An Omen

"Ji Big Brother, when you went to the market, didn't you bring me anything to eat?"

Ji Yuan had only just reached his doorstep when a little head poked out from the neighboring courtyard. Round-headed and round-brained, with chubby cheeks and two little pigtails pointing skyward.

Looking at the little girl who seemed to have stepped straight out of a New Year painting, even Ji Yuan, cold as he was, could not bring himself to say anything harsh.

But before he could speak, someone grabbed the girl by the collar and carried her back inside.

Soon, a young, beautiful woman wearing a golden hairpin stepped out of the courtyard. She dipped slightly toward Ji Yuan and said apologetically, "Fellow Daoist Ji, I am truly sorry. My daughter is rather mischievous."

The family that had recently moved in next door consisted of a man named Wen Lin, the woman before him named Zhao Yuechan, and the little girl who had just been dragged back inside, Wen Ling'er.

Ji Yuan smiled and took a small box of osmanthus cakes from his Storage Bag.

"No, I really did bring Ling'er some snacks. If Madam Wen does not mind, please accept them."

Ji Yuan had bought the osmanthus cakes last month and had simply forgotten to eat them. Fortunately, they would not spoil inside the Storage Bag.

Before Zhao Yuechan could refuse, Wen Ling'er had already skipped out of the courtyard and called out with a slight stutter, "Thank you, Ji Big Brother!"

Zhao Yuechan could only reveal a helpless smile at the sight.

Ji Yuan smiled as he handed the box over, then bent slightly and said, "I told you to call me Uncle, not Big Brother."

Wen Ling'er's eyes rolled around.

"But Ji Big Brother is very young, and so handsome too. Shouldn't I call you Big Brother?"

"What a sweet mouth."

Ji Yuan smiled and rubbed Wen Ling'er's little head. "Go play."

Zhao Yuechan could only offer another salute and thank him once more.

"You are too polite, Fellow Daoist."

After dealing with the little brat, Ji Yuan turned and returned to his own courtyard.

Times had changed. The moment Ji Yuan pushed open the door, a fresh scent washed over him. On the left side of the entrance, near the Wen Household, he had planted two fruit trees.

One was a peach tree, and the other was also a peach tree.

On the right side of the entrance was a small plot of land he had cleared in advance. The [Chicken Coop] was about to reach Level Two, and by then, the Green-Yellow Chickens would be able to scratch up 1 qian of Spirit Soil every day.

Ji Yuan did not intend to sell this good stuff. He planned to save it and grow some spirit plants himself.

After entering the house, the manifestation effect of the Level One [Cave Abode] sent an even fresher breath of air toward him.

Ji Yuan did not linger. He went straight to the backyard. Compared to before, the backyard was finally a little more spacious and no longer as crowded as it had been.

It was not that Ji Yuan had torn all those things down.

He had simply moved them to the rear courtyard.

Two months earlier, Ji Yuan had found Pangtou and, at the price of two additional Spirit Stones each month, acquired his backyard as well as the wasteland behind the Lin Family's and Wen Household's backyards.

Afterward, he went to Zengtou City and hired an earth-method cultivator. For another two Spirit Stones, he had the man use earth-element techniques to quickly construct a new courtyard.

Thus, Ji Yuan transformed his originally single-courtyard residence into a two-courtyard residence.

He moved the unsightly [Pigsty] and [Chicken Coop] into the second courtyard, while the first courtyard was completely dug out and converted into a [Fish Pond].

A small stone bridge stood in the middle of the fish pond for him to walk across and admire the view. Beneath it, the Half-Spirit Fish continued to dart back and forth through the ponds on either side, a most pleasing sight.

It was not as though Ji Yuan had never considered renting a large courtyard in Zengtou City.

But after thinking it over carefully, he abandoned the idea.

For one thing, renting a large courtyard in Zengtou City would cost at least a dozen or so Spirit Stones each month in Immortal Residence Fees.

For another, most people living in the Core Area were in the middle or late stages of Qi Refining and possessed formidable methods. If he went there to raise fish, chickens, and pigs, it would be hard not to arouse suspicion.

After turning it over in his mind, he decided he might as well stay in this little lakeside house.

If anything truly happened, with Cloud-Rain Marsh right beside him, he could flee for his life faster.

Standing on the small stone bridge, Ji Yuan looked at the twenty Half-Spirit Fish in the [Fish Pond], each with a different posture, and his mood was naturally excellent.

These were all Spirit Stones!

Not long after, he pushed open the door and entered the second courtyard.

This place was far less presentable. Thirty Green-Yellow Chickens wandered everywhere and defecated everywhere... Ji Yuan had innate metal, wood, water, and fire Four-Spirit Roots, lacking only an Earth Spiritual Root.

Thus, faced with such a situation, he had no way to turn over the earth and cover it up. He could only use object control to clean it away, then burn everything to ashes with a single blaze.

He arranged the chicken coop on the left and placed the pigsty on the right.

After inspecting everything and confirming there were no problems, Ji Yuan returned to the front courtyard and took out the Centennial Parasol Wood he had just bought.

Though this Centennial Parasol Wood was not a spirit plant, it had still been touched by a trace of spiritual energy.

It was said that only parasol wood where Fourth-Order Great Demons, or even Fifth-Order Great Demons, had roosted year after year could take shape like this. Naturally, its price rose accordingly.

Ji Yuan first took out a talisman brush and used spiritual power to mark it in several places. Then he tossed it into the air and summoned the Blackgold Blade with a thought.

The blade moved with his will.

As more than a dozen flashes of blade light swept past, the parasol wood he had thrown out became wooden boards of perfectly uniform size.

Ji Yuan gathered them up and brought them to the backyard. After a while, he looked at the chicken coop built from Centennial Parasol Wood before sweeping his gaze over the Panel.

[Chicken Coop lv2 (Upgradeable)]

[Spirit Effect: Spiritual patterns grow on claws. Can scratch up a tiny amount of Spirit Soil (1 qian per day). Can briefly control spirit birds.]

[Upgrade requirements: Low-Grade Spirit Stone ×50, chicken coop made from Centennial Parasol Wood (completed)]

Fifty Spirit Stones. Ji Yuan still had seventy-six saved up, so this was naturally no problem.

With a thought from him.

The Panel refreshed, and the "1" floating above the chicken coop changed into a "2."

Not only that, a faint green glow appeared around the Level Two chicken coop. One glance was enough to tell it was no ordinary object.

As the Green-Yellow Chickens wandered around it, blue-black spiritual patterns spontaneously appeared on their claws, radiating the aura of demon creatures.

Spiritual patterns grew on their claws, and they could scratch up 1 qian of Spirit Soil every day.

But the phenomenon of this Level Two chicken coop was so obvious. Anyone who saw it would know something was strange... Just as Ji Yuan was troubled by this, he suddenly sensed something.

The omen effect could be turned off too!

The Panel was quite understanding. With a thought from Ji Yuan, the chicken coop once again became utterly ordinary, and the spiritual patterns on the Green-Yellow Chickens' feet vanished along with it.

Ji Yuan let out a small sigh of relief.

Next, he needed to consider buying a spirit bird. Calling it a spirit bird sounded better, but put plainly, it was a chicken-or-bird-type Demon Beast. Ji Yuan planned to buy one and raise it in the front courtyard as a guardian.

Then, if someone launched another sneak attack, he would have someone to lend him a hand.

The [Chicken Coop] had reached Level Two.

With that came the Spirit Effect and upgrade requirements for Level Three.

[Chicken Coop lv3]

[Spirit Effect: Produces 1 Tri-color Spirit Egg daily. A bird king is born from the coop. Its crow can intimidate First-Order Demon Beasts. Spirit birds can be commanded.]

[Upgrade requirements: Cultivation must reach Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, Middle-Grade Spirit Stone ×50, chicken coop made from Rotfirefly Yin Locust Wood (not completed)]

"Hmm??"

The first thing Ji Yuan noticed was that the upgrade requirements demanded his cultivation reach the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

Level Three buildings had begun imposing hard cultivation requirements.

Ji Yuan glanced at the Spirit Effect again and guessed it was related to the bird king. Its crow could intimidate First-Order Demon Beasts, so this bird king was most likely a Second-Order Demon Beast.

Moreover, the restriction was gone from the line about commanding spirit birds. That likely meant he could command them for a long time. Would that not make him a cultivator of the beast-taming lineage by nature?

In that case, it was only natural for there to be cultivation requirements.

But these Tri-color Spirit Eggs...