Treasure Fish Appears

At dawn, Lin Yi returned to the martial arts hall once again.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he caught a whiff of a pungent, fishy stench, mingled with the sound of loud, rhythmic snoring.

He pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to find the curtains drawn tight, the room dim and in a state of utter chaos.

Wine bottles and spoiled, overnight braised snacks were scattered across the floor, and there was a large pile of vomit on his own bed.

On the other two beds, two colleagues lay sprawled out: one was burly and thick-set, while the other was as thin as a rail.

"Rip—" Lin Yi yanked the curtains open, and the blinding sunlight instantly flooded the room.

"The hell, who is it!" The burly man sleeping by the window rubbed his sleepy eyes, glared at Lin Yi, and cursed, "Who the hell are you!"

"Bed three," Lin Yi replied coldly.

"Bed three?" The burly man paused, taking a moment to realize what Lin Yi meant, then said with an air of entitlement, "You've come back just in time. The room smells too much; you go clean that up... and by the way, close the curtains." With that, he pulled the quilt back over his head and went back to sleep.

"Ha..." Lin Yi laughed.

He was so angry he laughed.

He had truly seen it all now.

Lin Yi silently closed the door, a faint, eerie light flashing in the depths of his eyes. A moment later—

"Bang!"

With a loud crash and the sound of a bed frame splintering, the burly man was sent flying, bed and all, crashing heavily to the floor.

"You're looking to die!" Before the burly man could finish his sentence, Lin Yi's two fingers had already jabbed straight toward his eyeballs.

"Ah!" The burly man let out a sharp, agonizing shriek.

Lin Yi's movements were relentless, giving him no chance to retaliate.

Such a commotion naturally woke the thin man sleeping soundly on the other bed.

The thin man rose, startled to see Lin Yi fighting, but quickly reacted. With a vicious expression, he grabbed a bronze candlestick from beside his bed and swung it hard at Lin Yi's head.

A cold glint flashed in Lin Yi's eyes. He ducked, sidestepped, grabbed the thin man by the head, and slammed him face-first into the disgusting pile of vomit on his own bed.

"Bang!"

The door was kicked open, and a dozen men stood blocking the entrance.

The burly man shouted at them, "What are you standing there for? Kill him! If you break him or cripple him, it's on me!"

Lin Yi glanced sideways, his eyes narrowing. Among the dozen men, quite a few were at the second or third stage of the martial path; they would be tricky to deal with.

Should he use the methods of the Corpse Puppet Path?

But this was inside the martial arts hall; the risk of exposure was too great.

As Lin Yi gathered his focus, a faint, ghostly corpse aura began to coalesce in his hand.

"What the hell are you all gathering here for!" A booming, furious voice suddenly rang out.

The ghostly corpse aura in Lin Yi's hand dissipated instantly.

Everyone turned toward the door in unison, their expressions turning respectful in an instant: "Senior Brother Liu."

Liu Lie stepped into the room and swept a glance over the chaotic scene. The burly man was the first to complain, "Senior Brother Liu, he's hitting people!"

"Oh? One of him against all of you?" Liu Lie mocked.

"He ambushed us, he's got no honor," the burly man protested, unconvinced.

"You're Li Niuhe, right? You've been at the hall for four months, broken through three stages of the martial path, and you're getting beaten like this by someone who just arrived? Are you a piece of trash?" Liu Lie said with biting sarcasm.

Li Niuhe was left speechless, choked by the insult.

Liu Lie looked at Lin Yi: "Come with me."

Liu Lie led Lin Yi to a corner by the outer wall of the martial arts hall.

"You dared to throw hands against that many people; you've got guts," Liu Lie said with interest.

"If I don't fight back when I'm being bullied, I'll only be treated worse later," Lin Yi said.

Liu Lie smiled: "You're quite clear-headed and bold. I told you yesterday that those guys are from the Fishermen Gang. They've formed a little clique in the hall, at least a dozen of them. They were lackeys to begin with, and their methods are dirty. Aren't you afraid of the trouble that will follow after acting like this?"

Lin Yi said indifferently, "Soldiers come, generals block; water comes, earth covers."

Heh.

What kind of decent person practices the Corpse Puppet Path anyway?

Since he was already practicing the Corpse Puppet Path, he certainly had a few dirty tricks up his sleeve.

"Hahaha..." Liu Lie laughed loudly, "I've arranged for quite a few people to stay in that room before, and they were all crying and begging to move out within a few days."

"You've got backbone; I'm starting to appreciate you. Do you want to change rooms?"

Lin Yi said: "No need, I have a place to stay outside as well."

Liu Lie patted him on the shoulder: "Fine, suit yourself. If you have any trouble later, you can use my name."

Half a month passed.

For these past few days, Lin Yi had been living in Yu Qinglian's residence.

Initially, Yu Qinglian had wanted Lin Yi to move in with her right from the start, but Lin Yi had declined, wishing to maintain some personal space.

However, after the trouble caused by that group from the Fishermen Gang, he had no choice but to move in.

When Yu Qinglian heard about it, she feigned righteous indignation, yet she was secretly delighted.

As it turned out, that group from the Fishermen Gang rarely appeared before Lin Yi over the following half-month.

It seemed that because they found it difficult to make progress in their cultivation, they had simply given up, spending their days drinking and carousing, returning to the martial arts hall only once every ten days or two weeks.

During this period, Lin Yi encountered them once while practicing martial arts, but in the public eye, the group found it inconvenient to strike directly, so they left after throwing out a few harsh threats.

Lin Yi's days were spent in a very disciplined routine.

He practiced in the early morning, engaged in dual cultivation for replenishment at noon, continued practicing in the afternoon, and trained again at night after recovering.

By practicing three or four times a day, combined with Hu Ma's experience, his cultivation speed was as fast as a rocket.

Without much effort, he successfully broke through to the third stage of the Martial Pass—the Blood Pass—leaving only two stages left before he could enter the realm of Qi and become a true martial artist.

It was not until today that the long-dormant [Know Heavenly Fate] finally showed a reaction.

Within Lin Yi's sea of consciousness, the simple bamboo slip, etched with ancient, decaying patterns, hummed and flipped, quickly manifesting a line of divination text.

Recent Fortune: [Small Auspicious]

Small Auspicious: Today, after the evening fish market at Jiangze Huaiye disperses, a youth who arrives late to fish will catch a treasure fish—the Three-Eyed River Goby.

A treasure fish was actually for sale today!

Lin Yi was shocked.

Treasure fish were rarely seen and carried a hefty price; even the most ordinary treasure fish cost at least ten taels of silver per jin.

The value of a single treasure fish was equivalent to an eighth-grade treasure material, offering immense benefits for a martial artist to condense their blood and Qi and break through their cultivation realm.

For Lin Yi, who was anxious to make a breakthrough, this was undoubtedly a timely gift.

Lin Yi felt a surge of joy and silently committed the day's divination to memory.