The sky had not yet brightened.
“Aw~~”
Lu Xuan, half asleep, suddenly heard a rough howl near his ear.
He jolted awake, the sleepiness gone in an instant. When he opened his eyes, he saw a Cloud Stepping Leopard cub staring coldly at him not far away.
“Was that howl from you? That’s a bit…”
“Too much of a contrast, right?”
Lu Xuan looked at the elegant and graceful cub sitting quietly on his bed, struggling to connect its refined appearance with the rough howl he just heard.
“Can you give me another howl?”
Lu Xuan asked, trying to coax it.
The Cloud Stepping Leopard ignored him, leaping lightly as if stepping on four clouds, landing gracefully on the ground.
With no other choice, Lu Xuan got out of bed. Just as he was about to wash up, he heard another ambiguous sound behind him.
“Aw…”
It was a clear sound, but due to its natural talent, Lu Xuan imagined a burly man trying hard to sound cute.
“That’s a nice howl, but don’t do it again next time.”
Lu Xuan casually remarked.
After washing up, he fed the cub some dried Spiny Boar Meat.
After buying the Cloud Stepping Leopard cub yesterday, he had established a simple master-servant contract with it.
This contract ensured a close connection between them, allowing for a certain level of understanding. If the spirit pet intended to harm the cultivator, the cultivator would notice immediately.
The contract was quite simple with relatively few restrictions. It was said that in some beast-taming sects, there were more complicated blood contracts. Once established, the cultivator could decide the life or death of the spirit pet with a thought, and if the cultivator died unexpectedly, the spirit pet would follow suit.
After breakfast, Lu Xuan went to the Spiritual Field to inspect every area.
In the Spiritual Spring Pool, the Pure Snow Lotus had grown several delicate white lotus leaves, proudly thriving in the mist, standing apart from the world.
Lu Xuan used the Spirit Rain Technique to sprinkle some cold spiritual energy over the leaves, making them appear even cooler.
A few Blood Jade Ginseng were misbehaving, trying to mingle together while Lu Xuan was resting at night.
He even saw two jade-like spirit ginseng moving towards a Blood Jade Ginseng from different directions.
“If I hadn’t caught you in time, wouldn’t you three be playing a ginseng game?”
Lu Xuan mocked them, using the Earth Summoning Technique to correct the positions of the two misaligned Blood Jade Ginseng.
The five pine nuts on the Red Cloud Pine had grown a bit larger, hinting at their readiness to be harvested.
In the area where Spirit Firefly Grass was planted, a hundred stalks had reached the final stage of maturity, each about a foot tall. Lu Xuan estimated that a few would produce light orbs in the next few days.
After inspecting the Spiritual Field, he returned to the edge of the Spiritual Spring with a few dug-up strange insects.
In the Spiritual Spring Pool, the Red Whiskered Carps swam around the Pure Snow Lotus, seemingly sensing a slight change in the spiritual energy around the lotus leaves.
“This scene could be summarized by those four lines of poetry in a way.”
“Fish play among the lotus leaves east, fish play among the lotus leaves west, fish play among the lotus leaves south, fish play among the lotus leaves north.”
“However, in the ancient poem, it describes dense lotus leaves with fish constantly surfacing, while here, the Red Whiskered Carps surround the Pure Snow Lotus, covering it from all sides.”
Lu Xuan thought to himself, tossing a plump strange insect into the spring.
Before Lu Xuan arrived, the Red Whiskered Carps had already sensed the food falling, each dragging a pair of long red whiskers, swimming towards him.
As soon as the insect was tossed, six long whiskers shot out simultaneously, attacking the falling insect.
Suddenly, a distinct black-and-white claw reached out from the edge of the spring, grabbing the six slender red whiskers.
The Red Whiskered Carp was pulled out of the shallow water by the claw.
Before Lu Xuan could scold it, the Cloud Stepping Leopard cub quickly released its grip, causing the Red Whiskered Carp to fall back into the spring.
At that moment, the Red Whiskered Carp, which had been using its long whiskers to catch insects, became much more obedient. It no longer dared to extend its whiskers towards Lu Xuan, waiting until the insect floated on the water before trying to snatch it.
Lu Xuan shot a glare at the Cloud Stepping Leopard cub nestled at the edge of the spring, sensing that catching fish was its instinct, and letting go instantly was following his advice.
The Cloud Stepping Leopard ignored Lu Xuan, silently prowling along the edge of the spring, waiting for the right moment to strike.
However, the Red Whiskered Carps had just suffered a loss and dared not extend their whiskers again.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The wounds on the Cloud Stepping Leopard had all scabbed over, and four stalks of Spirit Firefly Grass had matured in the Spiritual Field.
Perhaps due to the purer and richer spiritual energy in the field, along with Lu Xuan’s careful cultivation from the seed stage, the four matured stalks of Spirit Firefly Grass surprised him.
Among them, two were of high quality, and two were of perfect quality.
After harvesting the four stalks, four slightly flickering white light orbs were left behind.
Lu Xuan picked up the orbs one by one.
“Harvested a stalk of Spirit Firefly Grass, gained nine months of cultivation.”
“Harvested a stalk of Spirit Firefly Grass, gained a year of cultivation.”
Two thoughts flashed through Lu Xuan’s mind.
His spiritual energy surged wildly within him, rampaging through his meridians.
Lu Xuan circulated his technique, controlling the spiritual energy to flow within him. Once it gradually calmed down, a smile appeared on his face.
During this time, although he focused mainly on cultivating spiritual plants, he still practiced diligently in his spare time, though the spiritual energy in his body had barely moved.
He wasn’t anxious, as his talent was evident, and this speed of cultivation was normal.
More importantly, with the light orb rewards from the Spirit Firefly Grass, the daily hard work didn’t matter as much.
After all, the two stalks of Spirit Firefly Grass were almost equivalent to two years of his hard work.
“The Spirit Firefly Grass has been planted in three batches, and it’s clear that the quality at maturity greatly affects the light orb rewards.”
“I remember that ordinary quality gives three months of cultivation, good quality gives six months, high quality gives nine months, and perfect quality gives a year.”
He thought to himself and continued to pick up the third white light orb.
“Harvested a stalk of Spirit Firefly Grass, gained the Wood Growth Technique.”
A thought flashed through his mind.
“Wood Growth Technique, a wood-type technique, can condense wood-type spiritual energy and speed up the growth of spiritual plants to some extent.”
“Finally, a new technique has appeared.”
Following the Earth Summoning Technique and Gengjin Sword Art, the light orb from the Spirit Firefly Grass had brought a third technique.
This Wood Growth Technique was similar to the Earth Summoning Technique, both being unranked techniques. It wasn’t as powerful as the Gengjin Sword Art, but it suited Lu Xuan better.
“Just learning to speed up growth is better than nothing. Once I absorb a few more experience packages of the Wood Growth Technique, it should significantly shorten the growth time of spiritual plants.”
Lu Xuan thought to himself.
The last white light orb was also from the perfect quality Spirit Firefly Grass.
As the orb vanished, a talisman appeared in Lu Xuan's hand.
The material of the talisman was different from ordinary talismans; it seemed to be made of metal, with numerous fine sword marks carved into it.
“Ten Thousand Sword Qi Talisman, a second-grade talisman. When used, it is equivalent to a full-force strike from a high-level Qi Refining cultivator, extremely powerful.”
“A second-grade talisman!”
Lu Xuan felt a surge of joy. First-grade and second-grade talismans both belong to the Qi Refining category. Most first-grade talismans are equivalent to a full-force strike from a low-level Qi Refining cultivator, while some good ones can reach mid-level Qi Refining. Second-grade talismans, on the other hand, are mostly equivalent to a strike from a high-level Qi Refining cultivator.
For Lu Xuan at this moment, it could be considered a trump card.
(End of Chapter)