Chapter 162: Chapter 160 Silver Thread Mantis_l
Translator: 549690339 1
“Grade-four Array of Thousand Illusion Clouds and a third-grade Spirit Plant are both extraordinary. It was worth meticulously nurturing you for so long.”
A look of surprise emerged on Lu Xuan’s face as he looked at the array plate in his hand, where the clouds seemed to hang upside down.
He had been worried about protecting his small courtyard in Sword Gate Town, not expecting that the issue would be resolved so quickly by the bonus granted by the Phantom Smoke Luo Fruit.
Currently, there are three types of Spirit Plants planted in the courtyard: the third-grade Ghost-faced Stone Mushrooms, third-grade Thorn Bones, and fourth-grade Hundred Pupils’ Bizarre Tree. Each one is extremely precious, and there can be no careless mistakes.
However, as his main focus has to be within the sect, he can only check on them from time to time. It’s inevitable to worry under such circumstances.
Although Sword Gate Town isn’t far from the Sky Sword Sect, and there’s no need to worry about any Demon Beasts or Demon Envoys intruding, and most of the cultivators in the town have close relationships with the disciples within the Sky Sword Sect, human hearts are unpredictable. If the master of the courtyard is not seen for a long time, it’s difficult to guarantee that someone won’t harbor ill intentions.
Now, with the Array of Thousand Illusion Clouds, which combines illusion, maze, and killing arrays, Lu Xuan no longer has to worry about these issues.
He put the array plate and the elusive Smoke Luo Fruit into his storage bag. He had originally planned to let the Cloud Leopard consume the fruit, but considering that its eyes are only good at detecting Demon Envoys, swallowing a fruit that enhances illusion abilities seemed to have no significant effect, so he gave up on the idea.
In the following days, he spent most of his time in his cave, cultivating Spirit Plants, rearing Spirit Beasts, and occasionally going to the Thousand Dragon Lake to feed the remaining Jiaolong Python.
The Spirit Crane refused his Spirit Stones every time he went there. After several attempts, Lu Xuan had to give up the idea and bring some ordinary Spirit Fruits that are usually served to guests, as a token of gratitude.
He used the remaining time to practice Cultivation Techniques and Formula Methods. Although months of training might not be as effective as a piece of Spirit Firefly Grass, it could slightly improve his cultivation level.
His days were extremely leisurely, especially after harvesting the third-grade Phantom Smoke Luo Fruit and obtaining the fourth-grade Array of Thousand Illusion Clouds. He was content and satisfied.
“Junior brother Lu, are you home? I’ve taken up the task of the Demon Beast
Pupil you had posted and came to hand it over.”
A cold feminine voice came from outside the courtyard.
“I am here.”
Lu Xuan answered and quickly ran to open the courtyard door.
A woman with an elegant demeanor was standing at the door.
The woman walked into the courtyard and randomly sat down on a wooden stump. She took three slender transparent bottles out of her storage bag.
The bottles contained a light green liquid, in which different kinds of Demon Beast Pupils were soaked. Each eyeball was full of life, as if it had just been gouged out of a Demon Beast’s skull.
“I have gathered fourteen complete Demon Beast Pupils this time. Ten of them are from Grade-1 Demon Beasts, and four are from Grade-2 Demon Beasts. Each one was freshly obtained and preserved in a special Spiritual Liquid to keep them fresh. I believe they should meet Junior Brother Lu’s requirements,” said the elegant woman slowly.
Lu Xuan took the bottle, extended his Spiritual Sense into it, and sensed the vitality of the pupils, confirming that the woman’s words were true.
“This pupil is quite special. It came from a Grade-2 One-Eyed Barbarian Rhinoceros, which possesses astonishing brute force and certain illusion abilities,” the woman explained as she saw Lu Xuan looking at a huge, dark pupil in the bottle.
Upon hearing her words, Lu Xuan nodded slightly.
“Senior Sister, according to the requirements of the task, each Grade-1 Demon Beast Pupil is worth ten Spirit Stones. The three Grade-2 Demon Beast Pupils are fairly common, and I am willing to purchase them at thirty Spirit Stones each. This Pupil of the One-Eyed Barbarian Rhinoceros is slightly special, I am willing to pay fifty Spirit Stones for it. How does Senior Sister feel about this?” The elegant woman hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“Thank you then, Junior Brother Lu.”
She originally needed to hunt these demon beasts for another task, and removing their eyes was just convenient. Although the price Lu Xuan offered was a bit low, making such a large extra profit was pretty good already.
Lu Xuan handed over 240 spirit stones to the elegant female cultivator, and from her, he received over a dozen demon beast eyeballs.
“The cost of planting high-grade spiritual plants is a bit high, huh. The fourth-grade Hundred Pupils’ Bizarre Tree cost me over 200 spirit stones at once.”
“The Spirit Firefly Grass is more reliable though, just needing a spiritual energy environment to grow.”
“But high-grade has its benefits. These initial investments aren’t much in front of the inherent value of the spiritual plants. Besides, I also have the light cluster reward!”
After the female cultivator had left, Lu Xuan returned indoors, gazing at the dozen or so eyeballs bobbing in the pale green liquid, exclaiming to himself.
He put all the eyeballs into the Life Bag in order to preserve their vitality to the largest extent.
“Junior Brother Lu, are you home? I brought you some insect eggs and insect nymphs.”
Half a day passed, and as Lu Xuan was inspecting his Spirit Field, a deep voice came from outside.
Lu Xuan opened the courtyard door to see a tall cultivator with perfect Qi training standing in the entrance.
“I wonder what kind of insect eggs and nymphs the senior brother has brought?”
After inviting the tall cultivator inside, Lu Xuan brewed a pot of Spiritual Tea, and asked the cultivator.
“junior Brother Lu, I’ve spent quite an effort this time, you know, how well demon insects protect their eggs and nymphs. Finding them is at least ten times more difficult than finding mature insects.”
“I stayed in the Red Miasma Valley for several days, and only found two kinds: the first-grade Black Armored Insect and the second-grade demon insect nymph Silver Thread Mantis.
The tall cultivator gulped down some Spiritual Tea, spoke to Lu Xuan, and took two items from his storage bag.
One bottle contained several insect eggs, flat and round, glossy black, and looked just like little stones.
The other bottle contained two mantis nymphs, each about half the length of a finger, white as jade all over, its forelimbs looking like little knives, and a faint silver thread visible on its back.
“The insect eggs are of Black Armored Insects, a first-grade demon insect, we have seven of them. They usually live around odd rocks, and once mature, they have quite strong defenses. They can serve as materials for some elixir makings.”
“These two nymphs are of the Silver Thread Mantis, a second grade demon insect. They are extremely fast, with strong attacking capabilities.”
The tall cultivator explained in detail to Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan nodded his head. He didn’t know whether the black armored insects belong to the category of beetles that molt and shed their shells, but as long as they could be bred, they would to some extent play a symbiotic role with the Xuan Chong Vine.
As for the Silver Thread Mantis, it perfectly meets the requirements of the Xuan Chong Vine, and the two could grow together.
Of course, it must be said the Silver Threaded Mantis looks quite pleasing to the eye. Its aesthetic in the beetles he had seen and learned about was considered top tier.
“Senior Brother, I plan to buy the Black Armored Insects at a price of six spirit stones per egg, and the Silver Thread Mantis for thirty-five spirit stones each. What do you think?”
Lu Xuan’s offer was quite reasonable, and the tall cultivator didn’t care about losing a bit of spirit stones, and agreed directly.
Lu Xuan took out one hundred and twelve spirit stones, and handed them to the tall cultivator.
“Junior Brother Lu is straightforward. If I find more insect eggs or nymphs next time, I’m going to trouble you again.”
The tall cultivator received the spirit stones, got up, and bid farewell..