Water Fortune Dragon Qi

"That Zhang Buyu claimed he'd read the entire Fuqiu Daoist Canon by the age of eight, but I don't think much of him. He didn't even know where to find the most precious thing on a creature that had set foot on the path to becoming a dragon. Heh."

Ao Xiyu's lips curled coldly. She was still sore that Zhang Buyu had taken several hundred jin of fish meat from her without doing a thing.

Although the essence of the giant Dragon Fish was all in its dragon scales, and its meat really was of little use-its effects were scarcely better than ordinary fish meat, far inferior to those of the common Dragon Fish in the lake...

So what?

Even if it was something she, Ao Xiyu, didn't want and had cast aside like a worn-out shoe, that didn't mean someone else could take it for nothing!

She, Ao Xiyu, would remember that dog of a man and woman for the rest of her life for what had happened today!

"Miss Xiyu, we'd better finish up quickly." Xie Linchuan glanced toward the town and reminded her.

"Stand guard around me." Ao Xiyu glanced around. "I'll use a Secret Method to extract all the Water Fortune Dragon Qi from these dragon scales."

"Water Fortune Dragon Qi-is that Profound Qi?" Yu Tunzhou asked.

Ao Xiyu shook her head. "It was Profound Qi before, but after this beast refined it, it lost the properties of Profound Qi. Even at the Qi Refinement Sixth Layer, we can refine it to greatly improve the efficiency of cultivating with the Qi Ingestion Method. It even works wonders when breaking through a realm."

Understanding dawned on Yu Tunzhou. He could more or less guess that this was what Ao Xiyu's elder had intended when deliberately raising this Dragon Fish years ago: fatten it up before harvesting it.

Next, Ao Xiyu began extracting it with a Secret Method unique to the South Sea.

The others watched the whole process without missing a moment, purely out of curiosity.

Only the great dragon lineages possessed such methods of raising dragon-kind and then harvesting them, leaving the various households and sects green with envy.

The yearly yield from this alone made the various households' mouths water...

Only Yu Tunzhou's thoughts turned elsewhere, as he considered what other mountain delicacies and wild game on and around the mountain might be "prizes" left for their juniors by some senior expert.

That flock of plump pheasants on the back mountain?

That gave him another reason to wipe out the pheasants.

Or the little fox Dingguang had mentioned?

Or perhaps the crow dozing in the mountaintop pavilion, or the flock of wild ducks on the back mountain that weren't afraid of people?

The more Yu Tunzhou thought about it, the hungrier he got.

They didn't have to wait long.

In just half an incense stick's time, the false dragon scales on the giant Dragon Fish, along with those cut off earlier, visibly lost their luster. They grew dry and dark, looking almost rotten, without a trace of Spiritual Qi left.

On the open ground before Ao Xiyu stood five neatly arranged, lustrous white jade bottles. Faint blue mist swirled inside them, accompanied by the soft murmur of flowing water. It was the condensed Water Fortune Dragon Qi.

"Although Brother Liu didn't take action this time, he did step forward to intimidate Zhang Buyu and the others. His share will come out of mine," Ao Xiyu said softly.

Liu Qingshi opened his mouth, but in the end he didn't refuse. This was simply too important to him for him to turn down.

"Once you take it home, remember not to refine it all at once. It's very potent. Before each Qi Ingestion session, you only need to open the jade bottle and take a light sniff, drawing some of its Qi into your body."

She looked at Yu Tunzhou and gave him a special reminder:

"It produces something like a resistance to medicine. I estimated it just now, and a person can use at most fifteen percent of a bottle. I suggest you try bartering the rest. If you want to part with it, you can come to me."

Liu Qingshi spoke up. "Brother Yu, I'm buying too. If you want to part with it, you can contact me."

Ao Xiyu rolled her eyes.

Liu Qingshi said helplessly, "Thirteenth Sister, you're from the South Sea. Once you leave the grotto-heaven, how could you possibly be short of this stuff?"

Ao Xiyu snorted softly. "What do you know? If this beast hadn't grown so far beyond expectations, I'd have kept it all for myself."

Yu Tunzhou carefully put away the jade bottle and nodded. "I'll consider it."

Ao Xiyu nudged the remaining Dragon Fish meat and skeleton on the ground with her foot and said casually:

"As for its effects, this fish meat is far inferior to that of the common Dragon Fish in the river, only a little better than ordinary fish meat. If you're interested, you can take some. At least it should taste pretty good. Throw the rest away, or bury it."

Hearing this, everyone turned to Cao Jianjia, the meaning in their eyes plain as day.

Cao Jianjia said indignantly, "There aren't any false dragon scales left now. Why are you looking at me?"

"We don't have suitable weapons. Miss Cao, please lend us your sword," Liu Qingshi said earnestly. "The food in town is bland to begin with. Now that we've got this Dragon Fish meat, it would be nice to treat ourselves."

Cao Jianjia had wanted to refuse, but when she saw the tempted look on Zhang Qinghe's face, she snorted.

"This fish meat can be your reward for the trouble."

"..."

In the end, they borrowed the sword, and each cut off several dozen jin of fish meat to take home for a taste.

Looking at the remaining fish bones and meat, Yu Tunzhou said:

"None of you want the rest?"

"Then I'll take it all."

Ao Xiyu said irritably, "The Water Fortune Dragon Qi in your jade bottle is the real essence. Compared to that, this Dragon Fish meat is nothing but dregs!"

"What a waste," Yu Tunzhou said regretfully. "I can't stand seeing things go to waste."

Xie Linchuan glanced at the deepening night. "It's getting late. Let's all lend a hand, or Brother Yu will be busy with this Dragon Fish meat and these bones all night."

Liu Qingshi nodded slightly. Yu Tunzhou's swift and forceful action earlier had already earned his approval.

Zhang Qinghe frowned, less than willing, but Cao Jianjia swept a glance his way.

"Go in my place. I'm getting ready to head back to the residence."

"..."

Ao Xiyu looked toward the mountainside. "It's a pity the timing isn't right. Otherwise, we could take this opportunity to visit those two seniors."

Afterward, Cao Jianjia sent Zhang Qinghe in her place, while everyone else carried a portion of the Dragon Fish meat up the mountain with Yu Tunzhou, taking the chance to learn the way.

Along the way, Liu Qingshi made a point of asking Yu Tunzhou about the temperaments of the two seniors on the mountain.

Yu Tunzhou told them in all sincerity that the two seniors were usually quite kind to others, put on no airs, and were easy to get along with.

Liu Qingshi then arranged an approximate time with Yu Tunzhou to visit the two seniors on the mountain, hoping Yu Tunzhou could show him the way when the time came.

Yu Tunzhou didn't refuse. Old Xie had been quite right earlier: in the town, one more friend was better than one more enemy.

Of course, he would leave Zhang Buyu and his companion out of that for now.

Given the choice, he preferred comrades who fought at his side to turning enemies into friends.

Ao Xiyu suddenly said, "By the way, Yu Tunzhou, has anyone else visited the Daoist temple recently?"

At this, the group, who had been chatting and laughing, stopped in their tracks and turned as one to look at Yu Tunzhou. Their gazes were no less intense than when they had seen the Water Fortune Dragon Qi.

All of them had learned something from their elders, some more than others.

"Someone else?" Yu Tunzhou said, "Oh, you mean Junior Brother Li."

Everyone looked bewildered.

"Junior Brother Li?" Ao Xiyu murmured. "What did you call him? Junior brother? What gives you the right to call him junior brother?"

Yu Tunzhou looked at her strangely. "It's just a form of address. He was being polite, and I'm not particular. There's nothing worth worrying about."

Not particular...

Everyone was speechless.

Liu Qingshi suddenly said in earnest, "Brother Yu, you'd better show that person a little more respect in the future!"

Yu Tunzhou smiled and nodded without arguing, because he could sense that Liu Qingshi's reminder was well-meant.

Of those present, only Xie Linchuan could roughly understand what Yu Tunzhou was thinking.

It was much the same as the answer he had received when he questioned Yu Tunzhou at the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple.

Certain people who were extremely important and very special in their eyes were actually no different from anyone else in Yu Tunzhou's.

It wasn't that he didn't care, but that he thought it was no use.

Just as Yu Tunzhou never begged anyone for help, not because he refused to bow his head, but because he knew begging was useless, so he might as well keep his head up.

Even if the other party was the foremost person under heaven in the present age, so what? Could that person save him and get him out?

Of course.

But why would that person do it?

He had no bargaining chip to persuade them. However much he debased himself, he would only give others a laugh.

Yu Tunzhou didn't want to die, but neither did he want to live too abjectly. Dignity allowed him to live like a human being.

Xie Linchuan could more or less work out Yu Tunzhou's state of mind. Whenever he thought about it, he would put himself in Yu Tunzhou's shoes and wonder: if it were him, would he live as openheartedly as Brother Yu, or would he scheme and exhaust every means to curry favor with the two sages?

Of those two approaches, which was relatively Higher Vehicle, and which relatively Lower Vehicle?

He shook his head.