After catching three Three-Tailed Red-Bearded Carps, Lu Xuan returned to his courtyard.
He went to the edge of the Spiritual Spring, and the fish in the bag looked a bit sluggish after the bumpy ride. Their long red whiskers drooped weakly on either side of their heads.
“Time to give you a fancy new home!” Lu Xuan said, a hint of bitterness in his voice, as he poured the Three-Tailed Red-Bearded Carps into the spring.
If the spring were a bit bigger and deeper, he would want to soak in it himself.
At first, the carps seemed a bit out of place in the spring, but soon, the faint spiritual energy in the water revitalized them. They began to swim around, their delicate red whiskers gracefully floating in the water.
Lu Xuan felt a spark of anticipation as he focused on one of the carps.
“The Three-Tailed Red-Bearded Carp is a low-grade spiritual beast, and it seems quite happy in its new environment. It would be even better if some Spirit Rice fell into the spring.”
A thought flashed through Lu Xuan’s mind.
“Great!”
He couldn’t hold back his excitement and pumped his fist in the air.
Since he could see the carps’ immediate state, he was confident that when they matured, a White Light Orb would likely appear.
Watching the three carps swim freely in the spring, Lu Xuan felt as if they were nurturing valuable treasures for him.
“It looks like I can raise more spiritual birds and beasts in the Spiritual Field or the spring.”
He made a silent decision.
Recalling the immediate state of the carps in his mind, he couldn’t help but laugh.
“Those little guys are still hoping for Spirit Rice to fall from the sky. If it did, it would probably land in my mouth first. I’ll just enjoy some of this spring water for now!”
He left the spring and inspected everything in the Spiritual Field.
In the area where the Blood Jade Ginseng was planted, Lu Xuan sensed with his spiritual awareness that the positions of twenty Blood Jade Ginseng seeds had shifted, with several pairs moving closer together.
He quickly used the Earth Summoning Technique to guide them back to their original spots, keeping them at a relatively safe distance.
One hundred Spirit Firefly Grasses had already started sprouting new shoots, their tender green stems sparsely spread across the spiritual soil, conveying a sense of vigorous growth.
The Spiritual Field was divided into several areas, one of which had slightly denser spiritual energy and was planted with relocated spiritual plants.
Among them, a second-grade Sword Grass occupied a large area of spiritual soil. Its straight, sword-like body occasionally emitted a hint of sword intent, so no other spiritual plants could grow nearby.
The first-grade Red Cloud Pine had increasingly vibrant clusters of flowers, with buds blooming beautifully.
Another second-grade Dark Marrow Fungus still accompanied decaying wood, with dense dark red mycelium absorbing the decayed spiritual energy within.
In a corner of the Spiritual Field, a Straw Puppet leaned against the wall, quietly getting used to its new environment.
The large hole in its chest was still very noticeable.
Lu Xuan approached it, feeling a bit reluctant, and took out a Spirit Stone.
To maintain the Straw Puppet’s functions, he usually only needed to provide a Spirit Fragment, but if he wanted it to recover on its own, a mere Spirit Fragment wouldn’t be enough.
He placed a Spirit Stone into the gray lump on the puppet’s head.
Then, a faint wave of spiritual energy emanated from the huge gray lump made of dry grass.
Next, two gray-black dry grasses floated out from its head, drifting slowly like willow fluff in the wind towards the large hole in its chest.
Starting from the edges of the hole, the two gray grasses began to weave in a cross shape, gradually filling in the large hole.
Lu Xuan couldn’t stand the slow pace of its weaving, so he moved to another part of the Spiritual Field and used the Spirit Rain Technique, along with the Earth Summoning Technique and Gengjin Sword Art as needed.
After nearly an hour, when he returned to the Straw Puppet, it was finally finishing up the job of filling in the hole in its chest.
The two gray-black dry grasses filled in the last gap and tied a slow knot, with a small piece of dry grass falling to the ground.
Lu Xuan could clearly feel that the puppet’s large head had shrunk a bit.
“It’s good that you’re back to normal. I still need you to guard the Spiritual Field.”
Even though the Spiritual Field was protected by a first-grade defense formation, Lu Xuan had grown accustomed to the Straw Puppet standing quietly in the corner and was willing to spend a Spirit Stone to heal it.
After all, he had only spent less than three Spirit Stones when he bought this second-hand Straw Puppet.
After inspecting the Spiritual Field, Lu Xuan opened the formation and headed to the scattered cultivator market.
Taking advantage of this opportunity to move into a new home, he planned to invite Xu Wan, Zhang Xiuyuan, and Steward He from Hundred Herbs Hall over for a visit to thank them for their previous care and support.
So, he went to the market to buy some Spirit Rice and spiritual beast meat to prepare a hearty meal.
In the market, there was a dedicated Spirit Rice shop selling several types of Spirit Rice. The lowest price was thirty Spirit Fragments per pound, while the most expensive was a type called Blood Tooth Rice, which was full-bodied and fragrant, costing four Spirit Stones per pound.
It was said that even more expensive varieties were available, specifically for the core members of big families in the market, and ordinary scattered cultivators couldn’t buy them no matter how many Spirit Stones they had.
After some thought, Lu Xuan ultimately bought ten pounds of Spirit Rice at thirty Spirit Fragments per pound and another two pounds at fifty Spirit Fragments per pound, spending a total of four Spirit Stones.
After purchasing the Spirit Rice, he went to the stall selling spiritual beast meat and bought two pounds of Spiny Boar Meat and three pounds of Wild Bull Meat.
He also bought over a pound of Green Spirit Leaves, which were jade-green in color and could be eaten after a light stir-fry, being crisp and tasty while enhancing the spiritual energy of low-grade Qi cultivation practitioners.
Finally, he bought some delicious food that didn’t contain spiritual energy, and with that, Lu Xuan returned home with a lot of bags.
Spending about ten Spirit Stones on all these ingredients was quite a splurge for the usually frugal Lu Xuan.
Once home, he began preparing the ingredients for dinner.
As evening approached, Lu Xuan was all set and guessed that Steward He and the others would be arriving soon.
Before long, he heard Steward He’s energetic voice from outside the courtyard.
“Lu kid, hurry up and open the door! I’m here to mooch a meal!”
Lu Xuan opened the courtyard door to see a lean old man holding a jug of wine.
“This Huangqu Wine has been brewed for ten years; it’s rich and smooth and can help nourish the body. Let’s enjoy a few cups together later.”
Steward He raised the wine jug.
“You, kid, quietly rented such a big courtyard. No wonder you were so greedy, swallowing so many Spirit Firefly Grass seeds and Blood Jade Ginseng seeds.”
He looked at the wide Spiritual Field, feeling emotional.
“Old He, find a spot to sit down. I’ll go prepare dinner.”
Lu Xuan instructed, then headed into the kitchen.
Before he could start cooking, Zhang Xiuyuan’s loud voice came from outside.
“Uncle Lu, I’m here with my mom!”
Lu Xuan went out to greet him, and the silly Zhang Xiuyuan jumped in, hugging his leg.
“Congratulations, Uncle Lu, on your new home! From now on, I’ll be clinging to you!”
Behind him, Xu Wan held a bamboo basket filled with spiritual fruits, smiling brightly.
(End of Chapter)