After carefully cultivating his spiritual herbs over the past season, Lu Fan was ready to make his trip back to the main family estate to sell his harvest. He bundled the herbs and transported them, trading them in exchange for 400 low-grade spirit stones.
With this income, he made a series of strategic purchases. First, he invested in a small storage bag, a rare and valuable item, paying 8 mid-grade spirit stones he'd earned from his previous formation experiments. The bag was small and inconspicuous but could store items far beyond what its size suggested—a convenient addition to his tools and an asset for his secretive projects. He still had two mid-grade spirit stones left after this purchase.
With 200 low-grade spirit stones, Lu Fan sought out high-quality Blood Stones, targeting five elemental affinities to enhance his body cultivation experiments. He acquired:
Wind-type Blood Stone from a Level 2 wolf beast.
Earth-type Blood Stone from a Level 2 pig beast.
Water-type Blood Stone from a Level 2 whale beast.
Metal-type Blood Stone from a Level 2 swordfish beast.
Thunder-type Blood Stone from a Level 2 eel beast.
Lu Fan's next purchase focused on rare plants. He acquired the seeds of Holy Basil and Night Jasmine for 100 spirit stones, both known for their properties in stabilizing and strengthening spiritual energy. Finally, he spent his remaining 300 spirit stones on level 1 beast blood, replenishing his stock for creating Level 1 Blood Stones and mortal Blood Stones.
Satisfied with his haul, Lu Fan returned home, eager to resume his experiments.
Experimenting with Seeds
With his new supplies in place, Lu Fan decided to test the "magnet" method on the plant seeds. He hoped to observe spiritual patterns in plants as he had with blood, which would open up a new realm of growth-enhancing formations. However, neither the Holy Basil nor the Night Jasmine seeds—still ungerminated—exhibited any discernible spiritual patterns. This setback surprised him, but he decided to try a different approach.
He soaked the Holy Basil seeds in a small dish of spiritual water and set them aside. After a few days, the seeds began to germinate, and to Lu Fan's surprise, the seedlings now exhibited faint, intricate patterns when tested with his "magnet" method. The magnet experiment, which had initially shown no results with the dormant seeds, now revealed complex patterns on the sprouting seedlings. Encouraged by this breakthrough, he carefully transplanted one seedling into a clay vase and arranged an array around it, mimicking the shapes and flows of the observed patterns.
Cultivating the Seedlings
Over the next few months, Lu Fan observed the Holy Basil seedling's progress. The formation seemed to amplify the plant's growth, allowing it to flourish far faster than a normal spiritual plant of its kind. Its leaves grew fuller, and its stems sturdier, exuding a faint, vibrant aura.
This success encouraged him to consider further applications of his formation techniques on plants. If this method worked for cultivating herbs, it could become an invaluable source of income, especially given the demand for high-quality spiritual herbs in the family market.
Refining the Blood Stones
In the meantime, Lu Fan continued with his blood experiments. Using the various animal bloods he had acquired, he refined Level 1 Blood Stones for personal use, as well as mortal Blood Stones for his wives. The mortal Blood Stones were undetectable to other cultivators, making them a secure way to subtly strengthen his family's constitution without attracting unwanted attention.
Each day, as he watched the basil plant grow stronger under his careful guidance and his own body tempering progress through the use of Blood Stones.