You Cultivate, I Farm

After half a day of cultivating work, Lu Xuan waited outside the valley for a while until a spirit crane passed by. He spent a spirit stone to return to his own cave.

As soon as he pushed the door, a streak of black light flashed through the crack.

In the courtyard, Cloud-Stepping Lynx sat gracefully on a stone, its jade green eyes coldly fixed on him.

Lu Xuan couldn't help but chuckle and went over to tug at the Lynx's ear tufts, eliciting a bone-deep howl.

The grass puppet tirelessly patrolled the spirit field. Lu Xuan realized he hadn't fed the spirit stones in a while and felt a twinge of guilt. He took out a fragment of spirit stone and inserted it into the puppet's large grass lump.

In the spirit spring pool, four iron-clawed crabs hid under peculiar stones, their dark-green pincers attempting to break the boulders.

Nourished by the richer spirit water in the cave, Lu Xuan noticed these young iron-clawed crabs seemed livelier than before.

Without much time to rest, he surveyed the spirit field.

Watered the Clear Spirit Tea with spirit spring water, scattered refined iron ore around the Copper Bone Bamboo, nourished the Dragonvine with the blood of a water python, carefully tended to the Illusory Smoke Fruit, guided the changes in the patterns on the Light Wood Tree, and tended to the Blood Jade Ginseng, Firefly Grass, Yin Locust Tree...

After checking all the spirit plants, nearly half a day had passed.

Although busy, Lu Xuan found joy in it. The white light orbs awarded for the spirit plants in the cave's spirit field were invaluable. Plus, completing the task to nurture the Monkey-Faced Orchids would reward him with a seal that could later be exchanged for rare spirit species.

With these incentives, Lu Xuan didn't mind the busyness.

The next day, after a brief check on the growth of the spirit plants in the cave, he hurried back to the valley.

"Junior Brother Lu, haven't fed all the Monkey-Faced Orchids yet?" Yan Ping passed by Lu Xuan and asked.

"Yes, Senior Brother Yan. Today's a bit slower than yesterday," Lu Xuan replied with a smile. As Yan Ping entered the house, Lu Xuan scanned the spirit field and approached a secluded corner.

As the spiritual energy surged, he used the Earth Attraction Technique. The soil near the roots of a Monkey-Faced Orchid loosened instantly, allowing him to pluck it out effortlessly.

Then, swiftly planting it back, he manipulated the soil to snugly wrap around the orchid's roots using the Earth Attraction Technique.

A thought crossed his mind: "Monkey-Faced Orchid, second-grade spirit plant, matured, can be used to refine certain spirit-enhancing elixirs."

"Enjoys eating strange insects, its petal expressions vary with its state."

"Today's insects are truly delicious! Exquisite!"

"Hmm?" Lu Xuan looked at the indifferent center of the flower petals with a puzzled expression.

"Is this how it expresses satisfaction with food?" He realized the orchid seemed extremely content, yet its expression conveyed intense indifference.

The actual expression was quite different from its immediate state.

Unable to linger in the spirit field for too long, Lu Xuan, perplexed, returned to the wooden house.

After a short rest, he went back to the spirit field, planning to cast the Spirit Rain Technique.

Passing by the plant he had dug up earlier, he noticed a distinct change in the expression of the Monkey-Faced Orchid's petals.

From the earlier indifference, it now displayed a smiling expression.

"There's indeed a change, but does this change correlate with its immediate state?" Lu Xuan mused as he absentmindedly cast the Spirit Rain Technique, contemplating inwardly.

Suddenly, an insight flashed in his mind.

"Perhaps it's normal for the change to occur, but due to being a spirit plant, it can't instantaneously react like cultivators or spirit beasts."

"Which means, the reflex Time is too long?"

The more Lu Xuan thought, the more plausible it seemed. Despite the orchid showing a highly humanized expression, it was still just a spirit plant incapable of instantaneously revealing its mood like cultivators or spirit beasts.

This might explain why previous cultivators couldn't find better ways to nurture the Monkey-Faced Orchids.

They might have experimented, reacting based on the orchid's expressions. However, this experiment had started on the wrong path.

The current expression of the orchid either reflected the previous stage's state, rendering adjustments ineffective, or after a brewing period, its expression aligned with its current state. But after nurturing, it took time to reflect the effects, leading cultivators to make erroneous judgments.

With this speculation in mind, Lu Xuan paid close attention to the changing expressions of the Monkey-Faced Orchid at different stages while performing the Spirit Rain Technique and feeding it strange insects.

Knowing the principle, he didn't need to dig up and replant the orchid. Several days later, he summarized a rough pattern.

Two main factors affected the orchid: the Spirit Rain Technique and feeding it insects.

The Spirit Rain Technique had a moderate effect. After casting it, most orchids showed a smiling or indifferent expression after about an hour.

Feeding it insects had the greatest impact. Depending on the insect type, the orchid's petals displayed exaggerated expressions after approximately half an hour.

Lu Xuan deliberately selected various types of insects to feed the previously uprooted orchid. Although the insects had some nourishing effects, due to different tastes, they caused varied expressions in the orchid.

When fed average or poor-tasting insects, the petals showed expressions of anger, sadness, or indifference, affecting the orchid's growth.

"In this case, by observing the delayed expressions of the Monkey-Faced Orchid, I can understand the effects of the Spirit Rain Technique and insects, making subtle adjustments."

"In a way, it's a meticulous form of cultivation, but this method can be self-discovered and summarized, provided one discovers the delayed expression changes."

Lu Xuan silently marveled.

"Next is to confirm this discovery further and profit from it."

The hidden mystery within the expressions of the Monkey-Faced Orchid wasn't of great value to him.

Rather than keeping this discovery to himself for personal understanding, he intended to share it with others and gain from it.

His first thought was the Hundred Herbs Hall, but they didn't directly cultivate spirit plants, and he didn't know any powerful cultivators there.

Moreover, bypassing the foundational cultivators behind the Monkey-Faced Orchid's spirit field might upset them.

Given the considerable value these numerous orchids held for him, Lu Xuan carefully considered and decided to inform the foundational cultivator through a senior disciple, Yao. But first, he needed to prove the validity of his discovery.

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