Chapter 13: Little Uncle Lu, Do You Want Spirit Stones?
Chapter 13: Little Uncle Lu, Do You Want Spirit Stones?
The newly ripened Eclipse Fruits doubled in quantity compared to the first batch, totaling an impressive eight fruits.
Each of the eight Eclipse Fruits was of good quality, and Lu Chen carefully placed them into a special container, eagerly collecting the eight white orbs of light that appeared.
"Harvested an Eclipse Fruit, obtained a first-grade magical artifact—Silver Blade Shard (Damaged)
x5."
"Harvested an Eclipse Fruit, obtained a first-grade talisman—Sword Qi Talisman x1."
"Harvested an Eclipse Fruit, obtained a first-grade pill—Peiyuan Pill x1."
"Harvested an Eclipse Fruit, obtained a first-grade talisman—Explosive Flame Talisman x1."
Among the eight orbs of light, five contained shards of the first-grade magical artifact Silver Blade, two contained first-grade talismans, and one held a single first-grade pill.
"Peiyuan Pill, a first-grade pill. When consumed by cultivators, it quickly replenishes their spiritual energy."
Lu Chen carefully stored away this precious pill.
He had heard of this pill before, but it was his first time obtaining one. It was extremely useful for cultivators at the lower and middle stages of Qi Refining, and it was worth quite a number of spirit stones.
"I seem to be accumulating quite a few of these Silver Blade shards. I now have eight of them."
Lu Chen looked at the eight thin, silver-white shards floating around him, feeling a bit exasperated.
Suddenly, his heart stirred, and the eight shards instantly came together, edges seamlessly fitting, forming a strange object.
"It somehow looks like a silver sword blade, albeit with too many gaps."
The more Lu Chen looked at it, the more he felt it resembled the shape of a sword blade.
"If this is indeed a sword blade, does it mean that when combined, it can function as a separate magical artifact? In battle, I could confuse my opponents by suddenly splitting it into numerous thin shards, catching them off guard."
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed, and he eagerly anticipated the moment when he would have collected all the shards.
There were still thirty Eclipse Fruits remaining. Based on the probability of obtaining the shards and the size of the gaps in the broken sword blade, he believed it wouldn't be a problem to complete it.
However, recalling his past life's gacha experiences, he couldn't bring himself to be too optimistic.
"Little Uncle Lu, do you want spirit stones?"
As Lu Chen was lost in thought, he heard a familiar mischievous voice outside the courtyard—it was Zhang Xiuyuan.
Lu Chen quickly opened the courtyard door.
"What is it, you little rascal? Do you have spirit stones for me?"
"I don't have spirit stones for you, but I have an opportunity for you to earn some," Zhang Xiuyuan said with a cheeky grin, his eyes holding a cunning that belied his age.
"Oh? Do tell."
Lu Chen looked at Zhang Xiuyuan, who was hugging the grass puppet tightly, and felt a spark of curiosity.
"Remember how I told you that you helped my family get rid of the pest problem a few days ago? Well, today I heard Cai Bin say that his family has those strange insects too, so I told him about how amazing you are. He rushed back to tell his parents, and they want me to bring you to their house to help out."
"His father is extremely worried about this issue. If you can help them like you helped us last time, you'll be able to earn a lot of spirit stones!"
"Cai Bin?"
Lu Chen's memory conjured up an image of a skinny monkey-like child who often played with Zhang Xiuyuan. Cai Bin's house was located about two or three miles away from his courtyard.
He had met Cai Bin's father, Cai Hai, a Qi Refining cultivator at the third layer who practiced on his own. They were acquainted but not particularly close.
"Should I go take a look?"
Lu Chen hesitated, contemplating whether or not to take up this opportunity to earn some spirit stones.
What were the risks? Mainly, it involved dealing with the Black Bud Worms, but with his increasingly proficient Metal-Element Sword Art, it should be an easy task. There was also a slight possibility of conflict, but with his cultivation at the third layer of Qi Refining, along with his Metal-Element Sword Art, various talismans, and the Silver Blade shards, he felt confident he could handle any unexpected situations.
What about the rewards? Qin Mingqing, a Qi Refining cultivator at the fourth layer, charged seven spirit stones for dealing with the Black Bud Worm larvae. I only display the cultivation of the second layer, so charging five spirit stones shouldn't be unreasonable, right?
Most importantly, he was desperately poor! He had a huge demand for spirit stones.
His spiritual field was too small. After planting all those spiritual herbs, he had almost no space left. Lu Chen yearned for a larger spiritual field.
He also wanted to buy a storage bag. With the number of treasures in his possession increasing, he couldn't possibly carry them all on his person every time he went out.
Additionally, acquiring unknown spiritual herb seeds would also require a substantial amount of spirit stones.
With these thoughts in mind, Lu Chen made up his mind and, seeing the anticipation in Zhang Xiuyuan's eyes, he gently nodded.
"Lead the way."
"Yes!"
...
At the Cai family's small courtyard, Cai Hai's wife, Li Shi, was berating her son.
"How could you even think of inviting a random cultivator in his teens to solve our pest problem? Do you think this is a child's game?"
"Do you believe everything he says? Can't you use your pig brain to think? How strong can a loose cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining possibly be?!"
Li Shi turned her head and said to her husband, Cai Hai, who was standing beside her with his head down, looking at the ground, "I think I should call my older brother over. He has some connections and knows a Qi Refining intermediate-stage cultivator who can solve the pest problem. He's definitely more reliable than the loose cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining that our son is talking about."
"Hey, are you talking about that so-called uncle who asked for ten spirit stones just to show up?"
Cai Hai, thin as a rail, let out a cold laugh.
"He's taking advantage of his relationship with his sister-in-law, my sister. If not, would he be asking for ten spirit stones from us?"
Li Shi mumbled, "But... but I'm just worried about our spiritual herbs..."
"Aiyoh..."
Cai Hai sighed deeply.
"Given the circumstances, we can only try our luck with that young loose cultivator."
"I just went out to ask around, and it turns out that the Zhang family had a pest problem before, and it was resolved by a young man. I guess it must be the same person Cai Bin mentioned."
Cai Hai squatted down and looked at the spiritual herbs in their garden, tightly bound by black threads, and a trace of worry flashed in his eyes.
Other cultivators capable of solving pest problems demanded exorbitant prices, which would undoubtedly be a huge burden for him.
He could only pin his hopes on Lu Chen, the loose cultivator at the second layer of Qi Refining.
Just then, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.
Although Lu Chen had overheard some of the argument outside, he decided to stay and thought, 'Since I'm already here, I might as well earn some spirit stones.' So, he knocked on the gate.
The courtyard gate opened, and Cai Hai, with his gaunt face, managed to squeeze out a smile and greeted him.
"Fellow cultivator Lu, thank you for coming. I heard that you have a unique skill in dealing with pest problems. Later, I'd like to trouble you to take a look at our spiritual herbs as well."
"It's not exactly a unique skill, but I've been making good progress in a certain art recently, which happens to be effective against the Black Bud Worm larvae."
Lu Chen explained and then added, "Rest assured, Fellow Cultivator Cai, I will do my best to help you solve the pest problem. However, I must state my price upfront—my services will cost five spirit stones, and this price is non-negotiable."
"But a cultivator at the fourth layer of Qi Refining only charges seven spirit stones! How can you, a cultivator at the second layer, ask for five?" Li Shi interjected.
"If you prefer, you can go and invite that intermediate-stage cultivator," Lu Chen replied coldly.
Of course, Li Shi wouldn't do that, so she paused for a moment before saying, "Five spirit stones is fine, but what if you can't get rid of the pests?"
"You shut your mouth and get back inside!" Cai Hai hissed at Li Shi.
"You nagging woman, making Fellow Cultivator Lu laugh at us."
He turned to Lu Chen with a bitter smile.
"Whether you can solve the pest problem or not, we will still give you the full five spirit stones. I just hope that you will do your best, as you are also a spiritual herbologist and understand that these spiritual herbs are our livelihood."
"Of course," Lu Chen said solemnly.
He paid no heed to Li Shi's nagging, as long as he could get the spirit stones.
He approached the infested spiritual herbs and focused his mind. A golden sword qi, thin as a hair, deftly drilled into the plants, carrying an extremely sharp sword intent toward the Black Bud Worm larvae.
After a few breaths, all the Black Bud Worm larvae were cut by the golden sword qi and fell to the ground in segments.
"Mission accomplished," he said as he stood up and spoke to the anxious Cai Hai.
Behind him, Zhang Xiuyuan secretly raised his eyebrows at his little partner.
"See how awesome my Little Uncle Lu is?"
"Thank you so much, Fellow Cultivator Lu!" Cai Hai exclaimed, his face filled with relief.
Not far away, the window of the house suddenly closed, and the sound of soft sobbing could be heard.
Lu Chen put away the payment he received from Cai Hai and left with Zhang Xiuyuan.
He weighed the spirit stones in his hand, feeling their heaviness, and suddenly asked, "Xiu Yuan, how about we work together? You find cultivators nearby who are suffering from pest problems, and I'll go and solve them. How about I give you thirty fragments of spirit stones each time I help?"
"Little Uncle Lu, you helped my family so much last time. I'll just help you find these cultivators; you don't need to give me any spirit stones," Zhang Xiuyuan said honestly.
"No, I can't let you work for free. It's decided then!" Lu Chen insisted.
(End of Chapter)
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