Chapter 3: Chicken Coop lv1
Ordinary Semi-Spiritual Fish were usually priced in fragments of spiritual stones, but Ji Yuan had spent five low-grade spiritual stones on these five Semi-Spiritual Fish.
There was no other reason—he had specifically bought the "premium goods".
Once they evolved into Spiritual Fish, their value would start at fifteen spiritual stones or more.
Cheap or expensive, it all depended on their evolution.
Since the 【Fish Pond】did not have any bias toward weaker ones, he naturally had to choose the best to raise.
As for the three Green-Yellow Chickens, they had cost him even more, a total of five spiritual stones.
After all, these Green-Yellow Chickens carried a trace of spiritual energy.
Besides their nourishing flesh and blood, they could also lay Spiritual Eggs.
Although the chance of laying Spiritual Eggs was rather low.
According to estimation, one egg might be laid every three days, and among ten eggs, there might only be a single Spiritual Egg.
But once it was laid, that single Spiritual Egg would be worth five fragments of spiritual stones.
Two Spiritual Eggs would be worth one low-grade spiritual stone.
If they laid more, these Green-Yellow Chickens could quickly pay for themselves… or so the rogue cultivator who sold them had said.
That’s what he told everyone, but Ji Yuan actually believed it.
Had he not run out of spiritual stones, he would have wanted to buy a few more, because probabilities like this were something that only applied to other people.
For him… his probability was 100%.
Because the Green-Yellow Chickens he raised could lay one Spiritual Egg every single day!
After placing the fish into the Fish Pond, Ji Yuan cobbled together a simple chicken coop in the backyard using wooden planks.
As soon as it was assembled and the three Green-Yellow Chickens were placed inside, a line of text appeared above the chicken coop.
【Chicken Coop: lv0】
The condition to upgrade the Chicken Coop was two low-grade spiritual stones, and Ji Yuan happened to have exactly two left.
As for the remaining fifty jin of rice, he still had some at home.
Before reaching Foundation Establishment and gaining the ability to fast without food, even peak Qi Refining cultivators still needed to eat grains.
Though, most of them simply took fasting pills instead.
Ji Yuan looked at the two remaining low-grade spiritual stones in his hand.
In less than half a day, all eighteen had been spent again.
Spiritual stones were really easy to burn through.
Shaking his head, Ji Yuan focused his mind and chose to upgrade the 【Chicken Coop】.
He watched as the spiritual stones in his hand turned to powder, and the number behind the Chicken Coop changed from 0 to 1. His panel also popped up with the upgrade conditions and effects for the level 2 Chicken Coop.
【Chicken Coop lv2】
【Effect: Claws inscribed with spiritual patterns, capable of digging up trace amounts of Spiritual Soil (1 qian per day), capable of briefly controlling spiritual fowl】
【Upgrade Condition: 50 low-grade spiritual stones, Chicken Coop made of century-old Paulownia wood (not fulfilled)】
Ji Yuan’s eyes lit up as he read the text on the panel.
The level 2 Chicken Coop could actually dig up Spiritual Soil!
Wasn’t this complementary to the 【Spiritual Field】? If he could lay out a Spiritual Field entirely with pure Spiritual Soil and combine it with the panel’s effects, Ji Yuan didn’t even dare to imagine how good the results would be.
Moreover, this ability to briefly control spiritual fowl—wasn’t this a technique exclusive to the Beast Taming Sect?
If it really came to that, he would have to switch to raising spirit beast-level chickens, which could also serve as guardians in times of need.
However, looking at the massive cost of upgrading the Chicken Coop, Ji Yuan felt a bit pressured.
There was no other way but to take it slowly.
After setting up both the 【Chicken Coop】 and the 【Fish Pond】, the sky had already darkened. He used the little rice left at home to fill his stomach and then lay down to rest in peace.
Lying down, he inevitably began to think about his future path.
At present, he was at the second layer of Qi Refining, born with the four spiritual roots of Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire.
In the cultivation world, four and five spiritual roots were both considered pseudo-spiritual roots.
This wasn’t really an issue, since all the fishermen in Zengtou Market had pseudo-spiritual roots.
Some so-called "gifted children" with all five spiritual roots were still struggling to cultivate. By comparison, Ji Yuan’s four spiritual roots were considered quite good.
As for the true cultivation prodigies with two or three spiritual roots, they had long been taken in by the Water Dragon Sect to be groomed as the backbone of the sect.
As for single spiritual roots, those heaven-defying talents had never appeared in Zengtou Market.
The cultivation technique Ji Yuan was currently practicing was also the commonly seen 【Azure Sea Tide Technique】 in Zengtou Market.
It was a Water Element technique. Though the name sounded world-shaking, its actual effect was nothing special.
The only somewhat special feature was that cultivators practicing this technique would have spiritual energy that flowed more continuously compared to those practicing other techniques… which was also the common trait of all Water Element techniques.
However, in Zengtou Market, which cultivator hadn’t practiced this 【Azure Sea Tide Technique】?
Once something special became widespread, it was no longer special.
The techniques he could perform were pitifully few.
The only one he had truly mastered was the lowest-level Water Ball Technique, while the slightly more complex Water Arrow Technique still worked only intermittently.
There was no helping it.
The original Ji Yuan had to spend every spare moment thinking about how to earn spiritual stones and going into the water, leaving no time to diligently practice techniques.
Of course, the main reason was still that his cultivation was too low.
With just second-layer Qi Refining cultivation, casting a single Water Arrow Technique would completely drain the spiritual energy in his dantian.
Recovering that energy would then take half a day.
Under the heavy burden of the Immortal Residence Fee, rogue cultivators in the market hardly had the mind to care about such things.
But now things were different.
With a level 1 【Chicken Coop】 and 【Fish Pond】, he no longer needed to risk going into the water and could focus entirely on cultivation.
The next morning.
As soon as Ji Yuan got up, he headed to the backyard.
Inside the Fish Pond were still the same five Semi-Spiritual Fish.
As expected, how could they evolve every single day?
The panel had also mentioned it was just a certain probability, but who knew what that "certain probability" actually was?
Surprisingly, the Chicken Coop yielded better results.
After driving the three hens out, Ji Yuan immediately saw three Spiritual Eggs glowing faintly with a white radiance.
He quickly collected them, scattered some rice grains for the Green-Yellow Chickens, and hurried back inside.
With the Spiritual Eggs in hand, he naturally had to consume them while they were fresh.
He promptly cracked one open, poured the spiritual liquid inside into his mouth, and as the pure spiritual energy filled his body, he immediately activated the 【Azure Sea Tide Technique】.
Circulating the technique, he absorbed the spiritual energy provided by the Spiritual Egg, channeling it through his meridians into his dantian.
After a while, having fully absorbed one egg, Ji Yuan felt a pleasant surprise as he sensed the newly added strands of spiritual energy in his dantian.
The effect of these Spiritual Eggs was even greater than he had expected!
With all three eggs, he might actually be able to break through to the third layer of Qi Refining!
Without delay, after finishing the first one, he immediately consumed the second and third.
After fully absorbing all three Spiritual Eggs, his dantian was filled with over a dozen strands of spiritual energy, yet he still felt just a tiny bit short.
He originally considered slowly absorbing the free-floating spiritual energy from the surroundings, but who knew how long that would take?
Just then, his gaze fell on the shells of the three Spiritual Eggs…
Before long, Ji Yuan had ground the egg shells into powder and swallowed them in one gulp.
The powdered shells transformed into faint spiritual energy, dispersing throughout his body.
The gaseous spiritual energy in his dantian reached its limit, and as if breaking through some barrier, his aura grew slightly stronger.
The third layer of Qi Refining—achieved!
Exhaling a mouthful of turbid air, Ji Yuan felt many hidden injuries in his body being driven out.
He spent another half-day stabilizing his cultivation.
Once he had firmly secured his position at the third layer of Qi Refining, he finally stood up.
With this level of cultivation, though still unremarkable in Zengtou Market, he could at least keep pace with the majority.
Among the cultivators in Zengtou Market, the most common cultivation was the third layer of Qi Refining.
After all, breaking through beyond that meant entering the mid-stage of Qi Refining, which required a substantial amount of spiritual energy… and with pseudo-spiritual roots, one could only rely on spiritual stones to achieve it.
Yet in daily life, even paying rent barely left them with any spiritual stones, let alone enough to break through in cultivation.
Not to mention food, clothing, housing, and transportation—all required spiritual stones.
The original Ji Yuan hadn’t understood this, but now Ji Yuan clearly saw that the Immortal Residence Fee was a means for the Water Dragon Sect to control the marketplaces surrounding the Yunyu Marshlands.
Fortunately, this had little to do with Ji Yuan anymore.
With the panel, he could practically achieve small-scale self-sufficiency.
Having broken through in his cultivation, he began practicing the Water Arrow Technique again in the backyard.
The Water Ball Technique was practically useless—it couldn’t even kill a Spiritual Fish.
The only reliable technique was still the Water Arrow Technique.
By the time evening fell, after a whole day of arduous training, Ji Yuan was about to take a break when someone knocked on his courtyard gate.
He stood up and went to open it, only to find that it was Old Huang from next door.
Seeing Ji Yuan, Old Huang grinned and asked cheerfully:
“Ji brat, do you want a wife or not?”