Heart Contract

At this moment, classes were in session at the Taoist academy. Lu Yang glanced around and was surprised to find that the child he had met last time was not in the classroom.

Upon hearing this, Lu Cunyan hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Lu Hong is cultivating under the guidance of the Great Ancestor and is not here. You should not tell anyone about this."

What!

When Lu Yang returned to the spirit field, those words kept echoing in his mind: the child's original name was Lu Hong. According to the clan's custom, even if someone had an earth spirit root, they would still be trained in the Dao Academy.

Now Lu Hong is being led by the Great Ancestor, could it be that he is not just an Earth Spirit Root!

He shook his head. Whether it was a Heavenly Spiritual Root or a Different Spiritual Root, it was a good thing for the Lu family and for Lu Yang.

At the edge of the spirit field, a gentle breeze stirred. The blood-tooth rice, which ripens every six months, was now in April. The grains were fully formed, and a fragrant aroma wafted through the air, making Lu Yang feel refreshed and relaxed.

Minor Cloud Rain Spell, Minor Thick Earth Spell, Minor Golden Sharpness Spell...

After a series of spiritual plant techniques, the 2.7 acres of Blood Tooth Rice became even more fragrant.

"Fortunately, the delay was not long, and we were also nourished by a first-level spiritual vein, otherwise, the production would have been really delayed."

As Lu Yang murmured, his gaze was fixed on the newly nurtured acre of spiritual field. It was earlier than Lu Yang had expected. This first-order spiritual vein had nurtured an acre of spiritual field in just one month.

Lu Yang took out the An Shen Mu root from his storage bag. During his time in Canglan County, he hadn't forgotten to nurture the An Shen Mu root with spiritual water. The Canglan River was full of spiritual energy, and now the An Shen Mu root had sprouted.

Now that the spiritual field has been cultivated, it's the perfect time to plant this calming tree. However, some things are still missing for it to be successfully cultivated.

According to the records of Qingxi Notes, the cultivation of the An Shen Wood and the nurturing of spiritual water are only the first steps. In addition, some spiritual materials are needed to ensure its survival.

Moreover, these items are quite valuable.

Fortunately, they were all just first-tier spiritual items, which should be easy to find within the clan. Moreover, Lu Yang made a small fortune on this trip, so there was no need to worry about spirit stones.

On Wolong Mountain, Lu Yang killed a total of seventeen Fang family disciples, and there were still sixteen storage bags he hadn't opened. Although they were just storage bags belonging to early-stage Qi Refining cultivators, and Lu Yang wasn't expecting to find anything good, every little bit helps, and he could still accumulate some more spirit stones.

Sure enough, when these storage bags were opened, the most valuable ones contained only a dozen or twenty spirit stones, while the least valuable ones contained only a few. Some of the spirit items were not even worth Lu Yang's attention, showing how extremely poor they were.

Looking at it this way, it turns out that the Fang family insect cultivator gained the most.

Fortunately, there are still some low-grade magic artifacts that can be sold for some spirit stones.

Lu Yang kept three of the largest storage bags as spares, and took the rest directly to the Inner Affairs Hall.

A large pile of odds and ends was placed on the table, which stunned the stewards of the Inner Affairs Hall.

"Xuanyang, what's wrong?"

"I went on a field mission and got some things from the Southern Barbarians and the Fang family. I don't need them, so I thought I'd bring them over to exchange for some spirit stones and contribution points."

Upon hearing this, the steward of the Inner Affairs Hall glanced at Lu Yang's Qi Refining Level 3 cultivation and then at the mid-grade demonic artifact in his hand. He was somewhat curious but did not ask any further questions.

There are many counters in the Inner Affairs Hall. He only handles the buying and selling of goods from clansmen and doesn't ask about anything else.

After a quick assessment of what Lu Yang had brought out, to be honest, there were quite a lot of things, but in his eyes, they were just some worthless odds and ends.

All in all, it amounted to only a few hundred spirit stones.

After deducting the things Lu Yang wanted, there wasn't much left.

As Lu Yang walked out of the Inner Affairs Hall, he looked at the spiritual item in his hand and couldn't help but smile. To prepare the spiritual medicine that would help the An Shen Wood grow, he needed more than a dozen spiritual items. The Lu family's Inner Affairs Hall had quite a few things, and Lu Yang managed to gather them all on this trip.

After returning, Lu Yang can start refining calming powder. Lu Yang estimated that if all goes well, he can refine more than a dozen portions of calming powder with the spiritual items he has.

It's certainly expensive, but it's only a few hundred spirit stones. Once he successfully cultivates the Tranquilizing Wood, one stick of Tranquilizing Incense will cost two hundred spirit stones, a return of more than ten times!

Moreover, Lu Yang is not short of spirit stones right now. Even after buying all the materials for the calming powder, he still has a full six hundred spirit stones.

Moreover, it's not just about spirit stones. Whether it's killing the Southern Barbarians or the Fang family members, it's all contributing to the clan, and the clan will naturally reward you accordingly.

One Qi Refining Stage 1, ten contribution points.

One mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator earns thirty contribution points.

Lu Yang killed a full seventeen early-stage Qi Refining disciples of the Fang family this time, which directly earned him 170 contribution points.

In addition, the three mid-stage Qi Refining demonic cultivators killed during the battle against the Southern Barbarians are also worth ninety contribution points, making a total of two hundred and sixty contribution points.

Adding to Lu Yang's previous 140 contribution points, Lu Yang now has a total of 600 spirit stones and 400 contribution points.

rich!

With such a large fortune in his possession, Lu Yang unconsciously straightened his back. His current state could be summed up in one word: "Rich!"

Upon returning to the spirit field, Lu Yang began preparing the calming powder.

This calming powder isn't some kind of magic pill; it doesn't need to be refined. You just need to grind the spiritual substances recorded in Qingxi Notes into powder and mix them according to the proportions.

One serving, two servings...

After Lu Yang prepared the spiritual ingredients in his hand, he obtained twelve portions of calming powder.

According to the cultivation method of An Shen Mu, it is given An Shen powder once a month, and this An Shen powder is enough to last for a year.

With everything ready, Lu Yang didn't delay and quickly planted the sprouted roots of the Tranquilizing Tree directly into the spiritual field.

The An Shen Mu (安神木) is different from ordinary spirit grains. Just one An Shen Mu tree occupies half an acre of spirit field. If other spirit grains are planted, it is easy to steal the spiritual energy of the An Shen Mu and prevent it from surviving.

It has to be said that she is indeed somewhat spoiled.

However, thinking about the benefits that the An Shen Mu would bring, Lu Yang couldn't care less about that and quickly planted it.

The roots of the calming tree were placed in the pit, calming powder was sprinkled on, and then a series of minor soil and cloud rain spells were applied.

Lu Yang gathered his spiritual energy again and finally breathed a sigh of relief. The rest was no different from planting spiritual fields; he just had to follow the procedures on time, except for the addition of the calming powder.

After finishing processing the An Shen Mu, Lu Yang was not in a hurry to cultivate. Instead, he released the six young bees from Zi Yang Peak.

According to the "Secret Essentials of Insect Cultivation," there are three paths to controlling insects: the highest is the Heart Pact, the middle is the Divine Pact, and the lowest is the Blood Pact.

The so-called "heart contract" refers to feeding the spirit insect from a young age, cultivating feelings, and making the spirit insect recognize the cultivator from the bottom of its heart. Over time, without the cultivator's intervention, the spirit insect will take the initiative to establish a heart contract with the cultivator.

Although this contract is a master-servant contract, it is initiated by the spirit insect, so there is no possibility of the spirit insect turning against its master, making it the best possible contract.

The "Divine Contract" is a method where cultivators use their spiritual sense to forcibly subdue spirit insects. This method of controlling insects is simple and brutal, but the spiritual sense impacts the spirit insect's sea of ​​consciousness, which damages the spirit insect's spirituality and hinders its growth. Moreover, if the cultivator's cultivation level is affected or they are injured, their spiritual sense will not be able to suppress the spirit insect, and they will easily be devoured by the spirit insect.

The next method is the blood pact. The blood pact is simple: drip blood essence into the body of the spirit insect and use the blood pact incantation to refine the spirit insect. However, this method of controlling insects not only has the drawbacks of the divine pact, but also the life of the cultivator and the spirit insect are intertwined. Once the spirit insect dies, the cultivator will also suffer a backlash and be injured. Therefore, among the three paths of insect cultivation, this is the least desirable.