Chapter 432: Plant Away!
Chapter 432: Plant Away!
As Lu Chen passed by the outer hall of the Agricultural Hall, he did not spot the familiar face of Xia Chen, who often donned the disguise of an elderly farmer.
Without hesitation, Lu Chen proceeded into the inner hall.
"Brother Lu, it's been a while since I last saw you."
Only inner sect disciples were allowed in the inner hall, and aside from the two fellow disciples on duty, there were no other cultivators present, making the spacious hall seem even more serene.
A youth with an ordinary appearance and an inwardly restrained aura rose to greet Lu Chen upon seeing him.
"It's Brother Zhang," Lu Chen said with a smile. Zhang Ce, a cultivator at the early Qi Refining stage, was someone Lu Chen had met a few times in the Agricultural Hall.
"I'm here to select some second-rate spirit seeds, and I'll need your help, Brother Zhang."
"It's no trouble. But Brother Lu, your choice this time is rather unexpected. I remember that every time you came before, you would exchange them for fourth-rate spirit seeds."
A hint of surprise flashed in the youth's eyes, as his impression of Lu Chen was deeply ingrained.
It was Zhang Ce who had received Lu Chen when he first became an inner door disciple, and every time Lu Chen exchanged fourth-rate spirit seeds afterward, it was either through him or he had heard of it. Thus, he was quite familiar with Lu Chen's growth rate.
So, it was quite a surprise to him that Lu Chen wanted to cultivate second-rate spirit plants.
"I've been trying to learn pill refining lately, so I want to cultivate some related spirit herbs myself and save some costs."
Lu Chen casually made up an excuse, as there was some truth to cultivating second-rate spirit plants for this reason, but his main purpose was the potential pill formulae experience packs that might appear in the light orbs.
"I see. Which spirit seeds does Brother Lu need?"
Zhang Ce took out a jade catalog and thoughtfully opened it for Lu Chen.
Lu Chen flipped to one of the pages and pointed at the vivid spirit plant patterns depicted on it.
"Twenty Yellow Cloud Herb spirit seeds."
"Each Yellow Cloud Herb spirit seed requires thirteen sword imprints or sixty spirit stones."
"Alright."
Lu Chen nodded. He was merely experimenting, and although he was highly confident, he wanted to be prepared for any eventuality. Twenty spirit seeds were more than enough for his purposes.
"Additionally, I'll need five seeds of each of these second-rate spirit plants."
As he flipped through the jade catalog, he pointed at the spirit plant patterns, making his selections.
The reason he chose these spirit plants was to see what light orbs they would produce upon maturity. If there were experience packs similar to pill formulas, he could consider cultivating them.
When ordinary second-rate spirit plants matured, the light orbs they produced were usually second or third-rate. With his current cultivation base nearing the later stages of Qi Refining, the rewards might be slightly lower due to his advanced realm.
After his experience with the Spirit Glow Grass, Lu Chen had a general idea that cultivating spirit plants beyond his level might result in exceptionally generous rewards, and he suspected that cultivating lower-level plants would yield reduced rewards as well.
"Twenty Yellow Cloud Herb spirit seeds will be two hundred and sixty sword imprints, plus..."
"A total of slightly over one thousand and one hundred sword imprints for all the spirit seeds," Zhang Ce said, looking up.
"Okay."
Lu Chen's expression remained unchanged as he nodded. With a slight movement of his mind, a large number of sword imprints flew out of his storage bag and piled up in front of Zhang Ce like a small mountain.
"Eighty-five second-rate spirit seeds in total, which is worth less than three fourth-rate spirit seeds. It's a small matter."
He had accumulated quite a few sword imprints before, and after returning from opening up blessed lands, the sect had rewarded him with a thousand more. He had also received many more for helping the Pill Hall cultivate spirit plants, so he was now quite well-off and didn't pay much attention to a mere thousand sword imprints.
After counting the sword imprints, Zhang Ce went into the depths of the inner hall.
After a while, he returned with a heavy cloth bag and handed it to Lu Chen.
"That's correct."
He bade farewell to Zhang Ce and summoned a spiritual crane in the square, returning to his cave abode.
"Oh, Fatbird's back?"
Upon entering the courtyard, Lu Xuan spotted Fatbird sprawled on the ground, its layers of fat rippling outward, taking up a significant amount of space.
In contrast to its previous dejected state, the Wind Falcon had undergone a remarkable transformation, now radiating vitality and clearly in high spirits.
"How should I deal with that blue-feathered Wind Falcon from now on?"
Lu Xuan asked curiously, a hint of tension underlying his tone.
He feared that Fatbird might send him a spiritual message.
"Old Deng, quickly give me some spirit fruits for Gege."
Fortunately, Fatbird had sensed the condescension from its fellow creature and successfully awakened, emitting a crisp call toward Lu Xuan.
"Just play around with it from now on. When the need arises, we can lure it with spirit fruits."
"How decadent, my once innocent Fatbird is gone forever!"
Lu Xuan sighed, gazing at the increasingly indulgent Fatbird with a sense of satisfaction.
He rewarded Fatbird with a bottle of Hundred Fruit Spirit Juice, brewed in the Drunken Immortal Gourd, and made his way to the spirit field, locating an empty area.
"Had heaven not given birth to Lu Xuan, the path of pill refining would forever be shrouded in darkness!"
"Plant!"
As his voice echoed, twenty Yellow Cloud Herb spirit seeds fell into his palm.
The spirit seeds appeared ordinary, a dull yellow color with an uneven surface, resembling small pebbles. Only when one delved deeper with their spiritual sense could they perceive the surging vitality within.
Lu Xuan employed the Earth Drawing Technique, subtly altering the structure of the spirit soil, creating numerous tiny indentations.
He placed the Yellow Cloud Herb spirit seeds into these indentations, and delicate strands of spirit rain drifted down, permeating the seeds as he concentrated his mental focus on them.
[Yellow Cloud Herb, Second-Rate Spirit Plant, Thrives in Shade, Can be the Main Ingredient for Refining Beast Spirit Pills After Maturation.]
[The Plant Contains Highly Attractive Components for Demons, and is Deeply Loved by Them. In Order to Survive and Thrive, the Yellow Cloud Herb Spirit Plant has Evolved and Adapted Over Generations, Gaining the Ability to Merge with Spirit Soil, Making it Extremely Difficult to Detect.]
[You Can't See Me, You Can't See Me...]
Through Lu Xuan's spiritual sense, the dull yellow pebbles sank silently into the spirit soil, quietly merging with it, easy to overlook if one wasn't paying attention.
"This peculiar trait of the spirit plant can indeed help evade many risks."
Lu Xuan mused, setting up a restriction near the Yellow Cloud Herb to prevent the spirit seeds or future seedlings from being eaten by the cave abode's spirit beasts or the Demon Vine.
He proceeded to plant the remaining spirit seeds, each in their own designated spots.
These spirit plants were primarily for experimentation, and Lu Xuan, with his limited energy, didn't intend to maximize their potential through meticulous cultivation. He would tend to them occasionally, leaving them to grow freely in the cave abode for the most part.
After planting, he returned once more to the Yellow Cloud Herb, a faint green light gathering at his fingertips.
"You want to remain undetected as you grow, huh? Unfortunately, I don't have the time to wait for your natural maturation."
"So, get ready, because I'm about to accelerate your growth."
Lu Xuan murmured, and from his hand, twenty strands of faint green qi, thin as silk, emanated from the Azure Wood Origin Qi and permeated the dull yellow spirit seeds.
The Green Origin Qi, condensed from the life essence of the fifth-rate Green Origin Deer, contained an incredibly potent wood element energy, capable of significantly accelerating the growth of spirit plants and shortening their maturation time.
(End of Chapter)
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