Thunderstrike

Tonight's moonlight was far from beautiful, hiding within thick clouds like a delicate maiden.

Ji Yuan had not learned any night-vision spell, so he could only rely on the faint night vision granted by the Early Qi Refining Stage and carefully observe the Fish Pond.

He had originally bought five Half-Spirit Fish. After raising them for nearly ten days, they had clearly grown a full size larger.

Even if they did not become Spirit Fish and were merely sold as Half-Spirit Fish, he could still make a small profit of one or two Spirit Stones.

The [Fish Pond]'s Growth Speed +20% effect alone could support Ji Yuan's rent.

And now... after watching for quite a while, he finally knew which Half-Spirit Fish had evolved.

A Scaled Grouper.

A Half-Spirit Fish Scaled Grouper.

It had now evolved into a Spirit Fish—the Stonehide Grouper!

The layer of stone armor covering a Stonehide Grouper's body was natural material for crafting defensive magical artifacts. The more intact it remained, the higher its selling price at the Fish Pen.

If he could sell it without damaging a single piece of stone armor, it would probably fetch around eighteen Spirit Stones!

Those gleaming white Spirit Stones... At that thought, Ji Yuan lost every trace of sleepiness and simply cultivated beside the Fish Pond for half the night.

Only when the sky began to brighten the next morning did Ji Yuan look at the Stonehide Grouper in the pond, its entire body seeming to be covered in rocks, and raise his hand to summon a water arrow.

If he wanted to kill this Spirit Fish without damaging its stone armor, the only way was to fire a water arrow through its eye, destroy its brain, and kill it that way.

To accomplish that in the vast Cloud-Rain Marsh, one would need to be at least a cultivator at the Fifth or Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, one proficient in the Object Manipulation Technique and capable of wielding magical artifacts.

But unfortunately, Ji Yuan was not in Cloud-Rain Marsh. Inside his tiny Fish Pond, this Stonehide Grouper had nowhere to run.

Moreover, Ji Yuan was casting the spell from shore, so there was not the slightest spiritual energy fluctuation in the water.

A water arrow shot forth with a soft "hiss."

The Stonehide Grouper twitched, splashing up a great deal of water before sinking to the bottom. The other four Half-Spirit Fish were badly frightened instead.

Ji Yuan dragged the Spirit Fish ashore. The other four Half-Spirit Fish had grown quite large as well.

He planned to raise them for another three or four days. If they still could not advance, he would have to drag them off to sell, or else their flesh would grow old and no longer fetch a good price.

But regardless, he would definitely sell this Stonehide Grouper first today.

While it was still early, he left the house without seeing anyone. Even the Lin Family had yet to wake up. He hurried back and placed the Stonehide Grouper's corpse in the water hold of his awning boat.

Then he collected today's three Spirit Eggs, intending to find an island in Cloud-Rain Marsh and cultivate while refining them.

But when he came back out, Lin Youwei and his wife had already risen early and were preparing to set sail. Unlike Ji Yuan's little awning boat, they had magical artifact fishing boats.

Though they were only low-grade magical artifacts, they were extremely convenient to use. Not only were they fast, they did not require anyone to row them.

Middle-grade fishing boats could even dive underwater and move freely beneath the surface.

The fishermen of Zengtou City who were at the Middle Qi Refining Stage generally owned a magical artifact fishing boat.

Ji Yuan's family had once owned one too.

"Ji Yuan, why are you up so early too?"

Lin Youwei looked at Ji Yuan, who was leaving early, then thought of Lin Hu, who was still asleep at home. A surge of anger inevitably rose in his heart.

Zhou Ling went straight back into the house to call someone.

"Uncle Lin is up pretty early too."

Ji Yuan did not say anything offensive. He merely smiled and poled his boat away. Yet before he had gone half a li, Lin Youwei and his wife caught up from behind.

Riding their magical artifact fishing boat, they sped past Ji Yuan and even kicked up small waves, making his awning boat sway slightly.

Watching their backs, Ji Yuan did not feel envious.

Once upon a time, he too had needed to work himself to the bone and gamble with his life like this. But now... he found a nearby Reed Marsh, tied up his boat, slipped inside, and began another day of eating eggs.

And after eating eggs day after day, Ji Yuan had discovered a few details.

For example, sprinkling a little fine salt into the eggs made them taste much better.

Perhaps once his standard of living improved, he could fry eggs or scramble them. He would not need to eat those awful eggshells anymore... Ji Yuan indulged in fantasies until around eleven in the morning, when he poled his awning boat toward the Fish Pen.

He had been out for so long already. There was no need to wait until the afternoon.

When he arrived at the Zengtou City Fish Pen, there truly were not many people left. He carried the enormous Stonehide Grouper ashore.

Yet just as he placed it in the fish basket, a familiar voice sounded behind him.

"Kid Ji, this... is another Spirit Fish?! And a Stonehide Grouper at that?"

Damn it, why was this old man here...? Ji Yuan cursed inwardly. When he turned around, he indeed saw bald, toothless Huang Laotou.

He carried a Half-Spirit Fish in his hand, preserved with a fish-bending technique.

"It is no ordinary Stonehide Grouper. Not a single piece of its stone armor has been damaged."

The Water Dragon Sect cultivator on duty rarely took the initiative to speak.

The moment he spoke, every fisherman nearby turned around, all staring at the Spirit Fish in astonishment.

Stonehide Groupers were not rare, but one with every piece of stone armor intact was rare indeed.

Ji Yuan cursed inwardly as well. He had been too greedy and suffered for his lack of experience. If he had known, he would have damaged a few pieces of stone armor. Losing a few Spirit Stones would have been fine.

Instead, he had ended up displaying his holiness before the crowd.

"You've got some skills, lad."

"Isn't that kid from the Ji Household? He's only in the Early Qi Refining Stage, right? How could he have such ability? Don't tell me you caught that fish yourself."

"..."

The ladder had arrived... Ji Yuan hurriedly smiled. "It truly was not caught by me. My master caught this Spirit Fish, but he is busy breaking through his cultivation and has no time to come here, so he had me, his disciple, make the trip for him."

At this point, Ji Yuan had no other choice.

He could only drape himself in a tiger's hide.

"You've taken a master, kid? No wonder you've been appearing and disappearing like a ghost lately. Hurry up and tell us which senior it is..."

Huang Laotou immediately asked.

Anyone capable of killing a Spirit Fish by such means had to be at least at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining, perhaps even a cultivator in the Late Qi Refining Stage.

"Master forbids me from saying."

Ji Yuan gave an apologetic smile and accepted... twenty Spirit Stones??? from the cultivator on duty.

That was already the highest price an early-stage Spirit Fish could fetch, wasn't it? Any higher, and it would have to be a middle-stage Spirit Fish.

"Thank you, Brother!"

Ji Yuan put away the Spirit Stones, clasped his hands toward the cultivator on duty in thanks, then hurriedly left this place of trouble.

Though he left, Huang Laotou's gaze remained fixed on him, carrying a hint of... regret, or perhaps contemplation.

Unaware of this, Ji Yuan hurried through Zengtou City and immediately found a talisman shop.

He spent the enormous sum of twelve Low-Grade Spirit Stones to purchase a middle-grade Thunderstrike Talisman.

Once used, this middle-grade Thunderstrike Talisman could rival the full-force strike of a cultivator at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining. For Ji Yuan at present, it was the finest life-saving trump card.

Anything more expensive was beyond his means, while anything cheaper would be ineffective.

With this thing, even if a rogue cultivator truly set his sights on him, he would have a chance to fight back.

Buying a trump card had long been part of Ji Yuan's plans. Cultivation was important, but life was more important. He could still distinguish which weighed more.

Of the eight Spirit Stones remaining, he spent another five to buy three Green-Yellow Chickens.

The one selling chickens was the same chicken cultivator from last time. He recognized Ji Yuan and asked with a smile,

"Fellow Daoist, how are my chickens? Did they lay eggs like crazy after you took them home?"

Ji Yuan fell silent for a moment before saying only one thing.

"The meat was quite fragrant."

Chicken cultivator: "..."

As for the final three Spirit Stones, Ji Yuan used them once more to buy three Half-Spirit Fish.