Chapter 4: The Metal-Gold Sword Technique
Chapter 4: The Metal-Gold Sword Technique
After obtaining information about the three Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivators from the cultivator with the surname Huang, Lu Chen wasted no time in visiting each of them. He eventually chose Qin Ming, an expert in ice-based spell formations.
There was no other reason for his choice but affordability.
Of the three cultivators, the one named Lingyun Xianzi asked for the highest price—ten spirit stones—which immediately scared Lu Chen away. The second was Li Xu, skilled in transforming sword qi into silk, who asked for nine spirit stones. The most affordable was Qin Ming, who only requested seven spirit stones.
Without hesitation, Lu Chen chose Qin Ming and haggled with him on the way, managing to reduce his fee by fifty fragments, saving half a spirit stone.
However, this bargain was only in comparison to the other two cultivators. Renting the courtyard with the spiritual field cost Lu Chen five spirit stones per month, so he had just spent more than a month's worth of expenses in a short while, which pained him greatly!
Thankfully, the problem with the black sprout worms had been resolved. He hoped that the restored Spirit Glow Grass' white light orbs would bring him substantial rewards.
He focused his attention on the Spirit Glow Grass that had been invaded by the black threads, and a thought flashed through his mind.
"Suddenly, I felt a shudder, as if something was missing from my body, and I needed to replenish my nutrition immediately."
What kind of status is that? Lu Chen muttered to himself. He channeled his spiritual energy, and strands of spiritual rain fell onto the lush green leaves of the Spirit Glow Grass, seeping into them.
After using the Spirit Rain Technique three times in a row, the withered plant finally regained most of its vitality.
Lu Chen took the opportunity to inspect the small courtyard, checking on the remaining Spirit Glow Grass and the two Eclipsing Moon Trees. Assured that there were no issues, he finally returned to the house with a sense of relief.
The next day.
Early in the morning, Lu Chen rushed to the side of the Spirit Glow Grass without even washing up. He pinched one of the leaves, turning it over to examine its underside.
The persistent black threads from the previous days were finally gone.
He heaved a sigh of relief, a smile unconsciously spreading across his face.
After another round of the Spirit Rain Technique, Lu Chen carefully examined the spiritual plants in the field and found that the progress bars below three more Spirit Glow Grass had filled up completely.
He concentrated his mental energy on them.
"Ordinary quality Spirit Glow Grass x2."
"Good quality Spirit Glow Grass."
"Hmm? Good quality Spirit Glow Grass?"
Lu Chen noticed the subtle differences between the three plants.
As the farming system had only appeared after harvesting the first Spirit Glow Grass, he had no idea about the quality of that first plant.
He carefully plucked the Spirit Glow Grass, which was emitting a faint glow. Three white orbs of light appeared in its place, flickering slightly as if inviting Lu Chen to collect them.
"Harvested one Spirit Glow Grass, gained three months of cultivation."
"Harvested one Spirit Glow Grass, gained three months of cultivation."
"Harvested one Spirit Glow Grass, obtained the Earth Drawing Technique."
In the instant Lu Chen collected the light orbs, he felt his spiritual energy surge within him.
The influx of spiritual power rampaged through his meridians, and once it settled down, he realized that his cultivation had smoothly broken through to the third layer of Qi Refining.
After days of diligent cultivation, along with a little help from the three white light orbs, he had finally succeeded in reaching the third layer.
Lu Chen felt a sense of relief.
As his spiritual power surged, a technique called the Earth Drawing Technique also appeared in his sea of consciousness.
He understood it immediately, learning a lot of information about the technique.
The Earth Drawing Technique was similar to the Spirit Rain Technique and was one of the few low-level spell formations essential for spiritual plant cultivators. Once cultivated successfully, it could manipulate and control the structural changes in the soil, as well as alter the concentration of spiritual energy within it, thus creating an optimal environment for the growth of spiritual plants.
"I initially thought that all the Spirit Glow Grass would yield the same three months of cultivation in the form of white light orbs. Now it seems that even plants of the same variety can produce different light orb rewards."
"It seems that I need to pay even closer attention to the remaining twenty or so Spirit Glow Grass and the two Eclipsing Moon Trees, improving their quality at maturity to increase the rewards of the white light orbs."
Lu Chen thought to himself.
The courtyard wasn't very large. The two Eclipsing Moon Trees occupied almost half of the space, leaving room for a total of twenty-four Spirit Glow Grass plants. Having harvested four of them already, there were now twenty left, soon to reach maturity.
Despite their small size, the root systems of the Spirit Glow Grass spread out widely underground. Even with just twenty plants, Lu Chen had maximized the utilization of the spirit field's soil.
Based on the reward he received from the good quality Spirit Glow Grass, it was best to focus on improving the maturity quality of the spiritual plants.
This way, he could sell them for more spirit stones and also obtain better light orb rewards, achieving two goals at once.
Now that he could monitor the real-time status of the spiritual plants and had the assistance of the Earth Drawing Technique and the Spirit Rain Technique, Lu Chen felt confident.
He decided to change his usual planting methods.
Previously, he would periodically cast the Spirit Rain Technique to nourish the spiritual plants and, during his cultivation breaks, he would occasionally inspect the spirit field for any pest infestations.
For a low-level spirit planter like him, this was already a relatively reasonable cultivation method.
Now that he could understand the instant status of the spiritual plants, he decided to switch from large-scale Spirit Rain Technique casts to more localized and precise applications. Whenever he sensed that a particular Spirit Glow Grass needed attention, he would tend to it, doing his utmost to cultivate the best possible quality.
With this new plan in mind, Lu Chen repeatedly cast the Spirit Rain Technique and the Earth Drawing Technique, catering to the subtle differences in each Spirit Glow Grass' needs, until he had exhausted his spiritual energy.
Looking at the lush and vibrant Spirit Glow Grass in the field, a weary Lu Chen smiled with satisfaction.
As for his daily cultivation? Well, that didn't seem so important anymore. All he wanted now was to quietly tend to his spiritual plants.
After two days of hard work, five mature Spirit Glow Grass stood before Lu Chen.
However, due to the long cultivation period, the brief period of intensive care hadn't been able to bring about a qualitative change.
Among the five Spirit Glow Grass, three were of ordinary quality, and the remaining two were of good quality.
The three ordinary Spirit Glow Grass yielded an amount of spiritual energy equivalent to nine months' worth of cultivation for Lu Chen.
As for the other two good quality Spirit Glow Grass, one of them also provided the Earth Drawing Technique.
Upon absorbing it, Lu Chen felt that his understanding of the technique had deepened. He could now activate it more swiftly and manipulate soil changes with even greater precision and ease.
"It seems that if the light orb reward is the same technique, absorbing it will increase my comprehension of it, akin to gaining experience," Lu Chen mused.
Then, the light orb reward from the other good quality Spirit Glow Grass appeared in his sea of consciousness.
"Metal-Gold Sword Technique!"
(End of Chapter)
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