"Second-grade spiritual plant?"
Hearing the thin old man's words, Lu Xuan straightened up, his expression serious.
"That's right. This is a second-grade Pure Wondrous Tea seedling. Once matured, the tea leaves have the effect of clearing the mind and enhancing wisdom. They can resist many types of evil spirits to some extent, making them very popular among mid to high-level practitioners."
"I have six seedlings in hand. Three of them must be given to other spiritual plant cultivators in the hall. The remaining three, if you're willing, I can sell to you at a low price."
"I would definitely like that."
Lu Xuan quickly agreed.
"Thank you, Elder He, for giving me this opportunity."
He stood up and bowed to the thin old man.
"This is something you've earned yourself. If I didn't see that you could reliably grow high-quality spiritual plants, I wouldn't have given them to you."
Steward He looked at Lu Xuan, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.
"Before I hand them over, I have a small question to confirm."
"Is the spiritual energy concentration and area of the spiritual field you have sufficient? Pure Wondrous Tea is quite demanding; it doesn't allow other spiritual plants nearby and requires a lot of spiritual energy."
"No problem."
Lu Xuan replied firmly.
There was still a small area left in the yard's spiritual field, and planting three second-grade spiritual plants shouldn't be an issue. The spiritual energy was much richer and purer than the initial section of the spiritual field, plus there was a spiritual spring for irrigation.
More importantly, he could always monitor the plants' conditions and make subtle adjustments according to their needs.
With all these factors combined, planting three second-grade spiritual plants was naturally not a problem.
"That's good. Wait here a moment; I'll be right back."
In the inner courtyard of Hundred Herbs Hall, in a spacious and bright room, three spiritual plant cultivators sat on wooden chairs, shifting around, clearly feeling uneasy.
"Why is Steward He so stubborn? He just won't let go of those three Pure Wondrous Tea seedlings."
"Calm down, Daoist Zhou. There aren't many here who are more suitable to grow Pure Wondrous Tea than us."
"Exactly. We've been working with Hundred Herbs Hall for many years, and each of us has rich experience in cultivating spiritual plants. If he doesn't give them to us, who else could he give them to? Steward He is just trying to get a better deal."
The three comforted each other, sipping on the now-cold spiritual tea, forcing themselves to stay calm.
Before long, Steward He entered the room.
"Elder He!" they all exclaimed in unison, standing up to greet him warmly.
"You three should head back. I've already told you that Pure Wondrous Tea has a suitable candidate. Why make things difficult for me?"
Hearing this, the three men’s expressions changed.
After a long pause, a dark-skinned middle-aged cultivator asked Steward He, "May I ask which spiritual plant cultivator you plan to give the Pure Wondrous Tea to? Is it Old Shen from the West District? Although he has experience, he is old and weak; I fear he won't be able to successfully cultivate the tea."
"No, it's a young man, not yet twenty, in his prime."
"Pfft!"
One of the cultivators couldn't help but spray out the cold tea he hadn't swallowed yet.
"Elder He, are you losing your mind? Giving such an important second-grade spiritual plant to a boy under twenty?"
"Wouldn't that be a one-way trip, losing three second-grade seedlings for nothing?"
The thin old man sneered at their words.
"You three have been working with Hundred Herbs Hall for quite some time. Can you tell me how many years you've been cultivating spiritual medicine?"
"Twenty years."
"I'll take two years off, eighteen years."
"I humbly say, I've been at it for twenty-five years."
The last cultivator smiled proudly as he spoke. "So, when growing the most sought-after Spirit Firefly Grass, how much high-quality mature spiritual grass do you manage to obtain?"
"I previously estimated that about thirty percent of the Spirit Firefly Grass I grew was of ordinary quality, about fifty percent was good quality, and the remaining twenty percent was of superior quality."
The other two cultivators had similar results.
"And what about perfect quality?"
Steward He asked slowly.
"Perfect quality? That's not easy at all. The requirements for both the cultivator and the spiritual field's energy are too high. For a loose cultivator, it's something you can only hope for."
"Is that so?"
The thin old man smirked slightly.
"But that young man has been growing spiritual plants for less than three years. Recently, he brought over less than forty Spirit Firefly Grass, with the lowest being of good quality and even eight of perfect quality."
"How is that possible?!"
The dark-skinned middle-aged cultivator blurted out, his tone filled with shock.
"How is it not possible? All the Spirit Firefly Grass has been personally checked by me. Are you saying I have poor judgment?"
Steward He frowned, his words sharp.
The dark-skinned middle-aged cultivator hesitated, his lips moving, but he ultimately didn't voice a rebuttal.
What Steward He said was too unbelievable for him. He himself was a spiritual plant cultivator with over twenty years of experience, fully aware of how rare it was to cultivate perfect quality spiritual plants.
And that young man, with just over thirty Spirit Firefly Grass, had managed to produce eight perfect quality ones; it was hard for him to accept.
But Steward He spoke with such certainty that he had no choice but to believe it.
The three exchanged glances, seeing the confusion and helplessness in each other's eyes.
"May I ask if Steward He could introduce us to that young spiritual plant cultivator?"
One of them asked, lowering his head.
"He's right here in Hundred Herbs Hall. If you have doubts, you can go see for yourselves."
Steward He noticed their attitude and realized they were already half convinced. He thought it would be good to introduce Lu Xuan to them, helping him make more connections with fellow spiritual plant cultivators.
The three hurried to the hall and quickly spotted the handsome young man calmly standing by the edge of a wooden cabinet.
"May I ask if you are Daoist Lu Xuan?"
The dark-skinned middle-aged cultivator approached the young man and bowed respectfully.
"That's right, it's me."
Lu Xuan returned the greeting.
"Truly a dragon among men. It's only natural that you can cultivate perfect quality Spirit Firefly Grass."
The middle-aged cultivator glanced at the wooden cabinet and saw more than twenty excellent Spirit Firefly Grass plants, his last bit of hesitation vanished.
"You're being too kind. It was just luck. I still need to learn from all of you how to cultivate spiritual plants."
Lu Xuan replied politely.
The three exchanged looks, a hint of bitter smiles on their faces.
"Daoist Lu, please don't jest. You are the one who has cultivated perfect quality spiritual plants; what could you possibly need to learn from us?"
After a moment's hesitation, one of them asked quietly, "Daoist Lu, may I ask how you managed to cultivate perfect quality Spirit Firefly Grass?"
"How to cultivate perfect quality Spirit Firefly Grass?"
Lu Xuan's expression turned awkward as he rubbed his thumb and index finger together, finally letting out a sigh.
"That's a secret not to be shared; it's really inconvenient to disclose to others."
(End of Chapter)