Chapter 57: The Second Spiritual Effect—Koi Transforming into Ice Flood Dragon
【Fish Pond lv3】
【Spiritual Effect 1: Produces 3 drops of Ice Soul Cold Dew daily; increases the advancement probability of Spiritual Fish, with a certain chance of ice attribute mutation; growth speed +40%】
【Spiritual Effect 2 (Koi Transforming into Flood Dragon): Extremely low probability for koi-type Spiritual Fish to mutate into an Ice Flood Dragon Hatchling (Tier-3 Demonic Beast)】
【Upgrade Requirements: Cultivation must reach the early Foundation Establishment stage, 30 Mid-grade Spirit Stones, 3 pieces of Black Ice Crystals, and 1 jar of Tier-2 Ice Attribute Demonic Beast Blood Essence】
“Huh??”
“Two spiritual effects?”
Ji Yuan stared wide-eyed at the text that popped up on the Panel.
It wasn’t that there were strictly two effects, since 【Spiritual Effect 1】 already contained several benefits, but it was the first time the Panel separately listed a second spiritual effect.
So far, he had seen the effects of two other level 3 buildings—【Chicken Coop】 and 【Pigsty】.
Yet neither of them had listed a second spiritual effect separately on the Panel.
This was the first time for the 【Fish Pond】.
Koi Transforming into Flood Dragon.
Koi-type Spiritual Fish had an extremely low probability of mutating into an Ice Flood Dragon Hatchling… although the probability was extremely low, it was still a probability, wasn’t it?
And this Ice Flood Dragon was a Tier-3 Demonic Beast.
A Tier-3 Demonic Beast meant that when it matured, it would at least possess the strength of the Golden Core stage… moreover, after the Spiritual Fish mutated, it became an Ice Flood Dragon Hatchling. Why a hatchling?
According to Ji Yuan’s knowledge, if a cultivator wanted to contract a demonic beast, it could only be done when the beast was still a hatchling, as its soul would be weak at that stage.
Once it matured, unless the cultivator’s divine soul was several times stronger than that of the beast, it would be impossible to contract it.
But if one’s divine soul was already several times stronger than the beast, it meant their strength had already far surpassed that beast.
At that point, what would be the point of contracting such a beast?
“So, does this mean that the 【Fish Pond】 is also part of me becoming a Beast Tamer Cultivator?”
The reason he said “part” was because the level 3 【Chicken Coop】 effect also allowed Ji Yuan to become a Beast Tamer Cultivator… and now with the addition of this 【Fish Pond】, he would eventually become a dual water-and-land Beast Tamer Cultivator.
No, wait.
A Tier-3 Demonic Beast like the Ice Flood Dragon surely could fly, so he would directly become a sea-land-air Beast Tamer Cultivator.
Ji Yuan let himself indulge in the pleasant fantasy for a moment before finally turning his attention to the first spiritual effect.
Producing 3 drops of Ice Soul Cold Dew per day—Ji Yuan didn’t know what that was exactly, but it likely was a cultivation resource that only Foundation Establishment cultivators could use.
Next was the increased probability of Spiritual Fish advancement… it was no longer just Semi-Spiritual Fish advancing to Spiritual Fish, but advancement among Spiritual Fish themselves.
He wondered if Tier-1 Spiritual Fish could advance to Tier-2 Spiritual Fish?
Since the Panel didn’t specify otherwise, it was probably possible.
In addition to the koi-type Spiritual Fish having a chance to mutate into an Ice Flood Dragon, other Spiritual Fish also had a chance to develop ice attribute mutations.
Once they mutated to an ice attribute, their strength would increase, and the value of their materials would likely rise significantly.
In other words, they could fetch a good price.
The growth speed had increased by another 10%, bringing the total to 40%.
As for the upgrade requirements… it also required reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, but the amount of Spirit Stones needed was less than that for upgrading the 【Pigsty】 or 【Chicken Coop】.
It seemed that once he successfully reached Foundation Establishment, the first building he would upgrade to level 3 would be the 【Fish Pond】.
Judging by this, it seemed the Panel had a particular fondness for the 【Fish Pond】 building. But why?
No matter how much Ji Yuan pondered, he couldn’t figure it out, so he simply let it go—after all, it was beneficial to him.
After reading through the spiritual effects of the level 3 【Fish Pond】, Ji Yuan immediately felt that the level 2 【Fish Pond】 was nothing special anymore.
【lv2 Spiritual Effect: Produces 1 drop of Water Essence Dew daily; increases the advancement probability of Semi-Spiritual Fish; growth speed +30%】
Still, no matter how lacking it seemed now, it was still a level 2 building that produced 1 drop of Water Essence Dew daily, and that couldn’t be wasted.
Looking around, Ji Yuan dug a small pit behind the stone house, filled it with some water, and found an unidentified little fish to toss into the small water pit.
After some busy work, a line of text appeared above the small water pit.
【Fish Pond: lv2】
Ji Yuan activated the building effect, and a small droplet of bright blue liquid materialized above the little pond.
He quickly waved his hand to collect it into the jade bottle he had prepared earlier.
He then deactivated the building effect.
After completing the task, he didn’t bother removing the small fish.
Since the tiny pond could be used every day, a new idea inevitably formed in his mind.
If the Fish Pond could produce Water Essence Dew for free, what about the half tael of Blood Essence from the Pigsty?
Could he possibly get that for free as well?
But how to get it was a problem.
The Fish Pond was easy to manage, but the Pigsty… where could he find a pig?
With no other choice, Ji Yuan decided to use his old method—he wrote the words “Pigsty” on a piece of paper, then stuck the paper inside his stone house.
After all, the stone house was already shabby enough to resemble a pigsty.
Just as Ji Yuan stuck the paper on the wall—
A piece of Blood Essence appeared out of thin air in the middle of the stone house.
“Damn, am I really living in a pigsty?”
Ji Yuan casually waved his hand to put it away, then hurriedly tore down the piece of paper.
Since he could freeload benefits from both the Fish Pond and the Pigsty, Ji Yuan felt a bit more at ease.
The night passed uneventfully.
At dawn the next day, when it was still barely light, Qiu Qianhai had already come to call Ji Yuan into the water.
“Come on, come on, let’s pick up money.”
“When I get old and my legs ache, I’m blaming you.”
Ji Yuan cursed as he walked out the door and followed Qiu Qianhai into the water again.
In truth, it really was just as Qiu Qianhai had said—picking up money, nothing less.
Yesterday, the area they had cleared was almost fully harvested, so today they deliberately changed to a different spot. Since they started even earlier this time… by the end of the day, Ji Yuan weighed the Cold Iron Sand in his hands.
“Looks like there’s about three and a half pound. It really is like finding a dead man’s cave.”
Half a pound more than yesterday.
“Let’s go, time to sell it!”
Qiu Qianhai, now at the fifth layer of Qi Refinement, was eager to improve his strength after learning that Ji Yuan had reached the sixth layer.
Ji Yuan gave it some thought.
They had been here for several days but hadn’t sold anything yet. It should be fine to go once or twice.
“Going once or twice isn’t a problem, and we should go separately. But if we do it too often, it won’t work.”
Normally, a person could only gather a few taels of Cold Iron Sand each day, even for seasoned hands.
But if you went every day and sold several pound, even a fool would realize something was off.
“Yeah, definitely.”
Qiu Qianhai was well aware of this as well.
The two of them left the house one after the other and headed to the largest island in the area—Clearwave Island.
As soon as they stepped ashore, Ji Yuan felt several gazes fall on him. He slightly released some of his aura, and those gazes immediately turned away.
He observed his surroundings.
A not-so-wide stone path lined with stone houses on either side, some with street stalls. Without exception, most of the cultivators here had fierce expressions.
Naturally, those who weren’t ruthless wouldn’t survive here.
After watching Qiu Qianhai enter the Water Dragon Sect’s shop, Ji Yuan wandered over to the neighboring stalls, browsing around. Most of the vendors here were at the fourth or fifth layer of Qi Refinement. He didn’t see anyone at the sixth layer.
As for later stages of Qi Refinement, Ji Yuan only detected one trace of aura from within a stone house.
So with his sixth-layer Qi Refinement cultivation, even the fiercest cultivators on this street greeted him with smiling faces:
“Fellow Daoist, looking for anything in particular?”
It wasn’t long before Qiu Qianhai came back out.
Immediately, two cultivators—one tall, one short—followed him out of the shop.
Qiu Qianhai acted as if he didn’t notice them, getting on a boat and leaving right away.
Ji Yuan waited for a moment longer, but the two cultivators didn’t seem to follow.
It was a bit of a pity.