The newly matured Moon Erosion Fruits were double the amount of the first batch, a total of eight.
All eight Moon Erosion Fruits were of good quality. Lu Xuan carefully placed them into specific containers and expectantly picked up the eight white light clusters that appeared.
"Harvested one Moon Erosion Fruit and obtained a Fragment of First Grade Artifact, Silver Rift Blade."*5
"Harvested one Moon Erosion Fruit, obtained a First Grade Sword Qi Talisman."
"Harvested one Moon Erosion Fruit; obtained a First Grade Qi Cultivation Pill."
"Harvested one Moon Erosion Fruit; obtained a First Grade Explosive Talisman"
Out of the eight light cluster rewards, five were fragments of the Silver Rift Blade, two were First Grade talisman and one was a First Grade pill.
"Yuan Cultivating Pill, a First Grade Pill, can quickly supplement spiritual power after a cultivator ingests it."
Lu Xuan carefully stored this First Grade Yuan Cultivating Pill.
He has heard of this kind of pill before, but it's the first time he's owned one. It's very useful for lower level and middle level Qi cultivation, and worth quite a few Spirit Stones.
"This Silver Split Blade fragment is getting more and more. I already have eight pieces."
Lu Xuan looked at the eight thin silver-white fragments flying around him, somewhat helpless.
Suddenly, he had a thought and the eight fragments instantly combined together, their edges tightly fitting to form a peculiar object.
"Why does it feel like a silver blade, just with many gaps."
The more Lu Xuan looked, the more he felt this object resembled a sword blade.
"If it is a blade, during a fusion, it could act as a single magical weapon. In a fight, it can confuse the opponent by suddenly splitting into many thin pieces."
The more he thought about it, the more he felt this was a great possibility, anticipating the moment all fragments were collected.
There were still thirty Moon Erosion Fruits and considering the appearance rate of fragments and the size of the gaps in the fragment blade, there should be no problem.
But when he thought of the gacha experiences from his past life, he couldn't help but be pessimistic.
"Young Uncle Lu, do you need some Spirit Stones?"
Just as Lu Xuan was feeling worried, he heard the familiar teasing voice of Zhang Xiu Yuan coming from outside the courtyard.
Lu Xuan quickly opened the courtyard door.
"What's up? This young man, do you have some Spirit Stones to give me?"
"I don't have Spirit Stones to give you, but I have an opportunity that can help you earn some."
The chubby Zhang Xiu Yuan chuckled, a hint of cunning flashing in his eyes.
"Oh, let's hear it."
Looking at Zhang Xiu Yuan tightly hugging the Grass Puppet, Lu Xuan felt a trace of curiosity.
"You helped solve the bug problem in my house a few days ago, right? Today, I overheard Cai Bin saying they have the same strange bugs in their house. I told him you are very capable, so he quickly rushed home to tell his parents and asked me to bring you over to help."
"His dad is anxious about this and is willing to use a lot of Spirit Stones to solve it!"
"Cai Bin?"
In his memories, he was like a scrawny, monkey-like child who often played with Zhang Xiu Yuan. His home was two or three miles away from Lu Xuan's yard.
Lu Xuan had seen his father Cai Hai before, a Third Layer of Qi Cultivation loose cultivator. They knew each other, but kept a distance.
"Should I go take a look?"
He hesitated, wondering whether or not to go earn these Spirit Stones.
The risk? Mainly dealing with the Black Bud Worm, which can easily be handled by his increasingly skilled Golden Sword Technique, along with various talismans, Silver Split Blade fragments, and his Third Layer Qi Cultivation. He basically could handle all kinds of unexpected situations.
The benefit? The Fourth Layer Qi practitioner, Qin Ming, charged seven spirit stones for dealing with a Black Bud Worm larva. Although he only showed the cultivation level of the Second Layer of Qi, charging five Spirit Stones did not seem excessive, right?
The main thing was, he was too poor now!
He has a large demand for Spirit Stones.
The Spirit Field was too small; after planting these Spirit Plants, there were no gaps left. Lu Xuan very much wanted to have another larger Spirit Field.
He also wanted to buy a storage bag; as the number of treasures in his hand increased, it was unrealistic to carry them all the time.
Purchasing unknown spiritual seeds also required a large amount of Spirit Stones.
Thinking of this, Lu Xuan didn't hesitate anymore, in the expectant gaze of Zhang Xiu Yuan, he gently nodded his head.
"Lead the way."
"Okay!"
….
Cai's Courtyard.
Cai Hai's wife, Mrs. Li, was scolding her son.
"What were you thinking, inviting a teenage loose cultivator to solve our bug problem? Do you think this is child's play?!"
The six or seven-year-old Cai Bin's face turned red from his mother's scolding, he gathered his courage and replied:
"But, Xiu Yuan said his Uncle Lu is very powerful, with extraordinary swordsmanship, and he managed to kill all those demon insects in an instant!"
"Are you going to believe everything he says? Don't you think with your pig brain, how impressive can a second layer Qi Cultivator be?!"
Mrs. Li turned her head, speaking to her husband, Cai Hai, who was staring at the ground:
"My dear, I think we should just call my younger brother over. He has some connections and knows a middle-stage Qi practitioner who can solve the pest problem, certainly more reliable than that second layer Qi Cultivator from the brat's mouth."
"Heh, that so-called young brother-in-law who asks for ten Spirit Stones right off the bat?"
The skinny Cai Hai sarcastically responded with a cold smile.
"He dares to rip off his own brother-in-law. What, are you going to provide the ten Spirit Stones?"
Mrs. Li mumbled a few words: "I'm just worried about our Spirit Plants."
"Ah..."
Cai Hai released a long sigh.
"Now, we can only give that young Loose Cultivator a try."
"I just asked around, Zhang Hong's family did have a pest problem before, and it was apparently solved by a teenager, probably the person Cai Bin talked about."
Cai Hai squatted down, looking at the Spirit Plants tightly wrapped in black threads, concern flashing in his eyes.
Other cultivators who could solve the problem all asked for high prices, a massive burden for him at the moment.
His only hope now lay with Lu Xuan, a second layer Qi Cultivist.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Despite hearing the argument from outside, Lu Xuan figured that since he had come this far, and there were Spirit Stones to be made, he asked Zhang Xiu Yuan to knock on the door.
The door opened.
Cai Hai forced a smile on his thin face and went out to welcome the guests.
"Friend Lu, I appreciate your effort in coming. I've heard you have some unique skills in dealing with pests. I'll have to trouble you later to have a look at our Spirit Plants."
"Unique skill is a bit much, I've simply just made some advancements in a particular method recently that happens to counter those Black Bud Worm Larvae."
Lu Xuan explained briefly before continuing.
"I'll do my best to help you tackle the pest problem. But there's one thing I must mention before I proceed. My service fee is five Spirit Stones, no negotiation."
"A fourth level Qi Cultivist only asks for seven Spirit Stones, so why are you, a second layer Qi Cultivist, asking for five?"
From the side, Mrs. Li interrupted.
"If we're both addressing the same issue, why not ask the middle-stage cultivator instead?" responded Lu Xuan coldly.
Unwilling to do so, Mrs. Li hesitated and said,
"Five Spirit Stones is not a problem, but what if you fail to solve the pest problem?"
"Get back in the house!"
Cai Hai shouted at Mrs. Li in a low voice.
"What a shrew, sorry for such a scene, Friend Lu."
He turned around with a bitter smile on his face.
"Whether Friend Lu can solve the pest problem or not, five Spirit Stones will be offered. All we hope is that you do your best, after all, as a Spirit Plant master yourself, you know that Spirit Plants are everything to us."
"Of course."
Lu Xuan responded solemnly.
As for the remarks made by Mrs. Li, he didn't take them to heart at all. As long as he could get the Spirit Stones, it didn't matter.
He approached the infested Spirit Plants, focusing his mind, and a thin golden sword Qi elegantly emerged, charging with unparalleled sword intent towards the Black Bud Worm Larvae.
After a few breaths, all the larvae were severed by the golden sword Qi and fell to the ground in pieces.
"Mission accomplished."
He stood up and said to the tense-looking Cai Hai.
Behind him, Zhang Xiu Yuan secretly raised an eyebrow at his friends.
"See how powerful my Little Uncle Lu is?"
"Thank you, Friend Lu, thank you!"
Cai Hai looked relieved.
Not far away, a window from the house suddenly closed, and soft sobs could be faintly heard.
Lu Xuan collected the payment from Cai Hai and left with Zhang Xiu Yuan.
He weighed the Spirit Stones in his hand, enjoying their hefty feel, and suddenly asked.
"Little Yuan, what do you say we partner up? You look for cultivators in the area dealing with pest problems, and I will be the one to solve them. Each time, I'll give you thirty Broken Spirits, how about it?"
"Uncle Lu, you helped my family so much last time, I can just help you find the cultivators. No need for Broken Spirits."
Replied Zhang Xiu Yuan naively.
"No, that won't do. I can't have you working for nothing. It's settled then!"