Patrolling the Island

Early the next morning, after completing his morning practice and seeing Liu Yu and the other two off, Zhao Yi began patrolling the island.

Although he had visited Jade Pearl Island with his master many times before, as a guest, how could he go wandering all over his host's territory?

Thus, Zhao Yi had only a general understanding of Jade Pearl Island.

Jade Pearl Island was narrow, shaped like a flat-mouthed fish, extremely long from east to west but particularly narrow from north to south.

The land was higher in the east than the west, and higher in the north than the south. A hundred-zhang peak stood in the northeast, with Qingxin Abbey halfway up its slope.

The terrain in the south was gentle. A small stream on the island rose from the northeastern peak and flowed slowly southwest into the sea.

The islanders had turned most of the land along both banks into farmland, even carving terraces into the hillsides. All these fields were planted with hemp yams.

Hemp yams were a crop carefully cultivated by the Tide-Subduing Sect, resistant to drought and bitter cold, and highly adaptable.

They yielded one harvest a year, producing over eight hundred jin per mu. As a child, Zhao Yi had eaten hemp yams every day, and he still could not forget their taste.

Level farmland was scarce on the island, so the islanders made full use of every inch of ground, planting fruit trees wherever hemp yams could not grow.

Together with their daily catches of fish, this allowed the islanders to scrape together enough food and clothing.

The village lay on the western side of Jade Pearl Island, its stone houses scattered sparsely across the gentle terrain.

The northern side was sheer cliff. On the night they ambushed and killed Daoist Mu, the three fellow disciples had climbed up those cliffs.

How the islanders of the Cloudsand Archipelago lived depended on the cultivators stationed on their islands.

The few dozen households on Jade Pearl Island only had to support Daoist Mu, and he had been obsessed with cultivation and seldom ordered the islanders about. Thus, their lives had been relatively peaceful.

If the resident cultivator was brutal and worked the islanders hard, they would be plunged into deep water and scorching fire, and fighting might even break out between islanders and cultivators!

Enough ants could bite an elephant to death, let alone islanders who mostly practiced martial arts. They could overwhelm a cultivator through sheer numbers.

Linghua Island had over a thousand households. Zhao Yi and the others required the islanders to provide two people each day to pilot a boat for the cultivators' sea patrols.

They also required twenty households to cultivate fifty mu of prime farmland, and ten households to tend over twenty mu of medicinal fields and raise livestock and poultry. Beyond that, there were no other demands.

How to divide these duties was the islanders' chief's business. Zhao Yi and the others did not concern themselves with it.

Why did they still need to cultivate fifty mu of prime farmland?

Because ninety percent of the spirit rice grown in their spirit fields had to be sold.

The remaining spirit rice was not enough to feed three or four cultivators, so they had no choice but to grow some ordinary rice.

Moreover, cultivators at the Meridian Opening stage had yet to fuse their essence, qi, and spirit, and had not reached the Spirit Guiding and Aperture Tempering realm.

They could not dine on rosy clouds and drink dew. Not only did they need three meals a day, but as practitioners of cultivation, their appetites were astonishingly large.

As he pondered, Zhao Yi reached the westernmost end of the island.

The ground here was quite high, ending in sheer cliffs above the sea, with submerged reefs scattered below. Zhao Yi picked up a few stones and threw them down, sending up layers of spray.

Afterward, he went to investigate the northern side of Jade Pearl Island and reset the traps.

Having circled the island that morning, he returned to Qingxin Abbey and began making lunch.

Zhao Yi entered the kitchen and opened the rice jar. A fresh, grassy fragrance wafted into his face. He scooped out a ladleful of Jade Essence Rice and began cooking it.

Jade Essence Rice was jade-green in color, with slender grains that gave off a faint, grassy fragrance. Rich in medicinal potency, it was highly suitable for cultivators nourishing their qi and opening their meridians.

Jade Essence Rice was not grown, but carefully processed.

Fine-quality polished rice was refined and smoked with ten-year-old medicinal herbs. Once the rice changed from white to pale green, the process was complete.

The finished Jade Essence Rice contained an extremely faint trace of spiritual energy. At trading gatherings, thirty jin sold for one spirit stone. Rogue cultivators who could not afford spirit rice could eat some Jade Essence Rice instead.

Linghua Island's Jade Essence Rice was well known on the neighboring islands, bringing Linghua Island an income of several dozen spirit stones each year.

After all, who could afford to eat spirit rice every day? They merely ate a meal of it now and then to satisfy their cravings.

After a simple lunch, Zhao Yi brewed a pot of hot tea and went to the pavilion, where he sat on a stone stool and gazed at the distant seascape.

The sea breeze was gentle. As it drifted in, his robes fluttered, and before he knew it, wind filled both his sleeves. His whole body felt fresh and at ease, all his fatigue swept away.

After resting for roughly two hours, Zhao Yi went down the mountain to the harbor.

Only two or three small boats were moored in the afternoon harbor.

An old man and a young man were repairing a fishing net aboard one of them. Presumably, they had stayed ashore because their net was damaged.

The fishermen left early and returned late, so at this hour, most fishing boats were away from the harbor.

Zhao Yi approached the boat. Seeing his blue robe and tall build, so unlike an ordinary person's, the old man and young man knew he was the island's cultivator and scrambled to pay their respects.

Zhao Yi waved a hand to stop their bows and instructed them, "You two, tidy up the boat and take me out to sea. Go five li offshore, then circle Jade Pearl Island."

"Immortal master, this humble man's fishing boat is crude and worn. Why not wait for the village's large fishing boats to return, then take one of those out to sea?"

The elderly islander spoke in a low voice.

"There's no need for such trouble. This fishing boat will do. Starting today, I'll patrol the sea once every three days to drive away sea beasts."

"All right, tidy up the boat and come out to sea with me!"

Both men nodded repeatedly and hurried to prepare the fishing boat for departure.

Before long, the boat was ready, and Zhao Yi went out to sea with them.

The fourteenth day of the seventh month, year 5492 of the Yuangguang Calendar.

On the sea near Jade Pearl Island, a fishing boat drifted leisurely along. Zhao Yi sat upright in its cabin, wiping the short sword in his hands, his expression calm and focused.

At the bow and stern, a dark-skinned islander rowed hard, their movements practiced and powerful. The oar blades entered the water, scattering fine splashes.

A light breeze brushed the sea, raising shimmering ripples.

Zhao Yi's gaze swept across the sea from time to time, searching for anything unusual beneath its surface.

Upon reaching the waters north of Jade Pearl Island, Zhao Yi suddenly felt as though something had set its sights on the little boat. He scanned the sea but saw nothing unusual.

After a moment's thought, Zhao Yi circulated his true qi. A layer of spiritual light gradually spread over his eyes, and he continued scanning the sea.

Several breaths later, a faint luminous outline appeared in his vision. It was about three zhang underwater, revealing something roughly seven chi long, with a large head and a small body.

Judging by its shape, there was probably a Giant-Mouth Fish beneath the surface.

Presumably, it had set its sights on the three of them and wanted a taste of fresh meat. Giant-Mouth Fish were the greediest of sea beasts and knew no pain. Once they bit down on their prey, they would not let go even if their heads fell off.

Catching a Giant-Mouth Fish on today's trip would be nice.

With that thought, Zhao Yi leaned half his body over the side and washed his hands in the seawater, baiting the Giant-Mouth Fish.

Sure enough, with just a little temptation, the Giant-Mouth Fish took the bait.

Under his Spirit Eye, the Giant-Mouth Fish swam toward him as fast as a loosed arrow. When it came within a zhang of Zhao Yi, it leaped out of the sea, opened its huge mouth, and viciously bit at the part of his body hanging over the boat.

"Immortal master! Watch out!"

The two islanders shouted in alarm.

Ignoring the two islanders' loud cries behind him, Zhao Yi held his breath and focused. At the critical instant, he twisted aside, evading the oncoming maw and its fangs, then struck like lightning and seized the Giant-Mouth Fish's dorsal fin.

"Hah!"

With a loud shout, he drove power through his waist and used the Giant-Mouth Fish's forward momentum to slam it onto the boat.

Then he swung a sandbag-sized fist and smashed it savagely into the fish's head.

The first punch caved in its head. The next shattered it outright. His final punch struck the Giant-Mouth Fish's spine, and it went completely still.

The two fishermen were dumbstruck. Ordinarily, even three to five fishermen could not drag a Giant-Mouth Fish along, yet Zhao Yi had hauled one straight onto the boat. The immortal master truly was formidable!

This body of Zhao Yi's had been unlike those of ordinary people since childhood. Without any false modesty, he was powerfully built and born with extraordinary strength.

After entering the Meridian Opening stage, Zhao Yi had been able to lift the three-legged, twin-handled cauldron in Linghua Island's Daoist abbey above his head without the slightest effort.

After fully opening his meridians, he had tried again and found he could lift it with one hand.

Liu Yu could not do that. After entering the Meridian Opening stage, he could only just move the cauldron with all his strength.

Catching a Giant-Mouth Fish was child's play for Zhao Yi.

He had been worrying about what to eat for dinner, and now, here dinner was!

Zhao Yi grinned.