Chapter 39: Chapter 38 – Spiritual Seeds like Smoke and
Fog_l
Translator: 549690339
The reaction speed of the patrol guards in the market was very swift. When the blood-red tentacles were wreaking havoc everywhere, a luminescent green seed was shot out like an arrow, landing around the tentacles.
In an instant, thick vines sprouted from the ground, growing and extending rapidly, continuously splitting and tightly wrapping around the blood-red tentacles.
The blood-red tentacles struggled desperately, wrestling with the robust vines.
In the sky, a crisp birdcall sounded.
Upon hearing the sound, Lu Xuan looked up to see a huge firebird floating in the air. Its wings spread out at least forty to fifty feet, and every flap generated waves of heat.
Immediately, it turned into a red light, surging towards the Metamorphosis Cultivator who had sprouted numerous tentacles.
Wherever it passed, the ground was scorched into black charcoal.
“Ah….”
The Metamorphosis Cultivator, whose body was occupied by the tentacles, let out a painful howl and turned into black ash in the raging fire.
The fire climbed up along the roots of the tentacles, fiercely burning the blood-red tentacles that had spread out everywhere.
On the ground were broken tentacles writhing everywhere, seemingly wanting to invade the bodies of the other cultivators again.
However, the damage caused by the fire was too significant. All the tentacles were burnt to a cinder.
Immediately, a pure white aura emanated from the remains of the Metamorphosis Cultivator, radiating in all directions.
Lu Xuan, as well as the other cultivators in the distance, felt a sense of peace and tranquility as the aura swept over them.
“One can only say that this cultivator turned at the wrong time. Thankfully, there were several Middle-Stage Qi Practitioners patrolling and guarding here. Otherwise, he could’ve caused a huge commotion among the many Loose Cultivators in the market,” Lu Xuan thought, looking at the several Middle-Stage Qi Practitioners who had just been checking the remnants of the Metamorphosis Cultivator for any residual demonic energy. They quickly teamed up to personally eliminate a cultivator who had been contaminated by the demonic forces.
The method was simple and effective. First, the vines temporarily restrained the tentacles to prevent further casualties, then gave their comrades a brief window to employ powerful Formula Methods. The firebird completely incinerated the Metamorphosis Cultivator, followed by a purification technique to inspect the remains of the cultivator and the surrounding Loose Cultivators.
“No wonder they are the patrol guards of the market. Their cooperation is smooth and natural,” Lu Xuan thought. With his Grand-mastery Gold Sword Technique, First Grade Special Magical Tool Split Silver Blade, the Second Grade Sword Qi Talisman (equivalent to a full blow from a High-tier Qi Cultivator), and his newly acquired Thunder Fire Pearl, he could have easily dealt with the Metamorphosis Cultivator.
It just wouldn’t have been as clean and neat.
“It seems I have to work hard to grow spiritual plants and add as many means to myself as possible,” he decided in his heart.
The entire process, from the cultivator’s transformation to successful resolution, was extremely short. After a brief chaos in the Loose Cultivation Market, order was restored quickly, as if the Metamorphosis Cultivator had never appeared.
However, the large patch of burnt ground left behind and the corpses of three cultivators attacked by the tentacles reminded everyone present of what just happened.
Among the three was the cultivator who tried to block Lu Xuan with an earth wall. He had been impeded after Lu Xuan used the Golden Sword Technique to pierce his calf and was killed by the blood-red tentacles.
Lu Xuan felt no pity for this. He brought all this on himself. If he hadn’t tried to block the tentacles with Lu Xuan, he wouldn’t have been targeted.
After this small incident in the market, Lu Xuan no longer felt like leisurely strolling around. He randomly chose a road and headed to ‘Bai Cao Tang’.
‘Bai Cao Tang’ wasn’t far from the Loose Cultivation Market. You could see the store just after turning a few corners.
“Hmm?”
Suddenly, Lu Xuan stopped. His gaze was drawn to a wooden board at a nearby stall.
Eight black characters were written on the board.
“Special spiritual seeds, for sale at a low price.”
Lu Xuan scanned the goods on the stall, but he didn’t see anything related to spiritual seeds.
“May I ask, fellow Daoist, what are the ‘special spiritual seeds’ mentioned on your board? Could you show them to me?”
“Ah, here it is,”
The merchant was a middle-aged ‘Qi Practitioner Intermediate Level’, upon hearing Lu Xuan’s inquiry, he pointed to an item on the stall.
The item had an oval shape and was faintly white. If you didn’t pay close attention, you would easily overlook it. Inside was a wisp of smoke, constantly changing form and transforming into all kinds of bizarre shapes.
“Is this a spiritual seed? You wouldn’t be deceiving me, would you?”
Lu Xuan asked curiously. This object that was constantly changing like smoke made it difficult for him to associate it with a spiritual seed.
“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure if it’s a spiritual seed.”
“After returning, I consulted with a few of my Spirit Plant Master friends and they weren’t able to confirm if its a spiritual seed after taking a look.” “However, when I found it, it was within a withered Spirit Plant. It’s possible that the Spirit Plant had matured and no one harvested it. As a result, all of its essence condensed to form this spiritual seed.”
“My words are truthful. If you sincerely want to buy it, I can swear an oath to what I just said.”
Lu Xuan stroked his chin, falling into deep thought.
The shopkeeper was willing to make an oath, which convinced him somewhat. There were various types of oaths between cultivators. If they were broken, one could even face the risk of death.
The way the spiritual seed had condensed didn’t surprise him. When a wild Spirit Plant matured, some of them continued to grow, others naturally withered away, and some, due to a combination of circumstances, would condense into a spiritual seed, carrying on in a different form.
Although he didn’t know what this item in front of him was, judging by its mystic shape, it was likely to be a rare and unusual spiritual seed.
“If you really can make a Heart Demon Oath, I might be somewhat interested. How much do you wish to sell it for?”
Lu Xuan asked the shopkeeper.
“I spent a lot of time and effort to obtain this spiritual seed from a new Secret Land. If you want it, you can have it for fifteen spirit stones.”
The shopkeeper was pleasantly surprised when he saw that Lu Xuan was genuinely interested.
This item could indeed be a spiritual seed, but during his few days at the Loose Cultivation Market, only a few people had asked about it and then they were scared off by the price.
After all, buying an unknown category, with an unknown planting method spiritual seed for fifteen spirit stones was exorbitantly expensive.
Lu Xuan, being subtle, caught the change in the shopkeeper’s expression and slowly sighed.
“My friend, aren’t you being a bit too ruthless with your price? For an item which we still can’t confirm as a spiritual seed, yet you’re asking for a price far higher than a first-grade spiritual seed. With fifteen spirit stones, I could buy three to four first-grade spiritual seeds.”
He shook his head continuously, seeming to be dissatisfied with the price.
“Then, how much do you propose?”
“Seven spirit stones, and I’ll take it off your hands immediately. This price is already quite higher than an ordinary first-grade spiritual seed.”
Lu Xuan cut the price by more than half right away.
“No! At least ten spirit stones. Look at its magic shape, it’s likely to be a second-rank or even higher spiritual seed.”
The shopkeeper argued, his face reddened.
“A second-rank spiritual seed, when I don’t know how to plant it, is of what use exactly? Should I keep it in the storage bag and let it waste away?”
Lu Xuan countered.
“Alright, I am willing to take a loss. Eight spirit stones. That’s all the spirit stones I have on me. I can’t afford any more.”
“And add another fifty Broken Spirit, then it’s all yours.”
The shopkeeper gritted his teeth and said.
“Deal!”
Lu Xuan promptly agreed..