You Cultivate, I Farm

Chapter 161: Silver Thread Praying Mantis

"The Illusion Mist Formation at the fourth-grade and the third-grade spirit plants truly are exceptional. I've nurtured you with such care, and it's not in vain."

Lu Xuan gazed at the array disk hanging in his hand, a look of pleasant surprise on his face.

He had been worrying about the protection of the courtyard in Jianmen Town, but the reward brought by the Illusory Smoke Fruit had swiftly resolved this issue.

Inside the courtyard, three precious spirit plants were cultivated: the third-grade Ghost-Faced Stone Mushroom, the third-grade Thorny Bone Tree, and the fourth-grade Hundred-Eyed Enigmatic Wood. Each was incredibly valuable and couldn't afford the slightest loss.

Yet, with his focus mainly within the sect, he could only occasionally check on them. In such circumstances, worry was inevitable.

Although Jianmen Town wasn't far from the Tianjian Sect, and there wasn't much concern about demonic beasts or malevolent spirits infiltrating, most of the town's cultivators had close ties with the disciples of the Tianjian Sect. However, human hearts were unpredictable. If the owner of the courtyard wasn't seen for a long time, there was no guarantee that ill intentions wouldn't arise.

Now, with the Illusion Mist Formation combining illusion formations, mazes, and killing formations, Lu Xuan no longer needed to worry about this issue.

He stowed away the array disk and the Illusory Smoke Fruit into his storage bag. He had considered feeding it to the Cloud-Stepping Lynx, but considering its eyes were adept at detecting malevolent spirits, the effect of enhancing illusion techniques with the Illusory Smoke Fruit was limited, so he abandoned the idea.

For the next few days, most of his time was spent in the cave, cultivating spirit plants, nurturing spirit beasts, occasionally visiting the Thousand Dragon Lake to feed the remaining flood dragons.

The spirit crane refused his spirit stones every time he went. After multiple attempts, Lu Xuan had to give up on the idea and instead brought ordinary spirit fruits as a token of appreciation.

The remaining time was devoted to practicing cultivation techniques. Though several months of practice might not compare to the growth of a single spirit firefly grass, it could still elevate his cultivation by a small margin.

Days passed leisurely, especially after obtaining the fourth-grade Illusion Mist Formation soon after harvesting the third-grade Illusory Smoke Fruit, leaving him content and fulfilled.

"Junior Brother Lu, are you home? I came over to hand over the beast eye task you issued earlier."

Outside the courtyard, a clear and cold female voice echoed.

"I'm here."

Lu Xuan responded and hurried over to open the courtyard gate.

A graceful female cultivator stood at the entrance.

She entered the courtyard and casually found a wooden stool to sit on, taking out three slender, transparent bottles from her storage bag.

Inside the bottles lay a pale green liquid, soaking various beast eyes. Each eye exuded vitality, as if freshly taken from a beast's skull.

"I managed to gather fourteen intact beast eyes this time: ten from first-grade beasts and four from second-grade ones. They were collected not long ago and preserved with special fluid. They should meet your requirements, Junior Brother Lu."

The elegant female cultivator spoke slowly.

Lu Xuan took the bottles and let his spiritual sense probe into them, confirming the freshness of the beast eyes as the female cultivator claimed.

"This particular eye is unique, sourced from the second-grade Cyclops Barbaric Rhinoceros. It possesses tremendous brute strength and a certain level of illusionary ability."

The female cultivator explained as Lu Xuan gazed at a huge, deep black eye within the bottle.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan nodded gently.

"Sister, following the task requirements, each first-grade beast eye is priced at ten spirit stones. The three second-grade beast eyes are quite ordinary, so I'm willing to buy them at thirty spirit stones each. As for this Cyclops Barbaric Rhinoceros eye, it's somewhat special. How about fifty spirit stones, Sister?"

After a brief hesitation, the elegant female cultivator agreed with a nod.

"Thank you so much, Junior Brother Lu."

These beasts were part of another task she needed to hunt. Removing their eyes was just an incidental action. Lu Xuan's offered price might be slightly lower, but earning such a sum on the side was already quite good.

Lu Xuan handed over two hundred and forty spirit stones to the elegant female cultivator and received the dozen or so beast eyes from her.

"The cost of cultivating high-grade spirit plants is quite substantial. I spent over two hundred spirit stones on the fourth-grade Hundred-Eyed Enigmatic Wood."

"Still, the spirit firefly grass is really convenient; it grows with just a bit of spiritual energy."

"But high-grade plants have their advantages. The initial investment in these plants is insignificant compared to their inherent value. Besides, I still have the reward from the light clusters!"

Once the female cultivator left, Lu Xuan returned to his room, looking at the dozen or so eyes floating in the pale green liquid. He couldn't help but sigh.

He stored all the beast eyes in his life pouch to ensure their freshness.

"Junior Brother Lu, are you home? I've brought over some insect eggs and a young larva for you."

Half a day later, while Lu Xuan was inspecting the spiritual fields, a deep voice echoed from outside.

Lu Xuan opened the gate, finding a well-built cultivator standing there.

"Senior Brother, what kind of insect eggs and larvae did you bring?"

After inviting the cultivator inside, Lu Xuan brewed some spirit tea and inquired.

"Junior Brother, it took me quite an effort this time. You know how protective these demonic insects are of their eggs and larvae; finding them is ten times harder than finding the matured ones."

"I spent a few days in the Crimson Miasma Valley and managed to find two kinds: one is the first-grade Black Armor Beetle, and the other is the second-grade insect larva, the Silver Thread Praying Mantis."

The sturdy cultivator gulped down some spirit tea and explained to Lu Xuan, taking out two items from his storage bag.

One bottle contained several egg-like objects, flat and glossy black, resembling small stones.

The other bottle held two larval mantises, about half a finger in size, pure white as jade, with front limbs resembling tiny knives, and a faint, silvery thread visible on their backs.

"The eggs belong to the Black Armor Beetle, a first-grade demonic insect, seven in total. They usually live near strange rocks and, once matured, possess decent defensive capabilities. They can be used as materials for some elixirs."

"These two larvae are the Silver Thread Praying Mantis, second-grade demonic insects. They're incredibly fast and have strong attacking abilities."

The sturdy cultivator elaborated to Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan nodded. He wasn't sure if the Black Armor Beetle was of the shedding type, but as long as they were nurtured, they would somewhat symbiotically interact with the Insect Vine.

As for the Silver Thread Praying Mantis, they perfectly met the requirements of the Insect Vine. Both could grow together.

Of course, it had to be mentioned that these Silver Thread Praying Mantises looked quite pleasing. Among all the insects he had seen or

learned about, they were in the top tier in terms of appearance.

"Senior Brother, I plan to purchase the Black Armor Beetle eggs at six spirit stones each and the Silver Thread Praying Mantis larvae at thirty-five spirit stones each. What do you think?"

Lu Xuan's offer was already quite reasonable, and the sturdy cultivator didn't particularly care about the gains or losses of a few spirit stones, directly nodding in agreement.

Lu Xuan handed over a hundred and twelve spirit stones to the sturdy cultivator.

"Junior Brother Lu, you're straightforward. If I find any more insect eggs or larvae next time, I'll trouble you again."

Taking the spirit stones, the sturdy cultivator bid farewell and left.