Chapter 4: The Metal Sword Technique

After learning the information about the three cultivators at the fourth level of Qi Condensation from the Huang family cultivator, Lu Xuan promptly visited each of them and ultimately chose Qin Ming, who specialized in ice-based techniques.

There was no other reason; it was simply the most cost-effective.

Among the three, Lingyun Fairy had the highest price, demanding ten spirit stones right off the bat, which immediately scared Lu Xuan away. Next was Li Xu, who specialized in transforming sword qi into threads, asking for nine spirit stones. The cheapest was Qin Ming, who only required seven spirit stones.

Naturally, Lu Xuan chose Qin Ming without hesitation and, on the way, managed to haggle down Qin Ming's fee by fifty spirit fragments, saving half a spirit stone.

However, this bargain was only relative to the other two cultivators. After all, the monthly rent for the courtyard with the spirit field that Lu Xuan rented was five spirit stones.

So, in just a short while, he had spent more than a month's worth of expenses, which pained Lu Xuan greatly!

Fortunately, the problem with the black sprout larvae was successfully resolved. He could only hope that the white light orbs from the normal spirit fire grass would bring a substantial reward.

He focused his mind on the spirit fire grass that had been eroded by black threads, and a thought flashed through his mind.

"Suddenly shivering, I feel so empty, as if something has disappeared from my body, and I urgently need to replenish my nutrients."

What kind of state is this?

Lu Xuan muttered, and his internal spirit energy surged, with threads of spirit rain falling onto the green leaves of the spirit fire grass, seeping into them.

After three consecutive spirit rain techniques, the spirit fire grass, which had been lacking vitality, recovered to a large extent.

Lu Xuan then took a tour of the small courtyard, checking the current state of the remaining spirit fire grass and the two moon-eroding trees. After confirming there were no issues, he entered the house with peace of mind.

The next day.

Early in the morning, Lu Xuan, without even washing up, hurried to the spirit fire grass and pinched a leaf, flipping it over to the back.

The black threads that had been haunting it for the past few days were finally gone.

He let out a long sigh, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.

After a round of spirit rain, Lu Xuan carefully examined the spirit plants in the spirit field and found that the progress bars of three more spirit fire grass plants were completely full.

He focused his mind on them.

"Two ordinary spirit fire grass plants."

"One good-quality spirit fire grass plant."

"Hmm? A good-quality spirit fire grass plant?"

Lu Xuan noticed the subtle differences among the three spirit fire grass plants.

After harvesting the first spirit fire grass plant, this farming plugin had appeared, so he was unsure of the quality of the first matured plant.

He carefully picked the spirit fire grass, which was faintly glowing, and three white light orbs appeared on the spot, flickering slightly as if inviting Lu Xuan to pick them up.

"Harvested one spirit fire grass plant, gained three months of cultivation."

"Harvested one spirit fire grass plant, gained three months of cultivation."

"Harvested one spirit fire grass plant, gained the Earth Attraction Technique."

The moment he picked up the light orbs, Lu Xuan felt his internal spirit energy surge dramatically.

The surging spirit energy rampaged through his meridians, and once it calmed down, Lu Xuan sensed that his cultivation had naturally advanced to the third level of Qi Condensation.

After many days of hard cultivation, plus a little help from the three white light orbs, he finally successfully broke through to the third level of Qi Condensation.

Lu Xuan felt a sense of relief.

At the same time as his spirit energy surged, a technique called the Earth Attraction Technique appeared in his mind.

He understood many things about the Earth Attraction Technique.

The Earth Attraction Technique is similar to the spirit rain technique, both being essential low-level techniques for spirit plant cultivators. Once successfully cultivated, it can be used to manipulate and control the structure of the soil, as well as alter the concentration of spirit energy in the soil, allowing spirit plants to grow better.

For the current Lu Xuan, this was quite practical.

He activated the technique, and the gray-black soil in the spirit field slightly rose under his control, subtly adjusting the root positions of the remaining spirit fire grass plants, making their distribution more reasonable, no longer either leaving large empty spaces or clustering together.

"I originally thought all the white light orbs from the spirit fire grass would be three months of cultivation. Now it seems that even the same type of spirit plant can produce different light orb rewards.

The good-quality mature spirit fire grass brought the Earth Attraction Technique."

"It seems that the remaining twenty or so spirit fire grass plants and the two moon-eroding trees need to be cared for more meticulously. Improving their quality at maturity will increase the rewards from the white light orbs."

Lu Xuan thought to himself.

The courtyard was not large, with the two moon-eroding trees occupying a small half of the area. The remaining area was planted with a total of twenty-four spirit fire grass plants. After two harvests, a total of four plants had been harvested, leaving twenty more to mature.

Don't be fooled by the small size of the spirit fire grass; the roots in the soil were extremely extensive. Even with just over twenty plants, it was the result of maximizing the use of the spirit field soil.

From the rewards of the good-quality spirit fire grass, it was clear that cultivating spirit plants should aim to improve their quality at maturity as much as possible.

This way, they could be sold for more spirit stones and also bring better light orb rewards, achieving both goals at once.

Now that he could understand the real-time state of the spirit plants and had the assistance of the Earth Attraction Technique and the spirit rain technique, Lu Xuan was very confident.

He planned to change his usual planting method.

Previously, he would cast the spirit rain technique at intervals every day to nourish the spirit plants and check the spirit field for any insect invasions during his cultivation breaks.

For a low-level spirit plant cultivator, this was already a relatively reasonable cultivation method.

Now that he could monitor the real-time state of the spirit plants, he planned to change the large-scale spirit rain technique to a more precise, localized application. He would satisfy the needs of each spirit fire grass plant as soon as he detected them, striving to cultivate the best-quality spirit plants.

Thinking and doing, he repeatedly cast the spirit rain technique and the Earth Attraction Technique based on the subtle differences in the needs of each spirit fire grass plant until his internal spirit energy was exhausted.

Looking at the green, lustrous spirit fire grass plants in the spirit field, the exhausted Lu Xuan smiled with satisfaction.

As for not having time to cultivate today? He indicated that it was no longer important; now he just wanted to quietly farm.

After two days of hard work, five mature spirit fire grass plants stood before Lu Xuan.

However, it was probably due to the long planting time, and the few days of meticulous cultivation could not bring a qualitative change.

Among the five spirit fire grass plants, three were of ordinary quality, and two were of good quality.

The three ordinary spirit fire grass plants provided Lu Xuan with spirit energy equivalent to nine months of his usual cultivation.

As for the two good-quality spirit fire grass plants, one was the Earth Attraction Technique.

After absorbing it, Lu Xuan felt a deeper understanding of the technique, with a shorter activation time and more precise control over soil changes.

"It seems that if the light orb rewards are the same technique, absorbing them will increase one's understanding, similar to an experience bar."

Lu Xuan mused, and then another light orb reward from the good-quality spirit fire grass appeared in his mind.

"The Metal Sword Technique!"