Yi Yun knew that he was just an ordinary person. In fact, two months ago, this body could be described as being so weak it could not even tie up a chicken. The Fat Old Man's assessment that he was "ordinary" was already putting it rather tactfully.
Yi Yun was somewhat worried. The Fat Old Man had already opened his Heavenly Eye, yet he still couldn't see the Purple Crystal in his heart?
"Ordinary bone structure, born into poverty, yet able to..." The Fat Old Man thought for a moment, then suddenly caught sight of the pool behind Yi Yun, and a flash of inspiration struck him.
He went over and felt Yi Yun's body again, touching him until goosebumps rose all over Yi Yun.
What is this old man doing? Doesn't he know that men and women should keep their distance?
"I understand now. You must have eaten some kind of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, then tempered your body at the bottom of this deep pool. The violent energy of the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures offset the pool's icy water, accidentally tempering all the flesh and blood in your body and allowing you to reach this realm!"
The Fat Old Man's words left Yi Yun secretly clicking his tongue in amazement. This old man was far too formidable. Although his guess was not completely accurate, it was actually remarkably close to the truth.
"You're young, yet you've achieved this much. It wasn't easy. Although it was because you were lucky enough to swallow some Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, and although... you'll probably never amount to much more in the future, it's still quite an accomplishment!"
The Fat Old Man's words made Yi Yun roll his eyes. Was he praising me or insulting me?
"I say, boy, meeting you once is fate..." As the Fat Old Man spoke, he reached into his robes, seemingly about to take something out.
Yi Yun's eyes lit up. Is fortune really falling from the sky? Could it be that this old man admires me and is going to give me some cultivation technique, a Secret Manual, or Savage Bone Essence? Some miraculous pills would do too!
The Fat Old Man's hand was plump, and he wore an extremely ostentatious Jade Thumb Ring on his thumb. It was not at all like an old man's hand, dry and withered as firewood.
He pulled out a tightly clenched, fat fist, which looked like a white steamed bun. Placing it in Yi Yun's palm, he gently opened it.
Clatter, clatter!
A handful of copper coins fell into Yi Yun's hand. They still carried the warmth of the Fat Old Man's palm.
Copper coins?
Three black lines appeared on Yi Yun's forehead.
"Take them and buy some candy."
The Fat Old Man waved his hand with a beaming smile, looking extremely generous. Beside him, the girl in hemp clothes also smiled faintly. Clearly, she regarded Yi Yun as a child.
"Damn it!"
Yi Yun looked at the twenty or so copper coins in his hand as ten thousand grass-mud horses galloped through his heart.
In this world, ordinary people still used gold, silver, and copper as currency. In Yunhuang, however, gold and silver were merely auxiliary means of payment. The true hard currency was food, armor, and weapons.
This old man was clearly an expert, but even when traveling outside, he inevitably had to carry some ordinary currency.
Taking a silver ingot to buy something represented a huge denomination in the mortal world. At an ordinary inn or restaurant, copper coins were indispensable.
Thus, it was not strange for the old man to have copper coins.
But...
To those experts, copper coins were worthless, and even gold and silver had little value. If he wanted to give something, he should at least have given a few Gold Ingots!
Yi Yun was speechless.
Actually, when he thought about it, having such an unearned windfall in mind was rather embarrassing. Poverty really did make one's ambitions shrink.
He had already exhausted all his cultivation resources, yet had only reached the Meridian Realm. His perfected Body Refinement looked impressive, but before reaching the Purple Blood Realm, how could he dare hunt in the Great Wilderness? If he did not hunt, what would he eat? Was he supposed to live on coarse-grain porridge?
Besides, even when it came to coarse-grain porridge, Jiang Xiaorou always left the thick portion for Yi Yun and drank the watery portion herself.
Yi Yun would go hungry himself, and even made Jiang Xiaorou go hungry with him.
Yi Yun grumbled inwardly, but still put away the handful of copper coins. He might as well take them. He could give them to Jiang Xiaorou and exchange them with the clan or its people for a mouthful of grain.
Sure enough, there was no such thing as a free lunch falling from the sky.
It made sense. In the Fat Old Man's eyes, he was still just a child. Giving him a few copper coins to buy candy was merely a way of amusing himself.
Although he had perfected Body Refinement, his bone structure was ordinary, and he had only achieved it through Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. There was nothing about him worth paying attention to.
He was young, his family was poor, and his strength was weak. He had only met this stingy old man by chance. Why would the other party give him any benefits?
He was merely amusing himself because Yi Yun was entertaining.
"I say, Senior, where are you going?" Yi Yun asked, forcing himself to make conversation.
Getting acquainted with this old man could never hurt.
"We're going to the Tao Clan."
The Fat Old Man did not hide it.
"The Tao Clan..." Yi Yun knew that the Tao Clan was a large clan near the Lian Clan. It was also the Lian Clan's customer!
The Lian Clan usually crafted weapons and armor to supply the Tao Clan.
The old man and young girl clearly had extraordinary status. Their strength allowed them to cross Yunhuang at will, which was enough to make anyone envious.
Yi Yun suddenly remembered that several days ago, Zhang Yuxian had instructed the Lian Clan, saying that something major was happening in Yunhuang. Many important figures might pass near the Lian Clan, and the clan leader must not neglect them.
Now that he thought about it, this old man and girl were the so-called important figures!
The Fat Old Man had originally planned to leave, but just as he lifted his foot, he suddenly felt a little hungry. He looked up at the sun, rubbed his double-chinned face, and said, "It's mealtime again. The scenery here is pretty nice—there are mountains and water, and it's clean. Let's eat here."
"Eat?"
Upon hearing that word, Yi Yun suddenly felt... hungry. Truly hungry.
After drinking coarse-grain porridge for two months and relying on the energy from medicinal herbs and Savage Bone Essence to sustain himself, he had entered the depths of the pool the previous night and completely digested all the energy he had absorbed in one go.
Now Yi Yun's body felt completely hollow, inside and out.
"Hey, disciple, let's eat." The Fat Old Man called out to Lin Xin Tong.
Lin Xin Tong nodded, looked at Yi Yun, and said, "Little brother, why don't you eat with us?"
"Huh?" Yi Yun was slightly stunned, then overjoyed. He felt that the girl's voice was simply too pleasant. "Well... how could I impose..."
Although Yi Yun said that, he had already found a place to sit down.
The identities of this old man and girl were clearly extraordinary. How could the food they ate be anything bad?
Even ordinary food would probably be of great help to his cultivation!
The Fat Old Man was just about to start a fire when he saw that Yi Yun was already prepared to freeload. He curled his lips in disdain, but since his disciple had spoken, he could only tacitly agree.
He rubbed the Jade Thumb Ring on his right hand and, like a magician, took out three plucked wild chickens. He skewered them with wooden sticks and propped them beside the fire.
The old man's Jade Thumb Ring was like Doraemon's magic pocket. Before long, he took out another heap of bottles and jars, all of them seasonings.
Yi Yun watched with envy. He had originally thought that the old man wore the thumb ring merely to show off, but he had never expected it to be a treasure capable of containing a Mustard Seed Space.
It seemed this was the legendary "Space Ring" people spoke of.
"Heh heh, you're in luck today, boy. Not many people get to taste this old man's cooking!" The old man rubbed his hands as he spoke, then picked up a wild chicken and began roasting it.
Only then did Yi Yun notice that this was no ordinary wild chicken. It looked like one, but it contained an astonishing amount of energy. Yi Yun could see drifting points of light within it. The energy was extremely pure and tantalizing.
Yi Yun felt saliva welling up in his mouth. What good stuff!
He had not tasted meat for two whole months. Now that he saw a plump wild chicken, one filled with pure energy at that, how could he not drool?
He wished he could roast the chicken immediately and swallow it whole.
However, Yi Yun soon saw the old man's method of roasting it and felt awkward.
This old man's so-called "cooking skills" were truly... an unbearable sight!
Before you continue