Chapter Fifteen: The First Battle

Zhou Changwang naturally couldn't manage to wield a blade and cast spells at the same time. But merely sidestepping his foe posed no hindrance to the execution of his Geng Metal Finger technique.

Screeching wildly, the Spirit Locust King paused only briefly before whirling and lunging at Zhou Changwang once more. Its two forelegs, sharp as blades, flashed with a cold gleam under the sunlight. And as it screeched, it seemed to summon the surrounding spirit insects, which responded swiftly to its call, converging upon him.

A king among insects could command its swarm.

Calm and focused, Zhou Changwang continued to weave the structure of his runes, all the while keeping a close eye on the Spirit Locust King's movements. When it pounced, he dodged sharply to the side once again. At last, his Geng Metal Finger spell coalesced, and with his control, shot forth.

Geng Metal Finger +3

With a hiss, the spell struck the Spirit Locust King's neck, severing its head from its body. Even with its tenacious vitality, at the moment its head was cleaved off, it managed to swipe its forelegs forcefully, sending out two razor-thin blades of energy that sliced through the air and cut the weeds in the spirit field—but they posed no further threat.

The spirit insects summoned by its call scattered again as soon as it died, swiftly retreating and hiding themselves within the spirit field.

“At last, it's dealt with. This insect king is truly far more troublesome than ordinary spirit insects.”

Zhou Changwang confirmed its death before tossing the carcass into his cloth bag. Seeing its size—equivalent to four or five regular spirit locusts combined—he allowed a trace of satisfaction to flicker across his face.

Yet, when his gaze fell upon his attribute panel, he was taken aback.

“The proficiency for the Geng Metal Finger spell... there's something odd.”

Comparing before and after, he discovered that casting this spell had increased his proficiency by three points. Three points were not much, but this signified that his spell cultivation could be expedited. If each casting gained three points, two would yield six... with enough repetitions, he could save vast amounts of time and spirit power.

“What is the cause of this?” Zhou Changwang pondered, then quickly understood.

Combat!

Because of combat!

Indeed, compared to his usual spellcasting—when eliminating insects, he would simply focus the spell and aim at the target, straightforward and direct—casting during battle required not only smooth condensation of the spell, but also aiming while in motion, which was far more difficult.

“This makes it hard to establish a routine,” Zhou Changwang shook his head helplessly.

Just then, Xu Zhong returned from afar, carrying their midday meal.

Zhou Changwang ceased his pest control and returned to the field ridge.

“Spirit rice, black-horned wild ox stir-fried with red spirit blossoms... Xu, you’ve certainly outdone yourself,” Zhou Changwang exclaimed in surprise at the lunch Xu Zhong had brought.

Spirit rice aside—eleven catties cost a single low-grade spirit stone—the black-horned wild ox was a demon beast, albeit the lowest rank and domesticated, but its flesh was still expensive; a spirit stone would only buy three to five catties. The red spirit blossom, too, was a type of spiritual material, usable as medicinal cuisine, worth fifteen spirit fragments per catty...

In sum, this meal was worth forty or fifty spirit fragments, nearly half a spirit stone.

“Since you’ve worked so hard to rid my fields of pests, I couldn’t afford to be stingy,” Xu Zhong replied with a smile, taking the cloth bag from Zhou Changwang and peering inside. Upon seeing the contents, he startled, rising abruptly and exclaiming, “Th-this... is this an insect king? A Spirit Locust King?”

He was truly shocked.

He’d anticipated Zhou Changwang’s pest control skills were formidable—having witnessed his clean and efficient methods firsthand, he was confident the danger threatening his spirit fields would be resolved. That was why he’d given Zhou Changwang a bottle of Vitality Pills to restore his spiritual energy, and presented a lavish lunch of spirit rice, black-horned wild ox, and red spirit blossoms.

But he hadn’t expected Zhou Changwang to bring him such a surprise—slaying an insect king.

This proved Zhou Changwang’s pest control abilities were even higher than he’d imagined.

“This Spirit Locust King is worth ten times more than an ordinary spirit insect. Killing one, I’ll count it as ten. Along with the others, how about I give you two low-grade spirit stones?” Xu Zhong quickly calculated the price and proposed.

He already anticipated his five acres of spirit fields would suffer reduced yields, but even if the harvest was halved, it would be enough to repay his debts to the Spirit Plant Hall. Thus, his generosity showed.

“That’s not necessary. One Spirit Locust King can count as five ordinary spirit insects,” Zhou Changwang replied, waving his hand.

After all, having accepted a bottle of Vitality Pills and eaten his spirit rice, Zhou Changwang felt it improper to take more advantage.

“Very well,” Xu Zhong nodded in agreement.

The spirit rice and black-horned wild ox went down warm, the lingering spiritual energy swirling in his belly, bringing a gentle warmth and comfort that made him want nothing more than to rest and nap.

But Zhou Changwang wasn’t about to waste this spiritual energy. He immediately sat cross-legged and began to circulate the Five Elements Formula, absorbing and refining the spirit power within.

One cycle, two cycles, three cycles...

Five Elements Formula +3

Cultivation +1

When he opened his eyes again, his spiritual power was restored to fullness, and even his cultivation had advanced somewhat.

At that moment, Old Xu returned after his own midday meal, calling out from afar to inquire about the pest control results. Upon seeing the Spirit Locust King, his eyes widened in amazement and he exclaimed repeatedly.

...

That afternoon passed as Zhou Changwang continued to eliminate pests and recover spiritual energy with the Vitality Pills.

The results were delightful.

By day’s end, he’d harvested one insect king and forty-seven Spirit Locusts from Xu Zhong’s fields.

True to his word, Xu Zhong handed over five low-grade spirit stones.

Of course, aside from Xu Zhong’s fields, Zhou Changwang didn’t neglect his own three acres. After routine pest control, he collected six spirit insects.

“A full day’s work and a bountiful harvest,” Zhou Changwang murmured, patting the five spirit stones in his pocket before turning his gaze to the bulging cloth bag filled with spirit insects.

The bag itself was well made, crafted from the shed skin of a snake demon beast, flexible and resilient. Now, however, it was swollen and heavy with its contents.

“If no traveling merchant comes to buy from the spirit fields tomorrow, I’ll have to make another trip to the rogue cultivator market myself,” Zhou Changwang thought, carefully placing the bag in the corner of his room and taking out a small wooden box.

Opening it, he found three black seeds, each the size of a pinky finger, lying quietly within.

These three black seeds were gifts from Chen Yushu, a spirit plant cultivator he’d befriended when purchasing spirit rice earlier that morning.