"Uncle Lu, I found out some details."
"The pest problem at their place was handled by that chubby white-robed cultivator. The remains of the larvae left behind weren’t very noticeable, so he probably took them away."
Not long after, Zhang Xiuyuan rushed out, panting, and his words made Lu Xuan's heart tighten.
"Let's investigate further!"
He exhaled deeply and said firmly.
After looking into two more casual cultivators, he got the same answer.
Qin Ming had taken the larvae bodies after dealing with the pests.
Suddenly, a series of thoughts surged in Lu Xuan's mind, and a connection began to form, becoming clearer by the moment.
"Why is it that for the same level of cultivation, Qin Ming’s fees are lower by ten to even twenty percent compared to Fairy Lingyun and the sword cultivator Li Xu?"
"Why did he take the larvae bodies after dealing with the black bud worms?"
"Why am I, a second-layer Qi training cultivator, not even qualified to earn that little bit of spirit stones?"
"Because those black bud worm larvae were released by Qin Ming!"
"He must have released the adult black bud worms into the casual cultivators' spiritual fields, quietly laid eggs, and used the vitality of the spiritual plants in the fields to nurture the larvae. Once they grew up, he would use the pretense of pest control to collect them back."
"This explains why hiring Qin Ming costs much less than hiring other fourth-layer Qi training cultivators, even though they have the same cultivation level."
"He specializes in ice-type techniques, allowing him to separate the black bud worm larvae without harming the spiritual plants."
"He can freeze the larvae without killing them, and after extracting them, he can thaw them out."
"This way, he can earn spirit stones and easily reclaim the larvae that were parasitizing the spiritual plants, killing two birds with one stone."
Lu Xuan suddenly understood and realized why Qin Ming was so aggressive.
Not only did he earn spirit stones from him, but he also killed the black bud worm larvae that were parasitizing his plants.
More importantly, he was just a small casual cultivator at the second layer of Qi training.
"So, the black bud worm larvae I dealt with earlier and the adult ones I killed at midnight were all secretly put into my spiritual field by him."
Thinking of this, Lu Xuan couldn't help but grit his teeth.
This meant he not only helped him raise the larvae using his spiritual plants but also spent spirit stones to have him take the grown larvae back…
If it weren't for the appearance of the white light orb, which allowed him to buy protective formations and obtain the Gengjin Sword Art, his spiritual field would have suffered from pest problems over and over again, until he was completely devoured as a small casual cultivator.
"Indeed, the weak only prey on the weaker."
However, if he thought he could treat him as just a weakling to manipulate, that would be a huge mistake.
A faint smile appeared on his lips, and his eyes sparkled.
When he got home, Lu Xuan immediately walked around the courtyard wall, carefully inspecting every part of the protective formation.
The straw puppet sensed its master’s presence and extended a gray grass rope, slithering behind him like a little snake.
After confirming that the formation was fine, he approached the straw puppet and took out a spirit fragment, stuffing it into the large lump formed by the gray grass on its head.
"The difference in strength is huge, and there’s a significant conflict of interest. It seems that Qin Ming won’t let me off easily."
"Just right, I don’t want to let him off either."
"However, even though my cultivation, techniques, and pills have improved greatly recently, Qin Ming is still a fourth-layer Qi training cultivator. I don’t know how the fight would turn out now."
"The urgent matter is to work hard to improve my strength and put off dealing with the pests for now, so I don’t expose any weaknesses."
Thinking this, Lu Xuan decided to stay at home for the time being, improving his strength while preparing for the possibility of Qin Ming breaking into his home.
For the next few days, he stayed at home nurturing spiritual plants and advised Zhang Xiuyuan not to go out casually.
The fourteen moon-eroding fruits he had left from the last harvest had all matured. Among them, twelve were of good quality, and two were of excellent quality.
Lu Xuan picked up the fourteen slightly flickering white light orbs.
"Harvested one moon-eroding fruit, received one piece of the first-grade artifact Silver Splitting Blade (fragment)." *3
"Harvested one moon-eroding fruit, received one first-grade talisman." *6
"Harvested one moon-eroding fruit, received one Pill of Primordial Nourishment." *3
The rewards from the twelve good-quality moon-eroding fruits were as Lu Xuan expected.
Three silver-white fragments of the Silver Splitting Blade completed the last gap in the blade.
A thin blade appeared before Lu Xuan, shining a faint silver-white, making it very discreet in both day and night.
He controlled the silver-white blade with his spiritual energy, making it dance freely in the air. The blade was extremely fast and very sharp.
Lu Xuan took a piece of decayed spiritual wood to test it, and the blade cut through the sturdy wood as easily as cutting through tofu.
With a thought, the silver-white blade swiftly split into dozens of differently shaped silver-white fragments, swirling around Lu Xuan like a flock of silver butterflies.
Then, the dozens of fragments gathered closely, seamlessly forming a complete short blade.
"Finally, I’ve successfully collected all the fragments of the Silver Splitting Blade."
Lu Xuan sighed in relief. The complete Silver Splitting Blade was even sharper and could instantly split into many fragments.
During the time it was incomplete, although Lu Xuan could control all the fragments, there was still a slight sense of stagnation.
Now, even with more fragments, controlling them felt smooth and natural, like silk.
"The greatest value of this first-grade artifact, the Silver Splitting Blade, lies in its ability to split into fragments."
"If it attacks in blade form, it’s just a decent first-grade artifact. But if it suddenly splits into many fragments during a battle, the value skyrockets by two levels."
Lu Xuan twirled the silver-white blade, performing several sword moves, reluctant to part with it.
This was also the best method he had at this stage to deal with Qin Ming.
All six talismans were first-grade talismans, and no new types of talismans appeared.
Lu Xuan carefully stored them away. First-grade talismans already had the ability to harm mid-level Qi training cultivators, and if he had enough of them…
All fear comes from insufficient firepower!
Looking at the many talismans he had collected recently, Lu Xuan felt a bit more at ease.
In addition, he had three first-grade Pills of Primordial Nourishment.
The two excellent moon-eroding fruits yielded two first-grade pill recipes for the Pill of Primordial Nourishment.
After absorbing them, Lu Xuan felt he had a wealth of theoretical knowledge about refining the Pill of Primordial Nourishment.
It was as if, even without practical experience, he had already read countless texts, making his theoretical knowledge quite solid.
For the next ten days or so, everything was calm, with no disturbances.
It seemed Qin Ming had completely forgotten about Lu Xuan.
However, Lu Xuan didn’t dare to be careless and remained cautious every day.
Every day, apart from tending to the spiritual plants in the yard, he stayed inside, keeping the door closed.
The Spirit Firefly Grass in his spiritual field had been planted for quite some time. Under his meticulous care, several Spirit Firefly Grasses reached maturity over the past ten days.
Lu Xuan harvested six Spirit Firefly Grasses, four of which were of good quality, and two were of excellent quality.
From the moment he planted the spirit seeds, he provided them with the best nurturing conditions based on their immediate state, and the effort paid off, increasing the chances of producing excellent quality.
Among the six light orbs that appeared, three rewards were for months of cultivation.
"Harvested one Spirit Firefly Grass, received six months of cultivation." *2
"Harvested one Spirit Firefly Grass, received nine months of cultivation."
In a flash, Lu Xuan felt a surge of spiritual energy within him, wildly coursing through his meridians.
It felt like breaking through a non-existent barrier, and the spiritual energy gradually calmed down.
"Finally broke through to the fourth layer of Qi training."
A satisfied smile appeared on Lu Xuan's face.
After breaking through to the third layer of Qi training for a while, Lu Xuan had been diligently practicing. With the addition of the three new light orbs, he gained nearly two years of cultivation, allowing him to break through and become a mid-level Qi training cultivator.
(End of Chapter)