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Chapter 53: Suspicion
Chapter 53: Suspicion
"Spirit Glowgrass is still the most honest and straightforward. It's plentiful, easy to cultivate, and most importantly, it grants cultivation rewards."
Lu Chen surveyed the spirit fields surrounding him, each with their unique characteristics. There was the Iron Straight Grass, a second-rate Sword Grass; the Chaos Spirit Plant, a first-rate Blood Jade Ginseng that played with the relationships between spirit plants; the Shadow Marrow Mushroom, a second-rate fungus that preferred the dark and decay; and the Clearwonder Spirit Tea, a second-rate plant that only required irrigation with spirit spring water...
Compared to these, the Spirit Glowgrass was indeed low-maintenance.
Lu Chen walked around the area where the Spirit Glowgrass was planted and harvested twelve mature plants.
Among them, four were of good quality, six were of superior quality, and the remaining two were of perfect quality.
More than half of the Spirit Glowgrass in the spirit fields had been harvested, leaving only thirty-nine out of a hundred plants, which were about to enter the mature stage.
Out of the twelve white orbs of light that appeared, four contained cultivation rewards—two granted six months of cultivation, and two granted nine months, adding up to a total of two and a half years.
"Another two and a half years. I seem to have a connection with this number."
Lu Chen recalled that this wasn't the first time he had gained a bonus of two and a half years' worth of cultivation.
He channeled his spiritual energy, calming the surging power within him, thus stabilizing his cultivation at the sixth layer of Qi Refinement.
Three of the white orbs contained first-rate talismans—the Sword Qi Talisman, the Exorcism Talisman, and the Burst Flame Talisman—which Lu Chen stored away in his storage bag.
Three white orbs revealed three low-level arts—two of the Wood Birth Art and one of the Earth Draw Art.
Lu Chen absorbed them, gaining a deeper understanding of these arts.
His proficiency in Earth Draw Art had reached a minor achievement level, while his mastery of Wood Birth Art had improved even further. When casting this art, he could gather wood-attributed spiritual energy faster and in greater quantities, resulting in better stimulation of the spirit plants' growth.
The two perfect-quality Spirit Glowgrass plants produced two white orbs. One contained the first-rate art, Canopus Sword Manual. As the orb merged into his body, Lu Chen's understanding of this sword manual seemed to reach a new level.
With a thought, a golden sword qi shot out from his fingertip. The sword qi seemed to have a life of its own as it danced and weaved around Lu Chen, its speed increasing and leaving golden afterimages in its wake. It appeared as if a golden barrier had been erected around him.
After a dozen or so breaths, the sword qi gradually dissipated, and the golden afterimages faded and vanished.
"Needless to say, the casting speed is almost instantaneous. My control over sword qi has reached a level of freedom and ease, like an extension of my own arm. Moreover, the sword qi can maintain its form in the external environment for a longer duration."
Lu Chen carefully savored this experience, noting the subtle changes in the Canopus Sword Manual.
The other white orb contained a first-rate pill formula, the Nurturing Vitality Pill, granting him a deeper understanding of how to refine this pill.
"Why not collect a few more pill formulas? When the time comes to refine pills, I'll either not do it at all, or I'll do it and produce pills with the highest success rate and best quality."
Lu Chen couldn't help but think, figuring that it wouldn't hurt to wait a little longer since he had already consumed quite a few pill formulas.
He already had twenty-six mature Spirit Glowgrass plants in his storage bag. If he harvested more, he wouldn't have enough white jade boxes to store them. So, Lu Chen decided to pay a visit to the Hall of Hundred Herbs and, while he was at it, check if there was any snake-type demon beast blood for sale in the loose cultivator market.
In the main hall of the Hall of Hundred Herbs, the fragrant scent of herbs permeated the air.
From a distance, He Guan saw Lu Chen approaching and put down the matters at hand.
"Youngster Lu, you're here? How's the quality of your goods this time?"
"The goods are naturally of the finest quality. It all depends on whether you have enough spirit stones, old man."
Lu Chen slapped the wooden counter in front of He Guan and raised his eyebrows.
"You're getting fatter, and now you're even out of breath," He Guan coldly huffed, displeased by Lu Chen's smug attitude.
"Please, have some tea," Lu Chen offered courteously.
"You've got a sharp eye, young man," the old man acknowledged.
"Let's have a look at the Spirit Glowgrass you've brought," He Guan suggested.
Lu Chen's smile faded as he straightened his expression, reaching into his storage bag and pulling out twenty-six mature Spirit Glowgrass plants.
The Red Cloud Pine seed wasn't particularly suitable for refining pills, so Lu Chen decided to hold onto it for now and sell it to other cultivators when the time was right.
"Excellent, excellent, perfect..." The thin old man nodded repeatedly, inspecting the quality of the Spirit Glowgrass and counting each plant, sorting them into categories based on their appearance.
"A total of twenty-six Spirit Glowgrass plants. Eight of good quality, thirteen of superior quality, and five of perfect quality," he summarized, having grown accustomed to Lu Chen's prowess and seeing no objections from the young man.
"We'll stick to the old prices. Three spirit stones and fifty shards for each good-quality plant, an additional twenty shards for superior quality, and another thirty shards for perfect quality," he quoted.
"So that's ninety-six spirit stones and ten shards in total, am I right?" Lu Chen verified.
"Your mental calculations are impressive, so there shouldn't be any mistakes," the old man agreed.
Lu Chen took the ninety-odd spirit stones that the old man handed over, swept them with his spiritual sense, and then stored them away in his bag.
After a brief conversation, Lu Chen prepared to take his leave.
"Friend Lu, please wait a moment," a somewhat familiar voice called out, halting Lu Chen as he stepped out of the main hall.
Turning around, Lu Chen recognized one of the three spiritual herbalists he had previously partnered with to sell his high-quality plant cultivation methods. It was a middle-aged cultivator at the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, his expression tinged with anxiety.
"Friend Zhou, what can I do for you?" Lu Chen inquired.
"I saw the Spirit Glowgrass you just handed over to He Guan. Indeed, your reputation precedes you; the lowest quality is good, and there are several perfect ones among them," the middle-aged cultivator said with a forced smile.
"Friend Zhou, please speak your mind," Lu Chen urged, sensing something amiss in his companion's tone.
"It's like this," the middle-aged cultivator began, "after my two friends and I learned the cultivation method from you, we returned and dedicated most of our cultivation time to meticulously cultivating the Spirit Glowgrass. Just recently, a batch of Spirit Glowgrass matured, but the results seem minimal compared to your harvest."
"How many Spirit Glowgrass plants did you harvest? And how long did you spend on this meticulous cultivation?" Lu Chen asked.
"I picked twenty Spirit Glowgrass plants, and as for the meticulous cultivation you instructed, it's been less than seven days," came the reply.
"Twenty Spirit Glowgrass plants isn't a large number; it doesn't prove anything. Moreover, the period of meticulous cultivation is too short," Lu Chen pointed out.
"But... the difference in quality between my Spirit Glowgrass and yours is enormous!" the middle-aged cultivator exclaimed.
"Most of yours are of superior quality, and you have a significant number of perfect ones as well. As for me, superior quality is a rare sight," he added, his lips twitching.
"So, you suspect that I'm hiding something from you? That I didn't tell you everything?" Lu Chen's expression turned cold at the implication.
(End of Chapter)
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