【Aphid Worm (Larva): First-Rank Demonic Insect, Rank: Level 1, Skills: Acid Spray, Spirit Devouring.】
Staring at the demonic insect larvae attached to the spirit rice plants, Li Mu's brows furrowed deeply.
The spirit rice was due to ripen and be harvested in about fifteen days, but now he had discovered aphid worm larvae. If he didn't eliminate them quickly, months of hard work would be wasted.
However, how to thoroughly eradicate the pest infestation was a difficult problem.
Li Mu quickly ran into the wooden house by the field, rummaged through boxes and cabinets, found a copy of "One Hundred Methods for Spirit Plant Pest Control," and quickly began to flip through it.
"Midge Worms, Green Gadflies… Ah, here it is, Aphid Worms!" Li Mu turned a few pages and quickly found a method to deal with aphid worms.
Aphid worms are a type of pest that hides during the day and comes out at night. Their eggs, buried underground, hatch when the Spirit Plants are about to mature. They accelerate their growth by sucking the sap from the Spirit Plants. If fast, they can pass through their fragile larval stage in seven days.
Larval aphid worms can be poisoned with venomous insect fluid or eliminated with the Illusory Flame Array.
Aphid worms in their growth stage are more troublesome and can only be killed one by one using single-target spells, such as golden origin Finger, Blazing Flame Bullet, Ice Finger, Sword Qi Silk Transformation, and other such single-target spells.
If aphid worms enter their mature stage and complete pupation, they become even more difficult to deal with. A group of pupated aphid worms requires a Foundation Establishment cultivation to kill. The method for eliminating mature aphid worms is not recorded in "One Hundred Methods for Spirit Plant Pest Control."
However, this had nothing to do with Li Mu; his cultivation was only at the second level of Qi Refining, and he didn't know when he would reach Foundation Establishment.
Thinking that he couldn't even deal with a larval insect, Li Mu felt a little heavy-hearted: "Even farming is so troublesome. This life is too difficult, sigh!"
Li Mu concentrated, focusing his attention on a virtual light spot in his field of vision. The next second, an interface similar to game character attributes magnified and clearly appeared. Next to the character attributes was an item bar with 64 storage slots, seven or eight of which were already used, holding miscellaneous items like a Mystic Iron Sword, a water skin, and a porcelain bottle.
【Character: Li Mu】
【Gender: Male】
【Lifespan: 17 / 85】
【Spiritual Root: Five Elements Mixed Spiritual Root】
【Heavenly Talent: Identifying Myriad Spirits, Plant Spirit Absorption】
【Cultivation: Qi Refining Second Level: 108 / 1000】
【Cultivation Technique: Qingmu Spell (Huang Grade Low Rank) Level Three: 125 / 3000, Eighteen Paths Chess Sword Spell (Huang Grade Middle Rank) Level Two: 402 / 1000.】
【Skills: Qingfeng Huanyu Technique (Level Two): 287 / 1000, Dust Cleansing Technique (Level Two): 541 / 1000, Sword Control Technique (Beginner): 38 / 100; Symbol Making Art: (Beginner): 37 / 100.】
These were Li Mu's personal attributes after inheriting the original owner's body.
The original owner's conditions were simply too poor.
Li Mu was not from this world but from Blue Star. He had died suddenly from overwork and late nights, and his soul had transmigrated to this terrifying cultivation world.
Li Mu quickly accepted this identity, replacing Zhao Huairen, who had died in an unknown manner.
After all, in his original world, Li Mu was just a struggling older youth burdened by a 20,000 monthly mortgage, repeating the same 996 routine day after day, diligently working and fearing being laid off. Now, he had transmigrated into a Utility Disciple of a cultivation Sect, bringing with him a Golden Finger similar to a game panel, starting a brand new life, which could be considered an unexpected joy.
However, the original owner Zhao Huairen's death was somewhat suspicious, and after Li Mu took his place, he felt a faint unease.
Currently, the most urgent matter was to resolve the pest infestation. Otherwise, if something happened to the spirit field and he couldn't pay the rent, he would surely be punished by the Sect, or even expelled from Qingxuan Sect.
Li Mu put the book back into the wooden cabinet, then locked the courtyard gate, and headed to the nearest Qing'an Town market to purchase pest control medicine.
Qingxuan Sect is a famous great Sect, controlling tens of thousands of Spirit Mountains, with hundreds of True Disciples, thousands to tens of thousands of Inner Sect Disciples, over a hundred thousand Outer Sect Disciples, and millions of Utility Disciples. It is a proper pyramid structure.
And he was just a Utility Disciple at the very bottom of the pyramid, renting the Sect's spirit fields to plant spirit rice, exploited by the Sect—no! It should be said he was contributing a part of his strength to strengthen the Sect.
It was about three to four li from the spirit field to Qing'an Town. Li Mu ran all the way, arriving in Qing'an Town in less than a quarter of an hour.
However, the journey was dusty and quite disheveled, unlike Utility Disciples at Qi Refining Sixth or Seventh Level who had learned Sword Control Technique. They could fly short distances on their swords, fast and elegant, which made Li Mu truly envious.
"Entering the town, one shattered Spirit Stone." As Li Mu was about to enter the town, he was stopped by a guard collecting a city fee.
Reluctantly, Li Mu pulled out a fingernail-sized Spirit Stone from his pocket. Ten shattered Spirit Stones equaled one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, and one Low-Grade Spirit Stone could buy ten catties of spirit rice. This entry fee was enough to cover his food expenses for several days, truly too exorbitant.
"Go in! If you're not staying at an inn, you're not allowed to stay overnight in town." The guard snatched the shattered Spirit Stone, glanced at Li Mu, and sternly warned him.
"Understood." Li Mu nodded and walked into Qing'an Town.
The flat bluestone road, and the somewhat dilapidated shops along the street, were open for business.
Qing'an Town, controlled by Qingxuan Sect, was not only active with Utility Disciples and Outer Sect Disciples but also had some affiliated Families of the Sect operating here. Both sides of the street were lined with shops: spirit rice shops, Spirit Beast shops, Spiritual Artifact shops, general stores, inns… various kinds of shops, though small in scale, were quite complete in variety.
Li Mu only had three Low-Grade Spirit Stones and a few shattered Spirit Stones on him. Besides purchasing venomous insect fluid, he couldn't afford anything else, so he headed straight for the Spirit Plant shop.
"Boss, do you have venomous insect fluid that can poison aphid worms for sale?" Li Mu entered the Spirit Plant shop and directly asked the shop owner.
"Yes, yes, five shattered Spirit Stones a bottle. How many bottles do you want?" The shop owner quickly replied.
"How much spirit field can one bottle of venomous insect fluid irrigate?" Li Mu asked.
"Diluted with a hundred times the amount of spirit water, it's more than enough to eliminate pests on three mu of land," the shop owner replied.
"Can I buy half a bottle?" Li Mu asked in a negotiating tone. He had only rented one mu of spirit field and didn't need a whole bottle.
...
The shop owner was speechless, gave Li Mu a disdainful look, and flatly refused: "No, you have to buy the whole bottle."
"Then I'll take one bottle!" Li Mu decided helplessly, then asked, "Do you have spirit seeds for sale? Let me see."
"They're over there, help yourself." The shop owner pointed to the wooden shelf with spirit seeds placed in front of the counter, a wooden board with dozens of small compartments, each containing a type of Spirit Plant seed.
Li Mu's gaze swept over them, and his Heavenly Talent - Identifying Myriad Spirits took effect. Information about the spirit seeds appeared one by one: First-Rank 'Sunflower Splendor', First-Rank 'Ice Spirit Grass', First-Rank 'Rainbow Spirit Flower', First-Rank 'Black Blood Vine', First-Rank 'Blood Spirit Mushroom'…
Dozens of types of Spirit Plant seeds, almost all of them First-Rank Spirit Plants at a glance.
However, Li Mu could also understand that there wasn't much good stuff in a small town. High-Rank Spirit Plant seeds had to be bought from Spirit Plant shops in the county city.
"Huh! Boss, all these seeds are withered!" Li Mu discovered something good, pointing to the compartments at the end that held dozens of different withered seeds.
The shop owner gave Li Mu an annoyed glance: "I have eyes, I don't need you to remind me."
"Boss, these withered seeds are unusable. How about you sell them to me cheaply!" Li Mu chuckled, suggesting.
The shop owner immediately became wary.