Lu Xuan ultimately decided not to buy the few young Colorful Brocade Chickens. Although he felt a strange connection to them, their two-and-a-half-year maturation period made him hesitate, and he reluctantly gave up. His main goal in raising spiritual beasts was to obtain White Light Orbs, and in that time, he could raise first or even second-grade spiritual beasts to maturity. Spending that time on these little chicks felt like a waste.
After leaving the stall, he continued to wander around. Eventually, he made a significant find. At one stall, he discovered a very rare first-grade spirit seed, the Pure Snow Lotus. While it was a first-grade plant, it was extremely rare, and its growing conditions were known to be quite demanding among Spiritual Plant Cultivators.
Once matured, the seeds of the Pure Snow Lotus could help cultivators maintain clarity of mind for a certain period, preventing them from being eroded by evil spirits. It was also a key ingredient for a second-grade pill known as the Spirit Nourishing Pill, which could slightly enhance the spiritual awareness of Qi Refining cultivators.
Lu Xuan haggled a bit and finally bought the pure white spirit seed for seven spirit stones. Even though it was a first-grade seed, its price was much higher than that of the Red Cloud Pine or Blood Jade Ginseng, showing how valuable the Pure Snow Lotus was.
Back in his yard, he placed the Pure Snow Lotus seed into the Spiritual Spring Pool. Using his spiritual power, he employed the Earth Summoning Technique, which he had mastered, to draw the white seed into the spiritual soil without changing the structure of the spring. After successfully planting it, Lu Xuan focused his mind on the seed resting in the shallow layer of the spiritual soil.
A thought flashed through his mind: “Cold ice rain patters randomly on the lotus…” The Pure Snow Lotus was difficult to grow not only because it needed an environment similar to a spiritual spring but also required nourishing from spirit rain that contained icy energy to thrive.
After practicing his Spirit Rain Technique countless times, Lu Xuan had reached a high level of mastery. However, infusing it with icy energy was still quite challenging for him. He had learned some basic ice techniques early on in his training, but due to his average talent, he eventually gave up on them, focusing instead on the Spirit Rain Technique and Fireball Technique. Later, he obtained the Earth Summoning Technique and Gengjin Sword Art from the White Light Orb but did not get any experience with ice techniques.
After many attempts, he managed to release a Spirit Rain Technique infused with a hint of icy energy, showering it over the Pure Snow Lotus seed. After practicing for several days, the success rate of his technique improved slightly, and he sensed that the white seed in the Spiritual Spring Pool was undergoing a quiet change.
One day, while Lu Xuan was nurturing his spiritual plants, he heard a somewhat familiar voice from outside the yard. “Lu Dao You, are you home?”
Lu Xuan recalled the voice and remembered its owner. After establishing a cooperative relationship with the Hundred Herbs Hall, he had visited twice: once to sell some leftover Spirit Firefly Grass and once to report on the growth of his spiritual plants. He had met a few Spiritual Plant Cultivators during those visits, and the voice belonged to one of them, Lei Fei, who was at the third layer of Qi Refining. Because they lived nearby, he had spoken with him a bit more.
Lu Xuan opened the yard door and stepped out. He saw Lei Fei and a somewhat gloomy-looking cultivator behind him. “Hello, Lu Dao You. This is Li Qing, my longtime friend.”
“This is Lu Xuan, who has a good talent for growing spiritual plants and has established a cooperative relationship with the Hundred Herbs Hall at a young age,” Lei Fei introduced them to each other.
Lu Xuan greeted them and led the two inside. “Lu Xuan, we came here because we have something to discuss. Li Qing and I would like to invite you to join us in the South Li Secret Realm to search for spiritual medicine.”
After some small talk, Lei Fei got straight to the point. “Entering the secret realm? With our three third-layer Qi Refining cultivations, isn’t that quite dangerous?” Lu Xuan asked directly.
Secret realms can be naturally formed or left behind from ancient times, usually filled with various treasures like spiritual medicine, techniques, and artifacts, but they often come with significant risks, including mysterious evil spirits and terrifying beasts. Most spiritual plants and beasts need to grow in pure or special spiritual energy environments, making them rare in ordinary wild areas.
When secret realms from ancient times open, many rare treasures appear, attracting countless cultivators who rush in like moths to a flame, hoping to find a bit of luck. For example, the newly discovered secret realm had drawn many forces from Linyang Market Town and thousands of casual cultivators, all seeking a chance at something elusive.
Large sects in the cultivation world often occupy cave heavens and blessed lands on their own, creating small worlds without having to fight over meager resources like ordinary cultivators do.
Seeing Lu Xuan’s concerns about safety, Lei Fei explained, “The South Li Secret Realm has been explored for hundreds of years, and the evil spirits and beasts inside have been mostly cleared out, so we rarely encounter them.”
“Also, we only plan to explore the outskirts of the secret realm and won’t go deep inside. While we can’t guarantee absolute safety, there shouldn’t be any major issues.”
“Though both of you are Spiritual Plant Cultivators, you shouldn’t settle for mediocrity; you should strive for more,” he advised Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan pondered for a moment and asked, “But going to the secret realm will take quite a bit of time, both on the way and inside, right? Wouldn’t that delay the cultivation of my spiritual plants?”
“We’ll use a flying boat artifact, so the round trip will only take a day or two. Inside the secret realm, it might take longer, but we may not even find any spiritual medicine.”
“As for affecting the growth of your spiritual plants, in such a short time, how much of an impact could it have? You can continue planting when you get back.”
Lu Xuan remained silent but secretly scoffed. “It may not affect your plants much, but it could be different for mine.”
“Even if they seem to grow normally while I’m away for a few days, it’s likely I won’t get good quality or even top-quality spiritual plants.”
“I was hoping to grow a perfect-quality spiritual plant to see what kind of reward I’d get.”
Lei Fei replied honestly, “I’m sorry, Lei Dao You, but I’ve always focused my energy on nurturing spiritual plants. I’m not skilled in fighting and don’t have any artifacts or talismans with me. My third-layer Qi Refining level is just built up with pills.”
“So, for safety’s sake, I won’t join you two in exploring the South Li Secret Realm.” Lu Xuan politely declined.
“Alright, we respect your choice, Lu Dao You.” Lei Fei said, feeling a bit frustrated.
The two didn’t linger for long and left the yard, planning to invite other cultivators.
“This Lu Xuan is really too timid and afraid of trouble. With his third-layer Qi Refining level, he’s worried about danger in a secret realm that has been explored for hundreds of years.”
“He talks about delaying his cultivation of spiritual plants, but he only grows some Spirit Firefly Grass. What could be delayed?”
As soon as they stepped out, Lei Fei couldn’t help but complain. He had thought inviting a third-layer Qi Refining cultivator would be a sure thing, but getting turned down by Lu Xuan left him feeling quite irritated.
“Fine, if he doesn’t want to go, we’ll invite someone else.”
“Although he’s cautious, he’s being overly so. With this kind of attitude, it’ll be hard for him to find opportunities.”
“If he keeps this up, he’ll just be an ordinary Spiritual Plant Cultivator, easily pushed around.”
Li Qing glanced back at Lu Xuan’s courtyard, his tone laced with disdain.
(End of Chapter)