Chapter 43: Chapter 42: Grass Puppet: Defense of the Spirit Fieldl
Translator: 549690339
“I just want to live a peaceful life, farming my land. Why does it always get disrupted?”
After obtaining the special light cluster from his Spirit Field, Lu Xuan adopted a detached approach to life.
He stopped striving and jostling for opportunities among the countless Loose Cultivators.
That was why he had previously declined the invitation from Zhang Hong and the Spirit Plant Master from Bai Cao Tang to explore the Secret Land.
Usually, he would act kindly towards others and seldom go out.
Wang Shan was possessed by a Demon Envoy, which was highly likely to disrupt his peaceful life. Hence, Lu Xuan had no choice but to solve it proactively.
“Who should I report Wang Shan to then?”
“The person must be obviously stronger than him and shouldn’t be close to him.”
Lu Xuan pondered a while before recalling that Wang Shan had once bad-mouthed one of his superiors while they were drinking together.
Initially, he considered solving the problem through Bai Cao Tang’s connections, but eventually gave up. After all, he had only just started working with Bai Cao Tang, held no significant achievements, and didn’t know any people with real power. The only person he knew well, Manager He, wasn’t of a high status either.
“Another point to note is that my identity must be well concealed, lest this reporting not only ends in failure but also implicates myself.”
After deciding who to report to, Lu Xuan began to secretly investigate and prepare for action.
Linyang Market, North District Enforcement Hall.
A massive building occupying an area of over 10 acres was rife with spiritual energy and teeming with strange and rare plants.
Ling Peng was sitting at his desk, flipping through a book on artifact crafting.
Usually a quiet person, he selected a courtyard office on the side of the Enforcement Hall. A lush Spirit Wood was planted outside the window which he would gaze at for relaxation.
One of the high-tier Qi Cultivators from the Enforcement Hall, he usually remained in the Hall, only stepping in during large-scale Demon Envoy invasions.
Suddenly, he made a soft yelp, and a shield covered with gray-black scales flashed out from his storage bag, circling around him.
The moment the gray-black shield appeared, a golden light streak, like a sharp arrow, shot into the room.
‘Ding’
To Ling Peng’s surprise, the golden light streak didn’t aim at him, but shot directly at the room’s beam, lingering there.
“Who’s so audacious to attack an Enforcement Hall Cultivator?”
A streak of anger surfaced on Ling Peng’s face as the shield automatically circulated him, his spiritual power operating at its maximum.
Several breaths later, there was no movement outside.
Ling Peng, puzzled, looked at the golden Sword Qi on the beam.
“To have this Sword Qi last for so long, the cultivator behind all this must possess extraordinary accomplishments in Sword Dao.”
Ling Peng exclaimed and noticed a palm-sized white paper pinned to the beam by the golden Sword Qj.
He dispersed the golden Sword Qi and used the Object Manipulation Technique to let the paper float towards him.
The white paper contained two lines of shoddy handwriting that were obviously added intentionally.
“Wang Shan may be corrupted by the Demon Envoy. Patrol in-charge, Tan Xiao Dong, is very likely to be covering it up intentionally.”
Ling Peng read the text softly.
A cluster of dark red flames suddenly appeared beneath the paper, leaving it slightly charred.
“Is the information true or just a prank?”
“I remember Wang Shan being a Middle-Stage Qi Practitioner in the Enforcement Hall, a Qi Cultivator of the Fifth Level, occupying a middle-tier position. If even he is corrupted by the Demon Envoy, then some calamity is likely to happen in the Enforcement Hall.”
“The possibility of this being a prank is too low.”
He looked at the faint trace left by the golden Sword Qi on the beam, contemplating.
“The Sword Qi unleashed by the people behind it was silent and undetectable, even my advanced-level Spiritual Sense could only discover it when close by. The Sword Qi lingered, its momentum was overwhelming, yet it only left a faint trace.”
“This suggests that he has been immersed in Sword Dao for at least ten years, and his mastery of Sword Qi has reached a minor completion, or even grand completion. Hence, his cultivation level is most likely advanced Qi Cultivation as it would be extremely difficult for a mid-stage Qi practitioner to possess such Sword Dao skills.”
“Therefore, I must keep an eye on those two.”
Ling Peng quietly made a decision.
He leapt onto a crimson flying sword and circled around the Enforcement Hall without spotting any suspicious characters.
Not far away on a street, Lu Xuan slowly walked down the bluestone road. Not too long after, a surging Spiritual Sense swept over him.
With the help of the Concealment Method, Lu Xuan only revealed the Third Level Qi Cultivation at this moment. The Spiritual Sense didn’t find anything unusual and disappeared in an instant.
Lu Xuan continued to walk at a normal pace, without displaying any panic.
“By sending this message with the Grand-mastery Gold Sword Technique, the high-level Qi Cultivator who is suspected to have a close relationship with Wang Shan would surely scrutinize my warning. At least, he would keep a closer watch on Wang Shan.”
“As for Tan Xiao Dong who swallowed my Spirit Stone and is still not satisfied, I’ll trip him up along the way. When the opportunity arises, I’ll settle the score when my strength can crush him.”
Lu Xuan reviewed his reporting action.
With the help of the Concealment Method, he silently approached the target cultivator without attracting any attention, applied the Grand-mastery Gold Sword Technique to deliver the warning, then disguised himself as a Third Layer Qi Cultivator to evade any possible inspection.
“Let’s see if it works.”
At this point, whether Wang Shan’s contamination by the Demon Envoy is detected or not, all Lu Xuan could do is to respond to changes without changing his plan and watch how things unfold.
“Spirit Firefly Grass, Red Cloud Pine, Sword Grass, quickly mature.”
He returned to the courtyard and looked at dozens of the nearly mature Spirit Firefly Grass in the Spirit Field, as well as five Red Cloud Pine that were growing increasing in size and deepening in color, and the Sword Grass that stood straight like a sword blade. He felt reassured.
“As long as the Spirit Plants mature, I can continue to accumulate strength. Then, even if the Demon Envoy inside Wang Shan wants to harm me, I can solve it myself.”
At the edge of the Spiritual Spring Pool, the Bi Jing Cloud Treading Mink dug out a strange worm from an unknown place.
While it put the strange worm down and three Red-bearded Carps from the Spiritual Spring Pool emerged to fight for it, it quickly snatched the strange worm back into its paw, at the same time grabbing the whiskers and yanking the Red-bearded Carp out.
The long whiskers contracted and expanded in mid-air, causing the Red-bearded Carp below to constantly bounce up and down.
“I told you not to go fishing, why didn’t you listen? Asking for a beating, aren’t you?!”
Seeing this, Lu Xuan couldn’t help but smack the sharp ears of the Cloud Leopard Juvenile Beast.
The Cloud Leopard Juvenile Beast with its indifferent gaze put the Red-bearded Carp back into the Spiritual Spring Pool, walked to the side, and started tampering with the dying strange worm in the furrows of the Spirit Field.
Lu Xuan was worried that it would be upset about being hit, so he focused his thoughts on it.
“Rawr- Master stroked me again today-”
“This little guy…”
Lu Xuan was left speechless, realizing that the Civet caught the Red-bearded Carp to attract his attention, where even a smack was better than not being touched all day.
On a whim, he walked over to the Grass Puppet who was patrolling the Spirit Field.
The Grass Puppet slowly circled the Spirit Field with the same steps.
“The Grass Puppet has undergone significant changes after absorbing the Grass Nourishing Elixir, even showing some degree of Spiritual Intelligence. I wonder what its current state would be like.”
Curious, Lu Xuan focused his spiritual mind on the dark body of the Grass Puppet.
“Guard the Spirit Field!”
“Guard the Spirit Field!”
“Guard the Spirit Field!”
The same phrase echoed repeatedly in Lu Xuan’s mind..