Lu Xuan was busy preparing dinner, so he only chatted a little with Xu Wan before heading into the kitchen.
By the edge of the spiritual spring, Zhang Xiuyuan was peeking in, staring at the Red Whiskered Carps swimming leisurely in the water. He occasionally reached out his small hand, hesitating to grab the two long red whiskers, but in the end, he lacked the courage and quickly pulled back.
"This is the Red Whiskered Carp. It's not aggressive. Aren't its whiskers beautiful?" Steward He had appeared beside him, explaining the origins of the fish.
"They're beautiful! I didn't expect Uncle Lu to raise three such pretty spirit fish. That's impressive!" The child exclaimed sincerely.
Xu Wan, standing behind him, nodded quietly. Unlike her son, who only cared about how the fish looked, she thought of much more. With such a large spiritual field and a spiritual spring, she found it hard to imagine the amount of spirit stones needed to support it.
She didn't often interact with Lu Xuan, and her impressions of him came mostly from her husband, Zhang Hong. From what Zhang Hong had told her, Lu Xuan had ordinary talent, a quiet personality, and wasn't good at socializing, but he had a kind heart and worked hard at his cultivation and growing spiritual plants. He was just a decent, ordinary Spiritual Plant Cultivator.
Now, however, he was not only helping clear pests from his own place but also helping Zhang Xiuyuan earn spirit stones. Plus, there was that fight the other night, and the financial ability to rent such a courtyard. All of this made her feel a bit confused.
"Lu Xuan has changed a lot lately. I never expected that such a quiet, stubborn, and stingy boy would grow to this point without me noticing," remarked a thin old man nearby, a look of satisfaction on his face.
"Dinner's ready!" Lu Xuan's voice called from a distance.
"Braised Spiny Boar Meat!"
"Stir-fried Man Beef!"
"Hand-teared Green Spirit Leaves!"
Delicious dishes were brought to the table, filling the air with a wonderful aroma.
"Wow! It smells so good!" Zhang Xiuyuan said dramatically, causing Lu Xuan to get lost in his compliments.
Steward He and Xu Wan were more reserved, but their occasional glances at the dishes showed they were also attracted by the food.
Lu Xuan served each of them a steaming bowl of spirit rice and poured them each a bowl of orange-yellow spirit brew.
"Thanks to Steward He, Sister Zhang, and little Yuan for coming to celebrate my new home. Cheers!"
Steward He and Xu Wan offered their blessings, and the four of them drank together.
As the spirit brew went down, it first felt spicy, then a rich warmth spread through their bodies.
"Glug!" Zhang Xiuyuan's stomach made a noise after he set down his bowl, making Lu Xuan and the others chuckle.
"Let’s eat, everyone, no need to hold back."
Both the spirit beast meat and spirit rice were worth their price, delicious and filled with a hint of spiritual energy. The four of them dug in, finishing all the food on the table.
After a short break, Xu Wan and her son, along with Steward He, said their goodbyes. Steward He lived nearby and was stronger than Xu Wan and her son, so he went home alone.
Xu Wan and Zhang Xiuyuan lived on the edge of the northern district, where things were mixed, and since they were not very strong, Lu Xuan escorted them home.
By the time they returned, it was already late at night. The sky was dark, and the stars were few.
Lu Xuan took off the talismans and the Silver Splitting Blade from his sleeves and looked at the night sky, feeling hopeful about his future.
The next day, as dawn broke, Lu Xuan was already up. After practicing for a while in bed, he washed up and went to the spiritual field through the light mist.
In the spiritual spring, three Red Whiskered Carps swam in a triangular formation. Lu Xuan focused his mind on them.
A thought crossed his mind. "Drinking water every day, how can you grow big?"
"Having spiritual spring water to drink and still being unsatisfied."
Lu Xuan muttered to himself and ran back inside, grabbing a handful of spirit rice.
It seemed the carps sensed the weak spiritual energy from the rice, and their swimming speed noticeably quickened, moving along with Lu Xuan.
He scattered a small portion of the rice, and immediately, the water surface rippled, the six long red whiskers appearing and disappearing like fine threads.
After a few breaths, the water calmed, and the three Red Whiskered Carps slowly swam, their heads always tilted toward Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan focused his mind on the carps. "Please, just a bit more rice!"
A thought flashed in his mind, and he scattered another small handful of spirit rice.
The water surface stirred again.
Lu Xuan poured all the spirit rice into the spring, and the Red Whiskered Carps devoured every last grain.
Once they were full, the carps stopped circling around Lu Xuan, taking on a cool demeanor as if they didn’t care about anyone.
Lu Xuan then checked on the various spiritual plants in the field. He adjusted the Blood Jade Ginseng spirit seeds that had shifted position and supplied the Spirit Firefly Grass with the right amount of spirit rain to ensure they got the best nourishment.
After that, Lu Xuan expanded his spiritual sense to its maximum, carefully searching through every piece of spiritual soil.
"I found you."
Using the Earth Summoning Technique, the soil shifted slightly, and a small gray-white bug was squeezed out.
He continued searching and found several other small bugs of different shapes, even uncovering a tiny, colorful strange bug from the soil.
These little bugs hid in the spiritual soil, and when they emerged, the larvae would feed on the spiritual plants' leaves, affecting their normal growth.
These bugs could come from many sources: some were eggs hidden in the soil, some were accidentally brought into the spiritual field, and some strange bugs were very elusive, able to slip through protective formations and invade the field.
As a Spiritual Plant Cultivator, one must regularly check the spiritual soil in their field, taking action before these strange bugs could harm the spiritual plants.
Since he had just moved to this new spiritual field and had been busy, today was the first time he began a large-scale bug hunt.
After thoroughly searching the spiritual field with his spiritual sense, Lu Xuan finally found seven larvae.
He took the larvae to the edge of the spiritual spring, grabbed a plump white bug, and tossed it into the center of the spring.
A long red whisker shot out like lightning, wrapping around the white bug and pulling it into the carp's mouth.
"Wow, that was quick!"
Lu Xuan watched the Red Whiskered Carp savoring the larvae and found it quite amusing.
The other two carps, swimming from a distance, also moved closer, following Lu Xuan's hand movements.
Another larvae was dropped.
All six red whiskers shot out together, competing for the larvae.
Then, almost simultaneously, they retracted back to the carp's head, with one lucky whisker wrapping around the larvae and pulling it into its mouth.
Lu Xuan's playful side kicked in, and he either tossed a larvae high into the air or faked a move to entice the red whiskers.
After the last strange bug was eaten, he still felt a bit unsatisfied.
"Haha, the whiskers next to that carp's head look like fishing lines. It seems that while people fish, the fish are also fishing for bugs. This is interesting."
(End of Chapter)