Chapter 8: The Breath Concealment Technique

Night fell.

Lu Xuan dragged his somewhat weary body back into the house.

Although the number of spirit plants in the spirit field was not many—eleven spirit fire grass plants nearing maturity, ten newly planted seedlings, two moon-eroding trees, and one red cloud pine—due to the extremely meticulous cultivation methods and the repeated use of the spirit rain technique and the earth attraction technique, even a qi practitioner like Lu Xuan felt fatigued by the end of the day.

However, he found joy in it. Compared to the sight of numerous spirit plants thriving, this bit of labor was nothing.

After a simple dinner and a brief rest, he sat on the wooden bed, circulated his cultivation technique, and restored his spirit energy.

The sudden surge in his cultivation level caused his internal spirit energy to flow sluggishly, and he needed to adjust and adapt.

Suddenly, he noticed that the array plate beside him suddenly emitted a bright light.

A miniature spirit energy shield appeared on the array plate, and at a certain point on the shield, a faint spirit light flickered like ripples.

Lu Xuan's expression turned serious. He memorized the position of the flickering light, slid the sword qi talisman into his left palm, and suddenly stood up, approaching the gray stone wall. He leaped over it.

Upon crossing the wall, Lu Xuan's sharp eyes caught a black shadow wriggling its small body and rapidly fleeing into the distance.

Seeing the small black shadow attempting to intrude into his spirit field, Lu Xuan was enraged. How could he let it escape so easily?

His internal spirit energy rapidly circulated, and soon, a faint golden sword qi instantly condensed, like a streak of light, whistling towards the small black shadow.

The black shadow seemed to be frozen by the sword intent, slowing down significantly, and was cut into two pieces by the golden sword qi.

The light dissipated, leaving the surroundings in darkness.

Lu Xuan, gripping the sword qi talisman, surveyed the area. Seeing no abnormalities, he slowly exhaled.

He approached the severed black shadow, picked up the two halves, and returned to the courtyard.

As soon as he entered the house, a gray-black grass rope slithered to his feet, tapping his knee to indicate that an external object had invaded the spirit field.

"I've already taken care of it, and your warning comes now. Your reaction speed is impressive."

Lu Xuan looked at the grass puppet that had retreated after warning him, feeling both amused and exasperated.

Under the dim candlelight, he clearly saw the appearance of the black shadow's remains.

It was pitch black, about the thickness of a finger, with deep and shallow wrinkles on its body. It was the black sprout worm he had found in the "Common Harmful Insects and Their Solutions" he had read before.

"Trying to invade my spirit field again? Do you think it's your backyard?"

Lu Xuan controlled the Metal Sword Technique to slice the black sprout worm into pieces and then used the Fireball Technique to burn it into black ash, finally quelling his anger.

"Fortunately, the protective array worked and promptly blocked the black sprout worm's invasion. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable..."

The thought of the spirit plants in his spirit field being parasitized by the black sprout worm's eggs, affecting his light orb rewards, made him shudder.

He increasingly felt that spending a large sum to buy this second-hand array was an extremely wise decision.

The appearance of the black sprout worm was just a small ripple in his otherwise peaceful farming life. For the next few days, there were no further incidents.

Lu Xuan lived a simple and fulfilling life, using the spirit rain technique and the earth attraction technique to carefully cultivate the spirit plants, and occasionally using the Fireball Technique to stimulate the red cloud pine.

He hadn't gone out much, and only Zhang Hong visited once.

He was about to join the Wang family cultivators and hundreds of other scattered cultivators to explore the newly discovered secret realm in the wilderness. Before leaving, he came to bid farewell to Lu Xuan and asked him to look after his family.

Apart from that, Lu Xuan had little contact with others.

After five days, he harvested two batches of mature spirit fire grass, totaling eight plants. Only three spirit fire grass plants remained to mature in the spirit field.

Of the eight plants, three were of ordinary quality, and five were of good quality.

Among the eight white light orbs that appeared, three rewarded him with cultivation, adding a year of cultivation to his body, significantly increasing his internal spirit energy.

The other five included the earth attraction technique and the Metal Sword Technique. With these experience packages, Lu Xuan's understanding of these techniques deepened, and his speed and power in using them improved significantly.

The remaining three were three first-grade talismans: a sword qi talisman, a speed-enhancing swift talisman, and a defensive earth armor talisman. Lu Xuan kept them all, ready for any unexpected needs.

After harvesting the eight mature spirit fire grass plants, a large area of the spirit field was left empty. Lu Xuan carefully planted the remaining ten spirit fire grass seeds. Soon, they sprouted tender green shoots, trembling gently in the breeze.

The ten plants he had previously planted had grown significantly, each about three inches tall, with deep green leaves and increasingly prominent glowing spots.

The last three spirit fire grass plants did not keep Lu Xuan waiting long. One day, after using the spirit rain technique, the progress bars below the three spirit fire grass plants were all fully filled.

Focusing his mind, Lu Xuan discovered a pleasant surprise.

"Two mature spirit fire grass plants of good quality."

"One mature spirit fire grass plant of superior quality."

"Finally, I've cultivated a superior quality spirit fire grass plant."

Lu Xuan held the spirit fire grass plant with even more prominent glowing spots, feeling gratified.

Out of a total of twenty-four plants, under the meticulous cultivation of the spirit rain technique and the earth attraction technique, he finally managed to cultivate one superior quality plant.

Although the probability was very low, Lu Xuan understood.

After all, the spirit energy in his spirit field was sparse, and he had only learned the real-time status of the spirit fire grass during its later stages, making it difficult to significantly improve its quality.

"If I want to cultivate a large number of superior quality spirit plants or even higher-grade perfect quality plants, at least two conditions need to be met."

"High concentration of spirit energy and meticulous cultivation from the planting stage to the maturity stage."

Lu Xuan summarized.

In the spirit field, three white light orbs flickered, drawing Lu Xuan's attention.

"Harvesting one spirit fire grass plant, gaining half a year of cultivation."

Another cultivation reward. I don't even feel motivated to practice anymore.

Lu Xuan felt the surging spirit energy that appeared in his body and sighed.

"Harvesting one spirit fire grass plant, gaining a first-grade talisman, the Evil-Dispelling Talisman."

A dark yellow talisman appeared in Lu Xuan's hand, with a demon pattern in the center, restrained by two strange patterns forming a chain.

"The Evil-Dispelling Talisman, a first-grade talisman. Using it can purify and drive away evil spirits within a certain range. It's quite rare."

A thought flashed through Lu Xuan's mind, and he carefully stored the talisman with the demon pattern.

The last white light orb was from the superior quality plant. The quality of the spirit plant affects the richness of the reward, and Lu Xuan had high hopes for it.

The light orb transformed into countless light points, flooding into Lu Xuan's mind. A thought flashed through his mind, and a cultivation technique appeared in his sea of consciousness.

"The Breath Concealment Technique. Practicing it can conceal one's aura and cultivation, providing excellent stealth capabilities."