From a distance, Lu Xuan watched Qin Ming's dismembered corpse, his body densely covered with fragments of the Silver Edge.
Several grey ropes extended from the wooden bed, binding Qin Ming's remains.
Lu Xuan couldn't help but chuckle, lifting up the blanket to see a grass puppet with a large hole in its chest struggling to capture the intruders in the yard.
"Fortunately, this grass puppet has a certain recovery ability. As long as there are enough spirit stones, it can recover as usual. Considering that you blocked a strike for me, I will definitely restore you completely."
Lu Xuan looked at the grass puppet, which was a few beats slower but still working its hardest, and consoled it.
With the circulating spiritual power within him, a fist-sized fireball fell on Qin Ming's remains.
The flames quickly spread to the corpse, and not long after, it turned into a pile of black ash.
He then took out a charm from his bosom, inscribed with bizarre runes on the edge and in the middle, a suppressed evil ghost.
He threw the charm, and a white light swept across the entire room.
This was the Evil Banishing Talisman he got before, which can detect and purify low-level demon envoys.
Lu Xuan was worried that Qin Ming, dying at the hands of a mere Qi Cultivation Second Layer Spirit Plant Master like himself, would bear too much resentment, and possibly spawn a demon envoy.
After using the Fireball Technique to eradicate the remains, he still wasn't very confident, so he made a big investment and used the Evil Banishing Talisman again, to avoid the presence of a demon envoy.
Anyway, he had already used a bunch of Sword Qi Talismans. He wouldn't mind using another one.
When the white light faded, the house returned to darkness, and only a bit of silver moonlight came in through the hole pierced by the ice spear.
Only now did Lu Xuan feel completely at ease. He lit a candle on the wooden table and swept the black ash together.
Under the control of his spiritual power, the dozens of Silver Edge fragments recombined into a single silver-white blade.
With the weapon in his hand, Lu Xuan grew bolder, carrying the black ash to the Spirit Field, and scattering it on the Spirit Soil.
"This is the fertilizer formed by a Middle-Stage Qi Practitioner. You all should grow diligently and don't let his nourishment go to waste."
He gazed at the many spirit plants in the Spirit Field, softly sighing.
In the courtyard, the moon was as cool as water, and all was quiet.
The intense struggle that had just occurred seemed not to have attracted any attention from the cultivators around.
The Loose Cultivators living here had long developed a good habit; the ones that were discreet would look the other way, they wouldn't meddle in other people's affairs, nor did they have the means to.
"Little Brother Lu, Little Brother Lu..."
From outside the courtyard wall, a slightly anxious female voice came from afar, calling out to Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan recognized that it was Xu Wan, the mother of Zhang Xiu Yuan who lived nearby.
"I'm fine, thanks for your concern, sister-in-law."
Hearing this familiar voice, a warm feeling surged in Lu Xuan's heart.
Xu Wan was only a Qi Cultivation Second Layer lady. The fact that she could take the risk to come out, even though it was just to inquire about his condition from a distance, was commendable.
"That's good. I was afraid that you might get hurt. Due to my own lack of strength, I could only ask from a distance."
Upon hearing Lu Xuan's words, Xu Wan's voice came a bit closer.
"There was a blind thief who tried to break into my place and steal my spirit plants. I caught him and took care of him."
Lu Xuan made up an excuse to explain to Xu Wan.
"You should go home and rest early, sister-in-law. I'm sure Little Yuan is worried being home alone."
"I'll always remember your concern, sister-in-law."
"Alright, just be careful."
Seeing that Lu Xuan was fine, Xu Wan returned to her home.
"What a pity on this protective array. It hasn't been used for long, but Qin Ming forcibly broke it."
With a sigh, Lu Xuan returned indoors.
Only when everything was taken care of did he finally relax completely, collapsing weakly into a wooden chair.
Although I managed to resolve the issue with Qin Ming without a hair out of place, in reality, it was far from easy.
As for Qin Ming, he truly lived up to his identity as a Middle-Stage Qi Practitioner, his profound skills evident. Be it the jade badge that blocked my lethal blow, the Flying Sword Artifact, or his perfectly proficient Ice System Technique, all demonstrated his difficulty.
Luckily, my recent accumulation of knowledge proved to be rich enough.
At Qi Cultivation Fourth Layer, my cultivation was not weaker than Qin Ming's. Coupled with the minor proficiency boundary of the Golden Sword Technique, I used a large array of First Grade Talismans as if they were worth nothing and the intact First Grade Artifact, Silver Rift Blade, played a key role.
With ample preparation and striking him by surprise, I was able to kill him without risk.
Regardless of whether it was the magical instruments, techniques, or charms, all were stronger than Qin Ming's. What could he use to fight me?
"I wonder, how much will this storage bag compensate for my losses?"
Lu Xuan looked at the grey storage bag taken from Qin Ming's waist, sighing in exclamation.
Having used up most of the charms, he was still heartbroken and hoped that whatever was left in Qin Ming's storage bag would make up for it.
"Thanks to the old chap for gifting me this storage bag."
He had long wanted to buy a storage bag, and unexpectedly, Qin Ming was so understanding and gifted him a ready-made one.
The grey storage bag was of a lower grade and had no prohibitions drawn on it. Lu Xuan tested it with his spiritual power and easily probed its contents.
The space inside was quite large, about half a zhang in length, width, and height. Qin Ming had left some items piled in one corner.
Lu Xuan joyfully controlled the items inside the storage bag to fly out with his spiritual power.
He roughly counted around two hundred spirit stones.
There were also seven or eight different bottles and pots, both made from jade and stone. Lu Xuan was worried there might be poisonous substances inside and did not open them immediately, but set them aside instead.
Besides that, there was also a book that recorded several low-grade ice system cultivation methods, which were not very useful to Lu Xuan.
There were three charms: two Evil Banishing Talismans and one Swift Talisman.
Lastly, there was a flying sword artifact left outside. It was a grey-white color and emanated a cold aura. Lu Xuan briefly compared it and found it much inferior to his Silver Rift Blade.
"What a great man! He gave me a storage bag when I didn't have one."
"I lacked spirit stones to rent a large courtyard, and he sent me over two hundred spirit stones."
"Even after death, he continued to make contributions, using himself to nurture the spirit plants in the spirit field."
"He really..."
Thinking about Qin Ming's significant contribution, Lu Xuan was overwhelmed with sorrow and lowered his head in a moment of mourning.
"He really was a brilliant murderer with a golden waistband."
Looking at the large pile of items on the table, Lu Xuan could not help but sigh in exclamation.
He had worked so hard to plant for so long, yet the yield was not as big as what he got from killing Qin Ming.
However, this thought instantly disappeared.
He knew well that such a huge harvest often comes along with greater risks. It's impossible to always gain without taking risks.
This time, Qin Ming seemed to have a low risk, but he still fell into my hands.
Thus, it's best to steadily cultivate. It's a safe investment with minimal risk.
After taking inventory, dawn broke.
Lu Xuan walked out of the room and came to the side of the spirit field.
Threads of Spirit Rain seeped into the remaining dozen or so Spirit Firefly Grass. The lustrous green Spirit Firefly Grass lazily spread its leaves, making Lu Xuan feel as though its leaves were even plumper than yesterday.
Then, a fireball technique was launched. Before falling on the Red Cloud Pine's fine needles, it turned into threads of flame, merging into the pine's leaves, causing the Red Cloud Pine to instantly bristle.
Golden Sword Qi fell on the Straight Sword Grass, leaving a few golden lines.
Below the Dark Marrow Mushroom, the scent emanating from the decaying Spirit Wood grew stronger by a few degrees, causing more dark red mycelia to sprout in the shadows of the mushrooms.
Today there are no tasks, just cultivating in the spirit field.