main reason Zhang and the others failed was this. After all, spirit seeds are generally quite delicate; who would think of using sword energy to stimulate them?"
Lu Xuan suddenly understood the reason behind Zhang Hong and the others' failure and felt grateful that he could grasp the immediate state of the spirit plant at any time. As for the sword energy, he had the Gengjin Sword Art ready to use.
Circulating his spiritual power, Lu Xuan controlled his mind, and a fine golden sword energy shot out from his fingertip, piercing through the soil and striking the Sword Grass spirit seed. In that instant, Lu Xuan seemed to hear a faint sword sound coming from the spirit seed in the soil. The golden sword energy seeped into the spirit seed, leaving a faint golden line on its grayish-black surface.
He repeated the process, releasing three more strands of golden sword energy onto the Sword Grass spirit seed, and once he confirmed that the sword energy was sufficient, he stopped. He had to wait for the golden lines on the spirit seed to disappear before using new sword energy to nourish it.
"Finally succeeded in planting it; it's now entering the growth stage."
"I wonder what kind of light orb reward a second-grade spirit plant will bring..."
Lu Xuan sensed the subtle changes in the Sword Grass spirit seed through his spiritual awareness and sighed in relief. He increasingly realized the importance of understanding the immediate state of spirit plants.
"Maybe I should go to the market town or the loose cultivator stalls to find some unknown spirit seeds?"
"While there aren’t many spirit plants appearing in the wild, they do exist."
"Spirit plants have a certain chance of naturally maturing, and they can also be taken from other cultivators or spirit beasts. Not to mention those strange secret realms; anything could appear there."
"Perhaps other cultivators have some unknown spirit seeds. For them, if the type of spirit seed is unclear, it’s hard to assess its value and successfully plant it."
"But I'm different. I can know the planting conditions of the spirit seeds, and as long as I can meet them, the chances of success are very high. Plus, I can also earn light orb rewards."
The more Lu Xuan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. But when he remembered the few spirit stones he had left, he quickly calmed down.
"Buying unknown spirit seeds is essentially a gamble. While my chances of winning are higher, it doesn’t mean I’m guaranteed to win. More importantly, I don’t have enough spirit stones to place a bet."
After all, buying wild spirit seeds doesn’t guarantee they can be planted. Plus, he wouldn’t know their grade. If he ended up with a first or second-grade seed, it would be fine, but if he got something below that, he might even lose out.
"I’ll wait for Brother Zhang and the others to return from the secret realm. The spirit seeds from there are more reliable, and there will be a greater variety and quantity available."
Lu Xuan recalled that when he usually wandered around the market, he rarely saw stalls selling wild spirit seeds. Even if there were, they were mostly well-known varieties, and unknown spirit seeds were almost invisible.
He decided to go with the flow, accumulate knowledge about spirit plants, and keep an eye out in the market. If he found any unknown spirit seeds and had enough spirit stones, he would try to buy them.
For now, the spirit plants in his yard were more important.
The twenty Spirit Firefly Grasses were growing very well. Their leaves, nourished by the spiritual rain, stretched lazily, and the tiny glow reflected in the sunlight sparkled like stars.
The Red Cloud Pine had grown another couple of inches, and its fine red needles were denser. Stimulated by the Fireball Technique, it looked like a hedgehog covered in red thorns.
As for the Moon-Eroding Fruit, it had entered a rapid maturation phase.
(End of Chapter)