Chapter 61: Chapter 60: Mutated Gnawing Spirit Bugs l
Translator: 549690339
The credibility of Wanbao Building in the market was exceedingly reliable. Lu Xuan took the advice of the delicate young girl, gave three spirit stones as earnest money, and left his identity information.
According to the girl, it would take approximately five to ten days for the blood of the snake devil beast to be transported from other branches of Wanbao Building. However, Lu Xuan could pick up the goods himself and cover the remaining spirit stones based on the quality of the delivered demonic beast blood.
Then, Lu Xuan took the Fog Concealing Array Disk back to his courtyard.
Upon his return, Grass Puppet was still in the corner of the Spirit Field. Several grey-black leaves sprouted from the gray grass lump on its massive head, slowly and meticulously weaving its limbs.
Within half a day, it had only managed to weave two arms, with the elbows nowhere in sight.
As it sensed the presence of Lu Xuan, the Grass Puppet slightly paused its movements and retreated into the lump on its head. It turned its head slightly, seemingly greeting Lu Xuan.
Lu Xuan returned to his house and retrieved the Fog Concealing Array Disk.
The Array Disk was grey-white, emblazoned with numerous complex and obscure symbols. A feeble mist seeped out from both sides of the symbols, persistently lingering above the Array Disk.
“A second-grade defense formation, it also carries a bit of maze function. Even for a high-tier qi cultivator, breaking the formation is by no means an easy task.”
The formation outside the courtyard was set up by Tooth Row and can be counted as an invisible benefit that came with Lu Xuan renting the Spirit Field at enormous cost. As a first-grade formation, its defensive power can, at best, be considered ordinary.
Now, having transferred to a second-grade Hidden Fog Maze Array, Lu Xuan felt more at ease, without worrying about the Spirit Plants in his Spirit Field being coveted by others.
He manipulated his spiritual power into the Array Disk, slowly triggering the Array Disk according to a specific routine.
The numerous symbols on the Array Disk lit up, the faint mist above it, as if fanned by a gentle breeze, dissipated in all directions.
Subsequently, a semi-transparent Spiritual Energy Shield appeared outside the courtyard. Lu Xuan adjusted it continually until it perfectly covered the entire courtyard.
Simultaneously, a wave of pale fog rose from somewhere and soon enveloped the whole courtyard. If one looked down at the Spirit Field from above, they could only see a thick white fog. Whether it be the Spirit Plants or the manor, nothing could be seen clearly. Even if Spiritual Sense penetrated in, it would only get lost in the dense fog.
Lu Xuan manipulated the symbols continuously, and the fog curtains outside the courtyard moved accordingly, as though an invisible hand manipulated them.
“Alright, the second-grade formation is set up. As for the first-grade formation placed by Tooth Row, if I find time one day, I should return it to them.”
Lu Xuan stood in the Spirit Field, looking outside the courtyard.
Under his control, the Spirit Field was not affected by the fog at all.
After the array was set up, Lu Xuan took a brief rest and began checking the state of the Spirit Plants in the Spirit Field.
Concentrating his mind on the Spirit Plants, he quickly discovered their immediate status.
Whenever he encountered a requirement, he would cast a Spirit Rain Technique or Tree Life Spell to meet every tiny need of the Spirit Plants.
“The roots seem a little heavy, not like the heaviness of roots growing upon roots. It’s as if something is forcibly sucking the roots.”
While passing through the area of the Blood Jade Ginseng, Lu Xuan suddenly noticed something odd about one of them.
Even though it maintained a safe distance from the other Blood Jade Ginseng, it showcased an unusual condition.
Based on the immediate state of the Blood Jade Ginseng, he slowly extended his Spiritual Sense into the Spirit Soil.
Under Lu Xuan’s spiritual sense, he discovered a dark-colored object attached to the root buried deep in the Spirit Soil of the Blood Jade Ginseng.
It looked as if a swelling had grown on the roots of the Blood Jade Ginseng. On closer inspection, he could sense that the pale black lump was made up of hundreds of tiny insect-like creatures.
These insects were deeply buried in the soil, unmoving, drawing the life force from the Blood Jade Ginseng. If it weren’t for the slight abnormality in its status, it would have been difficult to detect them until they’d infiltrated the roots of the Blood Jade Ginseng.
“It looks like they’re Gnawing Spirit Bugs. I just don’t know when they got into my Spirit Field and started damaging my Spirit Plants,”
Lu Xuan’s expression softened. This type of strange worm was recorded in the family’s book, “Common Harmful Monsters and Solutions”.
They move in the soil, like to bite and devour the roots of spirit plants, and in the early stages of their biting, their traces are generally hard to find.
The entry method of the Gnawing Spirit Bugs into the Spirit Field was unknown. After all, the previous defense was only First Grade and had limited protection. The array wasn’t opened twelve hours a day, the Gnawing Spirit Bugs themselves were very small, exceedingly hard to block completely, let alone when they were moving in the soil, which was even harder to guard against.
Of course, there might also be some possibility that eggs of the Gnawing Spirit Bug were left deep in the soil, and after they hatched, they found the Blood Jade Ginseng roots.
Although Lu Xuan occasionally cleaned the insect eggs in the Spirit Field, it was hard to guarantee that he had completely cleaned them.
He operated his spiritual power and used the Earth Pulling Technique.
Although there were fewer experience packages for the Earth Pulling Technique that burst out from the white light group than the Golden Sword Technique, Lu Xuan had also reached the Minor Proficiency Boundary with this method.
Under his delicate control, the Spirit Soil moved quietly, without disturbing the Gnawing Spirit Bugs attached to the Blood Jade Ginseng roots.
He waited until the root was exposed to the light, and only then did they react.
In an instant, the pale black tumor split into hundreds of small black insects, like a black mist, emitting a sharp cry, and swarming towards Lu Xuan from all directions.
With a wave of his left hand, a slender Red Needle transformed into a phantom and stung the Gnawing Spirit Bugs. It twirled wantonly among the bugs, leaving red streaks of illusion.
A few moments later, the Red Threaded Needle returned to the front of Lu Xuan, from the needle head right down, stabbing hundreds of tiny Gnawing Spirit Bugs.
“These Gnawing Spirit Bugs seem a bit off, very different from what is recorded in the book. I remember it saying that their aggression is not strong.”
“But the ones in the Spirit Field can morph into black mist and attack in groups, quite different from normal Gnawing Spirit Bugs.”
Lu Xuan looked at the Red Needle in his hand, with a movement of his spiritual power, deep red flames erupted from the slender body of the needle, and the pierced tiny Gnawing Spirit Bugs were instantly turned into black ash.
“Looking at their mobility, they’re probably not the eggs of the Gnawing Spirit Bugs that were left behind in the Spirit Soil earlier, otherwise, I would have found out right away whenever they attempted to harm the spirit plants.”
“So it’s most likely an external invasion. I just don’t know what influence they encountered, that led to such a significant transformation.”
Considering the continuous appearance of Metamorphosis Cultivators in the market recently, Lu Xuan felt something was not quite right.
“What sort of demon envoy did the Wang Family provoke in that new Secret Land? What did they get? The entire market feels unsafe.”
Lu Xuan immediately thought of the scene when the Wang Family Cultivators and many Loose Cultivators returned. From the discussions of the cultivators next to him, it seemed they had stolen some treasure in the process of opening up the new Secret Land, attracting the demon envoy. This made the market uneasy for a long time.
“I hope I’m overthinking.”
Lu Xuan felt heavy-hearted and carefully searched every Spirit Plant in the Spirit Field. Fortunately, he did not find any more traces of the mutated Gnawing Spirit Bugs.
Living in this perilous Cultivation World, Lu Xuan just wanted to plant his Spirit Plants quietly, but even this small request seemed hard to fulfill.
Looking at the Two Grade Sword Grass and Dark Marrow Mushroom that had been planted in the Spirit Field for almost half a year, the hope for them to mature quickly became more urgent..