Seeing Through

For the next three days, Ji Yuan cultivated at home. Besides consuming Spirit Eggs and absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to increase his cultivation, he also learned the most basic Water Shield technique.

The farthest he went during those three days was the Fish Pond in his backyard.

While sitting there in meditation to recover his spiritual energy, he kept an eye out to see whether any Half-Spirit Fish had advanced into Spirit Fish.

Unfortunately, chance was still only chance.

Unlike the Spirit Eggs produced by the Chicken Coop, which came with a guaranteed three every day.

Ji Yuan relied on those three eggs to barely sustain his daily cultivation needs. After all, he had once rarely used even one Spirit Stone for cultivation in an entire month.

Now, the Spirit Eggs he absorbed in a single day were worth 1.5 Spirit Stones.

Compared to before, this heaven-and-earth difference in cultivation methods had already left Ji Yuan immensely satisfied.

It was not until the fourth day, perhaps because he had stayed home for too long, that Ji Yuan thought of taking a walk outside his door.

In any case, there was no way he would ever return to Cloud-Rain Marsh. A place that devoured people without even blinking was better left to others.

As for Zengtou City, it was best to go there as little as possible unless necessary. Going too often might draw unwanted attention.

But after only a few laps outside his door, he heard Lin Youwei's lowered voice coming from the neighboring Lin Family courtyard.

"The ancients all said it long ago: young men must guard against lust!"

"It's not that your old man wants to lecture you."

"Look at yourself. You've been married for three days now—other than eating, have you stepped outside your room even once?! Forget cultivation; keep this up, and your body will be ruined!"

"..."

Ji Yuan smiled soundlessly as footsteps came from behind him.

Huang Laotou had arrived. With an old pipe clenched between his teeth, he said with a grin, "Young men are like that. Once they've tasted the marrow, once they've had a taste of sweetness, how could they bear to get out of bed?"

"What sweetness?"

Ji Yuan pretended not to understand a thing, and Huang Laotou said nothing more.

Instead, upon hearing Huang Laotou's voice, Lin Youwei pulled open the courtyard gate and walked out.

"Uncle Huang."

"Mm."

Lin Youwei glanced at Ji Yuan again. After some thought, he still stepped closer and asked in a low voice, "Has something major happened in Cloud-Rain Marsh lately?"

Ji Yuan said nothing, but he pricked up his ears.

"Something major? That old master of Cloud-Rain Marsh eats people every day. If it goes one day without eating someone, it feels uncomfortable all over. Does that count?"

Huang Laotou removed the pipe from his waist, packed in some tobacco, then lightly rubbed his right thumb and index finger together. A tiny flame appeared.

That was quite convenient. No need to worry about someone swiping your lighter... Ji Yuan thought, amusing himself amid hardship.

"Well... it's the area at the northeastern corner of Zengtou City. I heard several fishermen have died there in succession these past few days?"

Lin Youwei finally voiced what he wanted to ask.

Huang Laotou exhaled a puff of smoke, and his expression darkened as well.

"That did happen. For the next few days, don't go over there unless you have to. Perhaps some Late First Tier Spirit Fish has come out from the deep-water area."

At the mention of Late First Tier, Ji Yuan's heart jolted in panic.

A Late First Tier Demon Beast corresponded to a cultivator at Late Qi Refining. But dealing with a Late First Tier Spirit Fish in the water... even a Late Qi Refining cultivator could basically only barely protect himself.

To truly kill it, several Late Qi Refining cultivators would have to join hands.

Or the Water Dragon Sect would have to dispatch a Foundation Establishment High Person.

"Alright, alright, alright."

Lin Youwei nodded repeatedly. His household only had himself at the Middle Qi Refining Stage, and he was merely at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining.

Zhou Ling was at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, while Lin Hu and Wu Qin were only at the Second Layer of Qi Refining. With such a small household, encountering even a Middle Qi Refining Spirit Fish meant nothing but death, let alone a Late Qi Refining Spirit Fish.

With his pipe in his mouth, Huang Laotou turned to look at the taciturn Ji Yuan and said with a half-smile, "Who would have thought it? You kept quiet, yet you've broken through to the Third Layer of Qi Refining."

Ji Yuan's heart skipped a beat.

Age had turned him into a cunning old fox. Lin Youwei, who was also at the Fourth Layer of Qi Refining, had not noticed the slight change in Ji Yuan's aura, but Huang Laotou had caught it.

"What?! Third Layer of Qi Refining?"

Lin Youwei cried out in surprise.

"He's been at home honing his techniques for several days straight. If he weren't at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, where would he get so much spiritual energy?" Huang Laotou asked in return.

Only then did Lin Youwei's gaze settle on Ji Yuan. He examined him up and down several times before finally becoming convinced.

"You've got some skill, kid."

Yet Lin Youwei's gaze was somewhat complicated when he said it.

As the saying went, without comparison, there was no hurt. Both had Four-Spirit Roots, yet Ji Yuan had already reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining. But what about Lin Hu?

He was still immersed in pleasure every day, unwilling even to get out of bed.

Let alone cultivate and increase his strength.

Thinking again of what Ji Yuan had said yesterday, a bold thought arose in Lin Youwei's heart for no reason at all... Ji Yuan was likely wholly devoted to the Dao, planning to break out of Zengtou City.

Under the pressure of both their gazes, Ji Yuan could not hide it even if he wanted to, and there was no need to.

So he smiled modestly. "Pure luck, pure luck."

Then he looked at Huang Laotou and said, "The Green-Yellow Chickens I bought back last time laid two Spirit Eggs in a row. I originally intended to sell them for Spirit Stones, but then I thought I'd never even tasted them before, so I ate them myself."

"Who would have thought that one bite would bring me to the Third Layer of Qi Refining?"

Huang Laotou puffed out smoke. "This is indeed the season when Green-Yellow Chickens lay eggs. You're a lucky one, kid."

Ji Yuan still brushed it off with "pure luck."

Afterward, he returned to his room, took out today's three Spirit Eggs from the Chicken Coop, and began his day of cultivation.

But not long after, Zhou Ling's scolding came from next door at the Lin Family.

"You spendthrift fool! Do you even know how many Spirit Stones a Green-Yellow Chicken costs? Lin Hu just got married—where are we supposed to get Spirit Stones to buy these things? And you bought two at once!"

Ji Yuan: "..."

The days of cultivation were always dull. Apart from absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth day after day, all he could do was ponder his techniques.

Fortunately, with the experience from last time, Ji Yuan knew to row out every day without going far, simply finding a small island near the shore to practice his techniques.

That way, he could avoid being noticed by a sinister old fox like Huang Laotou, while also laying the groundwork for selling Spirit Fish later.

During that time, he also discovered that for the first two days, only Lin Youwei and his wife from the neighboring Lin Family had gone out to fish.

But by the fourth day, Lin Hu had begun taking his newlywed wife out fishing as well. They only operated in the shallow waters of Cloud-Rain Marsh, trying to catch some Half-Spirit Fish.

On days when they caught something, the couple returned beaming from ear to ear.

When they caught nothing, they were silent and gloomy.

That was the ordinary state of fishermen's households. Nine out of ten families were like this.

Whenever Lin Hu saw Ji Yuan, he still seemed a little embarrassed. Perhaps he felt that he had stolen Ji Yuan's marriage fate, or perhaps he felt that he had taken a woman Ji Yuan did not want.

The thoughts of a newlywed young man were often complicated.

Ji Yuan could not be bothered to care. After another five days of cultivation, on an utterly ordinary night, the Fish Pond suddenly erupted in an enormous splash.

It startled Ji Yuan awake from his sleep.

Another Half-Spirit Fish had evolved!