"Even though it's just a supportive technique and can't be used for cultivation or real combat, right now, it's just as valuable to me as any cultivation method."
The appearance of the white light orb caused Lu Xuan's cultivation level to rise rapidly, almost like a rocket. However, his talent was ordinary. For a short time, it was fine, but over a longer period, people would definitely notice something strange about his cultivation. This could lead him into trouble.
Generally, cultivators don’t actively check others' cultivation levels since it's considered impolite and could easily upset someone. But the more you interact with people, the more likely you are to encounter casual or intentional probing.
The Concealment Technique allowed him to disguise himself to some extent, making him appear as just a low-level Spiritual Plant Cultivator, like usual. Unless the other person had a much higher cultivation level, or practiced certain probing techniques, they would find it hard to detect his true level.
Lu Xuan followed the technique's guidelines and slowly circulated his spiritual energy. In an instant, the fluctuations of his spiritual energy were concealed, and his presence diminished significantly. After testing for a while, he revealed his cultivation level at the second stage of Qi Refinement, returning to being an unremarkable little loose cultivator.
In the spiritual field, the two types of spiritual plants he had planted earlier were ready for harvest. The Spirit Firefly Grass had been completely picked, leaving only the two Corrosive Moon Trees on either side. The Corrosive Moon Trees had grown a lot during this time. Among the green leaves, the crescent-shaped Moon-Eroding Fruits were gradually becoming plump, going from sunken to flat, and then to round.
When the silver-white hooks were in this state, they could hide among the leaves, appearing and disappearing. As they became rounder and fuller, they seemed to be half-hidden, almost calling out to be picked.
Although the Corrosive Moon Trees hadn’t yet reached maturity, they were much more valuable than the Spirit Firefly Grass. Lu Xuan looked forward to what kind of light orb reward they would bring when the moon was full.
The newly planted Spirit Firefly Grass and Red Cloud Pine still had some time before they matured. The Spirit Firefly Grass was relatively easy to grow, usually maturing in about two to three months. As for the Red Cloud Pine, since it was a first-grade spiritual plant, Lu Xuan estimated it would take about half a year to mature.
Of course, this was the normal growth cycle for most low-level spiritual plant cultivators. Lu Xuan guessed that because he understood the immediate needs of the plants so well, he might be able to shorten their maturation time a bit. After all, other spiritual plant cultivators couldn’t accurately grasp the plants' subtle needs or meet them as thoroughly as he could. For them, growing spiritual plants was just a way to make a living; cultivation was the real path.
For example, with the Spirit Rain Technique, spiritual plant cultivators usually watered their plants broadly, while Lu Xuan could finely control the watering, applying it locally to keep the plants in the best condition.
The harvested Spirit Firefly Grass couldn’t be kept for too long, so Lu Xuan planned to head to the Hundred Herbs Hall to sell the fifteen stalks he had to Steward He. Among the fifteen stalks, four were of ordinary quality, ten were of good quality, and one was of superior quality.
He fed two Spirit Fragments to the Straw Puppet, activated the protective formation, and left without worry.
At the Hundred Herbs Hall, the familiar scent of herbs filled the air. The medicine boys were busy handling materials, while a thin old man lounged in a wooden chair, flipping through a ledger.
"Hey, Lu kid, you’re back! How did it go?"
"You need to tell me how the market is for Spirit Firefly Grass right now," Lu Xuan replied with a mysterious smile.
"Right now, since a lot of low-level Qi Refinement cultivators have entered the wilderness, the demand for healing pills has dropped significantly."
"However, there have been signs of increased pest problems in the northern district. Many low-level spiritual plant cultivators' fields have been affected, so the prices are the same as last time: ordinary ones are twenty Spirit Stones and twenty Spirit Fragments each, and good quality ones are thirty Spirit Fragments more per stalk."
Lu Xuan nodded lightly. On his way here, he had noticed that the once-bustling gathering place for loose cultivators was much quieter, with many empty spaces. He had also heard about the pest issues; many loose cultivator spiritual plant fields lacked protective formations and suffered heavy losses from the invading pests.
"Here, I brought the Spirit Firefly Grass. You can sort them by quality yourself, Steward He."
Lu Xuan laid out fourteen stalks of Spirit Firefly Grass in front of the thin old man. "As for this one, it’s a different price."
He pulled out the superior quality Spirit Firefly Grass and waved it in front of Steward He.
"This is... superior quality Spirit Firefly Grass?"
The thin old man, who had been buying Spirit Firefly Grass for many years, recognized its uniqueness at a glance and asked in surprise.
"That's right. This is indeed superior quality Spirit Firefly Grass. For your field, which has almost no spiritual energy, to grow such high-quality Spirit Firefly Grass is quite rare."
"It seems you might have a good talent for cultivating spiritual plants."
He looked at Lu Xuan and sighed.
"Just luck."
"I just spend the time others use for cultivation on growing spiritual plants," Lu Xuan said half-jokingly.
"I don’t care what methods you use; the more high-quality Spirit Firefly Grass you grow, the better. I’ll buy them at a price that satisfies you."
"I'll take this stalk for seventy Spirit Fragments," Steward He asked Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow and smiled without replying.
It was clear he wanted more money!
The thin old man understood this too and quickly offered a price that excited Lu Xuan.
"Four low-grade Spirit Stones, that’s as high as I can go. It’s still about twenty to thirty percent more than the usual price for ordinary Spirit Firefly Grass."
"Deal!"
Steward He quickly handed Lu Xuan the Spirit Stones for the fifteen stalks of Spirit Firefly Grass, totaling fifty-one Spirit Stones and eighty Spirit Fragments!
Adding the three Spirit Stones he had left, his total wealth jumped to nearly fifty-five Spirit Stones.
"Lu kid, if you ever have more of this quality Spirit Firefly Grass, remember to bring it to me. I promise the price won’t disappoint you."
Steward He told Lu Xuan as he watched him pile up the Spirit Stones at his waist.
"If you really have talent in cultivating spiritual plants, I can introduce you to a path that might just be your opportunity."
"Oh?"
Lu Xuan felt a spark of interest from the old man's words and looked at him curiously.
"Not enough yet. Let’s see the quality of the spiritual plants you bring in the future."
"Thanks, Steward He. I’ll be sure to take care of your business more often," Lu Xuan said, not too concerned about the opportunity the old man mentioned. After all, with the white light orb's appearance, no opportunity seemed that significant.
On the contrary, it might affect his currently peaceful and simple farming life.
He bid farewell to Steward He, with a pile of Spirit Stones at his waist, and headed straight home.
At first, he thought about buying some monster meat or Spirit Rice to improve his living conditions and satisfy his appetite, but when he passed the stalls, he hesitated.
He still had to pay the rent for his courtyard next month!
(End of Chapter)