In the end, the two Spiritual Plant Cultivators from Hundred Herbs Hall decided not to take a gamble. They sold their mutated second-grade spiritual plants to Lu Xuan at a low price.
Lu Xuan received a total of fourteen mutated spiritual plants this time, including twelve first-grade and two second-grade plants. He spent fifty-six spirit stones on these plants and paid Steward He an additional twenty spirit stones as a reward, totaling seventy-six spirit stones. His wealth dropped below three hundred spirit stones again.
However, Lu Xuan was confident that he could earn more. He took the mutated spiritual plants back to his courtyard. First, he set up a formation to isolate the mutated plants with a spreading mist, then examined each one.
He burned the ones that were dying or required too much effort to recover, knowing they would lead to losses. In the end, he was left with eight plants that had potential for recovery—seven were first-grade and one was second-grade. Although he felt he could save the second-grade plant, it would require a lot of spirit stones and effort, so he decided to give up on it.
After a busy half-day, he finally cleared the roots of the eight plants. Next, he just needed to put in a little effort to help them grow. Since the plants were severely damaged, even with careful nurturing, their quality couldn't be improved in a short time. Lu Xuan let them grow in the spiritual field and periodically used the Spirit Rain Technique to ensure they received enough nourishment.
Five days passed quickly. During this time, Lu Xuan stayed in the courtyard, focusing on nurturing the spiritual plants and taking care of the spiritual beasts. The Three-Tailed Red-Bearded Carp grew fatter each day, its two long red whiskers trailing behind as it swam through the water.
In the center of the spiritual spring pool, a first-grade Pure Snow Lotus had developed a small flower bud among its white leaves, radiating a sense of purity under the nourishing water. The bottle of Blood Python Blood brought by the snake catcher, Yu Jie, still had a little left. The Flood Dragon Vine, well-fed with the python blood, was no longer wilted like when it was first planted; it was now plump and vibrant, with glossy black vines.
Lu Xuan noticed that the vines had grown about half an inch longer than before. "Cultivating third-grade plants is not easy. A whole bottle of second-grade Blood Python Blood only helped it grow this little bit," he sighed to himself.
The third-grade Phantom Smoke Fruit was easier to please, always hiding within its own emitted smoke, making it hard to find. Among the plants nearing maturity, the first-grade Blood Jade Ginseng was becoming increasingly restless. When Lu Xuan was slightly distracted, they crowded around each other, looking as if they wanted to either drain each other dry or be drained themselves.
Lu Xuan had to check on them every half hour, even at night. To ensure the quality of the Blood Jade Ginseng when it matured, he had to be strict and let the twenty plants behave like ordinary ginseng for their whole lives.
The second-grade Sword Grass and Dark Marrow Fungus were much easier to manage. As the Sword Grass approached maturity, its straight body became more restrained, with only fine sword marks in the spiritual soil indicating its previous sharpness. The Dark Marrow Fungus, on the other hand, had completely filled the wooden shelter Lu Xuan built for it with dark red mycelium, resembling countless tiny blood vessels forming a dense web.
Lu Xuan remained calm and focused on improving the quality of the spiritual plants, patiently waiting for them to mature. In his spare time, he would visit Wu Wenjing next door, who enjoyed a drink, and share a cup with him.
Since the law enforcement cultivators wiped out Wang Shan, his courtyard had been empty. Lu Xuan rarely encountered his other neighbors, knowing that they were either diligently cultivating or out seeking opportunities. Only he and Wu Wenjing had developed a bit of friendship, one seeking peace in retirement and the other engrossed in planting.
At Wu Wenjing's home, the old man sighed as he put down his white jade cup. "This world is getting tougher. I can't even enjoy my old age in the market town."
"I had hoped to improve my skills, so I bought this house in Linyang Market Town to brew some spirit wine and make a living, but it seems even this small wish is hard to fulfill."
"Those useless law enforcement folks don’t know what they’re doing with all those spirit stones. Evil spirits have infiltrated the market town, and they haven’t dealt with it for so long."
"Yeah, whenever something unusual happens, it’s us loose cultivators who suffer the most, like weeds that can’t withstand any disturbance."
Lu Xuan felt the same. If it weren't for the white light orb in his spiritual field changing his fate, he might have quietly disappeared in this harsh world.
"I heard that the spiritual energy and spirit insects in the market town have been polluted, causing many spiritual plants to mutate. How are the plants in your spiritual field, Lu Dao friend?" Wu Wenjing asked with concern.
"They're fine. I found one recently and pulled it out in time to destroy it, so it didn’t affect the others," Lu Xuan replied casually.
"I heard that the Wang family has sought help from their family members who are cultivating in the sect. Soon, someone will come to the market town to look for the hidden evil spirits."
"Really? If the sect cultivators are involved, those evil spirits won’t be able to hide."
Lu Xuan nodded in agreement. This old man had been in the market town for decades, with extensive connections and various sources of information.
The hidden evil spirits in the market town were not difficult to deal with, as there were foundation-building cultivators stationed there, and they should have no problem working together to handle one evil spirit. The real challenge was that the evil spirits were elusive and hard to detect, which was why the situation had dragged on for so long.
Sect cultivators were skilled and equipped with special methods, treasures, and spiritual beasts to find and investigate evil spirits, making them experts in this area.
"It seems there won't be many opportunities to buy mutated spiritual plants. I should find another chance in the next few days," Lu Xuan thought to himself.
He had anticipated this, knowing that the big families and powers in the market town wouldn’t allow the evil spirits to expand their influence further, which would also resolve the issue of mutated spiritual plants. It was already quite good that he could earn a decent amount of spirit stones.
After sitting with Wu Wenjing for a while, Lu Xuan took his leave. The spirit wine brewed by the old man didn’t seem strong at first, but its aftereffects were significant. Lu Xuan felt a bit tipsy as he made his way to the spiritual field in the backyard.
"Others get wild after drinking, but I’m just watching you all misbehave," he said with a laugh, using the Earth Summoning Technique to separate the Blood Jade Ginseng that had tangled roots.
Suddenly, he noticed one of the Blood Jade Ginseng plants had reached its maturity, and his mind cleared up a lot. Taking a deep breath, he carefully dug the mature Blood Jade Ginseng out of the spiritual soil.
(End of Chapter)