Chapter 53: Chapter 52: Bathed in Blood 1
Translator: 549690339
After Lu Xuan exchanged a piece of Third-Grade Jiao Vine from a female cultivator with his Second-Class Fire Separating Sword, he continued to stroll around in the black market.
After searching around, not finding anything resembling unknown spiritual seeds, he found an empty spot and hung up the First Grade Flying Sword that he got from Qin Ming.
Finally, he successfully sold it for the price of thirty-five Spirit Stones.
He couldn’t find any specially satisfactory protective arrays in the black market, and the ranks of the few cultivation techniques he saw were not so high either, so Lu Xuan had to give up.
After weighing his options, he spent thirty-two Spirit Stones to buy a First Grade Shield named Iron Scale Shield, which has densely packed black scales on its surface. It’s protection level is pretty good among First Grade artifacts. The items most abundant in the black market are strange materials from Demon Beasts, and mature spiritual plants, followed by charms and elixirs. Lu Xuan had no interest in these, so he activated the Guiding Talisman with his spiritual power, and followed the black arrow, walking out from the dense black fog that seemed solid.
The moment he got out, the cultivator guarding the entrance took back the Guiding Talisman.
Lu Xuan remained vigilant, glanced around, and quickly left the periphery of the black market.
On the way back, nothing unexpected happened. Nobody in the black market targeted him, a Qi practicing young cultivator who appeared to be quite ordinary in terms of cultivation level and wealth.
More than half an hour later, he returned to the courtyard.
The formation was still functioning well, without any traces of being touched or intruded upon.
Lu Xuan felt slightly relieved. He knew that in the Spirit Field behind the courtyard, there were a multitude of rare spiritual plants.
The First Grade Blood Jade Ginseng, Pure Snow Lotus, Red Cloud Pine, second-level Sword Grass, Dark Marrow Mushroom, Clear and Wonderful Spirit Tea, Third-grade Fantasy Smoke Fruit-
Even without considering the light clusters rewarded when they mature, their intrinsic value alone could tempt any Qi-Cultivator to take risks.
After opening the courtyard gate, Lu Xuan saw a streak of black light flash past him towards the back of the yard.
He was startled at first, but then he recognized the black figure as the Bi Jing Cloud-Treading Civet which he had reluctantly left at home.
‘Could it be that this little guy has been waiting outside the door for me to come back all along?”
Lu Xuan went to the back of the yard, where the Civet Juvenile was lying at the edge of the Spiritual Spring Pool, its emerald green eyes fixed on the Red-bearded Carp swimming leisurely inside.
It seemed not to have noticed that Lu Xuan had already returned.
“I’m home!”
Lu Xuan shouted towards the other side. The Grass Puppet Gray Grass, who was on guard, turned its head a hundred and eighty degrees. Its two hollow eyes looked in the direction of the voice, and its steps didn’t stop as it kept patrolling.
The Cloud Leopard ignored him and kept staring at the Red-bearded Carp in the Spiritual Spring Pool.
With sharp eyes, Lu Xuan noticed that the civet’s two ears, with a tuft of gray hair on them, were gently trembling, revealing its inner joy and excitement.
Lu Xuan went straight into the room.
Only then did the civet tum its head and look at Lu Xuan’s retreating figure.
The hair on the tips of its ears shook gently. Sensing Lu Xuan’s footstep getting closer, it quickly turned its head back.
With a “plop,” a fat strip of porcupine meat was thrown in front of the civet.
“Meow —”
The civet made a shy cry, its paws as white as clouds grabbed the strip of meat, and stuffed it into its mouth.
Lu Xuan let out a soft laugh and went back into the room.
This time, he went to the black market to dispose of the newly acquired Second-Class Fire Separating Sword as well as the First Grade Magical Instrument left by Qin Ming in his storage bag for a long time. In return he procured a piece of Third-Grade Jiao Vine and a First-Grade defensive Magic Artifact, the Iron Scale Shield.
The spirit stones were neither lost nor gained. He rented the Guiding Talisman for three spirit stones, which just happened to offset the three spirit stones he earned from reselling the flying sword and shield.
He took out the piece of Jiao Vine from his storage bag.
The deep black vine was about half a foot long. If you wanted to refine it into a whip or rope-like magical instrument, it was indeed a bit short.
However, this didn’t affect Lu Xuan too much. He paid a huge price to buy it mainly for cultivation and planting.
Holding this python-like section, he came to an empty spot in the Spirit Field. Each Spirit Plant requires a certain amount of space, which suggests that the Spirit Field of over one mu (equivalent to 0.66 acres) is somewhat insufficient. Therefore, he currently plans to opt for the quality over quantity strategy. The Spirit Firefly Grass, Blood Jade Ginseng and other numerous Spirit Plants were supplied by ‘Bai Cao Tang’, the other rare and higher-ranked ones depended on whether he gets an opportunity from other channels.
Lu Xuan used the Earth Pulling Technique, and the spirit soil quietly changed, revealing a small crack.
He inserted the half-foot-long Jiao Vine into the crack, leaving about two-thirds of its length outside. Bits of Spirit Rain fell down, landing on the deep black and dry vine, seeping into the surrounding Spirit Soil.
The Spirit Soil gradually became moist, and the energetic atmosphere slowly permeated into the interior of the vine through its skin.
Lu Xuan’s heart and mind were focused on the deep black twisting vine.
A thought flashed through his mind.
“Jiao Vine, a Third-Grade Spirit Plant, can be used to cultivate and nourish the flood dragon demon beast when mature. After special treatment, it can also be used to refine whip or rope-like instruments, or it can serve as the main ingredient for certain rare elixirs.”
“When cultivating Jiao Vine, nourishing it with the blood of snake-type demonic beasts, or flood dragon-type monsters can promote its rapid growth. The higher the quality of related blood, the faster the vine grows.”
“I crave for the blood containing potent power…”
Lu Xuan instantly understood its cultivation method through the real-time status of the Jiao Vine he just planted.
“It needs the nourishment of snake-type demonic beasts, or flood dragon-type monsters. Generally, after cultivators hunt snake-type demonic beasts, they pay more attention to snake skin, poison fangs, poison juice, etc, and don’t value the blood highly.”
“Looks like, I still have to go to the market to find it, if I could find the best if not…”
Then I’ll use spirit stones to commission the cultivator to help me get fresh blood from the demonic snake.”
Lu Xuan thought to himself.
Let him go to the wilderness, or mystical places to hunt demonic snakes and get fresh snake blood?
That’s impossible. He’d rather spend a bit more spirit stones to hire a cultivator, rather than risking leaving the many rare Spirit Plants in his Spirit Field for an external adventure.
As for Flood Dragon Monster, he dare not even think about it. Even the weakest Flood Dragon Monster is at least equivalent to a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, so Lu Xuan doesn’t have any hope of obtaining Flood Dragon blood. “For now, let’s plant it in the Spirit Field. When I find the blood of a snake-type demonic beast, I will come back to cultivate it properly.”
“Right now, although the Spirit Rain Technique and Tree Life Spell can sustain its vitality, if it continues like this, the growth will be extremely slow. It isn’t a long-term solution.”
After planting the Jiao Vine in the Spirit Field, Lu Xuan inspected the many Spirit Plants within.
Third-grade Spirit Plants really are more troublesome. The first and second grades only require specific growing environments and special spiritual power, but the third-grade ones seem to have their own personalities.”
“The two third-grade Spirit Plants in the field, like the mischievous Phantom Smoke Fruit, set up their own space. If others can’t find it, they won’t be able to cultivate it.”
“This Jiao Vine is even more demanding. A single vine needs to bathe in snake blood or even Dragon Blood. If I really had Dragon Blood, I’d rather use it on myself!”
Lu Xuan looked at the increasingly large fog cluster formed by the Phantom Smoke Fruit in front of him, and he couldn’t help sighing..