For the next three days, Ji Yuan stayed at home cultivating. Besides consuming Spirit Eggs and absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi to increase his cultivation, he also learned the most basic Water Shield Technique.
In these three days, the farthest place he went was his backyard fish pond.
Sitting there meditating to recover spiritual energy, he also took the opportunity to see if any half-Spirit Fish had evolved into Spirit Fish.
Unfortunately, odds are indeed just odds.
Unlike the Spirit Eggs born from the chicken cage, which guaranteed three eggs every day.
Ji Yuan relied on these three eggs to barely sustain his daily cultivation needs, considering it was rare to use even one Spirit Stone in a month previously.
The Spirit Eggs absorbed in a day are now worth 1.5 Spirit Stones.
In comparison, this stark difference in cultivation mode has already made Ji Yuan extremely satisfied.
On the fourth day, perhaps having stayed at home too long, Ji Yuan thought of going for a walk at the doorway.
Anyway, Cloud Rain Marsh is a place that devours people without blinking, better leave it for others.
As for Zengtou City, it's wise to avoid going unless necessary, lest one gets targeted for going there too often.
After only a few laps at the door, he heard Lin Youwei's lowered voice coming from the courtyard next door at the Lin Family.
"The ancients always said, be wary of lust in youth!"
"I'm not criticizing you as a father."
"Look at yourself, it's been three days since the wedding, have you gone out of your room except for meals?! Forget cultivation, at this rate, you'll waste your body!"
"..."
Ji Yuan silently smiled, hearing footsteps behind him.
Old Man Huang arrived with his old smoking pipe, chuckling, "Young people, once they taste the sweetness, they can't bear to get out of bed."
"What sweetness?"
Feigning ignorance, Ji Yuan made Huang keep quiet.
Instead, Lin Youwei, upon hearing Old Man Huang's voice, opened the courtyard door and came out.
"Uncle Huang."
"Hmm."
Lin Youwei glanced at Ji Yuan, thought for a moment, then leaned forward to whisper, "Has something major happened in Cloud Rain Marsh lately?"
Ji Yuan said nothing, but he listened intently.
"Major event? The Marsh Lord of Cloud Rain Marsh needs to eat a person daily or he feels uneasy, does that count?"
Old Man Huang took a smoke pipe from his waist, filled it, and with a light rub of his thumb and forefinger, a tiny flame appeared.
This method is quite handy; no worries of someone stealing your lighter... Ji Yuan thought, finding amusement in his distress.
"It's just, in the northeast corner of Zengtou City, I've heard that several fishermen have died there consecutively these few days?"
Lin Youwei finally asked the question he was concerned about.
Old Man Huang exhaled smoke, his face turning somber.
"Yes, that's true. For these few days, you best avoid that area, probably a late-stage Spirit Fish from the deep waters got out."
Upon hearing late-stage, Ji Yuan subconsciously felt a chill.
A late-stage Demon Beast corresponds to a late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator, but to deal with a late-stage Spirit Fish in the water... a late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivator could barely protect themselves.
To truly kill it, unless several late-stage Qi Cultivation cultivators joined forces.
Alternatively, the Water Dragon Sect could send a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"Alright, alright, alright."
Lin Youwei nodded repeatedly. His family barely had a mid-stage Qi Cultivator, after all, he was just a fourth-layer Qi Cultivation.
Alongside him, Zhou Ling was at the third layer of Qi Cultivation, while Lin Hu and Wu Qin were at the second layer. Such a small family would find only a dead-end if encountering a mid-stage Spirit Fish, let alone a late-stage one.
Old Man Huang, with a smoke pipe in his mouth, turned to the silent Ji Yuan, saying with a hint of a smile, "Didn't expect you, lad, to silently break through to the third layer of Qi Cultivation."
Ji Yuan felt a jolt in his heart.
Old Man Huang had keen instincts; while Lin Youwei, at the same fourth layer of Qi Cultivation, failed to notice any change in Ji Yuan's aura, Old Man Huang did.
"What?! Third layer of Qi Cultivation?"
Lin Youwei exclaimed in surprise.
"You've been honing your spells at home for several days, if not at the third layer of Qi Cultivation, where would you get so much spiritual energy?" Old Man Huang retorted.
Lin Youwei finally turned his gaze to Ji Yuan, scrutinizing him up and down before confirming.
"You're something, aren't you?"
However, Lin Youwei's words carried a complicated expression.
As the saying goes, without comparison there is no harm. Both being of four Spirit Roots, Ji Yuan had reached the third layer of Qi Cultivation, yet Lin Hu?
Still indulging in pleasures daily, unwilling to even get out of bed.
Let alone cultivating to enhance his strength.
Upon recalling Ji Yuan's words from the day before, Lin Youwei could not help but conjure a bold idea... Ji Yuan might be wholeheartedly intent on the path, seeking to break away from Zengtou City.
Under the oppressive scrutiny of their gazes, Ji Yuan knew he couldn't hide it and saw no need to do so.
He then humbly smiled, "Just lucky, just lucky."
Then he turned to Old Man Huang and said, "The two Qinghuang chickens I bought last time laid two Spirit Eggs. Initially, I planned to sell them for Spirit Stones, but then I realized I hadn't tasted them myself, so I ate them instead."
"Unexpectedly, after eating, I reached the third layer of Qi Cultivation."
Old Man Huang smoked slowly, "This season is indeed the time for Qinghuang chickens to lay eggs. You're a lucky lad."
Ji Yuan continued to deflect with "just lucky."
Subsequently, he returned to the house, took today's three Spirit Eggs from the chicken cage, and began his cultivation routine.
Not long after, he heard Zhou Ling's shouting from the neighboring Lin Family.
"You prodigal, Qinghuang chickens cost several Spirit Stones each, don't you know that? Hu Zi just got married, where would there be Spirit Stones to buy them, let alone two at once?"
Ji Yuan: "..."
The cultivation days are always monotonous; apart from the daily absorption of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, one can only ponder over their spells.
Fortunately, the previous experience taught Ji Yuan that rowing out daily, but not going far, just finding a small island by the shore, he could practice spells.
This way, he wouldn't catch the attention of old foxes like Old Man Huang, and could prepare for the future sales of Spirit Fish.
During this time, he noticed that over the first couple of days, only Lin Youwei and his wife from the neighboring Lin Family went fishing.
But by the fourth day, Lin Hu also planned to take his newlywed wife to fish, though they only operated in the shallow waters of Cloud Rain Marsh, attempting to catch some half-Spirit Fish.
On days they had a catch, the couple returned with joy.
Without one, they returned in silence.
This is the norm for fishing families, nine out of ten households experience this.
Seeing Ji Yuan still made Lin Hu feel a bit embarrassed, perhaps due to stealing Ji Yuan's romantic match, or maybe believing he'd taken a woman Ji Yuan didn't want.
The thoughts of a newlywed young man are complex.
Ji Yuan was not interested in caring, for after another five days of cultivation, on an otherwise uneventful night, a massive splash erupted in the fish pond.
Waking Ji Yuan from his sleep.
Another half-Spirit Fish had evolved!