"The Gengjin Sword Art, a first-tier technique, nurtures gold-type sword energy within the acupoints using a special method. When activated, it moves as swiftly as the wind and has great lethality."
A first-tier technique, I didn’t expect to find such a treasure inside the light orb...
Lu Xuan's mind momentarily drifted away.
Currently, he had mastered three techniques: the Fireball Technique, the Spirit Rain Technique, and the recently acquired Earth Summoning Technique from the white light orb. These three techniques were all basic and, strictly speaking, just shallow applications of spiritual energy.
Although the Gengjin Sword Art was the lowest tier, Lu Xuan was already very satisfied.
It’s important to know that even among mid-level and high-level practitioners, first-tier techniques are not something everyone has.
He stood still, following the path that appeared in his mind, and slowly gathered his spiritual energy.
Soon, a faint golden stream about three inches long and finger-width burst forth from his body, quickly flying towards the stone wall and slicing a black thorn in half.
Lu Xuan walked over and picked up the smooth-cut piece of thorn, secretly amazed by the lethality of the faint golden sword energy.
Although the black thorn wasn't a spiritual plant, it was very tough. Lu Xuan had previously experimented with the Fireball Technique and it took a long time to burn through the thorn.
Comparing the two techniques, the Gengjin Sword Art was much cleaner and its lethality was clearly more than double.
"I just started practicing, so it takes too long to use the sword technique, and its power is greatly reduced."
"With such a powerful technique, I’ll need to practice diligently in the future."
"Of course, it would be even better if I could get an extra Gengjin Sword Art as experience."
Lu Xuan looked at the remaining fifteen Spirit Firefly Grasses and couldn’t help but think.
He placed the harvested Spirit Firefly Grasses into a jade box, planning to go out again.
He currently had nine mature Spirit Firefly Grasses, six of ordinary quality and three of good quality.
The jade box was limited in space, and there was no room left for more spiritual plants. To avoid losing the spiritual energy of the Spirit Firefly Grasses, he needed to sell these nine quickly.
At the same time, his spiritual field had opened up quite a bit, and with the remaining Spirit Firefly Grasses about to mature, Lu Xuan planned to use the spirit stones he earned to buy some spirit seeds.
If he had enough spirit stones, he would see if he could find a low-level protective formation at the market.
The appearance of the white light orb in the spiritual field greatly increased its importance. Lu Xuan was worried that some practitioners or spirit beasts might sneak in and steal or harm the spiritual plants in the field, affecting the richness of the white light orb.
He reminded the straw puppet a few times to keep an eye on the place, then left the courtyard with the jade box containing the Spirit Firefly Grasses.
As soon as he stepped outside, he bumped into Zhang Hong, who was returning from the market.
"Little brother Lu, where are you off to?" Zhang Hong called out with a hearty laugh upon seeing Lu Xuan.
"Hello, Brother Zhang. I plan to go check out the market," Lu Xuan replied.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, he learned that Zhang Hong had just returned from the market, where he bought several protective talismans in preparation for the upcoming secret realm exploration.
"Don’t you want to join me in exploring that new secret realm in the wild?" Zhang Hong asked, not giving up.
"Thank you for your kindness, Brother Zhang, but I'm not interested. I just want to be an ordinary and steady Spiritual Plant Cultivator," Lu Xuan firmly declined.
"Well, that’s too bad. I was hoping that if we teamed up, we could look out for each other after getting to know each other for so long," Zhang Hong said regretfully.
"Wish you many encounters and a safe return on your journey, Brother Zhang," Lu Xuan sincerely wished him well.
They parted ways.
Lu Xuan walked to the market and noticed that there were many more practitioners than usual.
Defensive talismans had become hot commodities, and healing pills were in high demand. As soon as they appeared, many practitioners rushed to buy them, even though the prices were significantly higher than usual. The supply still couldn’t meet the demand.
"It seems the news about the Wang family preparing to explore a new secret realm has spread throughout Linyang Market Town."
"So many mid-level and low-level practitioners want to grab a piece of the pie. I wonder how many will gain opportunities and how many will become stepping stones for others."
Feeling the restlessness in the market, Lu Xuan remained unfazed and quietly observed.
He lingered in the market for a while, paying attention to every bit of information around him and occasionally asking the stall owners about things. Finally, he turned down a few streets and arrived at a medicine shop called "Hundred Herbs Hall."
The shop owner was an alchemist who had a high demand for various alchemical materials. Lu Xuan had sold the spiritual medicines he grew to this shop before, and the prices were fair.
Upon entering the shop, a strong herbal scent greeted him. Lu Xuan walked straight into a wooden room.
Inside the room were various spiritual medicines piled high, and several medicine boys were busy attending to them.
"Little Lu, back to sell Spirit Firefly Grasses again?" A thin old man spotted Lu Xuan and greeted him, noticing his bulging chest.
"Yes, Steward He. Some Spirit Firefly Grasses have matured, and I’ve come to sell them to your shop," Lu Xuan replied.
The thin old man was a relative of the alchemist and usually helped manage some of the shop's affairs. Lu Xuan had to deal with him to sell the Spirit Firefly Grasses, and they were somewhat familiar with each other.
"How many do you have?"
"Nine. What’s the price for Spirit Firefly Grasses now?" Lu Xuan asked as he took out the jade box.
"It’s still the old price, three low-grade spirit stones each."
"Steward He, that’s not very fair, is it?" Hearing the old man’s answer, Lu Xuan hesitated, pulling back the hand that was reaching forward with the jade box.
"I’ve heard that many Spiritual Plant Cultivators in the northern district have suffered from pest damage recently, and the yield is lower than usual."
"Word is spreading in the market that the Wang family in the central area is going to explore a new secret realm, causing the prices of healing pills to rise significantly."
"Spirit Firefly Grasses are the main ingredient for making healing pills, and to keep the price the same as before is just too unfair to us honest scattered cultivators."
"You little rascal, your cultivation level isn't high, but your nose is quite sharp," Steward He laughed and scolded, then straightened his expression and said, "One Spirit Firefly Grass is three spirit stones and twenty spirit fragments. No negotiation."
Lu Xuan pondered for a moment, knowing that this was already a fair price.
"Is the price for the good quality Spirit Firefly Grasses the same?"
"Oh?" The thin old man looked up, surprised.
"You actually grew good quality Spirit Firefly Grasses? Let me see."
High-quality raw materials can slightly improve the success rate and effectiveness of pills, making them very popular among alchemists.
"Indeed, they are good quality Spirit Firefly Grasses."
"You’re young, and the spiritual energy in your field is thin, so being able to grow such quality plants is quite impressive."
"Then, for these three good quality Spirit Firefly Grasses, I’ll buy them at the price of three spirit stones and fifty spirit fragments each. How does that sound?"
Lu Xuan quickly nodded, realizing that this was just a slight increase over the ordinary ones. Since it wasn't top-tier or perfect quality, getting an extra thirty spirit fragments per plant was already quite good.
He handed over the nine Spirit Firefly Grasses to the thin old man, who carefully examined them without being overly picky. He counted out the spirit stones and handed them to Lu Xuan.
For six ordinary Spirit Firefly Grasses and three good quality ones, Lu Xuan received a total of twenty-nine low-grade spirit stones and seventy spirit fragments.
He carefully tucked them into his waist, feeling the coolness of the spirit stones through his clothes, and his heart was filled with excitement.
(End of Chapter)