Inside the house.
Lu Xuan sat cross-legged on a wooden bed, operating his cultivation technique, his spiritual power flowing within his body.
After a full cycle, he exhaled a turbid breath slowly.
Although his many days of intense cultivation couldn't compare to the cultivation reward brought by a single Spirit Firefly Grass, Lu Xuan still continued to diligently cultivate.
His focus is mainly on tending and cultivating spirit plants and spirit beasts, while practicing cultivation techniques and formula methods is of secondary importance.
It's been half a month since he moved to the new courtyard. During this time, he rarely goes out and concentrates on cultivating spirit plants.
There have been noticeable changes in his Spirit Field.
The Three-Tailed Red Whisker Carp in the Spiritual Spring has grown by about two inches and its fine long, red whiskers have grown more than half a foot. When it shoots out to catch insects from the water, it can instantly extend to more than half a foot.
The hundred Spirit Firefly Grass plants have grown a lot taller, points of luminescence have begun to appear on their fine, emerald-green leaves. In the deep night, countless light points blink like myriad tiny stars in the sky.
The Blood Jade Ginseng has protruded above the Spirit Soil, looking as transparent as freshly mined jade.
The movement of the Spirit Ginseng has sped up considerably after they had started to grow, either clustering together or venturing into the region where the Spirit Firefly Grass resided, requiring Lu Xuan's constant attention.
The Red Cloud Pine has discreetly produced five small pine nuts which just peep out of the fine red pine leaves.
The Sword Grass has grown to the size of a Slivered Silver Blade, and its demand for sword qi is greater. Lu Xuan has to release a Golden Sword Technique for it every two hours.
Occasionally, there are fine cracks in the spirit soil next to it - a result of the sword intent leaking from the Sword Grass.
As for Dark Marrow Mushroom, numerous dark red mycelium have tightly wound around the decayed spiritual wood, leaving practically no gap.
"The decayed wood has almost been completely absorbed by the dark red mycelium. It seems that I need to find a few more pieces as replacements, otherwise, the growth of the Dark Marrow Mushroom will be affected,"
Lu Xuan muttered to himself.
"It's just right. I might as well take the opportunity to stroll through the market while I am out, maybe I can find some interesting spirit beasts or unknown spiritual seeds."
He walked out of the courtyard, the strong light made him squint his eyes.
"Fellow Daoist Lu Xuan, you've finally come out of your yard today. Such a rare sight."
A voice sounded from the courtyard across the way.
Lu Xuan looked over upon hearing the voice. A middle-aged cultivator was lying on a wooden chair. Seeing Lu Xuan come out, he got up and came over.
"Hello, Fellow Daoist Wang."
Lu Xuan greeted him.
The middle-aged cultivator's name was Wang Shan, who lived next door to Lu Xuan. He had come over to pay a visit after Lu moved in.
Wang Shan was a Qi Practising Fifth Level cultivator, a small leader among the patrol guards of the market, and liked to relax in the pleasure house in his spare time.
"Fellow Daoist Lu Xuan, you can't always stay at home. One day I'll take you outside to have fun and see the world."
Wang Shan teased Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan timely exhibited an embarrassed expression and waved his hands in refusal.
"Thank you for your kindness, Fellow Daoist Wang, but with my low cultivation level, entering the pleasure house would lead to me being completely devoured, leaving not even a bone behind?"
Shortly after moving in, Lu Xuan controlled his concealment technique to display the Third Layer of Qi Cultivation.
After all, there were quite a few Middle-Stage Qi Practitioners living in the vicinity. If he remained at the Qi Cultivation Second Layer, he would actually attract attention.
Third Layer of Qi Cultivation, while still low, looked at least somewhat regular now.
As for the Pleasure House, his words were not wrong. The female cultivators in there knew various enchanting techniques and how to please customers, but they would likely be unconsciously drained of their spiritual power and essence blood.
The most important thing was, it would be fine if one only wanted to listen to some music, but if one wanted deeper exchanges, the amount of Spirit Stones spent would not be small.
"You're such a bore. We cultivate to gain greater power, isn't it for the sake of enjoying life?"
Wang Shan smacked his lips, his enthusiasm suddenly gone.
"Fellow Daoist is profound in cultivation and can deal with those demonesses, which is a good thing."
"As for me, I prefer the company of spirit plants and beasts over the pleasures of the flesh. To each their own, right?"
"Alright, I won't force you. If you change your mind someday, let me know. I'll take you for a ride, and the spirit stones are on me."
With that, they parted ways, and Wang Shan staggered back to his courtyard.
Lu Xuan continued forward. When he passed another courtyard, a rich aroma of wine wafted out.
The owner of the courtyard was a Fourth Layer Qi Cultivator. He couldn't do without wine for a single day and had also mastered the art of brewing spiritual wine. Once he found out that Lu Xuan was a Spirit Plant Master, he excitedly asked if Lu Xuan knew of any spirit plants suitable for brewing spiritual wine, but he gave up upon Lu Xuan's denial.
When Lu Xuan first moved into the courtyard, he attracted the curiosity and peeping of a few cultivators nearby. It wasn't until they discovered his lower-level Qi Cultivation and that he was merely an Ordinary Spirit Plant Master that these gazes gradually disappeared.
Not too far from the new courtyard was the Loose Cultivator Market. In less than a quarter of an hour, Lu Xuan was already in the market.
The market was bustling, with the occasional shouts from stall owners.
"Passing by don't miss out. We have a variety of top-notch artifacts, which you won't find anywhere else."
"Fresh demon beast meat, just hunted from the wilderness, the blood hasn't even dried. Get a catty or two, it's worth half a month's cultivation!"
"High prices for second-hand magic artifacts, second-hand formations, remnant charms, and also purchase of all kinds of rare treasures and unknown materials."
Lu Xuan strolled leisurely through the market, constantly shaking his head and observing the goods on each stall.
Most stalls had the main cultivation resources of the cultivation world, such as magic artifacts, demon beast materials, spiritual medicine and spiritual grass, charms and elixirs, etc.
Unknown spiritual seeds, spirit beast eggs or young beasts like Lu Xuan needed were extremely rare. When seen occasionally, they were only sold incidentally and almost never exclusively at a stall.
Suddenly, he stopped by a stall.
The stall owner was a young girl at the Second Layer Qi Cultivation. She had average looks and healthy oatmeal-colored skin. Seeing Lu Xuan staring in interest at the goods on her stall, she hurriedly greeted him.
"Dear fellow daoist, I have various types of demon bird feathers here, and specially made demon bird eggs. They contain dense spiritual power and taste very good. Would you like to try some?"
Lu Xuan shook his head, pointing to a black cage in the corner of the stall.
"How do you sell these young demon birds?"
In the cage, several colorfully feathered young birds with rich and dense plumage stood out, revealing a pair of black and white patterned bird claws.
"Oh, these Colorful Chickens? I found a nest and took them from a mountain. They can be tamed and bred, and when mature, they might lay spirit eggs. If not, you could eat them as their meat is very tender."
The girl introduced the birds to Lu Xuan.
"How long does it typically take for a Colorful Chicken to reach maturity when breeding?"
"Two and a half years."
...