Chapter 5: Seeing Through
In the following three days, Ji Yuan stayed at home cultivating.
Aside from consuming Spiritual Eggs and absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to improve his cultivation, he also managed to learn the most basic Water Shield Technique.
During these three days, the farthest place he had gone was the Fish Pond in his own backyard.
While meditating there to restore his spiritual energy, he would also casually check if any Semi-Spiritual Fish had advanced to Spiritual Fish.
Unfortunately, probability was just that—probability.
Unlike the Chicken Coop, which guaranteed the production of three Spiritual Eggs every day without fail.
Relying on these three eggs, Ji Yuan could barely sustain his daily cultivation needs.
After all, in the past, it had been rare for him to use even one Spirit Stone for cultivation in an entire month.
Now, the spiritual energy he absorbed in a single day from the Spiritual Eggs was already worth 1.5 Spirit Stones.
Comparing before and after, this stark difference in cultivation efficiency had already made Ji Yuan extremely satisfied.
It wasn’t until the fourth day that Ji Yuan, perhaps feeling that he had stayed at home for too long, finally thought of taking a walk by the entrance.
As for going to the Yunyu Marshlands, that was completely out of the question.
That man-eating place was better left to others.
As for Zengtou Market, it was still better to visit less if there was no pressing matter.
Going too often might attract unwanted attention.
However, after walking a few circles at the entrance, Ji Yuan heard a lowered voice coming from the courtyard of the neighboring Lin family.
"Old folks have always said, young people must guard against lust!"
"I'm not saying this just because I'm your father."
"Look at you! It's been three days since your wedding. Other than eating, have you even stepped out of your room? Forget about cultivation—if you go on like this, even your body will fall apart!"
"……"
Ji Yuan silently chuckled.
At this moment, he heard footsteps behind him.
Old Huang had arrived, biting on his old tobacco pipe. With a grin, he said, "Young people, once they’ve tasted the sweetness, they just can’t bear to leave the bed."
"What sweetness?"
Ji Yuan pretended not to understand a single word. Old Huang didn’t bother to explain further.
Instead, Lin Youwei from next door, upon hearing Old Huang's voice, opened the courtyard gate and came out.
"Uncle Huang."
"Mm."
Lin Youwei glanced at Ji Yuan, then seemed to consider something before stepping closer and asking in a low voice, "Has something big happened in the Yunyu Marshlands recently?"
Ji Yuan remained silent, but his ears perked up.
"Something big? Hah! That swamp eats people every day. If not eating people for a day makes it uncomfortable, does that count?"
Old Huang removed the tobacco pipe from his waist, stuffed in some tobacco, and lightly rubbed his right index finger and thumb together.
A small flame appeared.
This method was quite convenient. No need to worry about someone walking off with his lighter… Ji Yuan thought bitterly to amuse himself.
"Well… it's just that I've heard several fishermen have died over the past few days in the northeast corner near Zengtou Market?"
Lin Youwei finally voiced the question he truly wanted to ask.
Old Huang exhaled a puff of smoke, his expression darkening.
"That’s true. These days, you all should avoid going over there. Who knows, maybe a late-stage First-Rank Spiritual Fish has wandered out from the deep waters."
Hearing the term late-stage First-Rank, Ji Yuan instinctively felt his heart tighten.
A late-stage First-Rank demonic beast corresponded to a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator. But trying to deal with such a Spiritual Fish in the water… even a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator could only barely protect themselves.
To actually kill it, it would require several late-stage Qi Refining cultivators working together.
Or it would take someone from the Water Dragon Sect at the Foundation Establishment level to step in.
"Alright, alright."
Lin Youwei nodded repeatedly.
In his family, he was the only one at the mid-stage Qi Refining, and even that was merely Qi Refining Level Four.
The others, Zhou Ling was at Qi Refining Level Three, while Lin Hu and Wu Qin were only at Qi Refining Level Two.
With such a small family, encountering even a mid-stage Spiritual Fish would mean certain death, let alone a late-stage one.
Old Huang bit on his tobacco pipe again, then turned to look at the usually quiet Ji Yuan.
Smiling faintly, he said, "I didn't expect you, brat, to silently break through to Qi Refining Level Three."
Ji Yuan felt a sudden jolt in his heart.
Truly, the older, the sharper.
Lin Youwei, who was also at Qi Refining Level Four, hadn’t noticed the slight change in his aura, but Old Huang had.
“What?! Qi Refining Level Three?”
Lin Youwei cried out in shock.
“He’s been grinding away at spell techniques at home for several days in a row. If he wasn’t at Qi Refining Level Three, where would all that spiritual energy come from?”
Old Huang retorted.
Only then did Lin Youwei shift his gaze to Ji Yuan, giving him several scrutinizing glances before finally confirming it.
“Not bad, kid.”
However, while he spoke those words, Lin Youwei’s expression looked rather complicated.
As the saying goes, there’s no harm without comparison. Both of them were Four-Spirit Root cultivators, and Ji Yuan had already reached Qi Refining Level Three. But what about Lin Hu?
That guy was still drowning himself in pleasure every day, not even willing to get out of bed.
Let alone improving his cultivation and strength.
Thinking back to Ji Yuan’s words yesterday, Lin Youwei couldn’t help but give rise to a bold thought—
Ji Yuan was probably wholeheartedly devoted to the Dao and intended to break free from Zengtou Market.
Under the pressure of both their gazes, Ji Yuan couldn’t hide it anymore, nor did he see the need to.
So, he gave a modest smile and said, “Just a stroke of luck.”
After saying that, he turned to Old Huang and added, “The Green-Yellow Chicken I bought last time laid two Spiritual Eggs in a row. At first, I thought about selling them for Spirit Stones, but then I realized I’d never tasted them myself, so I ended up eating them.”
“Who would’ve thought that after eating them, I’d break through to Qi Refining Level Three.”
Old Huang puffed out smoke and replied, “It’s true that this season is when Green-Yellow Chickens start laying eggs. Seems like you’ve got some good luck, kid.”
Ji Yuan once again deflected with a humble “just lucky”.
After that, he returned to his room, took out the three Spiritual Eggs from the Chicken Coop, and began another day of cultivation.
But it wasn’t long before he heard Zhou Ling’s scolding from next door.
“You good-for-nothing! Do you even know how much a Green-Yellow Chicken costs in Spirit Stones? Are you out of your mind? Huzi just got married, and you’re already wasting Spirit Stones like this, and you even bought two at once!”
Ji Yuan: “……”
The cultivation days were always dull and repetitive.
Besides absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth day after day, all he could do was practice spell techniques.
Fortunately, with his previous experience, Ji Yuan knew that he could row his Black-Roofed Boat out every day—not too far, just to some small island near the shore—to practice his techniques.
This way, he could avoid being noticed by sly old men like Old Huang, while also laying the groundwork for selling Spiritual Fish later on.
During this time, he also noticed that for the first two days, only Lin Youwei and his wife had gone out fishing.
But by the fourth day, Lin Hu also started taking his new bride out to fish. However, they only operated in the shallow waters of Yunyu Marshlands, trying to catch some Semi-Spiritual Fish.
On the days they had a harvest, the couple would come back all smiles.
On the days they caught nothing, they returned silent and gloomy.
This was the normal routine for a fisherman's family—nine out of ten families were the same.
When Lin Hu saw Ji Yuan, he still seemed a bit embarrassed, perhaps feeling that he had stolen Ji Yuan’s marriage partner, or maybe feeling awkward about marrying the woman Ji Yuan had rejected.
Such were the complicated thoughts of a newlywed man.
Ji Yuan couldn’t be bothered to care.
Because after another five days of cultivation, on an otherwise ordinary night, the Fish Pond suddenly erupted with a giant splash, startling Ji Yuan awake from his sleep.
Another Semi-Spiritual Fish had evolved!