I Practice Farming While the Rest Cultivates

“These are just some heterodox techniques, but they happen to be useful for breeding Spirit Cranes.”

Zhou Zheng Qing explained with a touch of pride on his face.

“It does sound pretty impressive. Regarding what you’ve mentioned earlier Junior Brother Lu, while it does make some sense, it’s essentially just a concept without any concrete proof.”

“So, I’ll allocate 200 Spirit Cranes to you, Junior Brother Zhou. Junior Brother Lu, you’ll get less, only 100.”

“These Spirit Cranes will temporarily be under your care for breeding. They are adult Spirit Cranes in their prime, with strong needs, it is the suitable time for them to reproduce.”

“We’re going to set aside the cultivator transportation for the meantime. Taming Beast Hall would provide plenty of sustenance for the Spirit Cranes daily, all aiming for them to reproduce more.”

Xu Yi, looking somewhat apologetic, glanced at Lu Xuan as he spoke.

Lu Xuan didn’t react noticeably, he calmly accepted Xu Yi’s arrangements.

What Zhou Zheng Qing proposed was indeed more tempting compared to his. By utilizing techniques that entice and seduce, along with Infatuation Drugs, the rate of Spirit Crane reproduction would increase considerably.

Seeing Lu Xuan willingly accept his slightly unreasonable arrangement, Xu Yi let out a sigh of relief and brought the two men down to the marsh.

He fetched 300 Spirit Cranes and divided them into two groups, 200 and 100. Each group had an equal number of males and females.

Also, he handed over a Spirit Beast Plaque to Lu Xuan and Zhou Zheng Qing each. The plaques had traces of the Spirit Crane’s Essence Blood, allowing control over the Spirit Crane’s behavior through the plaque.

Lu Xuan took the Spirit Beast Plaque and led the Spirit Cranes to a designated spot.

Under his mental influence, the Spirit Cranes orderly selected their spaces for rest. They occasionally let out a clear crane cry, their black and white eyes staring at Lu Xuan, expressing a strong curiosity towards him.

Lu Xuan took some Spirit Conches and cracked them open, revealing the fresh meat inside. He then scattered the crushed Spirit Conches evenly before the Spirit Cranes.

The hundred Spirit Cranes elegantly extended their long necks, pecking the Spirit Conch meat from within the shattered shells and swallowing them.

With Lu Xuan’s mind focused, a thought flashed through his mind.

“[Spirit Crane, a First Grade Demon Beast, which primarily feeds on Spirit Grass roots and shoots, and also consumes things like Spirit Clams, Spirit Conches, and Demon Insects. Adult Spirit Cranes are extremely fast fliers, they have a low level of difficulty to tame, and possess a high level of Spiritual Intelligence, capable of understanding human speech.]”

“[Day after day of transporting cultivators, leading a busy and numb life, it has lost any initial desire for the sky. When will it finally be free to roam among the misty mountains?]”

Feeling the detailed condition of the Spirit Cranes in front of him, Lu Xuan kept silent, gave a soft sigh, and moved onto another crane.

Out of the hundred Spirit Cranes, most of them were First Grade Spirit Beasts, a few of the exceptionally noble and magnificent ones were at the Second Grade level. There’s an equal amount of male and female cranes.

Upon further inspection, Lu Xuan found that all cranes are in a similar state. They feel varying degrees of weariness towards the day-and-night job of transporting cultivators. Yet they were subjected to the oppression of the Taming Beast Hall and had no choice but to shuttle around the Sky Sword Sect to earn Spirit Stones.

Furthermore, many of the female cranes were acutely aware that they had the task of nurturing new Spirit Cranes, which evoked a certain degree of resistance.

“Solving the Spirit Crane’s breeding issue is indeed a long and strenuous journey…”

Lu Xuan looked at the numerous Spirit Cranes slowly moving among the water plants and sighed inwardly.

Instead of rushing to mate the Spirit Cranes, he devoted himself to their care, occasionally comforting the anxious and uneasy cranes.

The following day, Lu Xuan arrived early at the marsh, found his designated territory, and infused his Spiritual Power into the Spirit Beast Plaque. Immediately, a hundred Spirit Cranes flew out from the dense water plants, gathering around Lu Xuan.

“Time to dine! These are specially prepared meals for all of you, please enjoy!”

Lu Xuan scattered the Spirit Crane food he brought from Taming Beast Hall onto a prominent piece of ground. After understanding the detailed condition of the hundred Spirit Cranes, he started to make the adjustments, ensuring they had enough good food to eat.

“You’ll need to be well-fed to work. Whether it’s the duty of transporting cultivators or mating, it all requires plenty of energy.”

After Lu Xuan devotedly cared for and fed the spirit cranes, he took a stroll around as they digested their meal.

Zhou Zheng Qing’s crane rearing area wasn’t far from where Lu Xuan was, less than 200 meters away. Lu Xuan leisurely walked over to his camp.

There was an area surrounded by a fence of aquatic plants, where two hundred spirit cranes waited, and faint pink fog could be seen inside.

Under the influence of the pink fog, the spirit cranes were clearly very excited, pressing up eagerly against the female cranes.

The female cranes lay on the ground, letting out harsh cries, displaying the daily harshness they had to endure.

“Junior Brother Lu, what brings you here to my place?”

Seeing Lu Xuan coming, Zhou Zheng Qing cheerfully greeted him from a distance.

“How’re the hundred spirit cranes you’re in charge of? Have they entered the breeding phase yet?”

Lu Xuan shook his head.

“It’s just been two days. It’s not that easy to quickly reproduce. Nonetheless, it looks like things are quite different over here at Brother Zhou’s area. Seems like you’ve already received some good news?”

Zhou Zheng Qing laughed heartily, then said.

“Indeed, thanks to my formula methods and the infatuation drug, several spirit cranes have entered the mating stage. I believe that after some time, several spirit cranes will show signs of pregnancy.”

He was understandably proud of the miraculous effects of his methods and drugs, and his tone reflected it.

“Brother, your methods are impressive. I admire you!”

“As a junior brother, I don’t have such effective methods, and I can only proceed slowly and try different experiments to find a solution.”

Lu Xuan offered some casual praise. Many spirit cranes entering the reproduction phase did indeed surprise him somewhat.

After satisfying Zhou Zheng Qing’s show-off mood, Lu Xuan returned to his area. He concentrated on the spirit cranes and found that they were generally in better mental states than before.

Seeing this, Lu Xuan felt relieved. He gently soothed them with his spiritual sense according to the different states of the spirit cranes.

“Haste makes waste. I must ensure the physical and mental health of the spirit cranes and better stimulate their innermost desires.”

Lu Xuan wasn’t in a rush. His plan was to adjust the physical and mental state of these hundred spirit cranes first, eradicate their inner resistance to reproduction, and even instill a positive association with it.

Several days later, just as Lu Xuan was nurturing the hundred spirit cranes, he suddenly heard a sharp cry of endless pain coming from Zhou Zheng Qing’s nearby camp.

Lu Xuan’s heart tightened. He activated Cloud Soaring Technique and arrived at the fence in just a few breaths.

Xu Yi had already come, looking at the situation inside the fence with a gloomy face.

Following his gaze, Lu Xuan saw a tall spirit crane with a bloody belly, its long neck raised high. Its eyes were filled with an intense look of determination. “Brother Xu, what happened?” Lu Xuan asked quietly.

“One male crane couldn’t bear the daily forced copulation and mutilated itself.”

Xu Yi said slowly.

Looking at the fierce male crane not far away, Lu Xuan felt a spontaneous respect in his heart.

This spirit crane couldn’t accept forced mating. Under the manipulation of the Spirit Beast Plaque, it had no ability to resist the cultivators. To break free from this way of life, it chose such an extreme method..