Chapter 3 - Frost Armor

  After Zhang Hong left, Lu Xuan did not delay, and took all his belongings, ready to go out to find a solution to the black budworm larvae.

  Before leaving, he took out a small stone the size of a fingernail and came to the grass puppet.

  The small stone was pure white, with a faint spiritual power fluctuation. It was a small piece of broken spirit, which was split from a low-grade spiritual stone. It was widely used by low-level cultivators like Lu Xuan.

  "After you have eaten and drunk enough, take good care of the house for me!"

  He stuffed the small piece of broken spirit into the gray grass tumor on the head of the grass puppet, and gave a serious instruction. With

  the spiritual power supplement of the broken spirit, the grass puppet exuded a very weak spiritual light all over its body, as if it was more motivated.

  Although he was not very confident about this slow-reacting housekeeping puppet, Lu Xuan had no other choice but to hope that the spiritual plants in the yard would be safe during his absence.

  After going out, Lu Xuan walked quickly on the bluestone road.

  The courtyard where he lived was located in the northern area of ​​Linyang Market. Most of the people there were low-level cultivators like him who were practicing Qi. They had the dream of breaking through themselves and changing their fate, and they were crowded in a small area.

  As for the center of the market, it was the private land of those big families and big forces. Lu Xuan rarely went there on weekdays. He

  hadn't been out for a while, so he was a little uncomfortable. Looking at everything in front of him, he felt familiar and strange.

  A dark yellow paper bird about half a meter long carried a cultivator and slowly passed by from low altitude. There were thorns of different lengths on the bird's body, which showed that it had been used for a long time.

  Then, a multi-legged mechanical beast flew over Lu Xuan's head, and he could see 20 to 30 cultivators sitting on it.

  Multi-legged mechanical beasts were a common means of transportation in the market. It only took dozens of broken spirits to get to the center of the market in a short time.

  There was no forbidden air formation outside the market. There were many spirit beasts and flying magic tools like this. Occasionally, a sword light would pass by quickly in the higher sky.

  The sword light was formed by a cultivator controlling a flying sword, which meant that he was at least a high-level cultivator of Qi training, which was an existence that was out of reach for him at the moment.

  Lu Xuan couldn't help but reveal a trace of envy. Riding the sword of Qingming and traversing the world was a distant dream for him in both his previous life and this life.

  He collected his mind and quickened his pace. After a while, he came to a gathering place for cultivators in the northern district.

  There were many shops and stalls in the gathering place. Although they were not as good as the central area in all aspects, they were more than enough for a low-level cultivator like him who practiced Qi training.

  Lu Xuan shuttled through the crowd and soon found a middle-aged cultivator in a corner.

  The middle-aged cultivator was also a second-level cultivator of Qi training. He was thin and had no flesh on his face, which made his cheekbones protrude high.

  He had a pair of mustaches on his upper lip, and his eyes were rolling around, quickly scanning the cultivators coming and going.

  Lu Xuan knew that his surname was Huang, and that he lived not far from his yard. He had been hanging around in the gathering place for a long time and was well aware of all the gossip in the North District.

  However, if he wanted to ask him something, he would have to pay a certain amount of money.

  Sensing Lu Xuan's gaze, the middle-aged Huang's mustache slightly curled up, and he forced a smile and greeted Lu Xuan.

  "Little Daoist Lu, long time no see. I wonder if there is anything I can help you with?"

  Lu Xuan smiled back.

  "There is indeed something I need to ask you, Senior Brother Huang."

  "I heard that Senior Brother has a wide network of contacts and is familiar with cultivators at all stages of cultivation in the North District. Can you introduce a few to me?"

  "There are a few requirements. First, they must be cultivators at the fourth level of Qi training. Second, they must be proficient in spells with strong lethality and fine control, or similar magic tools."

  "Finally, they must be within the North District and can be found immediately."

  Lu Xuan said to the middle-aged cultivator surnamed Huang, while handing him a handful of broken spirits.

  He did not expect to find a cultivator with a higher level of cultivation. Although it might be faster to deal with the black budworm larvae, the reward for hiring a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi training was more than double that of a cultivator at the fourth level.

  In addition, the firefly grass had been severely eroded. If it could not be dealt with in time, he would lose not only one or more firefly grasses, but also the white light balls with unknown rewards when the firefly grass matured.

  Therefore, Lu Xuan, who had always been thrifty, reluctantly paid so many broken spirits and asked the cultivator at the fourth level of Qi training to be found immediately. All this was to be able to deal with the black budworm larvae as soon as possible.

  The middle-aged cultivator took the broken spirits handed over by Lu Xuan, and his smile was obviously warm and natural.   

  "There are quite a few cultivators at the fourth level of Qi training in the North District, but there are not many who can meet the other conditions of Little Daoist Lu."

  "As far as I know, there are three nearby."

  "One is Fairy Lingyun, who has a very high level of cultivation and has a set of Red Cloud Needle magic tools, which she uses to perfection, and at the same time meets the two requirements of strong lethality and fine control."

  "In addition, there is Fellow Daoist Qin Ming, who has profound attainments in ice-based magic. His lethality may be slightly lacking, but his control is second to none."

  "Finally, there is Fellow Daoist Li Xu, who is obsessed with swordsmanship and has the ability to turn sword energy into silk, and he also meets the requirements of Little Daoist Lu."

  He told Lu Xuan the addresses of the three fourth-level Qi training cultivators, and when he nodded to indicate that he had remembered them, he said with a smile:

  "Why don't I accompany Little Daoist Lu and take you to visit these three fellow Taoists?"

  "I appreciate Senior Brother Huang's kindness, and I won't trouble you separately."

  Lu Xuan knew that there was another price, so he clasped his fists to thank him and turned to leave.

  He was not worried that the middle-aged monk would deceive him. After all, this was his livelihood, and he could not destroy his own rice bowl.

  ...

  In the yard.

  On the back of the firefly grass eroded by the black fine lines, a thin layer of frost spread rapidly with a bone-chilling cold.

  The black budworm larvae sensed the rapid approach of the biting cold, and the thin lines twisted to break free from the leaves.

  But the speed of breaking free could not keep up with the speed of the frost spreading, and the black thin lines were frozen by the thin frost.

  The snowflake-like frost solidified instantly and became hard. With a snap, a shallow layer of ice flakes broke apart and fell together with the black budworm larvae.

  A white and tender palm stretched out and caught all the broken ice flakes.

  "Wow, Senior Brother Qin is really as his name suggests. He uses the frost armor technique to perfection. I admire him."

  Lu Xuan looked at the firefly grass leaves that were not damaged at all under the frost, and exclaimed half-truthfully.

  The owner of the white and tender palm was a fat white monk, who smiled and stuffed the broken ice flakes into his arms.

  "Fortunately, I have fulfilled

  my mission. While dealing with the black budworm larvae, I did not freeze the leaves of the spiritual plant." "I have observed the nearby spiritual firefly grass for you, and I did not find any traces of black budworm larvae. You can rest assured for the next period of time."

  "But I looked around the yard. The protection of your small spiritual field is a bit weak. It may be affected by similar incidents in the future."

  The fat white monk reminded Lu Xuan.

  Lu Xuan waved his hand.

  "We will talk about the future later. The reward this time is..."

  "Six spiritual stones and fifty broken spirits. It was agreed before."

  The value of a spiritual firefly grass is far less than six spiritual stones. The reason why the reward is so much is mainly to solve the problem of insect pests in the spiritual field, and also because Qin Ming is a mid-level Qi training cultivator. The

  fat white monk showed a harmless smile on his face.

  Lu Xuan took out the fifty broken spirits, counted them twice, and then took out six spiritual stones from his waist one by one, turned his head, and handed them to the fat white monk.

  "Thank you, fellow Lu."

  The fat white monk Qin Ming took the spiritual stones and left the courtyard.

  Lu Xuan felt the spirit stone moving further and further away from him, and felt so heartbroken that he couldn't help but secretly spit.

  "Swindler!"

  (End of this chapter)