A Sudden Fierce Battle

"Shopkeeper, excuse me. Can this banknote be used?"

"Golden Exchange Bank? Of course. That bank operates exchanges throughout the realm; there's even a branch in our commandery city."

"That's good. I'll take these two books. Please see if the payment is correct."

"..."

Three days later, Zhou Ye returned to Little Homestead covered in dust from the road. This time, he had brought home only a set of the Pharmacopoeia Compendium and two martial arts manuals: the Wild Bull Body Tempering Method and the Cloud-Leaping Ladder.

Honestly, just hearing the names of those two martial arts was enough to tell they were the sort of ordinary, dime-a-dozen techniques found everywhere.

Still, one was a body-tempering method, while the other was a movement technique. Both were good things that could save his life; at the very least, they solved the problem of having nothing at all. Besides, Zhou Ye certainly wanted to cultivate top-tier martial arts too—but he had to actually have them first, didn't he?

Naturally, the panel's feedback was exactly as expected. These two martial arts could not yet be cultivated for the time being; they also had certain cultivation requirements.

Wild Bull Body Tempering Method — No basic attribute may be negative. Strength and Constitution must reach +1. Best cultivated alongside a cultivation method.

Cloud-Leaping Ladder — No basic attribute may be negative. Agility must reach +2. Best cultivated alongside a cultivation method.

In the end, like the Ten Military Saber Forms, they could only remain at home, gathering dust at the bottom of a chest.

Yet the Pharmacopoeia Compendium gave him a pleasant surprise. After merely one day of reading and comprehending it, he gained around 20 experience points. The Basic Poison Technique had even reached Minor Success.

However, the price was not small either. Zhou Ye had spent all the silver and coins at his side again. He had only a little over one tael left—he was even poorer than before...

By the banks of the great river, Zhou Ye had already tied up more than a dozen birds beside him. He hurled out his fishing net with all his strength, and before long, hauled up a net brimming with fish...

Since he lacked money, he might as well cure more salted fish. While the fishing season was still underway, he should catch as much as possible. Salted fish was easy to preserve anyway, and he could sell it all winter long.

Over the following days, apart from cultivation, Zhou Ye caught birds and fish during the day, then studied the Pharmacopoeia Compendium at night.

Life became very regular. The only thing was that the courtyard was hung full of densely packed salted fish, and the house smelled of salt every day.

That day, Zhou Ye had just finished hunting and fishing, and was tying that day's catch onto his shoulder pole.

But at that moment, a rumbling boom sounded in the distance, as though... something had happened?

All of a sudden, more than two hundred zhang away, an enormous fish demon leaped from the great river. At the same time, a human figure flew through the air from the distant sky.

It felt as if his entire worldview had been overturned. Was this the true strength of martial masters and demon beasts?

No!

After standing dumbstruck for an instant, Zhou Ye suddenly came to his senses. A battle would probably erupt there soon, and it might even spread to where he was.

Without the slightest hesitation, Zhou Ye turned around, hoisted the shoulder pole, and ran. Sure enough, a fierce battle exploded behind him in an instant. A voice rang through the surroundings like thunder from the Ninth Heaven: "Wretched beast! Die!"

At that moment, Zhou Ye wished he had eight legs. He could feel the shockwaves from that battle almost catching up to him.

Gritting his teeth, he fled desperately, pushing his speed to the limit. By now, he was practically on the verge of tears. Then, as though possessed by ghosts, a thought suddenly struck him: Why am I running while carrying this shoulder pole? What's so irreplaceable about this worthless junk? What if...? Just as they say, men die for wealth. These damned fish and shrimp have truly done me in!

But just then, another boom rang out. Amid the tremendous splash, it seemed that quite a few things had been flung toward the surrounding area.

Smack—!

A dark, jet-black object happened to land right in front of Zhou Ye, making him freeze. But he swiftly picked it up the next moment. Since he was already dying for wealth, he might as well die thoroughly!

Fortunately, no one noticed him, while the sounds of fierce battle grew farther and farther away.

When Zhou Ye returned to Little Homestead, panting for breath, lingering fear still filled his heart. He had better stay home obediently!

Over the following days, Zhou Ye was like a startled bird; he did not dare take even a single step beyond Little Homestead.

Still, he examined that object. It was about a foot across. Judging from its shape, it seemed to be... a fish scale? It should have been a scale from the fish demon's body.

To be honest, after realizing it was a fish scale, Zhou Ye was somewhat disappointed. Why couldn't it have been a storage ring? Better yet, a storage ring with an old grandpa inside.

Then again, it had come from a powerful fish demon. The material that fell from its body might be quite valuable as well. No matter what, he should hide it carefully at home!

As time passed, Zhou Ye gradually recovered as well. However, he absolutely did not dare return to that stretch of the great river anytime soon.

Moreover, encountering that fierce battle had once again given Zhou Ye a strong sense of crisis. Perhaps the shockwaves from some inexplicable fight could get him killed. So increasing his strength remained the most important thing.

During these days, the Basic Poison Technique progressed at an astonishing pace and had already reached Major Success. Zhou Ye began looking forward to it greatly. This poison technique had overtaken the others from behind; perhaps it would be the first to reach full mastery.

But it was time to head to the town again, so he could only set "reading" aside for now.

This time, everything Zhou Ye brought was salted fish, more than sixty in total. He had carefully selected them all, choosing salmon of around two jin each. Every fish also came with more than half a jin of salt...

At the town market, Zhou Ye was setting up a stall to sell fish.

"Hey, how much are these fish?"

"140 coins each, with half a jin of salt included."

"So expensive? Make it cheaper."

"Auntie, how can I make it any cheaper? How about this—you can grab yourself an extra handful of salt?"

"Your words, not mine, huh? Give me two."

"Yes, yes, I want some too."

"Little brother, wrap one up for me as well..."

"..."

People flowed through the market, and business was indeed quite good. The "salted fish" was selling particularly well. Before long, more than twenty had already been sold.

Zhou Ye happily tucked the silver into his clothes. Just then, a young man dressed in wealth and finery approached.

The young man craned his neck for a look, then asked with a smile, "How much salted fish do you have left?"

"Just this much."

"Then I'll take all of it. Does that include this salt?"

"Yes! 140 coins each."

"Mhm, mhm. Count them, then."

"Alright!"

He had not expected such a big deal to come his way. Zhou Ye could not have wished for more. He counted the salted fish. "Young master, there are exactly thirty-five left. That will be four taels and nine qian."

"Good, good! Then help deliver them to our Li Residence. We'll give you the money when you get there."

"Where is your Li Residence?"

"Right over there. It isn't far."

Zhou Ye chuckled and began packing up. But just then, he vaguely sensed that something was wrong...