"The nine Spirit Firefly Grasses were exchanged for a total of twenty-nine inferior spirit stones and seventy spirit fragments. Adding the six spirit stones and eighty-two spirit fragments I have, I now hold a total of thirty-six inferior spirit stones and fifty-two spirit fragments."
"It's a shame that the damn black bud worm larvae caused so much damage, otherwise I would have more assets."
Thinking about the black thread that cost him six spirit stones and fifty spirit fragments, Lu Xuan was gnashing his teeth in anger.
Money lends courage, and with such a large amount of spirit stones, he found himself standing much straighter.
Leaving 'Bai Cao Tang', Lu Xuan, worried about the lack of protective power around his Spirit Field, rushed directly to his next destination.
There were various kinds of shops in the market, including those that sold spiritual seeds.
He confidently entered a familiar shop.
A lower-level Qi cultivator, an average middle-aged man, was caring for the Spiritual Plant seedlings in the shop. When he saw Lu Xuan come in, he got up to greet him.
"Young Sir, is there anything I can help you with?"
The shop owner asked.
"I'll look around first."
Lu Xuan replied, sweeping his gaze across the entire shop.
The shop displayed many kinds of spiritual seeds, all differing in shape, most of which Lu Xuan could not recognize.
In the corner were several Spiritual Plant seedlings. Their appearance was even more unfamiliar to him.
Spirit Plants have a certain chance of growing spiritual seeds if they continue to grow after maturing. However, most of these seeds are not suitable for cultivating new plants.
Most spiritual seeds need to be condensed through various special means, and even some condensing methods are only mastered by the great Sects.
Especially those rare and high-rank Spiritual Seeds, their condensing methods are never leaked to the outsiders.
Even the condensation of common rank spiritual seeds is not something a simple Loose Cultivator can master. Behind this shop maybe there is a grand cultivator, or a large family.
"How much is a Spirit Firefly Grass Seed?"
Lu Xuan pointed to the Spirit Firefly Grass Seeds on the shelf that looked like dried tea leaves and asked the middle-aged man.
"Forty spirit fragments each if you buy more than ten at a time, fifty for individual purchases."
"I need twenty."
"Also, could you recommend a first-grade spiritual plant seedling or spiritual seed for me? Preferably the ones with low spiritual energy requirements and simple growth conditions."
Previously, Lu Xuan planted twenty-four Spirit Firefly Grasses in that small plot in his yard, this time he didn't plan to buy the same number of seeds.
Spirit Firefly Grass and Moon Erosion Trees have no grades, the value of Moon Erosion Tree is higher, but it's not a first grade.
When a Spirit Plant matures, the white light cluster that appears is affected by many factors, one of which includes the type and grade of the Spirit Plant.
So Lu Xuan wanted to try planting a relatively simple first-grade Spirit Plant to see what kind of light cluster reward there would be when it matured.
"Low spiritual energy requirements, simple growth conditions..."
"How about these two?"
"Both are first-grade Spirit Plants. One is the Blood Eater Vine spiritual seed, which needs a certain amount of essence from strange beast or demon beast meat for nourishment. When mature, it can enhance the Qi and blood of cultivators or assist in practicing some special cultivation techniques."
"The other is a Red Cloud Pine seedling. Occasionally needs nourishment from fire attribute spiritual power during cultivation. The Red Cloud Pine Spirit Fruit has abundant spiritual power and an exquisite taste, and is very popular among female cultivators."
The higher the rank of the Spirit Plant, the more stringent its growing environment and conditions. Spiritual energy, Spirit Soil, Spiritual Spring among other complex conditions, the cultivation of these two first-grade Spirit Plants is relatively simple.
Lu Xuan first ruled out the Blood Eater Vine. He was just getting by, hardly eating Demon Beast meat once in ten or fifteen days. If he were to plant this Blood Eater Vine, what would he feed it with?
He surely couldn't feed the vine with his own flesh, could he?
As for the Red Cloud Pine, he currently had the Fireball Technique. There were still more than ten Spirit Firefly Grasses and Moon Erosion Fruits to be opened in the lottery, perhaps he could get some Fire System Techniques as a result. Supplying it with a small amount of fire attribute spiritual power wouldn't be a big problem.
"How many Spirit Stones for that Red Cloud Pine seedling?"
Lu Xuan pointed to a pine seedling in the corner. The young pine was around two feet tall, its leaves appearing as tiny red needles from afar, resembling a small cluster of red clouds. This was why it was known as the Red Cloud Pine.
"Five Spirit Stones," the middle-aged cultivator replied.
"Twenty Spiritual Firefly Grass seeds, and this Red Cloud Pine seedling, twelve Spirit Stones in total, I'll take them all. How does that sound?"
"Young man, you're driving a hard bargain. Alright, it'll be my loss, but let's add seventy Spirit Fragments."
"Comrade, you know it's not easy for us Loose Cultivators to earn Spirit Stones."
"I'm only considering buying the Red Cloud Pine because I feel a connection with it. I don't even know if I can successfully plant it if I do buy it!"
"Fifty Spirit Fragments, I can't go any higher."
"Deal!" The middle-aged cultivator shook his head and replied with a bitter smile.
He passed twenty Spiritual Firefly Grass seeds to Lu Xuan, and helped to pack the Red Cloud Pine seedling in a cloth bag, advising Lu Xuan to plant it as soon as possible, as any delay could affect its vitality.
Lu Xuan complied, reluctantly taking out the twelve Spirit Stones and fifty Spirit Fragments, barely warm from their recent transaction, thus making a clean deal.
At the market, Lu Xuan was arguing heatedly with another Loose Cultivator.
"Comrade, this Protective Array is second-hand, and there's even blood stains on it. This is a sign of great misfortune, isn't it? Twenty Spirit Stones is already too high!"
The Loose Cultivator looked helpless.
"Young man, if the formation was brand new, I would've at least doubled the price. As for the bloodstains, it won't affect its protective power. You just reduced the price from 25 Spirit Stones to 20, is that how you bargain?"
"There's no problem with the formation, it's just that the origin is a mystery, which is a bit worrying. Plus, I don't know how long it's been used for. I'm afraid it won't last."
Lu Xuan appeared to want to buy it, yet filled with worries.
"Alright, take it for 21 Spirit Stones. If there's any problem with the formation, you can find me in the market. I've been setting up here for over ten years, I have that much credibility."
"Okay, consider us friends then."
Lu Xuan appeared resolute, taking out twenty-one Inferior Spirit Stones.
"No, no, no. We just discussed the Spirit Stones, not friendships."
The Loose Cultivator hurriedly refused. Lu Xuan had argued with him nearly half an hour to remove a few Spirit Stones. If they had true friendship, who knows how many Spirit Stones would be needed to compensate for that.
Lu Xuan took the Array Plate stained with dark red blood spots from the vendor, carefully put it into his chest pocket.
He didn't care at all about the blood spots. After all, no ghost could be more frightening than poverty.
Previously, he used to avoid bargaining and never went to roadside shops. But in this Cultivation World, in order to save a bit of Spirit Stones, he has honed a lethal bargaining skill.
"The Spirit Stones from the nine Spirit Firefly Grasses have already been spent and my original savings have been used up."
"However, the gains are quite considerable. Twenty Spiritual Firefly Grass seeds, and a Red Cloud Pine seedling."
"The most important thing is, the long-cherished Protective Array is finally in hand."
Lu Xuan rubbed his somewhat barren chest pocket thinking.