Chapter 4 'Jingold Sword Art'_1

After learning about the three Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer cultivators from the cultivator surnamed Huang, Lu Xuan made it a priority to visit them one by one, eventually selecting Qin Ming, who specialized in ice system techniques.

No other reason, simply because he was cheap.

Among the three, Lingyun Fairy had the highest price, demanding ten spirit stones outright, which directly scared Lu Xuan away. Li Xu, who was skilled in Sword Qi into Silk, asked for nine spirit stones, while Qin Ming was the cheapest, only requiring seven spirit stones.

Without hesitation, Lu Xuan chose Qin Ming first and even spent much effort bargaining along the way, reducing Qin Ming's reward by fifty Broken Spirit, saving half a spirit stone in the process.

However, even though this was cheaper compared to the other two cultivators, it was still expensive. Keep in mind, renting this courtyard with the Spirit Field already cost Lu Xuan five spirit stones a month.

*To spend over a month's expenses in such a short time, how could Lu Xuan not feel the sting!*

Fortunately, the issue with the black bud worm larva was successfully resolved. Now, he could only hope that the white light clusters from the revived Spirit Firefly Grass would yield worthwhile rewards.

His focus concentrated on the Spirit Firefly Grass that had been corroded by the black thread-like lines, as a thought flickered through his mind.

"Suddenly, I feel so empty, as if something inside has vanished, leaving me desperate for nutrition."

*What the hell kind of state is this?* Lu Xuan complained to himself as spiritual energy surged within. Threads of Spirit Rain fell onto the vibrant green leaves of the Spirit Firefly Grass, gently seeping into them.

After casting Spirit Rain Technique three consecutive times, the Spirit Firefly Grass, which had been severely deficient in vitality, finally recovered more than half of its health.

Lu Xuan took the opportunity to inspect the small courtyard, gaining a full understanding of the remaining Spirit Firefly Grass and the current state of the two Moon Erosion Trees. Confirming there were no issues, he finally relaxed and went indoors.

The next day.

Early in the morning, without even taking time to wash up, Lu Xuan rushed to the Spirit Firefly Grass, pinched its leaf, and flipped it over to examine its underside.

The persistent black thread-like lines that lingered for several days had finally vanished.

He let out a long breath, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl into a faint smile.

After casting another round of Spirit Rain Technique, Lu Xuan carefully examined the Spirit Plants in the field and discovered that the progress bars for three more Spirit Firefly Grass plants had completely filled.

His focus locked onto them.

"Two Spirit Firefly Grass of ordinary quality."

"One Spirit Firefly Grass of good quality."

"Hmm? Good quality Spirit Firefly Grass?"

Lu Xuan noticed subtle differences among the three Spirit Firefly Grass plants.

After harvesting the first Spirit Firefly Grass, the farming system appeared, so he remained unsure of the quality of the first plant when it matured.

Carefully, he plucked the Spirit Firefly Grass with faint fluorescence. Three white light clusters quietly emerged on the spot, flickering slightly, as if beckoning Lu Xuan to pick them up.

"Harvested one Spirit Firefly Grass, gained Three Months Cultivation."

"Harvested one Spirit Firefly Grass, gained Three Months Cultivation."

"Harvested one Spirit Firefly Grass, gained the Earth Pulling Technique spell."

The moment he picked up the light clusters, Lu Xuan felt spiritual energy in his body surge explosively.

The wildly rushing spiritual power rampaged through his meridians. Once the chaos subsided, Lu Xuan felt his cultivation naturally break through to the Third Layer of Qi Cultivation.

*Days of painstaking effort, combined with just a bit of help from those three white light clusters, finally led to a successful breakthrough to the Third Layer of Qi Cultivation.* Lu Xuan thought with satisfaction.

Simultaneously, a spell called Earth Pulling Technique appeared in his Sea of Consciousness.

He instinctively understood all sorts of information about the Earth Pulling Technique.

This technique, like the Spirit Rain Technique, was one of the essential low-tier spells for Spirit Plant Masters. Success in cultivating it allowed for manipulating and altering the soil's structure, as well as adjusting the concentration of spiritual energy within the soil—helping Spirit Plants grow better.

For Lu Xuan, it was highly practical at this stage.

Activating the spell, Lu Xuan's spiritual power controlled the gray-black soil in the Spirit Field, causing it to rise slightly. With meticulous adjustments, he subtly repositioned the roots of the remaining Spirit Firefly Grass, ensuring they were distributed more evenly—not clumped together nor leaving overly vacant spots.

"I initially thought all the white light clusters from Spirit Firefly Grass would grant Three Months Cultivation, but now it seems that plants of the same species can yield different light cluster rewards.

The mature Spirit Firefly Grass of good quality provided a spell like the Earth Pulling Technique."

"It looks like the remaining twenty Spirit Firefly Grass plants and the two Moon Erosion Trees need careful attention to improve the quality of their maturation and earn better white light cluster rewards."

Lu Xuan pondered inwardly.

Though the courtyard wasn't large, the two Moon Erosion Trees occupied nearly half the space. The remaining area held a total of twenty-four Spirit Firefly Grass plants. After harvesting twice, with four plants collected, twenty others were nearing maturity.

Don't be fooled by how little space Spirit Firefly Grass occupies; its roots in the soil spread extensively. Even planting just over twenty plants had already fully utilized the soil's capacity in the Spirit Field.

Judging by the rewards from the good-quality Spirit Firefly Grass, cultivating Spirit Plants to achieve the best possible appearance at maturity was ideal.

This would allow selling them for higher spirit stones or earning better light clusters as rewards—a win-win situation.

Now that he could grasp the real-time status of Spirit Plants and had both the Earth Pulling and Spirit Rain techniques at his disposal, Lu Xuan felt more confident than ever.

He decided to change his regular planting routine.

Previously, he would cast Spirit Rain Technique at intervals to moisten the Spirit Plants, occasionally inspecting the Spirit Field during cultivation breaks for insect infestations.

For a low-rank Spirit Plant Master like him, this was already considered a relatively reasonable cultivation method.

However, now that he could check the plants' statuses in real-time, he planned to switch from a broad application of Spirit Rain Technique to precise local implementations—focusing on meeting the specific needs of each Spirit Firefly Grass plant to nurture the highest-quality Spirit Plants possible.

Once he decided, he immediately got to work, repeatedly casting Spirit Rain Technique and Earth Pulling Technique according to each Spirit Firefly Grass plant's distinct needs until his spiritual energy was completely depleted.

Exhausted but satisfied, Lu Xuan gazed at the Spirit Field filled with verdant, lustrous Spirit Firefly Grass and smiled warmly.

As for not having time to cultivate today? He didn't mind; at this moment, he only wanted to farm peacefully.

After two days of painstaking effort, five mature Spirit Firefly Grass plants finally lay before Lu Xuan.

However, perhaps because the planting cycles were long, these few days of precise cultivation couldn't lead to qualitative transformations.

Among the five Spirit Firefly Grass plants, three were of ordinary quality, while the other two were of good quality.

The three ordinary Spirit Firefly Grass plants granted Lu Xuan spiritual energy equivalent to nine months of his typical cultivation efforts.

As for the two good-quality Spirit Firefly Grass plants, one also rewarded the Earth Pulling Technique.

After absorbing the reward, Lu Xuan felt his understanding of the spell deepen significantly. He could activate the technique more quickly and control soil changes with greater precision.

"It seems that when the light cluster rewards are identical spells, absorbing them increases the comprehension of the spell, essentially serving as an experience bar."

Lu Xuan contemplated, as a new reward from the other good-quality Spirit Firefly Grass emerged in his Sea of Consciousness.

"Jingold Sword Art!"