"Ripening..."

Lu Xuan focused on the Spirit Firefly Grass, and all fourteen plants showed that they were ripening.

"Faster! Higher! Stronger!!"

The black sword grass stood tall, giving Lu Xuan a feeling of uplifting spirit.

"When the flowers bloom, come see me..."

Inside the red needle leaves of the Red Cloud Pine, Lu Xuan saw several bright red flower clusters poking out.

After nurturing it for so long, the Red Cloud Pine finally bloomed.

"The air was filled with a smell more decayed than usual, with a hint of burnt scent, making it quite captivating."

On the rotten wood, the Dark Marrow Fungus, with its countless dark red filaments, clearly enjoyed the special fertilizer Lu Xuan added to the Spiritual Field last night.

After checking that each spiritual plant was growing well, he returned to the house.

Among the things left by Qin Ming, Lu Xuan directly used the storage bag and the two hundred Spirit Stones without hesitation.

As for the remaining flying sword artifacts and the unknown pills in bottles, he decided not to rush into using them for now.

After all, he didn’t know if there were hidden marks on the flying sword artifacts, so he planned to wait until things settled down before exchanging them for Spirit Stones or Spirit Seeds.

Days passed, and Lu Xuan stayed in the yard, taking care of the spiritual plants. It seemed relaxed and pleasant, but he was actually tense inside, worried about the possible consequences after killing Qin Ming.

Not noticing any cultivators intruding or spying on his yard, he relaxed a bit and stepped outside.

The yard’s Spiritual Field was too small, and since Steward He from Hundred Herbs Hall mentioned establishing a simple cooperation, Lu Xuan thought about renting a larger Spiritual Field.

He entered a shop that specifically served cultivators.

In the shop's hall, there were only a few people attending to customers or organizing things.

"Welcome, fellow cultivator."

A free salesperson saw a customer and quickly greeted him with a very warm smile.

"Oh, it’s Lu Xuan! Are you here to look at the Spiritual Fields again?"

This salesperson was the scarred young cultivator who had talked behind Lu Xuan last time. He remembered Lu Xuan well and his smile froze, emphasizing the word "again."

Lu Xuan nodded, his expression indifferent.

Seeing Lu Xuan’s attitude, the scarred cultivator’s eyes flashed with a hint of hidden mockery. He called out to a slightly chubby young cultivator nearby.

"Hey, this fellow cultivator wants to check out the Spiritual Fields. You take care of him."

He knew Lu Xuan was just a second-layer Qi Refining loose cultivator who couldn’t afford to rent those big courtyards. He didn’t want to waste time, so he directly called over a new worker.

The chubby young cultivator looked up and smiled at Lu Xuan.

"What do you need, fellow cultivator? I have plenty of Spiritual Fields that can meet your various needs."

"I want to see the Spiritual Field I was interested in before. Please take me there."

Lu Xuan explained which Spiritual Field he had looked at before and asked him to lead the way.

The chubby young cultivator nodded, and the two left the shop.

"Looking at those big Spiritual Fields again, what’s the use? You still can’t afford them."

The scarred young cultivator scoffed as he watched them leave, then turned back with an overly enthusiastic smile.

"Fellow cultivator, let me introduce you to that popular premium Spiritual Field..."

...

Lu Xuan first chose the courtyard that had a Spiritual Spring. Although it had the highest rent at sixty Spirit Stones a month, the attraction of the Spiritual Spring was just too strong.

More importantly, with the two hundred Spirit Stones from Qin Ming, Lu Xuan felt the price was reasonable.

The chubby young cultivator led him to the large courtyard and took out a special formation plate to open the protective formation outside.

"Lu Xuan, look, this courtyard is close to the market center, and the nearby residents are all well-known mid-level Qi Refining cultivators, so safety is guaranteed."

"The courtyard has over an acre of Spiritual Field, rich in spiritual energy, which can speed up the growth of spiritual plants. It's perfect for a Spiritual Plant Cultivator like you."

"Of course, the main attraction is this Spiritual Spring in the field. It continuously seeps out spring water with weak spiritual energy, which is great for brewing spirit wine or making spirit tea."

"Adding a little spring water when refining pills or artifacts can slightly improve their quality."

The chubby young cultivator pointed to the Spiritual Spring and explained to Lu Xuan.

The spring was about ten feet long and five feet wide, with a shallow layer of accumulated spring water inside.

"Will this spring always be here? It won’t dry up after using it, right?"

He asked the chubby cultivator his concern.

"Don’t worry, fellow cultivator. It’s said that the spring is closely connected to a branch vein of spiritual energy in the market, so it will keep seeping out, though not in large quantities."

"This can be written into the contract. If it doesn’t, we will provide you with sufficient compensation."

The chubby young cultivator smiled as he spoke.

"Can the price be lowered a bit? Sixty Spirit Stones a month seems a bit too high."

Lu Xuan skillfully played his old tricks.

"Well... I can’t decide the rent, but if you want to rent it, you can use the first-grade protective formation in the courtyard for free for a while."

The chubby young cultivator sighed inwardly, as any hope that Lu Xuan might rent it was quickly dashed.

"Sixty Spirit Stones..."

Lu Xuan pondered for a moment.

"Then I’ll take it!"

"If you think sixty Spirit Stones a month is too expensive, you can also check out a nearby courtyard."

The chubby young cultivator replied with a smile, sounding almost mechanical.

"Ah...?"

He suddenly realized something, looked up at Lu Xuan, his eyes half hopeful and half doubtful.

Lu Xuan smiled faintly and nodded.

"Thank you, fellow cultivator! Thank you! I’ll take care of everything right away!!"

In the shop.

The scarred cultivator lounged on a wooden chair, gently rocking back and forth, clearly in a good mood.

Just then, the chubby young cultivator rushed in.

"Back already? Did that loose cultivator not want you to show him more Spiritual Fields?"

He looked at the chubby young cultivator rushing to the counter, his tone laced with mockery.

"No, he only looked at one."

The chubby young cultivator didn’t even look up as he replied casually.

"Well, at least he has a bit of conscience and didn’t waste too much of your time."

"Yeah, Lu Xuan was really nice. He looked at one Spiritual Field and quickly decided to rent it, even paid the deposit."

"Huh?"

The scarred cultivator thought he heard wrong, and the rocking chair stopped abruptly.

The chubby young cultivator looked up, revealing a goofy smile.

"The one for sixty Spirit Stones a month."

With a crash, the chair lost control and fell to the ground.

(End of Chapter)