"I went and took on three days of private work recommended by Ye Botong. Chen Qing went down to the market at the foot of the mountain and bought four spirit sheds."
"Passing by Li He's house, this guy was sitting on his own doorstep, disheartened."
"I heard this guy saved up Spirit Stones for two months, and excitedly bought materials worth over two hundred Spirit Stones to cultivate a Bug."
"He was very excited a few days ago, but his appearance today suggests that those two hundred plus Spirit Stones went down the drain."
"Cultivating Bugs is basically hitting the jackpot."
"Because each Bug is unique, their Growth Requirements are different, and each stage varies."
"Bug has Nine Transformations, each different."
"Though it's like hitting the jackpot, there are still some rules to follow."
"They feed their Bug different Spiritual Objects or Spiritual Medicine, or demon beast materials every month."
"Based on what the Bug is fed each month, whether the Bug sheds its skin and transforms to determine what materials it needs to grow."
"Once the Bug sheds its skin, then different materials are used for cultivation, until the right material that can make the Bug transform again is found."
"Li He, sitting on his own doorstep, looked blankly at the Bug in his hand, perked up when he saw Chen Qing passing by, and suddenly his eyes lit up, 'Fellow Daoist Chen, do you think it's possible that I bought too little Green Spirit Grass and that's not enough to support its promotion?'"
"Li He didn't mind Chen Qing seeing his Bug."
"In fact, production types generally don't hide their Bugs; after all, if nobody knows what your Bug can do, how can you earn Spirit Stones?"
"Chen Qing looked at the Bug in Li He's hand:"
"[Mortal Alcohol Bug]"
"Quality: Sixth Transformation"
"Life Span: 24/58"
"Effect: Extracts essence from ginseng, condenses into Ginseng Wine."
"Growth Requirements: Mica"
"Growth Progress: 1/100"
"Promotion Requirements: Ninth Transformation, a strand of Earth Mother Essence, one Iron Wood Core"
"Chen Qing casually said, 'What if it's not?'"
"Li He pondered for a long time, 'I'll buy another fifty low-grade Spirit Stones worth of Green Spirit Grass, just fifty low-grade Spirit Stones.'"
"'Once it reaches the Seventh Transformation, it might be able to brew Ginseng Ganoderma Wine, a bottle of Ginseng Ganoderma Wine is worth twenty-five low-grade Spirit Stones, more than twice as expensive as Ginseng Wine.'"
"'Just another fifty low-grade Spirit Stones of...'"
"Seeing that Li He couldn't be advised at this moment, Chen Qing lost interest in persuading further."
"Good thing he could see those special pieces of information, otherwise, he might have been worse off than Li He."
"Chen Qing's idea was simple, slowly save money to promote his Grass Spirit Bug to the Eighth Transformation."
"He didn't look for trouble as a production type, and no one bothered him."
"In this cruel world, Wuyou Mountain was one of the few paradises."
"After taking on a few more days of private work, Chen Qing finally had enough money to gather the materials for his Grass Spirit Bug."
"Before he realized, a year had passed, and it was the festival season, Chen Qing sat alone in his stone cave, took out that bottle of ten-Spirit Stone Ginseng Wine, and hesitated a long time but didn't open it."
"I heard that Elder Chen's descendants had all gone out, they weren't coming back this festival season, so I'll go tomorrow to pay him a New Year visit."
"After a sumptuous dinner, Chen Qing picked up the last bit of Earth Spirit Crystal and began nurturing the Grass Spirit Bug."
"Feeding it for just half an hour, the Grass Spirit Bug underwent a change, the chubby Grass Spirit Bug suddenly lay motionless on the table."
"As if petrified, the Grass Spirit Bug seemed to solidify in an instant."
"Chen Qing touched it again, it was hard, as if it had turned into a piece of jade."
"Was this its transformation?"
"The information on the Grass Spirit Bug also changed to 'Transforming', seeing these three words, Chen Qing slightly relaxed."
"I wonder how long this transformation will take."
"Fortunately, it's the festival season, and there's nothing much to do."
"Chen Qing stayed beside it, and after two more hours, the Grass Spirit Bug suddenly trembled."
"Following that, the outer shell of the Grass Spirit Bug cracked open, and a bigger Grass Spirit Bug emerged from it."
"The transformation succeeded!"
"From the size of a soybean to something much bigger."
"Chen Qing collected the spirit shed shed by the Grass Spirit Bug, which could still be sold for money."
"Looking at the information of the Grass Spirit Bug, it had also changed."
"[Mortal Grass Spirit Bug]"
"Quality: Eighth Transformation"
Life Span: 42/78
Effect: Manage Bug Spirit Grass within a six-acre range, and enhance its growth speed and quality.
Growth Requirements: Wood Drying
Growth Progress: 0/100
Promotion Requirements: Ninth Transformation, ten drops of Earth Mother Spirit Liquid, one Soul Stealing Flower
Eighth Transformation achieved!
Life Span increased by 13 years, range expanded by one acre, which means earning six Spirit Stones daily!
That's one more inferior Spirit Stone than before!
"This is my entire worldly possession and life!"
"Now, in a month, I can earn nearly two hundred Spirit Stones!"
"That's over two thousand Spirit Stones a year!"
"Just save a bit, and all sorts of bugs like Iron Skin Bug, Sword Bug, Power Bug, Wind Bug are easily within reach!"
He cultivated Bugs much more conveniently than others, "Once I have money, I'll acquire all kinds of Bugs!"
"Let them know what being a Hexagon Warrior means!"
When he visited Elder Chen again, this time Elder Chen didn't say much, everyone just spoke some auspicious words.
He accepted his wine, was treated to a simple meal, and when he left, he was given an envelope containing twenty inferior Spirit Stones.
No one invited him during the festival period anyway, so he simply kept going to the sect to take up tasks of managing the Spiritual Fields.
One day after finishing his duties in the Spiritual Field, he met the Spirit Plant Elder who came for inspection, "Chen Qing, are you able to manage six acres a day now?"
Chen Qing replied, "I wasn't very familiar with the use of the Grass Spirit Bug before, but now I am, so I can manage six acres."
The Spirit Plant Elder nodded satisfactorily; he quite liked disciples who possessed Spirit Plant Bugs, "Very good, the original quality of your Bug is excellent, certainly better than those with poor initial quality. You need to save up more Spirit Stones to advance."
Chen Qing bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, Elder."
After Chen Qing left, the Spirit Plant Elder murmured to himself, "Just contracted and already at the Eighth or Ninth Transformation Grass Spirit Bug, just don't know about its life span; if it's long enough, it might be worth considering."
On the night of the fifteenth of the month, when Chen Qing was about to go to sleep, he heard someone knocking at the door.
Chen Qing opened the door, and it was a group of Wuyou Mountain disciples, with a young man in the front wearing sword clothes, holding a sword, his aura contained, obviously with high cultivation.
"Is this Chen Qing?"
Chen Qing nodded, still unaware of the situation.
The young cultivator said, "Two Evil Cultivators have come down from the mountain; it's very likely they are here to assassinate our production-oriented cultivators of Wuyou Mountain. You should quickly come with me up the mountain to hide for a while."
Hearing this, Chen Qing hastily grabbed some personal belongings and followed at the back of the group.
Li He pulled him aside, both pretending to have a sword, and when they left, Li He unsheathed his sword, which was more rusted than Chen Qing's.
Chen Qing also showed his rusted sword to Li He, both exchanged smiles and quickly caught up with the fellow senior in front.
At the mountainside, they were placed in a cave at the back mountain, the young cultivator sat at the entrance with his sword, vigilantly observing the surroundings.
Meanwhile, inside the cave sat more than a dozen production-oriented cultivators, at this moment not too worried, chatting and laughing about cultivating Bugs.
Chen Qing sat next to Li He, "What's happening?"
Li He replied, "Nothing serious, we don't need to go fight anyway, just wait until those two Evil Cultivators are killed and it'll be over."
"Although we live at the foot of the mountain, the area outside is inhabited by Sword Cultivators."
"Just two Evil Cultivators; they won't last against them."
Production-oriented cultivators are vital for a sect's rise and stability in foundations; any disturbance ensures they are the first to be protected by the sect.
Wuyou Mountain does especially well in this aspect.
Others didn't care much either, "Just two Evil Cultivators daring to act wildly on Wuyou Mountain, they're really seeking death."
After staying in the cave for just three hours, someone came to report, "Brother Gongsun Xiu has already slain those two Evil Cultivators!"
Upon hearing the crisis was resolved, someone stood up, passed ten inferior Spirit Stones to the door-guarding cultivator, bowed, and said, "Thank you, Brother, for your protection."
Then they left.
Chen Qing followed behind, also took out ten inferior Spirit Stones from his pocket, thanked the brother and bid farewell.
Upon returning to his own cave dwelling, nothing had been stolen—not that anyone would target his humble cave.
The next morning, as Chen Qing passed outside the sect, he could see two bloodstains in the distance.
It appeared they died painfully.
There was also a crowd nearby, discussing, "Heard that last night's two Evil Cultivators were likely from nearby Lotus Cave."
"The sect is actively purchasing Bug Spirit Grass for preparation; the price of Bug Spirit Grass is set to rise."
"Then cultivators who own Grass Spirit Bugs are in high demand, aren't they?"
"That's for sure, as Bug Spirit Grass is indispensable for daily needs of Bugs."
Chen Qing felt happy hearing this news, it was time to make a fortune!