You Cultivate, I Farm

Two cultivators from the Hundred Herbs Hall eventually decided not to take the gamble, opting instead to sell their deteriorating second-grade spiritual plants at a low price to Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan acquired a total of fourteen deteriorating spiritual plants this time: twelve first-grade and two second-grade.

For these fourteen plants, he spent a total of fifty-six spirit stones. Additionally, he paid Steward He twenty spirit stones as compensation, totaling seventy-six spirit stones.

His wealth had now dropped below three hundred spirit stones.

Nevertheless, Lu Xuan harbored ample confidence in earning more.

Returning to his courtyard with the deteriorating spiritual plants, he first activated the array formation, using the spreading mist to isolate the deteriorating plants, then proceeded to plant them one by one.

Those on the brink of death or requiring excessively high recovery conditions, leading to losses for himself, Lu Xuan incinerated on the spot.

In the end, eight plants remained with salvageable value: seven first-grade and one second-grade. Another second-grade plant, though potentially salvageable with considerable expenditure of spirit stones and energy, Lu Xuan, after weighing his options, chose to abandon directly.

After busying himself for most of the day, he finally cleared the roots of abnormality from these eight spiritual plants. What remained was to invest a little effort in nurturing them to maturity.

Due to severe damage to the spiritual plants themselves, despite meticulous nurturing, their quality could not be improved in the short term. Lu Xuan allowed them to grow in the spiritual field, periodically conducting wide-ranging spirit rain techniques, providing them with nourishment.

In the blink of an eye, five days passed.

During this time, Lu Xuan stayed within his courtyard, tending to the spiritual plants and nurturing the spiritual beasts.

Under the daily feeding of spirit rice, the Red Whiskered Carp grew increasingly plump, its two slender red whiskers trailing far behind as it swam through the water.

At the center of the spiritual spring pool, the first-grade Pure Snow Lotus unexpectedly developed a small bud amidst its pure white leaves. Nourished by the spiritual spring, the white bud exuded a sense of purity.

The bottle of Azure Water Python blood brought by the snake catcher Yu Jie still had a little left. With ample irrigation of the blood on the dragonvine, it no longer withered and wilted like when first planted. It remained full and its vines gleamed black.

Lu Xuan also keenly observed that the vines had grown about half an inch longer than before.

"Cultivating third-grade spiritual plants isn't easy. Just a large bottle of second-grade Azure Water Python blood can only promote its growth by this small margin," he sighed to himself.

The Illusory Smoke Fruit, also a third-grade plant, was relatively easy to satisfy. It remained hidden within its own emanating smoke, making its true form hard to find.

Among the nearing maturity of various spiritual plants, the first-grade Blood Jade Ginseng grew increasingly restless. Whenever Lu Xuan lost focus, they would gather towards each other, displaying a frenzied appearance, as if deciding whether to absorb each other or be absorbed.

Lu Xuan had no choice but to circulate among them every half hour, even doing so at night, to prevent chaos. In order to ensure the quality at maturity, he had to ruthlessly confine twenty Blood Jade Ginseng plants to a life of dormancy.

The second-grade Sword Grass and Dark Marrow Fungus were much less troublesome.

As the Sword Grass neared maturity, the sharpness within its straight body gradually converged. Only the densely packed faint sword marks in the spiritual soil testified to its previous sharpness.

On the other hand, the Dark Marrow Fungus displayed a completely different growth pattern. Within the wooden shed specially constructed for it, it was completely occupied by the dark red mycelium it dispersed, resembling countless fine blood vessels forming an impenetrable web.

Lu Xuan remained unrushed, maintaining his pace, giving his utmost effort to enhance the quality of the spiritual plants. Then, he patiently waited for them to mature.

During his leisure time, he would visit Wu Wenjing next door, a connoisseur of spirits, and share a drink with him.

Among the several courtyards nearby, since Wang Shan had been eliminated by the enforcers of the Hall of Law, his residence had remained vacant. As for the others, whom Lu Xuan rarely encountered, he knew they were either diligently cultivating or seeking opportunities outside.

Only the two of them - one contentedly retired without desires, and the other engrossed in planting due to the reward of the luminous orb - after frequent interactions, developed a slight friendship.

Inside Wu Wenjing's home:

"These times are getting tougher. It's hard even to peacefully retire in the market," the old man set down his jade wine cup and sighed.

"My cultivation has hit a dead end, so I bought this residence in Lin Yangfang market. I brew spirit wine occasionally to make ends meet, but I didn't expect even these small requests to be hard to fulfill."

"These useless enforcers from the Hall of Law, I don't know what they're doing with all those spirit stones. The malignants infiltrate the market, and it's been so long without any resolution."

"Yes, whenever there's trouble, we, the wandering cultivators, suffer the most. We're just like wild grass, unable to withstand even the slightest disturbance."

Lu Xuan empathized. If not for the white luminous orb in his spiritual field altering his fate, he might have silently disappeared in this harsh world.

"I've heard that the Wang family has sought help from the family descendants practicing in the sect. Soon, they'll arrive at the market to search for the malignants lurking in the corners."

"Is that so? Once the sect cultivators are mobilized, those malignants won't be able to hide."

Lu Xuan nodded in agreement. This elder in front of him had spent decades in the market, possessing an extensive network, and had various sources of insider information.

The challenge lay not in dealing with the malignants – after all, with foundational cultivators stationed in the market, dealing with a single malignant shouldn't be a problem. Instead, it was the elusive nature of these malignants, making detection difficult, thus prolonging the issue.

However, the sect cultivators were proficient in techniques and possessed treasures and spiritual beasts specialized in discovering and investigating malignants, rendering them experts in this field.

"It seems the opportunity to acquire deteriorating spiritual plants won't last long. I'll make use of these next couple of days to make another haul," Lu Xuan pondered to himself.

He had foreseen this outcome. After all, the influential families and powers within the market wouldn't allow the malignant influence to expand further. Consequently, the issue of deteriorating spiritual plants would be resolved, and if he could earn a substantial sum of spirit stones, it would be quite favorable.

After spending some time in Wu Wenjing's place, he bid farewell and left.

The spirit wine brewed by the old man had a mild taste at first but had a strong aftereffect. Lu Xuan's complexion was slightly flushed as he entered the backyard spiritual field.

"Others may lose control after drinking, but I, after drinking, observe your unruly natures. Hey, all of you, stay apart."

Employing his earth manipulation technique,

Lu Xuan controlled the entwined roots of the Blood Jade Ginseng, separating them.

"Hmm?"

Suddenly, he noticed one Blood Jade Ginseng had reached maximum maturity, instantly sobering up.

Taking a deep breath, he carefully excavated the mature Blood Jade Ginseng from the spiritual soil.

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