Chapter 10: Little Silver Flying Insect

In the memories of his body’s previous owner, the time right before the Spirit Rice harvest was always when pest infestations were most frequent.

The pests in a Spirit Field were countless times more severe than those in the mortal world.

All sorts of pests appeared one after another. Today it would be Spirit Moths, the day after tomorrow Spirit Rice Lice, and the day after that, some strange, unknown beetle...

During this season, Miscellaneous Spiritual Plant Cultivators like them basically had no free time.

If they dared to slack off...

Heh.

The consequences would be more than they could bear.

But now...

Jiang Xu was a little confused.

In the past few days, the Skill Level he’d gained for his Small Cotton Needle Technique had all come from his own practice.

Almost none of it had come from exterminating pests.

In other words, his field had been unreasonably free of pests!

If it were any other servant, they would have been overjoyed, as it meant they would have a very easy time.

But Jiang Xu understood that when things were this unusual, something had to be wrong.

If he didn’t figure it out, the consequences could be even more severe.

Jiang Xu had already broken through to the Qi Cultivation Third Layer. His Magical Power was now much more abundant, which meant he could grind his Skill Level even faster.

Before he could figure things out, all Jiang Xu could do was work hard at grinding his Skill Level.

As long as he was strong enough, nothing could affect him.

As for running away...

Jiang Xu had considered it.

His idea was to report that he had reached the Qi Cultivation Third Layer, get promoted to an Outer Disciple, and then leave the Sect to hide for a while, only to return after whatever was going to happen had happened.

But if he did that, first, he would definitely lose the Spirit Field he had worked so hard to cultivate.

Second, this was all just a guess; he wasn’t even sure if there was a real crisis.

Even if there was, he didn’t know where it would come from.

In a place like the Sect, if the sky were to fall, the tall ones would hold it up.

If he ran away only to find that it was even more dangerous outside the Sect...

...then Jiang Xu would truly live to regret it.

So, the safest plan was to grind his Skill Level first and react to the situation as it developed.

Worrying, Jiang Xu prepared to leave his Spirit Field.

But just as he turned, he saw a Spirit Moth crawling on a distant stalk of Spirit Rice.

In previous years, these Spirit Moths had been a huge headache for him; he used to pray every day that he wouldn’t encounter one.

But at this moment, Jiang Xu was unexpectedly delighted.

Because seeing it meant that his suspicions were probably wrong.

’Maybe the pests were just a little delayed. Maybe there’s nothing strange going on after all.’

But just as Jiang Xu was cheerfully about to walk over and kill the Spirit Moth...

...he saw a peculiar little silver insect fly over from the distance.

To say it was silver wasn’t entirely accurate.

The little insect’s body was mostly a light silver, with the small portion near its tail being black.

This little silver insect slowly flew near the Spirit Moth.

Before Jiang Xu could react, a silver streak of light flashed by. The Spirit Moth vanished, and in its place was the little silver insect.

As for the Spirit Moth, it had ended up in the little silver insect’s mouth.

Then, it slowly flew away again.

Jiang Xu was dumbfounded by this scene, so shocked that he forgot to go and catch it.

"My god!"

You have to understand, with the previous owner’s Beginner Level Small Cotton Needle Technique, it took at least four hits to kill a Spirit Moth.

And it wouldn’t just sit there and let you kill it.

It often took nearly an hour of work to get rid of a single one.

With Jiang Xu’s current Skilled Level Small Cotton Needle Technique, one hit could cripple it and prevent its escape, while a second hit was needed for the kill.

Although this was partly because the Small Cotton Needle Technique wasn’t very powerful, it also showed that Spirit Moths were not easy to deal with.

But that unknown little insect had killed a Spirit Moth so easily...

Jiang Xu’s brow furrowed. He hurried back to his house and flipped open the *Spirit Rice Cultivation Manual*, trying to find a description of this kind of insect.

「One hour later.」

Jiang Xu rubbed his temples and put down the book.

He hadn’t found any description of this insect in it.

Jiang Xu felt he might be overreacting. ’Maybe I couldn’t find it in the manual because it’s not a pest.’

It hadn’t attacked him, nor had it eaten his Spirit Rice; it only ate pests.

’In my past life, the animal kingdom had countless beneficial insects. It’s perfectly reasonable for there to be a Spirit Insect that specializes in killing pests... right?’

’Alright.’

’That’s just me trying to comfort myself.’

In reality, Jiang Xu already felt a considerable sense of urgency.

It was useless for Jiang Xu to just sit here and think by himself. The body’s previous owner didn’t know much; his world revolved around farming and Nie Mengyun. ’Perhaps I should discuss this with someone else.’

’But who could I discuss it with?’

Jiang Xu counted the days. It just so happened that today was the day he was supposed to water Shen Ji’s Spirit Field.

’Although Shen Ji doesn’t seem particularly worldly or smart, he should know more than the previous owner of my body.’

...

"From the way you describe it, it does sound a bit strange."

Shen Ji and Jiang Xu squatted outside the Spirit Field, discussing things as they watched the Spirit Rice get drenched by the Spirit Rain Technique.

"Have you seen that little silver insect I told you about?"

"Now that you mention it, I feel like I have some impression of it, but then again, maybe not."

Shen Ji frowned slightly, deep in thought.

"Anyway, you should pay close attention. Half the credit for your Spirit Field goes to me, you know. If something goes wrong with it, don’t you dare say it’s because of my Spirit Rain Technique. Let’s get this straight: I’m not responsible, and I’m not refunding the Spirit Rice!"

"Tch! I find it strange. How can a stingy guy like you be so generous to that calculating woman? Could the power of love really exist in this world?"

"Don’t mention that woman again. There’s nothing between us anymore. I’ve seen her for who she truly is."

Hearing this, Jiang Xu was utterly shocked. He looked at Shen Ji as if the man had just ascended to immortality on the spot.

Jiang Xu was speechless. He got up and walked around the perimeter of Shen Ji’s Spirit Field.

After one lap, he still hadn’t seen any of those little silver insects.

Of course, he hadn’t seen a single one of the usually common pests, either.

’Could it really be a coincidence?’

Having made no progress with Shen Ji, Jiang Xu decided to head back.

"I’m heading out. If you see one, please let me know."

Without waiting for Shen Ji’s reply, Jiang Xu started walking back.

...

「As the sun set, night fell.」

Jiang Xu’s thoughts were a tangled mess; even the Purifying Heart Spell couldn’t calm his mind.

He decided to skip his Cultivation for the night and went straight out, planning to grind some Magic Skill Level in his Spirit Field.

In the past, Jiang Xu would first cast the Concealing Breath Spell, then use the Light Body Spell.

Finally, he would cast the Small Cotton Needle Technique while moving, allowing him to grind the Skill Level of three different Magic techniques at the same time.

However, he was still more than fifty points away from leveling up his Small Cotton Needle Technique to the next Skill Level.

Jiang Xu decided to prioritize using his Magical Power for the Small Cotton Needle Technique for now. ’I’ll focus on grinding this one to a High-Level first.’

Jiang Xu circulated his Magical Power. A subtle wisp of it gathered and pulsed in his palm, forming a nearly invisible Spirit Needle that hovered and bobbed above his hand.

For a relatively weak Magic technique like the Small Cotton Needle Technique, which was specifically designed for pest control, the Dharma Seal and Spell were extremely simple, making it easy to cast instantly.

That made sense. If this kind of Spirit Plant Technique had a slow casting speed, the pests would have been long gone.

Jiang Xu casually flicked the Spirit Needle, and his Skill Level for the Small Cotton Needle Technique smoothly increased by 1.

Just as he was about to form another one, he saw a small insect resting quietly on a stalk of Spirit Rice not far away.

Jiang Xu focused his gaze.

He nearly jumped out of his skin.

It was the very same kind of little silver insect he had seen that morning.

And what was different about this one was that the silver on its body had visibly expanded, with only a tiny dot of black remaining at the tip of its tail.

"Finally, we meet again. I won’t let you get away so easily this time!"